Every week on Holy Crap, Shujin talks about how people on Facebook say the darndest things. Yes, I’m keeping it PC for the most part. He’s right though; there are some grade A idiots out there on social media, and sadly I know most of them personally.
One guy actually posted the original commercial for Solar Roadways…remember those? I told him nicely that the idea is nice, but it’s not practical. That didn’t stop him from saying people should work until it is practical, because fossil fuels were toxic and obsolete. I wonder how he’d feel if he found out a large part of what goes into a solar freakin’ roadway is materials based on petrochemical products, or even metals from mining. I stopped short of showing him Thunderf00t’s videos on it, because I really don’t have the time or motivation to get into some flame war with him. I have better things to do with my time.
It’s the same with some of my other friends on Facebook. By the time I’ve seen their posts about Trump or something else, I’ve already heard the other side of the story and have to resist as much as possible to ‘correct’ them. Why do I hesitate? Because I’m tired of screaming at brick walls. I’ve always been tired of screaming at brick walls. There’s no changing their minds at this point, so why try? Why stir up any shit about politics when we both know that we’re going to come away on opposite sides, and we’re going to lose that much more respect toward each other? Maybe Shujin can afford to do that…I can’t.
I told people over and over again that if you’re on the left, then get your shit together and rebuild the DNC. Well, they did, but the caliber of the candidates for 2020 are completely abysmal. They’re a bunch of knee-jerk reactionary identitarians with skin akin to that of a WHISPER THIN SHIT TICKET. Trump is trolling them and instead of seeing it for what it is, they go after it like a fox goes after something shiny. Were I an American, I would honestly be more embarrassed to have one of them in charge than Trump. The Don might be an asshole, but he’s a wise asshole.
Open borders, healthcare for illegal immigrants, abolish border protection while LA and San Francisco suffer from plague, homelessness, and human fecal matter in the streets. Where’s the priorities? What happened to taking care of Americans first? Is beating Trump so important that everything else can wait? People want to tax the rich and use that money to…to…what? Give the descendants of slaves reparations? What then? What happens when that little sum runs out and they come back looking for more? You want to see some money to help with infrastructure? How about cancel your 600 billion fucking dollar defense budget and call your armies home? How about mind your own goddamned business on the world stage and focus on really making America great?
I have no love for the Republicans or Trump. He’s a bloviating blow-hard but he is an effective president. The economy is apparently doing well, and nothing’s blown up yet. However, I think he’s an arrogant prick who’s taken political procedure and wiped his ass with it after eating that taco salad back in 2016. It’s been effective, but it’s also really shone the fluorescent light on the face of the American people. There’s a lot of tribalism, racism, and many other things that are present in American society, and no amount of ‘PC culture’ is going to put that hideous genie back in the bottle.
So how do you beat a populist like Trump? I’m not sure if you can if I’m being honest. At least, not with the rogue’s gallery of screeching mediocrity that is the DNC leadership race. The front-runners have no policy that I can see, except to call everyone a racist or a sexist. The Green New Deal was an identitarian train wreck, since it pushed more radical left ideas than it did anything environmentally conscious. I see no promises to keep the economy going, nor do I see any practical implementation strategies for things like healthcare and education. As someone who relies on the American healthcare system to make a living, this shit’s kind of important.
I wish people would open their eyes more and look…really look…at the world around them. Sure, there are a lot of assholes out there, but there’s good people too. You don’t have to align with them politically, and they in turn don’t have to accept 100% of your ideals. That’s what makes western society great: true diversity. Sex, gender, orientation…none of that should be a barrier to you. You should also have the freedom to express yourself, but also the realization that there are others who will think differently from you. Perhaps you’ll match up 50% on ideas, or maybe lower. Does that make them evil? I don’t think so. In the name of diversity, it seems the far left has only further polarized society, favoring an authoritarian hammer to a sympathetic ear.
I dunno. Maybe I’m just as guilty of my own tribalism as everyone else. I don’t necessarily surround myself with countering opinions, mostly because I find them absurd. Is that because I’m already in my ‘comfort zone?’ Maybe. It could very well be that in my belief that I’m a skeptic, I’ve fallen into my own dogmatic way of thinking and just scream out TIM POOL when someone says something I find absurd. Maybe I should just hang it up then…walk away from all of this and just leave it alone. If I’m no better than those talking heads on Facebook, then what’s the point?
I’m no crusader for facts. I’m not the type to get into discussions about politics because in truth…to be perfectly honest…I don’t care. For 48 years I’ve walked this earth. For 48 years I’ve watched one blowhard after another spew promises and make pretty speeches about how this time it’ll be different…but it never is. Broken promises, scandals, and disaffected people. Every 4 years it’s the same damned story. Each new leader gets blamed for the sins of the old, and the cycle repeats. Discourse about policy and platform is dead now. In its place: mud-slinging at the highest level. Trump holds rallies to keep his base pumped up, rehashing jokes the way a washed up high school football player holds onto his glory days long into his 50’s.
I don’t know what the future holds, but based on what I’ve seen, 2020 is going to be more of the same. Trump will win, people will freak out, and the cycle will begin again.
And I’ll be here, silently cringing as his opponents continue to miss the point and rail against some nothing burger while he goes off and does presidential things.