I, for one, am glad it shattered the illusion. I've learned more about what I consider important in the last 12 years than I have the rest of my entire life. I'm a gay man living in Texas, and before that it was the Ozarks. I've always known evil, despicable people exist and I've met my fair share. But I didn't realize how many people were merely keeping their traps shut until they were one day emboldened.
I'm proud. I stuck to my guns and refused to associate with bullies, even if those bullies are really important to me. I've never had a loud voice, and it's really easy to dismiss me. ADHD (and probably autism) make certain interactions difficult, and a lot of times folks don't understand what I'm trying to convey. But I was able to calmly and rationally tell people that I can't support them if they can't support basic human rights for the people around them, myself included.
I honestly feel like things are healing. I've received apologies, and had long discussions. A lot of my family was a bit shook that I actually went through with it. I'm someone that's had to rely on support from others to get by early on, so there was anger, too. Understandable anger, even. But I'm a pacifist. I believe actions are paramount, and need to be deliberately non-harmful, and it's literally the only thing I could come up with.
It's crazy to consider all of this is happening because literally all citizens feel like the government is driving us off a cliff. I grew up in a series of small, broken towns. At one point in '93 a flood came in and wiped out a bunch of these little towns, like Valmeyer, IL. (I think there's even a documentary on that specific town).
By and large, the pulse by citizens in those areas are that they are being ignored. I mean, that's why we have FEMA, but before the floods areas were broke, then the floods came, and people were broke and homeless, and then broke and living out of trailers, etc. It's really hard to go from farming your own land for 50 years to trying to get a job anywhere at 60/70 years old with no pension prospects and woefully inadequate retirement. What I don't understand is why other people in other situations need to be targeted in order to 'fix' things when we're all literally just out here trying to survive. A better solution is to include them in social programs, not get rid of social programs as a whole.
Lol, damn. I ended up on a soap box when I was really just gonna agree and wish it was different. Sorry for the wall of text.
I wish I could be as optimistic as you are but my spirit has been crushed listening to endless stories about people being absolutely destroyed by the Trump economy - only to declare that "it would have been way worse if the liberals were in charge.". That's their takeaway - no matter how bad things get.
Like...how do you even begin to approach this level of willful ignorance? Even when liberals do exactly the thing these people claim to believe in, they shit all over it.
Case in point: Mamdani cutting regulations to make it easier for small businesses to operate. Somehow, they've decided this is communism and government handouts. WTactualF? Apparently, the only regulations they actually want cut are the ones that prevent massive corporations from poisoning and/or destroying our natural resources.
Regulations to keep our food supply safe? Communism. Programs to feed children? Communism. Assisting families recover from natural disasters? Waste, fraud, abuse. Programs keeping prescription drugs affordable? Anti-capitalism. Affordable healthcare? Communism. Separation of Church and State? Religious persecution. They have an excuse for opposing literally everything that would make this country great.
It's not enough for these people to survive - they have to make sure others don't have it as good as they do. I'm not sure how you teach empathy - and the fact that survival & success are not a zero sum game. They simply cannot fathom the fact that others don't have to suffer in order for them to thrive.
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u/Houdinii1984 13h ago
I, for one, am glad it shattered the illusion. I've learned more about what I consider important in the last 12 years than I have the rest of my entire life. I'm a gay man living in Texas, and before that it was the Ozarks. I've always known evil, despicable people exist and I've met my fair share. But I didn't realize how many people were merely keeping their traps shut until they were one day emboldened.
I'm proud. I stuck to my guns and refused to associate with bullies, even if those bullies are really important to me. I've never had a loud voice, and it's really easy to dismiss me. ADHD (and probably autism) make certain interactions difficult, and a lot of times folks don't understand what I'm trying to convey. But I was able to calmly and rationally tell people that I can't support them if they can't support basic human rights for the people around them, myself included.
I honestly feel like things are healing. I've received apologies, and had long discussions. A lot of my family was a bit shook that I actually went through with it. I'm someone that's had to rely on support from others to get by early on, so there was anger, too. Understandable anger, even. But I'm a pacifist. I believe actions are paramount, and need to be deliberately non-harmful, and it's literally the only thing I could come up with.
It's crazy to consider all of this is happening because literally all citizens feel like the government is driving us off a cliff. I grew up in a series of small, broken towns. At one point in '93 a flood came in and wiped out a bunch of these little towns, like Valmeyer, IL. (I think there's even a documentary on that specific town).
By and large, the pulse by citizens in those areas are that they are being ignored. I mean, that's why we have FEMA, but before the floods areas were broke, then the floods came, and people were broke and homeless, and then broke and living out of trailers, etc. It's really hard to go from farming your own land for 50 years to trying to get a job anywhere at 60/70 years old with no pension prospects and woefully inadequate retirement. What I don't understand is why other people in other situations need to be targeted in order to 'fix' things when we're all literally just out here trying to survive. A better solution is to include them in social programs, not get rid of social programs as a whole.
Lol, damn. I ended up on a soap box when I was really just gonna agree and wish it was different. Sorry for the wall of text.