Archive: [ https://archive.is/N9Bp5 ]
Liberals had nine years to decipher Mr. Trump’s appeal — and they failed. The Democrats are a party of college graduates, as the whole world understands by now, of Ph.D.s and genius-grant winners and the best consultants money can buy. Mr. Trump is a con man straight out of Mark Twain; he will say anything, promise anything, do nothing. But his movement baffled the party of education and innovation. Their most brilliant minds couldn’t figure him out.
I think the problem is that many Democrats are stuck in an information bubble, and instead of listening to the other side, they demonize them and cancel them. It is hard to figure out what the other side is thinking if you don’t actually listen to what they are thinking.
You’re gonna get downvoted, but you’re partially right. Everyone self-selects their media, and avoids things that challenge their assumptions. Liberals are not exempt from this.
And if we are having nuanced policy discussions, it’s possible to listen to the other side and respond. But when our political discourse is “They’re eating the cats”, and you know that’s not true, what other way is there to respond?
A talking head who gets paid a six figure salary to go on TV and spout inane bullshit about immigrants eating pets shouldn’t be replied to. Cletus in the comment section who has a two year degree and makes an hourly wage to do skilled manual labor and honestly thinks the government will let any migrants who want to do so walk into the country whenever they want and give them a welfare check for their trouble does need to be spoken with.
That’s all a lot easier said than done, but I think that’s the general outline of the problem here.
To be fair, Republicans live in their own information bubble too. But the difference is that the Republican leadership knows how to talk to the middle, and the Democrats don’t seem to know how to do that.
We see them. We live among them. We have to work with them. A lot of us have to hear them on the daily.
We know that a lot of what they are “thinking” is due to letting the right wing propaganda machine take a big dump in their skulls every day, and nearly everything they are “thinking” (really, feeling) is based on entirely false premises.
I think I know who you are talking about. The loud and proud ones. But what the loudest people are saying is no necessarily what most people are thinking. So you can’t assume everyone thinks like them.
Even if their thinking is based on false premises, as you claim, they have legitimate grievances. The Democrats will never get their votes if they don’t address the grievances with a realistic alternative plan.
What if their grievances are “there is an open border” and “kids are going to school and coming back after having a sex change”?
Most people’s grievances right now are the economy and inflation. And they want change. They want the elites to have less control over their lives.
Sure, the right has some crazy ideas. So does the left. But the middle decides elections because they are the swing voters, and the middle’s main grievances are the economy and that they feel helpless in a world where the wealthy control everything.
What are some of these crazy ideas of the left’s?
Not sure. Most of the ideas are well-intended. Sometimes the implementation could use some work though, but I don’t see anything too crazy.
Some people on the right freak out over gender, but people should have a right to be who they are, and not have to fit into some gender stereotype.
But there are examples that go too far. For example, taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners was a bit much. Sure, they should have the right to do that, but why should taxpayers pay for it?
I just thought of some good examples of crazy. (I don’t call them crazy, but other people do.)
Stance 1: Anti-Immigration (don’t let foreigners in).
Stance 2: Open Borders (let anyone in with no checks, including criminals)
Stance 3: Immigration Reform (allow immigration and make the process easier, but weed out the criminals)
Stance 4: Status Quo (allow immigration, but it is difficult and time consuming)
Many people think that stances 1 and 2 are “crazy.” I just think that they are counterproductive and ineffective. And the anti-foreigner thing is racist.
I think the craziest thing on the left is their soft on crime attitude. It simply is counterproductive. It does not accomplish what they think it accomplishes. It is good to be compassionate with people, but instead of letting people get away with crime, what would be more compassionate is to rehabilitate them so they they can support themselves without resorting to crime.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
I meant things like “inflation is too high” and “I can’t afford groceries” and “I fear for my safety because of increased crime in my area.” The things that most people really care about.
If you look at the polls, these issues were what drove voters the most, not the whole list of things that you mentioned.