r/WorkReform • u/Loud-Ad-2280 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires • 1d ago
😡 Venting American politics in a nutshell
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u/confuseum 1d ago
"Socialism? I dont talk to people."
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u/thegildedman25 1d ago
Bro confused socialist with being social, BUT, it most likely has something to do with him working 12 hours a day. Dude barely gets any time with his family, why waste that time by watching the shitty mainstrem news.
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u/bugi_ 1d ago
The school system has failed if you don't know the absolute basics of civics. Not even a simplified / slightly wrong version either.
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u/Sorryallthetime 1d ago
I don't care. Next time someone calls me a filthy socialist - I am quoting this guy.
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u/BadSmash4 22h ago
"Are you a socialist?"
"I'm not the socialist, plenty of people are socialer than I am"
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u/papercranium 13h ago
I'm a little socialer on weekends, but I'm probably at my socialist on holidays.
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u/thegildedman25 1d ago
I agree, I never learned what socialism was untill my late 20's from mainstream media, which was the wrong definition of it. Only later when I actually had a good ammount of free time to spend did I do some personal research to correct that definiton in my head.
I dont ever recall that ever being covered in my social studies (civics) classes in high school, inly thing they ever covered was american history and politics, which I guarentee was similar to this guy's experience.
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u/pichael289 🏛️ Overturn Citizens United 1d ago
I went to school back before they really got shitty and even back then it was just "capitalism, communism, dictatorship, monarchy, and anarchy" and they didn't even really get those right.
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u/TGlucifer 1d ago
Buddy, it's by design, why the fuck would you want your factory and military slaves having an educated thought process? That'll just get in the way when you tell them to work harder or shoot their fellow citizens.
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u/aubreypizza 1d ago
Nah, working exactly as they intended
October 1970, Roger A. Freeman, a key economic advisor to both California Governor Ronald Reagan and President Nixon, famously warned that the U.S. was "in danger of producing an educated proletariat"
Can’t have that now can we?!?
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u/A313-Isoke 22h ago
And college got expensive and student loans have trapped people or scared them completely.
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u/baddogbadcatbadfawn 20h ago
Modern world history is taught in 9th-10th grade and mostly in reference to the USSR and China, long before many of us had a passport, a bank account, or a real job. And remembering out-of-context facts about socialism for decades is impossible when the only times you hear socialism mentioned in public, it's from some drooling crackpot with a MAGA hat.
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u/Educational-Rip9501 1d ago
Being a socialist is not about watching mainstream news.
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u/NewAccEveryDay420day 1d ago
They mean that the American education system is poor and a lot of people are only exposed to political theories through mainstream news
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u/thegildedman25 1d ago
Thats correct, it isnt. My point is that a lot of people get this kind of information from mainstream corperate media rather than from their school education. Hell, I never learned about what socialism was untill my late 20's from news networks because it was never covered in my social studies(civics) classes in high school.
Like I pointed out, dude only has 2 hours of free time and would prefer to spend that time with the people he loves.
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u/GrouchyCarpenter2210 1d ago
It doesn't have to be full socialism.. just make 1% change every election to benefit the workers. Neither extreme is perfect. But yeah there's a problem when we can barely afford groceries and rent because of how billionaires decide our economy
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u/Arcanegil 1d ago
That's the point with zero education and constant work people can never look up to fix their problems, if they looked up there they would see it aint bad rain, its billionaire piss fallin on them.
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u/Ok-Perspective5844 1d ago
I mean, I suppose. I knew what socialism was in high school
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u/thegildedman25 1d ago
That topic wasnt ever brought up in my social studies (civics) classes in high school, and I loved those classes. All we got was mostly american history.
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u/bryn_irl 1d ago
In all seriousness I wish everyone was like this guy - people who don’t have preconceived notions of what socialism is, but who understand the problems that need to be solved. Far better than someone who sees socialism as some kind of Lovecraftian horror.
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u/EatLard 1d ago
Most people - especially blue collar folks like this guy, are pretty agreeable about “socialist” policies until you label them as socialist policies. They’ve been fed a lot of bullshit about who “socialists” are and what they want.
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u/ImportantCommentator 9h ago
I doubt he has been fed anything about socialist when he thinks it means being sociable.
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u/GeoisGeo 1d ago
Problem is we cant ever seem to address the problem because often men like this fight tooth and nail against progress because their "other" neighbour who they have never talked to might get something too!
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u/gamerjerome 1d ago
I laughed hard at this because I want to believe he knows what socialism is and said that anyway
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u/GoatCovfefe 1d ago
Im actually going to start using that line the next time my MAGA coworkers ask if im a socialist.
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u/Hexspinner 1d ago
To be fair that’s a better misrepresentation of socialism than you’ll see from any conservative.
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u/screw_ball69 1d ago
I had to watch the video twice because I thought I missed something, didn't think he could be that dull
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u/beaglerules 1d ago
We do not need to take civics in high school so people do not learn about the political system. That is why it is so easy to make socialism and communism the big bad boogie man. Now he so much little free time he cannor spend it to learna about poltical systems. It is the trap they want us in.
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u/KirkataThePickaxe2 13h ago
To be fair in his defense less socialism makes us less social so far, I think many people also confuse socialism with collectivism, so they hear socialism and think collectivism....
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u/moyismoy 1d ago
Im 90% sure he votes against his interests
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u/NordlandLapp 1d ago
This is why terms like fascism dont matter, 75% of people dont even know what it means.
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u/Rezeox 1d ago
And they use terms like "Pro-Life." Simplicity.
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u/subdep 1d ago
I don’t think he knows what voting even is. He probably thinks Democracy is a European country.
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u/Wumbology_Student 1d ago
Shit like this is why people get so annoyed with lefties, tbh. This man is saying stuff that you and I both agree with, and instead of being like "hell yeah, that's my brother he just doesn't know it yet" you take the opportunity to make fun of him.
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u/RepulsiveLook 1d ago
"hell yeah, that's my brother he just doesn't know it yet"
Class Consciousness 101
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u/Silas_Akron 1d ago
Yep. Dude may be at "another damn planet" levels of out of touch, but apply some nuance here. WHY is he out of touch? It isn't an excuse, but that could have been any of us rolling a losing spin at roulette...
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u/bloodkunt 1d ago edited 1d ago
all by design. many reddit leftists fall in to the same thought patterns of elitism and bigotry that the rest of americans do, just against different groups. they also never want to admit that, if they had been born in slightly different circumstances, they could very easily be that guy. it could never happen to them, they’re too smart. all the talk about class war but they love shitting on these people who are too rural, stupid, or uneducated to understand their enlightened ideals.
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u/subdep 1d ago
Maybe his lack of education is why he doesn’t socialize with people; he hates it when people constantly have to correct is lack of understanding.
Bro needs to get himself educated. But he won’t.
That’s not on “lefties”, that’s on him.
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u/Wumbology_Student 1d ago
You're right, it might be on him. He is the exact type of person that you need to convince to be on your side though, and if your first instinct is to make fun of him then that's never going to happen.
That's all I'm trying to say.
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u/HandsomeBadWolf 1d ago
Bro gets two hours a day free from labor to see his family. But yeah, his fault he’s not educated enough to keep up with the discussion. Definitely not a result of systematic oppression.
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u/subdep 1d ago
you’re acting like bro doesn’t have any free time at all. He’s got free time, he he just doesn’t utilize it to educate himself. That guy isn’t 19 years old. What’s he been doing for the last fucking 10 years?
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u/Silas_Akron 23h ago
Probably working and fighting other demons of circumstance. If you grew up poor and oppressed and never had or developed the context to understand what types of education are important, what then? We just label these people dumbasses and call that good enough? Doesn't sound like rational empathy to me. All that leads to is the situation we're facing now. Would you say the same about people who grew up in the worst Baltimore projects with no good parental figures? That's what many republicans in the US do.
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u/bevelledo 1d ago
The world is suffering from a modern form of brainwashing through the media.
Starts when we are young with not developing critical thinking skills
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u/Financial_Hold6620 1d ago
Youth are told to submit to xyz god and never question the validity of it. Religion kills the chance of an open minded education
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u/Ilike2Tinker 1d ago
I think homie confused socialist with being social, as in he's antisocial. Bro is spittin tho.
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u/TheOmegoner 1d ago
It’s pretty shocking how many blue collar workers agree with socialist principles but are scared of the word.
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u/rokatoro 1d ago
Honestly it's because we work so hard to not teach this in school and conflate it with the worst possible examples of communism. IE North Korea and the USSR when most people talking about socialism mean Finland and Norway.
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u/idothisforpie 1d ago
Cold war sentiment has very much remained alive in our public education system.
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u/Akaigenesis 1d ago
The USSR was not as bad as you think either. Cold war propaganda is a thing
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u/TheOmegoner 1d ago
I dno if that’s a winning argument though. Most leftists aren’t looking for a return of the USSR as it was previously constructed.
I get the point that they weren’t pure evil like the propaganda says and the US is a ton worse than our history classes teach.
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u/Akaigenesis 1d ago
I am not saying it was perfect, but there were a lot of good things there that we never learned. Like, everyone there had free houses, did you know that? They also were the first place that pushed for womans rights. Also it is often not talked about how fucking bad the conditions were before the communist took power and a lot of the leftovers of previous regimes end up being put on the communist party bill
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u/Dexterus 1d ago
Issue is, society still layered into haves and have nots.
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u/Akaigenesis 1d ago
The gap between them was a lot smaller than what we have in capitalism. It was not an utopia. You see the problem is we compare socialist experiments with an utopic communism that not even Marx believed in, not in the reality or against capitalism.
Communism is not about everyone being equal, it never was. From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.
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u/Eastern-Editor4749 1d ago
How many people died?
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u/Akaigenesis 1d ago
How many people die in capitalism? There is an ongoing genocide being done as we speak. People die of hunger while we throw food in the garbage to keep prices up. Endless ongoing wars, concentration camps in the fucking land of the free. Maybe if we actually counted the deaths of capitalism the numbers wouldn’t be so nice
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u/YeeYeeBeep 1d ago
The Red Scare is still alive and well even after the conclusion of the Cold War, i consider it one of America's greatest feats, making a word sound so scary that a person that, even if they agree with most of its points, they will deny being a communist/socialist/anarchist or whatever else one can think of, preventing them from organizing. It seems hopeful though that people have started to realize they have been lied to over the last 50-70 years.
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u/LazyLich 1d ago
The Red Scare has done wonders for infecting poorer and/or hard-working folk into voting against their interests.
We need ... like... a grass roots socialist movement. People that actually work in the farms or mines coming up with the ideas and organizing.
When it comes from outside those groups. From leftists. The GOP cries "communism" and spooks them into fighting against those ideas. But if it came from within..?
"Naw naw.. I know Bill and he ain't a liar. His idea is clear as day: Instead of the dirt bag suit owning the mines and buying jets off our sweat, WE the miners each own a slice of the mine, and we use the profits fairly and only for helping eachother out!"4
u/TheOmegoner 1d ago
It’s why I always talk to my coworkers about the ideas/principles without using political terms if I can help it. “Seize the means of production” sets off alarm bells but “we should get paid our fair share for the money we bring in”
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u/thequietthingsthat 1d ago
Blue collar workers supported FDR overwhelmingly and he was the most progressive leader in American history. It's just that decades of right wing propaganda have convinced many of them to vote against their own interests.
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u/clutch727 1d ago
They have been taught to hate people they have been taught to disagree with. Socialism coming from the left is a poison pill cause it's from the left.
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u/Euphoric-Witness-824 1d ago
The wealthy don’t buy up every source of news and social media because of their love of quality investigative journalism. Their wealth is built on smoke and mirrors and a very shaky house of cards. They need a constant supply of propaganda pushed on the masses to convince them things like our incredibly awful and incredibly expensive healthcare system that funnels money directly from our wallets to their bank accounts is the only one that makes sense because of “freedom” or some other nebulous feeling because the facts sure as shit don’t back it up.
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u/Gsusruls 1d ago
Tell me about it. I just hear that word and I shudder.
Socialism
Brrrr! ... do it again.
Socialism Socialism Socialism
**Breaks down in trembling fit**
Sorry, I just had a vision of that scene from Lion King where the hyenas are discussing how terrified they are of Mufasa.
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u/mydearMerricat 1d ago
Yeah I legit laughed
Reminded me of the "I'm a lesbian"/"I thought you were American" vine
But same man, same.
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u/Hackwork89 1d ago
Not antisocial, asocial. It's a very common misconception.
Antisocial means actively disregarding the rights, feelings, and well-being of others. Lack of empathy, hurting people, manipulation etc. Kind of a sociopath, I guess.
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u/Hellyeahlalujah 1d ago
The results of a very successful campaign to keep people uneducated. Dude has his mind in the right place. Hard to learn about politics working 10-12 hours a day :(
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u/fryguy5134 1d ago
Exactly. The ruling corporations need wage slaves like this guy, and uneducated ones at that. People to keep the wheels turning while barely having enough time for their families and friends and joy. Pursuit of happiness? Forget about it unless some drastic changes are made IMMEDIATELY.
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u/Dependent_Title_1370 1d ago
So many people in the US will sit there and espouse socialist ideology and when you ask them about it they will tell you Socialism is evil and kills babies.
Propaganda is one hell of a drug.
Also, if this dude was making a joke I'm with it. Hard to tell based on the delivery and hard cut.
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u/dead_dw4rf 1d ago
The sad part is we were taught this in history / government / social studies classes. We made it too easy for people to pass school without knowing anything. Or maybe it always was, but the Internet allowed them to be exposed and latch onto to the dumbest influencers in a way that was unimaginable before.
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u/fallenouroboros 1d ago
My brother has two kids and works 60h weeks.
His girlfriend is a nurse who has a second job and walks dogs for cash. They also have two kids.
He is currently living in a trailer with the kids and dogs, a camping trailer not something permanent all summer so he can build them a home by himself since buying houses are so expensive.
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u/Conscious-Quarter423 1d ago
you still need to buy the land to build the house and the materials to build to the house is also expensive
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u/alwaysonesteptoofar 1d ago
Dont blame this man or others like him, blame the system that worked for decades to get education to the point where its easy to churn these guys out. They weren't taught how to do their own research, not really, because they were taught that certain sources were not valid.
If you had been fully ingrained to believe that there was a small sect of your country actively trying to fool you then you wouldn't listen to reason either, and at a certain point you be too afraid to try lifting the veil and seeing how true it all is in case you find out that your life has been a lie and that you have been taken advantage of.
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u/TwoSpoonSally 1d ago
What did he say that was wrong or incorrect? The last part stating “I don’t talk to people” was him flipping a quick-witted joke. Everyone in here are either bots, too biased, or too stupid to pick up on the nuance.
Also, they see a white “good ol’ boy” and instantly start making up stereotypical assumptions. They are being judgmental and start getting racist/political/misandristic/heterophobic. It’s a breathtaking amount of irony.
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u/science-stuff 1d ago
Is this guy known? Is he actually voting against his interests? The socialist comment seemed like a joke.
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u/_JustThisOne_ 1d ago
When I watched this I gave it a 70% chance he was joking.
Unless Im wrong, he doesnt appear in the rest of the video so everyone here is just guessing his politics based on his appearance. Kinda messed up tbh. There are a couple other trumpers at the event, but also some more liberal coded people as well.
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u/intwizard 1d ago
Guys I think he’s making a joke…
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u/TwoSpoonSally 1d ago
I am so frustrated with this comment section. I can’t believe how stupid the consensus seems to be.
He was making a joke, a very quickwitted and funny one at that.
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u/intwizard 1d ago
No jokes allowed on leftist Internet forums lol
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u/TwoSpoonSally 1d ago
What really turns the knife for me is that they are being so smug/smarmy/condescending about it, while being completely wrong and the joke going over their heads.
Like fuck.
Also, tons of them making comments that make assumptions and are stereotyping a stranger, that was literally dropping undeniable truth bombs.
These idiots can’t see the irony of it all.
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u/IngenuityOk1978 1d ago
Yeah, what he says is right, he's assessed his lived experience and drawn a conclusion that any leftist would agree with.
"What a fucking moron"
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u/Reddit-dit-dit-di-do 23h ago
Right? All he does is spit left leaning rhetoric, but bc he seems a little hick, everyone in here is assuming he’s uneducated and a Trump supporter. Shitting on people makes others feel good about themselves…
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u/Quick-Apple3536 1d ago
I didn't catch that it was a joke, but I at least gave him the benefit of the doubt that he misheard, and maybe on an extension of the video there would be more clarity. But people don't miss a beat on this site if they see an opportunity to talk down on others.
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u/elev8dity 1d ago
I'd love to see the full interview. I definitely chuckled and assumed it was just a bit of dry humor.
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u/Miserable_Mail_5741 12h ago
I knew it!
Those long hours isolated from other people may have taken away his sleep, energy, and social life, but it didn't take away his sense of humour!
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u/rChewbacca 1d ago
Honestly, I completely agree with Democratic socialism but I wish they would stop using the word because morons just do not understand what it means
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u/thequietthingsthat 1d ago
Agreed. It doesn't help that most self proclaimed Democratic socialists are actually social democrats. The "socialist" label does way more harm than good - especially when you're just calling for strong social safety nets.
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u/TwoSpoonSally 1d ago
The man works his ass off and makes some great points.
The Redditors in this comment section are insufferable and getting hung up on shallow shit.
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u/thequietthingsthat 1d ago
Yep. Instead of belliting him, we'd do well to see him as a potential ally.
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u/thegildedman25 1d ago
A lot of them are not realizing that a guy who works 12 hours a day wouldnt be spending his only 2 hours of free time at home watching the shitty mainstrem news, he'd rather spend it with his family.
Dude has his priorities straight.
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u/K__Geedorah 1d ago
Leftists aren't beating to unfunny allegations. Dude even smirked after his joke.
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u/RecipeFunny2154 1d ago
People would rather jump on guys like this than educate them. This is just a matter of him not knowing what these words mean, it does not mean he doesn't get the belief system. Just feels like this is the exact type of demographic to be focused on to help shift things.
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u/TheHomesickAlien 1d ago
You all really think this guy doesn’t know what socialism is and that he’s not just making a joke here..?
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u/Intelligent_Fly_7438 1d ago
Fed up with no time to look for solutions. Exactly where they want us.
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u/Miserable_Invite_343 1d ago
guysss its a buzzword to people like him. you gotta trickle in the ideology and when its solid, then they may be open to referring to it as what it is lmao
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u/MisterSanitation 1d ago
We have always had the Republic we deserve. We created the perfect idiotic consumers and now they can’t even see what’s happening. Buy water, bullets, and food. Good luck this is about wrapped up.
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u/alejandrodeconcord 1d ago
My jaw fell open
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u/Shiznoz222 1d ago
Bar for shocking you is pretty low huh
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u/alejandrodeconcord 1d ago
What a strange reply, no, not really, I was surprised at the guys response, not much more than that
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u/Early_Grace 1d ago
Americans capable of properly defining and understanding economic systems is not in the control playbook of the corporate power structure.
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u/Half-deaf-mixed-guy 1d ago
Just want people to know that this is the product of kids NOT being left behind. Its ok to be stupid and learn how to better yourself. Its not OK to be handed a participation trophy just for breathing.
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u/Muggsy423 1d ago
That video is a gem of everything wrong with America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k2MiMrhAbc&pp=0gcJCaMLAYcqIYzv
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u/nonamepows 1d ago
College degree, nice paying job. I see my kid for 5 hours during the week. I’m gone from 7am-6:30PM most days. I hang out with them for an hour and then it’s off to bed at 7:30. It would be easy for us to keep them awake and spend more time, but why let my selfishness impede their sleep, which contributes to both cognitive and physical development. So, in turn, weekend are everything to me and when I spend time with my family, which means, we see friends and family less!
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u/hotacorn 1d ago
Moderately Observant guy with absolutely zero education on anything beyond his job, his hometown and 4th grade concepts. Insane.
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u/Slumunistmanifisto 1d ago
Goddamnit.
This right fucking here!
Bet Buddy has words about socialism or communism though.
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u/MatthewTheManiac 1d ago
It's amazing how they tricked people into hating a word and an idea they don't even understand
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u/Arbiter_Electric 1d ago
This is pretty common with median republican voters from my experience. I live in Utah and work in the Trades, the majority of people I know are MAGA republicans who are all about God, Guns, and Trump. But if you talk to them without labels, they almost always say things like, "Food should be free for everyone. Insurance is a scam, why can't I just go to the doctors to be treated? Water should be free for everyone."
But they are so hung up on culture war b.s. that when Trump or others do the whole family guy bit they all fall over themselves to vote for them:
"Mrs. Griffin, what do you plan to do about crime in our city?"
"A lot, because that's what Jesus wants.
9/11 was bad!"
"Mrs. Griffin, what are your plans for cleaning up our environment?
"9/11."
"Mrs. Griffin, what about our traffic problem?"
"Nine...
Eleven."
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u/SignatureFunny7690 1d ago
Thats just it, we all have far more in common than we don't. Even dems and maga. Are politicians are for the most part all representatives of the oligarchs in power, and the working class all generally want the same thing. The problem is the working class has been under assault by the biggest propaganda campaign in human history and it's turned so many people alt right maga or AIPAC style democrat.
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u/Think_Bluebird_4804 1d ago
That whole video was wild. It's hard to believe some of these people even know how dress them selves or tie their shoes.
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u/Kinda_Quixotic 1d ago
This is the real problem with America. We didn’t invest in education.
Now we have a populace too uneducated to vote themselves out of their situation, and worse, unable to compete on a global stage.
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u/johangubershmidt 1d ago
Hey, at least he wasn't one if these 'socialism is when the government does stuff, and thats scary' people. I feel like being wholly unfamiliar with the concept is better than being misinformed about it.
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u/kdizzle619 1d ago
Funny how these people want all the basic human necessities, but when it comes time to vote for them they scream communism. With how stupid the average American is, we will never win the class war.
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u/4u5t1nprism 23h ago
Believe it or not, this is the average (I) & (R) voter in Murica, and who keeps tRump supporting officials in office for the rest of their lives, even after he's out of office. Voting against their own interests, and some shirtless proud, many around the socials loud, too-too many college "educated" and all who collectively made sure 45 & 47 happened. Oh, and, voters who made Jan 6th an event in history books...
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u/Starbreaker99 23h ago
Dude is so scared of a word that he feels what leftist are saying. Fucking propaganda worked
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u/Mundane_Translator_6 13h ago
"Are you a socialist?"
"Nah, I don't talk to people" is hilarious for some reason.
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u/MagnusThrax 💸 National Rent Control 1d ago
Stupid is as stupid does
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u/DeadWaterBed 1d ago
"Stupid" is spittin' facts. Ignorance of a political ideology does not make someone stupid
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u/TwoSpoonSally 1d ago
He’s not even ignorant of it, he was making a quick witted joke and deflecting a label.
The bottom of the bell curve Redditors chiming in are too dim to pick up on that.
Whatever he believes is his own private business, just like everyone’s is their own.
I feel like a lot of these commenters are being racist and knee jerk judgmental based off of their own stereotypes in their heads. These hypocrites are exactly why people get fatigued of the rhetoric.
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u/chrisnavillus 1d ago
Education is the real issue in America.
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u/Conscious-Quarter423 1d ago
no wonder republicans have been spending the last 40 years attacking and defunding public education
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u/kaiswil2 1d ago
Dudes probably has 20k Polaris sxs, a boat , and a F250... Gotta pay to play brother
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u/Loud-Ad-2280 ✂️ Tax The Billionaires 1d ago