Here’s my post mortem on the local 12 Rounds Brewing Company thing now that the beast has been bled to the point that the dude is bailing out.
I’m not going to talk about the version of free speech that people in comments sections always get wrong because what’s even the point of that?
What I want to underline is that what may seem petty to some (a privileged some, in fact) is actually a bigger win than you may think. This wasn’t about smiting one asshole with a disagreeable worldview. At its heart this was about using your community to express the values inherent in that community.
No one physically shut his business. No one vandalized his pub. No one blocked the entrances. What we did instead was shone as much light on it as we could and said as loudly as we could that “that’s not us and that’s not what we do here nor is it what we believe.”
There’s good reason that when this all popped off his anemic (and temporary) support from ‘free speech’ stalwarts all seemed to be coming from miles away.
Click on Facebook supporters’ profiles and you saw a whole lotta Galt, Orangevale, Lodi.
I’m not going to say anything against those places but it is telling that his most ardent supporters weren’t coming from the community that surrounded his neighborhood business. This was like a host rejecting the infection.
It remains to be seen how sincere this ‘divestiture’ is or if it’s just a way to lay low and collect checks under cover of an imaginary reset.
However, it’s important to remember both how and why we wielded the power of Community here. It wasn’t about policing one man’s stunted beliefs. It was about defining what our community is and that we will defend it and its vibrant diversity even when political winds change course.
—jason malmberg
Flommist Jason Malmberg is a simple man who believes in brown liquor and small dogs. He also makes art sometimes. Copyright © 2017 Jason Malmberg.
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