this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
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The atmosphere is so heated, and the statements are getting more and more extreme. Let's just assume Harris wins the election. After a campaign like this, how could you ever have a normal relationship with your pro-Trump neighbor/father-in-law/Uncle/Barber or what ever again?

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 2 days ago (2 children)

There hasn't been any normal for 8 years plus now. Somewhere between 30 and 45% of the population are openly trying for fascism.

Realistically it's only a matter of when unless we make some pretty damned sweeping changes which they are going to fight tooth and nail.

We need to unrig the judicial system. We need to unrig the voting system. We need to put guardrails up on media disinformation. And we need to start holding some of these fucking politicians accountable for openly lying in campaign. We need to roll back the dictator privileges they managed to shove in at the last moment for the president. We need to hold some of these oligarchs accountable for crimes.

They should lock Musk up for a month. Go ahead and have him shit himself that he's not above the law.

I don't know who the next Republican president will be. But you can bet money there's going to be plenty of bloodshed once they decide to do whatever they want with complete and total immunity.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Way longer than 8 years. Depending on your perspective and level of privilege, it's been decades, generations, or the entire history.

Things got bad after Obama got elected in 2008 and the racists lost their shit. But they were also bad after Bush started two wars, or when Bush got installed as preznit in the first place in 2000. Or when Gingrich went after Clinton's penis in 1998. Or when Gingrich took over the Congress in 1994. Or when Clinton first got elected in 1992 and the racists and militias lost their shit and started bombing things. Or the year before that when the other Bush started a war. Or when Reagan broke multiple laws and got away with it, thanks to Ollie North. Or when Reagan got elected in the first place in 1980. Or when Nixon broke enough laws flagrantly enough to get impeached in 1974. Or when he bombed the shit out of SE Asia. Or when Johnson started a war in Vietnam. Or... I mean it just keeps going endlessly. But that's just my lifetime. If you are Black or Native American the fuckery goes back as far as when white people first stepped foot here.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago

If you just tweak what you're looking at a little bit you can easily move that statement back to all of recorded history.

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[–] [email protected] 45 points 2 days ago (2 children)

how could you ever have a normal relationship with your pro-Trump neighbor/father-in-law/Uncle/Barber or what ever again?

...Why would I want to? Seriously, why would I want to have a relationship with people that have shown me that the things they value are antithetical to the things I value? I don't give a fuck if people are nice to me; I want people to be kind across the board.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

This is the new normal. It’s everyone angry all the time until something snaps or the culture changes. Personally I believe you have to wait until the older part of Gen X is dead before we get relief.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

hope my older relatives fucking die or figure out it's time to change. on a more serious note, protest and try to help build coalitions against this but idk it seems quite grim.

[–] JackbyDev 9 points 1 day ago

I've cut out all Trumpers after Jan 6 2021 basically except for maybe my wife's parents. I'm afraid to ask them. All of us have a spoken agreement to not bring up politics because we all have to see each other and don't want to fight. A major caveat to that is that we see them as little as we can though.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago

You don't. Most of us have already either fully cut-off contact with Trump supporting family members or limit our interaction with them heavily. Our country is rotted to the core, and this election won't be the end of it. Even if Harris wins, there will be contestion of the results. There may even be a successful coup by the Republican party. A civil war is not out of the question.

There is no normal. There won't be ever again.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago

I think it’s fantastic because know it is very clear who I need to exclude from my life.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

Honestly I'm as agoraphobic as they come so, since I hardly ever leave my residence, I find it quite easy to forget that it's an election year, aside from many of the news outlets and media posts dictating it. My life outside of the internet has hardly any political interference.

Yes I still vote, but I keep my political beliefs to myself, but As Marcus Aurelius said, "You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control"

I take a lot of solace in that. I know certain things and have certain opinions but I am absolutely not a politician and it's not something I'll wreck my soul over. Life is short enough as it is.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You don't. You accept the fact things are progressively getting worse and move on

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 days ago (4 children)

You live through enough of these "Most Pivotal Elections" and the effect is muted.

I remember Bush winning in 2004 vividly, the soul-crushing realization that Americans were ready to continue the relentless slaughter of Arabs for another four years with a fuck-you kicker to anyone LGBT looking to come out of the shadows and get married. (Nevermind the shady vote counting in Ohio).

That was after the 2000 election was stolen in full view of the public by a nakedly corrupt court.

"How could so many people be so blaise about this shameless disregard for democracy, civil rights, and rule of law?"

But then 2008 rolls along and suddenly I'm surrounded by conservative revanchists who want to talk about secession, because a black guy just won the presidency. And it begins to occur to me... "Oh, I'm just living in a fascist country".

Now, having familiarized myself with US history a bit more, another fascist winning in one more corrupted and propaganda soaked election cycle makes perfect sense.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (8 children)

This has been the norm since 2016. Until the GOP unilaterally rejects Trumpism, this will be how it is every four years.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

That's been a growing issue for the last 15 years. The answer is community groups but they haven't been very successful.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

this is normal. half the country is composed of backward degenerates.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (2 children)

24% is backwards degenerates. That's the percentage of the population that voted for trump in 2020. No where near half, no matter how much they may claim to represent half.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Non-voters are complicit in what is happening. Maybe saying they are as bad is a stretch, but they clearly either don't care or are ignorant about it.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 days ago (7 children)

you don't. you believe them when they tell you who they are and remove them from your life.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 days ago (8 children)

You don't. It wasn't really normal before 2016 and normal left the building since.

Since 2016, its been a constant onslaught of idiots that live on the internet creeping out into the real world with their bullshit and conspiracy theories and half of America taking them seriously

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I blame McCain. When he chose Palin to be his running mate in 08, he gave voice to the crazies on the right wing. It wasn't long after that that we saw the rise of the tea party, which led to maga.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I think it really started with the Clinton impeachment, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, then we had the stolen 2000 election, then 9/11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, "support our troops", anti Muslim rhetoric, then the rise of social media. All coincides with the brainwashed kids/boomers who came out of the heritage foundation. Obviously, the racism and conservatism was always in the background. You could even trace it back further to Regan/Nixon/McCarthy. Also, desegregation.

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[–] [email protected] 304 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (32 children)

After a campaign like this, how could you ever have a normal relationship with your pro-Trump neighbor/father-in-law/Uncle/Barber or what ever again?

You're assuming those relationships survived the 2020 election. For many, myself included, they didn't.

I was willing to overlook 2016, but after 4 years of horror culminating in a (failed) coup, and those people still supporting him, I just cut them out of my life.

[–] [email protected] 89 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Supporting Trump is no different than supporting Hitler. I find it very easy to cut nazis out of my life.

One side wants me dead, there are no worthy discussions to be had.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

That's the funnest part of all: we don't

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Don't worry, there's the insurrection and riots next.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Boomer generation will be dead soon. And Gen X isn’t too far behind. This bullshit is already time-limited.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (7 children)

We've expected that for over a generation. It's more than just the boomers doing this. If you're waiting for Gen X, you're going to have to wait for Millennials too, because we thought the same thing.

It wasn't boomers that were influenced by r/the_donald and 4chan.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Isn’t it most Gen-Z men are Trump supporters now?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Whoa, where did you hear that?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yes, things tend to calm down. If you read history books about US history, there were times in the 1800s where brothers were killing each other over slavery and where people were killing themselves in the 1950s over their children's sexuality. Time heals wounds, and people tend to swing in a pendulum from progressive to conservative and back again (the 50s, the 90s, the 10s).

I recommend The Lavender Scare by David K. Johnson. It's a fascinating book back when the US government shared a frightening similarity to the CCP. It shows how a community develops in the postwar period, how a moral panic gets set off, how people are affected, and how a social movement starts and heals the country over time. It is almost a word for word copy of what is happening in the US right now, and how people in the past defused a situation that was even more loaded in some ways than today's world. If you are looking for reassurance, it's a great read. Many of the landmarks in the book are still standing, by the way :)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

I'm reading Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by James Kirchick. It's also about the Lavender Scare but the author dives deep into several cases of great government aides whose careers were ruined. The chapters are separated by each presidency, gradually construing a narrative as public opinion shaped the politics of each era. I just have to warn that, as a reviewer puts it, the book is both "exhaustive and exhausting" with a whopping 800+ pages but I think it's worth reading every word. It's so good.

[–] [email protected] 153 points 3 days ago (17 children)

My dad is on his death bed, I haven't spoken to him in years, because he's full on MAGA. It breaks my heart that I lost my dad to that cult and that I'll lose him forever soon, but I will never forgive him for supporting the scum that is proud he stole womens rights.

So to answer your question, being sad and waiting for tomorrow.

[–] [email protected] 118 points 3 days ago

To those giving you shit about cutting horrible people out of your life and saying you need to go visit...

Bullshit. Fuck that noise. I have family that I've cut out as well (although, luckily, not my parents). I'm 100% open to them rejoining my life, but their hatred for others is stronger than their love for me, and I won't allow them back until that changes. Spoiler alert: it probably never will, because there's no love like Christian "love".

"Agree to disagree" is reserved for things like "I don't like coffee." Not racism, homophobia, and sexism. Not human rights. Not basic common decency. If I unfriend you during this, it IS personal. We do not have a difference of opinion. We have a difference in morality.

  • @cdvaughn16, Twitter, 2020-06-05
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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It is now easier to identify political whackadoos and disengage.

I moved to the bluest neighborhood in a blue town in a purple county in a bluish purple state. I actually enjoy talking to my neighbors about politics now, I can out out positive messages without getting my house egged.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 days ago

Sometimes you just don't talk about politics, to avoid fighting with in-laws. That has always been true, and it will always be true.

But I hope you don't "go back to normal", because hundreds of millions of Americans acting "normal" had the power to prevent this kind of scenario from occurring in the first place. Of course there's a ton of corruption, and shady corporations and billionaires (all of them) are major culprits in the badness, but also we the people have a lot of power to fix problems if we can get ourselves organized and motivated. So let's do that.

[–] [email protected] 64 points 3 days ago (6 children)

We... don't? Have you not been watching American news for the last... 9 years? I don't speak with my family because me being trans is not fully accepted by them. I don't really want to associate with anyone who is okay with increasing trans suicides via politics. I moved from North Carolina to Oregon to be in a queer friendly state, and I don't regret it one bit. And I have an appointment to get my passport tomorrow... just in case. I don't know if this country can be fixed. People talk about getting along with our neighbors or meeting in the middle, but I don't know how to get along with people who wish I didn't exist.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago

I don't want a normal relationship with my Trump loving neighbor. He and his racist wife can go fuck themselves. Their signs and banners told me who they are. I'm choosing to listen

[–] [email protected] 121 points 3 days ago

you don't. women have lost their federally protect right to an abortion since trump packed the court the last time, there are more than a million less people alive in the United States today from a mismanaged federal global pandemic response because trump was in the big chair the last time. you don't get back to normal when fascism wins.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

What you see in the news and on social media doesn't paint a true picture of what daily life is like here for people. Most of Trump's supporters aren't the hateful bigots that the Internet makes them out to be, they're just convinced that he's the lesser of the 2 evils. This is why you see that his rallies are empty and he's still polling at ~47%.

Most of the deepest Trump cult fanatics live in communities where that is more prevalent, like rural Alabama, so if you don't live where they live, you just don't really encounter them. And if you do live in those areas, you're already used to the rampant racism because it's always been there.

So me and my immigrant wife will still go visit my pro-trump uncle for his annual pig roast, because he's not a bad person, he's just a moron. I'll still call my conservative mother every week because she's not threatening to kill me for voting blue, she's just consumed too much anti-Kamala propaganda. My religious sister is still welcome to visit because even though she's an idiot, my nieces are freakin adorable and I love them.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I assume you're not in the crosshair of Trump policy once he gets elected? Because for some people threats to their life and voting Trump are about the same thing.

You continue to tolerate your family tolerating and even choosing hate and bigotry, even if they themselves don't exhibit them to your face. Your uncle IS a bad person.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 3 days ago

Why go back to normal? Conservatives all over the world have revealed themselves to be 5th columns who will take any opportunity at power, even if it means working with foreign powers.

They seem to have a fundamental belief that God is on their side and no matter how bad things get He will protect them because only they are real people.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 3 days ago (7 children)

Oh, that's easy; we don't! Every four years, the fabric of our society frays and tears a little more, while our politicians either exploit our divisions or attempt to repair them without making any changes to the material conditions or systemic problems that create these fractures, because fixing these underlying issues would upset the handful of billionaires that actually control our government! But there's a new Fast & Furious movie every two or three years, so it balances out.

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Well, thats the thing. Once the mask is off it can't be put back on. My relations have cooled with the Trump supporters I know. At least they stopped putting signs out in the neighborhood.

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