Q: Are these just single issue voters?
A: Yes, but not like you think. Their single issue is, "Democrats are evil". They get this from a steady diet of church, cable news, and Facebook.

Q: Is our country really way more racist and evil than I ever believed possible in the 21st century?
A: Yes to the racist part. Despite what many of us now know to be publicly acceptable, privately there are a large number of Americans, especially in rural areas, who view urban minorities as a problem. They get this from a steady diet of church, cable news, and Facebook. The scary thing is, most of them aren't inherently evil, there notion of "good" has just been altered with intention.

Just remember, Trump is a symptom of the disease. The disease is a reverse "Age of Enlightenment" (Age of Endarkenment?). Brandon hit the nail on the head in his post. We imagined the internet to be a vast meritocracy where the best ideas and notions would rise to the top of human consciousness. Instead it became a race to the bottom for cheap entertainment.

They've married their ideals with a dopamine hit in the form of memes. They've oversimplified ideas to the point of absurdity, but they've done it for so long it now appears clever. Tech plays a big roll in how we come back from this, and I don't have any worthy ideas.

Q: Are these just single issue voters?
A: Yes, but not like you think. Their single issue is, "Democrats are evil". They get this from a steady diet of church, cable news, and Facebook.

Q: Is our country really way more racist and evil than I ever believed possible in the 21st century?
A: Yes to the racist part. Despite what many of us know to be publicly acceptable, privately there are a large number of Americans, especially in rural areas, who view urban minorities as a problem. They get this from a steady diet of church, cable news, and Facebook. The scary thing is, most of them aren't inherently evil, their notion of "good" has just been altered with intention.

Just remember, Trump is a symptom of the disease. The disease is a reverse "Age of Enlightenment" (Age of Endarkenment?). Brandon hit the nail on the head in his post. We imagined the internet to be a vast meritocracy where the best ideas and notions would rise to the top of human consciousness. Instead it became a race to the bottom for cheap entertainment.

They've married their ideals with a dopamine hit in the form of memes. They've oversimplified ideas to the point of absurdity, but they've done it for so long it now appears clever. Tech plays a big roll in how we come back from this, and I don't have any worthy ideas.

It's time for Vent's favorite game, "Find the Edits"!

I didn?t vote this election. I didn?t vote in 206 either. I liked Gary Johnson until he made the stupid Aleppo comment then tried to do an interview while literally holding his tongue. This election, I liked Tulsi Gabbard. Jorgensen was a nightmare. Still, I know people who voted for Trump. I also know people who voted for Biden.
To reduce either of these groups to racist or evil, is wrong.

Disclaimer: I know racism exists. I don?t think it exists to the extent that pop culture would have us believe. To attribute it as a prime motivator for 50% of the population is a mistake.

To assume that the right has been programmed by pro-Trump propaganda might have some truth in it. I would say that it is also true that a lot of people on the left have been programmed by anti-Trump propaganda.

There are good and bad things to say about both campaigns. Maybe people remember Biden?s crime bill from 94. Maybe people don?t like Harris from her record for opposing prison reform. Tulsi Gabbard brought this up during the primaries.

Maybe people noticed that Trump was the first president in decades not to send us into new military conflicts. Maybe they liked the brokering of peace deals in the Mideast. Despite warnings from the experts, Trump actually has had a pretty good foreign policy record.

Trump supporters get a steady diet of pro-Trump rhetoric from Facebook, churches, and cable news.
They also get a steady diet of anti-trump rhetoric from cable news, twitter, facebook, etc.

To boil their decisions down to ?they?re just racist? is stupid. It?s part of the tribalist thinking that has gotten us where we are. This all-or-nothing cancel culture has moved a lot of centrists to identify with the right.

My wife voted for the first time this year. If I don?t agree with who she voted for, should I boil her decisions down to my worst assumptions about her. Should I try to re-program her?

Neither Steve or I boiled any group down into a single construct. He asked some questions about single issue voters and racism which I answered with my own experience.

The problem everyone seems to be suffering from is, "HEY HE SAID THAT ABOUT <>! I'M A <> ! HE MUST THINK ALL THOSE THINGS APPLY TO ME! No.

The great thing about Trumpism is that the anti-Trump rhetoric feeds into the narrative. "They're attacking us because we're winning! I'm a bully, but I'm YOUR bully!"

Remember when Murphy Brown had a baby out of wedlock?

Also, it's not pro or anti-Trump propaganda that people have been programmed with. It's much more subtle. People have just had the dial on their worst fears, which are often passed down from parents, slowly turned up over the past 15 years. Yes, this happens on both sides. I roll my eyes just as hard at the many left leaning nonsensical reshares as I do at the right.

Republicans laughed at Trump as a joke candidate when he announced. He knew where to focus though. Focus on that fear. Ramp it up.

I never said you boiled it down to one thing. I saw a conversation about the motivations of Trump supporters. The only motivations mentioned were racism and a misconstrued idea that democrats are evil.

I contributed based on my observations. There is a large part of the right that have fallen for Trump?s cult of personality. There is also a large part of the left that has fallen for it. They?re just on the other side of the coin.

So, I say something about the general atmosphere around this election and you think I?m addressing you directly?

The problem everyone seems to be suffering from is, "HEY HE SAID THAT ABOUT <>! I'M A <> ! HE MUST THINK ALL THOSE THINGS APPLY TO ME! No.

I never said YOU boiled it down to one thing. I said to do so would be stupid. There IS a lot of stupidity out there right now.

Well, thanks for letting us know that the viewpoint of an unmentioned and irrelevant spectator would be stupid then I guess?

I'd like to point out that my answer to the question of racism, segmented neatly by itself, did not reference political parties or voters. Racism exists across party lines, faiths, and cable news networks. To pretend that it doesn't would have been stupid of me.

You?re absolutely right. I should never have brought up any observation of my own about the electorate or their motivations.
From now on, I won?t try to contribute any thoughts that haven?t already been approved.

Or maybe I?ll just fuck off.

I believe your general point is that the general electorate have multiple reasons for choosing a candidate and that saying that they did so based solely on racism was wrong. I concur.

It's an out of place argument to make in a thread where nobody stated it was their sole motivation.

No need to be angry or act like you're being attacked. I appreciate your views even when I disagree with them. I also want to clarify my position on this so you or anyone else doesn't get the impression that I believe all Trump voters are racist and/or evil.

I just think most of them are ignorant. <-- This is sarcasm delivered with a haha can't resist a punchline grin.

Wow, this blew up. I should check Vent more often... or there should be some kind of notification system for new comments on posts.