Leo

Well-known member
Certainly don't see this level of passion for Biden...or anyone.

"To his diehard supporters, Trump isn't just a candidate. He's a lifestyle choice and a vehicle for self-expression — a way to continually flip the middle finger at big media, big business, big government ... anything big. It's all part of one of the big Trump triumphs — convincing his voters that an attack on him is actually an attack on them.

A hat, popular in rural convenience stores this summer, says it all: "If You Don't Like Trump Then You Probably Won't Like Me." At rallies, you see people wearing Trump flags like a billowing robe. And a lot of this isn't official campaign merch — people print these up themselves."
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
I've been trying for a while to find a way into that frame of mind, as well as a way out. Mapped by words. In the interest of reconciliation, redirection of flows. But damn, is there a swelling of energy at work here, energy that has been effectively politicized, weaponized.

Needless to say, no success as of yet. @Leo do you think masses of people, like this, can be irreversibly corrupted? Or is there always an escape route, however narrow?

Of course "corrupted" implies a partisan angle, but I mean so deeply manipulated that they enthusiastically throw away the key to their own shackles? This could, and does, happen on any side, for the record.
 

Leo

Well-known member
impossible to say but I'd guess not likely, in the short term anyway.

when trump was first elected, there was a whole cottage industry of writers cranking out books and columns about how to understand/talk to trump voters, which in itself was a bit patronizing because it implied Dems/liberals were superior (or at least the "normal") people who had to take it upon themselves to understand the thinking and motivations of their misguided MAGA neighbors and intervene to rescue them from their mistaken fate.

true believers who, rightly or wrongly, are aggrieved about their position and prospects in life are hard to dissuade. there's also research showing that when confronted with facts and truths that contradict their beliefs, people tend not to change their minds but double down on their belief. it becomes larger that than the point being discussed: they see it as an attack on them, and then immediately get defensive.

hard to move past that.
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
But you're right about the feelings of superiority that prompt attempts to understand. I still think dismantling that feeling could be good first step, if reconciliation is the goal.
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
Although, being a natural hermit, I may survive the purge. I can empirically study creamy JIF under a microscope while a Malick adaptation of of Big Sur plays in the background, all in my tiny geodesic dome in the desert, while your reign stretches over the grid.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Certainly don't see this level of passion for Biden...or anyone.

"To his diehard supporters, Trump isn't just a candidate. He's a lifestyle choice and a vehicle for self-expression — a way to continually flip the middle finger at big media, big business, big government ... anything big. It's all part of one of the big Trump triumphs — convincing his voters that an attack on him is actually an attack on them.

A hat, popular in rural convenience stores this summer, says it all: "If You Don't Like Trump Then You Probably Won't Like Me." At rallies, you see people wearing Trump flags like a billowing robe. And a lot of this isn't official campaign merch — people print these up themselves."
One of his posters says "They're not after me, they're after you - I'm just in the way".
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Reconciliation is not the goal. Wholesale slaughter is.
You know how, when someone loses it and does something really terrible, there are two things their families, colleagues and neighbours tend to say? Either "We had no idea, he was a nice lad, quiet, kept himself to himself" - or "Frankly there were warning signs", right?

Well in this case it's not going to be the former, is it?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
How would any of our American members feel about a partition of the USA? I'm imagining basically the two coasts, plus Chicago, Detroit and Hawaii forming the Coastal United States, where the Dems and whatever is left of the "sane" Republicans continue multi-party politics as before, and everywhere else forming the Democratic People's Republic of Trumpestan, where the God-Emperor and his spawn rule in perpetuity.
 
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