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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
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"He said he was going to make America great again. And he said a lot of other stuff too, but I only listened to the first part because all the other stuff probably wasn't that important."
But he has the best words.
I just realized something:
"Make America Great Again"
When was America last great? What made it great? I don't think Trump has really answered those questions. But he doesn't have to, because it can mean whatever people want it to mean. Being specific would actually be counterproductive, because then people wouldn't be able to project whatever specific period of time they wanted onto that statement.
Bingo. America was never great. Or not by any definition of greatness I care to abide by.
What Trump has dogwhistled is the intention to take America back to the mythical time when white people all worked hard and had good jobs, and minorities either didn't exist or were all shunted to places where nobody had to look at them.
It's complete and utter bullshit through and through, no matter which way you look at it.
"We'll take the next chance, and the next, until we win, or the chances are spent."
Asgore Adopts Noelle
Trump picks Andy Puzder, Chief Executive of Hardee's/Carl's Jr., as head of the Labor Department. Puzder has gone on record being against extending Overtime rules and has praised the Automation of Fast Food.
Yeah, Jobs aren't gonna be coming back for the Average American anytime soon...
@Mystery Man 23: It's easy to say that we shouldn't let Trump trample on our rights, but even if the system will keep him from getting too far, too fast, we are utterly insignificant to the powers that be (re: Congressional Republicans who have no problem letting Trump do what he wants as long as he passes their agendas). The fact that the GOP won bigly this year is only going to make the current situation even worse.
And I can't be Captain America. I can't be Bernie Sanders, or Hillary Clinton, or Tim Ryan, or Nancy Pelosi, or even the sanitation commissioner in some dirt-poor, no-name town in the middle of nowhere. I'm a chronically-depressed-and-anxious NEET who had to be talked out of staying in college by my own teachers and family because my psychological issues were screwing me over, who can't socialize with people if my life depended on it, I'm qualified for no career under the sun, I'm trapped under crushing student debt that I have no way to pay back, and my only chance at receiving treatment for said psychological issues is almost certainly going to be gutted like a fish. I'm mooching off a family that doesn't know how to help me (in large part because I don't know how to help me), where my grandmother is retired, my mother has a criminal record and stuffs/delivers newspapers every night, and my aunt is the only person in the household with a "real job", hating myself for it all the while. I couldn't inspire the world's most easily inspired people if I stood before them with a megaphone and a prepared speech by the ghost of Abe Lincoln himself, and if I ever tried to run for public office, the GOP would kill my campaign in a heartbeat if it ever got that far.
edited 8th Dec '16 4:30:12 PM by TrashJack
The law in the night
Make America Great Again was a nostalgia lens for the after war period and the first decades of the Cold War.
When most of the world was bombed to shit, the US had come out victorious out of WWII, all the industrial capability of the US was untouched by the war and with their production still running fast and with a consumer base made from the population boom of what would become the Baby Boomers, the US was the defacto world super power competing with another super power, the Soviet Union, globalization wasn't a thing yet and the US produced nearly all the consumer goods it needed and exported the rest, the US was a major energy producer and exporter through domestic oil and coal, the Steel Industry was still strong because it was the only one capable of feeding both US domestic and international demands, Hollywood and the US entertainment industry rose strong as ever with patriotic movies and block buster movies about US exceptionalism, the US military was and still is one of the most powerful military machines in the world and there was a great rise in the standards of living for the middle class where everyone could afford American made cars, televisions, electro domestics and a comfortable well paying blue collar job that didn't require nothing more than a high school or technical school diploma.
It was also a defined by the beginning of the US interventionism policies, the Mc Carthyism policies, the Jim Crow laws and racial riots, the segregation in the American South still running strong, the birth of the US military industrial complex, the fear of nuclear annihilation from the Cold War, crackdown on the US workers rights along the weakening of the American workers unions and the spread of smaller bushwars and proxy wars.
Also, corporate tax was around 90% at that time, something Trumpteers love to ignore.
But as I said, those conditions that made America Great don't exist anymore, the world rebuilt itself and caught up with America, the pressure to increase profits and higher returns for shareholders pushed the jobs overseas, technology changed the way things were produced and being an able bodied worker wasn't that valuable anymore, the culture changed and made the US interventionism less acceptable, the Soviet Union fell and no one could pick the mantle of being the greatest US rival, the world became more connected and information kept flowing making the people who were responsible for newer technologies part of the new elite, large cities became both the cultural, monetary and employment centers of the US and also the world and blue collar jobs that used to be well paying became less and less relevant as the world's worker's pool increased.
The world changed and they didn't, now they cast their votes for anyone who'd promise to bring back those years again and they don't care how many people they harm as long as they have the illusion they will get those years again.
Inter arma enim silent leges
Kind of quiet
@Trash Jack: I didn't say you as in you alone should play Captain America. We, collectively, the people who are worried about what Trump plans to do, should play Captain America. One person by themselves may be weak, but a group of a million people working together is strong.
Likely busy writing something.
Public Servant
@Trash Jack: Whether it is for the purpose of opposing a policy, a law, a tyrant or a representative, you do not need to be the best orator or public speaker to serve your state. Being able to speak out for yourself is an important skill that you should practice now and then, but more importantly you should identify those aspects and traits that are best in you at the moment, and employ them in ways you yourself identify so as to serve your fellow citizen.
Start by helping yourself. If you need to see a therapist, do so. Feel no shame if you need one. Find someone or a group of people who can support you. Find someone to talk to, whether it's someone in your family, outside of it or over the internet.
You are not the only one who is or has been in that kind of situation. You are not alone. You carry with you the terrible, great and wonderful burden of aspiring to be a citizen, the highest commitment and cause any individual can have. You have that potential and share it with every one who has posted here, lives in a "rust belt" state, voted for Hillary, Trump or otherwise. Perfection is pursued with very small steps and I guarantee you that you have what it takes to be an excellent citizen and a patriot, which is no more and no less than to love equality itself.
edited 8th Dec '16 4:55:20 PM by germi91
"It is true that we are called a democracy, for the administration is in the hands of the many and not of the few."
Trump is attached to a reality show that nobody watches? Well imagine my shock.
edited 8th Dec '16 5:21:58 PM by animefan1
What? What is this?
Destroyer of Worlds
I believe that's called a conflict of interest and may even be illegal.
NBC literally has Trump, our new president, on their payroll.
Our president is literally an employee of another company.
"You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty."
Oh, bother.
So Trump's administration is going to have TPP supporters in it.
At this rate, I would not be surprised if he decided to go with the TPP after all, or an even worse trade agreement. Hmm, maybe that's part of why he had that phone call with the president of Taiwan...
And as previously mentioned in this thread, Trump's pick for Labor Secretary is a guy who favors slashing minimum wage and overtime pay and increased automation.
It's almost like Trump doesn't actually give a shit about American workers.
edited 8th Dec '16 5:46:41 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Cape Malleum Majorem
Oh, bother.
It'd be kind of funny if he still isn't able to win an Emmy.
Disgusted, but not surprised
If he were to win an emmy(somehow), i'd love to see people flip shit about it.
What? What is this?
My Hair Provides Affordable Healthcare
Me wonders if his phone call with the Taiwanese president had anything to do with it. Her nation actually stands to benefit from the TPP for the matter.
edited 8th Dec '16 5:50:28 PM by FluffyMcChicken
Oh, bother.
Ugh, the possibility of the TPP rising from the grave combined with Trump's promise to get rid of net neutrality means bad things for the Internet.
Disgusted, but not surprised
Destroyer of Worlds
Taiwan: Sign the TPP.
Trump: We are going to agree to the TPP and make it better than ever before.
China: Don't sign the TPP.
Trump: We are not going to sign the TPP because it doesn't take care of our workers. We want to take care of our workers.
Advisors: Sign the TPP.
Trump: The TPP just got ten times better, believe me, folks. We'll be signing it and making America Great Again.
Other advisors: Don't sign the TPP.
Trump: No smart person would sign the TPP and I'm a smart guy. I'm a smart guy.
Schrodinger's candidate, folks.
edited 8th Dec '16 5:57:48 PM by MadSkillz
"You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty."
Oh, bother.
Like a child plucking petals from a flower going "He loves me, he loves me not..."
And if he does go with the TPP, TTIP won't be far behind.
edited 8th Dec '16 6:03:12 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
I wonder how Trump will spin signing the TPP so his supporters don't get mad at him. That was one of his big talking points.
Oh, bother.
Eh, they'll fall in line. Or be distracted by another tweet or "Carrier"-like deal or an attempt to prosecute HRC.
Hey, they were the ones who said we shouldn't take Trump literally.
edited 8th Dec '16 6:08:45 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Trump better hope the economy doesn't tank. If it does then stuff like that is going to give the Democrats a lot of ammo to use against him in the next election.
Oh, bother.
Knowing Trump and his supporters, they'll find a way to blame Obama.
edited 8th Dec '16 6:12:33 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
Maybe. We could have Great Depression 2.0 and you'd still have idiots voting for him because of racist bullshit.
New Survey coming this weekend!
Oh, bother.
It's been mentioned that the wealth gap these days is about as bad as what it was in the late 1920's...
And that auto-lending bubble is looking pretty fragile...
edited 8th Dec '16 6:14:49 PM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprised
I doubt Trump even knows what the word "machismo" means.