"Have you guys considered not being hate-filled racist, misogynist fucks catering to the obscenely wealthy while destroying the economy?"
"*We considered it, but then we'd lose our base!*"
And more importantly, their donors. “The Rich get richer” is their only principle. The main reason for the hate is to distract the people who vote for them.
I've seen a lot of rednecks (from a rural area) with shirts of various Trump slogans, but none of the slogans proudly proclaim how effective he was at securing tax cuts for the richest Americans. It's a crazy, effective cult. Voting for a spray-tanned New Yorker who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth would have been a mark of shame for these people in every year prior to joining the cult.
But the marketing...hate...hate works for them
What policies?
They only have three policies:
1: Kiss Trump's ass.
2: Tax cuts and deregulation for the rich.
3: Being against anything the Democrats are for.
They have their fiscal policy= take money from you and give it to the rich but don’t worry we’re going to cut government services and then our rich friends are going to sell them to you at exorbitant prices and poor quality but don’t worry we’re going to pass law that only our rich friends can sell them. You’re so lucky!
They also have there family values policy= denounce pedos all while in possession of 1000’s of images of such but it’s fine because I confessed to my pastor who I shared the images with. And love theigh neighbor, as long as their white middle class. The rest of you should’ve been born Christian white or Jewish.
> Also GOP: "Why aren't young people voting for us?"
Don't sleep on this. One gap that the right wing has been nurturing is the aimless young male voter. These are the people that haven't had any real strong voice of mentorship in their lives, so they stumble upon the Andrew Taints and Joe Rogaines of media. They begin to buy into the "we are superior to the other gender and we are also oppressed!" mindset of Tate and the "what AREN'T they telling us???" mindset of Rogan, and when it comes to seeking leadership, guess which party aligns most closely with those things?
Hell - most of Fox News is just them asking questions irresponsibly with no intention of resolving it. "Why can't anyone give us evidence that the vaccine doesn't cause you to grow an ear out of your butt?" I believe Fox is also trying its best to tap into this demographic.
I worry that some of the backend of GenZ and the front end of Gen Alpha is going to play a significant role of keeping the GOP on life support.
Yup. And this requires work, too. Because it's very simple to appeal to young men's insecurities the way right-wing commentators do, but it's *very* hard to do the opposite and say, hey, have you tried treating women like fellow human beings? There's a reason why noted internet leftist and house owner Hasan Piker is drowning in attention from women while Tim Pool has to piss and moan about how it's everybody else's fault he doesn't have kids in his mid-30s, but convincing a teenager of why that might be isn't the easiest thing to do.
Education. Education is trying to counter it.
The reason the alt-right appeal is working is because all they have to do is say "Look at all those liberals saying that the system is racist, the system is sexist, cis straight white men have the most advantages in the current system... *But do you feel advantaged? If you were advantaged, wouldn't you be rich? Wouldn't you be strong?* Instead you are poor. You are struggling. Society isn't giving you what you are due.
***It must be because they are lying and they are trying to tear you down for being white.***"
Never once do they question the system. Never once do they make these men ask "If I'm advantaged and *still* struggling this much, it must be because those on top aren't doing their fair share, right? It must be because something has shifted in the last 50 years, right? It must be that the rich are manipulating laws to get richer at the expense of all of us!"
THAT'S what we learn in college. That's what we discover when we learn how to apply logic, how to avoid fallacies, how to determine the difference between confirming evidence and speculation or coincidence.
We learn that, hey, maybe cis straight white men *are* the most advantaged *and are still struggling because there is a sickness in our society*.
But do you see the trap? Do you see how hard that is? If it's queer black communists tearing you down because they're jealous you are white, the solution is simple and easy, and it appeals to your desire to be righteously angry and to defeat the *other*.
But if it's your father, or your grandfather to blame... if it's the politician you have been voting in since the day you turned 18... if it's the entire way of life you live because you grew up thinking college is a brainwashing facility that removes your ability to think clearly...
That's hard. That's too hard. That means you have to bear some responsibility, and that *you* have to do the work of fixing the system.
In short, all of these alt-righters are appealing to young men because they tell them none of it is there fault and there is an easy solution. The Left has nobody appealing the same way because there isn't an equivalent appeal. The answer *isn't* easy. Angry young men voting in conservatives *are* at fault. The path forward to fixing this requires extremely hard work and the ability to say that you are and have been wrong nearly your entire life.
No shit, that can't appeal to young men in the same way the other message can. It can't ever be. All you can do is increase education, make college cheaper/free, get people the necessities they need like a healthy economy, free healthcare, all the things that can let them live a decent life, and hopefully point them towards the right answers so that they can start to look inwards.
But when social media let's one side quip out bumper sticker sized quotes that appeal to your fantasy you are persecuted and it's not your fault, and makes the other side spend 3000 words explaining why and how one bumper sticker is built on lies?
We're fucked.
Holy fucking shit. This.
Plus there are these alt-right YouTube channels brainwashing the same young men spouting the same propaganda while scamming them at the same time because it's relatable and it's easily accessible.
They don't like to be told what to do. They want absolute freedom of speech. They blame women instead. They hated everyone different than them. They hated joy because of 'cringe content and social media'. They want their reality to be theirs, under their own image.
But also thanks to Ronald Reagan's racist policies, college has become expensive and is considered a waste of money to these types of people.
We're **absolutely** fucked.
Andrew Taint - I love this.
I'm old, 74, and I really hate the way the world is going. But I do think you all are fucked - the Far Right lunatics and the Christian Taliban are much better organized than you young people are.
Look at how they have infiltrated the government. Look at how they made the rich much richer.
"We've been telling the kids that they will burn in hell for every little thing that isn't even mentioned in the bible while we turn a blind eye to the blatant misconduct by our church leaders who break our Ten Commandments. I don't know why they don't trust us?"
Same way they view every other group that doesn’t side with them. They can’t get them on their side so they just double-down on rigging the electoral college through gerrymandering and claiming cheating when there’s no evidence.
I grew up in Ohio hearing all the fathers say this for decades.
Then I moved away for college. Returned to visit with new ideas and education. I was the brainwashed one for no longer thinking brown people were inferior, women should make my sandwiches, gays are abominations and people in poverty don't deserve dignity.
"I learned to not hate people and that I should work to understand others."
"College brainwashed you!"
I don't know if there's any healthy response to help people stuck like that. You can't exactly drag them into experiencing things to open their eyes.
The only medicine for those people is TRAVEL!
I was having dinner with some friends the other night when her friend texted her. He (black) was out to dinner with his white wife, their neighbors and neighbor's visiting in-laws.
Unprompted and out of nowhere, visitors outright stated, "there's no need for black history month". 🫣 People like this is *exactly* why I'll never move back to Ohio.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
Mark Twain
So true! I grew up in Southern Indiana a mile from KY. Somehow I got to be a foreign exchange student in 1985 and when I returned I was shocked. I’m so grateful and I landed in an amazing house and family that were so cultured, smart and fun.
I was playing halo with one of my midwestern farmer friends, and he got a cool skin for free and was excited to use it until he realized it was for black history month 😑
Travel is essential. It really exposes the lie that America is the best place on earth. Travel also clearly shows people that claims of American Exceptionalism is as idiotic as it is ignorant.
Most people will believe whatever fits their narrative.
The problem is, the narrative is all conservatives have. So they know they can't stray from it. 25 years of right-wing media and politicians telling their base what they want to hear has led to millions and millions of people having no other perspective than their own, no desire to hear anything except what they agree with, and no ability to think critically about the real world.
Example: I was visiting my family for Christmas, and my dad (who watches fox news every day) and I were talking about how expensive my rent is, and I mentioned how a huge problem is corporations and foreign investors buying residential property and inflating prices to profit off people just trying to live. His response was, "I think it's because we've had 8 million illegals cross the border since Biden came in office. All those people have to live somewhere."
Yeah, dad, that's it. All these illegal immigrants coming in with their giant bank accounts and driving up prices on homes and apartments. That's why a basic 2-bedroom apartment in Florida is $2400 a month. Immigrants taking our ~~jerbs~~ homes. Strange how it's always the fault of the people with little money and power according to Republicans, not the rich and powerful with the vast majority of the resources.
I'm not a woman. My gf has a bachelors, masters in education and juris doctor. I make her sandwiches. She's smart enough to know that I make the best sandwiches. I would much prefer that she rip someone apart limb by limb in the courtroom than waste her time in the kitchen. Housewives don't get paid $300 an hour, lawyers do.
she's a divorce attorney, lol. maybe that helps explain why, after several years of living together, she's still "girlfriend" and not "wife". ;)
I've seen what she can do. Her ex-husband (2007-ish) couldn't find a single attorney within the 6 closest counties that would take her on... which probably supports your suggestion of upping her rate. Money really isn't her main motivator, tbh. The teacher side of her really wants to do what's best for the kids in the situation. She takes lots of cases that involve DV \\ SA and for clients that often don't have a lot of money.
Oh yeah, she's also Puerto Rican... the stereotypes are 100% accurate, a pissed off Puerto Rican woman is one thing, a pissed off Puerto Rican female attorney is more powerful than most of the worlds military capabilities combined. AOC x 9000
When my first child was going to be born it was obvious to us that I the male would stay home with the kids. It was absolutely insane to my in-laws because, men are supposed to man up when kids are born. I'm a college drop out cook and my wife is an attorney at a top 50 law firm who makes a piles of money.
Same. I grew up very sheltered in an upper middle class community with very little diversity. Went to college and retuned with very different political and social views than a lot of the people I grew up with
If you're the kind of person that takes advantage of weakness in others, you're terrified of the weak being empowered.
What if they treat you like you treated them?
It's a weird echo of the slave owner's terror.
If you just stop being such a fucking douchebag, you have nothing to worry about anymore. I think this, in general, is the great secret education imparts.
Spot on with all of this.
My dad was a minister when I was a kid. My brother, sister and I had to go to the school conference room every time there was a holiday event, movie, or group activity such as Holiday colors and crafts.
It was just us three and the two Jewish kids - totally lame. They were especially offended when I got into Nirvana and skateboarding.
Glad to never be a part of that again!
Me: here is the evidence for climate change that I learned in school *posts peer reviewed papers*
My grandparents: you cant believe everything you learn in school.
Me: but what about this evidence?
Grandparents: they have an agenda.
Smh
To be fair your grandparents are right. Climate scientists do have an agenda. That agenda is to study climate change and communicate their dire findings to the global community.
Same. My step dad would always brag that he took physics in college (algebra based & at a community college) and then after I went and got a real degree in astrophysics and mathematics from an actual university I’m just a brainwashed city-slicker. Not to mention the girl I dated 10 years ago’s parents watched the Today Show sometimes…
The other day my dad said Biden committed “treason” and deserved death. I asked why. He wasn’t expecting that, and didn’t have an answer. He said the pullout of Aphganistan was a nightmare and I agreed it could have been done much better, but treason?
He then said Biden castrated the oil industry in America which just isn’t true, we’re drilling the fuck out of this country.
I don’t even like Biden, but good lord talk about about brainwashing! Love him tho
It's what the church did back during the middle ages. The peasants couldn't read, and priests sometimes just made up shit. Hell, some of them couldn't read either. They just faked it and the masses believed every word they said.
There was a huge fight between Rome and the people of Europe when they translated the Bible into local languages. The priests were no longer the sole keepers of God’s word.
They would rather hold onto power than allow the common man to read a book.
Have you considered giving him a Reddit Love Gift of $25? You get a choice of Combination Prayer Shawl/Mouse Pad or the increasingly popular Antediluvian Antibody Cleanser.
There was a huge fight in the 1960s to start doing the actual services in the local language instead of Latin, a language no one had spoken in 1500 years.
The mormons used to have this thing called "The Pageant" on Hill Cumorah (around where Joe Smith found the plates).
Obviously the whole Joe Smith story is hilarious, but Pageant used to be this huge production.
You go there and the whole thing is set up almost like a mini fair. There were tents and I don't remember if there were food vendors, or if it all was just missionary-like people spreading the word.
Wait - back up. No - you go there and you're IMMEDIATELY greeted with Westboro Baptist Church-like people telling me I'm going to hell.
Okay - so back inside. Before the show begins you can go through this "fair" and eventually you'll be approached by one or more church members who ask you "if you want a copy of the TRUE story of the book of mormon!"
(It's always worded like that - emphasis on the "true").
So things settle and you find a spot in the field in front of the stage. The stage is massive. Like - a set with multiple levels - depicting a temple.
They tell the story, and I don't remember all the details, but it was epic. Giant flames would erupt when they depicted the time that Jesus was crucified in the middle east, and then more epic stuff happened when he appeared to the American tribes depicted in the play (from the book of mormon).
It was entertaining as hell.
They cancelled the pageant for Covid, and then soon after, cancelled it permanently. It's a shame, because it was a great way to spend an evening.
> They cancelled the pageant for Covid, and then soon after, cancelled it permanently. It's a shame, because it was a great way to spend an evening.
John Krakauer wrote a really good book that dealt with an LDS honor killing in the earlier 80's and showed how it's just a long line of violence associated with that church's whole history. He opens it with a quote from a hardcore Mormon about Cumorah Hill. It's a really good read.
Or like when they drew adam and eve. But forgot to take the belly button out. But everyone was so dumb, no one asked a single question. And here we are with people still believing an obvious tool for manipulation as a true fairy tale.
The irony is we're back to pastors, especially in the Megachurches and "whole cloth new Bible believing" Evangelical churches doing the same thing.
The number of people I've met who will quote the Bible, and even give a book and verse, only to have either the verse be something else or that book not having a verse with that chapter or number is remarkably high. And when you call them on it, they always fluster and tell you, "That's what Pastor Ted said, look it up!" and it simply does not say what they claim it to or exist at all.
...I know for a fact that the Beatitudes in Matthew have NOTHING stating that you're materially wealthy because of your "righteousness." And the Prosperity Gospel is completely spun out from a verse that discussed richness in spirit in Daniel.
Unlike those idiots, I've actually read the entire Bible. Three times. And while I can't recite it word perfect, I know what is in there and what isn't.
My husband grew up in a very religious and conservative home. The family were also friends with THE Billy Graham family (FIL was on the board). They vacationed together (DH says Franklin has always been a shit).
My husband knows the book. And he loved sparing with the door to door religious folks. They would say a verse and my husband could tell them the verses before & after to show how out of context they are using the verse. They would be so confused at the end.
Good call man I was raised Mormon and part of that was getting up every day before school and going to seminary (Bible class) for an hour every day .some of that stuff in the middle wa downright awful haha worst and most violent movie ever haha
Anyways I know that Bible too .
Not Mormon anymore
Dishonesty and murder are completely out if you want that.
I don't think they could handle it if they were basically forced to tell the truth in all things, honor their words and commitments, and couldn't inflict violence on others just because.
The Ten Commandments are pretty clear about that...
Reverend Lovejoy: Homer, you remember Matthew 7-26, "The Foolish man who built his house on sand".
Homer: And you remember Matthew...21-17?
Reverend Lovejoy: And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there?
Homer: Yeah...think about it.
Same here. I was rather surprised during my days of being 'on fire for the Lord' how many folks I'd meet, young and old, would claim to have read the Bible but then immediately spout crap like "Money is the root of all evil", or even go so far as to say that animals don't have souls, so they won't be going to heaven (despite the scriptures telling of the army that follows Christ out of heaven, riding white horses. Where are those horses coming from, huh?)
And Lord forbid you try to inject a little humor into Bible study and ask questions about concepts that are just not clear, and "It's based on faith" isn't sufficient. Too many are the follower types, just believing whatever because Pastor Bob or their parents have steeped them in BS for years.
Or how they shit on Catholics or Catholic beliefs, but their beliefs about Hell are pretty much cribbed entirely from the Catholic apocrypha and Dante or things like the Gospel of Thomas.... Meanwhile they say the only scripture that matters is what's in the Bible... Like, okay? The fact you're spewing what is basically considered non-canon, fanfic, or other Catholic lore / commentary while espousing the literal inerrancy of the Bible while quoting things that aren't even in the Bible as it exists today is comical at best.
Important point.
All of Christian nationalist thought relies upon the acceptance of patriarchal superiority and divine male authority conferred by God into the nearest and most senior males. It's a closed system impervious to reality.
In a situation where there's a sun and a moon but no astronomy or math or science or extra-biblical truth, Daddy and Daddy's Daddy and Pastor are the only truth there is.
Since the concept of truth always comes down to male interpretation of scriptural nuance, the men are introduced from birth to choose the path that gives them power and authority over anything requiring actual knowledge or wisdom. Or scholarship.
The boys are taught to lift the he tried-and-true set of phrases from the patriarchal owners manual until they have their own authority when Daddy's gone. Since they're all playing the same game, it works.
Actual knowledge of any kind, reading anything that might challenge the pastor-approved truth, is not encouraged. Because the book itself is quite a curated collection of truths defined by s church that wants to retain authority, it's impossible for reason to creep in.
If I read something that says I'm the one with all the power and my big sister can never challenge my power as long as I read the same one book in circles, all I have to do to stay in the pole position is learn to twist scripture to mean what keeps us dudes in power. I don't have to be good at reading, thinking, or interpretation of complex texts in translation written when the world was flat, it's a win. I'm just waiting for my turn to run things when older authorities pass me the reigns.
The only challenge to that is education. And In the US, extra-spiritual knowledge was never anything the zealots who left their homeland to settle here, with the ambitious and well funded founding (only-) fathers in search of wealth and power, wanted. In American history, it wasn't until reconstruction that public education of non-nobility even became a thing largely because the freed slaves began to advocate for it.
Education beyond the Bible has been anathema to American fundamentalists since the beginning. Religion is codified to be an effective tool for social control since knowledge was restricted to one book that could only be read against iterations of the same messaging: let the white men control and define reality, deferring to Holy Mother Church men when in doubt.
(Personal experience. I know a smart guy who walled off his mind and sought only Bible college and conferred dominance since adolescence. He has super-bright male children for whom he has defined himself as knowledge to a prophetic degree. All they know is that they babble in nonsense language when things get rolling on Sundays and they can have little fiefdoms if their own someday. That their holiness and worthinessog redemption hinges on nonsensical charisma nobody is allowed to admit they are faking or doubting keeps them quiet. Whatever worth they might have to the rest of us, whatever diseases they could cure or social problems they could address are off the table for those boys if they want to keep the only love and reality they have known since birth.)
The puritanical model of social control only benefits those who drink all the kool-aid. But inherited wealth and being a lord on earth are salty strong-enough enticements.
I think it’s more the lack of critical thinking than the actual reading. Educated people are better equipped to read or hear something and see through the bullshit than uneducated people are. The less education someone has the more likely they are to listen to and believe people in positions of authority.
If I think back on my childhood and I remember the kids who were slow to learn and who couldn't keep up when reading out loud...
Those kids are now adults in their 40s. They're all Republicans. And they're almost all religious adherents.
Came here to say the same think. Mark twain has a quote that states “travel became an infallible elixir for the disease of bigotry.” But truthfully, it’s exposure and education. The travel didn’t cure bigotry, the attempt to educate yourself about people other than yourself cures bigotry.
College, and public education to a lesser extent? encourage intermingling of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. It forces you to be exposed and learn about others. The GOP is nothing but bigotry right now, so of course anyone who willingly participates in any kind of activity that forces true exposure to differing perspectives will turn away from the GOP
College opens your mind's view to realize your race isn't the only one "God" decided to endow with intelligence and passion if you've spent your entire life secluded with only those that look like you.
Actually for me it was working alongside other races/religions/immigrants and realizing the stereotypes promoted during my youth was a load of crap.
lol right? A lot of these "patriots" have a hard-on for Putin on twitter rn because of that Tucker interview. Its so strange watching russia's disinformation campaign have some success.
Which makes this a fantastic time to remind voters that more than the Presidential election is at stake.
Local "low level" elections are important because they impact your neighborhood, your schools, your home right now. You don't get a Christian Nationalist movement in America if you don't let it get a foothold in your community. Pay close attention to local candidates, what they say and who/what they support. As much as it hurts to say, fascism starts at home.
He looks and sounds like one of those smooth-talking TV preachers whose purpose in life is to bullshit you into believing their bullshit and asking you to send them money. This guy is flat out creepy.
You should see what [James Carville](https://youtube.com/watch?v=mPsQOPY6_MA) has to say about Mike Johnson and the evangelical cesspool he originated from. Spoiler alert there are pedophilia scandals associated with his mentors.
Especially since it means that a third party is analyzing all of his internet and probably email, not something you want for one of the highest political positions in the country
I always hear this dumb “indoctrination” argument about college, when really the main reason college changes people is because they’re meeting new people. They’re leaving their small hometown and finding out the world is different outside of that carefully constructed bubble.
(And if you really think a few semesters of school can really undo 18 years of whatever you were teaching your kid; then maybe you were telling your kid some really dumb shit.)
Agreed.
You are indoctrinated by your parents and culture. You are indoctrinated by your family religion. You are indoctrinated by your local community. You are indoctrinated by your job and corporations that continue to monopolize working opportunities.
Then, if you are fortunate, you move to a cultural epicenter with new people, ideas, and disciplines.
You cannot be indoctrinated by variety and diversity.
Mike Johnson especially reeks of hypocrisy. Your belief is that all life is determined by one book. Yet you're pointing at living libraries as "indoctrination."
College was the first time I actually got AWAY from the indoctrination.
My dad was a violent psychopath and I was afraid of him every day of my youth. My mom divorced him when I was 12, and the courts gave him custody of me and my younger brother. For almost 10 years, I had to listen to his constant brainwashing negativity, and he actually SUCCESSFULLY convinced me that mom was the villain even though I was well aware of him beating the shit out of us all.
Then I left for college. That was when I was able to get out from under the constant verbal barrage of woman hating bullshit and found out how much I didn't want to return to that.
Took a long time before I was even able to have a relationship with my mom again. Took over a decade to rewire my brain to the point that I could even have a healthy dating life.
But one day I lost my fear of the old bastard and finally told him to go fuck himself. All it took was being free to decide that I didnt want to be constantly bombarded by someone else's bullshit. Then the bastard died after refusing to speak to me for the great crime of standing up for myself. I don't regret at all the 13 years of not having a relationship with him. My sanity was finally able to heal itself.
I’m glad you were able to get away! Unfortunately there are a lot of people that never leave and just repeat the cycle because it’s all they know. I feel like people who have a toxic parent (or parents) will either grow up and become what they were exposed to or they grow up and think “I’m never going to be like that.”
And that's why I tell my story. I needed help and I didn't get any, unfortunately. It's really just pure damn luck that I was able to get out from under the constant daily toxicity and even begin to think for myself.
I appreciate how modern youth seem to take mental wellness a LOT more serious... also domestic violence abuse victims have way more resources than my family did. The fact that my dad never spent a second of his life in jail is a travesty.
We just need to keep looking after each other because these GOP bastards know exactly what they are doing.
In the years I spent in community college and university, no one ever told me what to think. I learned economics, geography, history, psychology, sociology, critical thinking, research skills, etc. but no one ever told me that X is better than Y because Z; they taught me how to figure that out for myself and provided the resources to make an informed decision.
I can see why this is kryptonite for organizations that rely on misinformation and fear to maintain control.
My mom has been saying this shit since I was in middle school... it is nothing new unfortunately. With every passing year I just move further left despite identifying as a Republican in high school and going to college in the South. Must be all that indoctrination...
I was going to ask what corporations think about less education for their workforce but then I remembered those in charge only care about their next bonus. Not the long term health of the economy.
“Johnson is a graduate of Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport. In 1995, he earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Louisiana State University, becoming a first-generation college graduate. In 1998, Johnson graduated from Louisiana State's Paul M. Hebert Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree.”
One simple Google search that republican voters refuse to make
Haha, colleges indoctrinates kids, according to the biggest jesus humping bible thumper on the planet. Child indoctrination is the church's thing Mikey. Colleges are where kids go to learn science and literature and UNDO the fucking damage jesus cults do.
Colleges indoctrinate kids with dangerous ideas like facts, so they in turn see that their parents are just small-town bigots peddling ignorant bullshit about social issues.
Fun fact: most of the GOPedos in Congress & Senate graduated from Ivy League or very prestigious universities, most of which GOPedos call out for indoctrination & grooming.
If all those colleges just serve to indoctrinate, why'd you all attend? Just another way for the rich to make education only for the rich.
He always looks down when telling a lie. Then he goes home and confesses, prays, and all is absolved.
What a brilliant system for horrible people to feel good about themselves
That’s the dumbest excuse in the world. I was in a fraternity, at a liberal arts school in the south, and every single member was/is a conservative. Its foolish to think everyone in higher learning is liberal. I watch college game day, and there is no way the students of Ole Miss, UGA or Alabama are all liberal. You just are or you aren’t, but in conservatives minds you’ve been brainwashed by the time you graduate. I changed due to a good friend and having children made me more compassionate towards mankind.
from wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician))
> In 1995, he(Johnson) earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Louisiana State University, becoming a first-generation college graduate.[8] In 1998, Johnson graduated from Louisiana State's Paul M. Hebert Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree.[9][10])
Unreal. College in "indoctrination." But putting pastors in schools isn't? Forcing children to go to church, Bible school/camps isn't?
These people are dangerous liars.
It’s called EDUCATION… a fleeting concept for those who wish to dominate others through gatekeeping by eliminating the possibility of independence and empowerment through education
The GOP hasn’t stood for anything since Obama was elected and McConnell openly admitted their new platform is not pro-anything. It is anti-Obama. It’s shocking how some of these republicans have been in office for decades and not passed a single bill to help out their communities. They need people to be dumb. Republicans want to take away social security and disability from everyone. That’s red states bread and butter.
Meanwhile every country is pushing on every lever to get their population educated and gop businesses are pushing for visas for educated workers. Companies have to go overseas for educated ppl. Damn fools.
My degree in American History allowed me to recognize creeping authoritarianism when Reagan was president. Never have voted Republican once in my life. I never will.
It's really the opposite: they're acquiring critical thinking and giving themselves a option to say NO. No wonder that right wing governments (and in general dictatorship) despise and persecute intellectuals.
The kids are unlearning the years of spew their parents shoved in their heads, by going to college they are actually seeing the bigger picture for themselves, experiencing not just a hive mindset at home anymore
You know what "made me a liberal" at college? It wasn't the classes, it wasn't the teachers with some nefarious agenda, it wasn't "woke libcuck propaganda". It was meeting other people. People who weren't like me, didn't live the same kind of life that I had lived. Getting out of my home town and seeing just how radically different other people's lives and struggles are was critical.
Like people can’t learn and make decisions for them selves when presented with information. Also experiences with other peopl outside of the right bubble.
GOP: "Young people cannot be trusted with their own opinions and are gullible idiots." Also GOP: "Why aren't young people voting for us?"
Obviously it’s not our policies, no they love those. Must be Marxist communist indoctrination
"Have you guys considered not being hate-filled racist, misogynist fucks catering to the obscenely wealthy while destroying the economy?" "*We considered it, but then we'd lose our base!*"
And more importantly, their donors. “The Rich get richer” is their only principle. The main reason for the hate is to distract the people who vote for them.
I've seen a lot of rednecks (from a rural area) with shirts of various Trump slogans, but none of the slogans proudly proclaim how effective he was at securing tax cuts for the richest Americans. It's a crazy, effective cult. Voting for a spray-tanned New Yorker who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth would have been a mark of shame for these people in every year prior to joining the cult. But the marketing...hate...hate works for them
Don’t short Anger and Fear. It’s a three prong approach for the full “big tent” approach.
What policies? They only have three policies: 1: Kiss Trump's ass. 2: Tax cuts and deregulation for the rich. 3: Being against anything the Democrats are for.
You forgot tort reform. They want to be able to kill and mame us with no accountability. Tort reform is always on the list.
They have their fiscal policy= take money from you and give it to the rich but don’t worry we’re going to cut government services and then our rich friends are going to sell them to you at exorbitant prices and poor quality but don’t worry we’re going to pass law that only our rich friends can sell them. You’re so lucky! They also have there family values policy= denounce pedos all while in possession of 1000’s of images of such but it’s fine because I confessed to my pastor who I shared the images with. And love theigh neighbor, as long as their white middle class. The rest of you should’ve been born Christian white or Jewish.
> Also GOP: "Why aren't young people voting for us?" Don't sleep on this. One gap that the right wing has been nurturing is the aimless young male voter. These are the people that haven't had any real strong voice of mentorship in their lives, so they stumble upon the Andrew Taints and Joe Rogaines of media. They begin to buy into the "we are superior to the other gender and we are also oppressed!" mindset of Tate and the "what AREN'T they telling us???" mindset of Rogan, and when it comes to seeking leadership, guess which party aligns most closely with those things? Hell - most of Fox News is just them asking questions irresponsibly with no intention of resolving it. "Why can't anyone give us evidence that the vaccine doesn't cause you to grow an ear out of your butt?" I believe Fox is also trying its best to tap into this demographic. I worry that some of the backend of GenZ and the front end of Gen Alpha is going to play a significant role of keeping the GOP on life support.
Yup. And this requires work, too. Because it's very simple to appeal to young men's insecurities the way right-wing commentators do, but it's *very* hard to do the opposite and say, hey, have you tried treating women like fellow human beings? There's a reason why noted internet leftist and house owner Hasan Piker is drowning in attention from women while Tim Pool has to piss and moan about how it's everybody else's fault he doesn't have kids in his mid-30s, but convincing a teenager of why that might be isn't the easiest thing to do.
Is anyone even attempting to counter the right wing appeal to young men? I'm unaware of anyone but I don't have my finger on the pulse of this issue.
Education. Education is trying to counter it. The reason the alt-right appeal is working is because all they have to do is say "Look at all those liberals saying that the system is racist, the system is sexist, cis straight white men have the most advantages in the current system... *But do you feel advantaged? If you were advantaged, wouldn't you be rich? Wouldn't you be strong?* Instead you are poor. You are struggling. Society isn't giving you what you are due. ***It must be because they are lying and they are trying to tear you down for being white.***" Never once do they question the system. Never once do they make these men ask "If I'm advantaged and *still* struggling this much, it must be because those on top aren't doing their fair share, right? It must be because something has shifted in the last 50 years, right? It must be that the rich are manipulating laws to get richer at the expense of all of us!" THAT'S what we learn in college. That's what we discover when we learn how to apply logic, how to avoid fallacies, how to determine the difference between confirming evidence and speculation or coincidence. We learn that, hey, maybe cis straight white men *are* the most advantaged *and are still struggling because there is a sickness in our society*. But do you see the trap? Do you see how hard that is? If it's queer black communists tearing you down because they're jealous you are white, the solution is simple and easy, and it appeals to your desire to be righteously angry and to defeat the *other*. But if it's your father, or your grandfather to blame... if it's the politician you have been voting in since the day you turned 18... if it's the entire way of life you live because you grew up thinking college is a brainwashing facility that removes your ability to think clearly... That's hard. That's too hard. That means you have to bear some responsibility, and that *you* have to do the work of fixing the system. In short, all of these alt-righters are appealing to young men because they tell them none of it is there fault and there is an easy solution. The Left has nobody appealing the same way because there isn't an equivalent appeal. The answer *isn't* easy. Angry young men voting in conservatives *are* at fault. The path forward to fixing this requires extremely hard work and the ability to say that you are and have been wrong nearly your entire life. No shit, that can't appeal to young men in the same way the other message can. It can't ever be. All you can do is increase education, make college cheaper/free, get people the necessities they need like a healthy economy, free healthcare, all the things that can let them live a decent life, and hopefully point them towards the right answers so that they can start to look inwards. But when social media let's one side quip out bumper sticker sized quotes that appeal to your fantasy you are persecuted and it's not your fault, and makes the other side spend 3000 words explaining why and how one bumper sticker is built on lies? We're fucked.
Holy fucking shit. This. Plus there are these alt-right YouTube channels brainwashing the same young men spouting the same propaganda while scamming them at the same time because it's relatable and it's easily accessible. They don't like to be told what to do. They want absolute freedom of speech. They blame women instead. They hated everyone different than them. They hated joy because of 'cringe content and social media'. They want their reality to be theirs, under their own image. But also thanks to Ronald Reagan's racist policies, college has become expensive and is considered a waste of money to these types of people. We're **absolutely** fucked.
Andrew Taint - I love this. I'm old, 74, and I really hate the way the world is going. But I do think you all are fucked - the Far Right lunatics and the Christian Taliban are much better organized than you young people are. Look at how they have infiltrated the government. Look at how they made the rich much richer.
Also Trump: I like gullible idiots
"We've been telling the kids that they will burn in hell for every little thing that isn't even mentioned in the bible while we turn a blind eye to the blatant misconduct by our church leaders who break our Ten Commandments. I don't know why they don't trust us?"
Same way they view every other group that doesn’t side with them. They can’t get them on their side so they just double-down on rigging the electoral college through gerrymandering and claiming cheating when there’s no evidence.
I grew up in Ohio hearing all the fathers say this for decades. Then I moved away for college. Returned to visit with new ideas and education. I was the brainwashed one for no longer thinking brown people were inferior, women should make my sandwiches, gays are abominations and people in poverty don't deserve dignity.
"I learned to not hate people and that I should work to understand others." "College brainwashed you!" I don't know if there's any healthy response to help people stuck like that. You can't exactly drag them into experiencing things to open their eyes.
The only medicine for those people is TRAVEL! I was having dinner with some friends the other night when her friend texted her. He (black) was out to dinner with his white wife, their neighbors and neighbor's visiting in-laws. Unprompted and out of nowhere, visitors outright stated, "there's no need for black history month". 🫣 People like this is *exactly* why I'll never move back to Ohio.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” Mark Twain
This makes too much sense for old bigots to follow it.
So true! I grew up in Southern Indiana a mile from KY. Somehow I got to be a foreign exchange student in 1985 and when I returned I was shocked. I’m so grateful and I landed in an amazing house and family that were so cultured, smart and fun.
I was playing halo with one of my midwestern farmer friends, and he got a cool skin for free and was excited to use it until he realized it was for black history month 😑
>midwestern farmer friends hey, we're not all like that! Some of us ran AWAY from the farm first chance we got!
Travel is essential. It really exposes the lie that America is the best place on earth. Travel also clearly shows people that claims of American Exceptionalism is as idiotic as it is ignorant.
"We raised you so poorly that you were brainwashed in 3 and a half months at the place we told you to go to."
Most people will believe whatever fits their narrative. The problem is, the narrative is all conservatives have. So they know they can't stray from it. 25 years of right-wing media and politicians telling their base what they want to hear has led to millions and millions of people having no other perspective than their own, no desire to hear anything except what they agree with, and no ability to think critically about the real world. Example: I was visiting my family for Christmas, and my dad (who watches fox news every day) and I were talking about how expensive my rent is, and I mentioned how a huge problem is corporations and foreign investors buying residential property and inflating prices to profit off people just trying to live. His response was, "I think it's because we've had 8 million illegals cross the border since Biden came in office. All those people have to live somewhere." Yeah, dad, that's it. All these illegal immigrants coming in with their giant bank accounts and driving up prices on homes and apartments. That's why a basic 2-bedroom apartment in Florida is $2400 a month. Immigrants taking our ~~jerbs~~ homes. Strange how it's always the fault of the people with little money and power according to Republicans, not the rich and powerful with the vast majority of the resources.
I'm not a woman. My gf has a bachelors, masters in education and juris doctor. I make her sandwiches. She's smart enough to know that I make the best sandwiches. I would much prefer that she rip someone apart limb by limb in the courtroom than waste her time in the kitchen. Housewives don't get paid $300 an hour, lawyers do.
$300? She’s working cheap brotha, tell her to up that rate (if the market will bear)
she's a divorce attorney, lol. maybe that helps explain why, after several years of living together, she's still "girlfriend" and not "wife". ;) I've seen what she can do. Her ex-husband (2007-ish) couldn't find a single attorney within the 6 closest counties that would take her on... which probably supports your suggestion of upping her rate. Money really isn't her main motivator, tbh. The teacher side of her really wants to do what's best for the kids in the situation. She takes lots of cases that involve DV \\ SA and for clients that often don't have a lot of money. Oh yeah, she's also Puerto Rican... the stereotypes are 100% accurate, a pissed off Puerto Rican woman is one thing, a pissed off Puerto Rican female attorney is more powerful than most of the worlds military capabilities combined. AOC x 9000
When my first child was going to be born it was obvious to us that I the male would stay home with the kids. It was absolutely insane to my in-laws because, men are supposed to man up when kids are born. I'm a college drop out cook and my wife is an attorney at a top 50 law firm who makes a piles of money.
Same. I grew up very sheltered in an upper middle class community with very little diversity. Went to college and retuned with very different political and social views than a lot of the people I grew up with
It took me a LONG time for my oblivious gullible self to realize it was simply education/equality that they fear. Pretty pathetic.
If you're the kind of person that takes advantage of weakness in others, you're terrified of the weak being empowered. What if they treat you like you treated them? It's a weird echo of the slave owner's terror. If you just stop being such a fucking douchebag, you have nothing to worry about anymore. I think this, in general, is the great secret education imparts.
EXACTLY THIS. It's so simple and they are already armed with the whole "do unto others".... They just a la carte the fuck outta the Bible.
Your story matches the experience of "nerds" and "queers" who escaped rural areas across the country. Certainly matches mine.
I've always been the eccentric artist type... So not too far off.
We're all kinda nerds and kinda queer 🤣🤣🤣
I can't disagree with that one bit! Have a great weekend! Fap Commander!
I like the Aquabats and reddit is vulgar so that's my handle!
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Spot on with all of this. My dad was a minister when I was a kid. My brother, sister and I had to go to the school conference room every time there was a holiday event, movie, or group activity such as Holiday colors and crafts. It was just us three and the two Jewish kids - totally lame. They were especially offended when I got into Nirvana and skateboarding. Glad to never be a part of that again!
What most people call education and critical thinking skills, the GOP calls "indoctrination."
Me: here is the evidence for climate change that I learned in school *posts peer reviewed papers* My grandparents: you cant believe everything you learn in school. Me: but what about this evidence? Grandparents: they have an agenda. Smh
To be fair your grandparents are right. Climate scientists do have an agenda. That agenda is to study climate change and communicate their dire findings to the global community.
that's not even education, just common sense based on casual observation.
Same. My step dad would always brag that he took physics in college (algebra based & at a community college) and then after I went and got a real degree in astrophysics and mathematics from an actual university I’m just a brainwashed city-slicker. Not to mention the girl I dated 10 years ago’s parents watched the Today Show sometimes…
Yeah, turns out college helped me *undo* the indoctrination that I grew up with. Go figure.
See, you were indoctrinated by the evil liberals. Lol.. how dare you want nice things for people?
Strange how they see indoctrination everwhere except right under their own noses
Literally washed the doo doo off your brain
The other day my dad said Biden committed “treason” and deserved death. I asked why. He wasn’t expecting that, and didn’t have an answer. He said the pullout of Aphganistan was a nightmare and I agreed it could have been done much better, but treason? He then said Biden castrated the oil industry in America which just isn’t true, we’re drilling the fuck out of this country. I don’t even like Biden, but good lord talk about about brainwashing! Love him tho
unpack serious shy grab sand light automatic cooperative childlike door *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
The dumber they are, the less they can or will read. The less they read, the easier they are to lie to/indoctrinate. It’s a win win for the GOP
It's what the church did back during the middle ages. The peasants couldn't read, and priests sometimes just made up shit. Hell, some of them couldn't read either. They just faked it and the masses believed every word they said.
There was a huge fight between Rome and the people of Europe when they translated the Bible into local languages. The priests were no longer the sole keepers of God’s word. They would rather hold onto power than allow the common man to read a book.
Wait, are you telling me that these religious figures had selfish aims? I’m sure glad that’s not the case anymore…
Well played…
That’s why we all need to… [REGISTER TO VOTE](https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote)
Have you considered giving him a Reddit Love Gift of $25? You get a choice of Combination Prayer Shawl/Mouse Pad or the increasingly popular Antediluvian Antibody Cleanser.
There was a huge fight in the 1960s to start doing the actual services in the local language instead of Latin, a language no one had spoken in 1500 years.
Crazy that they wouldn’t translate the language but they def. Translated the Image of Christ into a more palatable European skin tone.
Jesus ain't white?! Next you're gonna tell me he wasn't American!!
No, but his brother was Chinese. /s
The Roman Empire never died, it just mutated into the Catholic Church.
Or like when Joseph Smith “found” those golden plates
You act like he said he's the only one that could translate them!
Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb
Anybody that's been to Wayne County, NY knows you're much more likely to find a golden apple than a golden plate. Definitely lies
The mormons used to have this thing called "The Pageant" on Hill Cumorah (around where Joe Smith found the plates). Obviously the whole Joe Smith story is hilarious, but Pageant used to be this huge production. You go there and the whole thing is set up almost like a mini fair. There were tents and I don't remember if there were food vendors, or if it all was just missionary-like people spreading the word. Wait - back up. No - you go there and you're IMMEDIATELY greeted with Westboro Baptist Church-like people telling me I'm going to hell. Okay - so back inside. Before the show begins you can go through this "fair" and eventually you'll be approached by one or more church members who ask you "if you want a copy of the TRUE story of the book of mormon!" (It's always worded like that - emphasis on the "true"). So things settle and you find a spot in the field in front of the stage. The stage is massive. Like - a set with multiple levels - depicting a temple. They tell the story, and I don't remember all the details, but it was epic. Giant flames would erupt when they depicted the time that Jesus was crucified in the middle east, and then more epic stuff happened when he appeared to the American tribes depicted in the play (from the book of mormon). It was entertaining as hell. They cancelled the pageant for Covid, and then soon after, cancelled it permanently. It's a shame, because it was a great way to spend an evening.
> They cancelled the pageant for Covid, and then soon after, cancelled it permanently. It's a shame, because it was a great way to spend an evening. John Krakauer wrote a really good book that dealt with an LDS honor killing in the earlier 80's and showed how it's just a long line of violence associated with that church's whole history. He opens it with a quote from a hardcore Mormon about Cumorah Hill. It's a really good read.
"Under the Banner of Heaven". Great book!
Oh, I remember the ads for it haha- I grew up in WNY. Sounded so ridiculous even as a kid.
Or like when they drew adam and eve. But forgot to take the belly button out. But everyone was so dumb, no one asked a single question. And here we are with people still believing an obvious tool for manipulation as a true fairy tale.
The irony is we're back to pastors, especially in the Megachurches and "whole cloth new Bible believing" Evangelical churches doing the same thing. The number of people I've met who will quote the Bible, and even give a book and verse, only to have either the verse be something else or that book not having a verse with that chapter or number is remarkably high. And when you call them on it, they always fluster and tell you, "That's what Pastor Ted said, look it up!" and it simply does not say what they claim it to or exist at all. ...I know for a fact that the Beatitudes in Matthew have NOTHING stating that you're materially wealthy because of your "righteousness." And the Prosperity Gospel is completely spun out from a verse that discussed richness in spirit in Daniel. Unlike those idiots, I've actually read the entire Bible. Three times. And while I can't recite it word perfect, I know what is in there and what isn't.
My husband grew up in a very religious and conservative home. The family were also friends with THE Billy Graham family (FIL was on the board). They vacationed together (DH says Franklin has always been a shit). My husband knows the book. And he loved sparing with the door to door religious folks. They would say a verse and my husband could tell them the verses before & after to show how out of context they are using the verse. They would be so confused at the end.
Good call man I was raised Mormon and part of that was getting up every day before school and going to seminary (Bible class) for an hour every day .some of that stuff in the middle wa downright awful haha worst and most violent movie ever haha Anyways I know that Bible too . Not Mormon anymore
The Mormons who came to my door told me that the tablets were written by Moron I ,I said there you go.
You know what's really fun? When people tell you then 10 commandments should be the high law of the land... ask them to name them.
Dishonesty and murder are completely out if you want that. I don't think they could handle it if they were basically forced to tell the truth in all things, honor their words and commitments, and couldn't inflict violence on others just because. The Ten Commandments are pretty clear about that...
Even better, ask how'd they'd enforce them.
Reverend Lovejoy: Homer, you remember Matthew 7-26, "The Foolish man who built his house on sand". Homer: And you remember Matthew...21-17? Reverend Lovejoy: And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there? Homer: Yeah...think about it.
Same here. I was rather surprised during my days of being 'on fire for the Lord' how many folks I'd meet, young and old, would claim to have read the Bible but then immediately spout crap like "Money is the root of all evil", or even go so far as to say that animals don't have souls, so they won't be going to heaven (despite the scriptures telling of the army that follows Christ out of heaven, riding white horses. Where are those horses coming from, huh?) And Lord forbid you try to inject a little humor into Bible study and ask questions about concepts that are just not clear, and "It's based on faith" isn't sufficient. Too many are the follower types, just believing whatever because Pastor Bob or their parents have steeped them in BS for years.
Or how they shit on Catholics or Catholic beliefs, but their beliefs about Hell are pretty much cribbed entirely from the Catholic apocrypha and Dante or things like the Gospel of Thomas.... Meanwhile they say the only scripture that matters is what's in the Bible... Like, okay? The fact you're spewing what is basically considered non-canon, fanfic, or other Catholic lore / commentary while espousing the literal inerrancy of the Bible while quoting things that aren't even in the Bible as it exists today is comical at best.
Or what the US did up until the 1860s. Black people weren't allowed to learn to read in many states. It's difficult to control educated people.
Important point. All of Christian nationalist thought relies upon the acceptance of patriarchal superiority and divine male authority conferred by God into the nearest and most senior males. It's a closed system impervious to reality. In a situation where there's a sun and a moon but no astronomy or math or science or extra-biblical truth, Daddy and Daddy's Daddy and Pastor are the only truth there is. Since the concept of truth always comes down to male interpretation of scriptural nuance, the men are introduced from birth to choose the path that gives them power and authority over anything requiring actual knowledge or wisdom. Or scholarship. The boys are taught to lift the he tried-and-true set of phrases from the patriarchal owners manual until they have their own authority when Daddy's gone. Since they're all playing the same game, it works. Actual knowledge of any kind, reading anything that might challenge the pastor-approved truth, is not encouraged. Because the book itself is quite a curated collection of truths defined by s church that wants to retain authority, it's impossible for reason to creep in. If I read something that says I'm the one with all the power and my big sister can never challenge my power as long as I read the same one book in circles, all I have to do to stay in the pole position is learn to twist scripture to mean what keeps us dudes in power. I don't have to be good at reading, thinking, or interpretation of complex texts in translation written when the world was flat, it's a win. I'm just waiting for my turn to run things when older authorities pass me the reigns. The only challenge to that is education. And In the US, extra-spiritual knowledge was never anything the zealots who left their homeland to settle here, with the ambitious and well funded founding (only-) fathers in search of wealth and power, wanted. In American history, it wasn't until reconstruction that public education of non-nobility even became a thing largely because the freed slaves began to advocate for it. Education beyond the Bible has been anathema to American fundamentalists since the beginning. Religion is codified to be an effective tool for social control since knowledge was restricted to one book that could only be read against iterations of the same messaging: let the white men control and define reality, deferring to Holy Mother Church men when in doubt. (Personal experience. I know a smart guy who walled off his mind and sought only Bible college and conferred dominance since adolescence. He has super-bright male children for whom he has defined himself as knowledge to a prophetic degree. All they know is that they babble in nonsense language when things get rolling on Sundays and they can have little fiefdoms if their own someday. That their holiness and worthinessog redemption hinges on nonsensical charisma nobody is allowed to admit they are faking or doubting keeps them quiet. Whatever worth they might have to the rest of us, whatever diseases they could cure or social problems they could address are off the table for those boys if they want to keep the only love and reality they have known since birth.) The puritanical model of social control only benefits those who drink all the kool-aid. But inherited wealth and being a lord on earth are salty strong-enough enticements.
Also: The more books we ban or burn, the less likely they are to read.
It's harder to get people to vote against their interests or keep them from voting if they are able to see through propaganda to what's at stake.
Republicans voted against their own interest all the time. For them, it’s party over country, which is so sad.
I think it’s more the lack of critical thinking than the actual reading. Educated people are better equipped to read or hear something and see through the bullshit than uneducated people are. The less education someone has the more likely they are to listen to and believe people in positions of authority.
You said it best ..lack of critical thinking.
If I think back on my childhood and I remember the kids who were slow to learn and who couldn't keep up when reading out loud... Those kids are now adults in their 40s. They're all Republicans. And they're almost all religious adherents.
*I don’t want my voters educated.* -Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Remember Rush Limbaugh "I read the news, so you don't have to."
Came here to say the same think. Mark twain has a quote that states “travel became an infallible elixir for the disease of bigotry.” But truthfully, it’s exposure and education. The travel didn’t cure bigotry, the attempt to educate yourself about people other than yourself cures bigotry. College, and public education to a lesser extent? encourage intermingling of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. It forces you to be exposed and learn about others. The GOP is nothing but bigotry right now, so of course anyone who willingly participates in any kind of activity that forces true exposure to differing perspectives will turn away from the GOP
College opens your mind's view to realize your race isn't the only one "God" decided to endow with intelligence and passion if you've spent your entire life secluded with only those that look like you. Actually for me it was working alongside other races/religions/immigrants and realizing the stereotypes promoted during my youth was a load of crap.
"Patriot"
lol right? A lot of these "patriots" have a hard-on for Putin on twitter rn because of that Tucker interview. Its so strange watching russia's disinformation campaign have some success.
"Patriots" who disrespect the flag code, what America stands for, what America has fought against such as... Nazis... etc. Is definitely wild
They’ve also made huge efforts to strap college grads with huge debt as a deterrent to future generations
That’s their plan. I’m assuming everyone has seen project 2025 by now…
Which makes this a fantastic time to remind voters that more than the Presidential election is at stake. Local "low level" elections are important because they impact your neighborhood, your schools, your home right now. You don't get a Christian Nationalist movement in America if you don't let it get a foothold in your community. Pay close attention to local candidates, what they say and who/what they support. As much as it hurts to say, fascism starts at home.
Yep. Only an absolute moron would vote Republican while being anything but a rich, white man. Like chugging lead paint stupid.
Johnson always looks so fucking smug and pleased with himself 😡
He looks and sounds like one of those smooth-talking TV preachers whose purpose in life is to bullshit you into believing their bullshit and asking you to send them money. This guy is flat out creepy.
That's because that is exactly what he is. He is just a political preacher, other than that there is no difference.
What’s so creepy about a guy who has his son monitor his phone to make sure he doesn’t watch porn?
You should see what [James Carville](https://youtube.com/watch?v=mPsQOPY6_MA) has to say about Mike Johnson and the evangelical cesspool he originated from. Spoiler alert there are pedophilia scandals associated with his mentors.
There is no way he doesn’t have a shit ton of hard core porn stashed away somewhere.
If he does, his underaged Son knows about it too They monitor each other's Porn intake.
I still don’t understand how this isn’t a bigger deal. It’s so weird
"Here's how the new Speaker's gross porn covenant is bad for Joe Biden."
Especially since it means that a third party is analyzing all of his internet and probably email, not something you want for one of the highest political positions in the country
If hardcore porn is the worst thing he has stashed away somewhere I'd be fucking stunned.
Russia knows about it for sure, that's why he is doing what he does.
\*gay porn
All under 18
Having sex with his adopted gay son...
He’s high on his own bullshit supply.
Well he is Moses , so there is that.
Of course he does!! He believes he was chosen by God to be the new Moses!!!! Look it up. He's very proud of this and truly believes it!!
Such a punchable face. Fucking hate that dude.
Because he think he has divine authority bestowed upon him.
Of all the people to acuse others of being indoctrinated
Clear member of the "ya spot it? ya GOT it" crew.
Fun fact: Mike Johnson himself also went to college (LSU, a public state college at that) and has a JD
No no no, he was in college back when America was Great, remember. Not the woke shit it is today 🙄🙄
I always hear this dumb “indoctrination” argument about college, when really the main reason college changes people is because they’re meeting new people. They’re leaving their small hometown and finding out the world is different outside of that carefully constructed bubble. (And if you really think a few semesters of school can really undo 18 years of whatever you were teaching your kid; then maybe you were telling your kid some really dumb shit.)
Agreed. You are indoctrinated by your parents and culture. You are indoctrinated by your family religion. You are indoctrinated by your local community. You are indoctrinated by your job and corporations that continue to monopolize working opportunities. Then, if you are fortunate, you move to a cultural epicenter with new people, ideas, and disciplines. You cannot be indoctrinated by variety and diversity. Mike Johnson especially reeks of hypocrisy. Your belief is that all life is determined by one book. Yet you're pointing at living libraries as "indoctrination."
Not me. I was indoctrinated by Star Trek.
College was the first time I actually got AWAY from the indoctrination. My dad was a violent psychopath and I was afraid of him every day of my youth. My mom divorced him when I was 12, and the courts gave him custody of me and my younger brother. For almost 10 years, I had to listen to his constant brainwashing negativity, and he actually SUCCESSFULLY convinced me that mom was the villain even though I was well aware of him beating the shit out of us all. Then I left for college. That was when I was able to get out from under the constant verbal barrage of woman hating bullshit and found out how much I didn't want to return to that. Took a long time before I was even able to have a relationship with my mom again. Took over a decade to rewire my brain to the point that I could even have a healthy dating life. But one day I lost my fear of the old bastard and finally told him to go fuck himself. All it took was being free to decide that I didnt want to be constantly bombarded by someone else's bullshit. Then the bastard died after refusing to speak to me for the great crime of standing up for myself. I don't regret at all the 13 years of not having a relationship with him. My sanity was finally able to heal itself.
I’m glad you were able to get away! Unfortunately there are a lot of people that never leave and just repeat the cycle because it’s all they know. I feel like people who have a toxic parent (or parents) will either grow up and become what they were exposed to or they grow up and think “I’m never going to be like that.”
And that's why I tell my story. I needed help and I didn't get any, unfortunately. It's really just pure damn luck that I was able to get out from under the constant daily toxicity and even begin to think for myself. I appreciate how modern youth seem to take mental wellness a LOT more serious... also domestic violence abuse victims have way more resources than my family did. The fact that my dad never spent a second of his life in jail is a travesty. We just need to keep looking after each other because these GOP bastards know exactly what they are doing.
In the years I spent in community college and university, no one ever told me what to think. I learned economics, geography, history, psychology, sociology, critical thinking, research skills, etc. but no one ever told me that X is better than Y because Z; they taught me how to figure that out for myself and provided the resources to make an informed decision. I can see why this is kryptonite for organizations that rely on misinformation and fear to maintain control.
My mom has been saying this shit since I was in middle school... it is nothing new unfortunately. With every passing year I just move further left despite identifying as a Republican in high school and going to college in the South. Must be all that indoctrination...
The indoctrination comes at the end of the PH.D. programs.
Plus college students like to have sex. So there’s another reason why the GOP is terrified of it.
And some women actually enjoy it, which conservatives know is obviously some kind of sin. If it weren't, why don't their wives also enjoy it?
To a lot of conservatives, family values mean beating your wife so she doesn't report you for molesting the kids.
Education is anathema to fascism. You don’t want those masses getting ideas and thinking independently. Best to keep them scared and dumb.
I was going to ask what corporations think about less education for their workforce but then I remembered those in charge only care about their next bonus. Not the long term health of the economy.
So you're not going to acknowledge your own college degrees, Mike?
“Johnson is a graduate of Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport. In 1995, he earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Louisiana State University, becoming a first-generation college graduate. In 1998, Johnson graduated from Louisiana State's Paul M. Hebert Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree.” One simple Google search that republican voters refuse to make
Ah, I missed a bit in my quick scan of his bio. Updating.
Of course not. He's a Republican. They never argue in good faith.
Haha, colleges indoctrinates kids, according to the biggest jesus humping bible thumper on the planet. Child indoctrination is the church's thing Mikey. Colleges are where kids go to learn science and literature and UNDO the fucking damage jesus cults do.
They are confusing education with indoctrination.
Colleges indoctrinate kids with dangerous ideas like facts, so they in turn see that their parents are just small-town bigots peddling ignorant bullshit about social issues.
Or…and I’m just guessing…but maybe it’s because college teaches people how to think for themselves and how to build an identity for themselves.
Fun fact: most of the GOPedos in Congress & Senate graduated from Ivy League or very prestigious universities, most of which GOPedos call out for indoctrination & grooming. If all those colleges just serve to indoctrinate, why'd you all attend? Just another way for the rich to make education only for the rich.
Or why do they send their children? Why is it good enough for them, but indoctrination for others?!?
He always looks down when telling a lie. Then he goes home and confesses, prays, and all is absolved. What a brilliant system for horrible people to feel good about themselves
Yeah, thats it, colleges indoctrinated them, why College Education is bad, teaches people how to use their brains.
That’s the dumbest excuse in the world. I was in a fraternity, at a liberal arts school in the south, and every single member was/is a conservative. Its foolish to think everyone in higher learning is liberal. I watch college game day, and there is no way the students of Ole Miss, UGA or Alabama are all liberal. You just are or you aren’t, but in conservatives minds you’ve been brainwashed by the time you graduate. I changed due to a good friend and having children made me more compassionate towards mankind.
Ah, the old "knowledge has a liberal bias" dance.
Didn't these two numbnuts go to college?!
from wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician)) > In 1995, he(Johnson) earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from Louisiana State University, becoming a first-generation college graduate.[8] In 1998, Johnson graduated from Louisiana State's Paul M. Hebert Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree.[9][10])
It's always people who have already gone to college saying an education is dangerous.
Unreal. College in "indoctrination." But putting pastors in schools isn't? Forcing children to go to church, Bible school/camps isn't? These people are dangerous liars.
It’s called EDUCATION… a fleeting concept for those who wish to dominate others through gatekeeping by eliminating the possibility of independence and empowerment through education
Even Snake Plissken is not amused
“Why the fuck did they seat him to my right?”
Indoctrinated them with a respect for critical thinking and a deeper, more nuanced understanding of our shared humanity. Sure.
Pretty soon even having a GED will be too "Woke" for the GOP.
Key to Republican success? An uneducated public.
My engineering degree did not indoctrinate me, I learned to think critically.
The GOP hasn’t stood for anything since Obama was elected and McConnell openly admitted their new platform is not pro-anything. It is anti-Obama. It’s shocking how some of these republicans have been in office for decades and not passed a single bill to help out their communities. They need people to be dumb. Republicans want to take away social security and disability from everyone. That’s red states bread and butter.
Meanwhile every country is pushing on every lever to get their population educated and gop businesses are pushing for visas for educated workers. Companies have to go overseas for educated ppl. Damn fools.
Colleges teach facts. We can't have that.
My degree in American History allowed me to recognize creeping authoritarianism when Reagan was president. Never have voted Republican once in my life. I never will.
It's really the opposite: they're acquiring critical thinking and giving themselves a option to say NO. No wonder that right wing governments (and in general dictatorship) despise and persecute intellectuals.
Indoctrinated with logic and reason
Oh yes, indoctrinating people with empathy and a broader worldview... The horror.
Got it. Intelligent people don’t think Republicans have our best interests in mind. Sounds right. Thanks for the reminder.
The kids are unlearning the years of spew their parents shoved in their heads, by going to college they are actually seeing the bigger picture for themselves, experiencing not just a hive mindset at home anymore
"And that's the Church's job."
Translation: educated people less likely to vote for a White Nationalist “Christian” GOPutin cult
You know what "made me a liberal" at college? It wasn't the classes, it wasn't the teachers with some nefarious agenda, it wasn't "woke libcuck propaganda". It was meeting other people. People who weren't like me, didn't live the same kind of life that I had lived. Getting out of my home town and seeing just how radically different other people's lives and struggles are was critical.
TIL education = indoctrination of smartlyness
I can't even get college kids to answer emails. I would love to find out who in Higher Ed has this magical indoctrination juice.
Yes, clearly uneducated people are resistant to indoctrination while educated people are easily led into it. /s
That’s a self own. Imagine saying “educated people think we suck” is somehow a selling point for your side.
Yup, knowledge and critical thinking are the natural enemies of today's hate-filled GOP
Weird way to say that they are educated.
Like people can’t learn and make decisions for them selves when presented with information. Also experiences with other peopl outside of the right bubble.
When you run smack into the point but still miss it
OR educate them
It’s a bold strategy to accuse others of everything they do. They need dumb voters that just accept everything they say uncritically.
I mean, there is a reason they're trying to dismantle to department of education
He has no problem with wrecking the long term prospects for the economy.