Trumpmageddon

Started by Stupot, Wed 09/11/2016 08:21:56

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Stupot

Literally nobody talks in terms that are 100% true. Even the word 'literally' hasn't meant 'literally' for like a million years. It's called hyperbole. Something Mr. Trump knows everything about.

Scavenger

Quote from: Jack on Mon 14/11/2016 12:14:04
How dare I point out that you support your beliefs with statements which are 100% false?

I'd like to see some proof that trump's appointees intend to murder you.

Or just swear some more and panic. I'm sure that will help.

Ugh, I didn't mean like, murder me, personally. But people like me. And it never starts with extermination, you gotta work your way up through delegitimation and ostracisation first. You know, by removing our rights. Making religious freedoms bills that legitimise hate crimes against us. Publish articles that belittle and minimize our pain and make it so that our experience means nothing and state that all our complaints are petty and meaningless, such as "Trannies Whine Over Hilarious Bruce Jenner Billboard". Stop us from functioning in society or being able to move around much. And that's just the LGBT stuff. Against Latinx and Muslim populations, the rhetoric is even more direct and murderous. Like Trump actually saying that he should force Muslims to wear identifying marks, that Mexicans are rapists, that he wants to deport 2 million undocumented immigrants in 4 years, that he wants to stop all Muslims from entering the country.... all direct plays from the Genocide Handbook.

But you know, if you had actually looked into what these people believed instead of trying to figuratively crow that Hillary was figuratively a serpent person from figurative Venus funded by globalist Foosball, if you had one iota of empathy for marginalised people and actually listened to us for once, you'd already know all of this.

Quote from: Stupot+ on Mon 14/11/2016 12:23:39
Even the word 'literally' hasn't meant 'literally' for like a million years.

I love this little addition the best, it's just perfect.

Ali

Quote from: Jack on Sun 13/11/2016 14:50:41
Anyway, I've made my point. I'll not gain anything by arguing with a self-identified -ist.

I was going to leave this, but since you prefer to focus on pedantry than real issues - when did I identify as an "-ist"? I mean I try to be some "-ists" and I try not to be some other "-ists", but I didn't self-identify as any of them in this thread.

But hey, we're all delighted that you're so relaxed about bigotry. That sounds swell.

Mandle

#143
We must band together to prevent ArmaGeddonS!

Let this debate not tear us apart, brothers and sisters!

Remember that the sacred code predicts the second coming of Christ Jones to band us all back together in our darkest hour:

Code: ags

if ArmaGeddonS==true
 {
  cChirstJones.ChangeRoom(AGSForums, AnyWalkOnWaterableArea);
  aHallelujah.Play(HighestMount, EternallyRepeat);
  oCrucialFix.Visible=true;
 }


Amen(d code)!

Darth Mandarb

#144
I remember when I joined this community back in 2003.

I felt so unwelcome.

There was so much hatred leveled at, and assumptions made about, me simply because I lived in the USA and the world hated our President (and, seemingly, all Americans).

It was pretty rough but I stuck around due to my love of adventure games and some of the friendships I'd made.

2008 rolls around and the US elects a president the rest of the world seemed to approve of and suddenly the anti-American sentiment was severely diminished.

Americans might just be alright?

It was a pleasant enough 8 years.

Now here we are... Trump.

Americans are bad again.

I'm not a fan of Trump. He is horrible.

So is Hillary Clinton.

It's easy to say, "if you support Trump you're a racist" and all the other bandwagon fun things to say about those who voted for Trump.

In our current [broken] system so many Americans truly believe (as "they" want them to) that there are only two choices and they're locked into not voting for who you want, but voting who you dislike the least.

I have heard many people say they voted for Trump simply because they couldn't stand the thought of a lying, criminal murderer like Hillary as their president.

I have heard many people say they voted for Clinton simply because they couldn't stand the thought of a misogynist bigot in the oval office.

I know it's hard to accept that you might be wrong about some things but it is entirely possible, in our current system, that people would despise Trump and what he stands for but they vote for him anyway because they despise his opponent more.

So yeah... 60 million people voted for Trump (more voted for Hillary but the electoral put Trump in anyway but I won't go into that).

Let's break that down a little; 60 million out of 324 million people. Roughly 18% of the American population voted for Trump. Less than 1 in 5.

This isn't indicative of systemic racism.

This isn't acceptance of bigotry.

This is indicative of a broken system that used its corruption to fail the American people.

I really hope the hatred and insults I've seen in this thread (from ALL sides) is just "fresh" backlash from the election and that this community can move past this.

I don't judge people based on where they live or who they voted for.

I don't make blanket generalizations about a people/country based on the feelings of a minority of their population.

I don't insult people (or lose a friendship) simply because they have different views from mine.

The behavior I've seen in this thread saddens me.

I hope it changes because I'm rather ashamed of us right now.

I thought we were better than that.

I don't want to feel unwelcome again in a place I've come to care so much about.

Peace.

Ali

I won't judge people for where they come from, but it is reasonable to make judgements about people based on their actions.

If someone supports a racist, they are behaving in a racist way. I won't write them off as an evil monster and I'll listen to their reasons, but I'm not going to blink at racism.

It's great that you can call for peace and unity, that's what I want too. But people have a right to be afraid of the resurgent far-right. It's not bandwagon-jumping - people are actually frightened of the consequences of the decision that 18% of Americans made and 46.9% didn't try to stop. It's not just about us all having different views, it's about people who are literally in fear for their lives and afraid for their children's futures.

Darth Mandarb

I am worried about my (and my children's) future too.

I'd wager Trump supporters would say the exact same thing.

I would say I agree that it is reasonable to judge people based on their actions but only if all aspects of why they took the actions they did are being considered. Which I don't see represented in this thread.

This is my point.

The over-all sentiment in here seems to be "people voted for Trump, they are either racist/rapist/bigots or they are okay with racist/rapist/bigots".

This is narrow minded.

There are too many factors (in our current voting system) that lead people to the decisions and actions they feel forced to make.

If somebody holds a gun to your head and says, "vote for Pol Pot or Stalin?" and you have to make a decision and you choose Stalin does that mean you are okay with exterminating your own people?

Of course it doesn't.

Americans are brainwashed into believing they have to pick a side. They must choose a team.

This creates an us versus them mentality. People on team A refuse to listen to anything from team B. There's simply no way the other team has anything to say that I want to hear. I see this same behavior in this thread (leading to my aforementioned sadness).

In this system a horrible person can get elected simply by running against somebody who the population finds even more horrible.

I can understand the outside world's anger (and even agree to some level).

I just feel directing it at the voters, and judging them, is wrong.

The anger should be at the system that allows somebody like Trump or Clinton to be elected in the first place.

Instead of insulting people, why don't we start offering suggestions on how to fix this broken system? Or at the very least express our opinions without all the anger and vitriolic rhetoric? It doesn't help, it just widens the divide even more.

There is so much anger and hatred being thrown at Trump and his supporters in this thread. Trump supporters would throw it right back. You call them idiots, they call you idiots. Rinse and repeat over and over and nobody seems to realize the futility of such nonsense. It's just easier to give in to hate and join in.

Unlike I've seen demonstrated by ALL sides in this election (Americans, non-Americans, Voters/non-Voters, Trump supporters, Hillary supporters) I am willing to concede that I might be wrong. I'm just expressing my opinions and feelings on the matter with no real expectation of changing anybodies' minds.

"Remember that time we talked politics on the internet and you changed your mind?"
- Nobody, Ever

Problem

Sorry that I have to disagree here. I understand where you're coming from, but you don't just vote for a candidate, you vote for his or her policy. If you vote, you make a choice between two (or more) policies, you prefer the things that one candidate said during the campaign over what the other candidate said. So if you voted for Trump, you support his attitude, his words and his plans at least a little more than Clinton's. You prefer banning muslims, abolishing LGBT rights and deporting immigrants over Clinton's more moderate program. Either that, or you haven't bothered to inform yourself about what the candidates and their vices were actually planning. That doesn't make anyone an idiot, and there's no reason to insult anyone because of how they voted. But you can't just hide behind the "lesser of two evils" argument when there are clear alternatives.

Snarky

Darth, the sticking point is this bit: "I'm not a fan of Trump. He is horrible. So is Hillary Clinton."

Hillary Clinton has many flaws. Both politically and in terms of personal integrity there are plenty of valid criticisms to be made of her. But I do not accept that they are in any way comparable to all the things that make Trump awful. This is not a Pol Pot vs. Stalin situation. It's more like Pol Pot vs. That Boss You Don't Like. The belief that Clinton is a monster and therefore Trump and Clinton are equivalent is the biggest lie of this election. (I think it was FiveThirtyEight who said that this election was less about the "normalization" of Trump than the "denormalization" of Clinton.)

The basis for the "Hillary is horrible" belief seems to rest on three pillars. First, there are the attacks on her character, with claims that she is a criminal, corrupt, dishonest, some even say a murderer. These claims are either groundless or intensely exaggerated, the result of a decades-long propaganda campaign seizing on every misstep (and certainly she has made missteps) generously sprinkled with bald-faced lies to build baroque conspiracy theories and paint a grossly distorted image to serve as a right-wing hate figure. She is the most thoroughly investigated politician of our time (and I believe that to be literally true, not hyperbole), and none of the investigations have ever uncovered any truly serious misdeeds.

Second is the fact that she represents the establishment and the status quo. Unlike the first pillar, this is clearly true. Now you could certainly argue that conventional US policy and politics is "horrible" in one way or another: the influence of lobbyists and big money, the hypocrisy of political expediency, the lack of attention to particular issues, the body count of its foreign policy and the encroachment of civil liberties at home, etc. If you consider "politics as normal" to be so unacceptable that almost anything else would be better, then the view that Hillary is horrible might make some sense. But if so, you really do need to compare Trump to see if he's any different in this regard: blowing up the status quo without even considering what will replace it is the height of irresponsibility. And I think on pretty much every serious issue you could mention (try!), Trump is demonstrably, objectively and obviously no better, and frequently much worse: more unprincipled, more corrupt, more dishonest, more indifferent to how his actions hurt regular people, more inhumane in matters of war, and so on. (The evidence has been repeated over and over, so there's really no excuse for not knowing it.)

The third is the fact that she is pro-choice. For some section of the electorate, all abortion is murder, and the fact that abortion is legal in the US is an atrocity that outweighs all other considerations. Donald Trump (even though he used to be pro-choice and has even refused to say whether he ever helped any of the women he had sex with have an abortion afterwards) at least offers some hope of changing this. OK, fair enough, if you really believe that.

To keep the discussion focused on the issues, I've deliberately omitted one more factor, but I am convinced it is huge, perhaps the greatest of them all: sexism. Throughout her career, Hillary has been distrusted and vilified for being an intelligent, ambitious woman trying to make a difference. This goes back at least to 1981, when Bill Clinton lost reelection as governor of Arkansas in part because Hillary was seen as too outspoken and independent for a governor's wife, as symbolized by the fact that she had kept her own last name, Hillary Rodham, rather than taking his (he was elected again after she did). After decades of this kind of thing, it's almost impossible to separate out the misogyny from the general Clinton Derangement Syndrome, and individual Clinton-haters may have no sexist motive whatsoever, but it has helped keep the hate alive over the years.

Finally, to the bit about "Americans are brainwashed into believing they have to pick a side." Sorry, but for presidential elections you do. The US electoral system guarantees a two-party system, and so in practice you only get a choice between two people. One side or the other. You can certainly work for political change in other arenas (hey, there's hope! the far right just managed it beyond all expectation!), but when it comes down to the presidency you pick one or the other, or abdicate responsibility entirely.

Darth Mandarb

Problem - The issue I see with your statement is that it relies on each voter voting intelligently, rather than emotionally, which just isn't realistic.

We are humans. Emotions will always play a part (until the robots take over and convert us to mindless worker drones).

Snarky - It might shock you but I agree with you almost entirely. I still find Hillary horrible (for many reasons I have no interest in going into) but I don't feel like your justification for her invalidates any of my points, really. I know you. We've met. I know you're an intelligent guy who doesn't talk out his ass. I respect your right to believe as you do (even if we disagree on some things, which we have!). The only point I'm trying to make is that I'm seeing way too much of "team H versus team T" in here and a stone-walled inability to accept that the other team might have some validity simply because they disagree with A, B and C (even if A, B and C are massive problems for them). I actually think what you wrote helps a lot of what I was saying!

Sure Clinton might be less horrible than Trump but that doesn't mean I support her and it's still a "lesser of two evils" type thing to me.

Is she more fit for office? Yes, undoubtedly.

Is she fit for office? I don't feel she is.

I don't see this as a problem with the people doing the voting.

I see it as a problem with the system they're voting in.

I'm not saddened that people voted for Trump.

I'm not saddened that people voted for Clinton.

I'm saddened that they are forced to pick one or the other.

I'm saddened that every four years we go through the same thing and the machine just keeps spitting out the same results and so few question it and just keep on contributing to this corrupt and broken system.

Do I think hate-crimes will increase?

No, I don't. I think the same hate-crimes will be perpetrated by the same people. The only difference is now the mainstream media (and Clinton supporters) will blame it on Trump instead of focusing on the real issues behind it.

Do I think Trump will renege on his campaign promises?

Of course. Just like pretty much every elected official in the history of humanity. I don't understand why people are surprised by this.

My Facebook feed, in the run-up to the election, was filled with my Clinton supporting friends spreading fear saying how if Trump won the country would be taken over by intolerant people filled with hatred. Well they were right. The day after the election my feed was FILLED with hatred and anger and outright deplorable behavior from Clinton supporters. Wasn't a single gloating or even celebratory post from my Trump supporting friends. Ironic, I suppose.

Both sides are capable of the same thing.

Election cycle after election cycle we go through the same thing. Every four years people rally behind "Politician X" and convince themselves this time it will be different.

It never is and, I doubt, ever will be until we fix the broken wheel.

Jack

Yeah, I think you're right, DM. Most people in this election simply find one group of extremists slightly worse than the other, without being one themselves. To take the stance of "with us or against us" will make enemies of people who would normally be able to coexist.

To get back to the topic of predictions, I would say that if trump does start bringing good jobs back to america, prices on pretty much everything will go up. Similar initiatives surrounding Brexit, if successful, will have the same result. The truth is that everyone in the western world has become hooked on goods produced by people who live and work in horrible conditions. It's naturally cheaper for unscrupulous companies to exploit them because they have no rights.

This has to stop, and it's going to come at a price.

Problem

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Mon 14/11/2016 19:01:58
Problem - The issue I see with your statement is that it relies on each voter voting intelligently, rather than emotionally, which just isn't realistic.
We are humans. Emotions will always play a part (until the robots take over and convert us to mindless worker drones).

That wasn't my point. Of course people don't always vote intelligently. But you make it sound like an excuse - my point is that this is NOT an excuse. You have the right to vote, you have a choice, and you are responsible for what you vote. If you don't inform yourself about the alternatives, or if you vote with your gut instead of your brains, there's no one else to blame but you. You can't blame it on the candidates' personality, you can't blame it on the "system" (though yes, I dislike two party systems myself). By voting, you state your preferences, and if you vote for a xenophobic policy, you can't back out and blame a candidate who offered an alternative.

Grim

Well put, Darth. We all got so much invested in this Trump/Hilary situation, the hate is pouring like poison from both sides exactly the same.

I figured your post would make us all blush from shame, but there are already "buts" and "ifs". Come on, people. It'll be ok. Nothing will change. Every politician ever has been a corrupt piece of shit, we just didn't get a chance to fight about it on social media so it wasn't as interesting as it is now, and the dirt didn't spread around the globe faster than light, so we lived in sweet ignorance.

I think both sides should just let it go. No point in proving that Hilary's friends with Satan now. No point being so sensitive about one's issues in case they get "triggered" - if someone offends you just tell them to fuck off and get on with your life, like we always have. No point getting so wound up about this stuff, though I admit, it's easy to get addicted to politics - in the past I never used to even watch news and you know what? - life was pretty great. These days things happening in my country do upset me... and I wish I didn't follow any of them.

The only way we can make our "enemies" win, is by doing what they want us to do: turn on each other. We are still the same people. Let's not give anyone satisfaction and save the world by simply getting along, can we? ;)


Darth Mandarb

QuoteThat wasn't my point. Of course people don't always vote intelligently. But you make it sound like an excuse - my point is that this is NOT an excuse. You have the right to vote, you have a choice, and you are responsible for what you vote. If you don't inform yourself about the alternatives, or if you vote with your gut instead of your brains, there's no one else to blame but you. You can't blame it on the candidates' personality, you can't blame it on the "system" (though yes, I dislike two party systems myself). By voting, you state your preferences, and if you vote for a xenophobic policy, you can't back out and blame a candidate who offered an alternative.

I am a little confused I must admit. I agree with what you just wrote. I wasn't trying to make voting by emotion an excuse (it's just the reality to my mind).

It would be ideal if everybody voted intelligently.

However this doesn't seem like a solution to me because I wouldn't vote on emotion and my "education" of both candidates made me damn sure I wasn't voting for either of them.

Another thing to consider is that in our current world, information (and more succinctly disinformation), is EVERYWHERE! It's exhausting trying to sort out the fact from the drivel.

I think a lot of people (which the system takes advantage of) just give up.

Some just believe whatever they read, and for others it's too hard to tell what's real and what's viral and what's out-right false.

So in the end they just hitch their horse to a wagon and ride it out.

Human nature seems to direct us to stand behind our choices (even if we have second thoughts) to avoid looking like we made a mistake.

It also seems to dictate the need to insult those with opposing views to make ourselves feel... superior? Or maybe just to convince ourselves we're right?

I read a quote recently that I thought was pretty relevant:

"Sharing links that mock a caricature of the Other Side isn't signaling that we're somehow more informed. It signals that we'd rather be smug assholes than consider alternative views. It signals that we'd much rather show our friends that we're like them, than try to understand those who are not."

Quote from: Grim on Mon 14/11/2016 19:39:12Well put, Darth. We all got so much invested in this Trump/Hilary situation, the hate is pouring like poison from both sides exactly the same...
...The only way we can make our "enemies" win, is by doing what they want us to do: turn on each other. We are still the same people. Let's not give anyone satisfaction and save the world by simply getting along, can we?

I'm with you 100%, though my "fuck off" wouldn't be vocalized (nod)

Scavenger

I'm kind of sickened by the repeated calls for empathy for Trump voters, when I've pointed out, again and again, that his administration is stripping people of their rights, validating violent hatred, appointing white supremacists that also advocate violent hatred...

And somehow I'm supposed to be the bigger person? When minorities are the real losers? Clinton wouldn't have appointed literal Nazis. She was bad, but not "I fear for my life because jackbooted thugs want to destroy me" bad. The dominant intersection can complain of being hated all they want, but if you're not straight, white, cis, neurotypical, or male, you know what real, murderous, systematic hatred is. And anyone complicit in that hatred, anyone who validates it, earns no sympathy from me. They have to admit that what they did was wrong and work to oust this fascist Orange and stamp down the neo nazis, the white supremacists, until they don't have any power anymore.

And now I got people saying that hate crimes won't increase and that its the media's fault for reporting on this? Hate crimes do increase when you validate bigotry, just look at Brexit.  A 41% rise. And likely to rise higher now that La Naranja Hinchadaza is in power. Heck, electing him at all is a hate crime,even if it's done out if ignorance.

But, you know, I'm supposed to reach out empathetically to the people that put him in power, even though they have not once even acknowledged that the people currently in power are right this second stripping my people of their rights.

And when someone's opposing view is "Yeah, this guy who will strip minorities of their rights and elect neo nazis was the best option", no, I won't consider it as valid. Don't you even dare try to equate my fear with their hatred.

Snarky

#155
I just happened to dig up this post from fully ten years ago, about why I didn't think Clinton could be elected president (and tipping Obama as the best candidate for the election then two years into the future... as veep on a Gore ticket. OK, so I didn't get it 100%). Sad to be proven right in the worst possible way.

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Mon 14/11/2016 19:01:58
I'm saddened that every four years we go through the same thing and the machine just keeps spitting out the same results and so few question it and just keep on contributing to this corrupt and broken system.
Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Mon 14/11/2016 19:01:58
Election cycle after election cycle we go through the same thing. Every four years people rally behind "Politician X" and convince themselves this time it will be different.

It never is and, I doubt, ever will be until we fix the broken wheel.

But this time IT REALLY HASN'T spat out the same result. That's why everyone's freaking out!
That's why no living president endorsed Trump. That's why he got no major newspaper endorsements apart from by The National Enquirer, his son-in-law's New York Observer and big-time donor Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Review-Journal, with papers that have endorsed Republicans for a hundred years going with Clinton. None of this is normal. They are symptoms of the fact that Trump was not just another Republican presidential candidate. If you haven't noticed, this time it really is different.

I was very much not a fan of George W Bush, but I always considered him a "normal" politician, in a way Trump just isn't. And sure, Obama was historic because he was the first black president, but apart from that he was a pretty conventional Democrat: he was never going to revolutionize America. Trump is unprecedented in American politics. It may not be the change you're looking for (I honestly have no sense of what that might be - I can't remember you ever going into detail about the alternative you envision), but you really can't say Trump is more of the same.

I don't in any way expect Trump will fulfill all his campaign promises, but if he has a "normal presidency" I will be astonished.

QuoteDo I think hate-crimes will increase?

No, I don't.

Hate crimes have already increased.

QuoteMy Facebook feed, in the run-up to the election, was filled with my Clinton supporting friends spreading fear saying how if Trump won the country would be taken over by intolerant people filled with hatred. Well they were right. The day after the election my feed was FILLED with hatred and anger and outright deplorable behavior from Clinton supporters. Wasn't a single gloating or even celebratory post from my Trump supporting friends. Ironic, I suppose.

Is it at all possible that the fear was about things happening in the real world, not on your Facebook feed?

Ali

Quote from: Grim on Mon 14/11/2016 19:39:12
Come on, people. It'll be ok. Nothing will change. Every politician ever has been a corrupt piece of shit, we just didn't get a chance to fight about it on social media so it wasn't as interesting as it is now, and the dirt didn't spread around the globe faster than light, so we lived in sweet ignorance.

I hope you folks who think this is business as usual are right. I will say this though: When students in Nazi Germany held book burnings in universities, what was the international reaction? Presumably revulsion, horror? Fear of what it might foreshadow?

Not really. People thought it was crass, a little uncivilised. A few leftist intellectuals got very wound up, but most newspapers didn't pay it much heed. Business as usual, nothing really changes...


Danvzare

Quote from: Ali on Mon 14/11/2016 20:24:41
I hope you folks who think this is business as usual are right. I will say this though: When students in Nazi Germany held book burnings in universities, what was the international reaction? Presumably revulsion, horror? Fear of what it might foreshadow?

Not really. People thought it was crass, a little uncivilised. A few leftist intellectuals got very wound up, but most newspapers didn't pay it much heed. Business as usual, nothing really changes...
So considering everyone is treating this like it's the end of the world, newspapers and all, means that there's hope that it isn't all that bad. ;-D
Take what I said with a pinch of salt. I'm on neither side in this debate, I just couldn't pass up on that opportunity. ;)

In my opinion, I think everyone should just wait and see what happens. It's not even been a week yet.

Ali

Quote from: Danvzare on Mon 14/11/2016 20:49:19
So considering everyone is treating this like it's the end of the world, newspapers and all, means that there's hope that it isn't all that bad. ;-D

Yes, this time we're better prepared.

Quote from: Jack on Mon 14/11/2016 20:47:50
Writer of ‘Taxi Driver,' ‘Raging Bull' Pens Post-Election ‘Call to Violence'

The mask drops.

That proves it!

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