4 ms·

There is a certain class of American that rides the knife edge between credulity and contempt in supporting and accepting the activities and intent of bad actor

There is a certain class of American that rides the knife edge between credulity and contempt in supporting and accepting the activities and intent of bad actors who pledge to get rid of the things they don't like and they people they detest. They're ever-ready to believe the barest of excuses and to hand-wave the worst excesses in this regard. Today's anti-woke are yesterday's McCarthyists, and history will note the echo.

MisterTea 10mo ago
> There is a certain class of American The selfish kind. Unfortunately that seems to be the end goal of the American dream: "I got mine, fuck you." I can't tell you how many times I heard the "protect my family" argument from people I never thought would vote for that clown.
- ido 10mo ago
  Also not exclussively American. Plenty of selfish assholes where I'm at as well, I suspect this is a world-wide phenomenon.
  - zimpenfish 10mo ago
    The UK is a good example of this over the last decade (at least.)
  - underlipton 10mo ago
    But people do come here specifically to be selfish. They like that they can be selfish here in ways that are socialized away in other countries. They like that they can even socialize their selfishness, forcing poor people to subsidize the rich.
- braebo 10mo ago
  They are typically uneducated victims of the largest and most well funded mass propaganda brainwashing campaigns in the history of mankind, to be fair. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. The perpetrators of the misinformation, however, know exactly what they’re doing.
  - underlipton 10mo ago
    I think this misrepresents the situation. Many of these people are well-educated and affluent. In fact, such efforts wouldn't be possible without the support of the wealthy and academic elite, including on the left. Stooge-of-the-month Ezra Klein is decried as a woke liberal by certain segments of the political sphere, and yet he's running interference against those who support forcing the affluent to give back some of their recent outsize gains (through his "abundance" tripe). It's not poor, rural red-staters listening to his message.
    - 9rx 10mo ago
      > Many of these people are well-educated and affluent. That does not preclude them from being uneducated and gullible to brainwashing. In fact, there is a strong case to be made that being well-educated and affluent primes one to become more likely to be uneducated/brainwashed. When you are well-educated and affluent, the "yes men" show up and start to make you feel like you know everything, and it becomes really easy to lose the skepticism and awareness that one normally has. > It's not poor, rural red-staters listening to his message. Was there something to suggest that it was? I see no mention of this group anywhere.
    - rayiner 10mo ago
      [flagged]
      - underlipton 10mo ago
        You're a racist asshole and I'm tired of being forced to read your thoughts on every even halfway-related topic.
        deleted 10mo ago
        [deleted]
        rayiner 10mo ago
        [flagged]
- deleted 10mo ago
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MisterTea 10mo ago

> There is a certain class of American The selfish kind. Unfortunately that seems to be the end goal of the American dream: "I got mine, fuck you." I can't tell you how many times I heard the "protect my family" argument from people I never thought would vote for that clown.

ido 10mo ago
Also not exclussively American. Plenty of selfish assholes where I'm at as well, I suspect this is a world-wide phenomenon.
- zimpenfish 10mo ago
  The UK is a good example of this over the last decade (at least.)
- underlipton 10mo ago
  But people do come here specifically to be selfish. They like that they can be selfish here in ways that are socialized away in other countries. They like that they can even socialize their selfishness, forcing poor people to subsidize the rich.
braebo 10mo ago
They are typically uneducated victims of the largest and most well funded mass propaganda brainwashing campaigns in the history of mankind, to be fair. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. The perpetrators of the misinformation, however, know exactly what they’re doing.
- underlipton 10mo ago
  I think this misrepresents the situation. Many of these people are well-educated and affluent. In fact, such efforts wouldn't be possible without the support of the wealthy and academic elite, including on the left. Stooge-of-the-month Ezra Klein is decried as a woke liberal by certain segments of the political sphere, and yet he's running interference against those who support forcing the affluent to give back some of their recent outsize gains (through his "abundance" tripe). It's not poor, rural red-staters listening to his message.
  - 9rx 10mo ago
    > Many of these people are well-educated and affluent. That does not preclude them from being uneducated and gullible to brainwashing. In fact, there is a strong case to be made that being well-educated and affluent primes one to become more likely to be uneducated/brainwashed. When you are well-educated and affluent, the "yes men" show up and start to make you feel like you know everything, and it becomes really easy to lose the skepticism and awareness that one normally has. > It's not poor, rural red-staters listening to his message. Was there something to suggest that it was? I see no mention of this group anywhere.
  - rayiner 10mo ago
    [flagged]
    - underlipton 10mo ago
      You're a racist asshole and I'm tired of being forced to read your thoughts on every even halfway-related topic.
      - deleted 10mo ago
        [deleted]
      - rayiner 10mo ago
        [flagged]
deleted 10mo ago
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