One of the weird things about autism is that often times a person on the spectrum has little use for certain social contracts, but at the same time, cares deeply about following the rules. So for example, I've never had much use for the idea that you should wear certain formal clothes in certain situations. I'm half way through life and never owned a suit, and I don't intend to. On the other hand, it drives me crazy when people don't adhere to traffic rules. At a four-way, don't wave me through if I'm not next, because first-in, first-out. When you change the rules, accidents happen because there's no shared understanding of what is supposed to happen. Yes, that's the kind of thing that my brain labors on.
Now, not every autistic person necessarily thinks this way. I know Simon does, especially with driving. He points out everything other drivers do wrong. But people like Trump, who are probably some level of ASD (it wasn't the Tylenol, you orange moron), seem to have total disregard for the rules. So again, this is not a hard fast rule. But in the write-up for my own diagnosis, it's mentioned that I am deeply troubled by injustice. The psychologist talked with me about that, and explained that some combination of a need for order and possibly enduring some amount of bullying probably influences this thinking. Again, not a hard and fast rule, but it's a common sentiment.
You can imagine then, how troubling it is when criminals are being released en masse. The 1,500+ people who attacked the capital, excused. George Santos, forgiven for his fraud. The Silk Road guy, trafficking drugs and people through the web, no problem. The Binance crypto bro who financed terrorists, also no biggie. The Blackwater contractors, tax evaders, obstructionists, etc., all convicted criminals, all pardoned. Meanwhile, honest people trying to make a living are deported, often violently.
This creates the classic loop for me of trying to reconcile a situation where two things coexist that shouldn't. The anger it engenders is more directed toward the people who enable and support this than it is the felon in (what's left of) the White House. Right and wrong still exist, but there's enough cognitive dissonance for them to distance themselves from it. It's like the stuff I'm reading in Separation of Church and Hate, where self-described "Christians" are in fact acting the opposite of the way that Christ would have. A significant portion of Americans simply don't give a shit about right and wrong anymore. And now they're surprised that all of this nonsense affects them too (see: inflation, unemployment, etc.).
For now, I've backed off of news and social media quite a bit. I disappear into pinball and Lego and music. It's not that I don't care or don't act, I just can't let my head obsess about it.
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