I don’t expect the Republican true believers to be swayed by this. But there is a huge chunk of the US population which doesn’t fall neatly into ideological buckets, and which can see why having a gestapo isn’t in their interest.
It’s easy to fall into that kind of thinking but there are many Americans who aren’t privileged enough to have time to think. They work 40+ hour work weeks with 1-2 hour commutes, leaving maybe 4 hours or so in their day to eat, perform all their household chores, and raise their children. They’re exhausted. I’ve worked in a number of warehouses and similar settings so I’ve known many people like that myself. People who literally do almost nothing with their lives but work.
Those people are already exhausted and exploited. It’s a heavy lift to expect them to expend the emotional energy required to both accept how their country is an evil fraud, understand why that’s the case, and understand what needs to be done about it. For those people, they need to be steeped in it, exposed to the concepts slowly and comfortably, and fed these concepts wrapped in metaphorical cheese. And for those of us who do get it, we have to do what we can to alleviate their exploitation in whatever ways we can, for example, offering community-based childcare or food pantries.
Part of class solidarity is compassion. Do you want to feel better than others, or do you want them on your side?
When they’re constantly told the other side is “cheating,” they will easily believe that it is necessary for them to cheat, too.
Even less-stupid conservatives think that allowing the left to be in charge leads to an inevitability of unadulterated socialism which, in their brain, looks like East Berlin
I don’t expect the Republican true believers to be swayed by this. But there is a huge chunk of the US population which doesn’t fall neatly into ideological buckets, and which can see why having a gestapo isn’t in their interest.
Anyone who hasn’t made up their mind yet is profoundly mentally defective.
It’s easy to fall into that kind of thinking but there are many Americans who aren’t privileged enough to have time to think. They work 40+ hour work weeks with 1-2 hour commutes, leaving maybe 4 hours or so in their day to eat, perform all their household chores, and raise their children. They’re exhausted. I’ve worked in a number of warehouses and similar settings so I’ve known many people like that myself. People who literally do almost nothing with their lives but work.
Those people are already exhausted and exploited. It’s a heavy lift to expect them to expend the emotional energy required to both accept how their country is an evil fraud, understand why that’s the case, and understand what needs to be done about it. For those people, they need to be steeped in it, exposed to the concepts slowly and comfortably, and fed these concepts wrapped in metaphorical cheese. And for those of us who do get it, we have to do what we can to alleviate their exploitation in whatever ways we can, for example, offering community-based childcare or food pantries.
Part of class solidarity is compassion. Do you want to feel better than others, or do you want them on your side?
When they’re constantly told the other side is “cheating,” they will easily believe that it is necessary for them to cheat, too.
Even less-stupid conservatives think that allowing the left to be in charge leads to an inevitability of unadulterated socialism which, in their brain, looks like East Berlin