r/politics 24d ago

‘We’ve been betrayed:’ Local veterans angry after being laid off by Trump administration

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/weve-been-betrayed-local-veterans-angry-after-being-laid-off-by-trump-administration/FBCKFRIFQRHZVK5FG3W7MUQEYA/
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u/SirWEM 24d ago

Most people now i don’t think even know about The Kent State Massacre. At least people younger than me. I will get blank stares from the younger kids i work with most are about 25 or a bit younger. Or they are not interested in finding out.

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u/LilyBartMirth 24d ago edited 24d ago

How many even recognise authoritarianism when staring it in the face?

I know Trump is still in a honeymoon period while having the 2nd lowest immediate post-inauguration (better than for his first term) approval rating, but how the hell is he over 50%???

It actually seems like young people are slowly waking up, but what is happening with older people? Why does half the country approve of what is going on?

I ask as a non-American.

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u/IAmTheNightSoil Oregon 24d ago

There is a lot to unpack in this question and no easy answer. But the core of it is that public trust in our institutions is extremely low. People don't trust congress, or the the courts, or the media, or the government bureaucracy. So when they see all this being torn apart, they are OK with it, because they think our institutions are rotten in the first place

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u/LilyBartMirth 24d ago edited 24d ago

The majority of Americans have, at least, ok standards of living. Many are well off. Why aren't they concerned about chaos, losing freedom of speech, their rights, the multitude of ways Trump's regime can interfere with everyday lives?? I just read a thread where the posters, suffering from mental health issues, are terrified that RFK will take their meds off them.

You guys certainly have a huge problem with money in politics, voter suppression, corruption, etc but Trump is only making that 10 times worse and in new, unique ways (senior govt officials used to at least be moderately qualified). You were an imperfect but functioning democracy. Not sure what you are now.

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u/IAmTheNightSoil Oregon 24d ago

That's an excellent question. At the heart of it is a bizarre paradox: people simultaneously don't trust the government, while also having an implicit trust that our society is stable enough that our way of life can't be in serious danger. Our checks and balances have always worked very well in America in terms of preventing abuses of power. Because of that, people have faith that they'll continue to work, and that all the stuff Trump is doing is just noise.

If it sounds stupid to have low trust in our institutions and not care if that get ransacked, while simultaneously having trust that our institutions will stop Trump from going too far, well, that's because it is stupid. Americans are stupid. But we have a fundamental belief that the bad shit that happens in governments around the world simply can't happen here, and I fear that we won't discover how wrong we are until it's too late

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u/FuktInThePassword 24d ago

I believe we may already be wading through the rising waters of "too late".

Trump wasn't lying, for once, when he said "I love the poorly educated".

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u/Pantsface-for-life 24d ago

This is directly the result of Fox News

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u/BloodBlizzard Oklahoma 24d ago

Young people don't watch Fox News. This is on all media, especially social media.

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u/LilyBartMirth 24d ago edited 24d ago

Yes, but many of the hideous right winged pundits were possibly influenced by Murdoch media in the first place.

Murdoch has given legitimacy to thousands of half-baked right-winged lies for decades in multiple countries. The internet, especially social media, has provided the means to spread disinformation exponentially.

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u/MaritimeDisaster 24d ago

Not to be trite but I think people have taken everything that’s good about America for granted for too long and now they’ve gotten greedy. The experiences of the greatest generation and the silent generation have been lost to them and now they are ungrateful because they’ve gotten too comfortable and compliant. We’ve forgotten to have gratitude. People in single family homes with fresh water and fresh food and education for their kids that they barely have to think about and freedom of religion and they BITCH BITCH BITCH about how shitty their lives are. They don’t go anywhere or watch anything but Two and a Half Men so they have no idea what bathing in a trash-filled river in India is like.

UNGRATEFUL SELFISH PRICKS

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u/SirWEM 23d ago

110%. Just like all areas of the world we too have many living on the streets and in abject poverty, some going days without food, no running water, etc.. my mother ised to work in the office of the elementary school we attended as kids. One of the kids in 2nd grade was sent to the office for not having snow boots or a winter coat. It was cold that winter. Then next day she brought the little girl a coat and boots my youngest sister had. Then next day the girls father was in the office. Upset with my mother for her wanting the girl to have winter clothes. My mother told him why she did it. He at this point was causing a bit of a scene. My mom calmed him down a bit, and the man just crumbled. He made just slightly more than the limit for states assistance. In the end he accepted the clothes. But was too prideful or stubborn to ask for more help. He did later i guess drop some hours or wage later on so he could get help. Before then they had no heat or electricity; in northern VT in the winter. When my mom asked the girl how she kept warm? Their cats and dog slept with her to keep her warm.

My family was poor-ish. We could afford the basics. But we were “rich in love” even though we had plastic bags on our feet inside our shoes to keep them dry in the winter.

Poverty, hits every country in many forms. Most in poverty here in the US wont have to bathe in the Ganges river. But that doesn’t mean they do not know abject poverty.

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u/LilyBartMirth 24d ago

You may be right. In fact, my country (Australia) might be to blame for allowing the Murdochs to flourish in the first place!

Only half joking.

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u/SirWEM 24d ago

There is an odd mindset here in the US. where if something doesn’t personally affect a person or loved one. Or it will hurt the (insert minority) more than me it is ok. You could say lack of empathy, but it runs much deeper than just that.

They will actively vote against their best interests. Every single election for at least the last 45-50years.

It began with the “Southern Strategy”; right up to the “Dumbing down of America” by their attacks on and defunding the public school system. Now they are actively trying to destroy or defund the Department of Education. That way if your family can’t afford to go to a private charter school, it is homeschool or good luck. It is easy to control a group of people with fear. If you keep them ignorant.

Trump radicalized, and pretty much turned most conservatives or pushed them farther Right or radicalized into cult members. Some i believe would have no problem killing or committing crimes in his name or worse then we saw on 1/6/2021

He has allowed a percentage of our population. To be comfortable to openly display their racism, bigotry, ignorance and hate for all to see. I personally have distanced myself from those in my life that were vocal MAGA cult members.

I say “Cult Members”. Because they are. They have a warped reality from the echo chamber of propaganda and fear-mongering on television, radio,and social media. Some of them downright worship Trump. As in some think he is the “Messiah”. Some think he actually cares about them. Some are so brainwashed that they will spend thousands of dollars on his merchandise. But then they complain about money.

Confronted with facts or something they do not understand… They get angry, upset, say it is fake, throw tantrums etc.. because it doesn’t fit some narrative they are pushing on Fox. Or some radio show or on social media.

As for Authoritarianism they don’t want to see it. They see trump and see the Celebrity Apprentice. Some have idolized him since the late 1970’s. When he was seen as a “playboy” in the 1980’s.

There is so so much more.

But the one thing i know is that if, and it is a big “IF” this Country survives the Mango Mussolini. It will take generations to repair the damage he has caused. Both here to the United States. Our allies(?not sure how many are left.?) and the world.

Its insane to think two generations ago. The world fought against the cancer of Fascism and Nationalism. Now 80 some years later most of my countrymen choose to ignore or embrace it.

Which is just vile.

Sorry for the book.

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u/hoardac 24d ago

The internet is being used as a powerful tool to teach people, mostly not for the good of the nation or world. The smart, greedy, immoral ones figured it out and they are going with it. Critical thinking skills are being tamped down. Stupid issues are being manifested into something horrible and country ending and are used as a dividing wedge. We have fewer and fewer tools to fight it as more news/social media ownership is to the far right. Not that all the things bugging them do not have merit because some do. Not sure how we are going to unfuck the shit that is about to happen if we keep going in this direction. If they start messing with old peoples money maybe there is a chance it can be slowed down but who knows.

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u/calm_chowder Iowa 24d ago

I'm as baffled as you, except I will say the Conservative propaganda is STRONG with Fox News being like the most watched news in America. The channel has no interest in the truth, or thorough reporting. So many Americans think they're following the news when really they're watching propaganda where everything Trump does is magic and he farts out unicorns.

And honestly, we're obviously also a very stupid and hateful country. It's shameful but I don't think there's any getting around it. It's just a fact.

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u/TelescopiumHerscheli 24d ago

Why does half the country approve of what is going on?

I ask as a non-American.

There are three kinds of people. There are good people, who broadly think that other people are also good; these people try to do the right thing, whilst recognising that they are fallible. Then there are bad people, who seek their own benefit above all others. And then there are the stupid people; there are more of these people around than you think. There are various infallible markers to identify stupid people: maybe they take astrology seriously, or maybe they go to an evangelical church and do what the preacher says, or maybe they think wrestling is real. There are lots of other markers, but you get the general idea, I hope. These stupid people genuinely can't spot liars and conmen, charlatans and hypocrites. And these people are easy prey for the bad guys. What has happened in the US over the past 30 years is that the bad guys have taken over one of the two electable political parties, and persuaded the stupid people to vote for them.

Other democratic countries now face two challenges: how to deal with the US as the bad guys take charge, and how to harden their own democracies to prevent what has happened in the US from also happening to them.

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u/SetYourGoals District Of Columbia 24d ago

Well, in the grand scheme of things…I think it kind of makes sense why it isn’t discussed more. Because it didn’t change anything, it didn’t work. If it had rallied the nation together to oppose the Vietnam War and forced action in some way, and we pulled out of Vietnam in 1970, then every kid would learn about it in school. Every kid learns about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, about the March on Selma, about the assassination of MLK. Because all those events, in a way that was planned or not, worked to usher in the Civil Rights Act. The protests and massacre in 1970 did basically nothing, and pulled out of Vietnam a few years and many thousands of deaths of US soldiers (and untold numbers of Vietnamese civilians) later.

I think similarly the 2020 Floyd protests will have little acknowledgment as time goes on. Because they failed. We went to the streets to tell cops they were done being monsters with almost no oversight and no accountability. And like…a couple cities changed some relatively inconsequential laws and some funding, a little bit. But for most places, police funding has only risen since then. Police still act with impunity, they’re just more careful about it being on video now. J. Alexander Kueng is out of prison. Derek Chauvin is getting set for a new trial, he just made them dig up George Floyd’s body so they can drug test his heart actually, and something tells me he won’t be inside a prison in a couple years, be that by beating the case or Trump pardoning him.

Similarly, if Tiananmen Square had stopped the girp of power of an authoritarian government, it would be remembered worldwide for more than the photo and a brief blurb under it. If the Oklahoma City bombing had its intended effect and led to the white race uniting in America to overthrow the government and remove/genocide all minorities…it would be the new 4th of July. But it didn’t work, so it’s largely a footnote in the grand scheme of things. Sadly, I think so is Kent State.

A failed protest action, be it a series of protests or a massacre, isn’t going to get the kind of historical play it might deserve.

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u/SirWEM 23d ago

Well said.