# A Perfectly Reasonable Amount of Schadenfreude about Things Happening to Trump & His Enablers (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 14, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537 "2020-11-14T00:09:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 381
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7607 "2022-11-11T21:19:56Z")
I disagree with your first sentence. You don’t have to be irrational and frothing at the mouth to be angry. And if you’re not angry at the injustices in the world and the people who would make them worse, what are you? Complacent? I hope not. Well-earned schadenfreude is fine for a while. Maybe it’s time to move on, to wave at Trump from the rear-view mirror and focus on the assholes who are still in front of us. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7608 "2022-11-11T21:24:09Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > …My understanding is that Democrats owe Generation Z deep gratitude for turning out in numbers this election cycle. Neither Democrats nor young people are historically big midterm voters. Yet they showed up. > > My impression of these young people who showed up is that they are very, very angry. They work horrible jobs and will likely never be able to own a house in their lifetime. They are furious at the entire system. > > Next election, today’s 16- and 17-year-olds will get to join the fray, swelling the Gen Z numbers further. Will they feel like they will be able to own a house in their lifetime? I’m going to guess “still no.” > > Eventually that rage will turn on Democrats, I’m assuming, but America is like a hoarder’s house on fire. It badly needs a cleaning, but first you have to put the fire out. Step one is save democracy, step two is tear down capitalism. (I’m imagining this is their view.) I AM grateful that voters in the 18 to 29 range showed up. I’ve heard the figure “27%”–as in 27% of eligible voters ages 18-29 voted in this midterm election. (I don’t have a solid citation on this yet.) 27% is certainly better than less-than-27%. But it’s not the tidal wave some are implying it is. (Imagine if 50% of eligible 18-29 voters had shown up! 65%! 80%! If this had occurred we wouldn’t have to be hearing about the deplorable plans of Kevin McCarthy or Mitch McConnell.) Anyway, thanks to the 27%. I agree with all your reasoning about generational anger and the effects it may well have on our future, even the immediate future. If a large chunk of a generation believe that the American system can NEVER work for them, that will indeed be seismic. I would like to see more than 27% of them voting in 2024, though. They could make a real difference in their own prospects by throwing out the pro-oligarchy Republicans and raising up those Democrats who care about an economy that works for everyone (not to mention, who care about climate change and other crucial issues). ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7609 "2022-11-11T21:24:51Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > My understanding is that Democrats owe Generation Z deep gratitude for turning out in numbers this election cycle. I can dig it. But if we’re calling these youngsters Generation Z, then where do we go from there? Double up the letters and start over, AA? Add a symbol or something, Z#? #Z? Oh, what a corner we’ve painted ourselves into. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7610 "2022-11-11T21:26:27Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I can dig it. But if we’re calling these youngsters Generation Z, then where do we go from there? Double up the letters and start over, AA? Add a symbol or something, Z#? #Z? > Oh, what a corner we’ve painted ourselves into. - I’ve been wondering about that, too. (It’s just another blow the generation-younger-than -Z will have to bear, I guess. Excluded from history due to failure to think ahead enough to leave them a label!) ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7611 "2022-11-11T21:37:37Z")
Yeah, you reminded me of something else that annoys me (I’m absolutely not saying you did or do this, but it was a keyword trigger): people who seem to think that any emotion besides fear and anger means electoral complacency, so feel that they must balance (or outright refute the value of) any good news with dire warnings about how much is still fucked up. Every. Single. Time. I still say that encouraging constant fear and anger is a conservative thing, and still not a healthy way to live. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7612 "2022-11-11T21:43:58Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I AM grateful that voters in the 18 to 29 range showed up. I’ve heard the figure “27%”–as in 27% of eligible voters ages 18-29 voted in this midterm election. (I don’t have a solid citation on this yet.) Very interesting. I wonder what the percentage was in 2018? If it was like 25% then yeah, big whoop. But if it was like 9%, then 27% this midterm would be a huge jump. (Obviously I’m making these numbers up.) Without context to assess 27%, I’ll agree that my first reaction is it doesn’t seem like a big number. EDIT: Holy shit, Google says the 18 to 29 turnout in 2018 was 36%, up from 20% the previous midterm. Looks like it then went down from 36% to 27% this election, but still above the 20% it had been before Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7613 "2022-11-11T21:48:25Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > But if we’re calling these youngsters Generation Z, then where do we go from there? Generation Yuzz. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7614 "2022-11-11T21:51:46Z")
So it’s words next. (BTW: I had an aunt who used that word when it referred to plural humans: “I thought you said yuzz were going to the park.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7615 "2022-11-11T21:53:23Z")
Sorry, I was referencing this. [On Beyond Zebra! - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Beyond_Zebra)! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7616 "2022-11-11T21:54:47Z")
It was words before, and it will be words again. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7617 "2022-11-11T21:54:57Z")
Oh, in that light I guess I’m on board till we run out again. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7618 "2022-11-11T21:56:26Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/59r5kNRaoLQ/hqdefault.jpg "Neil Young - Words (Live at Red Rocks, 2000)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59r5kNRaoLQ) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7619 "2022-11-11T22:00:47Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I can dig it. But if we’re calling these youngsters Generation Z, then where do we go from there? Double up the letters and start over, AA? Add a symbol or something, Z#? #Z? “Generation Z” is a placeholder, like how we used to call Millennials “Generation Y”. Sooner or later we’ll all settle on a better name. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7620 "2022-11-11T22:20:20Z")
Generation X never got a name. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7621 "2022-11-11T22:20:22Z")
Watching crypto just _implode_ in the same week Elon Musk exposes himself as a fraud, during a midterm in which the outcome is Donald Trump & Marco Rubio vs Mitch McConnell & Ron DeSantis while the D’s retain the Senate and, maybe, has a tied House… … I’ll be in my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7622 "2022-11-11T22:22:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > “Generation Z” is a placeholder, like how we used to call Millennials “Generation Y”. Sooner or later we’ll all settle on a better name. Zoomers. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7623 "2022-11-11T22:22:17Z")
Fuck those guys. Wait. Am I one of those guys? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7624 "2022-11-11T22:25:12Z")
The boundary between baby boom and gen X keeps bouncing around. I think I was a boomer last I checked but I haven’t always been. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7625 "2022-11-11T22:28:30Z")
Gen Jones. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537/7626 "2022-11-11T22:34:51Z")
Gen Yinz. I like the sound of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=380) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-perfectly-reasonable-amount-of-schadenfreude-about-things-happening-to-trump-his-enablers-part-1/925537.md?page=382)