You should know that there is a constant in American political geography that 30-35% are crazy people who watch Fox News (or similar) as their only news source. They also believe in new earth creationism, don’t believe in evolution, and believe the end times are near when they will be raptured to heaven.
You used to talk to these people all the time at school and at work, and you would kinda shrug and be like “weird guy, but he gets his shit done, so whatever”.
Then you would hear about them online. It became a lot more contentious when you heard all their ideas spelled out all at once, when they could go on long distribes describing exactly what they believed and why. But it was easy to dismiss these ranters and ravers on the forums of old as lone nutjobs - at least if you didn’t run into them regularly.
But the fact is, they make up 1/3 of the US population, living among us, moving around like ghosts. They’ve learned not to discuss their controversial opinions in public anymore. A large number of them have physically moved to various enclaves where others like them live - gated suburbs, exurbs, rural communuties, etc. Almost all of them have moved to digital enclaves where they can be amongst their own, so we almost never interact with them online unless we seek them out. But they’re still out there, being crazy, doing stupid shit, and voting.
Its truly baffling the level of crazy bullshit is just normal now.
I think it is important to remember that this is not “normal now”. These sorts of beliefs were accepted as pretty normal for decades, and for many people in the time before that, were the standard and only beliefs that existed.
“Our”…
You should know that there is a constant in American political geography that 30-35% are crazy people who watch Fox News (or similar) as their only news source. They also believe in new earth creationism, don’t believe in evolution, and believe the end times are near when they will be raptured to heaven.
You used to talk to these people all the time at school and at work, and you would kinda shrug and be like “weird guy, but he gets his shit done, so whatever”.
Then you would hear about them online. It became a lot more contentious when you heard all their ideas spelled out all at once, when they could go on long distribes describing exactly what they believed and why. But it was easy to dismiss these ranters and ravers on the forums of old as lone nutjobs - at least if you didn’t run into them regularly.
But the fact is, they make up 1/3 of the US population, living among us, moving around like ghosts. They’ve learned not to discuss their controversial opinions in public anymore. A large number of them have physically moved to various enclaves where others like them live - gated suburbs, exurbs, rural communuties, etc. Almost all of them have moved to digital enclaves where they can be amongst their own, so we almost never interact with them online unless we seek them out. But they’re still out there, being crazy, doing stupid shit, and voting.
It’s quite annoying
Describes a terrifying situation thst could be ripped straight from the pages of a Stephen King novel .
Its truly baffling the level of crazy bullshit is just normal now.
I think it is important to remember that this is not “normal now”. These sorts of beliefs were accepted as pretty normal for decades, and for many people in the time before that, were the standard and only beliefs that existed.
It’s the same people who were the Bush dead enders in 2008, as his approval ratings tanked