World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[dsheinem]

I think the argument that Trump voters would be choosing racism by proxy has only been borne out...quickly and clearly. It took almost nothing to see the handwiting of increased hate speech & hate crimes on the proverbial wall.

That doesn't mean THE VOTERS are all racist, just that they set us up for this shit and have to own it. If they want to earn back some respect from oppressed groups and their allies, this week has already presented a golden opportunity.

[dsheinem]

Goes both ways you know right?

A couple of deplorable incidents, indeed. Guess what, though, the second one isn't about politics: http://www.snopes.com/black-mob-beats-w ... ing-trump/

And the first one seems to have potentially been in response to some anti-Mexican comment that the student left on social media - which doesn't excuse it - but also isn't the same kind of anonymous attack on someone for what they look like or who they love that many of the Trump-inflected attacks have been. That said, I think that no one should ever be assaulted for any reason. I hope they suspend the student who did this.

[foxhound1022]

TBH, I thought about it, but then decided not to. I understand your position.

Just a thought: Will Obama say anything about these events? If Trump won't do anything to quell the rising tide, maybe some engagement from him would be positive?

[dsheinem]

Just a thought: Will Obama say anything about these events? If Trump won't do anything to quell the rising tide, maybe some engagement from him would be positive?

I'm guessing even the most eloquent words from a black male president won't resonate with the lovely perpetrators of hate speech and hate crimes.

[jp1]

Who can argue with such concrete logic?

Someone with a different perspective such as yourself, maybe? You already stated your stance on the hate speech and such, but why not state your piece about why you did decide to vote Trump.

I don't think you, or Sarge for that matter, are bad dudes. I just want to understand, and surely since you do not stand for, or tolerate the hateful actions that have come about we should be able to discuss a different point of view on the matter.

I'm clear as water, ask me anything you want about how or why I voted like I did and I'll tell you the truth wholeheartedly, no matter how that might make you feel about me or my views. If we aren't taking a deeply personal approach to the conversation, why are some parts of it off the table for full disclosure?

[Xeogred]

Anyone else into Dan Carlin? Throughout this election, I've always loved his level headed breakdown of current events, and his latest episode on "Common Sense" is just as fantastic. It's great to hear someone so fairly breakdown both sides and point out the flaws.

[ElkinFencer10]

This country's problems will never be solved by bickering about who to blame and who's more racist than whom. Fight bigotry; don't argue over who's camp has the bigger bigots. Be the change you want to see. Arguing with no constructive and respectful civil discourse is pointless and serves only to divide us further.

[stickem]

Dear Trump voter,

Black kids getting spit on by their white classmates at a vo-tech in PA. LGBT people calling suicide hotlines, others not even bothering to do that en route to taking their own life. Muslim women having their hijabs knocked off in public. Virulent men catcalling to women about grabbing their pussy. Students getting verbal and texted threats about rape. These are all stories of people I PERSONALLY KNOW from just the last few days.

By voting for someone who always has been and still is unquestionably a racist/sexist/homophobe, who has recently done and still says racist/sexist/homophobic things, and who often embraced and encouraged his most openly racist/sexist supporters, YOU have ENABLED and EMBOLDENED the hateful acts and hateful groups that are proliferating and intensifying this week in the wake of his election. This is on YOU.

I DON'T CARE if you consider yourself a racist/sexist/homophobic person or not. That conversation is irrelevant. I am sure you consider yourself a good person who cast an ethical and practical vote. Maybe you decided voting for a vaguely "pro-life" candidate was a more moral choice than voting for the candidate who doesn't stoke violence and abusive language towards people who aren't white men. Maybe you thought vague promises of "bringing jobs back" was more important than insuring the 25 million Americans who gained access to healthcare since 2010 could keep it. Maybe you just vote for whatever has an "R" next to it. Maybe you are super-informed or maybe you are uninformed. Whatever, I don't care right now what your reasons were: you made your ethical and/or political choices and I don't have to agree with them. We can argue later. The problem is all this other shit.

For now, you need to sit down for a minute and recognize that, intentionally or not, one result of your voting decision was the ENABLING and TACIT ENCOURAGEMENT of those racist, sexist, homophobic, and other hateful voices that believe Trump's America will be a return to white supremacy, the end of LGBTQ rights, and/or the validation of their abusive misogyny.

You own that shit. I hope knowing that YOU have culpability makes you feel like a bad person, that it introduces doubt and introspection, that it makes you feel worse than maybe you already did about picking some "lesser evil". I hope it eats at you with a constant gnaw..but at the same time I know the tinges of guilt that might be settling in for you pale in comparison to the intense fear that people who have been and are being targeted this week are facing. They are afraid they will be killed, that their voices will be silenced in society, that they will lose any and all institutional support that exists for them, that took forever to build, and that is always already fragile.

WE can, of course, come together and try and fix this, but right now the impetus is solely on YOU. You must figure out how to correct this. YOU must be the loudest and most powerful voices in denouncing and condemning violence and hate. YOU must radically transform yourself from a Trump voter into a Trump protestor, from a voice that quietly condones to a voice that loudly objects. You must use the power you have - in whatever walk of life you lead - to tell people that, yes, you voted for Trump, that now you see that this is all wrong, that you somehow (??) must have missed it, and that you regret it all and want to work to change things. Then you need to actually do that work.

And then maybe we can have a conversation, and then maybe we can figure out a new path forward. Until then, I am going to try and keep talking my most vulnerable friends out of killing themselves out of total despair and fear. The personal stories like those above and the news stories coming in this week all make their fears completely justifiable, and as much as I may say to them, it will take YOU to DO THINGS to really convince them that things won't be palpably dangerous for them for the foreseeable future.

Sincerely,
Someone who used to try and see the good in you, but no longer can

this is the dumbest shit i've ever read. who the fuck are are you to have me justify who i voted for and take ownership of people rioting and destroying their own neighborhoods or some "group" crying "woo is me", cause they think their rights are in danger? you and every other person that voted for hillary basically labeled everybody that voted for trump a bigot, racist, and basically the scum of the earth. like fucking hillary was better. so board bros on here voted different than you, dude people have different opinions than you, like it our not. i just would not get on here and preach so much and basically call everybody idiots for voting against somebody i didn't vote for. life goes on, hope for the best.

*i didn't want to post this, but dam the bitching back and forth. can't we all just get along, lol.

[MrPopo]

*i didn't want to post this, but dam the bitching back and forth. can't we all just get along, lol.

That's the concern about Trump; his campaign rhetoric was that we can't just get along.

[stickem]

*i didn't want to post this, but dam the bitching back and forth. can't we all just get along, lol.

That's the concern about Trump; his campaign rhetoric was that we can't just get along.

elaborate on that please. i mean jesus christ we had the worst two candidates to select from. i don't vote for any particular party. if the demos had any other candidate i would have considered that. just throwing that out there. and i mean no disrespect to dsh, i usually find him a good dude, but these people that are so in an uproar i guess just have gotten to me lol.