4 ms·

After talking to a bunch of Trump voters over the past 8 years, I have heard a common theme. They view the policies of the past 50 years, driven by the 'unipart

by afpx 1y ago

After talking to a bunch of Trump voters over the past 8 years, I have heard a common theme. They view the policies of the past 50 years, driven by the 'uniparty', as they say, leading to eminent catastrophic collapse. To them it's existential problem and they only have one choice. Appealing to economists is the opposite of what they want, because economists look at macroeconomics efficiency which encourages globalism. They would rather be inefficient and hold on to their identity.

soco 1y ago
Then why were they promised cheaper eggs in the campaign? And no wars and and and? I'd say identity or not, there was still a serious amount of lying involved, which also tells me the identity gang is actually way smaller.
- afpx 1y ago
  Honestly, I sense that they believe it's all part of the game. And, if everyone else is doing it, why should they be at a disadvantage? I'm guessing here, though. If you really want answers, best thing to do is hang out in an area dominated by Trump supporters for a few weeks. Talking to them has changed my perspective on a lot of things. I don't agree with a lot of what they say, but I understand them now. They often aren't great at articulating their thoughts. They think in terms of macro-level complex systems. I shouldn't say 'think' - more like they intuit. They feel something is wrong, and they don't necessarily know why. You have to (kindly and with curiosity) interrogate them a bunch to figure it all out. I follow a bunch of them on X, and they seem outraged by some of what Trump is doing, particularly the pro-war stance. Hence the low poll numbers? [Sorry I really geek out on anthropology and understanding cultures.]
  - hombre_fatal 1y ago
    My family is mostly Trump supporters and you might be glamorizing them. Sadly, it's mostly just cult of personality which I figure you are graciously trying to avoid assuming. Tariffs are the perfect example of this. Trump announces tariffs? Good, we need long-term investment in domestic production. Trump cancels them? Good, they are just a short-term negotiation tactic. Trump negotiates a trade deal? Good, now we get a better deal on imports from that country. Trump says tariffs are back on the table? Good, we need domestic production long-term. There are no macro-level complex system ideals here. Pinning them down to one claim is like fighting jelly where on every strike it morphs into something else.
    - tim333 1y ago
      >just cult of personality I guess saying you don't understand tariff consequences and the like but you trust Trump to know what he's doing and make things great could be a reasonable position? I'm hazy on some economics myself but don't especially trust Trump to make thing great. But I did kind of trust some previous presidents to do a decent job without following all the policies. (Clinton and Obama seemed quite good).
      - mgkimsal 1y ago
        > but you trust Trump to know what he's doing In 2016 that might have been a reasonable position without digging too much in to his background/history. But we've had years of him in and out of office now, repeatedly lying. Lying about big things, small things, changing the lies, doubling down on the lies. Threatening people who question any of his lies in even the most polite/positive way possible. Why anyone today would "trust" him on anything is just... insane.
        tim333 1y ago
        But a lot of people voted for him. I think a couple of the main issues people voted for him on were cutting illegal immigration and cutting down on wokery and in fairness he's been effective there. If he just stopped with that and changed nothing else I think he'd be pretty popular. Sadly not though.
    - selimthegrim 1y ago
      I live in Louisiana. This is absolutely cult of personality all the way down. I have no idea what the guy/gal upthread is talking about otherwise. In 2016 I definitely saw ads from churches in Mississippi on local cable TV that were totally outright political advocacy combined with cult of personality. I was so astonished, I almost filed a complaint with the FEC/IRS. But to top it off, I remember very well an ad of Trump’s that said “I’ll make every dream you ever dreamed come true.”
  - alabastervlog 1y ago
    > You have to (kindly and with curiosity) interrogate them a bunch to figure it all out. The trickiest bit is navigating the, ah, information gap. If you don't listen to Mark Levin or watch Fox News, your interlocutor is going to teach you about a bunch of things going on that you had no clue about (and when you look up the stuff afterward, at least 90% of it's pure bullshit) and you're going to get blank stares or hostility if you bring up any of a wide swath of current events that you assume everyone knows about. You've gotta just roll with what they say and not do much talking, basically. You mustn't act surprised or incredulous when they make claims about things going on that you're pretty sure aren't real, you mustn't present counter-examples, you mustn't keep pushing if you try to broach a topic you assume is neutral and widely understood and they start to bristle at it.
    - afpx 1y ago
      Very true. I've found there's not much value in arguing or pointing out flaws anymore—it just leads into a rabbit hole. I used to do it, but over time realized they’re mostly operating from emotion, not logic. It reminds me of that experiment where a part of the brain gets stimulated and the subject performs an involuntary action—then comes up with a logical explanation for why they did it, even though they didn’t choose it. I think that’s what’s happening with a lot of these Trump supporters. They're reacting to environmental triggers without really understanding why. It’s fair to say they’re being driven by something external—though then you have to ask, what’s driving that? Who's driving us? In the end, they’re just human, like me or anyone else. We're all playing the Human game. No one’s really 'awake' or enlightened. After talking to enough people, I’m convinced most 'truth' is concocted, and no one’s actually in control. Truth lasts only as long as it’s useful.
somelamer567 1y ago
The 'uniparty' narrative is straight out of Putin's propaganda playbook. The 'uniparty' narrative denigrates the Western system of multi-party representative democracy and checks and balances, and equates it with Putin's monstrously corrupt and brutal one-party state. Unfortunately these fascist narratives are extremely effective on underinformed and unintelligent people -- and our enemies know these people vote.
- afpx 1y ago
  I don't think a lot of them view that as a bad thing. Some feel that 'American culture' is more closely aligned with 'Russian culture' than it is to 'Western systems culture'. Also, a surprising number describe themselves as 'Lincoln Republicans' and cite how Lincoln had to overstep his reach - to break the short-term rules to ensure survival of the Union. (Personally, I think they got played.)
  - pjc50 1y ago
    > Some feel that 'American culture' is more closely aligned with 'Russian culture' than it is to 'Western systems culture'. Man, those guys are doomed. This is what they're aspiring to: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/michael-alexander-gloss-cia-russia https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/michael-alex...
  - selimthegrim 1y ago
    Well, I hope they all discover the wonders of SIZO/pretrial detention very soon for themselves. Maybe we can rename Alaska New Vorkuta before we lease it back to Putin.
- lif 1y ago
  Unlike you, I do not have access to that playbook you mention, however I do wonder about: why are there are a great many democratic nations with (many) more than two parties, even with new parties arising and old parties diminishing. (I have firsthand experience with some of them. I highly recommend the experience.) Is it wrong to 'intuit' that those nations may have a more vibrant democracy than a system of two parties that are both beholden to corporate capture? Of course I will not be surprised at how asking this on HN will affect the scrip - oops I meant to say karma of course! - of such an inquirer as myself.
Braxton1980 1y ago
If they think both parties are the same or working together why do they exclusively vote Republican? >They would rather be inefficient and hold on to their identity What identity?
- Izkata 1y ago
  > If they think both parties are the same or working together why do they exclusively vote Republican? They don't. A large chunk of them were Bernie Bros before he dropped out of the 2016 election.

by afpx 1y ago

soco 1y ago

Then why were they promised cheaper eggs in the campaign? And no wars and and and? I'd say identity or not, there was still a serious amount of lying involved, which also tells me the identity gang is actually way smaller.

afpx 1y ago
Honestly, I sense that they believe it's all part of the game. And, if everyone else is doing it, why should they be at a disadvantage? I'm guessing here, though. If you really want answers, best thing to do is hang out in an area dominated by Trump supporters for a few weeks. Talking to them has changed my perspective on a lot of things. I don't agree with a lot of what they say, but I understand them now. They often aren't great at articulating their thoughts. They think in terms of macro-level complex systems. I shouldn't say 'think' - more like they intuit. They feel something is wrong, and they don't necessarily know why. You have to (kindly and with curiosity) interrogate them a bunch to figure it all out. I follow a bunch of them on X, and they seem outraged by some of what Trump is doing, particularly the pro-war stance. Hence the low poll numbers? [Sorry I really geek out on anthropology and understanding cultures.]
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  My family is mostly Trump supporters and you might be glamorizing them. Sadly, it's mostly just cult of personality which I figure you are graciously trying to avoid assuming. Tariffs are the perfect example of this. Trump announces tariffs? Good, we need long-term investment in domestic production. Trump cancels them? Good, they are just a short-term negotiation tactic. Trump negotiates a trade deal? Good, now we get a better deal on imports from that country. Trump says tariffs are back on the table? Good, we need domestic production long-term. There are no macro-level complex system ideals here. Pinning them down to one claim is like fighting jelly where on every strike it morphs into something else.
  - tim333 1y ago
    >just cult of personality I guess saying you don't understand tariff consequences and the like but you trust Trump to know what he's doing and make things great could be a reasonable position? I'm hazy on some economics myself but don't especially trust Trump to make thing great. But I did kind of trust some previous presidents to do a decent job without following all the policies. (Clinton and Obama seemed quite good).
    - mgkimsal 1y ago
      > but you trust Trump to know what he's doing In 2016 that might have been a reasonable position without digging too much in to his background/history. But we've had years of him in and out of office now, repeatedly lying. Lying about big things, small things, changing the lies, doubling down on the lies. Threatening people who question any of his lies in even the most polite/positive way possible. Why anyone today would "trust" him on anything is just... insane.
      - tim333 1y ago
        But a lot of people voted for him. I think a couple of the main issues people voted for him on were cutting illegal immigration and cutting down on wokery and in fairness he's been effective there. If he just stopped with that and changed nothing else I think he'd be pretty popular. Sadly not though.
  - selimthegrim 1y ago
    I live in Louisiana. This is absolutely cult of personality all the way down. I have no idea what the guy/gal upthread is talking about otherwise. In 2016 I definitely saw ads from churches in Mississippi on local cable TV that were totally outright political advocacy combined with cult of personality. I was so astonished, I almost filed a complaint with the FEC/IRS. But to top it off, I remember very well an ad of Trump’s that said “I’ll make every dream you ever dreamed come true.”
- alabastervlog 1y ago
  > You have to (kindly and with curiosity) interrogate them a bunch to figure it all out. The trickiest bit is navigating the, ah, information gap. If you don't listen to Mark Levin or watch Fox News, your interlocutor is going to teach you about a bunch of things going on that you had no clue about (and when you look up the stuff afterward, at least 90% of it's pure bullshit) and you're going to get blank stares or hostility if you bring up any of a wide swath of current events that you assume everyone knows about. You've gotta just roll with what they say and not do much talking, basically. You mustn't act surprised or incredulous when they make claims about things going on that you're pretty sure aren't real, you mustn't present counter-examples, you mustn't keep pushing if you try to broach a topic you assume is neutral and widely understood and they start to bristle at it.
  - afpx 1y ago
    Very true. I've found there's not much value in arguing or pointing out flaws anymore—it just leads into a rabbit hole. I used to do it, but over time realized they’re mostly operating from emotion, not logic. It reminds me of that experiment where a part of the brain gets stimulated and the subject performs an involuntary action—then comes up with a logical explanation for why they did it, even though they didn’t choose it. I think that’s what’s happening with a lot of these Trump supporters. They're reacting to environmental triggers without really understanding why. It’s fair to say they’re being driven by something external—though then you have to ask, what’s driving that? Who's driving us? In the end, they’re just human, like me or anyone else. We're all playing the Human game. No one’s really 'awake' or enlightened. After talking to enough people, I’m convinced most 'truth' is concocted, and no one’s actually in control. Truth lasts only as long as it’s useful.

somelamer567 1y ago

The 'uniparty' narrative is straight out of Putin's propaganda playbook. The 'uniparty' narrative denigrates the Western system of multi-party representative democracy and checks and balances, and equates it with Putin's monstrously corrupt and brutal one-party state. Unfortunately these fascist narratives are extremely effective on underinformed and unintelligent people -- and our enemies know these people vote.

afpx 1y ago
I don't think a lot of them view that as a bad thing. Some feel that 'American culture' is more closely aligned with 'Russian culture' than it is to 'Western systems culture'. Also, a surprising number describe themselves as 'Lincoln Republicans' and cite how Lincoln had to overstep his reach - to break the short-term rules to ensure survival of the Union. (Personally, I think they got played.)
- pjc50 1y ago
  > Some feel that 'American culture' is more closely aligned with 'Russian culture' than it is to 'Western systems culture'. Man, those guys are doomed. This is what they're aspiring to: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/michael-alexander-gloss-cia-russia https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/25/michael-alex...
- selimthegrim 1y ago
  Well, I hope they all discover the wonders of SIZO/pretrial detention very soon for themselves. Maybe we can rename Alaska New Vorkuta before we lease it back to Putin.
lif 1y ago
Unlike you, I do not have access to that playbook you mention, however I do wonder about: why are there are a great many democratic nations with (many) more than two parties, even with new parties arising and old parties diminishing. (I have firsthand experience with some of them. I highly recommend the experience.) Is it wrong to 'intuit' that those nations may have a more vibrant democracy than a system of two parties that are both beholden to corporate capture? Of course I will not be surprised at how asking this on HN will affect the scrip - oops I meant to say karma of course! - of such an inquirer as myself.

Braxton1980 1y ago

If they think both parties are the same or working together why do they exclusively vote Republican? >They would rather be inefficient and hold on to their identity What identity?

Izkata 1y ago
> If they think both parties are the same or working together why do they exclusively vote Republican? They don't. A large chunk of them were Bernie Bros before he dropped out of the 2016 election.