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this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2024
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As someone who actively seeks out ideological conflict, I've learned that you simply cannot reason with fascists. Beyond the more general inability to reason people out of positions they didn't reason themselves into, fascism has no principles outside of winning and being the strongest. Truth is an inconvenience. Only rhetoric matters; spinning words into salient phrases that result in them appearing better than you. They will use tidbits of logic, but often in ways where they don't differ from their opponent.
US politics being divided right now is a good thing if you value any aspect of our system. Everyone from Cheney to Sanders agree with the liberal democratic framework that the US was founded on. Despite their wildly differing perspectives on what parts matter most, every president from FDR to Ronald Reagan was ideologically liberal. That held true for 200+ years, and then Trump was elected.
Trump, unlike Bush or Reagan, actually despises every element of liberalism. He hates not using power without the restraints of principles like freedom, democracy, or even free market capitalism. He actively undermined the interests of big business, which loves the status quo funneling wealth to them. However, the instability caused by economic woes fuels demands for change, which is easily co-opted by fascists who blame the other rather than the fat cats.
The end result is that Trumpism took control from the liberal conservatives that wanted business to win through the ballot box. He divided this country by rejecting all common ground politics, instead focusing on the raw mechanisms of power. He flip-flops positions because none of them actually matter beyond how they grant him power. He destroys the career of any Republican that have power of their own, replacing them with weaklings like Mike Johnson and JD Vance. Republicans are nothing without him now.
Trump supporters aren't necessarily stupid, as the smartest a human can be is not very smart, but they are beyond arguing with. If you can't accept that reality, join the Trump camp. He offers exactly the self delusion you want.
Yeah, thats all very much more likely than a large group of people just being sick of being forgotten and taken advantage of by democrats. It couldn't possibly be that there are legitimate grievances with that party.
How obtuse must you be to just assume the opposite position must be all insane people.
I thought you were the apple out of naive belief that people can reason with bigoted groups. But it seems like you are closer to being a member than an onlooker. That's really the point of the comic, isn't it? The apple is not participating in good faith.
Hmm. I see you read what you wanted to in my post. It's true that many Trumpians feel helpless and forgotten. It's true that the Democrats are mostly evil dogshit, largely upholding an economic system that makes people feel powerless and exploited. The middle class shrinks as the risk of getting taken out by medical debt, scams, disasters and predatory businesses with more legal rights than people. The Dems are owned by people who truly want none of that to get better or stop getting worse. If there's one thing Democrats and Republicans can bond over, it's hating the Democratic party.
The logic and actions of Trump's followers might be madness, but their emotions are fuelled by real problems they are right to be upset about. Even multimillionaires are vulnerable to economic ruin and destitution, creating a real fear that their lives are always in danger. Unless you have "fuck you" money, you'll never get enough to be safe. We're sliding deeper into the lawless state of nature, where it's everyone for themselves and your only right is to do whatever it takes to survive.
That's why they believe that migrants are coming to take everything away from them. Someone is coming to ruin them, but it's not the other. It's why white men so easily believe that women and minorities have it better than them. The only reason we're "stealing" rights from men is that capitalism makes human rights a resource of increasing scarcity. Fewer people get their human rights, but that supply could easily be infinite if neoliberal capitalism didn't only reward them based on wealth.
Believe that I'm a close minded idiot stuck in an echo chamber all you want, it won't change the fact that I'm addicted to understanding other points of view. I'm a sicko who faces bigotry head on and endures hatred that most are smart enough to avoid. Don't think for a second that I agree with yeeting apologists because I'm unwilling to challenge my beliefs. That's the funnest part for me. I only agree because it doesn't help anybody in most cases. The cost of tolerating intolerance is higher than the overall benefit in spaces like these.