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Reclaiming “Snowflake”—An Extended Metaphor

This country is entering into a new, dark phase of an already long moral winter. A time when too many bundle up only with their loved ones and leave the unfortunate out in the cold.  The emphasis on profit and enforcing privilege has led our hearts to be hardened by a thick permafrost.  But I for one see hope:

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Snowflake, the dismissive du jour for the alt-right when speaking of liberals–particularly Millenial liberals–seems to be on the tongue of every glib supporter of the new regime. It implies that “kids these days” are told over and over that they’re special and unique (as if that’s a bad thing), coddled to the point that they melt under pressure. The rise in anxiety among my college students certainly gives me pause. However, I also bear witness to their tremendous potential, so I’m proposing we reclaim the word, because a snowflake can be a powerful thing.  And here’s where the derisive metaphor breaks down:images-4images-5

Snowflakes stick together, and move efficiently when the conditions are right. Given our cold political climate at the moment there’s no way snowflakes are melting! You can see it already in the organized and persistent protests that come together with each new outrage.  Our uniqueness, forged by experience, will allow us to come together to obscure the hate, causing a white out (an unfortunate term in this case) that will keep the apathy and cynicism at bay. Our diversity is our strength! And don’t forget snow is white because it reflects all the light that enters into it, so we will be enriched by all colors, all shapes and sizes, making for a more beautiful whole! Our numbers will mean that no flake need be overcome and evaporated in the accumulation, because there will be millions like them to help bear the load.

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By blizzard–and then by avalanche, thrown into motion by the thunderous calls to action–we will bury the already weakened abominable snowmen, starved by perceived neglect, fighting like hell to keep hold of their winter stores while giving up the moral high ground. We’ll stick around, intermingling, and likely getting a bit dirty along the way, but we all know slush is a pain in the neck to get rid of! And a lot of those snowmen are already suffering from a lot of nagging aches and pains.

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When the winter finally passes, you’re damn right we’ll melt. We’ll melt together in exaltation and exhaustion only to intermingle, even more connected than when we started. That avalanche will become a spring thaw that will wash away even the most stubborn brambles of division to leave a fresh landscape to begin verdant growth again.snow-melt-1461167_960_720

 

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The clouds have already been seeded. What began as sleepy flurries from a tired and disappointed resistance is picking up, accumulating in the streets and drifting into airports, disrupting the status quo and frustrating delusional drivers, who suffer from an all consuming road rage that allows them to think only of themselves. The forecast calls for heavy snow for the foreseeable future, let’s keep up coming down!

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