It seems that a country divided on many fronts is finding common ground at the gas pumps. There, the cost of the Iran war is hitting Americans squarely in the wallet and aggravating people across the political spectrum.

Standing alongside his son’s Ford pickup truck at a central Iowa gas station off Interstate 80, Francisco Castillo was not happy.

He had voted for President Donald Trump in the last election. He believed Trump had strengthened the economy in his first term, and he wanted more of that.

“I thought that he was going to bring some of those things back,” said Castillo, a 43-year-old factory worker. And now? “He said he was going to bring gas down, but the war in Iran is now making everything worse.”

It seems a country divided on so many fronts is finding common ground in pain at the pump, where the cost of the Iran war is hitting Americans squarely in the wallet and aggravating people across the political spectrum.

  • TrollTrollrolllol@lemmy.world
    13·
    7 hours ago

    The bottom line is they hate the United States and the Constitution. If they had their way back in the 1700’s we’d still be paying taxes to the king of England. I like to remind them that during the revolution the Founding Fathers would have been called radical left lunatics by the conservatives of the day.

    • TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
      6·
      4 hours ago

      I disagree, it’s just a divergence in belief in what America truly is. The sad fact is that their portrayal of America may be closer to the truth.

      America was primarily built by rum running slave owners who hated paying taxes. It was founded by rich men to protect the interest of rich men, and not a lot has changed over time.

      I like to remind them that during the revolution the Founding Fathers would have been called radical left lunatics by the conservatives of the day.

      Maybe if you only read the popular history about people like Benjamin Franklin or Hamilton. In reality most of the founding fathers would be seen as rabid libertarians by today’s means. Some of their ideas about religion would seem liberal, but you would have to ignore issues like slavery, the brutality towards native populations, women’s suffrage, voting rights for the poor, and taxation to label them as leftist in general.