Well, not necessarily just now, but the extent kind of struck me differently today.
I read all the time of leftist folks having to cut conservative people out of their lives. I’ve never had to do that, or even think of doing that. All of my immediate and secondary relatives, all my good friends, and all my coworkers are all flaming libtards like me, even my devoutly religious, raised by a pastor uncle. And it’s not like anyone involved has only lived in one area for all their lives; I like to think that we’re all fairly well traveled. But somehow, that acquaintance I’ve mentioned before is, I believe, the first time I’ve ever even had to confront the possibility in my entire life.
You are probably running into a significant number of closeted Trumpers at the grocery store, neighborhood, etc. Even a place like San Francisco voted 15% Trump.
And while your good friends are flaming liberals, maybe your not-so-good friends are keeping quiet MAGA views to themselves?
Exactly the same for me. I never have to watch what I say when trashing Trump around anyone I ever talk to.
(exception is my mother-in-law, but I rarely interact with her)
I feel lucky.
(I do expose myself to out of bubble experiences by listing to right wing radio frequently, when my blood pressure can tolerate it)
I don’t. I’d say a healthy chunk are some kind of conservative/Republican, or really just believes conspiracy stuff. It’s weird. Everyone in my orbit used to be Hank Hill and now they are all Dale Gribble with just bits of Hank left. Giblet-heads.
I adopt the Wargames attitude if anything political or what not comes up - the only winning move is not to play.
I’m not in a complete bubble, but I know there are people in my neighborhood who hold more conservative opinions than myself (I see a lot of them on NextDoor!). So, I don’t usually blurt out screeds in front of people whose political opinions I don’t know. Although my sister was surprised by one of our close neighbors that she’d always pegged as more conservative than not. Turned out that neighbor was a flaming liberal.
Well, that’s pretty much the definition of living in a political bubble… that you don’t know you are in a bubble because almost everyone you interact with thinks the same way and says the same things. It’s quite common in many parts of the country, and apparently becoming more common with some people purposefully shutting friends and family out of their lives.
Am I the only one who envies OP’s situation? My immediate family are staunch Democrats, almost everyone else outside of that (especially non-minorities) are hardcore Republicans. There’s no use even discussing politics in public as few are open to listening to opinions that conflict with their own.
I don’t mind conservatives, but Trumpers are not that; they are radical reactionaries. Radical because they don’t give a shit about the law and reactionary because they want to go back to an imagined golden age, when Rockefellers ran the place, n****rs knew their place, and labor unions were illegal. A real conservative wants to stop or at least slow down, any changes. True conservatives are as appalled at Trump as I am. Maybe even more. I will happily debate them, even if we agree to disagree. But Trumpers are beyond the pale.
The Republican party was once truly conservative; they haven’t been since Reagan (whose policies led directly to the current gross inequalities in wealth.
Today, I blocked my sister. I’ll never talk to her again. Her daughter in law, the mother of her grandkids, is a foreign aid worker who just lost her job because of Trump. My wife has had her salary reduced and will probably be laid off in a couple of weeks. Everyone I know is out of work overnight and projects are just stopped. I work for a not for profit that probably won’t survive this. These people are my family, not that fascist asshole I share some DNA with.
I think I’m the inverse of the OP, or maybe it’s just a very small bubble consisting essentially only of me. I consider myself a moderate conservative. Those essentially don’t exist anymore. The right is now dominated by MAGA types who have no time for rational thought. So finding common ground with acquaintances (both republicans and democrats) is challenging these days.
Shakespeare famously had a bit about killing all the lawyers. Oft quoted by reactionaries. What’s less quoted is the next line which amounts to: “With them out of the way, we scoundrels will find our takeover to be a cakewalk.”
First thing the evil ones do is kill all the do-gooders. Or at least kill their funding. The destruction of civil society and of sympathetic feeling for others is Fascism 101.
I think it’s unique. I think a lot of people who used to vote Democrat are being sucked in by the lies and rhetoric of the right (which is totally their goal) so people a lot of us assumed were safely on our side, or even people we thought were “apolitical” are now showing their asses. And since most of this whole mess is about “owning the libs” the more you show your politics the more these whackos like to push your buttons.
So, yeah, it is unique. And good for you. It’s great to be surrounded by good people who you can trust, and who share your morals. It’s so hard to lose people to the MAGA machine. I hope you all can band together to do some good for the rest of us who need the support!