r/millenials • u/eggflip1020 Millennial • 14d ago
Politics Is anyone else afraid that it might be over.
I’m afraid it might over for us (in the States), for real. While I have no doubt that the Democrats are going to do well in the next couple of elections, I’m afraid that the damage may be done. Anecdotally, I encounter SO MANY people in day to day life, both people I know and new people I encounter, who have absolutely no critical thinking skills and zero media literacy. I was JUST hanging out with a random girl that I met who had NO business voting for Trump given her values, but she did anyway because she believed that Joe Biden was a child molester who wanted to take peoples guns and make eggs more expensive, but at the same time almost every political opinion she had on issues are left wing. It’s baffling. When you can’t even get the electorate to ignore baseless conspiracy theories and obvious misinformation, you have a huge problem. That’s where we are now.
I know that people often to look into the past with a little bit of rose tinted glasses, but I don’t remember it being this bad before. Now it’s possible I guess that all this is just something that’s been in motion for a while, but I don’t remember a time when so many of my peers were completely ensorcelled by misinformation, giving way to ignorance and fear. And then conspiracy theories. Even my own brother, who himself is in an employee union, is a hardcore Trumper. (He’s 30, I’m 35) We actually had a conversation during the initial days of the pandemic during which he expressed his concern that a Verizon tower near his house was “giving 5G signals that could cause viruses” while at the same time maintaining that the COVID 19 pandemic was hoax. And yes, I did point out the fact that the technology piece for the former doesn’t exist and the latter was an idiotic conspiracy theory. It was a bummer because we grew up in the same house, had the same parents, our grandfather was a god damned professor at a local university and our mom was a high school English teacher. We didn’t exactly grow up in a non educational environment.
It’s just super frustrating. I know my experience isn’t across the board and I don’t claim to speak for everyone, but somehow I feel like the world went askew. If you told me in 2008 or something or hell even 1999 that a shithead like Donald Trump would be our president not once but twice, I would have called you a cretinous moron. Now look me, half the people I interact with on a daily basis seem to get their information from YouTube conspiracy theorists. Vaccines now are nefarious but we listen to a fucking monkey like RFL Jr who promotes raw milk and recommends French fries fried ok beef tallow are somehow better for you.
It’s all become preposterous.
52
u/kdot122 14d ago
I just wanted to say- it might take time, but it's not over for the US. Poland had "right wing" ruling party for around 8 years, and it was very similar. For them, it's about maintaining power, not about the values. Nothing else. Sadly, any party can do that. We also thought that it's over since the party leader wanted to rule until the end of his life, and looking at the neighbouring Hungary, it could happen, but during the elections the voter turnout was so high that people queued until morning hours to vote, and we beat them. Everybody was positively surprised with the result. It took lots of protests to get the society to this point. When I look at news about the US, I see Poland a few years back. It will be tumultous and ridiculous, but you will win it! Don't give up!
13
u/Equal_Sundae_8338 14d ago
My biggest concern is 1. I am concerned the vote counters may be compromised/voter suppression will be even worse next time 2. Trump will start a civil war to keep his/heritage foundations power.
like we’re already hearing they’ll be passing laws making it far harder for married women to vote due to taking their husband’s last name.
Definitely not giving up, but keeping my eyes wide open because we need every single person we can awake for this.
0
u/Equal_Sundae_8338 14d ago
Well also 3. Dems will put up someone for election that is just as bad as Trump in their own way.
3
u/kdot122 14d ago
For no. 1- you can have electoral observers No. 2- people need to understand that it's still one nation, it's not "us" vs. "them", regardless of how people voted. It's a pitfall of democracy that people vote based on emotions; politcians are not held accountable for what they say; social media can spread misinformation. It's not always the best outcome, but it's the best system we came up with.
Also, you don' t know, maybe there are other influences in this situation (like in Cambridge Analytica case in Brexit)?
No. 3- you will be voting to restore democracy, so even if someone is not a top notch candidate, people will need to vote for them, and probably they will, if they see how much damage has been done. And then you will have to rebuild the country.
4
u/Spare-Caramel-2267 14d ago
No.1 sadly if it’s what cybersecurity experts are thinking no amount of electoral observers will work, we need audits of the paper votes. We also have the issue of Republicans suppressing votes via other methods and attempting to bar observers which will be far worse next time.
https://electiontruthalliance.org
No. 3 the problem is with the SCOTUS ruling on presidential immunity we now have to watch every president, regardless of side, like a hawk while praying they don’t have even more of a silver tongue that will allow people to overlook their behavior.
I guess what I’m saying is regardless of their politics if they have an insatiable hunger for power we may never be able to control them. It’s not about them being “better than Trump” it’s about the fact that anyone can become addicted to power and they have dismantled enough of the checks and balances I’m anxious even if the best person in the world wins.
Sorry I have a hard time sorting through my feelings so my first statement of “just as bad as Trump” isn’t accurate at all to my actual concerns. Well unless Gavjn Newsom wins with his current buddying up to MAGA influencers 😂
1
u/rashnull 14d ago
Interesting! Is there a good documentary on this?
3
u/kdot122 13d ago edited 13d ago
There are no documentaries, but it was covered pretty extensively in the media back then, there may be more on youtube:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67156864
https://youtu.be/6TYrlmOFQRk?si=XsF5suLOFkWlHdej
https://youtube.com/shorts/B0ChHBaBc2A?si=gGy79vRYaymUSeyz
https://youtu.be/-shJ2ANHv-A?si=NZr0yZmwSuO3rEda
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/jan/23/poland-restoring-democracy-harder-donald-tusk
https://youtu.be/Ryp2vvykEc8?si=iZm-twjXXcX3p4tA
It's hard to explain what was going on in those eight years. Every day was a new revelation- examples of discrimination against minorities/LGBT community/ taking back women's rights, swapping the judges in the highest court, planting their own people in all the institutions, making decisions that are against constitution, using public media for propaganda, using police to protect the party leader who did not even have an official title/ the President is puppet. Those were very dark 8 years and the society was very divided/ it still is tbh.
In 2017, a man has set himself on fire in Warsaw in a protest- there is a translation of the leaflet he distributed (in the tweet). The change came in 2023.
I wish you guys a lot of strength, it might take some time to change the situation, but you will find a way!
151
u/QuiXiuQ 14d ago
The only thing more dangerous than fear is HOPE. April 5th is going to be huge, if you can’t go, find another way to contribute. I
41
u/FreakInTheTreats 14d ago
Wait what’s happening April 5th??
71
u/sewmuchrhythm 14d ago
Big protest nationwide. Check out r/50501
22
u/sneakpeekbot 14d ago
Here's a sneak peek of /r/50501 using the top posts of all time!
#1: Elon Musk is a Nazi. Upvote this post so when people google Elon Musk is a Nazi, it shows up. | 545 comments
#2: Protest today | 818 comments
#3: Making a difference! Proof organizing works! | 752 comments
I'm a bot, beep boop | Downvote to remove | Contact | Info | Opt-out | GitHub
18
4
-9
u/ShivvyMcFly 14d ago
Handful of lunatics are going to scream at the clouds. Waste of time and energy.
33
u/pentultimate 14d ago
This x1000. people need to stop quivering online, go out and participate with others in non-violent action. shit, more people should do it just to get off the internet and socialize with people face to face. You might learn something about yourself in the process.
18
-4
u/Awwik 14d ago
This isn't going to work just like BLM. If any and I mean any looting happens it will be way worse for the country. The best thing to do is win in a year and a half by picking more moderate people who don't do stupid TikToks and don't mesh with AOC and the crew. Then move for another W in 2028 by again not going anywhere near the left side who went BLM, anything close to big Hollywood, and was not part of anything close to the squad.
2
3
u/Memphaestus 13d ago
Picking moderates is what got us here. Obama had one sliver of progressiveness and won in a landslide. Clinton lost, Biden scraped by and Harris lost. The common theme with the last 3 is they are all heavily moderate. They lost the progressive vote through apathy and disinterest.
How far to the right do you want us to go? Bush? McCain? Might as well just have one party at that point.
0
u/Awwik 13d ago
Yes because moderate and slightly left leaning will definitely vote for an even more progressive person. The democrats are an all time low and people don't like the "far left". You go down that road you go down it's that simple.
2
u/Memphaestus 13d ago
Democrats are already moderate, and the majority of the country polls progressive. Most feel the Dems aren’t far enough left and don’t do enough to oppose republicans. If they can just focus on populist topics like economy, universal healthcare, family support systems, Universal Basic Income, Minimum Wage, public transit, public education, etc and less on things like gun control and LGBTQ+ they’ll win easily.
1
u/Awwik 13d ago
Any links or stats on any of that? It the majority of the country was progressive you wouldn't have seen republicans wipe out the Dems this cycle. They gained voters and Dems lost them. None of what your saying is true outside of the echo chamber of reddit.
2
u/Memphaestus 13d ago
Disenfranchised and misinformed voters, and propaganda are the reason.
The facts are that every poll on progressive policies, Americans are in favor. Even from Fox polls. Government run healthcare, raising the minimum wage, regulating prescription drugs, regulating the big banks, raise corporate taxes, universal basic income, Social Security, climate change, renewable energy, public education, student loan forgiveness, etc. Virtually every single progressive “socialist” policy is favored by the majority of Americans. Even from this election with exit polls, when people are asked about the policies they vote progressive, but they didn’t know that Harris actually backed the progressive policies.
Here’s just a couple links for you to back it up, but there’s countless articles, studies and polls going back decades all showing the same thing. People like progressive policies.
https://yipinstitute.org/article/analyzing-popularity-of-progressive-views
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/shows/maddow/blog/rcna179308
https://www.citizen.org/news/progressive-policies-are-popular-policies/
1
u/AmputatorBot 13d ago
It looks like you shared an AMP link. These should load faster, but AMP is controversial because of concerns over privacy and the Open Web.
Maybe check out the canonical page instead: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/ballot-measures-deliver-big-wins-progressive-policy-priorities-rcna179308
I'm a bot | Why & About | Summon: u/AmputatorBot
4
u/wellnesspromoter 14d ago
How about April 1st? I don’t see almost any orgs or influential accounts talking about the Florida special elections which, if the two Democrat candidates win, would give the house a majority.
9
u/Blackholedog 14d ago
Agreed. Do everything you can to contribute! I for one will be going all out and posting on Reddit ALL DAY about how much of an activist I am. Hope others will join!
-8
172
u/Dangerous_Midnight91 14d ago
Lol - “the next couple of elections…”
96
u/scottwolfmanpell 14d ago
Right? At best my vote gets flushed down the toilet, at worst it’s used as justification to throw me in a labor camp.
26
u/Ilovemytowm 14d ago
Yeah where the hell did that come from that they're going to do well.... Even if it was a landslide for the Dems somehow it'll show that they lost.
After watching this I have no hope that Dems will ever win again.
4
u/Joshistotle 14d ago
The solution is posting your complaints online, rambling to random people on the street, and encouraging your friends and family to participate in every election. It will get us nowhere, but we get an "A" for effort.
25
16
u/Desperate_Week851 14d ago
The only news media that’s left that people can freely access is YouTube/Tiktok junk. Most newspapers are non-existent or behind a paywall. People don’t have cable and even most of CNN’s website is behind a paywall now. The only people who are going to pay for access to competent journalism are going to be upper middle class/highly educated. Most everything else is just clickbait/AI slop. Will be even worse as AI goes unregulated. Yeah, we’re cooked.
8
u/pubesinourteeth 14d ago
Yes! The paywalls on reputable news sources are a huge impediment to our democracy. Businesses used to have newspapers just lying around where random non subscribers could read them. Now the news is only for people who already care.
7
u/Desperate_Week851 14d ago
And I’m somebody who DOES care and I won’t pay to read all of them. I used to read WaPo, NYT, Philly Inquirer, etc but I can’t justify paying to read them all now.
13
u/pemberleypark1 14d ago
It’s only over if everyone gives up. I know I will never stop fighting for this country. They want you to feel despair. I recommend getting offline for a bit. Every couple of days I have to decompress for my mental health, but I’ve gone to 2 town halls for the same congressman, even though he didn’t show up to one of them. It helps to get out there, to be around other people who understand what is happening.
11
u/No_Wedding_2152 14d ago edited 14d ago
Have you looked into r/collapse ? Or r/CollapseSupport? You’re not alone.
12
u/katzenlurker 14d ago
What we are seeing is fascism. Things will get worse before they get better. But fascism doesn't often last more than a decade or two. And it's not unusual to see a dramatic swing toward greater personal liberties after fascism fails. The liberal swing tends to last a lot longer than the fascist state.
In the short term, we have a lot to fear. They are erasing and demonizing us. To go from here to prisons, camps, and even mass killing would be consistent with history. We have hard work ahead of us to defend ourselves and protect one another.
But however bad it gets, it will end. There will be something better after fascism fails. And we are not powerless. There are actions we can take to reduce harm now and build a better world in the future.
1
u/olgassaffron 12d ago
I don’t have much more than a decade to live. I will do what I can but probably will not benefit. Still I care about the future.
6
u/EcstaticDeal8980 14d ago
Yeah man this is depressing. I’m right there with you. I get to sit here and watch everything crumble.
6
u/ratstronaut 14d ago
I hope not and will continue trying, but maybe it is. Biologists I read/trust say we only have like 15-25 years until full global collapse anyway. So I guess America is getting ahead of the game in the most vulgar and dramatic way possible. It‘s what we’re best at. 🇺🇸
59
u/Squib32 14d ago
Wait till you figure out that Dems and Republicans are on the same side behind closed doors.
I'm convinced it's all a show. We are watching a play. Historially the senate in Rome did the same thing. Fight in public but behind closed door they plotted against citizens.
35
11
7
u/elledubs89 14d ago
There’s a recent interview with Condoleezza Rice that exposes this exactly.
The second the cameras are off in congress, that grandstanding, contentious behavior goes out the window and the people in the room are actually interested in the answers to the questions.
They are playing America so hard.
22
u/StraddleTheFence 14d ago
I am beginning to think the American people are being played by both parties. If DOGE is not an official dept and only Congress can set up a legal dept (United States, 272 U.S. 52, 129 (1926) ( “To Congress under its legislative power is given the establishment of offices, the determination of their functions and jurisdiction, the prescribing of reasonable and relevant qualifications and rules of eligibility of appointees, and the fixing of the term for which they are ... )
how have DOGE not been challenged? Not all members have to agree to sue DJT’s executive orders. We are just watching DJT and Musk wreck America.
“all members of Congress do not need to agree to sue an executive order; a lawsuit can be filed by individual members or a group of members, or by the House or Senate as an institution, but the Supreme Court has ruled that individual members generally lack standing to enforce institutional congressional interests.”
15
u/Dreamer_Dram 14d ago
I completely agree. Why hasn't Musk been arrested? What he's doing is illegal.
8
u/codywithak 14d ago
Because trump runs the department of justice. Does anyone not understand how the govt works?
5
u/JakLynx 14d ago
DOGE is an official agency unfortunately. Trump didn’t make a new agency because that would require an act of congress. Instead he rebranded an agency started by Obama. The way our current laws are written this is fully legal to do.
2
u/StraddleTheFence 14d ago
Yes, thank you fir the education. “Trump signed on his first day in office included one renaming the U.S. Digital Service as the U.S. DOGE Service. It further directed that DOGE be established within the Executive Office of the President.
The Digital Service was created by President Barack Obama in 2014…”
https://apnews.com/article/doge-government-trump-executive-order-1a2fb7235b9d6f178c764cf6c78d3317#
10
u/Squib32 14d ago
That is my belief. If Trump is such a a threat to the fabric of our country why did Biden hand him the power?
If you truly thought he would bring America down you would save the country and not just hand off power to be friendly
You would need two parties fighting each other to give the illusion of someone caring.
Here we are tho. People in congress get richer and the industrial military complex get more billions every year.
4
u/StraddleTheFence 14d ago
Biden could not hold on to the presidency after his tenure was up. Today, we need to figure out if DOGE is legit and if it is not, someone in Congress needs to be fighting against this interloper destroying a country where he was not born (Musk).
-5
u/Squib32 14d ago
Why tho? Orange man is so dangerous and you just hand over power because that's the way it's been done?
7
4
u/vjalander 14d ago
My thought is Jan6 terrified the democrats and as such they wanted to be the “party that was beyond reproach” in the PEACEFUL transfer of power so they gave it over.
My other thought also is the dems are mostly lacking a backbone.
8
u/codywithak 14d ago
I think it’s the latter. Plus Dems love to put on a show about decorum and pat themselves on the back for being gracious losers.
-1
u/Lazarous86 14d ago
How can you say this about Trump when he's literally discussing cutting the military budget in half? They are also going to look at the laws for military vendors and cut a ton of those where we are being overcharged. Why can't you see he is an outsider and that's why the media non-stop attacks everything he is doing to invoke outrage.
Trump is not part of the military industrial complex. I promise, because his actions show he doesn't want war. He wants peace and trade wars before ones that have actually military involvement.
1
u/olgassaffron 12d ago
Nope he wants war using mercenaries. Basically wants to privatize everything so we will have worse or no services and mercenaries don’t have to abide by military regulations so sic them on personal enemies. And kickbacks
4
u/cracksilog 14d ago
This is what infuriates me so much. Politicians are clearly actors. On both sides. They’re being played. And most Americans are too dumb to see it.
Trump is a UPenn grad. He’s an Ivy League grad. He’s a fucking Ivy League grad. Vance went to Yale.
These people are not stupid. They’re fucking smart. They’re just acting dumb because their base is dumb so they can get votes.
Trump. And. Vance. Are. Not. Dumb. Republican lawmakers. Are. Not. Dumb. Democrats. Are. Not. Dumb. This is all by design.
We tend to forget that most politicians are incredibly educated. They all have the same stats we do. They know, just like us, that abortion should be legal. They know that it’s wrong to attack trans rights. They know that immigrants commit far fewer crimes on average than citizens. They know.
But they act like they don’t so they can get votes. Do you really think Trump is that racist? Do you really think he’s that misogynistic? Do you really think him and Vance believe a word they say? Do you really think he wants to support Russia instead of Ukraine? Do you really think he doesn’t know he can’t eliminate so many departments?
This goes for both sides. If Sanders is so popular, then how come Medicare for All hasn’t passed yet? If AOC is so popular, then what happened to the Green New Deal? If Democrats want free healthcare and no student loans, then why hasn’t it happened yet? You’re telling me the most powerful and educated people in the world can’t get something like that done?
What’s more likely: A bunch of fucking Ivy League grads are actually that dumb or they’re just acting dumb because they’re addicted to power?
11
u/Equal_Sundae_8338 14d ago
Trump has treated woman like garbage his entire life so yes he is that misogynistic (walking into teen pageants dressing rooms and commenting he owns the place), Vance too based off some comments and attitudes he’s shown even before running (deep down he’s just a carpetbagger who changes his coat to suit his master of the week)
and yes Trump is a racist, his own family has told the stories and why would he have changed? Do you see any African Americans in his advisory?
Intelligence isn’t all tests and schooling, I have a coworker who can’t understand basic directions who was in school to be a *virologist*. I’m definitely not smart enough to pass those tests.
6
u/spellboundartisan 14d ago
I do believe that Trump/Vance/whoever are that misogynistic and awful. However, it doesn't make them stupid. It makes them cruel assholes with degrees.
-5
u/Ian_Campbell 14d ago
DOGE just repurposes a department that was already established by Obama. It was a completely legally tight strategy.
It's 100x more legal than the migrant asylum hearing loophole.
2
u/StraddleTheFence 14d ago
But even DJT goes back and forth about it. He even said he was creating the dept during his campaign. I will search for an article I read recently.
0
u/Ian_Campbell 14d ago
It is something they created in reality, but legally it's just repurposed from something which already existed
2
u/Equal_Sundae_8338 14d ago
Yeah but none of the new members were vetted and Elon’s conflicts of interest/lack of security clearances are the reason it‘s an issue at all.
Originally the department was for contracting with companies to *fix websites to run and be easy for people to use*
1
4
u/Equal_Sundae_8338 14d ago
Seeing how the Dem leadership shook Trump’s hand in some of those photos made my want to vomit and punch something at the same time.
1
u/Ian_Campbell 14d ago
That's possibly why Trump gave a ton of popular concessions but expended it all for Israel first. The deportation operation appears to be a false show now while they make use of this labor force brought illegally by their political enemies.
-3
u/Lost_soul_ryan 14d ago
Honestly this is why I've always stayed in the middle, I honestly feel theu work together in the long run to benefit each other, all while playing games with us.
-2
u/Lazarous86 14d ago
I honesty think there was a deep state issue before Trump. There is no way they included him. That is why even the Republicans hated him at first and did everything they could to promote other candidates that actually lost. Problem is, Trump saw what could be accomplished and is creating the MAGA path. The pro war conservatives are dying or losing positions of power.
There is no way a deep state politician wants to downsize the government. Love him or hate him, Trump is not in that inner circle, but he's also trying to form a new one as his legacy.
5
u/crippling_altacct 14d ago
Really? NO doubt the Democrats will do well? Did you see the last election? I have a lot of doubt. Democrats have an apathy problem.
6
u/CookieRelevant 14d ago
Its been over for longer than a decade. Large systems just take a long time to collapse.
4
u/NickleVick 14d ago
If you're talking about the American experiment... Then yes. Welcome to living through the end.
9
u/RandoScando 14d ago
I agree with everything you’re saying. I’m an elder millennial. There was always that guy or gal in every friend group in the 90s who was into conspiracies. But they were more entertaining than anything else. And they sure as shit weren’t mainstream. The thing is, people at that time believed in things like alien visitation, or Bigfoot, or that the government was testing mind control on civilians and government employees with hallucinogens.
The silly ones like Bigfoot are not something that you can disprove, so whatever. MK Ultra turned out to be a real thing.
Things now are INSTANTLY disprovable, especially with the advent of the internet. 5G virus transmission… cmon. That’s just being lazy. Liberal pedophile rings… not a shred of evidence to support that.
As an aside, yeah, tallow French fries are worse for you, but they taste so much better. McDonald’s fries used to be like crack prior to when they changed to vegetable oil.
-1
u/Lazarous86 14d ago
Yeah, but tallow is actually better because it's not an inflammatory oil. Any seed oils are shit for your body, especially your heart. Tallow vs the others actually has similar calories and contains soluble vitamins A, D, and K2. It's just a better oil.
4
5
u/DragonSurferEGO 14d ago
We are absolutely in decline as a nation and society. We’ve been in decline since 9/11 but the bell curve of the rise and fall of civilization reflects a gradual decline at the start. It’s only now when the decline is picking up momentum that it’s becoming more obvious.
Regardless of what the democrats can muster in the next election the damage has been done especially on the international stage. Europe is shifting their thinking to a post America mindset. NATO will shift away from us and the leader of the free world. Our backing of Russia and Trump’s mafia like behavior with Ukraine and Canada has undone decades of trust and reliability.
5
u/austxsun 14d ago
It always swings back and forth. The problems of today will be solved by the youth who grow up understanding them best.
4
3
3
u/AustinFlosstin 14d ago
Really tho most folks I run into have the same issue. No criticial thinking skills and cookin sense. They also don’t pay attention to the news. A lot have no attention span and are tik tok people. Just my observation.
3
u/DistillateMedia 14d ago
I believe we're on the brink, but that ultimately our current situation will evolve into a new era or understanding and progress. We're gonna get a dose of fascism, followed by a kind of second revolution, then we'll make progress.
That's the plan, anyway.
3
u/vegetariangardener 14d ago
read "the anxious generation" by johnathan haidt. many of your answers are there.
tl;dr: it's social media and smart phones
3
4
6
u/jamiegc1 14d ago
What good does electing Democrats in next few elections (assuming we still have those in future) if the ones we have won’t do anything concrete to actually slow or stop Trump?
2
u/Lost_soul_ryan 14d ago
No not at all.. and unless the DNC can get on the same page it's going to be more then a couple elections.
2
2
u/GamingGalore64 14d ago
I saw this coming decades ago. It’s the education system. I don’t know when exactly it happened, but the public education system has been broken for decades. Until we fix that America’s decline will continue.
2
u/femininePP420 14d ago
I think part of me knew it was all over when a third of the country was convinced covering your mouth no longer prevents the spread of respiratory illness, a lesson I originally learned in preschool.
2
u/BreatheDeep1122 14d ago
We’ve been dumbed down since Reagan. They played the long game defunding the schools and packing the courts with right-wing judges. Mitch McConnell is a hugely responsible for the mess we find ourselves in. That, and right-wing media. This has all been foreseeable.
2
u/Flashy_Hearing4773 13d ago
It's been over for decades, people are so pathetically dumb in the US they're just now starting to realize it. It's a privatized fascist empire that's completely falling apart and has been for a long time now. Get ready for even more wars and poverty.
2
u/theextraolive 13d ago
I keep trying to convince my husband that we need to get the hell out NOW, and he maintains that because Trump and MAGA are "bad for business" the Oligarchs will not allow them to keep power for too much longer.
If we really wanted America to be run like a business, we would make people take tests for voting rights. You should need a basic understanding of history, economics, and basics of both print and media literacy in order to qualify.
Education classes and testing should be offered at the local library--everone can take the classes and test as many times as they need to, but you have to pass...and there should be essay sections in which TRUE LEARNING is demonstrated.
2
u/Marowski 12d ago
When I went to my local community college, I had to take a course that basically an orientation to being in college, but by this time I had been going for a couple years part time. It wasn't even 4 credits, it was like 1.
That said, the major takeaway I had from that class was how to check sources. What is something you can reliably trust to definitely question it.
I've taught my daughter the same.
Sadly I used this many years ago in the prelude to Trump's first term. A friend posted on FB about something like(an example because I can't remember exactly what it was) Obama's administration was working with FEMA to round up X group of people. And it was a conservative news site that had the article. Well when you go to the link provided in the article, it went to a blog post of some conspiracy nut's opinion. I pointed this out to my 'friend' and they and others proceeded to spew venom that I was a libtard, etc, etc.
That part of the course needs to be required learning before even Algebra is taught in school.
2
u/chapopanda 14d ago
Critical thinking should be considered a skill that you can lose. I’ve had conversations with friends whose ideas were so surface level and they just repeated what they heard from their fox&friends channel.
2
2
u/isaypotatoyousay 14d ago
I had an extremely intelligent friend that’s a nurse practitioner ask me “what’s a tariff” and I almost fell off the balcony we were sitting on. We’re so fucked.
3
u/ZootAllures9111 14d ago
Never give up. Push back in every way you can, every day, for as long as necessary. Defeatism and doomerism is exactly what they're trying to inspire, do not let them get in your head. I like to go out of my way to point out the lies of right wing propaganda accounts on Twitter / X as often as possible, for example, just to do even a little bit to stymie the growth of it as a non-stop right wing propaganda factory.
TLDR I downvote every single doomer "wHaT 2028 eLeCtIoNs" sort of comment I see on Reddit, and so should you. Even entertaining ideas like this is actively beneficial to the people who really want it to happen. There is no upside to this sort of attitude.
1
u/ThatCharmedGyal 14d ago
I don't even care anymore. If people don't vote in the midterms and/or didn't vote for state in the last election and only presidential, that is on them and I don't feel sorry for them one bit. Oh well.
1
u/Kr0mb0pulousMik3l 14d ago
This union will not end in our lifetimes nor will it deteriorate into a new form in that same time
1
1
u/unknown_authority 14d ago
Ensorcell is a beautiful description of what’s going on, honestly. Some of the most educated people I’ve known somehow drank the kool-aid. It’s such a bizarre phenomenon. Seriously, wtf man? This is stuff I can expect from my own right wing family, which is hilarious because I remember my mother talking about how awful Trump is when I was a kid. It’s so weird.
1
u/pzavlaris 14d ago
Actually, a lot of what is happening politically at this moment is typical in America history. We tend to hit these cycles every 50 years or so where our political consensus falls apart. It’s a very similar environment each time where our politics doesn’t have answers to our challenges. Our leaders become disconnected from the people. We lose faith in our sense making institutions and become more conspiratorial. Usually, a new communication technology is seen as a catalyst (print press, radio, tv, now social media). We have always come out the other side better. What concerns me is that generally we get our shit together in the face of an existential crisis (civil war, WWII, Vietnam). I’m really hoping we can avoid that part this time.
1
u/GreenKnight1988 14d ago
We are living in the times of idiocracy, but quit behaving like “chicken little”. The sky is not falling, yet
1
u/FearTheChive 13d ago
No, and anyone who thinks this way really doesn't have a good concept of reality. I swear the internet has created way too many doomsayers.
1
u/mikeporterinmd 13d ago
It’s about regaining thought and thinking. Most people don’t want to. Or their fear is running away with their thought processes. Turning away from social media isn’t really the answer. Thinking helps a lot. Why should I miss the photos my niece’s post of their kids? I can just unfollow that crackpot neighbor. I can still be friends with them, but not listen to the nonsense.
1
1
u/TooLittleMSG 13d ago
The America we knew is definitely gone, continue to think critically and start adjusting.
1
u/bobnifty76 13d ago
Not to bring you down further, I agree that Democrats would do well in the next couple of elections
But I don't agree that we'll necessarily have those elections... It's at least a non zero chance some fuckery will occur
1
u/Own_Tackle4514 13d ago
Tl:Dr., but it'll be all okay, times are changing, technology is advancing at rapid succession, and we are living in a turning period in history, similar to the Industrial Revolution, just way more advanced.
1
u/Early_Apple_4142 13d ago
I think it's a pretty bold assumption that the democrats will do well in the next couple electoral cycles. They (and GOP) aren't putting forward quality candidates that anyone believes in, hence how we've ended up where we are now.
Second, the rapid dissemination of information, good, bad, or ugly via social media has made it truly difficult for most people to discern what is factual and what is actually worth listening to. Media literacy and research skills are lacking in most schools and with the prevalence of "media" outlets not just traditional cable outlets, but online only outlets, confirmation bias often wins and people just find what they agree with or supports their existing views and take it as gospel.
1
u/Gurganus88 1988 13d ago
Honestly the Democrats have no message anymore and are barely putting up a fight. I don’t see them doing well other than the normal bump that happens to the party that loses the presidency getting a bump in the mid terms. The right is still hyped and if they keep that energy which the left burning teslas is feeding they’ll come out in numbers during the mid terms and keep the loses at a minimum
1
u/smBarbaroja 12d ago
My wife is from a totalitarian nation, she said "welcome to the club" the day Trump was elected
1
u/SyddChin 9d ago
Social media and specifically, right wing influencers rising. I’m 32F and have an 11 year old brother, and my father does fuck all to really child proof his internet access. Before the election he was going on about how Kamala would do nothing but destroy Gaza and Trump has experience and can stop the war in a day. Turns out it’s TikTok and Joe Rogan clips and shit. What’s funny is my dad and stepmom both hate the guy, but he’s so exposed it bypasses him.
1
u/undeadliftmax 14d ago
SO MANY people
What do you do for work? If a cashier not too worried. White shoe law firm... a little worried
3
u/eggflip1020 Millennial 14d ago
I work for a giant movie studio in LA. Not a boss or a lawyer. Kind of a low level functionary dude.
1
u/KillahKupa 14d ago
We can't get over it, my partner and I. We have lost so much weight since October. People with psych issues are really gonna have a wild ride. 🥺
1
u/21-characters 14d ago
The first time I heard Turmp say “Fake News” I knew we were in for big trouble.
1
u/Drinks_From_Firehose 13d ago
You’re being dramatic. Take a chill pill. Youre letting the media spin you up and give you TDS.
0
u/jt7325 14d ago
Democrat polling data in the New York Times shows that over 75% of young white American males support the right, the highest in 80 years.
A cultural change is coming and the current Democratic party is in their way. Maybe an interesting time in history.
5
u/IHaveAZomboner 14d ago
That's what the democratic party needs, a cultural change. They have better policy but is just a bit out of touch with obviously the majority.
4
u/OkCaterpillar1325 14d ago
More dems need to be talking about this. If they don't win some of them back it's over. I think it's mainly from podcast bros making the right cool to them. It used to be weird to be a young Republican back in the day.
-4
u/jt7325 14d ago
To be honest I feel like blaming podcasts bros is missing the issue.
Just look at the white male hatred on reddit. The left has created a party that actively talks about hating white men.
The podcast bros didn't need to tell white men who to vote for. The Democrats have been telling white men who to vote for for 20 years.
8
u/AntoineDonaldDuck 14d ago
just look at the white male hatred on Reddit.
Lmfao. Almost no one cares that you’re a white male, brother. And the ones that do are loud and a tiny minority. It’s like the war on Christmas, a made up culture war for the media to get you all whipped up over.
Go outside. Talk to actual people. Don’t let the media run your life.
-6
u/jt7325 14d ago
Your attitude is why the left will keep losing support.
The key phrase on reddit before the election was "you can't be racist to white people."
The Assassin's Creed controversy has shown the world the culture war and leftist racism is real.
Europe and Asia are moving right. It's due to more than podcast. You'll wake up soon.
4
u/AntoineDonaldDuck 14d ago
The Assassin’s Creed controversy has shown the world
I can’t believe this isn’t sarcasm.
I get it. When your ego is as fragile as a spider web it’s easy to think the world hates you.
The reality is the world doesn’t think about you, my guy. It doesn’t think about any of us. None of this stuff matters. It’s all in your head.
You’ll be much happier when you realize that.
2
-2
u/IHaveAZomboner 14d ago
I think Trump is doing great. It's the leftists protesting and vandalizing everything that's destroying everything. Of course, it's not perfect but Trump is a heavy hitter and the president is always public enemy number 1. I don't think everything is what I wanted but most of it is. I'm glad we have sanity and clarity of what's going on in the office.
I know most of reddit is leftist so of course reddit is going to freak out and say I am wrong. There is no use in arguing about it here.
2
u/dreamerdylan222 14d ago
well I hope you get the same treatment as LGBT people and women since it would be delusional to think you are worth more.
0
u/TheRimmerodJobs 14d ago
The democrats already destroyed the country, so we can only go up from the damage they have done. At the end of the day we will be fine.
0
-4
u/IndependentHearing21 14d ago
I fear that the vision the founding fathers had for us has been hijacked by corrupt politicians on both sides. They have created a democracy when we were formed as a Constitutional Republic. They use subversive phrasing such as “Our Democracy” in order to keep us fighting each other. These politicians on all levels believe that they are our rulers and not our servants. Don’t believe me? Look at the fact that we are not truely a free country. Cacitus back in Ancient Rome said the more corrupt the state the more numerous the laws.
If you look at everything a 130 years ago you will see that the nation paid its bills using tariffs and the people kept 100 percent of their wages. Now you must ask permission to do anything from the government. Want to start a business, better ask permission. Want to go hunting and fishing, better ask permission. We are taxed to earn, taxed to spend, taxed on everything. Then with the money we do get to keep, they tax us again to hand it down to posterity. We literally went to war with Great Britain over a 3 percent leaf water tax and now we end up paying almost 60 percent of our wages in taxes when you add them all up.
The problem is that we have been taught and conditioned to rely on the government too much and now they think they own us. I furthermore do not support foreign wars that have no direct effect on the US and think other nations should figure out their own problems. I am an OIF/OEF/GWOT Veteran and too many of my friends that I grew up with have been laid to rest over bs. I believe 9/11 was an inside job, the war in Iraq was a continuation of some petty bullshit. Ask anyone who served if they trust the Government and they will say “Hell No”.
In the end I want to be left alone, but make no mistake, fuck with me and those I love and I will fight with an unholy vengeance. I have placed many skills on a shelf and prefer peace, but I have not forgotten how to wage war.
The media puts on a show to stir up emotions. They make us believe that the other side is one way or another in order to keep us divided. We all have the right to have our own thoughts and feelings on issues, but we have forgotten how to respect each other regardless of view points. We call each other names, and launch personal attacks rather than respecting each other’s rights. We would rather live in an echo chamber of our own beliefs than to do the hard part and open ourselves up to different ideas. I hope that we can move past this all one day and return to the ideals our nation was founded on, but alas I will get off the soap box.
-1
-1
u/Happyfiftysomething 14d ago
It’s not just social media that people voted for Trump. The other choices were horrible. Biden had no clear thoughts and Harris could not put a sentence together. We had no choice.
2
-1
u/ResolutionAdorable91 14d ago
U have no doubt the dems are going to do good on the upcoming elections??? Lmfao. I think I’ve read enough. They won’t even be around then. They’re done. Cooked. Obliterated. Welcome to the real world kid.
-1
-2
-2
u/False_Song_8848 14d ago
lol less than three sentences before the lib starts crowing about dumb everyone is and how much of a smart boy they are. that’s gotta be some kind of record. I’m fairly certain liberals would be happily eat shit in every election in exchange for like a plaque or maybe a tshirt that let everyone know they got an A in AP Poli Sci.
Also you don’t remember a time when the general public was so ensconced in misinformation and fear? You don’t remember the aftermath of 9/11? You don’t remember the run up to the Iraq war? You don’t remember how the democrats let the republicans trample all over our rights back then too? I guess Bush wasn’t a freaking cheeto so it was ok tho.
-9
u/Ian_Campbell 14d ago
Republican speech restriction is all on the Israel issue, nothing less, nothing more.
People made a large deal on inappropriate books with sexual content in particular not being kept in children's libraries, while they deplatformed all political speech.
Well now your opponents are in charge. You erased every precedent on free speech and eroded the entire public's level of empathy for your causes because you held everyone else hostage for years, and already took away the rights you're afraid will be used against you.
4
u/AntoineDonaldDuck 14d ago
while they deplatformed all political speech
For being “deplatformed” I sure as hell hear about this made up problem all the time. Or at least used to until after the presidential election and then it went away (because it was a made up issue to get people riled up for political issues).
-1
u/Ian_Campbell 14d ago
Many people were entirely debanked, a financial sanction. Particularly this focused on decentralized finance crypto founders, not rugpull meme scams but the productive projects being villified.
It was a bannable offense during the Covid years to publicly suspect a lab leak, despite scientists having privately ruled that most likely from the beginning.
Facebook deactivated entire accounts indefinitely for sharing the Hunter Biden laptop story which was proven true. These speech violations alone would amount to many billions in damages, and if you consider college campuses, not a single endowment would survive if the precedents used against the right were followed to police the left.
The Trump admin had all this handed to him on a silver platter, and he extinguished much of his capacity to operate and moral high ground just for Israel, as both sides do in US politics.
3
u/AntoineDonaldDuck 14d ago
Many people were entirely debanked
Please tell me who so I can look up the other felonies they committed that warranted it.
And. Yeah, they really ended crypto. Where else can we buy our Hawk Tua coins now…
It was a bannable offense during COVID….
That’s weird, the same accounts who became virologists during COVID and hyperventilating about Fauci are still there telling me my son go autism from being vaccinated and cheering the guy who’s now the head of DHHS. They didn’t seem to get deplatformed.
for sharing the Hunter Biden laptop story
There it is! Drink!!
We hit the right wing snowflake bingo.
It’s incredible to me how we traded the woke scolds for the aggrieved right wing scolds. Y’all are perfect for each other.
0
u/Ian_Campbell 13d ago
That narrative you repeated about crypto is precisely the product of the regulatory authorities. Before they were all in on Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX and Yellen was going to help regulate the whole industry with his corruption before it was ultimately exposed in a miracle for the world.
Anyway, since that time, any real projects faced unfair scrutiny, unclear securities regulation, lawsuits, legal prohibitions, etc. But meme coins with no value whatsoever, could freely do pump and dumps.
The point was probably to keep the brakes on the industry until they were ready to get something back like what FTX was doing, but Trump won, and even Larry Fink is on board with Chainlink and defi.
Woke scolds doxxing people and getting them fired because they won't take society down a suicidal and evil path, which we experienced the smallest section of and almost never returned from without complete collapse.
What you call right wing scolds, complaining that not only was the news fake, the social media platforms shut down legitimate dissent and people faced institutions all weaponized against the better interests of the people and nation while we all got robbed completely blind, unable to afford food, rent, and insurance while they bailed out city programs and funneled money back to their loyalists in transparent handouts.
Just wait until you see what FHA loan fraud does that makes it impossible to get a house now. There are huge numbers of mortgages now not even making payments, even being rented out without residency, and the government isn't letting that inventory back on the market.
416
u/noncommonGoodsense 14d ago
It’s social media. All this started when everyone got their hands on a phone and could be bombarded with propaganda on any circle they landed in. Without the critical thinking skills or ability to say no that’s bullshit they were easily fooled into believing these “influencers” bullshit feeding them interactions and making their bull horn louder.
Think back to when anti vax first started. Jenny McCarthy I think it was. That was the beginning of this end result.
We gave a giant platform and a megaphone to every single sociopath in creation to convince weak minded and weak esteemed people into following their every word just like fucking sheep.
It’s like religion on crack.