301–310 of 346 posts
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Maybe it's because defining what the "truth" is is complicated. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth
The way humanity uses that word can sometimes be complicated, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that truth is: http://yudkowsky.net/rational/the-simple-truth/
But what happens when you have two competing truths?
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How was this admitted? You're probably misusing the word collusion. There's no evidence of collusion yet, and there's barely evidence of the Russia hacks. Those intelligence agencies are relying on the investigation that CrowdStrike did. They were the only ones with access to the compromised servers. It's not like they all took a look themselves and came to the same conclusion. It's been consistently exaggerated and…
> How was this admitted? When Don Jr. tweeted out the emails specifically inviting him and other Trump campaign staff to a meeting in Trump Tower (fairly good chance Don Sr. was there too) with a Russian government connected lawyer to get dirt on the Clinton campaign. > compromised servers I think you're only talking about the DNC hacks? Where this is now a much wider scope and context due to their own admittances.
And yes, I was referring to the DNC hacks.
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> How was this admitted? When Don Jr. tweeted out the emails specifically inviting him and other Trump campaign staff to a meeting in Trump Tower (fairly good chance Don Sr. was there too) with a Russian government connected lawyer to get dirt on the Clinton campaign. > compromised servers I think you're only talking about the DNC hacks? Where this is now a much wider scope and context due to their own admittances.
The Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, has closer ties to Fusion GPS, the people who came up with that "dossier" with the whole golden shower blackmail conspiracy theory, than she does the Russian government. The worst you can reliably take away from that meeting is that they decided to take a meeting with someone who claimed to be a Russian government lawyer with information on Clinton. Plus, there's more eviden…
Even if you want to claim that's all that happened, that is -still- collusion ("secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy in order to deceive others") in the midst of a presidential campaign.
> there's more evidence of the Clinton campaign colluding
Oh please.
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The truth is, there's actually a huge amount of centrist in the USA. Those centrists are reasonable people. They'll hear you out, think, analyze and make up their mind. They'll accept compromise, and they'll try hard to see if maybe there's truth to consider, even if most things said appears exaggerated, or ridiculous. And then there's unreasonable people. They don't want to think, or consider options. In the USA, if…
> In the USA, if you are unreasonable, you're most likely on the right. Most reasonable people are clustered with the left. And a minority of unreasonable people are also on the left, with another minority of reasonable people clustered on the right. I don't think it's fair to generalize 330 million people like this. Certainly it feels like there are more reality-denying theories peddled by right wing media, but that…
It's tempting to pull out "both sides" rhetoric because reasonable people sympathize with others and try to see things from their point of view and assume since they believe something, there must be a grain of truth to it so they always feel like they should compromise. The problem is unreasonable people (or simply malicious ones) will take advantage of this impulse every single time and have been for decades. "But both sides!" is the climate that guarantees it's going to be impossible to have a rational or reasonable debate about political issues -- approaching a political debate assuming a compromise is inevitable and the other side is just as reasonable as you are is just accepting defeat before a single word is spoken. In this context, if both parties approach it with good faith debate can happen, but if not (as is our current situation) whoever is the most extreme always wins.
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> I cannot understand how anyone can look at him and say, yes, that man should be leading this country They support Trump because they admire him, plain and simple. He's a blowhard who's blustered his way into becoming President of the United States. A regular working-class guy knows he's no Obama, or Lincoln, or Ronald Reagan. But he looks at Trump and thinks to himself, 'If THAT guy can make it, then so can I.' To…
How can Trump be upward mobility incarnate when he inherited tens of millions of dollars, though?
He may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he doesn't have class. He acts like the boorish nouveau riche who upends all the upper crust's social and political conventions. The more elites (regardless of party) are offended and publish long screeds about how he will destroy the Republic, the more the base love him.
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> it's screamed at me, dripping in panic: "Trump DID A THING!!!" "Cops Shoot a Guy AGAIN WHY DID THEY DO THAT?!!" No joke. Someone a while back asked here, where are all the leftist conspiracy theories? We know the right wing ones - the contrails, lizard people, Obama is a secret Muslim etc. How come the left doesn't have any? And my idea was that in a bubble environment where all the news is filtered through narrow…
Conspiracy theories on the left are prevalent. Anti-vaccination is the obvious one. There's plenty about GMOs and Monsanto. I had a health teacher in highschool who gave us an alternative "food pyramid" the only justification of why it was better being that it had been rejected by congress while the other one was accepted. She was obviously left-leaning and is where I'm getting most of these ideas. Anti nuclear power…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_pyramid_(nutrition)#Contr...
It was hardly science-based.
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How can Trump be upward mobility incarnate when he inherited tens of millions of dollars, though?
Because that part's easy to ignore. He may have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he doesn't have class . He acts like the boorish nouveau riche who upends all the upper crust's social and political conventions. The more elites (regardless of party) are offended and publish long screeds about how he will destroy the Republic, the more the base love him.
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I do this, or at least I like to think I do. For example, I am firmly in favor of socialized medicine, but I understand why many people are against it (both the "they don't understand how it actually works in other countries" camp, and the "they understand it and just don't think it's a good idea" camp). I'm firmly in favor of stricter gun control (although I think the Democrats should ditch it, as it's hurting them…
'Yeah, I'm a huckster. But I'm the best, and now I'm going to be a huckster for you. ' That is, as best as I can tell, the core of it. That and: - Clinton took the midwestern 'blue firewall' for granted - Russia - Comey - Sexism - Voter suppression, especially amongst African-Americans - Really wrong candidate for a strongly populism-tinged election cycle 120,000 votes total across three states would've flipped the e…
Of course, this is nothing compared to 2000, where the number was a mere 269.
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I tend to think one way. To help me understand the "other way," I try to understand their belief system before I try to understand their arguments. Let me try to use two examples, one from each side. Don't worry about why some people believe in welfare before you try to understand their beliefs in "justice." Don't try to understand gun rights before understanding "liberty."
I do this, or at least I like to think I do. For example, I am firmly in favor of socialized medicine, but I understand why many people are against it (both the "they don't understand how it actually works in other countries" camp, and the "they understand it and just don't think it's a good idea" camp). I'm firmly in favor of stricter gun control (although I think the Democrats should ditch it, as it's hurting them…
And I think you underestimate the pure hatred for Hillary Clinton. Far more voted against her than for him. When your life is miserable and your community is dying and a rich lady you've hated for decades tells you "America is already great" (this was actually her slogan!), well....
Imagine being a truck driver and watching this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YttscNOoAjA
Finally, at the end of the day your rank and file republicans are just going to go to the polls and check the box next to 'R' like they always do, no matter what. Religious republicans will say a prayer when they do it, poor ones will convince themselves he'll help them, moderate ones will convince themselves Hillary is worse. You'd sooner convert one of them than convince a lifelong fan to change their favorite sports team. Similar with democrats.
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Losing their position in society. Becoming marginalized socially and economically. Being made economically irrelevant by automation, immigrants, or outsourcing. Seeing their beliefs and value systems being ignored, circumvented, eroded of traditional legal support (e.g. gay marriage, Roe v. Wade) and replaced by secularism. Middle-aged white people in the US are seeing increase in mortality while other groups in the…
But the thing is - these things aren't only happening to white people. Everyone is being made economically irrelevant by automation, immigrants or outsourcing. Non-white Conservatives and Christians also feel their value systems are being ignored, circumvented, etc. It's not just white people who wear the blue collars, or work in the mines and steel mills, or who hold those "traditional" American values/ Why then is…
Two reasons: because the liberal left has made simply 'being white' and 'being male' as something to apologize for (check your privilege?), and because working-class white folks have been disproportionately negatively affected by the economic shocks of the last three decades -- this while blacks have been making wide gains in income [2].
The liberal left has been pushing identity politics based on race for a long time. It should surprise no one when poor white people accurately see that they are fast becoming a minority and they should use that type of politics for their own ends.
[1] http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/05/news/economy/working-class-m... [2] http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/african-amer...