# You did nothing? Fuck you **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 14, 2026, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674 "2026-01-14T02:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/161 "2026-01-17T19:45:31Z")
Ostracization can be an effective tactic but not so much in the modern world. Remember back when it was a tiny fringe of people who would believe every conspiracy theory that came along, maybe like 3-4% of people? And if they started going off on their ideas about conspiracy theories, people would give them negative feedback and stop inviting them to places and generally not be their friends? Since people that agreed with them were few, they had a low chance of organically building up a network of people who thought like them, and they would soften their views and their actions to maintain their social relationships. In that environment, ostracization is actually an effective tool at deradicalizing people. In the modern media and communications landscape, though, these people can find those other people with similar fringe belief and create a community anywhere in the world. They may get ostracized by their immediate social groups, but that leads them into a bubble of people like them which actually radicalizes them further. On top of that, we have a traditional news media that is feeding people propaganda, a social media landscape that is breaking people’s brains, and instead of a fringe of 3% of people being detached from reality it’s now 10 or 15 times that number. We’ve created a world where being attached to reality or being decent to your fellow human beings is no longer required at all to maintain your social circle. In that environment, does ostracizing the nutjobs and evil people in your social circle work? Maybe sometimes. Certainly some people would be hurt by being ostracized by their families entirely. But being a kook, believing in unreality, giving your mind over to the right wing echosphere, and making Trump your cult leader activates a lot of the same psychological prisons that being religious does, and now people challenging your evil or your lack of attachment to reality is a test of faith. And so you probably view this ostracization as a test of your faith, a chance to prove loyalty to your cult over your family, which can make the whole problem worse. I don’t have a solution to this. I do not believe the reasonable, non-hateful people have an obligation to spend the time and emotional energy trying to win back the insane and evil people. If you try to do it, good for you, I admire that, but a lot of us just don’t have it in us anymore. I don’t think there’s a way to fix it. I think this is the new reality. Something Earth-shattering would have to happen to change the status quo. It’s probably happening in the US worse than anywhere else for various reasons I could get into in a separate post, so one option is to flee this pile of shit for places that have less shitty, less easily manipulated people (this is my current plan), but the whole world is getting wrecked by this shit. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/162 "2026-01-17T19:50:34Z")
I’ve never known _anyone_ whose position on anything changed due to being ostracized. Their whole sense of self is tied to their beliefs. Doesn’t mean I won’t ostracize them when I have to, though. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/163 "2026-01-17T19:56:13Z")
And once again, for those in the cheap seats: _“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”_ ― Carl Sagan ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/164 "2026-01-17T20:01:44Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Yes, make a silly joke, but anyone who hasn’t cut MAGA out of their lives is complicit. > > The steps that got us to this point: > > 1. The good Republicans will constrain him > 2. It’s not that bad > 3. This is nothing, ever hear of Kent State when four white middle class kids died? That’s the worst thing that ever happened in history. > 4. You’re being hysterical > 5. But we’ve been friends for years, I can’t cut him out > 6. He turned me in? But we’ve been friends for years Mostly a MAGA deals in absolutes. I will do what I must. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/165 "2026-01-17T20:16:33Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > this is a democracy Wait, what? I thought “it is a republic, not a democracy.” Thank you for clearing that up. ---
**Author:** ![TheTooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/919ad9/32.png) [@TheTooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTooth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/166 "2026-01-17T20:18:04Z")
How’s her golf game? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/167 "2026-01-17T20:26:18Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > So bottom line, I hate Donald Trump, but I don’t vote. And no, to officially answer your question, if I could go back and choose the vote, I still wouldn’t, because I don’t give a crap about voting. I’m never going to vote. I don’t even know about politics that well, you really want an ignorant person to be voting because here’s what I’m going to do if I’m forced to do it, I’m going to get in the line I’m going to flip a coin. A coin will decide who I vote for for president. I don’t follow the candidates, I don’t watch debates, I couldn’t tell you what they stand for. So in short, you have a preference for a candidate (or more appropriately, you are opposed to a candidate). And you’re saying that if someone put you in front of a voting machine, eliminating every possible obstacle, friction, and toil involved in expressing your preference, you will simply… not use the only modicum of power you have to express that preference? The rest of your post hints at some mental dysregulation or social dysfunction, but the above really clinches it. I’m not even going to rail at you, I think you are not mentally well, I think you know this is true. Irrespective of your choice not to vote, I suspect your mindset is harming your life in other ways, and I hope you find the will to do something about it. This can’t be a healthy way to live in the long term. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/168 "2026-01-17T20:27:52Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > Wait, what? > > I thought “it is a republic, not a democracy.” > > Thank you for clearing that up. > [@Trump calls Barack Obama the "founder of ISIS."](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-calls-barack-obama-the-founder-of-isis/762423/107): > > You don’t know people. There is a reason why this country was a republic and not a democracy. Please note this is one of Octo’s posts from way back in 2016. Maybe he’s evolved his political views since then? 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/169 "2026-01-17T21:05:12Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Well since we each have exactly one vote and this is a democracy then the impact I have on the process, electorally, is ~1/(number of voters). It would be exceedingly main player syndromesque to think that my preferences should have a greater weight. What I don’t do is get on my self-congratulatory high horse about how I cut off contact with great-aunt Myrtle while still lining the pockets of the CCP. What the ever-loving fuck does that have to do with anything I said? I made quite a long post and said a lot of things, and that pile of drivel isn’t responsive **to any of it**. To summarize again, the Trump regime is not “flawed”, it is an existential threat to the future of America and its neighbours and allies. American democracy is directly under threat and unraveling even as we watch. As for your self-congratulatory high horse about how you apparently **don’t** “line the pockets of the CCP”, I wonder how you managed a total boycott of all Chinese goods, as you implied earlier and imply here again. Your lame excuse that you’re not responsible for Trump is pretty funny, because even if you didn’t vote for him (and I’m betting that you did) millions of right-wing nutjobs who sound exactly like you obviously did. And if you disclaim responsibility because “the impact [you] have on the process, electorally, is ~1/(number of voters)”, you might note that the impact you have on “lining the pockets of the CCP” is ~1/(billions of individuals and institutions that do business with China). Apparently you really are a fucking myopic partisan moron, or just simply “right-wing nutjob” for short. What are you doing to try to save your country? Or are you doing nothing because you think everything is just peachy, if maybe just a little “flawed”? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/170 "2026-01-17T22:05:03Z")
The whole “I will flip a coin if somebody put me in front of a voting booth” only applies if I don’t know anything about the candidates. If someone were to do that at the last election, I would clearly not vote for Donald Trump, I would vote for a rock over him. But obviously nobody put me in front of a voting booth, so I just didn’t go myself and vote. Yes, that would not make a lot of sense if I already dislike someone, but still left it up to the coin. I do not discount your my having social dysfunction or mental issues, I have it in spades, yes… And I’m trying to receive help for it but, my lack of caring usually makes it so that I don’t care to seek help. What I think I have, and with the last doctor diagnosed me with, if you wish to look it up, it’s a slightly rare disorder named Schizoid Personality Disorder… Which is me in spades and I have pretty much every symptom of. One of the main proponents is a lack of caring and general apathy for much of everything. I was actually homeless until just a month ago. And at one point the department of social services gave me a checklist and said “if you do not do the things on the list you will lose your emergency housing in the motel we set you at”. A couple of the things were “go outside and apply at more permanent housing places like apartments” … Which I already knew that I would not do and refuse to do because I simply don’t care about it. Now you may think “but then you’re going to be homeless. You’re basically saying you don’t care about keeping your shelter because that is one of the things you have to do” Yes, I know. I have a lack of caring to do things that are even to my benefit or survival. If that is not severe mental illness I don’t know what is. So if I don’t even take care of things that remain me having a place to stay and not being on the streets…Why would I care about voting for anyone? It’s just not a high priority for me… I’m sorry. I wish I cared more but I cannot force myself to care. But anyway I will bow out of this thread now, I don’t want to make it about me or derail it any more than I already have. I simply wanted to give some insight on a person who didn’t care enough to vote. I’m not a fan of Trump .. or any of his people, or ice, or the situation with Renee Good and which I believe she was murdered… But for me personally, I have other things to worry about that are much more prioritized than who the president is. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/171 "2026-01-17T22:06:19Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I never used to put people on ignore but it actually makes life a lot more pleasant. I might know one MAGA. But he’s a thousand miles away. Brother in Law. Not sure how he’s feeling now. It’s strange to me that people seem to know so many. We NEVER talked politics at work. I don’t talk politics with my new neighbors. There are zero yard signs around here. I did see on MAGA cap in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago. Putting one on is just saying your a racist idiot. I guess it’s good that they self identify, but I just really don’t know any. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/172 "2026-01-17T22:10:45Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > But anyway I will bow out of this thread now, I don’t want to make it about me or derail it any more than I already have. I simply wanted to give some insight on a person who didn’t care enough to vote. I’m not a fan of Trump .. or any of his people, or ice, or the situation with Renee Good and which I believe she was murdered… But for me personally, I have other things to worry about that are much more prioritized than who the president is. You definitely have bigger worries, and I hope you get them sorted. On the bright side, at least you’re not eaten up with anxiety about things you can’t really control, which is something many of us might find a blessing. But of course it’s very dangerous if you can’t even manage basic self-care. I hope you’re able to get things managed. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/173 "2026-01-17T22:28:04Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I might know one MAGA. But he’s a thousand miles away. Brother in Law. Not sure how he’s feeling now. > > It’s strange to me that people seem to know so many. I live in a blue urban bubble. I hardly know any trump supporters out here, but just outside the county limits I see plenty of them, based on their bumper stickers and hats. And there’s an entire branch of my family in the Midwest who were trump supporters the first time around. I have no idea if they still are, but I assume so. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/174 "2026-01-17T22:35:41Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It’s strange to me that people seem to know so many. Well my husband is related to like 300 people and probably at least 90% are MAGA so I guess I know a lot. His cousin actually traveled to DC for a Trump rally. I live in a dark red county. My comparatively tiny family really just has my grandparents, but they aren’t really Trumpers in any meaningful sense, they could give a shit who is in office as long as he’s Republican. They are loving and supportive surrogate parents and that’s all I need from them. My mother last I knew was politically drawn to whatever reinforced her sense of victimhood and moral righteousness. She’s obsessed with forcing people to give birth ([seriously](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-bad-rambles-about-my-mom/1018671/59) obsessed) but she was really appalled by January 6th. Yet she also voted for Lauren Boebert and wanted to defend her honor when she tweeted Nancy Pelosi’s location. I can’t fuck with that anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/175 "2026-01-17T22:45:45Z")
I mean, half of the nation voted for him. Even in the bluest places like San Francisco, about 15% went for him. You’d run into MAGA folks just by shopping in any supermarket. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/176 "2026-01-18T14:00:04Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Thank you for making clear that I have no reason to further communicate with you. Before you go would you explain why you view your golf game more important than the rights of millions? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/177 "2026-01-20T01:17:43Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > It’s strange to me that people seem to know so many. > > Well my husband is related to like 300 people and probably at least 90% are MAGA so I guess I know a lot. > His cousin actually traveled to DC for a Trump rally. I live in a dark red county. > > My comparatively tiny family really just has my grandparents, but they aren’t really Trumpers in any meaningful sense, they could give a shit who is in office as long as he’s Republican. They are loving and supportive surrogate parents and that’s all I need from them. My mother last I knew was politically drawn to whatever reinforced her sense of victimhood and moral righteousness. She’s obsessed with forcing people to give birth ([seriously](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feeling-bad-rambles-about-my-mom/1018671/59) obsessed) but she was really appalled by January 6th. Yet she also voted for Lauren Boebert and wanted to defend her honor when she tweeted Nancy Pelosi’s location. I can’t fuck with that anymore. I’m right by NYC which is a blue bubble as they come. I still know plenty of MAGA people. I only need to drive like 90 minutes from the city to be in Trump country. I don’t have the time or energy to pick fights and ostracize every right-leaning acquaintance I know. Especially since I have to spend so much time around my wife’s elderly conservative rural MAGA family. As much as I may want to (which is usually when they make stupid comments around my kids), it’s like arguing with the whip cream on a slice of blueberry pie. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/178 "2026-01-20T01:20:25Z")
SDMB: fascism’s golfing buddy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/179 "2026-01-20T07:04:06Z")
You may. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2026, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674/180 "2026-01-20T13:22:10Z")
“Ever bought a picture that you knew was fake?” “No, but I’ve sold a couple.” “The more you paid for it, the more you convince yourself it’s genuine. “ _(Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-did-nothing-fuck-you/1026674.md?page=8)