TheOriginalGregToo

I'd like to make a nuanced correction to your statement. You state that conservatives believe that hierarchy is natural and unavoidable, and progressives believe in equality. As someone who considers themselves a right leaning centrist, I think you're missing an important distinction. I believe that good people and evil people exist. I believe that hard working people and lazy people exist. I believe that kind people and selfish people exist. You can never have true equality in a progressive sense so long as those two sides exist. The evil, selfish, and lazy people will ALWAYS prey on the good, kind, hard working. It isn't that we fundamentally disagree with what progressives want, it's that we think they have an unrealistic utopian view. Sort of like how a child will say they wish for world peace. It's sweet and well intentioned, but misses the reality of the world. As a native Californian, I can tell you that many of these progressive policies you want have led to increased violence, property crimes, and a general reduction in quality of life across the board, not just for the people at the top, but for literally everyone.

Obviously it's not ALL Europeans. No country in the world is a monolith. The governments, however, ARE representative of the general will of the people. The fact that the governments of Europe (again who are representative of the people) are backpedaling on gender affirming care and pausing things like hormone replacement therapy, gender reassignment surgery, and shutting down gender clinics indicates to me that the general will of the people in Europe is one of transphobia.

"Most American Republicans" are in the minority and NOT representative of the will of the people as indicated by the fact that our current administration is Democrat. We also affirm trans individuals by allowing widespread access to gender affirming care, flying the trans flag on public buildings, and highlighting trans individuals in mainstream media.

For the record, my argument was not a "whataboutism", but yours in fact was.

You sound like a happy person. I hope you get the help that you need.

Slavery is an absurd mischaracterization and exaggeration. If someone commits a crime, they should be punished and made to repay society for their actions. If that repayment means labor (cleaning on the side of the freeway or other such labor), then I think that is entirely fair. We all know the rules of the game, but some of us choose not to abide by them. If you don't want to be put in jail and/or forced to do compensatory labor, then don't commit the crime, it's truly as simple as that.

You clearly missed the point, but what can I expect...?

I have no issue whatsoever with you bashing my side. What I DO have an issue with is you bashing my side and then staying uncharacteristically quiet as your side does the same thing. Selective outrage is hypocritical and disingenuous. Even your response here illustrates to me that you aren't willing to suck up your pride and be honest. Rather than focus on the specifics of what I've said you ignore it and attack me personally.

I would never consider Trump my guy. That being said I think he was treated unfairly by the media and those like yourself. Y'all spent 4 years claiming he was a Russian Manchurian candidate, that he would clearly start world war 3, that he would imprison his political opponents, and on and on. The sick part is Biden has come much closer to many of those accusations than Trump did and you STILL carry water for him. You should be ashamed.

What does any of that have to do with inflation?

What caused inflation in this instance was the uncontrolled spending/printing of money by our government, and their mandates to shutter large portions of our economy even after COVID was shown to be less of a risk than initially feared. It's absolutely true that Trump was still president when it began and COVID was having a serious impact on our economy. What wasn't Trump's doing was the continued spending and closures well after COVID had been dealt with. We continued to pass multi-trillion dollar spending bills under the blanket of COVID relief which in reality had next to nothing to do with actual COVID relief. Instead, our government saw a once in a lifetime opportunity to have what was essentially a blank check, and oh boy did they capitalize on that. Take a look at Biden's baby, the Inflation Reduction Act. It's a prime example of this. Even now proponents admit it did little to stifle inflation.

And Europeans are anti-trans bigots who have begun limiting gender affirming care to minors. What's your point?

Who built the cages?

Don't be stupid. Theft is a crime against property, whereas robbery is a crime against a person. Nowhere in my comment did I indicate robbery, but I'm sure you knew that. You're purposely dismissing my comment by straw manning it. Someone taking my property with or without me being present is a crime and should be punished.

Let's be honest, if Trump were in office and inflation was happening y'all would be blaming him personally in exactly the same way.

Why does everyone on here treat "non-violent" crime as though it isn't still crime? Someone stealing my car is a "non-violent" crime, but it sure has a direct impact on my ability to make a living and to feed my family. Honestly, it's more of a slap to my face than a literal slap to my face. The criminal has decided that my livelihood doesn't matter as much as their desire to get high or hold down a job. They're maliciously taking the things that I have spent my blood, sweat, and tears to acquire to better my lot in life, and you're making excuses for their shitty behavior the entire time they do. You're more interested in not holding them accountable than you are in protecting the people that they prey on. Shame on you.

Edit: A word