Unthinking Majority wrote:Is civil society dying? My grandparents did not behave like this. They wouldn't even use profanity, and violence and nudity on TV offended their sensibilities. They were kind to their neighbours and weren't greedy. What exactly are we doing here?
I think civility is seriously wounded. We can't underestimate the damage heated political rhetoric has caused. My guess is that I am probably about the age of your grandparents. And we did not behave like this. One thing for sure. Only the very rare party ideologues thought of the opposition as the enemy.
My mother was a Republican and my father a Democrat. My mother did not like Roosevelt or Truman and my father liked both of them. Nowadays they could not be married. They would likely not even associate with each other.
Congress can't pass a bill. Nothing except bills that cater to the very wealthy and those only because they have a constituency that matters.
I fear we have gone too far. Every decision by every leader is challenged in court. The government has no "room" to govern.
One thing we can say for Trump is that he simply ignored the press. He knew that their primary job was to sell soap. He knew that the more outrageous he was the more air time he got. And he is truly a mean man. He really does not care about others. (At least others he can't have sex with.)
We have not raised the minimum wage in decades. The middle class is disappearing. Prices are going up and housing is going up faster. In fact, private ownership is not growing. The value of my house has gone up 25% in less than a year. A new buyer would have to be in mid six figures to afford it and it is a nice but not over-the-top house. Two school teachers, both working full time, have trouble finding a house they can afford. In many markets, one entire salary would go to rent/payments and a piece of the child care.
Things are not good in the US and people are starting to speak easily about violence. The invasion of the Congress should have shaken all of us to our core. It did not. And those far right fanatics who did it are numerous and undeterred. The upcoming Republican landslide might mollify them for a time but they are still hankering for a dust up.
I do not envy young Americans. Things are going to be really rough fairly soon. Using the term fascist is not the problem. The problem is fascists. The problem is not vaccine mandates. It is people who think that being vaccinate has something to do with politics. (And that is all on the Republican side.) The Republican leadership decided that they could make hay with this issue and watched as a million Americans died needlessly right before their eyes. And here is the real problem. We are not outraged.
One third of the people want to kill one third of the people while the other one third of the people watches.
@Unthinking Majority
I keep asking for evidence, links, of this supposed "steal". Nobody has ever provided them.
Trump is a con-man. Until I see evidence otherwise I believe you have been conned. Trump is gaslighting the entire nation trying to question the truth of their own reality.
They have been conned for sure. The election was not stolen. People who actually believe that are not intelligent. I mean that literally. Unintelligent people tend to be highly suggestible. But many of the people who say they believe it don't really. They know that it is controlling their unintelligent pawns and so they play along.
What will Trump's second term be? Well better than any of the other likely Republican candidates. Oddly, it would be good for the rest of us, if a Republican has to win, that it be Trump. He is so inept and unfocused that it limits the damage he can do. He really does not give a shit about any issues at all. He is in this for the Helicopters and military sycophants.
I am a lifelong Republican, white male, affluent, regular person. He is not out to get me. If you are not like me, duck.