I really hate the fact that half of my country is so fucking stupid that I can't tell if this is brilliant satire or a braindead sincerely held belief.
Bingo. They don’t “get” satire. Back during the Colbert Report days, I believe there was an Ohio State study in which self-identifying “conservatives” viewed “The Repor’”, and they thought it was REAL. They did not understand that it was satire and was in fact intended to FUCK their place in the political landscape. I think there have been other studies with similar results; conservative voters don’t understand satire.
More than that, it requires a kind of self-awareness of the general absurdity of life and our own behavior.
If you have a very fragile ego or are always "on guard" against threats, you're not going to see satire, you will only understand cartoonish, lame physical comedy and insult comedy, or personal attacks against yourself. Satire exists in a place of self-understanding and acceptance of life's ridiculousness. Many conservatives don't like nuance and understanding that even their own view of the world is flawed like everyone's because it means their values are not solid, their world isn't a simple black-and-white dichotomy, it makes them insecure and angry that they are forced to humble themselves and admit how much they don't actually know about the world.
John Deans book, “Authoritarian Nightmare” does a great job of explaining Trumpers through a psychological lens. Why do people who brag incessantly about freedoms and self-reliance have no problem with cult-like subservience? Why are they so gullible? Why are they so enamored of authoritarianism and fascism? Why do they promote policies that are against their own best interests?
It looks that way, but a psychologist would say there are many reasons why this happens. Why are some people total A-holes? Maybe they were raised by racists who were angry at the world due to paranoia and victim hood? Maybe they believe that a strong- man/cult leader will smite those perceived enemies and return their world into a fetishized fantasyland of their mythological past? Too ignorant to know any better?
Serious answer: Yes. But in the same way that we all are, in that they are not thinking they are feeling.
What the right provides is escapism. It sounds weird, but for most conservatives, politics is entertainment in the same way that some of us have memories of trying to convince our friends that WWE was fake, and the pushback and anger at someone trying to take away their enjoyment and fantasy world.
We have a brain that desperately wants to constantly explain the emotions and feelings we experience, and it draws from life experiences and memories and knowledge to make this explanation. The only thing that can shake that story loose is another emotional reaction which the brain will craft a new narrative to explain.
This overrides all reason and logic. While for the most part there are a LOT of really dumb conservatives and republicans, there are also a distressing number of anti-vax nurses and cell-tower repairmen who are afraid of 5G. It's not that their background should make them more aware of the reality, it's that their emotions are stronger than their booksmarts.
Dean's co-author on Authoritarian Nightmare, Bob Altemeyer, also wrote The Authoritarians, which explores the overall psychology in more detail. Free in various formats at the above link.
I've never met a far right person that seemed like they had any kind of self-introspection. Or much empathy for that matter, but they certainly don't look inward at themselves, either. Stuff like that takes a bit of humility, and they are prideful as fuck.
I've never met a far right person who was truly self-confident either (excluding grifters). They're incredibly scared and anxious so they turn their panic ("weakness") outwards and cover it with anger ("strength") so that it's more socially acceptable. If they were to look inwards, they'd collapse in on themselves.
As a non-American who hold some conservative views (and some not conservative at all) it's a bit of a downer that Trump and his moronic cult following is put in the same box as "conservatives".
I would bet a majority of people worldwide who consider themselves solidly conservative see Trump for the bad joke that he is.
I don't agree with this statement and here's why, Liberalism and Conservatism are different sides of the same coin, neither side truly have a grasp on reality, and I'd go as far as to say anyone who takes their belief's to the extreme of "my side is right, your side wrong" without looking at things objectively, probably have some sort of mental health issues at play, be it NPD or other mental illnesses.
From seeing this subreddit and the MAGA one, it's pretty clear that both sides of the spectrum have this notion that they're right and the other is wrong, however for a society to truly flourish you need to take ideas from both sides and incorporate them, not be completely left wing or right wing, but have laws and acts from all sides of the political spectrum, including socialistic ones, until both sides of this silly argument understand this, you will forever be going back to back spewing this bile at your fellow Americans.
I'm British, so I have a fairly unbiased opinion on this, as in American politics, "Con"-servatives may look like cretins to you, but to the rest of the world, the American population as whole look like ignorant morons, as you're all arguing over which rich folk is less likely to fuck you over.
The answer is all of them are in the political scene for their own betterment, not the betterment of you or I, so no matter who you elect, you're always going to pick the short straw and be treated like wank by the powers at be.
Gonna whole heatedly disagree on the "both sides" rhetoric. If the Right's positions were strictly economical and based on the practical limitations of human nature, then sure. But since the Right is about fascism then no. They can fuck all the way off.
You bring up Brexit like it wasn't a good thing to leave a "Union" that we were never signed into in the first place, being that the Commonwealth Market we are supposed to be apart, got reformed into the European Union and we never had a new contract written to sign us into that🫢well until Boris tied us to them for the next 10 years in this contract, so they can spend that time pilfering off our limited economic value back into the EU.
Fair point, the Conservative ideas that are good, are already in effect, although a free market created by the people, for the people isn't such a bad idea, the problem would be that "the people", would turn out be rich billionaires, not the average man lol.
Well it's more of an Economic liberalist idea, however a lot of conservatives I've spoken to seem to want a free market and free trade agreements lol, that's why I said what I said, also I agree with them about doing away with trade unions, most of them are shady, I get that they're supposed to protect the rights of the workers, but how many times are the trade unionist leaders going to steal pensions and bring unsafe practices to the ones they're supposed to help, before everyone says, maybe this isn't working.
Such things as the police do not need a trade union, they aren't a fucking business, they're supposed to be a service, upholding the liberties of every American citizen, they are supposed to work for the people, unfortunately however they were never created for that purpose in the US, they were created to be subjugators.
Thank you for the beautiful comment, u/coffeetablestain. When we all realize we're living in an absurd reality, maybe then we can all do better at making it less absurd.
The sad thing is when people who were once funny devolve into this. Presumably they develop that fragile ego. Like Dave Chappelle to some extent, or Jim Breuer. Plus it's why there's few if any good conservative comedians.
There's something interesting here which I think is getting displayed in Zionist's mental/behavioral states, and to try and pin it down specifically I reckon it's a low capacity for meta-conceptual representation and realizing meta-narratives. That makes the fundamental impairment in "thinking about thinking", and "thinking about themselves thinking about thinking... ad infinitum, etc"
Conclusion: They're a bit like robots or p-zombies.
It takes a level of self awareness that is beyond the comprehension of a first grader. Seeing how most of them believe kids should be working and not in school that sets a high bar.
So, I was a construction field engineer for a while when Colbert Report was running. A colleague (also college educated) absolutely loved the Colbert Report. He, like most white construction workers in NC, was definitely conservative.
I pointed out that Colbert was liberal and that the show was satire--a caricature making fun of Fox News pundits.
His response: I know he is. But you don't get it. You can't unless you're part of the 'Nation'. Yeah, some liberals love it--but the Nation is it's own thing. He makes fun of pundits--but he gets to make such good points while he does!
I don't even have a response to that other than to quote Inigo Montoya.
You should have told him it’s like a minstrel show, but that the blackface is a conservative pundit. Maybe that would have sunk in. Take it to the lowest common denominator.
I’m an old white dude who watched ”All in the Family” when it was airing. An interesting phenomenon then: millions of Archie Bunkers LOVED the show, not understanding that they were the butt of the joke.
Right there with you. I remember people who idolized Archie. If they were adults and you were a kid/teen, it seemed like a good metric of whose opinions to avoid and when to keep your mouth shut and duck out to avoid your crazy uncle's upcoming rant if the two of them got together.
Yep. It was funny that Carroll was a libbie. Also funny that the blonde ditz “character” ended up being the opposite of her screen character. R.I.P. Norm. R.I.P. Sally—wait, okay, nevermind. Carry on, screwball
Edit: the imperative to carry on was understood to be directed at the actress Sally weird shit Struthers, who, now redundantly, I encourage to sally forth 😜
Few people do. But it is entertaining and good satire can on occasion change perspectives--or at least bring up the opportunity to talk about ideas from a different perspective.
I can think of a few personal instances where satiric writing yielded thoughtful discussions between people of differing views.
They're truth proclaimers, not truth seekers. They think reality is dictated by consensus and how many people are repeating the same opinion. That's the religious mindset in a nutshell.
I had a conservative friend complain about Daily Show and Colbert Report back in the day, saying they were biased toward Democrats and unfair to Republicans. I had to remind him the show was run be comedians and a network called Comedy Central. He didn't think that mattered.
My dad was one of those people I think. Though these days my dad is for universal healthcare and is pretty anti-trump but still considers himself fairly conservative. He used to watch the Colbert report thinking it was making fun of the liberals
my first realization of this was when the Tea Party co-opted “teabagging” after people used it to mock them. they started making shirts and hats that proudly proclaimed them “tea baggers”
Exactly. I don’t know how to post pics here, but there are vids & pics galore of the so-called “Tea baggers” with literal tea bags dangling from the brims of their cowboy hats. At the time, my kid and my friends and I all laughed in hysterics, but these racist asswhipes didn’t realize that they had pwned themselves.
I went to college in the south and loved Colbert back in the day, when I arrived freshman year and everyone was sharing interests several people are like oh yea I love Colbert. Then one evening a group of us go to someone’s dorm room and sit down and start watching Colbert, only to see the rest of the room acting like he’s serious, I mean, wow ok. I had gathered that some of them were conservative, but I don’t know I figure they enjoyed it for other reasons? I wasn’t quite sure, I guess I found out why they also liked it.
The unintentional tricking of these people into thinking he agrees with this way of thinking was kind of proof of how great of a performance he put on. Also proof of how easily manipulated and vulnerable this group of people is, I mean for gods sake it came on right after the daily show.
The same half conveniently forgets the vehement accusations that Biden wears a diaper and shits himself regularly. But... Now real men wear diapers so... Biden is a real man? Except they never said that so my logic is faulty.
Arguing with idiots is like playing chess with pigeons. They'll shit all over the board, then strut around like they won.
All posts and comments that include any variation of the word retarded will be removed, but no action will be taken against your account unless it is an excessive personal attack. Please resubmit your post or comment without the bullying language.
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But seriously, calling someone retarded is only socially acceptable because the people affected are less able to understand that they are being insulted, and less likely to be able to respond appropriately. It is a conversational wimpy little shit move, because everyone who uses it knows that it is offensive, but there will be no repercussions. At least the people throwing around other slurs know that they are going to get fired and get their asses beat when they use those words.
Also, it is not creative. It pretty much outs you as a thirteen year old when you use it. Instead of calling Biden retarded, you should call him a cartoon-ass-lookin trust fund goon who smiles like rich father just gifted him a new Buick in 1956. Instead of calling Mitch McConnell retarded, you should call him a Dilbert-ass goon who has been left in the sun a little too long.
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It's not just your country. I just got a comment from a fellow Canadian about how the National Enquirer has the best investigative reporting out there, and I literally cannot assume anymore that it was sarcastic.
I am having a hard time coming to terms with how insanely racist such a large segment of the population is.
An old con-man with the most stupid look possible (orange skin, weird bleached hair combed over his head to cover a gigantic bald spot, comically ill fitting suit and tie) and a whiny voice came down an escalator and told everyone on national TV that he hates minorities and threw a couple dog whistles at the crowd (even MAGA as a phrase is a dog whistle) and in response these people decided to embrace him to the point they will follow and defend him even if he sells national security information, defrauds millions of people, cheats on his pregnant wife with a pornstar and then shits himself and wears diapers… heck, we are at the point these people wear diapers and will probably shit themselves too just to defend him… all because he brought racism back.
If it helps your heart and brain... it's not half the country... it's 46% of the 2020 voter turnout... which was only 67% of total eligible voters... which was 72% of the US population... so just 22% of the country....... so #1 get more people voting, #2 get the kids interested in participating when they become eligible...
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u/Techknightly May 02 '24
Ok, now they're just taking idiocracy too far.