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Post by BettyNewbie on Oct 8, 2020 19:59:52 GMT -5
You may be right about the contrarian streak, since it seems as though one is “supposed” to be liberal, being conservative looks edgy and contrary. I’ve noticed how many people in my age cohort are libertarian, it seems as though libertarians are seen as cool conservatives who are socially liberal and smoke pot. I stopped being a libertarian after Obama became president and some weird and dangerous people started becoming libertarian. Racists, now-Nazis, conspiracy theory loons, and paranoiacs started calling themselves libertarian and were talking about stock piling guns and defying the government. I got out of there since I didn’t want to be around racist loons, in general I don’t like any political movement full of extremists. I can see how libertarianism could've passed as "counterculture" back during the Clinton years. We had a Democrat back in the White House, women were making significant gains, and liberalism started to become more mainstream (aka. "political correctness" ). Meanwhile, the GOP was fully in the grips of Newt Gingrich and the Contract With America, far too aligned with hyper-patriotism and Bible-thumping social conservatism to ever be cool. It was easy to look at that and simply think "both sides suck" and that hedonistic, me-first libertarianism was the way to go. Something definitely changed around the time we got to the Obama era, with the rise of the Tea Party and the GOP's descent into militant fascism. A lot of it was racist backlash to a black president, but I think a lot of it was also about a new generation of radical/populist/libertarian conservatives rising to power in the GOP around that time. We saw a significant surge in Gen X conservatives winning elections and becoming new names in the GOP in the early 2010s, and as you said, Gen X conservatives seem to be wackier/more militant. I bet if you were to pull the stats, you'd find that the majority of full-blown MAGAs and QAnon cultists are Gen X rather than Boomer.  Well, not all of us. I would never support Orange.
Of course, I don't live in the U.S.
speaking from a US perspective on all of this. Not sure if Canada had the same hard turn towards conservatism in the late 70s and 80s that the US and UK saw. |
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Post by Squad 51 on Oct 9, 2020 10:20:20 GMT -5
Maybe many of this generation are stuck in a time when all was good. Like Trump definitely is. But the world changes, yet democracy is something to work on - permanently. It's just a guess, of course.  |
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Post by Tim on Oct 9, 2020 23:55:41 GMT -5
We have conservatives up here. But I don't think we've ever had a Rush Limbaugh style.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Oct 10, 2020 0:06:05 GMT -5
We have conservatives up here. But I don't think we've ever had a Rush Limbaugh style. I guess right-wing talk radio isn't much of a thing up there? In the US, that shit played a significant role in brainwashing way too many people into far-right views. The Brainwashing of My DadThey Just Wanted to EntertainI know this sounds bad, but I'm counting down the days until lung cancer finally claims Rush Limbaugh. That asshole has done nothing but spread hatred and indoctrinate people into evil for the last 30 years. When he goes, the AM Hate Radio industry will go right with him, and it will be glorious. |
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Post by ladyfiaran22 on Oct 10, 2020 8:53:15 GMT -5
Great links, Betty. The older people in my family listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News and take it seriously, they believe everything they see and hear on them. I agree with the idea that Rush Limbaugh was entertaining at first but this whole thing about going after RINO's and not compromising isn't good for running a country, moderate Republicans got drowned out by the loons and that's how we ended up with a government shut down and the current political landscape of mudslinging and craziness. Moderate Republicans weren't traitors, they were pragmatists who realized that mudslinging and screaming and being stubborn was no way to win elections or run anything and that such hard right stuff is actually alienating to people. In New Jersey we've had Republican governors who had to be very moderate in order to win, but the hardline Republicans smeared them as RINO's. Here if a Republican wants to win public office, they have to be moderate or else it'll alienate the voters since New Jersey is mostly a blue state.
Back in the 90s our governor was Christine Todd Whitman who was a very moderate Republican who campaigned on a platform of lower taxes but was also pro-choice and socially liberal. While she did make a few gaffes in her first term, she was a very popular governor who served two terms and who really did lower some taxes plus removed excise taxes for professional wrestling which meant that pro wrestling events could be held in New Jersey which brought in extra money to the state. However, the more hardcore Republicans hated her since she was pro choice and socially liberal and called her a RINO and all kinds of sexist crap. They don't understand that if a Republican wants to win public office here, they can't be a hardcore religious fanatic since that alienates the voters here, someone like a Mike Pence couldn't get elected dogcatcher. Right now, it seems as though Republicans are appealing to the most hardcore of their base and don't seem to care about alienating the middle.
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Post by BettyNewbie on Oct 10, 2020 10:12:11 GMT -5
Great links, Betty. The older people in my family listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News and take it seriously, they believe everything they see and hear on them. I agree with the idea that Rush Limbaugh was entertaining at first but this whole thing about going after RINO's and not compromising isn't good for running a country, moderate Republicans got drowned out by the loons and that's how we ended up with a government shut down and the current political landscape of mudslinging and craziness. Moderate Republicans weren't traitors, they were pragmatists who realized that mudslinging and screaming and being stubborn was no way to win elections or run anything and that such hard right stuff is actually alienating to people. In New Jersey we've had Republican governors who had to be very moderate in order to win, but the hardline Republicans smeared them as RINO's. Here if a Republican wants to win public office, they have to be moderate or else it'll alienate the voters since New Jersey is mostly a blue state. Back in the 90s our governor was Christine Todd Whitman who was a very moderate Republican who campaigned on a platform of lower taxes but was also pro-choice and socially liberal. While she did make a few gaffes in her first term, she was a very popular governor who served two terms and who really did lower some taxes plus removed excise taxes for professional wrestling which meant that pro wrestling events could be held in New Jersey which brought in extra money to the state. However, the more hardcore Republicans hated her since she was pro choice and socially liberal and called her a RINO and all kinds of sexist crap. They don't understand that if a Republican wants to win public office here, they can't be a hardcore religious fanatic since that alienates the voters here, someone like a Mike Pence couldn't get elected dogcatcher. Right now, it seems as though Republicans are appealing to the most hardcore of their base and don't seem to care about alienating the middle. This is where the US' system of government is really starting to bite us on the ass, IMO. Both the Electoral College and the Senate give outsized power to rural states (a relic from when the country was both smaller and slave-holding), which means the GOP can easily wield a geographic advantage to make up for its population disadvantage. This is why the far right has far more of a mainstream presence in the US than any other western country. The political system is entirely set up to let them have that power. After the election, there needs to be serious talk about reforming our government to be more fair and representative. There is no valid reason for the Electoral College and Senate to exist anymore in a world where slavery doesn't exist. Serious checks need to be put into place to keep far right radicals and Cheeto & Co. from ever coming into power again. |
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Post by Tim on Oct 10, 2020 12:58:23 GMT -5
And if Satan has Hate Radio, I'm sure he'll be happy to employ Rush when he gets down there.
How this guy has been allowed to spew his propaganda for so long, I don't know.
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I get now lighter work. 
