That being said, I personally trust Americans to do the right thing
Time and time again shows that this is false
this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
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“Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.”
This quote was meant to give hope, but I'm now dreading the literal implications of this. Americans will renounce to the idea of maximizing shareholder's value for the next quarter only after exhausting all other options that don't have to. By then, however, we'll live in a world engulfed in climate change going haywire and a shell of a world power that is barely sustaining itself, if not collapsed. Our American friends don't deserve this. No one deserves this.
If we did the right thing...
- Columbine would be the one and ONLY school shooting.
- 9/11 wouldn't have led to security theater.
- Police would be seen as a community good
- The average American would have their basic needs met. Home. Food. Educational resources.
- Healthcare wouldn't be all levels of fucked up.
- CEOs wouldn't be getting 200-10000x more compensation than the average employee.
- Companies would be punished for harming the environment.
- The drug epidemic wouldnt have taken over many small towns and cities
That's just like 25 years.
Time and time again shows that this is false
I trust my fellow GenZers in the US to get out n vote for our future. Every year millions of my GenZ siblings become eligible to vote. The American GenZ is the same generation that had to go through school shooting drills and in some cases, actual school shootings. They have seen their friends be hurt by conservative policies. I know they will make a difference in the elections to come.
You say that with such certainty, but there are any number of dictatorships where young people have gone through even worse, yet have not managed to dislodge the dictator. And what makes you think there will even be [meaningful, non-rigged] "elections to come???"
I thought that Millennials would do this after the Bush era and the 08 financial crisis. I was wrong. Republican brainwashing and propaganda is extremely strong and the lack of a stronger leftist representation makes it difficult to get much will to vote. I hope you're right but I'm also not gonna hold my breath.
Voting millennials are why a Republican presidential candidate hasn't won the popular vote since then. They are also why there's actual, durable, leftist representation in local governments for the first time in decades.
Change is coming, if for no other reason than the comparatively low wealth of the generation blocks the typical path to conservatism.
The future is looking good,
Is it???
It is. Sure, there r a few short term setbacks. However, in the long term time scale, things have been looking up continuously for the past few centuries. Scientific, political, social and technological progress has been made. Coming out was unimaginable for me as a kid. This however, has changed now. I can live life freely now. I have seen homophobic people change their views. This isn't even a century long time scale. It's more like a decade long time scale.
People can be dumb sometimes. But largely speaking, they are good. Over time, they do good things. I am excited for all the good things that we would all be doing in the years to come.
We need to strike the right balance imho, putting our hope in solid things. Brexit happened in the UK, showing that "doing the right thing" isn't always guaranteed, and yet despite their pain they are chugging along, and the USA will too, in some form or another. That said, avoiding Brexit definitely would have been a better outcome so... sometimes people should have more fear than they do, e.g. to not fall for obvious scams that can take everything you have.
Be vigilant, and also protect your joy in living everyday life, bc at the end of the day that's kinda all you have so don't let it slip away with too many far-off thoughts that you have no control over.
Be vigilant, and also protect your joy in living everyday life, bc at the end of the day that's kinda all you have so don't let it slip away with too many far-off thoughts that you have no control over.
True. It just feels so depressing on social media due to stuff like this. Do what needs to be done. There r many like u doing the same thing. U r not alone.
We will lose some stuff that we now have... and we will gain other stuff that we could barely dream about. Only take on what you can handle, and be kind to yourself:-).
Bull mother fucking shit. You are living with your head in the sand, and assuming things will go your way against all evidence to the contrary. And shit is not good RIGHT MOTHER FUCKING NOW! And even with the slim possibility of a Democratic win in the election we still take another step towards tyranny just not three. I do not see a way off this violent path that does not lead to violence.
I’m not sure I share your optimism, but I am eternally grateful for people like you. Unchecked pessimism doesn’t help anyone.
Feels like a call for complacency to me.
You know, this is a good thought for those who are overly anxious.
Understand that for some of us who live in red states, Project 2025 is already being implemented in our states. The national stage isn’t doing anything to slow it down.
I don't think I share a single ounce of your optimism about anything really but I wish I did. I find living in this age fucking exhausting. I'm glad I'm unlikely to have kids at this point because I wouldn't want to put more human beings into the misery that is existence right now.
But even then I'm glad there are some people out there capable of maintaining a positive outlook in the face of well... everything.
You probably typed this out on a supercomputer you took out of your pocket. Maybe you took a hot shower and slept in a bed last night? Shat on a toilet that went into a sewage system?
Sometimes I think all the internet did was take all the people who would have been perfectly fine living a normal human life and turned them all into world news junkies focused on things that have almost nothing to do with us.
It's pick your poison I suppose. I would personally have an easier time dealing with a lower quality of life than I do with constant oppressive existential dread and ceaseless hopelessness and anxiety, but Imagine it's different for everyone.
I guess, but it seems a lot like you might benefit from reducing online time. I know doing that and looking more locally has greatly decreased my anxiety.
I mean, I'm already not on any social media apart from Lemmy. I cultivate my subscriptions here carefully and typically avoid the /all feed. I try to limit my exposure to current events, but you can only bury your head in the sand so much. And even then, it's not like the issues of the world go away just because I'm not looking at them. And consequently the anxiety doesn't go away either. It's possible to push out with temporary distractions, but that's not really possible to maintain 24/7.
That being said, I personally trust Americans to do the right thing. Trump won’t win, and America won’t go fascist. This is because good people will fight and win. Same goes with other countries (France and the UK for example).
Hope you're right.
I disagree.
Reminder of the third rule of the community
Avoid controversial topics such as politics or societal debates
I echo all of this, but with an important caveat, that together we can change things for the better. Don't let our fear crumple us into not acting at all, but instead focusing on what needs to be done. We should all be resolute in making a better tomorrow, and that means showing up at every election, every option we have to voice our opinions. The only reason one side shows up everywhere is because they are the loudest. We have to prove that we are the silent majority, we must show up in November, and every federal, state, and local election.
Don't let our fear crumple us into not acting at all, but instead focusing on what needs to be done.
Perfectly said! No need to be all sad n depressed (like I was today) due to events like these. Do what needs to be done. Know that u r not alone in doing this. There r many many people working to make the world a better place. Have trust in them.
What drugs are you on? Seriously, I want some; America is doomed, the rich have won, and the environment is trying to exterminate us.
lmao
NOPE
Hey, thanks for this fellow human.
Awh no problem :)
I half agree with you. I think it's very naive to say that things will turn out okay in the short term with respect to one specific event like an election. There's simply not enough reason to say that with any certainty.
But the broader point that things will be okay in the medium to long term, I do agree with. Things have a way of sorting themselves out, if not to a better state, then to at least a less intense one.
❤️
<3 to u too!!!
So many people's instinctual response to somebody expressing a message of optimism and peace is to immediately start retaliating with all of the things that cause them anxiety and grief.
Sometimes you just got to put all that shit down and take a breath.
As a trans person: lol
Trump vs Joe Biden.. It's a close call. Which smelly old senile man should we select as president?
It is not REMOTELY close.