When whatever conflagration that MAGA causes is over, those who survive will have a duty to record what Trump and his supporters were. No Milgrahm experiments to explain why people reflexively obey authority. No excuses about how Trump was so charismatic and could sway and persuade.
Nobody is being tricked or persuaded. Trump is paradoxically the most transparent politician in American history. He’s no great persuader. Listening to him speak is like watching a drunk man cross an icy street. The truth is LOTS of Americans fucking love fascism! They want people to be harmed and killed. They’ll suffer hardships, and take losses to make it happen. They raise Trump on their shoulders because he tells them what they want to hear. And they’ll happily hoist someone else up should Trump stumble.
Remember the Dominion lawsuit against Fox reviled that the network presenters were cowed and intimated by the viewership. All these years people like Jon Stewart told us that Fox news radicalized Memaw and Poppop. Maybe all along it was the deplorables that radicalized Fox.
At some point, people will be standing in the rubble of American cities asking “how could this happen”? Tell them Americans wanted it; Americans voted for it; and Americans gleefully held hands and jumped into the abyss.
People want to believe that deep down, most people are good. I believe this to be a lie people tell themselves. No, most people are awful and would fuck over anyone they don’t know if they do much as think it will make them better off.
I think you’ve got it twisted. People do awful stuff because they think it’s good. The Nazis thought Jewish extermination was helping. Theirs a Documentary on Netflix about German soldiers tasked with shooting Jews. For most of them it was a horrible ordeal. One of the biggest motivators for continuing was the thought that shirking one’s “duty” meant your comrade was going to have to do it for you. (one of the rationale for the concentration camps was to spare the death squads from PTSD)
I mentioned the Milgram experiment. If you take psy101 they’re going to tell you that that experiment proved that humans will harm each other for the sake of an authority figure. But that’s not true. Repetitions of that experiment that replaced the lab-coat guy with one wearing a military or police uniform and you went from the vast majority willing to harm people to the vast majority refusing. People weren’t obeying authority, they were volunteers who wanted to help science. They thought continuing a harmful experiment was their duty.
You’ve probably heard that quote from Fred Rogers about how when something tragic happens, “look for the helpers”. Well, it turns out that many of the people who cause tragedy think they’re helping.
Yes, Trump supporters honestly believe that the vast majority of undocumented migrants are criminals and terrorists. They honestly believe that the Democrats are trying to create a Soviet style dictatorship. They honestly believe we need a strongman to rid the country of people who are genuinely trying to destroy it. I know a bunch of them; they think they’re helping.
People are good, until they aren’t. That’s the trick: Creating environments where people become more awful, more quickly. Like upgrading your barracks in a RTS game.
I think it depends on context. If you’re brought up in a wholesome environment with respect and positive values, you’ll realize that living like that is better. If you’re brought up in a cesspool of fear and violence, you’ll think that’s the way the world is, and you’ll behave accordingly.
It’s not that America is inherently bad, or any particular cultural system. It’s that when a society doesn’t maintain its values and spiritual core, it will rot from the inside out.
The problem is our society has sold out so much of our community, our education, our values for convenience and corporate greed. This is like what the Right used to blather on about, but they’re to blame for most of the real depravity. In any case, we’re just seeing the fallout.
Bruh you cannot apologize for Fox. Their on-air people lie to anyone who will listen every God damn day, why would they stop lying just because they’re under oath?
Trump didn’t win the popular vote before and he won’t win it this time either. When he wins he’ll win with a minority of voters, with likely less than 50% of Americans even casting a ballot at all. It’s a very specific subset of Americans that are throwing the rest of us off a cliff.
When whatever conflagration that MAGA causes is over, those who survive will have a duty to record what Trump and his supporters were. No Milgrahm experiments to explain why people reflexively obey authority. No excuses about how Trump was so charismatic and could sway and persuade.
Nobody is being tricked or persuaded. Trump is paradoxically the most transparent politician in American history. He’s no great persuader. Listening to him speak is like watching a drunk man cross an icy street. The truth is LOTS of Americans fucking love fascism! They want people to be harmed and killed. They’ll suffer hardships, and take losses to make it happen. They raise Trump on their shoulders because he tells them what they want to hear. And they’ll happily hoist someone else up should Trump stumble.
Remember the Dominion lawsuit against Fox reviled that the network presenters were cowed and intimated by the viewership. All these years people like Jon Stewart told us that Fox news radicalized Memaw and Poppop. Maybe all along it was the deplorables that radicalized Fox.
At some point, people will be standing in the rubble of American cities asking “how could this happen”? Tell them Americans wanted it; Americans voted for it; and Americans gleefully held hands and jumped into the abyss.
People want to believe that deep down, most people are good. I believe this to be a lie people tell themselves. No, most people are awful and would fuck over anyone they don’t know if they do much as think it will make them better off.
I think you’ve got it twisted. People do awful stuff because they think it’s good. The Nazis thought Jewish extermination was helping. Theirs a Documentary on Netflix about German soldiers tasked with shooting Jews. For most of them it was a horrible ordeal. One of the biggest motivators for continuing was the thought that shirking one’s “duty” meant your comrade was going to have to do it for you. (one of the rationale for the concentration camps was to spare the death squads from PTSD)
I mentioned the Milgram experiment. If you take psy101 they’re going to tell you that that experiment proved that humans will harm each other for the sake of an authority figure. But that’s not true. Repetitions of that experiment that replaced the lab-coat guy with one wearing a military or police uniform and you went from the vast majority willing to harm people to the vast majority refusing. People weren’t obeying authority, they were volunteers who wanted to help science. They thought continuing a harmful experiment was their duty.
You’ve probably heard that quote from Fred Rogers about how when something tragic happens, “look for the helpers”. Well, it turns out that many of the people who cause tragedy think they’re helping.
Yes, Trump supporters honestly believe that the vast majority of undocumented migrants are criminals and terrorists. They honestly believe that the Democrats are trying to create a Soviet style dictatorship. They honestly believe we need a strongman to rid the country of people who are genuinely trying to destroy it. I know a bunch of them; they think they’re helping.
People are good, until they aren’t. That’s the trick: Creating environments where people become more awful, more quickly. Like upgrading your barracks in a RTS game.
We’re all still animals following basic instinct. When we feel that our “herd” is threatened, we get ugly fast.
It’s really easy to play on those feelings.
I think it depends on context. If you’re brought up in a wholesome environment with respect and positive values, you’ll realize that living like that is better. If you’re brought up in a cesspool of fear and violence, you’ll think that’s the way the world is, and you’ll behave accordingly.
It’s not that America is inherently bad, or any particular cultural system. It’s that when a society doesn’t maintain its values and spiritual core, it will rot from the inside out.
The problem is our society has sold out so much of our community, our education, our values for convenience and corporate greed. This is like what the Right used to blather on about, but they’re to blame for most of the real depravity. In any case, we’re just seeing the fallout.
Bruh you cannot apologize for Fox. Their on-air people lie to anyone who will listen every God damn day, why would they stop lying just because they’re under oath?
That they won’t do. They’ll simply blame democrats and liberals.
“Americans”
Trump didn’t win the popular vote before and he won’t win it this time either. When he wins he’ll win with a minority of voters, with likely less than 50% of Americans even casting a ballot at all. It’s a very specific subset of Americans that are throwing the rest of us off a cliff.