Clinton was in favor of abortion and women’s rights. As Trump is against both, he is ‘God working in mysterious ways’ and therefore should be seen as a sign of divine providence.
I wish I was joking.
Machinist@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I remember my father being so angry about Clinton that the veins in his neck and face were bulging. He thought Clinton should be hanged, at the time, for adultery and betraying the country.
Now this fat orange fuck is worshiped. I will never understand how they fell for this. The moral compromise needed to support a clown show.
Seleni@lemmy.world 6 days ago
jaemo@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
I will never understand how they fell for this.
They fell for nothing. This is the expression of their evil nature, full stop.
If anything you’re falling for their act! Stop assuming decency or rational self interest is at work in the math they do, it isn’t.
Machinist@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Oh good grief, of course they fell for it. Not that I don’t blame them for it. However, they absolutely fell for a con. To say otherwise is immature or unrealistic black and white thinking.
I’m angry with them, will likely never trust or respect them again. They’re humans just like we are, they aren’t acting, they aren’t completely indecent, and so on.
Just because the fascist side dehumanizes its enemies doesn’t mean we should. It’s also not very effective when you’re trying to predict what they’ll do and how they’ll react. You have to be able to understand the minds of your antagonists to effectively counter them.
jaemo@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Honestly? No part of you thinks that they might just have a darker side that you’re uncomfortable contemplating exists? If so then you are far more optimistic about the human condition than I am. Not disagreeing with your assessment; you obviously know them. I’m just pessimistic that a contradiction of morality of such magnitude can inhabit a single person’s mind. It seems impossible to me to arrive at such conclusions and not have walked down some truly dark, evil paths.
Devanismyname@lemmy.ca 5 days ago
Stupid people are easy to manipulate.
Machinist@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Many of these aren’t stupid people. That’s a cop out we tell ourselves to feel superior. Willful ignorance is closer to the truth.
Devanismyname@lemmy.ca 5 days ago
I’m not saying that the people running the party are stupid. But the ones falling for their shit are just plain stupid.
Machinist@lemmy.world 5 days ago
They’re not all stupid. Again, that’s a comforting lie we tell ourselves. I’ve personally known engineers, a Colonel, a cabinet maker, and C-suite execs that have all gone down the rabbit hole. They have willfully drank down the propaganda and are willfully ignorant but not all of these people are stupid.
stopdropandprole@lemmy.world 1 week ago
they do whatever the ultra wealthy tell them to do.
ideology is not a functional concept in politics. it’s all vibes and manipulation in the service of the 1%
Machinist@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I mean, at a high level, I guess so. At human level where these are real people with relationships and thoughts and feelings, it is mind blowing.
Some of them now approve of everything they stood against. Whatever the propaganda that got them there, it’s wild. These are people that I respected and thought had wisdom and they have fallen for such a shallow con.
DarkFuture@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Sounds like a cult.
Machinist@lemmy.world 6 days ago
Cults wish they had this kind of power and reach. I agree that it has cult like characteristics, but it tolerates divergent ideology as long the orange fucker is venerated. I can’t decide if it’s something new or is regular old fascism, I lack the historical background to know.
stopdropandprole@lemmy.world 6 days ago
i sounded kinda cynical but I actually agree with your sentiment, on a more personal level. i have several friends whose families have been split apart (actual people moving away and excommunicated) as a result of the cult like obedience conservatives have tapped into. loyalty to television personalities over actual grandkids and siblings. truly mind blowing.
the systematic brainwashing of many people using ragebait, disinformation, and targeted messaging has revealed a deep corruption in the media ecosystem and shown us how easily many of us can be convinced of opposite views we once held sacred. there’s a principal in psychology called “change belief blindness” which essentially shows that rather than admit we were wrong, we change our minds and just forget that it happened, instead creating an internal narrative that we’ve always believed the thing we currently believe.
im convinced that the most successful political operatives in modern times have weaponized our own psychological weaknesses against us, knowingly, in the same way that game developers use rng loot drop mechanics to tap into gambling addiction reward centers.
Machinist@lemmy.world 6 days ago
I’m not going to rehash the horror of watching family and friends go down the rabbit hole. It’s a big ball of grief that comes in waves.
As to your supposition that psychological weaknesses were weaponized: I completely agree. I think historians will focus on it as evidence is available and time goes by, it will be considered obvious.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Many have referenced Nineteen Eighty-Four without reading it, and ironically then engaging in Doublethink.