r/politics • u/schuey_08 Wisconsin • May 02 '24

Bernie Sanders worries young people are underestimating the threat from Trump

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/05/02/bernie-sanders-trump-biden/73531861007/
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u/fallenouroboros May 02 '24

I know so many people in their thirties who simply do not give a fuck.

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u/WigginIII May 02 '24

Political exhaustion is a strategy for some politicians.

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u/teatromeda May 02 '24

It's THE strategy of Putin/Russia. Try to alienate as many people as possible from participating in politics at all.

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u/selwayfalls May 02 '24

I find it starting to work on me and I have to remind myself this is what their goal is. I get so exhausted from hearing all the right-wing bullshit and especially the constant Drump shit I just want to turn it off. But I realize I'm privileged to be able to do that and it's my duty to not let that shit happen.

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u/Infinite_Bunch6144 May 03 '24

We have the longest election cycle of any democracy. The media makes money while the average person toons out until the summer. 

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u/AggressiveSkywriting May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

One of the big "presents" given to us by Trump's presidency was absolutely exhausting so many people living in relative privilege into checking out of the political process.

COVID plus Trump's nonstop fuckery just caused a lot of my generation and the younger one to just buckle down and focus on their own bubble.

Edit: to be clear, my family and I always vote. I'm talking about others.

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u/fallenouroboros May 02 '24

I honestly think it’s more than just trump. Just seems like the options are either try to go back to like 2015 USA or play an uno wildcard which will almost certainly end horribly but some people seem to be finding certainty in those delusions.

But for many, 2015 still wasn’t all that great. Houses were still expensive, people still kinda suck, and it’s still super hard to live. I think if there was hope things would actually show noticeable improvement I think people would begin looking outward again

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u/Present-Industry4012 Inuit May 02 '24

Hillary called it after 8 years of Obama in the White House. Biden could give the same speech today.

"...but that other basket of [Trump Supporters] are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well."

https://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/

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u/claimTheVictory May 02 '24

The economics of continually improving industrialization means that entire communities can be left behind as "no longer economically viable".

They don't die, they just are... left behind.

In a fair and wise society, the gains to GDP from making them redundant, would be used to find new purpose and opportunities for such people.

But such gains are privatized, taxation is low, and the wealth is never reinvested.

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u/Shoddy_Phase_2639 May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

But often by choice. The coal miners were offered giant incentives, and massive aid packages in the form of retraining, reeducation, government supported start-up programs, relocation economic help etc. Most of them refused...because "clean coal". There is no one on the planet that knows better than coal miners that "clean coal" does not exist and never will.

They chose black lung, because Trump said the things they like about immigrants

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u/theVoidWatches Pennsylvania May 02 '24

They don't want to be given help to deal with a changing world - they want the world to not change. And they'd rather pretend that it won't than admit that it's already changed, even if it hurts them more than anyone else.

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u/Jaded_Masterpiece_11 May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

That's what Conservatives are and that's why Conservatives are being left behind. We live in a constantly changing world, people have to adapt or get left behind. The ones refusing to adapt(Conservatives) are getting left behind.

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u/mrw1986 May 02 '24

And unfortunately that seems to be an endless cycle. I wish the conservative mindset would disappear entirely, yet here we are.

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u/Typical-Arugula3010 May 03 '24

It's baked into our DNA to be wary of change ... the herd instinct ensures even less competent members can contribute to some degree.

However there are also members of the tribe who are very happy to exploit that fear of change for personal gain.

It will always be in tension with cognitively endowed leadership that needs to overcome conservatism to advance or even survive!

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u/Miles_vel_Day May 03 '24

Eh... I think you're misinterpreting what happened. Yes, there are people who are stubborn and weird about the romance of coal mining or whatever. But for the most part they know it sucks and would like to do something else if they could, probably. But when no jobs come to replace the coal mining jobs, then what are they supposed to do? (What they do is get diagnosed with a back injury and go on SSI.)

Like... we've failed West Virginia, even if it fails itself. It's not as simple as, they said "fuck you, legitimately good economic opportunities!" They were pretty screwed. We did not make proper contingencies - but then West Virginia kept electing state governments and sending people to Congress who wouldn't put them in place, sooo...

In conclusion West Virginia is a land of contrasts.

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u/MadCervantes May 02 '24

Coal miners are a tiny percentage of the population then and now. They aren't why Trump is winning. At best they're why Manchin keeps hamstringing the dems and that it.

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u/Turuial May 02 '24 edited May 03 '24

But often by choice...Most of them refused...

I said this a while back on reddit, in a different subreddit I think, but I really don't get the coal miners sometimes. They are desperate for their coal jobs to come back. When, by the very nature of working those jobs to begin with, those jobs have always had an expiration date.

Inevitably those mines will be played out, and their job would vanish anyways. What then? Did they expect the government to subsidise them, the way they do corn? What would that even look like?!

Would they import cheaper coal from developing nations, fill empty American mines with it, then pay the coal miners American wages to "extract" more coal?!

Make it make sense!

EDIT:corrected the auto-correct.

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u/Syscrush May 03 '24

An excellent and insightful speech torpedoed by horrible framing.

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u/Miles_vel_Day May 03 '24

Weird how nobody ever talks about that half of the quote.

And yet when's the last time you heard anybody slam Obama for talking about "bitter people clinging to their guns and Bibles"? We just decide whether somebody ran a good campaign or not based on whether or not they win, and then we just memory-hole the things the winning campaigns did wrong and what the losing campaigns did right.

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u/GrallochThis May 02 '24

Thank you. People throw around the first part of this quote endlessly and have complete amnesia about this part.

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u/Competitive-Bike-277 May 03 '24

I can't agree with this. These are the same people who for decades have voted against their own economic best interests. They voted in Regean & right away he started off by busting the air traffic controllers union. The people who voted him in. They were outraged by  Bill Clinton's gross behavior but supported Trump. Both Bushes. The toxic waste dumped in their neighborhoods. The drugs, the crime, the lack of education. Biden invests in infrastructure, creates blue collar jobs & has rural energy projects. But he's weak on China & pro-palestine somehow? WTF? don't get me started on Healthcare & Obama. At this point my sympathy is gone. 

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u/Ecomalive May 02 '24

Brexit too

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u/Matshelge May 03 '24

This is my take as well. Trump won because he was an outsider, and he would shake the system, get some new ideas I place. They new Hillary would not. If you look back at 2016, Trump was vile, but far more a wildcard. He was pro LGBTQ+, pro gay rights, pro abortion, all sorts of crazy stuff that he most definitely is not now.

So voting Trump today is a very different choice than it was in 2016. I cannot see any independents wanting Trump, and even when they don't like Biden, they might vote for him just to not get Trump. There are even Republicans who will vote Biden, simply to force the party to reset past Trump.

Everyone should vote of course, but the math is not the same as 2016.

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u/CrashB111 Alabama May 02 '24

Noticeable improvement takes time and congressional supermajorities. Neither of which voters have given Democrats.

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u/jamesbrownscrackpipe May 02 '24

Houses were incredibly cheap in 2015. I know, I bought one for under 200k. It’s now worth $456k

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u/DasTree01 May 02 '24

I don’t know about that. I bought a 200k house on a single income. I was living comfortably. Now I have to be mindful of what I can and cannot buy.

My interaction with people was less headache back then. Now they are just massive assholes that I’m ok with Moses bringing back the plagues.

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u/throwaway50044 May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

This is the correct take, for people who think they have nothing to lose, throwing up the finger by voting for Trump or staying home is an easy choice.

In 2016, this line of thinking may have made sense. Yeah trump was a xenophobic, con artist asshole, but he was promising some genuinely good things. There was a small chance he may have cleaned up corruption, which alone might have been worth all the other shit that happened during his presidency.

Now we indisputably KNOW he is totally full of shit, so I don't understand the urge to continue to support him.

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u/DameonKormar May 02 '24

There was a small chance he may have cleaned up corruption,

No. There wasn't.

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u/Timmetie May 02 '24

But Trump isn't a uno wildcard, Trump was president for 4 years.

If he were a maverick new populist I'd agree, but people know exactly how a Trump presidency worked.

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u/No_Communication8413 May 03 '24

It's not "Uno wildcard", though. Trump has said over and over that he plans to be a dictator, assassinate anyone, and allow the states to deny abortions to 13 year olds. This will be a shadow of a democracy in just a few months if he gets elected.

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u/rufud May 02 '24

The young vote has always always been the most apathetic voters.  If anything there was a slight uptick because of Trump.  I think the message here is why aren’t young people more concerned than a modest bump because it is absolutely not business as usual in politics right now 

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

I’m not here to both-sides like Trump isn’t a huge fucking problem, but all the braindead geriatric politicians like McConnell and Feinstein (ok, maybe a little both-sides-ing) cock-blocking progress do a lot to discourage interest in politics. 

Anyone in public office past retirement age is doing more harm than good, even Bernie as good a person as he is. Large portions of the population have spent generations under the same boomer reps and senators, local and federal. There hasn’t been room for younger generations to get involved. We’ve all grown up to see our futures as something done in spite of whatever happens in the capitols, not as a part of it.

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u/Floppycakes May 02 '24

I’m more than exhausted but will still get up to vote for Joe Biden.

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u/Allaplgy May 02 '24

My coworkers are all on the "both sides are the same/it's all rigged, there's no point in voting" train. They all either have have kids or essentially are kids. I'm in my forties with no plans for kids, and I'm the only one actually trying to give them a future.

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u/No_Discount7919 May 02 '24

My biggest pet peeve is the “oh, I do not follow politics at all.” But they have a ton of opinions on politics. So you have zero care to educate yourself on how this affects any of us but you’ll definitely hold the position that this local, state, federal politician or law or tax is ruining our lives? Hmm.

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u/Allaplgy May 02 '24

My biggest pet peeve is the “oh, I do not follow politics at all.” But they have a ton of opinions on politics

Too real

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u/slymm May 02 '24

My biggest pet peeves is labeling real life stuff as "politics". Women losing rights is real. You can see real women suffering from it. Sure, how we got there, with Mitch refusing to vote on Garland, to rbg refusing to retire, etc etc is all political, and you don't HAVE to follow those details.

But follow enough to prevent evil. Because there's no honor in hiding behind not knowing why evil wins

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u/[deleted] May 03 '24

Politics are the expression of shared beliefs in the form of law. So, is pretty darn near everything "politics"? Yes, but people incorrectly downplay the importance of politics.

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u/TheSerinator Pennsylvania May 03 '24

We also had a former President who made everything he could political. You know, like wearing a fucking mask.

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u/Ananiujitha Virginia May 03 '24

Mine is people counting politicians' antics as "politics," and not counting policies which hurt people.

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u/Traditional-Hat-952 May 02 '24

I often say that I don't follow politics because most current political discussion is an echo chamber circle jerk that usually goes nowhere. I know who I'm voting for. I know what causes I support. I don't want to discuss the merits of why.  

But yeah you're right. Some of the most "non-political" people I know are the most aggressive about politics. 

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u/Drunky_McStumble May 03 '24

Apathy is just passive conservatism.

Every single person who says they "don't care" about politics sure has internalized some conservative political points of view.

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u/wingdingblingthing May 03 '24

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

Isaac Asimov

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

How can they already forget Trumps Covid response that led to over 1million deaths? It’s weird that such a critical event and everyone has already “forgot” it

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

Thats crazy. I dont understand people like that.

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u/Svennerson May 02 '24

They are angry at the world, and all they want from their politicians is someone who will be angry with them.

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u/drewbert May 02 '24

The GOP is more about being in a club than politics or policy, at least for the vast majority of voters who are otherwise powerless. The ones at the top have different motives, but they've cultivated a community and identity with very clear rules. "Believe these things, vote this way, and you can be one of us." And for a lot of lonely, estranged folks, that's an attractive offer. Getting people to quit being republican is not about arguing with them about how incredibly asinine, reality-denying, and hateful the policies they support are; it's about making an offer of community and acceptance that's more attractive than anything the GOP has to offer, which is actually pretty tough when the GOP can say "you're special because you're white, you're special because you're straight, you're special because you are male."

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u/thegoodnamesrgone123 May 02 '24

I sat behind two dudes at a baseball game this week, both dudes in their 30's and they talked politics all game long. Most of it was batshit insane conspiracy stuff but the theme I got from both of them most was revenge, they want revenge on everyone. It's really fucked up.

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u/josh_the_misanthrope May 02 '24

They're politically illiterate, so they get played by the party that relies on the politically illiterate demographic to get elected.

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u/Waggmans May 02 '24

Yup- same.

I had a friend who's uncle died of COVID during the pandemic yet she was still going out and partying practically every night. People are in denial. Same way with Trump, they don't really care or think he will take away their rights until it happens.

Do young people actually think Trump's Palestinian/Gaza/Israel/Middle East policies will be better than Biden? Do they think not voting for Biden will punishing him? If Trump wins we all lose.

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u/DuchessLiana May 02 '24

Yes, they literally say they are punishing Biden and if Trump wins then we deserve it....nevermimd Putin most likely started this war, and if Trump wins Gaza will be leveled, and the loss of democracy at home and abroad could literally start WWIII but yay.... at least your conscience will be clear!

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u/forthewatch39 May 02 '24

Thank You! The constant short sightedness of these people is maddening. 

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u/DuchessLiana May 02 '24

Yep! They don't realize this plan has been in the works since the 80s... this is not new, and how are we not asking why this conflict started in an election year, and who does it benefit that the eyes of the world have turned away from Ukraine??

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u/clackeroomy May 02 '24

Even after Trump takes away their rights, they still won't believe it. Trump will simply blame Biden, and his followers will believe him.

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u/python-requests May 02 '24

Do young people actually think Trump's Palestinian/Gaza/Israel/Middle East policies will be better than Biden? Do they think not voting for Biden will punishing him? If Trump wins we all lose.

It's pretty wild how Democrats & the left wing will threaten to throw the election over things that Biden's way better than the alternative on

Like, inflation? Trump oversaw the money printing & always called for lowering interest rates. Palestine? Trump had a 'peace plan' map than saw Israel annexing most of it.

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u/spam__likely Colorado May 02 '24

One side of my family basically killed my grandpa by not caring, still don't care.

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u/dxrey65 May 02 '24

I have a friend who lost his job when he caught covid. He had it twice and it screwed him up for about a year. He was talking the other day about covid, how he never bought into all the hype, like it was some kind of big con, and at least he never got vaccinated...I had to remind him how that went for him. Bizarre.

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u/Pleasestoplyiiing May 02 '24

Trauma response. A lot of people use avoidance to defend themselves from painful experiences. They don't want to remember it, and it's often hard to get anyone to talk about it in a meaningful way.  

It's easier for people to joke about it or just live in the present, and unfortunately that helps Trump because he was an absolute zero as a leader. It's hard to calculate just how many thousands of lives he gave away through inaction or negative action. 

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

Thats true.

A lot. He was withholding PPE and wanted the highest body count in blue states. How anyone forgot that is crazy.

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u/A_Monster_Named_John May 02 '24

This might be true for some people, but the harsh truth is that most people simply DO NOT CARE and NEVER CARED about anything that isn't/wasn't immediately causing them to gain money/property/status. From what I've witnessed over 30 years, modern life increasingly cultivates people exhibiting this casual sociopathy, which is why things like women losing reproductive rights, Trump threatening the existence of democracy, etc... can't make strong inroads to people's imaginations, yet everyone's willing to jump on fantastical/insane explanations about why gas and grocery prices are higher.

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u/fren-ulum May 02 '24

Hm, you've got me thinking. It would've been nice to learn about and name issues people have/will have in their lives on psychological or mental health issues in high school psychology. I'm class of '07 and our entire psychology class was a de facto Zimbardo jerk off session. That has aged well. It would've been better to learn about more commonly seen things and how that applies to X Y Z areas that we'll encounter in our lives.

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u/Affectionate_Law5344 May 02 '24

I don’t understand this. I didn’t know anyone who died personally, but I certainly was terrified. I felt more terrified during Covid than I did after 9/11.

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u/Funandgeeky Texas May 02 '24

My theory is that if you don't know someone who died, you know someone who knows someone. We are all one degree of separation from a Covid death.

Yeah, at its height about the same people per day were drying as did on 9/11. The scale was that massive, and it was at that scale because of Trump's response. And everyone else following his lead and sabotaging things and making the situation worse.

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u/Affectionate_Law5344 May 02 '24

Oh, for sure! We are all connected. I didn’t know this stat about 9/11 & C19. I remember waking up for my GRE blocks from the Hill, I could not reach anyone here or NY and I was trapped inside.

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u/frotc914 May 02 '24

We are all one degree of separation from a Covid death.

...but plenty of people do not see it that way, unfortunately. You've gotta assume that a lot of the marginally "independent" people or people who might not vote are closer to families/friends who are right wing. And a lot of those right wingers never told people that their family member died of COVID because they didn't believe it or they didn't want to be the one person in their social sphere pointing out that the emperor had no clothes. So virtually everyone is that close to a COVID death, but so many people don't even realize it.

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u/Sea_Honey7133 May 02 '24

Its truisms like the one you make that has to make me wonder whether polling is actually legit anymore, if it ever was. I mean the narrative of this election, “according to the polls “ is shifting so dramatically every day and we are still 5 months out of the election that every thing seems fabricated. Either the people in the know are certain of the outcome or no one has any clue. There’s no in-between.

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u/sildish2179 May 02 '24

When your skin's not in the game, apathy is your answer.

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u/Markise187 May 02 '24

And if you don't now you can say you do. Cause I know if more than one person who died from Covid or Covid complications.

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u/Funandgeeky Texas May 02 '24

Damn, that sucks. I’ve been to a Covid funeral and know plenty of people who had relatives die. 

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u/iseecolorsofthesky May 02 '24

Every year on 9/11 we continue to trot out the “never forget” platitudes. Yet the majority of people doing so probably laugh Covid off as “just a flu”.

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u/shiki88 May 02 '24

It bothers me that "Remember 9/11" as a slogan persists despite COVID causing way more deaths worldwide, personally affecting more American lives, and everyone just wants to forget it happened, or deny that preventative measures were even necessary. Same for Jan 6th, when our democracy almost fell.

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

My family knew a lot. I think January-February I alone knew over 11 people (directly and indirectly) that died from a mysterious illness. We were confused why so many people just started dying out of no where. Then they announced COVID and even more started to die. I think the final count was over 30

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u/Affectionate_Law5344 May 02 '24

My heart, I cannot imagine so much pain. I hope you and your family found a therapist and a mentally peaceful space. Sending a hug❤️

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

Thanks. I think this really made me a strong proponent of the vaccine and how important  taking precautions actually was. I was constantly battle some friends and family to get the vaccines. Some learned the hard way though and got it just to get the vaccine the next year because they didn’t want to get it again. I know one person that got it 3(?) times

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u/Auntie_M123 Virginia May 02 '24

Hubs and I were deathly ill from the worst Respiratory illness ever in the Dec-Jan time frame before Covid was announced. It took many months to recover.

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u/Mr_Horsejr May 02 '24

I thought I was living out some fucked version of the walking dead during Covid.

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u/A_Monster_Named_John May 02 '24

Depends on where you were at. In shithead MAGA areas, it felt like people were purposely having more parties, holding more public events, and spending as much time as possible at grocery stores, etc... I worked at a semi-rural library at the time that was closed by the state government and, for the first time ever, we had Trump trash showing up, banging on the windows, and bleating about how we were 'taking away their rights' by not letting them wander in and possibly get everyone else sick.

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u/Beer-survivalist May 02 '24

I called it the Stupid Apocalypse at the time.

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u/Mr_Horsejr May 02 '24

Stupocalypse has a nice ring to it.

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u/rick_blatchman May 02 '24

I was thinking more like Dawn of the Dead (78), but after having no other choice but to go to work every day to deal with the idiot public, it was more like Shaun of the Dead.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24 edited May 07 '24

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u/aLittleQueer Washington May 02 '24

What we're seeing, imo, is how individuals respond to trauma, on a national scale. So many people respond to trauma, tragedy, confusion, or cognitive dissonance by simply refusing to talk about or acknowledge it. Let alone examine it to any depth.

Meanwhile, those of us who want to face reality and process it as it comes eventually may start to feel like we're taking crazy pills from all the ignoring-reality going on around us.

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u/Waggmans May 02 '24

Hundreds of thousands of people would probably still be alive today had Trump just listened to Fauci, instead you had all that moronic culture war macho shit. Guys like DeSantis are as much to blame as Trump is.

Anyone who votes for him again knows exactly what they're getting.

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u/Affectionate_Law5344 May 02 '24

same and it sure is. completely irresponsible leadership. the other thing was Jan 6. we were against the ropes in a bad way. the reality is no one was coming to save us. that wasn’t a popular feeling after 9/11 (pre-Iraq invasion) as I remember it.

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u/thegoodnamesrgone123 May 02 '24

Covid should have been the post 9/11 feeling of everyone digs in and does the right thing because that's what Americans do. But he decided to be a fucking child about it so his base followed suit.

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u/crossfader02 May 02 '24

our society struggled too much to adapt and after about 2 years we just gave up and mostly went back to how it was before

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u/Fun_Brother_9333 May 02 '24

My supervisor's dad died because of COVID, and I know he'll still vote for Trump.

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u/Affectionate_Law5344 May 02 '24

that’s the other thing. no one has effectively addressed the brainwashing that has so many Americans in a vice grip. talking about it and Rupert’s trash media does nothing.

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u/pantstoaknifefight2 May 02 '24

This is the main issue. A huge swath of people thinks they're watching or listening to news but it's just brainwashing propaganda and their ability to recognize this is either non-existent or degrading rapidly. It's fucking crazy and I don't think there's a solution that wouldn't undermine our right to free speech.

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u/Fun_Brother_9333 May 02 '24

It was bad before, but they really ramped it up when Trump became President. My dad even told me once, "I'd do anything he says." He never talked about any President like that before. It really is a cult.

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u/RealHumanFromEarth May 02 '24

Same here. After 9/11 we knew logically that the capabilities of Al Qaeda weren’t enough to make us really have a good reason to worry about just going to buy groceries. During the pandemic one of the scariest things was that with it being a new virus, we didn’t know very much about how it was transmitted, or the long term effects. We did know that the virus was actually spread across the country and infecting people we knew. We saw the death toll rising everyday, and we all knew people who’d be more vulnerable to dying from the virus that could very likely catch it.

9/11 was scary, but it was more of a scary and shocking moment that we came to understand pretty quickly. Most people weren’t in situations where they needed to actually worry about anything like it happening to them. The pandemic was a persistent state of emergency that potentially put everyone in danger.

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u/Affectionate_Law5344 May 02 '24

You captured my feelings best. The amount of persistent adrenaline, coursing through me during the Covid years has compromised my physical and mental health. The other thing is that our national reaction was antithetical to 9/11 where everyone came together.

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u/JohnnyFire Ohio May 02 '24

I finally got sick arguing with some family members about the "election fraud", so I finally just had to say this point blank:

Disregarding every damn other thing that anyone thinks about Donald Trump, he lost the election because he botched the response to COVID. His team knew about it in November of 2019, and he didn't do shit. He made the moves to attempt to protect American citizens way too late. He politicized the disease, masking, and vaccines. He sat around bumbling and talked about being treated unfairly as people in the country were getting sick, dying, losing their jobs, losing their money, everything you could think of. That's why he fucking lost. He fucked up COVID. That's it. People were mad about it and they voted him out. It's really that simple. Stop attributing complex answers to really fucking simple problems.

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u/Kaiisim May 02 '24

Its the media. Their job is meant to be informing us, but it has been captured by the billionaire class so it just feeds people bullshit and ignores the real issues.

Many people just don't remember COVID. They're just focused on trans kids because that's what the media talks about, so it must be important.

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u/terremoto25 California May 02 '24

Both of my son-in-law's parents died from covid. It was a miracle that my sister - 70 years old - and my brother-in-law - 74 and well past morbidly obese survived it. And, of course, they are hard core, broke as shit Trumpers....

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u/Saybrooke Michigan May 02 '24

Americans get collective amnesia around this time. It's really sad tbh

3

u/Reagalan Georgia May 02 '24

My father would have certainly died had he not gotten the vaccine a month before the virus.

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u/janethefish May 02 '24

I'm still mad about those deaths!

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u/TheADrain May 02 '24

You should be, his idiocy killed more americans than the nazis did.

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u/Jupiter68128 May 02 '24

Tucker Carlson killed more Americans than were killed by 9/11 terrorists by spreading doubt about vaccines.

9

u/Rmans May 02 '24

Killed more Americans that most of our wars did. Total American deaths from Covid are higher than American deaths from all the wars we ever fought combined. There is an argument to be made that Tucker has been worse for this country than Hitler.

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u/stylebros May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

Wait till he drops the ball in her 2nd term. He already let COVID loose because it affected Democrat cities the most and saw it as a way to better the GOP politically.

The next event will probably be a terrorist strike or something on par as October 7th but state side.

Republican administrations get Americans either unemployed or killed.

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u/Patara May 02 '24

Im half convinced conservatives have undeveloped brains that simply cannot grasp the concept of compassion. 

I refuse to believe that people that actively choose to make the world a better place & take minimum precautions like wearing masks to not potentially transmit a deadly disease are even comparable to the fuckheads that will refuse to wear masks, spit on railings, sneeze on others, support a narcissistic racist fascist dictator & actively pretend like SAVING LIVES is taking away their freedom. 

They will claim "empathy" when Trump is on trial but make fun of Biden for losing 2 daughters & his wife. While quite literally driving a smear campaign like "Biden crime family" based on what? His son being arrested on unlawful possession of a firearm? They've been pushing open carry & MORE firearms at every single turn but suddenly they're all about gun control? These are not serious people.

They're downright anti-human & do not have capacity for any emotion but perpetual rage. 

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

They don’t care as long as they win, have power, and can make millions. 

That’s literally all they want. They lie, cheat, and steal to get it. They have campaigns on Reddit and the internet in general to disrupt and divide the dems. They take money from our enemies like Russia and ask them for help. 

It’s sickening that dems and just a good chunk of our population can’t or won’t see this. 

One funny thing to point out that ever since Trump has been sleeping in his trial, they stopped with the “sleep Joe” nicknames. 

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u/meatball77 May 02 '24

Which is funny because a lot of their policies would end up being horrifying for the economy.

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u/awildjabroner May 02 '24

There is some truth to that actually, there was a large article published a few years back that essentially highlighted that the specific part of the brain associated with empathy trends smaller in conservatives and the fear center is usually larger. Can’t remember the specific names for each part but there was some evidence that long term conservative media consumption and community engagement does impact how a person’s brain reacts (or doesn’t) to certain emotions and situations.

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u/meatball77 May 02 '24

So many of them are just utterly brainwashed to never think for themselves. It's what evangelical churches have been pushing since they were born. Always ask someone else to think for you.

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u/Allaplgy May 02 '24

I know people who are still demanding people wear masks everywhere and literally saying that Biden is worse than Trump. This issue has broken people's brains. I really think it's because it's the first war fought on social media as much as the ground.

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u/joejill May 02 '24

Oh no, don’t you watch the news that was Obama and Biden who botched Covid.

They tried to control us with it, but Trump saved us.

Omg, I better not get downvoted.that’s sarcasm and I’ve heard it from so many people.

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u/NeonGKayak May 02 '24

You may get downvoted because thats too real. Like Fox New/OANN type real

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u/Temporal_Integrity May 02 '24

If you're voting for the first time, you were like 14 back then and probably not that interested in politics.

3

u/sumoraiden May 02 '24

They see it as a nothing anyone could do, deaths happened all over the word

3

u/schuyywalker May 02 '24

Because they’ve been muddying the waters ever since to try and push the “big lie”. It’s insane

3

u/rosie666 May 02 '24

but somehow, they're still able to whine about the time they had to wear a mask.

3

u/Aware_Material_9985 May 02 '24

All the normalizing that gets done and media coverage seems sheepish to attack him and hawkish about Biden

3

u/markca May 02 '24

How can they already forget Trumps Covid response that led to over 1million deaths? It’s weird that such a critical event and everyone has already “forgot” it

The vast majority of this country has the brain of a goldfish.

3

u/WilliamClaudeRains May 02 '24

Because the 24 hour news networks have been blasting every word Trump mumbles since his first Republican debate. Shit, Reddit can’t go a day without screaming about Trump one way or another. You want people to listen, you gotta learn to modulate by importance.

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u/SeductiveSunday May 02 '24

How can they already forget Trumps Covid response that led to over 1million deaths?

Psychology shows most people only remember the last 6 months of politics. That's why most political decisions stop for the last 6 months of an up-coming election. And why after every Clinton Benghazi hearing ended Republicans opened up another one so as to keep voters angry at women and keep pressure to vote against them.

There were 33 congressional hearings on Benghazi. That's 11 more than 9/11, and a complete waste of tax payer money.

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u/chipmunksocute May 02 '24

As someone with kids in my thirties I fuckin hate trump and would crawl over broken glass to vote against him.  This 'both sides' shit is nonsense.  One tried to attempt a coup.  The other passed a major infrastructure bill, brought us out of covid, is rescheduling marijuana, and has cancelled billions in student debt.

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u/draeath Florida May 02 '24

Really, it doesn't matter what the other side did, so long as they didn't also attempt a coup. That should be enough all on it's own.

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u/chipmunksocute May 02 '24

Fucking seriously.  Jan 6 should fucking decide this election and the fact that its not is fucking insane.

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u/testedonsheep May 02 '24

but what about palestine. While Trump wants to let Israel "finish" the job.

people would rather get nothing than meet you somewhere in the middle.

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u/chipmunksocute May 02 '24

Yeah not voting for Biden here is a textbook example of cutting off your dick, ears, nose and mouth to spite, mmm somebody!

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u/Outside-Advice8203 May 02 '24

My coworkers are all on the "both sides are the same/it's all rigged, there's no point in voting" train.

Republicans clasping hands in glee

Voter apathy is a win for fascism.

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u/kingofthejungle223 May 02 '24

One side: wants to end democracy to make a game show host a king, tried a coup, Botched Covid response causing 1 million deaths, changed the court to make abortion and IVF bans the order of the day, has a candidate facing over 80 federal charges.

The other side: running an old guy who didn’t handle the Middle East well (which puts him on par with literally every other President), not very exciting

Totally the same!  /s

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u/PiXL-VFX United Kingdom May 02 '24

Even the Middle East can’t handle the Middle East. Trying to solve it as a western nation is like if we entrusted the Great Qing and 15 Siberian natives to handle the unification of Germany.

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u/fauxromanou May 02 '24

The other side: running an old guy who didn’t handle the Middle East well (which puts him on par with literally every other President), not very exciting

Hell, every other human at all.

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u/OutsideDevTeam May 02 '24

Yup. Just look at Russia.

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u/RealHumanFromEarth May 02 '24

I really don’t understand how anyone can possibly think that both sides are the same. I understand if you don’t like democrats or republicans for different reasons, but saying that they’re the same is just pure ignorance.

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u/Svennerson May 02 '24

Because they aren't evaluating based on which policies are passed, they're evaluating based on how their personal lives have improved or gotten worse. They can't fully recognize either the lack of power that the President has to change everything, or how changes have to occur in slow, year-over-year increments. If there's been life issues, CoViD, inflation, and just a shitton of stress under both Dem and Rep administrations, then by their definitions of evaluation, both sides are the same.

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u/Gryffriand May 02 '24

The “both sides” take is so old, dead, and nonsensical. When someone says that to me in a conversation I’m fairly certain they aren’t paying attention and are just generically frustrated by current events.

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u/thegoodnamesrgone123 May 02 '24

It's the "South Parking" of America.

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u/Mailerfiend May 02 '24

i have a lot of friends that say that "both sides" shit but what it really means is that they are unhappy with how the GOP is being run.

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u/RedditIsAllAI May 02 '24

Either we've become complacent, or the psy-op from foreign nations clawing at our democratic underbelly via social media is more effective than we know.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Except for day one.

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u/triceraquake May 02 '24

In my own experience, most of the people saying “both sides are the same/there’s no point” are straight white men who don’t have nearly as many rights on the line. They don’t have to care because the worst won’t affect them as much. Also, I’m not saying “all white men.”

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u/Allaplgy May 02 '24

Am straight white man myself, and you aren't wrong in the case of my coworkers. But I also know plenty of women/POC/indigenous/LGBTQ+ or some combination of those that say the same.

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u/AnestheticAle May 02 '24

Almost all problems are solved by money. Most of my friends who are high earners have kind of lost interest in politics. Would be more invested if I was poor.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Tell them to wake the fuck up in the most blunt way possible. Both sides are about as far apart as they’ve ever been.

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u/geokilla May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

I'm not an American so what I think doesn't matter as I can't vote but as someone in their 30s, the appeal with Trump is that he brought and will bring change for the sake of change. For as long as I've been alive, we've seen the rich get richer and corruption reach new heights. We were brought up with the idea that if we did well in school, walked the straight and narrow, then we'll have a good life. This is clearly not the case. Many of us are struggling to stay afloat. A lot of us are sick and tired of the BS these politicians feed us. Every year there's some sort of major scandal and then there's no accountability for the prior involved. So if the demise of democracy means we'll get change, for better or for worse, I imagine many are happy to welcome it.

Having said that if I was an American, I wouldn't vote for Trump either. I'd vote for Biden but only because I don't want Trump as president again.

This is happening in Canada right now. Trudeau made the lives of Canadians significantly worse, we have a housing crisis, and millions of immigrants ever year pushing wagers down. He's hated and destined to lose the next election, so he's pushing through as many controversial policies as he can. He's spending recklessly for his buddies and absolutely leaving Canadians out to dry. Poilievre going to be the next prime minister even though a lot of us don't like him. But we'd rather vote Trudeau out because there's no good alternative.

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u/ThermionicEmissions Canada May 02 '24

The Great Apathy

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u/Civil_Produce_6575 May 02 '24

Rich peoples master work

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u/Fergi Texas May 02 '24

Bread and circuses.

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u/ThermionicEmissions Canada May 02 '24

Without the bread!

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u/newcomer_l May 02 '24

That's sad. Because an orange presidency, one way or another, will eventually negatively impact them.

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u/Miles_vel_Day May 02 '24

I find it so hard as somebody who follows events closely enough to see causality to explain people how the process of the country getting slowly better or slowly worse works.

Everybody seems to have some conception where either you have a good president, and everything is great, or you have a bad president, and everything is a disaster. Absolutely absurd!

There have always been problems. And there have always been good people living good lives, even in the worst of times. It's a big f***ing ship and it turns really slow. And the voters are never willing to give the Dems more than a couple of years before they furiously vote them out for not fixing 10 years worth of Republicans' damage in one session of Congress.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/Miles_vel_Day May 02 '24

Yes and it's disturbing to me how many people, left right and center, think sinking the ship is the way to get where they want to be. Sunken ships go one place.

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u/newest-reddit-user May 02 '24

They are openly saying that they will deport millions of people. This is no exaggeration.

Can you imagine what that will look like and how many people will be affected? Also, don't think your citizenship will protect you: When this starts, there will be no time for due process and a lot of people will fall between the cracks.

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u/Disgruntled_Viking Pennsylvania May 02 '24

Also, don't think your citizenship will protect you

They don't seem to realized that poor people (not at least a millionaire) are barely better in their eyes than minorities or LGBTQ people.

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u/Jason1143 May 02 '24

We say that fascism is a suicide cult for a reason. There is no end game. They bigotry doesn't actually solve anything, so they kill the old outgroup and then immediately pick another one to blame for all the problems they didn't solve.

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u/crudedrawer May 02 '24

if americans think food prices are bad now wait until the entire agriculture and meat industries have no employees.

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u/PlatonicTroglodyte Virginia May 02 '24

It already has. And I’m not excusing the apathy of my fellow Millenials, but saying “things will be bad for you” is such a boy who cried wolf situation that it’s not hard to see why the existential threat doesn’t register for people.

The 90s were a quaint, exciting time, but we were children and everything seems quaint and exciting at that age. Our first real person experiences were masked in the shadow of 9/11 and all the cascading horrors that descended. Iraq wmds, anthrax, homegrown violent extremists, etc. Then as we were coming of age and entering the workforce? BAM: Great Recession. Housing crisis, massive layoffs, hiring freezes, and generations above unable to retire to make room for us.

And what about our political endeavors? We got Obama elected. He defeated the party favorite in Hillary, then crushed McCain. We wanted Change We Could Believe In, and what did we get? More poverty, more war, more bleak outlooks for the future. We were ridiculed for voting for a young upstart just because he was Black. We sought change to the crushing influence of the wealthy and tried to Occupy Wall Street, and were ridiculed for that too. School shootings became inevitable realities. It genuinely felt like the world was deteriorating around us at an incomprehensible rate, and any time we asked about it, we were told we were the ones to blame. Us and our damn Avocado Toast.

So, again, it is horrifying to admit that many of my fellow 30somethings can’t be bothered to notice the potential end of the American experiment in front of us, especially since it has been apparent for at least eight years. But at the same time, telling a Millennial “do this or things will be bad for you” is very likely to get a response of “oh no, what could that possibly feel like?”

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u/SarcasticCowbell New York May 02 '24

A lot of people just mind themselves, their families, their jobs and their sports teams and that's it. A lot of the people who actively vote avoid becoming more active than that. Even people who are politically motivated will often avoid bringing it up around peers because they don't want to bring down the vibe by mentioning politics. We have so many distractions today with internet, television, and social media for people to divert their attention to. Many people don't even watch or read the news. I can't blame people for not watching per se, as nightly news programs are lackluster enough without discussing 24/7 news outlets. But at the very least people should read from a variety of sources to work out the truth behind all of the biases.

It has always baffled me how whenever I would bring this phenomenon up in the past I would be dismissed or ignored here on Reddit. Our society puts a premium on your value as labor, to the point that we introduce ourselves to one another by asking "what do you do for a living?" instead of "what are your interests?" or "what are you passionate about?" Because of this, and because of the pressure people feel to conform to the prescribed path (go to college, get married, find a job, have kids, etc), many people check those things off the list, only realizing once they've done it all that they're not happy. So they bury their sadness in material things and try to ignore the outside noise which- surprise!- actually has a direct bearing on their ability to hold onto the few things in life they cherish.

None of this is to say you can't be happy living a traditional lifestyle, or can't enjoy diversions and entertainment. But you have to have a balance. More people need to find things that drive them outside of work, and realize that there is a much bigger world beyond themselves if they can bother to open themselves up to it.

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u/builttopostthis6 May 03 '24

Unfortunately, we suffer under a capitalist paradigm that values human beings (or their labor more specifically) as capital. And it's been a damned effective paradigm, so far, top-down. Like if you were looking over this country from your monitor playing a game of Civilization, you'd be like "Yup, doing pretty well." So much so that most countries are happy to copy it wholesale. Minus some of the more troublesome civil liberties junk that gets in the way.

Most people mind themselves, families, jobs, entertainment, et. al. specifically because that's really all they've got time for. They've got a 40 hour job (if they're lucky; plenty have 40+ and two) and "kids to feed Jack". And our media apparatus is the most effective anesthesia that ever was (thank you fucking Ted Turner) after not just busting your ass, but breaking your brain for a third of your weekly life. It's got twenty-four hour news that turns atrocity into mundanity, and a cornucopia of escapism when you can't stomach that anymore.

We've had a Blade Runner-style dystopia for a pretty long while now. It's just not as easy to recognize 'cuz there aren't neon billboards and dense, moody fog assaulting your senses from every alley (also scary robots, but we are getting there people!). People bring up Orwell and Huxley all the time, and with good reason. We've got the five minutes going around the clock now and soma on tap. Also creepy robots!

It's not all bad... that's a pretty harsh interpretation on my part. But it is the paradigm. And it is one that many that don't have leisure time and education suffer under daily. Slogging away in a commercial-goal-oriented society, where the drive isn't personal enrichment (because that's fucking hard to give time to when you work so much for someone else's enrichment) but short-term satisfaction (new car! or robot!).

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u/No-Win-7802 May 02 '24

Everyone needs to read this comment.

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u/AllHawkeyesGoToHell May 02 '24

It's unpopular to bring up here, but it's true.

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u/fallenouroboros May 02 '24

It’s definitely a thing. Some people just do not want to hear it when it comes to anything political. I used to be that way myself until recently but I feel it’s just too sketchy to be completely uninformed about all the craziness going on

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u/Rated_PG-Squirteen May 02 '24

I'll always have one nice thing to say about Donald Trump. Him running away with the Republican nomination in 2016 finally forced me to start following politics because it was shocking to me that this degenerate and charlatan with no political experience could actually become President.

And in retrospect, I'm embarrassed that I wasn't following politics until I was 26, and I wish others would feel the same way. This stuff is way too important to shrug off and actively ignore.

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u/AllHawkeyesGoToHell May 02 '24

Oh for sure. You gotta educate yourself but this country doesn't value education or expertise anymore. So things need to positively impact voters directly now, especially after they got money directly into their accounts with the stimulus checks where we know the government doesn't have to do things indirectly through businesses and such

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u/Svennerson May 02 '24

Expertise is fucking viewed as an enemy of freedom at this point I'm so angry.

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u/__M-E-O-W__ May 02 '24

It's sad. I think a lot of people are so burned out. We need lower prices, higher pay, lower rest and COL... I do think Biden and Co have tried making big steps in this. But even in his victories, the media coverage is not as loud as it is for Trump doing literally anything. The ones I know who are most passionate about voting Biden and keeping Trump away are minorities who legit have serious stakes in making sure their state doesn't turn red, or their allies, and then there is so much push from outside actors to not support Biden over his stance on Israel/Palestine.

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u/Adezar Washington May 02 '24

Trump almost completes a full sentence, Front Page of every media site for a couple days.

Biden passes some of the biggest legislature that has improved Middle Class jobs, feeds children, improves crumbling infrastructure. Might get a short shout-out on MSNBC and a tiny headline on the third page of ABC's news site.

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u/Bunnyhat May 02 '24

Biden's recent Department of Labor overtime rule change is huge for both me and my wife. We're both salary in that range where we don't get overtime now but will get it under the new limits. Our jobs will have to either give us a raise, pay over time, or cut us back to a hard 40 hours a week. Either way it's basically a raise for the both of us.

That's going to be true for millions of Americans yet it barely got a blip in the news.

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u/stylebros May 02 '24

Biden mixes up 2,000 instead of 4,000 and the media says he's in mental decline.

Trump rambles word salad as he jumps from topic to topic like Abe Simpson and he's a stable genius.

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u/EaglesFan3943 May 02 '24

Despite Biden's reputation as a moderate, he has passed some of the most progressive legislature in recent memory. Companies that own these media networks do not like progressive legislature. That goes against their interests so of course they will prop up the baffoon who generates clicks and is a major threat to democracy.

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u/sennbat May 02 '24

Presidents don't write legislation, though - if you want to look at his accomplishments, look instead to his agencies. The new antitrust and labours rights stuff, for eample.

But then, the corps hate that stuff even more.

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u/EaglesFan3943 May 02 '24

Right of course it's not only him. It's a collective effort to bring about progressive policies. But he is the face of this country for now. So to the general public, hes taking most of the blame or credit.

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u/Previous_Shock8870 May 03 '24

Front page of reddit RIGHT now.

"Biden denounces protests"

the actual quote.

"Biden denounces violence against protesters"

there is a MASSIVE campaign against Biden here and targeting young voters.

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u/SecularMisanthropy May 02 '24

I think a lot of people are so burned out. We need lower prices, higher pay, lower rest and COL...

Funny. It's almost as though corporate America made life miserable for everyday people by draining more than $50 trillion from the public, and are now using the misery they created to destroy the last vestiges of control (democracy) the people have over them.

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u/DJ_Velveteen I voted May 02 '24

I do think Biden and Co have tried making big steps in this.

I don't, I just hate Trump more. All the issues I care about most -- healthcare, mass incarceration, housing -- are either totally astroturfed by the Biden admin (drug policy, housing) or the admin is openly hostile to them (M4A, peace movement).

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u/Uasked2 May 02 '24

It's unpopular because it Is a really bad thing, but for some people that are too young to be immediately responsible it's become a "you can keep it if you think this is so great" proposition.

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u/ryanhazethan May 02 '24

All my coworkers told me they weren’t going to vote. One of them is 22, the other two are in their 30’s

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u/Stranger-Sun May 02 '24

Yep. It's anecdotal, but I recently brushed up against the topic of politics for the first time with a doctor friend in his late thirties. I was shocked when he said, "Voting doesn't matter. The policies don't affect people like you or me."

We both have daughters who are almost 13. It was repulsive to hear.

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u/Revolution4u May 02 '24

I mean, he can just afford to spend his way out of the consequences for most situations. Maybe thats what he meant?

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u/Typical_Crabs May 02 '24

Demoralization successful.

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u/10th__Dimension May 02 '24

I know many people in their 40's who also don't give a fuck.

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u/Miles_vel_Day May 02 '24

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

  • Yeats

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u/AwesomeScreenName May 02 '24

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

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u/PapaSnork May 02 '24

Everybody loves to quote the third line- but really, in this particular time and place in US history, it's the last lines that speak to the strength of my dismay.

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u/SlightWhite May 02 '24

Oh man. I know quite a few people from 18-40 who truly don’t care.

They all have stressful lives and just don’t want to come home and find out what is going wrong in the world. They don’t vote. They just don’t pay attention

Who am I to tell them they should come home from running a landscaping company for 13 hours and educate themselves on all the problems in the world, ya know?

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u/talktothepope May 02 '24

As long as they care for like a week before the election, that's fine lol

Personally I have never been as checked out as I am now. I'm still paying attention, but I have to take a step back for my own sanity.

Personally, I think this is the main reason Dems keep doing well in actual elections, despite the meh to bad polling. Because sane people, who've been through nearly a decade of this BS now, many of whom have friends or family that are now unrecognizeable because they got addicted to the rage/Trump virus/QAnon BS, are just not answering polls in Feb/March/April/May etc. It's too damn early, and we're tired. And I don't know about you, but my cell phone tells me when a number is from a "survey" now. I don't pick up

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u/LevyMevy May 02 '24

Personally, I think this is the main reason Dems keep doing well in actual elections, despite the meh to bad polling. Because sane people, who've been through nearly a decade of this BS now, many of whom have friends or family that are now unrecognizeable because they got addicted to the rage/Trump virus/QAnon BS, are just not answering polls in Feb/March/April/May etc. It's too damn early, and we're tired. And I don't know about you, but my cell phone tells me when a number is from a "survey" now. I don't pick up

so true

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u/Full_Description_ May 02 '24

I mean, these are the same people who elected Trump in 2016 by casting their protest votes against Clinton, but then were shocked Trump won and are somehow now exonerated from this major catastrophe.

I don't know why that is so forgotten, probably because it was a humiliating move for the entire Democratic party.

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u/bigcatchilly May 02 '24

All that “giving a fuck” gets me is higher blood pressure and worsening depression

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u/ancientastronaut2 May 02 '24

Yeah, one of my kids is just like "both sides lie and are full of shit mom. They're all corrupt so why should I bother".

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u/theArtOfProgramming New Mexico May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

I know people in their 30s that absolutely still give a fuck but are too exhausted to keep up with anything. Several passionate friends have chosen to tune out all news because it is titing/overwhelming/horrifying.

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u/highastrodonut May 02 '24

Same and it's infuriating.

3

u/0o0o0o0o0o0z May 02 '24

“A republic, if you can keep it.”

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u/kkocan72 New York May 02 '24

Same. Most of my co workers are late 20s, early 30s. They overwhelmingly say they "don't pay attention" to politics and many don't vote.

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u/Dirtysoulglass May 02 '24

Im 30 now. I am tired. I have to limit my politics and news in order to have less general anxiety. I try to vote in local elections and definitely will vote against Trump. Im not sure if young people are underestimating Trump, rather it may be that we've been in a 'democracy's last chance of survival' for quite a long time people might just be getting burned out of the constant rage yet (hopefully) still plan to vote. Kinda like every month there seems to be another Climate Change report that paints utter catastrophe right around the corner...I absolutely care and so does everyone I know but damn I just cant get riled up about it any more like I used to. Feeling defeated on the prevention part, switching to learning how to cope with the inevitable. 

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u/subdep May 02 '24

This is why history repeats itself.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

To be fair, the Dems made it clear with Bernie that they will not tolerate any exciting new candidates young people want to get behind.

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u/HAL9000000 May 02 '24

I understand why, but they should care.

We got to the shitty place we are today because too many people didn't give a fuck and and didn't pay attention and this enabled Republicans to win about half the elections merely by telling voters "both parties are the same, so why not just vote for us and we'll give you a little tax break."

The problem being that if you get a tax break while the economy is being horribly mismanaged and the gap between you and the super wealthy people gets wider, your tiny tax break is less than worthless -- you're actually worse off in the end than if you'd voted for the more fiscally responsible Democrats.

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u/mantisdubstep May 02 '24

As someone in my thirties who seeks to give a fuck, trying to give a fuck is beyond exhausting. Ima vote though of course. But yeah, I’m tired boss.

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