[wittynickname]

Originally Posted by Cube Inmate

You've said before you live in "Hickville" PA, IIRC. I'm curious what's tying you to a place dominated by a culture you clearly don't respect? Family? Job? This is a non-judgmental question here...really just trying to learn more about how the US is so divided, yet (in your case) still has such clear ideological conflicts on the "micro" scale -- that is, neighbour to neighbour, as opposed to "east vs. west" or "urban vs. rural."

I live in Pittsburgh, which is relatively middle-of-the-road politically, and leans a bit left, especially in the city itself. The suburb I work in is just separated enough (and much closer to coal country) that it goes sharply red as soon as you cross the county line. My family is here, I have an excellent working situation overall (I make the same as several friends who work 40+ hours a week, I work about 35, also my boss is amazing), and the city itself offers much (culture, sports, proximity to outdoorsy stuff like hiking and skiing) and it's quick flying or reasonable driving distance to basically anywhere on the east coast (and Chicago). Also I have a spacious 1br apartment for less than half what my friends on NYC and Boston pay to share a tiny 2 bedroom, housing/rent is reasonable. There are too many pros that outweigh the cons.

Originally Posted by nik-

I don't necessarily agree with the statement, but the derision that is directed at the right, which I myself am totally guilty of too, dismissing them as stupid or all racist, definitely puts people into a defensive shell.

Even myself, while agreeing with their views in general, am sick of seeing celebrities lecture people. as an example. I can see there being a lot of "#### you" votes because of this type of thing.

I think people should accept that a pretty fair portion of the left is pretty non-inclusive when it comes to a right wing viewpoint.

Well when a lot of those right wing viewpoints limit the rights of them and others they care about, it's easy to see why they wouldn't be too inclusive.

If you disagree how tax revenue should be collected and spent, sure, let's talk. If you think its okay for my gay best friend to get fired because of his sexuality, not so much.

Originally Posted by REDVAN

No, he means the entirety of Hollywood.

Why do you always have to be so contrarian when you know what his point is?

But do Trump voters really get to have a say about what Hollywood thinks? They just voted a freaking reality show host as President. Also they voted in Reagan who was part of Hollywood.

They love hearing from celebrities who agree with them, they just don't want to hear it if it doesn't fit their echo chamber.

Originally Posted by New Era

Just to inject some reality back into this thread, Betsy DeVos got pas the Senate in a partisan vote. Education just went in the crapper.

Her's was probably the decision I hated most, outside of Bannon. Having several friends from Michigan, she's pretty infamous for essentially being the devil incarnate. Everyone in that state hates her. I'm so glad I don't plan to have kids.

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Right, which is what the lady in the video is talking about. What specific line did you take issue with in the video? The one single line where the only thing she said was that white Americans should acknowledge the existence of privilege? That doesn't mean saying "I have it better than others," it means "there are more doors open for me, than others." It has no judgement on one's ability to walk through that door, so your interpretation of "oppression" is nonsense.

Privilege involves so much more than just economics. It's been proven that an application with a white sounding name is more likely to get considered over a black/latino sounding name. White rural people aren't afraid of being shot of they're pulled over for a traffic violation. Black women make considerably less than white men (and women.) The point of privilege isn't that your life is perfect, but that those minorities often face the same hurdles as you--as well as a few other hurdles of their own.

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I think the term uneducated whites (or uneducated in general) has a different measurement now. Like the goalposts have been moved. If you were Joe white guy born in 1960 in a small factory town, you got a high school diploma and worked in the factory. Probably the same factory your father and his father worked in. So why would you (in 1978) have gotten a college degree when one was not necessary? You were educated enough to get a job in the town and the people who could not complete high school were the uneducated ones.

Fast forward 40 years and now your factory job is gone and you are suddenly in the uneducated category and deemed (by some) suddenly too stupid to understand the issues and too stupid to vote. That would probably piss you off.

Frankly? Too bad. What happened to the guys making wagons for horses when the car came around? What happened to milkmen when grocery stores started to take over? Progress happens, progress moves forward, and you can't stop it. For a party that's all too happy to tell poor working moms to bootstrap it and get off of welfare, they sure don't like to take responsibility for their own lot in life.

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

I honestly don't even believe the narrative of globalization and the loss of factory jobs as being a significant component of it.

The biggest impact on the middle class and blue collar workers has been 30 years of increasing austerity. That sacred cow cannot be attacked.

Also the increasing trend away from unionization. Unions gave workers leverage, but in a "right to work" environment, workers aren't a unified front, they're individual cogs, easy to replace with the next. Wages stagnate, employers retain all the power.

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

They would be crazy to run her again, twice she's been shown as an unlikeable candidate with serious trust issues.

On top of it she's 69 years old, in 4 years 73, I don't know if she'll be able to take a full year campaign.

The democrats to me have some serious problems, they're a party that started believing that their farts smelled like strawberry's and they lost the ability to actually listen, and because of that they were out of touch in this election and couldn't figure out what their message should be.

They need to go into a rebuilding mode, toss out the old guard and find a different candidate.

In any normal election, I think the message would've been easier to get to. Trump refused to talk policy, so it ended up a giant reality show, and only one candidate had reality show experience.

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The democrats abandoned their base in order to attract dollars to finance campaigns.

Campaign finance reform woould reestore the balance but that is basically impossible at this point.

It has nothing to do with thinking their #### smells like roses and has everything to do with trying to retain power in a system increasingly hostile to their existence.

And this is the issue too. Democrats have been playing by the rules, more or less, all along. Republicans are taking power by force, in very underhanded ways. At this point you almost need Dems to get their hands dirty and fight fire with fire.