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> Some of the antisocial behavior Americans are seeing will resolve itself as the pandemic loosens its grip. In most of the country, masks are coming off, peopl

> Some of the antisocial behavior Americans are seeing will resolve itself as the pandemic loosens its grip. In most of the country, masks are coming off, people are resuming normal gatherings, and kids have returned to school. Doubt. Things have been "normal" here for a while and people are still fucking assholes. Being an asshole seems to bring more benefits that punishments, so I imagine people are going to continue to be assholes for a while.

s1artibartfast 5y ago
Imposing your views on others and forcibly controlling their lives has a funny way of turning people into assholes. I expect we will see long term political and cultural fallout for the way individual autonomy was steamrolled.
- bediger4000 5y ago
  Care to make a few predictions about what the political and cultural fallout will be? Because I can easily see a particular political party going full on authoritarian, but claiming "patriotism" and "constitutionality".
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    Further polarization and disregard for fellow citizens and consensus building. A decrease in rights of all kinds as both parties expand the scope of government into regulating personal lives and choices. Fiercer competition and extremism as everyone has more to loose depending on who is in power (because of fewer rights and increased scope). More people will feel that they do not consent to the social contract and view the government as illegitimate, if not hostile to them.
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    > Because I can easily see a particular political party going full on authoritarian, but claiming "patriotism" and "constitutionality". One party spent the last two years going full-bore authoritarian in the name of "safety" and "saving lives". They cheered on closing beaches, hiking trails, basketball courts, schools, churches, boat launches, hockey rinks, playgrounds, parks, campgrounds, public restrooms, drinking fountains, you name it. They cheered on police arresting people who attempted to do those things. The cheered when schools were closed for more than a year, leaving those in the lowest socioeconomic groups completely screwed. They cheered when massive amounts of wealth got transferred from the working class and underprivileged to the upper class tech workers and beyond. They cheered on closing small mom & pop businesses and cheered on everybody ordering all their shit from amazon. Said party claimed to be backed by "science and data" but took dramatic actions that were backed by neither. The political party I used to belong to betrayed me. They tossed every single thing they claimed to value right out the window. All political parties are hot garbage. The best you can hope for is both parties having enough sway to balance out the extremes of either one. It took the last two years to wake me up to that. Never fall in love with a political party... It's not "us vs. them" it's just "us".

s1artibartfast 5y ago

Imposing your views on others and forcibly controlling their lives has a funny way of turning people into assholes. I expect we will see long term political and cultural fallout for the way individual autonomy was steamrolled.

bediger4000 5y ago
Care to make a few predictions about what the political and cultural fallout will be? Because I can easily see a particular political party going full on authoritarian, but claiming "patriotism" and "constitutionality".
- s1artibartfast 5y ago
  Further polarization and disregard for fellow citizens and consensus building. A decrease in rights of all kinds as both parties expand the scope of government into regulating personal lives and choices. Fiercer competition and extremism as everyone has more to loose depending on who is in power (because of fewer rights and increased scope). More people will feel that they do not consent to the social contract and view the government as illegitimate, if not hostile to them.
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  > Because I can easily see a particular political party going full on authoritarian, but claiming "patriotism" and "constitutionality". One party spent the last two years going full-bore authoritarian in the name of "safety" and "saving lives". They cheered on closing beaches, hiking trails, basketball courts, schools, churches, boat launches, hockey rinks, playgrounds, parks, campgrounds, public restrooms, drinking fountains, you name it. They cheered on police arresting people who attempted to do those things. The cheered when schools were closed for more than a year, leaving those in the lowest socioeconomic groups completely screwed. They cheered when massive amounts of wealth got transferred from the working class and underprivileged to the upper class tech workers and beyond. They cheered on closing small mom & pop businesses and cheered on everybody ordering all their shit from amazon. Said party claimed to be backed by "science and data" but took dramatic actions that were backed by neither. The political party I used to belong to betrayed me. They tossed every single thing they claimed to value right out the window. All political parties are hot garbage. The best you can hope for is both parties having enough sway to balance out the extremes of either one. It took the last two years to wake me up to that. Never fall in love with a political party... It's not "us vs. them" it's just "us".