this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 96 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I truly don’t understand these people. Their life is generally stressful to the extreme and the current system of “trickle down” has been for a long time shown to not work. So why not tax the rich, install some decent social systems, make the world better for the general public and move on?

[–] [email protected] 57 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

They've been made to believe things like this:

  1. They'd be able to make more than they're making if taxes were less. In effect, their employer and wealthier individuals would share the additional after-tax income.

  2. Job prospects would be better. More promotion opportunities, less layoffs, etc. Also, more vacation time, sick leave, etc would be available.

  3. Just about everything bad that happens economically can be linked to higher taxes.

  4. Prices for everything would be lower.

I'm not defending these views, but this is just what some people believe, and it explains their voting actions. I used to be one such person and I still live among people who see taxes like this. Blame Fox, radio, and similar outlets for spreading misinformation

[–] [email protected] 37 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Ah yes, if companies made more money, they'd share more with the workers. That explains why corps have been making record profits and... Nothing has improved for workers.

At some point you just have to ask whether these people are disconnected from reality.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago (1 children)

At some point you just have to ask whether these people are disconnected from reality.

we've past that point. We don't need to ask anymore, really. FWIW, I blame the sabotages public education

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

Public education and cognitive dissonance.

These people realize there's a problem but they'd rather believe the bullshit their side spews than accept reality

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

The crazy thing is seeing people who work for these companies for 30 years straight, got treated kind of decently like 25 years ago, now the company has grown over 100x in size and their pay and benefits haven't even doubled.

Yet they still talk about how taxes are the problem. And that things will trickle down. They've literally been in that system for 30 years of it failing to work and they still think it's the right answer.

I can excuse people having their ideas twisted about something they don't really know about. But if you're that deep into it, have literal experience showing it not working, and you still buy into that shit and vehemently defend it despite facts being presented that show otherwise... Yeah, there's no excuse anymore. Now you're just a fucking idiot voting against your own best interest.

[–] prole 1 points 11 months ago

No need to ask that when you've been paying attention for 16+ years.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

the haven't made enough money yet, it's that simple.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Have you seen politics in this country before? It's not about logic, it's about being mad at some invisible boogey man because someone on the TV told you to.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

"b-but trans people..."

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I feel like we should make up some shit about Muppets. and then get sound bites of GOPers being like "i like muppets... who doesn't like muppets' and then, you know, use that to smear them.

(sorry, muppets, your sacrifice is appreciated.)

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Already sorta happened when Mitt Romney talked about how he liked Big Bird but wanted to try to kill him off by eliminating funding for PBS..

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

excelllent. We'll start with that...

The most enduring conspiracies have an element of truth. (for example, they are building bird drones. for research tracking wild animals that would be spooked by quads flying over head. Funny how that works.)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I've never met one in real life, I've only heard of their existence through social media.

Do they actually exist or is it an enemy people have fabricated?

The most likely answer is I'm bubbled around good people, which is a result I guess.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago

You're absolutely in a progressive bubble. If everyone were progressives, Donald Trump would have been laughed out of the primaries. There are a lot of people who are brainwashed or spiteful or both.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I think it can be difficult to verify directly because the concept is more abstract than those implicated are accustomed to dealing with.

Consider the similar scenario where impoverished seniors vote to have the government be more fiscally responsible by cutting the very services their lives depend on. If they understood how they were fucking themselves, they'd probably stop. Should we really expect any sort of meaningful discussion here? It is a deeply fundamental problem whose solution would require much more openness and vulnerability than our society or collective consciousness is currently able to support.

It wasn't too long ago we were seeing a constant stream of folks expressing regret for their vocal opposition to the vaccines, sometimes even pleading to be vaccinated upon learning of their imminent demise. If they were better equipped to think through these issues, they'd be better equipped to participate in constructive discussion, and we wouldn't be talking about this problem.

You may be in a bubble, or maybe you're just a kind and trusting person who tends to give people the benefit of the doubt.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

You're in a huge bubble. A large portion of boomers very strongly defend this shit. Other generations tend to see past it, some areas of more educated boomers see past it, but even among generally good people, Reagan etc brainwashed the majority of an entire generation into believing this shit and most of them have not let go.