3 ms·

People with political bumper stickers are braver than me. In an ever more polarized political climate it's almost dangerous to declare a side openly. But then a

People with political bumper stickers are braver than me. In an ever more polarized political climate it's almost dangerous to declare a side openly. But then again, without risk, there's no chance for reward, and silencing yourself for safety reasons just reinforces the status quo as working. What a fun little nightmare.

exmadscientist 5y ago
What reward? I fail to see any substantial benefit from displaying my political leanings publicly. "Work Clean" is often sensible advice for one's public face. Though who am I to talk, I had a Giant Meteor 2020 yard sign up last cycle....
- pope_meat 5y ago
  Fingers crossed for Giant Meteor in 2024. It's a rather sad state of affairs when "destroy it all" is a genuine opinion. I've been advocating for a new political party that I call "nuke everything party" and the platform is very simple, launch all the nukes, and party until it all ends.
- dagw 5y ago
  What reward? I assume the hoped for reward is that 'your' candidate wins. I guess the thinking goes that if I am on the fence about who to vote for, but see that a lot of people around me that I feel I have many things in common with openly support candidate A, then I'm more likely to swing towards candidate A myself.
inglor_cz 5y ago
In that case, having just one sticker is probably less safe than having your car entirely plastered with them. The latter gives a vibe of a person crazy enough that you do not want to mess with them.
- Banana699 5y ago
  >The latter gives a vibe of a person crazy enough that you do not want to mess with them. Or provoke the attention of a whole squad from the enemy ranks, as it marks you as a high-value object lesson. Whereas a more moderate stance might be common enough for them not to bother going after every such person. :(And if they did go after you, you'd probably have the sympathy of the public and the authorities more if you were just a moderate follower declaring your allegiance with one flag than if you were a True Believer^TM completely dedicating your property to signaling your status)

exmadscientist 5y ago

What reward? I fail to see any substantial benefit from displaying my political leanings publicly. "Work Clean" is often sensible advice for one's public face. Though who am I to talk, I had a Giant Meteor 2020 yard sign up last cycle....

pope_meat 5y ago
Fingers crossed for Giant Meteor in 2024. It's a rather sad state of affairs when "destroy it all" is a genuine opinion. I've been advocating for a new political party that I call "nuke everything party" and the platform is very simple, launch all the nukes, and party until it all ends.
dagw 5y ago
What reward? I assume the hoped for reward is that 'your' candidate wins. I guess the thinking goes that if I am on the fence about who to vote for, but see that a lot of people around me that I feel I have many things in common with openly support candidate A, then I'm more likely to swing towards candidate A myself.

inglor_cz 5y ago

In that case, having just one sticker is probably less safe than having your car entirely plastered with them. The latter gives a vibe of a person crazy enough that you do not want to mess with them.

Banana699 5y ago
>The latter gives a vibe of a person crazy enough that you do not want to mess with them. Or provoke the attention of a whole squad from the enemy ranks, as it marks you as a high-value object lesson. Whereas a more moderate stance might be common enough for them not to bother going after every such person. :(And if they did go after you, you'd probably have the sympathy of the public and the authorities more if you were just a moderate follower declaring your allegiance with one flag than if you were a True Believer^TM completely dedicating your property to signaling your status)