FinnFooted

I find the 33/33/33 rule works. 33% of people just like authoritarianism during this period of history. I'm not sure if that's a constant or because of the current climate making people stressed and weird. But they feel safer when someone says they're going to take control and fix everything and they feel like they don't have to think about it beyond that. They will agree with anything their in group says because it soothes them. These are your cultists.

Another 33% are just checked out. They're stressed in the same way, but instead of turning to an authoritarian to fix the problem they just bury their head in the sand. They feel like they're too small to fix anything so why even try. These people sometimes still vote if its convenient enough and are complete wildcards when they do because they really have no clue what's happening. They vote on vibes. This is also where trolls tend to sit.

That just leaves just 33% of people who are paying attention and either aren't stressed and have the emotional bandwidth, have interest, or have the persistence to pay attention even when stressed to try and do something to stop the authoritarianism (even if that's just vote).

This leaves 1% which is the literal 1% trying to pull the strings.

I understand the issues with organized religion. It's just not an excuse to discriminate against religious people in general when most are low on the religious hierarchy and don't actively hurt or want to hurt others.

What is this, middle school?

Islamic/religious beliefs don't necessarily infringe on others. I'm not religious. But religion is more complicated than what you're portraying.

Treating people badly simply for holding a religious belief, so long ad those beliefs do not directly infringe on others (paradox of tolerance blah blah), is bigotry. Using mental gymnastic to say that the people themselves are not being treated poorly is disingenuous.

All these articles are pure hopeium. I check his approval rating daily hoping my country will gain some sense. His approval is higher than his first term. Half the population has has their brains turned to scrambled eggs by social media. And I get the irony of saying this on social media.

People are impressionable and the tech bros who control movement of information have fallen in line behind Trump. It's going to be a bumpy ride y'all.

Should we let perfect be the enemy of good?

This is the exact problem. The DNC get to watch Trump enact terrible legislation. The electorate will swing back to them. They then will then repeal all the legislation they don't benefit from and will look like the good guys. But they'll keep all the legislation that helps politicians pocket more money and humm and haw about bipartisanship making it difficult to change things.

They'd rather do this than have a shift within the party that causes the senior politicians to lose their crowns.

AI comic?

If you actually think gay people are accepted the same now as in the 80s then you're so dedicated to nonfactual pessimism that it's a lost cause. Is there still room for improvement? Yes. But gay people used to be treated like lepers by general society.

Also its blatantly incorrect that half of society wants to tear down institutions that help black and gay people. Don't get me wrong. It's really bad. There are too many hateful people. But never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. I think we both agree people can be very stupid, but really disagree in the way we see that play out. Many who vote maga are low information voters. But that's because the right wing runs a propaganda machine of the highest order that promises these people the fascists aren't the bad guys who want to take away peoples rights. Even then, not even half the population voted maga.

You're not laying out facts. You're feeding into negativity in a way that exaggerates things in a way that is harmful. For example, you just inferred eugenics might not be a bad thing? Serious wtf my man. You need to get a grip on your pessimism because its warping your mind. You're seeing threats in a way that you're horseshoeing into what you criticize.

Maybe they were being genuine and not sarcastic. I came out swinging because I was riled up by the first poster to be honest. If they're genuine, then I feel like a bit of a dick. Oops.

Yes. Its observable just by looking at culture and society now versus thousands or even just hundreds or tens of years ago and comparing it to the time it takes for even a subspecies to arise. And, as information exchange speeds up due to technology, culture exchanges even faster and society develops faster.

I didn't say we don't have in groups and out groups (tribalism). I say we have control over what we consider in and out groups. It's not idealism. It's not what the world could be. Its just observable fact. We've literally shifted cultural perception in the last 50 years on all sorts of in and out groups (black and gay people are easy examples).