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People don't always oppose larger social programs just because they want to screw people over. They sometimes oppose the programs because they think they do mor

People don't always oppose larger social programs just because they want to screw people over. They sometimes oppose the programs because they think they do more harm than good. Generally speaking, not a lot of people are going to change their political opinions in a crisis. There's a lot of confirmation bias going around right now, although some people may pivot and argue for whatever would benefit / did benefit / would have benefited them personally.

jgwil2 6y ago
Can you provide some data backing the assertion that not a lot of people change their political opinions in a crisis? Genuinely interested. In any case, in our system not a lot of people have to change their minds; just a few moderate voters in swing states could be enough.
Pfhreak 6y ago
I mean, there are 20 million recently unemployed people who are probably wondering, "What are the safety nets like elsewhere? Why aren't we more like <country x>?" They've just lost their healthcare. How can they not look at the rest of the world and say "Maybe they are onto something, not tying health care to employment..."
- TallGuyShort 6y ago
  Yeah they've also been paying taxes for years when they were working, and are now wondering how the CDC could be so incompetent as to send out contaminated tests, and why we're fighting foreign wars but also talking about mandatory service for veterans because of this crisis, and why we dropped $2 trillion on debt and pretend money and for every dollar that went to the people you're talking about the country was 3 more dollars in debt. The people who were concerned about this before aren't going immediately to think, "Let's give this administration more authority over my healthcare decisions! We should set a precedent that they can make it illegal for me to work and then botch my unemployment claims!" Let me guess: you already supported larger safety nets before this crisis.

jgwil2 6y ago

Can you provide some data backing the assertion that not a lot of people change their political opinions in a crisis? Genuinely interested. In any case, in our system not a lot of people have to change their minds; just a few moderate voters in swing states could be enough.

Pfhreak 6y ago

I mean, there are 20 million recently unemployed people who are probably wondering, "What are the safety nets like elsewhere? Why aren't we more like <country x>?" They've just lost their healthcare. How can they not look at the rest of the world and say "Maybe they are onto something, not tying health care to employment..."

TallGuyShort 6y ago
Yeah they've also been paying taxes for years when they were working, and are now wondering how the CDC could be so incompetent as to send out contaminated tests, and why we're fighting foreign wars but also talking about mandatory service for veterans because of this crisis, and why we dropped $2 trillion on debt and pretend money and for every dollar that went to the people you're talking about the country was 3 more dollars in debt. The people who were concerned about this before aren't going immediately to think, "Let's give this administration more authority over my healthcare decisions! We should set a precedent that they can make it illegal for me to work and then botch my unemployment claims!" Let me guess: you already supported larger safety nets before this crisis.