- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17300245
Donald Trumpās angry threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on all U.S. imports from Mexicoādelivered Monday via the cautious diplomatic language of a Truth Social rantāis widely being depicted as a bluff. Trump declared that once in the White House, he will impose the tariffs unless Mexico stops migrants and fentanyl from āpouringā into the United States. Seen as a feint, the tactic could theoretically get Mexico to halt the migrant flow, allowing Trump to pull back on tariffs later while boasting that on the border, he has already bent Mexico to his will.
But amid all this parsing of Trumpās intentions, a crucial fact about his new move is getting lost: At the center of it is a lie. This lie is hiding in plain sight: Itās the underlying suggestion that Mexico is not doing anything to stop migrants from coming and that Trumpās threat of tariffs is needed to change that. Here weāre getting an early glimpse of how he will deceive voters about some of his most potentially destructive designs, on tariffs and immigration alike.
All this is laid bare by the sharp response to Trumpās threat that new Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued Tuesday. Her statement is getting attention for its barbed claim that American guns trafficked to Mexico are fueling crime and violence there among gangs supplying U.S. markets with drugs. āTragically, it is in our country that lives are lost to the violence resulting from meeting the drug demand in yours,ā Sheinbaum noted acidly, suggesting that the two countriesā interrelated national challenges underscore the need for cross-border cooperation rather than Trumpian confrontation.
Thatās a harsh indictment of Trumpās whole worldview.
Itās a nuanced and information heavy piece. Great for reading and thinking. So the average maga supporter will never attempt to read let alone comprehend.
FTFY
Donāt underestimate the mindless stupidity of the majority of Americans.
No thatās a lazy and shitty take with no thought behind it. Itās even simpler than that.
For many Americans they simply donāt have the time to read about it. Between worrying about everything else in their daily lives, living paycheck to paycheck, even working multiple jobs to get by. Many Americans barely have enough time after getting off work and commuting home, helping their kids with homework, having dinner, or otherwise winding down a tiny bit after work, to maybe watch an hour of local news before going to bed and doing it all over again the next day.
If youāre worried about making ends meet every day of your life, youāre not paying much attention to politics beyond the little bit you get talking to people you know, or that 30-60 minutes of local news. Itās simply a lower priority than surviving and not losing your home or car which you need to get to work.
Yep, weāre overworked, overstressed, underpaid, donāt have time to be informed or do / learn how to do critical thinking.
Doesnāt change the fact that weāre astoundingly ignorant, and increasingly illiterate.
Youāve provided an explanation (which is not actually simpler, my single sentence summary of your points is), but that does not change the actual fact that 54% of American adults cannot read a childrenās story to their own kids, even if they had the time.
Combine that with short form social media addiction amongst children markedly reducing attention span and cognitive ability generally, and the actual reality on the ground is even worse.
If you want a practical, functional conversation geared toward solving the problem, you have to face these facts.
If you want a short lament about the state of society and its general anti intellectualism and ignorance, the person whose take you are calling shitty and thoughtless is actually a pretty concise and accurate remark.
Is it a shitty take to say āUnder Trump, trans people / latin immigrants / the poor are fuckedā?
Does that require an in-depth explanation of how and why that statement is true to not be a shitty take?
ā¦ This overexplanation, this attitude that āno you must make clear that you understand all the context before you can have an opinionā kind of attitude is precisely what turns off people who have short attention spans and donāt have the time or are literally incapable of doing their own research.
It is the exact stereotype that Republicans have been successfully utilizing for decades against Democrats, that theyāre all stodgy elitists who talk down to anyone who is not as enlightened as them.
ā¦ Which is over half of adult Americans.
Keep running with it, youāll have the moral highground when the flood of economic and climactic disasters washes us all away, with no regard to how many times you can say āi told you soā before you drown.
Mine was actually simpler, and is even simpler than yoursā¦
I just then immediately expanded on that simple explanation, instead of leaving a lazy single line response like the OP. Because this is a place for actually discussing things, not just leaving a side shitty comment like itās Facebook. The OP I responded to did not even attempt to go beyond, instead going for the low hanging fruit of, āhaha Americans dumbā and leaving it at that as of that added to the conversation in some way.
All youāre doing is making excuses for people. If your life is shitty and you simply accept that and donāt look to what might be the cause of your life being shitty, in this case being that our conservative controlled government supporting oligarchs and corporate monoliths over working class Americans, then you are absolutely 100% fucking stupid if you donāt take the time to find out and understand what the fuck is wrong.
I have no sympathy for the people who voted for Trump and are crying now because they didnāt take the time to find out who it was and they were voting for and what it is he actually stands for. Not just what he says he stands for. And make no mistake, a huge portion of the people who voted for Trump were not MAGA people, they were just regular Republicans voting the way they always have.
P.S. I also have no sympathy for people who didnāt bother to vote at all and are complaining because Trump is going to be president and make their lives harder. Seriously fuck you if you didnāt bother to get out and vote.
Thatās a lot of text to say you are completely missing the fucking point and to vent to people here that honestly donāt give a shit about your opinion of others.
Itās not an excuse, itās a real world explanation for why this happens. For someone struggling to survive every day, politics is a much lower priority than keeping food on the table and a roof over their head every day. Youāre immediately going to the same place as the Republicans, dehumanizing a group of individuals because youāre either incapable or unwilling to of consider their perspective. Lots of ātheyāre taking our jobsā energy from you in that post.
The only way I can think that you canāt even consider this position is because youāve lived your entire live in a position of privilege in comparison. Youāve never had to worry about losing your home, or not having enough food to feed your family even with a full time job, or even multiple jobs. Your lack of willingness to even consider this point of view and instead immediately demonize a large section of the country shows a lot about your character, whether youāre willing to admit it or not. That is not the way to fix our problems. We need to recognize the root causes of WHY people donāt vote, or directly vote against their interests, and work to fix those.
There ARE people that voted for Trump specifically because heās a shitty human being, just like they areā¦ statistically there HAS to be. But thatās not going to be the majority. The majority are instead going to be the ones that donāt have the time to research, donāt have the education to critically evaluate situations, and the ones that take the various media propaganda and sane-washing of candidates as fact because itās coming from a ānewsā outlet. The majority of those people are a lot more nuanced than you are willing to admit, because thatās harder to deal with instead of your simple explanation. Simple explanations about a group are what the Republicans do to create their coalition of single issue voters and their black and white view of the world.
Yeah, these are exactly the people I have a problem with. They are all trash and I hope they feel absolutely fucked with voterās remorse in the next few years as Trump takes away all the systems and governmental services they take for granted.
They really arenāt. They are just lazy and very very stupid.
So yeah it is all one giant excuse. Youāre trying to excuse their stupidity and lack of engagement by giving them some kind of noble self-involvement which is just fucking stupid in and of itself. So please, step off your bloody soap box and ditch the rose colored glasses and have a look at the real world where the majority of the electorate is completely devoid of intelligence at all and should probably be barred from voting because they are incapable of critical thought and the ability to understand the basics of how government works.
I see. Youāre just a spiteful person and still unwilling to consider a different perspective than your own. Exactly like the die hard Trump supporters. The ones that actively picked Trump because of his policies hurting people. You should reflect on that fact youāve made so plain in these comments.
Oh no! You said the magic thing. Iām just like the racist homophobic selfish assholes who actively campaigned for a narcissistic megalomaniac who will do or say anything to gain power. I feel so regretful for passing judgment on the millions of morons who were duped into believing his lies because they are too stupid to spend half a nanosecond to read and comprehend how full of shit he is. It turns out Iām the bad guy. āsadface emojiā