Over on the subreddit someone posted about a family member that owns a business. He sat his employees down after the election and told them there would be no holiday bonuses this year. The workers, mostly Trump voters, demanded to know why.
The owner explained to them that since Trump won and promised to impose more tariffs the owner had …
Over on the subreddit someone posted about a family member that owns a business. He sat his employees down after the election and told them there would be no holiday bonuses this year. The workers, mostly Trump voters, demanded to know why.
The owner explained to them that since Trump won and promised to impose more tariffs the owner had to use that money to buy materials for the upcoming year before tariffs hit because if he didn't he worried he'd have to lay some of them off. They had no idea how tariffs worked and the owner had to explain to them how tariffs worked. The workers were pissed.
Utilizing all my spare empathy I replied, "aaaahhh-hahahahahahaha...*gasp*... hahahahahaha! Good!"
Liberal, weren't you saying Biden was going to win 6 months ago? And then Harris would win? I don't mean to beat you up, I just want to understand what your reasons were. And if you're really up for it, why they were wrong.
It seems that the way to defeat the Trumpism/MAGA movetis to their policies run their course. I just hope it happens quickly to minimize the length of time during which we will all suffer.
The strange thing is tariffs are worse than sales taxes since the tariff is embedded up front in the cost of the product day 1 “at the border”That comes out of employer profits or later in product prices. That means no hiding. Hurts employers, employees, or the customer cost. I found myself like Archie Bunker wanting to yell at the TV. Face it. Most politicians are not comfortable with such topics. It is painful. You guys who voted for him asked for it!
I DO yell at the TV. It’s surprisingly cathartic, and I live remotely so I’m not upsetting anyone. But now I just keep the TV off; it’s a contamination zone carrying risk of hearing Trump’s voice, which carries medical risk for me.
there is no doubt in my mind we are not overall as smart as in my case my grandparent's generation who lived through ww2 and much of the depression. they were unlettered but not stupid and i dont think would have bought the swill water of these guys. so we've got this problem -- tap, tap, tap -- look at the phone, go with the likes. that's not a good way to go about reality.
My own opinion about those days, is that ignorant people understood their own ignorance and kept their heads down. The internet allowed Dunning Kruger to explode. Ignorant people found each other and fed off each other and decided they were very, very smart! Smarter than the scientists! Smarter than their doctors! I enjoyed Tom Nichols book “The Death of Expertise” - a good read.
I don't think people have gotten dumber, it's just that those generations had to interact with reality in a way ours never has. There's a reasonable chance we're about to run up against some cold hard realities in the next 4 years.
I've been saying to my therapist for months (unrelated to politics) that I think something wrong with our current society is that too many people live in a way where their actions are untethered from consequences.
This, combined with the fact that American society hasn't really had to sacrifice like in the past (the pandemic sort of counts... but it was politicized so early that people experienced two entirely different realities), makes us soft as people. We'll see what happens when the shit starts to hit the fan.
Well said. People are untethered from the consequences of their actions. And that is why, when the next legislative session begins, Democrats should sit on their hands and do nothing to prevent the GOP from passing their destructive policies. Voters need to hurt. They need to feel pain. Some will die, when RFK is in charge of the CDC. Democrats should quietly observe. Do not bail out Spesker Johnson from his crazy flank. Let ‘er rip.
I knew the stakes. I had an elective surgery in July, knowing that Medicare could be in jeopardy with a Trump win. And that’s just part of the risk. Entire systems might collapse, similar to the situation in Idaho where OB/GYNs are leaving the state and birthing centers have shut down due to no staff. It’s become a healthcare desert. And now that will become an epidemic - deliberate choice of words. I’m stockpiling masks, too.
I hope more business owners do this. Let the people know there's consequences for their actions. If I had a business that always gave out bonuses, I would absolutely do what that guy did.
One area where I would criticize the Harris campaign is 1) not making a bigger deal about Trump's tariff ideas and 2) dumbing down their explanation to the point where they sometimes didn't even use the word "tariff."
They did a piss poor job in exploiting that in the only debate. “Hey Trump, does the buyer or the seller pay and there is only one factual answer!? “
They got too cute on “sales tax” as their only game. Huge stakes for retail employees especially. Could have invoked Eddie Murphy and the GI Joe with the kung fu grip in Trading Places! Woulda coulda..
It wouldn't have mattered, as a consistent theme with Trump is that voters do not believe he is going to do what he says he is going to do. They'll just have to get what they voted for before they learn.
My fear is that they won't realize that they're 'getting what they voted for'. When the consequences come, they'll find someone else to blame' Trump will tell them who to blame if needed.
MAGA will always find someone else to blame - I agree. But there are a lot of voters who aren't ideologically committed to the Trump project, and simply think of Trump as the "good economy guy". If the economy tanks under a 2nd Trump presidency, many of those voters will hold him responsible.
Understanding your appropriate total lack of empathy for the blind mice, a problem is that We will also get what They voted for...and we learned that lesson long ago. Abusing a wonderful ad slogan from decades ago, "You got what you prayed for."
Indeed - but unfortunately, I think the only thing that's going to wake voters up is a dose of the hard medicine which he promised them, but which they didn't take seriously.
If he follows through on his promised economic plan, it will be rough sledding until the midterms, but once Dems are swept back into Congress they'll be able to start undoing some of the damage.
This is one area where we need to do the actual organizing, the actual accountability, the actual pushback, as Bill put it - election administration, which includes counting the votes, in GOP-controlled state legislatures. So that there will be free and fair Congressional elections in 2O26.
Over on the subreddit someone posted about a family member that owns a business. He sat his employees down after the election and told them there would be no holiday bonuses this year. The workers, mostly Trump voters, demanded to know why.
The owner explained to them that since Trump won and promised to impose more tariffs the owner had to use that money to buy materials for the upcoming year before tariffs hit because if he didn't he worried he'd have to lay some of them off. They had no idea how tariffs worked and the owner had to explain to them how tariffs worked. The workers were pissed.
Utilizing all my spare empathy I replied, "aaaahhh-hahahahahahaha...*gasp*... hahahahahaha! Good!"
Duck around and find out, as they say.
Liberal, weren't you saying Biden was going to win 6 months ago? And then Harris would win? I don't mean to beat you up, I just want to understand what your reasons were. And if you're really up for it, why they were wrong.
Every metric but polling seemed to be in their favor so I went with my gut.
I was wrong, it happens.
I underestimated the unseriousness of the voters. I won't do that again.
Thx for your reply. It would be great if we could get a metric for the unseriousness of the voters.
It seems that the way to defeat the Trumpism/MAGA movetis to their policies run their course. I just hope it happens quickly to minimize the length of time during which we will all suffer.
The strange thing is tariffs are worse than sales taxes since the tariff is embedded up front in the cost of the product day 1 “at the border”That comes out of employer profits or later in product prices. That means no hiding. Hurts employers, employees, or the customer cost. I found myself like Archie Bunker wanting to yell at the TV. Face it. Most politicians are not comfortable with such topics. It is painful. You guys who voted for him asked for it!
I DO yell at the TV. It’s surprisingly cathartic, and I live remotely so I’m not upsetting anyone. But now I just keep the TV off; it’s a contamination zone carrying risk of hearing Trump’s voice, which carries medical risk for me.
A wise choice [to keep the TV off]!
Indeed. His economic ignorance is apparently now at plague status!
Play stupid games = win stupid prizes
Wait until guacamole becomes a luxury item.
there is no doubt in my mind we are not overall as smart as in my case my grandparent's generation who lived through ww2 and much of the depression. they were unlettered but not stupid and i dont think would have bought the swill water of these guys. so we've got this problem -- tap, tap, tap -- look at the phone, go with the likes. that's not a good way to go about reality.
My own opinion about those days, is that ignorant people understood their own ignorance and kept their heads down. The internet allowed Dunning Kruger to explode. Ignorant people found each other and fed off each other and decided they were very, very smart! Smarter than the scientists! Smarter than their doctors! I enjoyed Tom Nichols book “The Death of Expertise” - a good read.
I don't think people have gotten dumber, it's just that those generations had to interact with reality in a way ours never has. There's a reasonable chance we're about to run up against some cold hard realities in the next 4 years.
I've been saying to my therapist for months (unrelated to politics) that I think something wrong with our current society is that too many people live in a way where their actions are untethered from consequences.
This, combined with the fact that American society hasn't really had to sacrifice like in the past (the pandemic sort of counts... but it was politicized so early that people experienced two entirely different realities), makes us soft as people. We'll see what happens when the shit starts to hit the fan.
Well said. People are untethered from the consequences of their actions. And that is why, when the next legislative session begins, Democrats should sit on their hands and do nothing to prevent the GOP from passing their destructive policies. Voters need to hurt. They need to feel pain. Some will die, when RFK is in charge of the CDC. Democrats should quietly observe. Do not bail out Spesker Johnson from his crazy flank. Let ‘er rip.
I'm in health care information and there are no illusions here. It's been like working a funeral for 2 days now.
I knew the stakes. I had an elective surgery in July, knowing that Medicare could be in jeopardy with a Trump win. And that’s just part of the risk. Entire systems might collapse, similar to the situation in Idaho where OB/GYNs are leaving the state and birthing centers have shut down due to no staff. It’s become a healthcare desert. And now that will become an epidemic - deliberate choice of words. I’m stockpiling masks, too.
Too often these people have been touching the hot stove with their oven mitts on. Time to take away their oven mitts.
I hope more business owners do this. Let the people know there's consequences for their actions. If I had a business that always gave out bonuses, I would absolutely do what that guy did.
He at least framed it as trying to preserve their jobs. The lack of bonuses will put a crimp in their holiday spending. Instant karma, I guess.
And so it - Trump's trashing of the economy - begins.
You managed to lift my mood since Tuesday night. Bravo!
One area where I would criticize the Harris campaign is 1) not making a bigger deal about Trump's tariff ideas and 2) dumbing down their explanation to the point where they sometimes didn't even use the word "tariff."
It’s hard to “dumb down” effectively, when you aren’t actually dumb.
They did a piss poor job in exploiting that in the only debate. “Hey Trump, does the buyer or the seller pay and there is only one factual answer!? “
They got too cute on “sales tax” as their only game. Huge stakes for retail employees especially. Could have invoked Eddie Murphy and the GI Joe with the kung fu grip in Trading Places! Woulda coulda..
Hard to hear that point of view if you only watch Fox “news”.
It wouldn't have mattered, as a consistent theme with Trump is that voters do not believe he is going to do what he says he is going to do. They'll just have to get what they voted for before they learn.
My fear is that they won't realize that they're 'getting what they voted for'. When the consequences come, they'll find someone else to blame' Trump will tell them who to blame if needed.
MAGA will always find someone else to blame - I agree. But there are a lot of voters who aren't ideologically committed to the Trump project, and simply think of Trump as the "good economy guy". If the economy tanks under a 2nd Trump presidency, many of those voters will hold him responsible.
Trump voters are either
A) racist
B) misogynistic
C)ignorant
D)all of the above
But Eligible voters who didn’t cast a vote are complicit plus either
A) lazy
B) cowards
C) ignorant
D) all of the above
D on both counts.
Understanding your appropriate total lack of empathy for the blind mice, a problem is that We will also get what They voted for...and we learned that lesson long ago. Abusing a wonderful ad slogan from decades ago, "You got what you prayed for."
Indeed - but unfortunately, I think the only thing that's going to wake voters up is a dose of the hard medicine which he promised them, but which they didn't take seriously.
If he follows through on his promised economic plan, it will be rough sledding until the midterms, but once Dems are swept back into Congress they'll be able to start undoing some of the damage.
My schadenfreude is in overdrive. Even as I agree MAGAs will assign blame to Dems.
This is one area where we need to do the actual organizing, the actual accountability, the actual pushback, as Bill put it - election administration, which includes counting the votes, in GOP-controlled state legislatures. So that there will be free and fair Congressional elections in 2O26.
Your words in every ear.