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First off, I don't base my views on "what Americans are like" with what people post online. Just about everyone I know personally has just gone off the deep end it seems.

People I've known for decades who were "right of center" have now drifted to the far right. Where they used to support separation of church and state, small government, etc. they now want the government to tax the poor, establish a Christian ethnostate, and are openly talking about "the coming revolution". Meanwhile, most everyone I've known who is leftist wants the government to disarm them, claims to be pro-LGBT but blindly supports any Muslim country and blindly hates Israel, and thinks Joe Biden is the "greatest president EVAR".

Am I just in a weird bubble where 95% of the people in my life are politically and philosophically dipshits? Does anyone else experience this with people they actually know? I feel like I'm going crazy when I can be talking with a "leftist" about trans rights in Texas and then the very next conversation is about how wholesome they think the average Palestinian is in Gaza. Is there anyone else who's at least left of center and recognizes that religious zealots in the Middle East want to kill you and shouldn't be supported and religious zealots in YOUR OWN FUCKING COUNTRY want to kill you and you shouldn't disarm yourself?

Just what the fuck is going on in this country? There's so much disinformation and paid trolls that I don't base these views off what's online. I just run into the exact same lunacy with nearly everyone I've known my whole life.

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[-] darq@kbin.social 64 points 1 year ago

Meanwhile, most everyone I’ve known who is leftist wants the government to disarm them, claims to be pro-LGBT but blindly supports any Muslim country and blindly hates Israel, and thinks Joe Biden is the “greatest president EVAR”.

I don't think you know many leftists...

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

It really sounds like everything you know about both sides was taught to you by the "other side".

I'm not fond of GOP policies at all, but I disagree with most all of what you claim leftists believe.

Are you actually talking to people about their own beliefs or just listening to what other people are saying about them?

[-] darq@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Did you mean to respond to someone else?

[-] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Yeah, the message is for OP. I must have had your comment highlighted when I replied.

[-] darq@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Ah okay, I figured that made more sense.

[-] morgan_423@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I'm pretty far left and was thinking, none of these even sound close.

[-] Dkarma@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Ppl as dumb as op think USA Dems are "left".

This is how fucking stupid op is.

[-] atempuser23@lemmy.world 44 points 1 year ago

"Am I just in a weird bubble where 95% of the people in my life are politically and philosophically dipshits?"

Yes. You are absolutely in the wrong places talking to the wrong people. It sounds like it is rubbing off on you.

[-] PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com 37 points 1 year ago

American here.

Uhhh....I'm not really sure who you're talking to on the American left about Joe Biden, but few people really like him as a president, despite his effectiveness.

Also, do you understand why 95% of the people in your life believe what they do? It's easy to call people stupid when you don't understand where they're coming from.

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[-] MrGG@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 year ago

Friend, based on your comment history this just feels like a bait post so you can vigorously defend Israel some more.

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[-] Venutianxspring@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think you're in a bubble of right wing idiots unfortunately (though the Republicans I know have be emboldened since Trump and are finally being who they truly are). I have a lot of those types where I'm from and some that I work with, but the majority of us are fed up with the bullshit of our government and want to see it changed (especially among the millennial and gen z crowd). Unfortunately the older generations are in power and doing whatever they want, so we're having to deal with the bullshit that the very vocal minority want as opposed to what the majority does.

America is dog shit right now and I couldn't be less proud of this country, but look at the past presodential election, the majority voted left, despite that our broken government is getting further right anyway.

[-] CommanderM2192@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I hope it's just a bubble. I do live in a region where if you drive out in the deep rural areas, there's a non-zero chance that you'll see a swastika flying on a flag. I've just never seen so many people be so "un-American" while claiming to be true patriots.

[-] Hegar@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago

First off, I don’t base my views on “what Americans are like” with what people post online.

... Meanwhile, most everyone I’ve known who is leftist wants the government to disarm them, claims to be pro-LGBT but blindly supports any Muslim country and blindly hates Israel, and thinks Joe Biden is the “greatest president EVAR”.

These two statements are contradictory. No one in the world has ever thought biden is the greatest president ever, least of all leftists.

The only place you hear people saying biden is the best are right wing lunatics on the internet who think that's what left wingers would believe.

It really very strongly sounds like you've just been talking to right wing cranks online.

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[-] ricdeh@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Yep captain, every Arab person in Gaza is a zealous transphobe that will go around and lynch all LGBTQIA people, not a racist sentiment at all /s

Fuck off with your Israeli genocidal propaganda

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[-] Gigan@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

Yes the country is very divided because both sides have moved further from the center. I blame MSM and social media for this.

[-] bostonbananarama@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago

Have they though? I struggle to find positions that the Democrats hold that are to the left of where they've been for the last 20-30 years. They are pro-choice, for racial equality, for gay rights, etc. Republicans on the other hand have swung wildly to the far-right.

I wish the Democrats would move left, but I haven't seen it in my lifetime, they are a party of centrists, for the most part.

[-] CommanderM2192@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I do live in a town with two major colleges for the region. It's crazy how many "socialists" I've met who don't even know about concepts like UBI. "Tax the rich" doesn't make you socialist. That's just the easiest, lowest hanging fruit to figure out.

[-] hatedbad 12 points 1 year ago

have you ever considered that the whole “left”, “right” “center” labels are meaningless to real people? they’re a tool of the same MSM you mention to make people think there’s more of a divide than there is.

sure there are ideologies that those labels can roughly categorize, but real people with real opinions rarely fit neatly into simple categories

[-] Gigan@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

have you ever considered that the whole “left”, “right” “center” labels are meaningless to real people?

No, I think a lot of people definitely see themselves on one side or the other.

[-] hatedbad 2 points 1 year ago

and that has nothing to do with the MSM making them think that way?

[-] Gigan@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I think MSM has made it worse, they've pushed the two sides further apart. But political parties have been around longer than MSM, so I think people will naturally align with one side or another. Having only two major political parties makes this even easier.

[-] Orbituary@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ashamed American here. The "center" has been shifting right for decades now. Since before my birth, gaining momentum in the Nixon administration with the advent of work sponsored healthcare.

PAC money has driven politicians to make decisions based on their donors and not the will of the people. This creates a legal bribery system. And as the oft mis-attributed quote goes, "fascism is the marriage of corporations and state."

The average person is too consumed by making ends meet and trying to find a modicum of substance at the end of the day to be bothered by politics. The others are distracted by the clown show our politicians put on for us.

Only the super wealthy can affect change. https://www.vox.com/2014/4/18/5624310/martin-gilens-testing-theories-of-american-politics-explained

The two party political system and the Electoral College (the representative voting body) ensure this stays in place and that third party votes will only cause one of the main candidates to lose.

I am highly left here. In Europe, I'd probably be considered center-left with a focus on humanitarianism. I consider myself a secular humanist. With that, I stand with the people above all else before party, religion, or heritage. Humans first, then arbitrary affiliations.

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[-] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

My theory is micro-plastics have been really starting to effect people. The amount of plastic we are all ingesting is scary.

[-] theyoyomaster@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Not sure who you’re talking to and interacting with. Had to move from Seattle to the middle of Oklahoma last year for work and none of what you describe is the norm here, meanwhile Seattle is a whooooooole different animal.

[-] DannyMac@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Both sides are full of horseshit, Democrats, aka Republican-lite, have less of it. That's the way I vote because that's the best I can do :(

[-] ElectroVagrant@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Huh, it's been awhile since a post like this, forgot I didn't have anything in the sidebar/pinned post directing them to a more appropriate community.

This reads as more like venting, for which there's !vent@lemmy.world. If you'd like to start a discussion related to politics here, like how political polarization seems to be affecting people, that's okay, but this veers a ways off from that imo.

[-] amio@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

That lack of nuance you accuse everyone of... maybe check if that applies to you too.

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 3 points 1 year ago

I’m not sure I know a single person who sounds like what you’re describing. These seem like caricatures.

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[-] Nulubez@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Depends on the part of America. At least in MN, most people are generally center. The "loud" ones are the extremists/on polar sides

[-] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Your experiences are broadly in line with my experiences as well. The various camps have moved quite far away from each other and there is a huge pressure toward hating whatever the other guy likes, even if the other guy has ideas that align with your goals.

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this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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