• @qooqie@lemmy.world
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    9611 months ago

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

    • @PrefersAwkward@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They’ve been made to believe things like this:

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

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

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

      4. Prices for everything would be lower.

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

      • @SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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        3711 months ago

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

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

        • FuglyDuck
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          1611 months ago

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

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

          • @ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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            1011 months ago

            Public education and cognitive dissonance.

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

        • prole
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          111 months ago

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

    • @Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world
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      2211 months ago

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

      • FuglyDuck
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        311 months ago

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

        (sorry, muppets, your sacrifice is appreciated.)

        • @VikingHippie@lemmy.wtf
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          11 months ago

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

          • FuglyDuck
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            311 months ago

            excelllent. We’ll start with that…

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

    • @soggy_kitty@sopuli.xyz
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      311 months ago

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

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

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

      • @nycki@lemmy.world
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        1011 months ago

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

      • @emptiestplace@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

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

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

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

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

      • @Ottomateeverything@lemmy.world
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        211 months ago

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

          • Mario_Dies.wav
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            511 months ago

            Sorry, I deleted my comment because I’m starting to be mindful of doxxing

            For the record, I said I’m from a rural midwestern state in the US where I am surrounded by such people

            • @soggy_kitty@sopuli.xyz
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              11 months ago

              Just so you are aware, the Lemmy API exposes your entire comment after deletion. I can see the more accurate location you described.

              I could paste it here to prove it but of course I don’t want to doxx you.

              • Mario_Dies.wav
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                111 months ago

                Well, “doxxing” was a bit of an extreme way for me to put it. Even though the location is more specific, as you can see it’s not that specific.

                I’m just trying to be smarter about how I comment, but ironically, I probably made it worse just by mentioning that lol