Unfortunately I have seen no indication that improvement happens. Before trump I could not believe we would have a president as stupid or irresponsible as bush jr. and before that I did not think any politician could top newt and then of course we have reagan. The trending direction is clear.
Right!?!?!?! I thought we hit rock bottom with Bush Jr and then this whole thing with Trump came along. I am starting to realize that it’s just going to get worse from here. If GWB wasn’t the worst then Trump will likely not be the worst.
You’re lucky Musk is born in SA, or he would be your president in a few terms!
Who says he won’t be? Constitution doesn’t seem to matter much these days. More of a suggestion really. Except, apparently, the 2nd amendment.
I was really gobsmacked listening to the Ultra podcast by Rachel Maddow about Nazis infiltrating the government during WWII. The parallels were so frighteningly similar to today, but in a way reassuring in that some things never change. There will always be schmucks in politics trying to ruin everyone’s time. The struggle for decency is perennial.
Yeah the problem is as trump came in there was already sorta an overuse of like hitler thing (and again by our republicans who try to normalize everything. My god the pictures of obama with a hitler mustache, ugh) and its like trump came in and the way he spoke and acted its like hes going right out of hitlers playbook. super eerie.
Well ok but you’re pointing out the authoritarian avalanche in the Republican Party, not American politics writ large.
I think people like AOC and Max Frost (and heck, Tim Walz) show that it’s possible for there to be progress. We just have to want it. Also we have to learn to ignore trump and his ilk instead of giving them equal time.
well yeah but that is what trump is apart of. Sure it will be better anytime there is not a republican at this point but its crazy how hard we have to hold the line since they are full steam best case corpo run cyberpunk future, worse case totalitarianism. This is why I feel we have to get to the point were they just can’t win in any meaningful way.
Just wait until the tick tockers and twitch streamers and YouTubers all grow up and become politicians. It’s coming faster than you think. Fidias just got elected to the European parliament in Cypress. If you are lucky enough to not know who that is all you have to know is he is a very annoying YouTuber as of… well now still. Its inevitable that we’ll have a Mr. Beast type presidential candidate pretty soon. I have zero doubt.
Then you’re gonna have a bad time
Anyone remember the internet before trump. Good times, thanks again america
I wish I knew how to program so I could make a browser extension like ublock that blocks Trump content. I’m fucking tired of seeing his face everywhere and hearing all the dumb shit pouring out of his mouth and contaminating everything.
I know all I need to know about him and who I support politically. I’m so done with him trying to monopolize everyones minds and time. Get out of my life you fucking lich.
If we don’t move past Trump I’m moving to the jungle and not coming back.
I can’t imagine we will ever have another president whose whole presidency is remembered by its scandals, terrible marriage, his coming out of nowhere to win the office, and the general incompetence and corruption. His slogan didn’t even mean anything, but people just went with it.
One Warren G Harding was enough. America won’t be fooled twice.
Isn’t Trump just a symptom? What scares the shit out of me, isn’t Trump. It’s that Americans voted for him once, and a repeat of that shit show is somehow again a possibility. Even 5% thinking that could be a good idea, would be cause for concern. 10% is “what the actual fuck America…”.
Remove Trump from the picture, and the issue is still there. The people who would vote for him, and the machinery in place that can convince them of it.
Imagine someone as vile as Trump, but not dumb as a sponge…
A lot of people are really quite stupid. On top of that, they’re in social groups (ie: tribes) that have shitty values.
Long term investing in education would help. So would things like removing lead from the environment, and fixing healthcare and labor laws so people aren’t so stressed all the time trying to survive.
Something like half of US adults can’t read at a 6th grade level (Snopes says this is basically true but there are complexities https://www.snopes.com/news/2022/08/02/us-literacy-rate/ )
He’s not just a symptom. If he was, they’d have someone else running they can better control. If we passed laws that news agencies are required to be truthful and neutral, we wouldn’t be in this mess. With the red states undermining education and fox “news” stirring up hatred, fear, and lies, you get a cult/base that won’t listen to reality or facts. When they’re presented with irrefutable evidence that contradicts what they’ve been told, they put their fingers in their ears and start yelling shit like "but her emails!!!, well Obama did (insert some random bullshit lie), Clinton did (another bullshit lie), or "what about Hunter’s laptop huh???.
They don’t care, they can’t comprehend what’s really happening and it’s mind blowing. I work with a guy that I asked why he’s voting for Mr Orange and he brings up points that he says the republicans are doing when in fact it’s the democrats doing that, the repbulikkklowns are voting against it. I point that out to him and he tells me I’m full of shit. I tell him do a quick web search, and he comes back with fake news and walks away. It’s scary and sad.
You’re kinda arguing my point tho, so maybe I didn’t communicate it very well.
If a character such as Trump gaining power can be considered a symptom, then the conditions that allow it is the disease. I.e. the points you make, with news networks not beholden to facts, lack of education and critical thought.
All of this is what I would argue is the underlying cause and conditions that are fertile grounds for populists. Also, just a little reminder that Hitler first succeeded on his second attempt at becoming a dictator. And unlike in the US, he was imprisoned for the first attempt.
I really just think it’s trump. he has zero shame or self inflection, or respect for himself, so he doesn’t care. he just lies and lies and feeds people bullshit. didn’t do anything, but told people what they wanted to hear, that news was fake, trust him not your eyes, and anyone not white is a problem. it was all the fuel idiots needed to “team up” and wear diapers. their boring lives now had a purpose and a team lol.
not that someone else won’t try, but they played all their cards, I think it’s going to calm down after this. they’ll still bitch and moan about a black female president, but fuck em, we did what we needed to and it’s time to let a woman, especially a black woman, mindfuck them for 4 years.
