Hard to escape the conclusion from the Biden and Trump 2 years is that if you give Americans freedom, they will see it as weakness and view you with contempt. If you tyrannize them, they will fear and respect you.
Replies
Imo it’s more that there’s two levers “Improve my consumption - food, travel, clothing, housing etc” “Improve my relative social status - punish Black people, gender deviants, immigrants with darker skin” And at some level of sense of security wrt consumption many switch to social status
aug 29, 2025, 8:38 pm • 11 0 • view
Well 1. FAFO 2. maybe the business sector should do something about it?
aug 29, 2025, 8:45 pm • 3 0 • view
I think there’s an interesting element here- certainly I would agree that a lot of people equate fear with respect, but I don’t think that is universal. You don’t respect a violent drunk in a bar, rather you allow for their capacity for harm.
aug 29, 2025, 8:40 pm • 0 0 • view
I think the fact the electorate actively voted for the violent drunk is the tell here.
aug 29, 2025, 8:42 pm • 12 0 • view
Americans are just susceptible to propaganda and their enemies found a way to amplify navel gazing into full blown hatred of the American experiment on false pretenses now tearing us apart
aug 29, 2025, 8:42 pm • 6 1 • view
There's a reason why people who have practiced "radical honesty" long enough end up losing all their friends.
aug 29, 2025, 11:29 pm • 2 0 • view
And one of these things we've learned is that false pretenses collectively believed are sometimes quite prosocial, like it was probably good for people who secretly didn't believe in God to go to church when everyone did.
aug 29, 2025, 11:28 pm • 2 0 • view
Except if you try to reduce America's homicide rate or try to stop kids and/or pedestrians from being killed by drivers, it loops around and suddenly freedom is paramount again
aug 29, 2025, 8:43 pm • 8 2 • view
Trump-Biden-Trump voters be like
aug 29, 2025, 8:47 pm • 17 2 • view
Maybe liberals have to go in saying fuck you this is how its gonna be
aug 29, 2025, 10:07 pm • 4 0 • view