Not a development exactly, but the thing that has surprised me most about the Trump era is just how many of my fellow Americans are terrible people. Until he came along, I really didn’t understand how many there were.
I think it was someone on this board who said, in 2016, that if Trump won, we would have to face up to the fact that we’re not the people we thought we were. I’ve thought of that about 1000 times since Trump’s election.
I understand liberals just fine thanks. I never claimed anything like the “all” or “anyone” you post here, but irrational hatred of the rich is definitely more common on the Left than the Right.
Lots of leftists decided to abandon the pretense of being fact-driven and rational during and after the election.
not sure about that, but irrational belief by the disadvantaged Right that one day they will be fuck you rich and not need to pay any taxes is definitely more common on the Right that the Left. And these disadvantage Righty’s seems to believe that not having to pay taxes when they finally get rich will more than offset the fact that the majority of then will suffer with Obamacare scale backs.
. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet, two words for you “supply side economics”
nevermind, that was unnecessarily harsh.
that was a joke, boy, you missed it, went right by ya. 
I can’t remember the scene, maybe Goodfellas, Casino, Scarface, one of these testosterone movies. “I got two words for you, go fuck yourself” was the original. I thought it morphed well into supply side economics. BTW, point stands. We get supply economics 3.0 and it’s just as pathetic as 1.0.
Unlike Trump supporters, right?
I think I can agree with this. I am truly saddened by the many people in my world whom I have always believed to be good, decent people support Trump. So, am I wrong about the people in my life or am I wrong about Trump? Or, are they wrong about Trump?
The other thing that has shocked me is just how depressing I find all of this. I think that has really had a negative effect on my life.
You have to compartmentalize a little.
I’m getting Trump fatigue fatigue, honestly. I’m doing well with my life, I’m doing well with my work, gas costs less than $3 a gallon, my own life has not changed for the worse in any way, shape, or form, so I’m not going to fucking spend my days bogged down in misery and paranoia just because of Donald Trump. I’m actually having one of the best years of my life, by far - 2017 was misery for me (totally unrelated to the political situation) but right now I’m feeling great.
I’ve been following the politics avidly, but in a very detached way. I see some people on Facebook who post ALL day long, EVERY day, about Trump. They’re clearly suffering and they’re using Facebook to vent their frustration, and if that helps them, more power to them. But I cannot possibly imagine living my life that way. There is too much good in the world, too much good music, good food, good art, beautiful places to visit, interesting people to talk to…why would I want to think about negative shit?
Despite Donald Trump, most people in America and in the entire world are still SO much better off than we were 50 or 100 years ago or at any time previously. Life used to be unbelievably difficult for the majority of humans. Your crops could die; you could run out of water; you could freeze to death; you could drown or die of illness just trying to get from one continent to another on a ship, even if you were rich. There were constant horrific wars where people hacked and stabbed each other with swords and axes. If it was dark, you just had to deal with it, or light a torch or a candle. People were totally dependent on horses which consumed food and water and died easily. Women died in childbirth all the time. Compared to how we have it today, life just sucked balls.
Whatever happens with Donald Trump, we have an enormous infrastructure of convenience that has been built up cumulatively over countless centuries of human suffering. And that infrastructure continues to grow. I’m really not worried. Within living memory, Europe was a heap of rubbish after being bombed to smithereens during a war that Germany started (for the second time.) Within living memory as in there are people alive today who participated in that insane orgy of death and destruction. We have come a long, long way and it continues to grow exponentially.
Edit: the one caveat is that we have to practice proper stewardship of the environment, or there will be NO resources to build this infrastructure with. This includes the forests, oceans, mountains, and freshwater lakes. The Trump government does NOT seem to be doing a good job of this at all, but they’re not going to be in charge forever.
@Jacquernagy
You have a perspective that would benefit a lot of Dopers, I feel. I doubt many will give it much heed though, which is too bad.
Well, I appreciate the props. I just live my life one day at a time. My immediate surroundings and the people in my life that I care about are more important to me than the abstract concepts of politics and hyperbole.
The last time I said as much (on someone’s Facebook post) I had numerous people literally saying that I was the same as the Germans who lived during the time of Hitler - blithely enjoying my own life while less privileged people are suffering. Yeah. What the hell am I supposed to do? Organize a faction of underground resistance fighters? (If such a thing ever needed to be done, at least I actually have weapons - even though these same people are always saying that America’s gun laws need to be like Australia and Japan.) Every day my Facebook feed blows up with people either saying that we literally live in a fascist dictatorship that’s trying to commit genocide against minorities, or (the same people) saying that Americans should not be allowed to own any firearm more sophisticated than a bolt-action rifle. Which is it? Ugh. I don’t have the heart for this kind of ideological yo-yoing.
If you think that’s all public service is about, then the antidemocrats have won the battle for your mind.
An actual *defense *of ignorance? That’s something new.
I’m surprised at the depth of his pure evil, and the ignorance and racism of his supporters. To keep children in cages and blame Democrats for it is the height of both unmitigated evil and a total lack of responsibility. And his supporters love him for it, either because they hate brown people and/or they feel morally superior to them. He relentlessly chips away at the ACA and his supporters don’t care, even though many of them are going to lose their health insurance. And the “sane Republicans” are so terrified of his base of supporters that they watch impotently from the sidelines.
Contrast that with Democrats: LBJ pushed hard for the Civil Rights Act, knowing it would cost his party the South for a generation (and is turning out to be forever). Democrats voted for the ACA, knowing it might cost them their seats but also knowing it would genuinely help a lot of their constituents.
That second comment disproves the first.
The right wing has truly pulled the whole country into its own Milgram experiment. No matter what depravity comes up - the links to Russia, stealing children, white power, sexual assault, and so on - they eagerly rationalize their role in all of it.
“Please continue to support Trump.”
“Your ideology demands that you continue.”
“It is absolutely essential that you continue.”
“You have no other choice but to continue; you must go on; otherwise LIBERAL WOMEN booga-booga-booga!!!”
So far, we have seen how obedient so many Americans can be when the stakes are high.
Quite rich. But they did so once they were out of office. They didn’t use their position of power for financial gain. There’s a world of difference between Obama being paid $65 million for a book advance on his memoirs after he’s left office and Donald Trump trying to soften his trade position on china immediately after the Chinese government approved a loan to a project with his name on it. Hell, remember in 2016, how just the appearance of impropriety within the Clinton Foundation - a charitable foundation with a pretty darn good track record - had people screaming bloody murder, when there was no actual evidence of anything resembling a quid pro quo? I dunno, call me crazy, but I think you’re comparing apples to orange thin-skinned authoritarians.
But many people are worse off than they were even a few years ago.
Eventually the sun will explode and turn all of Earth into a cinder. But that isn’t very comforting, either.