Trump will win again

Reason said:
Fair enough, luckily I barely remember breakfast most days so it's hard for me to hold grudges.
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I hear ya. I have a bit of a mild case of that myself.
 
noisebloom said:
He's too derpy
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@doppy just FYI- no criticism here, I understand loving a place and getting insta- ruffled when someone pokes at it. It happens- but just for orientation as a newer person, @Wyote is one of the most genuinely kind personas on here, he’s actually a rather inspiring individual if you take some time. He reminds me of Luke Skywalker with a little kink thrown in for entertainment. I recommend you take the time, you won’t be sorry. @Reason noticed me struggling as a newbie with how this placed worked and was the first- and within hours no less to extend a hand and help me get oriented. He can be a blunt instrument at times but he shoots straight and is willing to flex to accommodate other people’s reactions. You can’t ask an INTP to be fluffy with you. We have fluffiness, but we can be kinda lazy deploying the effort once we have gotten comfortable in a space. You’re supposed to know it’s pure observation, without malice. That’s one reason we avoid new people bc Jesus Christ- the effort toward orientation. Please forgive lack of concision, my point- neither of these guys are ones that will hold grudge or should you be weary of.

I wish these threads weren’t so contentious. I remember an America where being a Republican or Democrat was a funny thing to rib your buddies about. It wasn’t a character assessment. It wasn’t a forced Xenophobia about the other half of your country. I remember a close friend of mine, also a veteran saying to me last year, “How can you call yourself a patriot when you hate the president?” I said “I can hate one man easily and still love my country deeply, what I don’t understand is how we have all decided we are still patriotic while hating half of the country and hoping they are pushed down to intact an uncomfortable version of our ideals onto them. I personally will not be ok if this election results in the “other half” spends the following 4 years feeling as horrible as I have for the last four.” When did we get comfortable with that?

It’s unrealistic and idealistic I guess to imagine a way back to where Americans would take personal responsibility for the stewardship of our society. When you slap your neighbor hard in the face you may feel great and powerful in the moment- but it’s your neighborhood- you just made the place you live shittier, how is that winning anything? The end to this nightmare lies within each of our better angels and remembering- we ALL live here with exactly ONE share of being an American. There is no “taking our country back” on either side.

I loathe trump with the force of a thousand suns but I flat refuse to hate the other people on the other side of the political divide. I try to understand as best I can their point and perspective, their fears. I try to keep in mind we have allowed the talking heads of the extreme media outlets to give us only the most flagrant sides on one argument. So much so that it is almost impossible to understand the “other” as anything but stupid, evil, and greedy. None of this is true, or at best none of the pictures we have been sold are complete. It is true however, that if we don’t resist the divide among us we will destroy ourselves and take the rest of the world down with us.
 
Dopamine said:
@Wyote is one of the most genuinely kind personas on here, he’s actually a rather inspiring individual if you take some time. He reminds me of Luke Skywalker with a little kink thrown in for entertainment. I recommend you take the time, you won’t be sorry.
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No u

Dopamine said:
I loathe trump with the force of a thousand suns but I flat refuse to hate the other people on the other side of the political divide. I try to understand as best I can their point and perspective, their fears. I try to keep in mind we have allowed the talking heads of the extreme media outlets to give us only the most flagrant sides on one argument. So much so that it is almost impossible to understand the “other” as anything but stupid, evil, and greedy. None of this is true, or at best none of the pictures we have been sold are complete. It is true however, that if we don’t resist the divide among us we will destroy ourselves and take the rest of the world down with us.
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I paid a bit more attention to US news in the last few days, and the difference between the two platforms seems so stark.

I watched a bit of both party's conventions, and one was talking about the future and people's stories of rising above adversity, while the other seemed like a mix of nostalgia and resentment.

In terms of "production quality" it was so stark. In fact, it was so stark, that I had to keep checking to make sure I was actually watching the real DNC and not a youtuber's parody. Wtf, was that performance?20200819_190548.gif

Seriously? A cringey song from last century, with protest/riot imagery in the background? Who are they trying to appeal to?
 
@Dopamine I have no problem with anyone as long as they come in good faith. I can become abrasive and react negatively when someone comes at me in bad faith or shows obvious intent to harm and injure another person physically and/or emotionally. It can be quite hard for me to resist the urge to not react to it in such an angry and scathing manner (like punching a neo-nazi for example) because I think it's best to be rational and calm in confrontations and try your best to defuse them. I've become better doing this as I've gotten older, but I'm not completely there yet.

In saying that, I despise tribalism. I hate it and I believe people should be as receptive as possible and set bias aside. I have entire articles within my head that I want to write, but really have no platform. I've always wanted to put my perspective out there by writing a comprehensive expose with me taking a step back and looking at the big picture on what's happening in the world and not just this country. Basically elaborating on radical populism's effect on the world and the democratic backsliding & executive aggrandizement occurring in America and different countries. I may post it here in another thread one day if it's okay. I have a couple things I want to post actually. I want to actually touch on what you've just pointed out with the tribalism in our country right now as I really think it's really part of an ongoing bigger pattern that we need to do everything we can to break or we could be heading for a dystopian future, full scale nuclear war or collapse of civilization.

Anyways, no one need to worry about me causing problems here. I come in good faith and wish to make friends & take part in some deep intellectual discussions and learn other perspectives different from my own.
 
I like to think of myself as having my vote in play right up to the moment I set foot in the voting booth. But I'm leaning pretty heavily towards voting republican this year because of the riots and some of the things in Trump's platform.

In particular withdrawal from the middle east and plotting a return of American manufacturing from China. But really though, the riots are the biggest influence on my vote. I don't like them at all.
 
Just a gentle reminder of what administration is in charge while all of this is happening. Incendiary leadership causes people to be inflamed. Also, right wing extremists are the ones causing the violence around the country. I would like to have a president that doesn’t actively support domestic terrorists.

Having said that, I don’t condone the views expressed above. I can definitely understand your feelings and thoughts on it @Reason. I wish people didn’t feel in this country that the only way they can get the country they want is by force, fear and violence. When it comes to Black Americans, while I definitely don’t agree with sentiments of violence I can have empathy for the absolute frustration that they are expressing currently. I really miss the days when America wasn’t a constant crazy parade from either side’s extreme nut bags. <3 What a time to be alive.
 
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Dopamine said:
Just a gentle reminder of what administration is in charge while all of this is happening. Incendiary leadership causes people to be inflamed.
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This is a good point.

It's a genius switcheroo for the government of the day to abrogate itself of responsibility to such an extent that the problems they are failing to manage are associated with the opposition rather than themselves.
 
noisebloom said:
That's the problem with these slogans. Activists and politicians love these short, emotional phrases that seem to stir up such controversy. To be honest, it blows my mind when someone hears them and has a completely seizure over it... They're meant to be "dumb". Short and simple is effective, regardless as to how much information is left out.
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I hear your point.

But these type of catchphrases are being used (by both republicans and democrats, btw) because they resonate with people. And these people are voters. And politicians design their policies based on their potential voter base i.e. who they are trying to attract.
So these phrases have a bigger effect than I think we might realize. They change the conversation, always slowly driving down the conversation, (which affects policy) bit by bit.

(I mean, it would be lovely to be idealistic and think that politicians are driven by some kind of idealistic vision of a better America.
I just don't believe it.)
 
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