Sorry if the premise is inflammatory, but I’ve been stymied by this for a while. How did we go from something like 1940s era collectivism or 1960s era leftism to the current bizarro political machine that seems to have hypnotized a large portion (if not majority) of the country? I get it - not everything is bad now, and not everything was good then. FDR’s internment camps, etc.

That said - our country seems to be at a low point in intellectualism and accountability. The DHHS head is an antivaxxer, the deputy chief of the DOJ is a far-right podcast nutball, etc. Their supporters seem to have no nuance to their opinion beyond “well, Trump said he’d fix the economy and I don’t like woke.”

Have people always been this unserious and unquestioning, or are we watching the public’s sanity unravel in real time? Or am I just imagining some idealistic version of the past that never existed, where politicians acted in good faith and people cared about the social order?

  • DarkFuture@lemmy.world
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    16 days ago

    We’ve never elected a felon rapist who attempted to overthrow our government before.

    So clearly something has changed.

    • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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      16 days ago

      We still haven’t. He’s not a felon, and he’s not a rapist. You should really actually read the articles instead of the headlines.

      Funnily enough, there’s been rapists in office before, like Bill Clinton, a democrat.

      • masterspace@lemmy.ca
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        15 days ago

        Yes, Trump was convicted of multiple felony charges, making him a convicted felon.

        He recieved a conditional discharge for his sentence, meaning he didn’t spend time in jail, but he is 100% a convicted felon.

        You also ignored the part where he’s a treasonous traitor to his country, that tried to overthrow a democratically elected government.

        You’re not a moderate, you’re just blind to how idiotic and treasonous the American right wing is.

        • Kaboom@reddthat.com
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          15 days ago

          Actually he was never convicted in a court of law. Civil court does not have the same requirements.