this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
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[–] ohmyiv 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The republican party is such a shitshow. Way too many of them act like children, yet these are the people that their party members actively vote for.

The guy the majority of them want in office has been proven to be a liar and a grifter way too many times, first as a D, now as an R. All he does is make threats, most of which he can't even act on. Why the hell can't they pick a better candidate? I mean, Christie is not much better, but he doesn't throw temper tantrums like 45. I'd also bet that he's more willing to be level-headed when it comes to policy. Hutchinson? Hurd? (Small chance on that one) But almost anyone is definitely better than Florida Man or 45.

(Warning: Rant incoming. Skip to the next comment if you don't want to read a wall of text.)

I strongly feel a big reason why so many Rs vote for folks like 45 or Fla Man (any R offical, really) are because they are made ignorant by the same policies they vote for. Rs vote to cut their own education and consistently rebel against policies that would benefit them because their R overlords lie to them knowing their R education system doesnt teach to understand the system.

An example is taxes. When Republicans talk about creating tax cuts or not raising taxes, they aren't talking about their constituents' personal taxes, it's corporate America, but they frame it as beneficial to all. The vast majority of Rs don't even qualify for those benefits, yet because they hear "tax cuts", they assume it applies to them. Then they get upset at Ds when their taxes and prices still go up.

On the flip side, when Ds talk about raising taxes, they're mostly talking about raising uberwealthy and corporate America's taxes. I say mostly because with fair taxes, a small portion of average Joes may see tax increases. But Rs try to make it sound like Ds are coming after the average Joe. The vast majority of Rs don't qualify for a lot of D tax increase policies. Rs try to make progressive or fair tax plans sound evil when it would benefit the country as a whole and their own constituents.

To compound the issue, it appears too many average Rs don't understand how taxes work or where they go. Too many of them complain about bad education and infrastructure but refuse to pay taxes which are used to pay for those improvements. Their R governments cut all kinds of funding to infrastructure and other nation-wide basics and they applaud it because somehow not spending the money on it will improve it. It doesn't make sense.

Remember the whole "underwater basket weaving" thing? That general idea was promoted by a lot of Rs to get people to stop going to college and look down on education. They know a basic college education will show that a lot of R leaders have been lying to everyone and working against their own constituents' best interests. And the anti-education propaganda worked. Rs consistently vote against their own educational interests. Ignorance isn't bliss, it helps people grift others.

I'd also go into religion, but that's too much.

It's still wild to me to witness the effects of the dumbing down of America in real time.

I'm not trying to dis average Rs because I'm not the brightest either, but at least I can see how R policies affect me and fellow Americans. I just wish they could be smarter and at least not vote against their own best interests.

How about we turn this into "Americans vs the government and corporate America" instead of "Americans vs Americans"?

Could it be because too many Rs can't remember what freedom really means because the education system is horribly underfunded and censored thanks to the people they elected?

Don't get me wrong, a lot of Ds also have issues and can improve themselves, but that would be too much to include here and I've already rambled on like the idiot Grandpa Simpson I am. shakesfistatclouds.tif

Sorry for the long rant.

[–] YoBuckStopsHere 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well said! I've looked deep into the minds of Republicans to try and understand why they believe what they believe and it comes down to lack of critical thinking capabilities, cold war education principles, religious indoctrination, and information manipulation. In short, grooming. They have been programmed to have faith in systems they don't understand, to blindly do as they are told through propaganda reinforcement, and told to not be different in any way.

[–] ohmyiv 3 points 1 year ago

Grooming is exactly it. I probably could have saved a wall of text by just using that term lol.

Religious indoctrination bothers me. The ways a lot of religious leaders perpetuate ignorance to keep people in their churches are ridiculous. Religious programming is a scourge to modern society. I understand some people might need it to help them, but too many use it as a crutch or cover up to keep doing shady things.

Thankfully, you pointed out the lack of individuality that comes with a lot of those systems. It's wild to see that people yell about freedom while forcing others to their own strict standards.

[–] yesman 3 points 1 year ago

The most important thing we learned from the Dominion lawsuit was that the FOX network steered it's coverage to appease the deplorables. So at least in this instance, it was the viewers radicalizing the network, not the other way round.

I think it's time we consider that capital-C Conservatives haven't been tricked or manipulated into being awful.