this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
19 points (100.0% liked)
Melbourne
1870 readers
51 users here now
This community is a place created for the people of Melbourne and Victoria. We are a positive, welcoming and inclusive community. We might not agree about everything, but we always strive to stay civil and respectful.
The focus of our discussions is based around things that affect Victoria, but we are also free to discuss our local perspective on wider issues. Or head to the regular Daily Random Discussion thread to talk about anything.
Ongoing discussions, FAQs & Resources (still under construction)
Adoption Certificate for Nellie, the Daily Thread numbat (with thanks to @Catfish)
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I was surprised to learn that a few people at work were happy with yesterday's result also. Not in a 'good for them' kind of way (which is how I'd have been had the result been different), but in a more direct good for us kind of way. One person even pulled out one of those red and white hats. I have never seen one in Australia before.
These are smart people. I have previously dismissed most of the Republican supporters as uninformed and uneducated. It's easy to just assume that anyone voting for the guy has no idea what they're doing.
I still don't get why anyone in Australia is that invested in US politics. But I'm reassessing my previous notions that the Republican party is as successful as it is because they have convinced dumb people to vote for them.
I think it is not so much dumb people as the selfish entitled people - the sort that are always looking disaprovingly at anybody who is getting anything they are not - and that is a huge demographic. The sort of people who get their nose out of joint at everything from someone taking more food at the buffet to people receiving welfare benefits (or even disability or workcover claims). It also flows over into everyone who thinks that it is unfair if anyone who is female/foreign/gay etc. has something they don't, and assume it is being unfairly taken away from them.
There is probably a correlation between that and dumb, but there is also a sizeable group who recognise that the Republican plan will increase inequality and believe they will come out on top in that situation. Trump and his cronies lining their own pockets will help a lot of other rich and unscrupulous people do the same.
grifters can get anyone. The smarter people are the less likely they are to admit they got hoodwinked.