Trump wins presidency for second time

All I'll say right now is to not focus so much on the half that voted against your rights that you forget about the half that's behind you.

But aren't we supposed to wait out the Red Mirage / Blue Shift [0] before calling a winner? (Linked to timestamp of where former political director of Fox News testifies about it being a known thing).

[0]: https://youtu.be/5XEQ_7zZ-bw?t=93

As an example of how pushing a message too hard can have the opposite effect: In "The Last of Us" (the series, I haven't played the game) the bad people are white (and are especially bad if they are also Christian), while the good people are generally some combination of black, homosexual, and "neurodivergent". Three of the four groups we meet are led by women. The two good ones are led by black women. The only group doing well is a communist commune. When I feel like I am being manipulated I not only discard the message, but actively rebel against it.

Donald Trump disgusts me, but it feels to me like he at least authentically represents a viewpoint.

I also expect Trump to roll back many of those policies and create new, worse ones like opening up more federal land for drilling and mining.

That said, you must have a lot more faith in the current policies than I do. The sole focus on limiting carbon in the atmosphere has been woefully misguided in my opinion. We need to focus on reducing our total impact on the planet, not just trying to mitigate it a bit while we continue to consume more resources and use use more energy every year.

If human impact on the planet is going to kill us all with Trump in office, it was going to happen either way.

Not an American, not a Trump fan - he grosses me out a bit.

But I've come to the realization that both sides have an ugly component that is winning out on online forums. It's the classic tale of the vocal minority controlling the narrative.

So to answer your question, being habitually online, and using that as a basis for your opinions on the world will very much make you vulnerable to a serious blind spot.

The amount of shit-flinging on Reddit, from both sides, is shocking to me as a non-American. That people can espouse so much hate towards their literal neighbours is unreal to me. This country is so divided that I'm not sure how things will be fixed soon. Online has become such a cesspool that it's not possible to sit around the same fire any more.

I like to think that the majority of people are waaaay more moderate than what you might think from looking at social media. And I would encourage anyone to try and interact with more people in meatspace. Don't try and convince anyone of anything, but try to understand why they feel the way they feel, and have some goddamn empathy.

I blame two things for our current situation:

1. Social Media. In hindsight it makes perfect sense, but polarizing content will generate more engagement, and since engagement is a primary KPI for many platforms, that is what the Algorithms will select for naturally. It's a positive feedback loop, that resulted in people defacing their neighbours front-yard political posters, and then smugly posting about it on social media. Because of course that's how you'll convince them to vote for the other party.

2. Two party system: I like eating meat, and I would like to continue doing so if I can. But I also care for the protection of animals and sustainable utilisation of resources. But because meat is part of the Carnivore party's platform, and everything else is part of the Herbivore party's platform. People might support more worker's rights, but now in order to get that they must also be anti abortion. It's a broken system and it breeds deep deep divisions.