# Now what should people on the left do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778 "2024-11-06T12:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/161 "2024-11-07T01:49:49Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What do you do with a voter who says immigration in his biggest issue, then votes for the guy who killed the border bill? You hammer home the point, again and again, that if you want to sort through the asylum seekers and send home the ones who shouldn’t be here, Kamala’s your gal. Or, alternatively, I guess you can try to kill him, and lock him up in a reeducation camps if he survives. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/162 "2024-11-07T01:58:12Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Or, alternatively, I guess you can try to kill him, and lock him up in a reeducation camps if he survives. Reeducation requires education as a prerequisite. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/163 "2024-11-07T01:59:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s why I’m saying, blue states need to prepare for violence, up to and including civil war Aha, something to get this thread back on track! What do you foresee being necessary, both on the state and individual level? Seems kind of silly to work to feed my IRA if a civil war is in the offing; money will be worthless then. But I can still envision less intrusive actions. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/164 "2024-11-07T02:03:35Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > You hammer home the point, again and again, that if you want to sort through the asylum seekers and send home the ones who shouldn’t be here, Kamala’s your gal. We. Did. That. They didn’t care. Trump offered them a better story, and they liked the narrative where the Democrats were wrong more than they liked actually fixing the issues they claim to care about. > [@Babale](#): > > Or, alternatively, I guess you can try to kill him, and lock him up in a reeducation camps if he survives. Trump literally ran on a platform of political retribution, _won handily_, and you’re giving me static for being concerned about political retribution? ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/165 "2024-11-07T02:29:13Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > A long lonely life with a lot of company? Sounds okay to me. you sound like a militant vegan who believes anyone who eats meat is a killer and an evil person. Sure, you can believe that the mere fact that someone voted for Trump makes them a terrible person, and even find comfort in like-minded people. It doesn’t mean you are right and it seems like a miserable way to go through life; angry, fearful, and filled with hate for a large portion of the population. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/166 "2024-11-07T02:37:22Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > Sure, you can believe that the mere fact that someone voted for Trump makes them a terrible person, and even find comfort in like-minded people. It doesn’t mean you are right and it seems like a miserable way to go through life; angry, fearful, and filled with hate for a large portion of the population. That’s absurd; Trump and his followers openly want to oppress and hurt vast numbers of people. We just have to listen to what they say to _know_ we are right about how hostile they are, and there’s a concept called “self preservation”. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/167 "2024-11-07T02:47:28Z")
I live in an area in Ohio where lots of folksy, low-income people live. They used to vote vote Democrat. But now they vote Republican. You need to study on why they switched. And it’s not because of racism or sexism or whatever. And when you discover the reason they’ve switched, there may be some hope for the Democratic Party. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/168 "2024-11-07T02:50:14Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That’s absurd; Trump and his followers openly want to oppress and hurt vast numbers of people. We just have to listen to what they say to _know_ we are right about how hostile they are, and there’s a concept called “self preservation”. hey friend, let’s make a deal. You continue in your blanket judgement of 70+ million people. I won’t try to convince you of the rashness of your unquestioned conviction in the evilness of these people as long as you don’t try to convince me of its rationality, ok? ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/169 "2024-11-07T08:28:15Z")
I saw the posts listing organisations to support, like Planned Parenthood, but honestly I think you’re going to need more of an underground railroad to help women get necessary healthcare. Planned Parenthood will presumably follow the law but if a law is unjust you must disobey it. It’s surprising me in the Netherlands how people no longer resist injustice the way they used to. We have a housing crisis, caused by the centre right not building enough. As always, there are buildings sitting empty that the rich use to speculate. In the '80s, there was a big squatting movement and they were feared. There were riots that came close to civil war. The housing crisis now is worse and the extreem right is scapegoating immigrants and… nothing. We’re quietly going into that good night? Resistance will mean not obeying unjust laws. I hope you will find ways of helping women, regardless of the law. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2024, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/170 "2024-11-08T13:37:47Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [FreakinLiberal posts and his thread: Why no “introduce yourself” section?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakinliberal-posts-and-his-thread-why-no-introduce-yourself-section/1009850/24) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/171 "2024-11-07T12:00:56Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > here’s your answer, equating Trump to bin Laden is an absurd comparison. Let me repeat, it is absurd. You need to wrap your head around what is being discussed here and come up with a better analogy than that. But both have lead attacks on America: 9-11 and January 6. More importantly, you have said that we should try to understand where Trumpists are coming from. Why are they worthy of that understanding and not followers of bin Laden? Had you said we should try to understand both groups, I would respect that view (although I’m not sure I fully agree). But to only call for understanding for only one group that has attacked America doesn’t make sense. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/172 "2024-11-07T12:04:01Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > 70+ million people His (Trump) own (Chief of) Staff called him a wannabe dictator, a fascist. He (Trump) said he was going to deport “millions”. He said he wanted to use the military to round them up. He said he wanted generals who wouldn’t tell him “no”. He promised people that if they voted him in they’d never have to vote again. What special knowledge do you have about those 70+ million people that allows you to claim that they didn’t vote for what it says on the box? That they are not getting the Christian Sharia that they ordered? That they didn’t look at “project 2025” and saw exactly what they wanted? What special knowledge are you bringing to the table to doubt their word? When people tell you again and again who they are, at some point you should believe them. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/173 "2024-11-07T12:49:31Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > I’m sure that’s entirely helpful too. It is to me. I tried the “debate/reason with” approach for a long time, and I discovered that facts only anger those people. In fact, years ago, somebody at Fox News (I think) simply called her lies “alternative facts” after she was confronted, and the Trumpateers just nodded in agreement. It’s a total waste of time and a whole lot of aggravation, and it isn’t worth it. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/174 "2024-11-07T13:08:24Z")
Trump voters do not occupy the same reality as the rest of us. You’ve got [30](https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-24/a-quarter-of-republicans-believe-central-views-of-qanon-conspiracy-movement)-[50](https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/02/majority-of-republicans-believe-the-qanon-conspiracy-theory-is-partly-or-mostly-true-survey-finds/)% of Republicans believing that there exists a global satanic sex cult operating from the White House and they get updates via coded messages in anonymous forums. The daily rhetoric is insane. The misinformation is constant. The Dems need to work on preventing this group insanity before they can ever hope to expecting that the electorate will make rational decisions. Its like we are in the middle ages. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/175 "2024-11-07T15:20:25Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > hey friend, let’s make a deal. You continue in your blanket judgement of 70+ million people. I won’t try to convince you of the rashness of your unquestioned conviction in the evilness of these people as long as you don’t try to convince me of its rationality, ok? It may be that a full 70M people don’t necessarily _want_ to oppress and hurt various minorities, but 70M people did just vote in a president who has explicitly and vigorously advocated for, and pledged to implement, such policies and practices. In other words, they find the idea of visiting atrocities on their neighbors to be an acceptable price in exchange for the implementation of whatever non-reprehensible policies they _do_ want. What are we to make of people who would support such a president? ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/176 "2024-11-07T15:51:02Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > What are we to make of people who would support such a president? I guess that’s part of my question! If we accept the premise that they are not all irredeemable racists/misogynists, how do they justify voting for Trump. Do they think he is not being serious, and isn’t going to follow through on those statements? Have they been misinformed or are willfully blind as to what he has said? Are they so disgusted with Biden and the democratic political platform that they are willing to vote for ANYONE else? My point is that it would be helpful to understand those motivations (except for maga acolytes - we know their motivations well enough) both in our personal interactions (e.g. family members who voted for Trump) as well as a valuable data point for shaping future Democratic political strategy. And getting back to the point I have been making in this thread, instead of simply excising them from your life, understanding why those with whom you have a personal relationship voted for Trump can be helpful and valuable and cultivate relationships rather than destroying them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/177 "2024-11-07T16:05:12Z")
Can you explain what you think January 6 was? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/178 "2024-11-07T16:07:01Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > My point is that it would be helpful to understand those motivations (except for maga acolytes - we know their motivations well enough) both in our personal interactions (e.g. family members who voted for Trump) as well as a valuable data point for shaping future Democratic political strategy. We do understand it, though. You’re the one insisting that we keep digging to find some other, non-reprehensible reason to support Trump, while ignoring the plainly obvious explanation: They like the horrible stuff Trump is going to do, and want more of it. There isn’t any deeper mystery here. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/179 "2024-11-07T16:07:26Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > What are we to make of people who would support such a president? We can try to understand why we failed to communicate with them. Or we can write them off as monsters. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778/180 "2024-11-07T16:08:04Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Can you explain what you think January 6 was? An insurrection. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-what-should-people-on-the-left-do/1009778.md?page=10)