Summary
President Joe Bidenās economic achievementsālowering inflation, reducing gas prices, creating jobs, and boosting manufacturingāare largely unrecognized by the public, despite his successes.
His tenure saw landmark legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act, and major infrastructure investments.
However, Bidenās approval ratings remain low, attributed to inflation backlash, weak communication, and a media landscape prone to misinformation.
Democrats face a āpropaganda problemā rather than a policy failure, with many voters likely to credit incoming President Trump for Bidenās accomplishments due to partisan messaging and social media dynamics.
I hoped that 2016 was a fluke, that Americans werenāt that dumb and hateful but rather we got caught unprepared by a personality we didnāt expect to run for president.
I hoped that 2020 was the true thoughts of Americans, that the insurrection represented the dying grasp of an extreme minority.
I donāt think Trump stole the 2024 election. I think it proved that yes, this is America. Whether you think America has changed into this or was always this, it doesnāt take away the fact that a majority of Americans will believe anything so long as it makes them hate. Good news doesnāt drive votes. Fear and anger drives votes.
Iāve tried so much to try and be a middle of the road voice of reason and moderation with my friends and family. I didnāt want to be a knee jerk conspiracy theorist, I was always patient with people, listened to them, told them the places they were right, and asked them questions hoping they would ask themselves. Iād say ābe like Mr. Rogers. And if someone isnāt acting like Mr. Rogers, be like Mr. Rogers.ā
It started to hit when a friend of mine who is very left wing told me that people with college degrees are brainwashed by the deep state. I had just told her I had a degree in political science.
I ordered another drink and changed the subject but it hurt. Now I know she is representative of a majority of Americans. Iām worried civil war is all but inevitable when facts just donāt matter as much as anger.
Edit: Lord grant me the strength to be like Mr. Rogers in this comment section.
Apparently, Americaās economy seems to be driven only by fear or greed
All due respect, you are literally brainwashed by the deep state. Universities are institutions of the wealthy; of the status quo. They exist to train the managerial class of capitalist society. The ideas that rule are the ideas of the rulers. You specifically took as your major the mainline ideology of that ruling class. The only way you could have done yourself a worse service in that regard is if you took economics.
With all due respect youre simping or even more brainwashed than the people you are trying to argue with. Youāre either paid or played, and have enough time to respond to everyone here.
Why is it that the ādeep state eliteā universities always have such liberal voters? Why do liberals and deep state want to expand social welfare programs? Doesnāt seem very āwealthy brainwashingā.
Most rulers didnāt take polysci, they got law degrees. Or bankrupted casinos.
Because liberalism is the governing ideology of capitalism and has been since the 1700ās. The problem youāre having is that your definitions of words is mush.
Can you please observe reality? When since LBJ has that been the case? When, since the Soviet Union was a rising threat, has the capitalist state done anything but austerity, union busting, and violently suppressing popular movements?
āIām immune to propagandaā
Oh heavens, Iām sorry. I didnāt think about the law, which is completely free of the entrenched governing ideology.
Perhaps youād like to go to bat for Sociology next? Just because I didnāt mention a major by name doesnāt mean itās exempt from institutional indoctrination.
Idk if any of this will help, but youāre very actively involved in the discussions and I encourage that. So, as a friendly commenter who sides with your disgruntlement of the situation, I thought I would at least point out the things that I understand but donāt 100% agree with.
When it comes to degrees, I agree that it is a āmachineā (education as a whole) that produces desired individuals to fulfill the roles it has established as āimportant/valuableā. Everyone can disagree on the opinion of what a āvaluableā society is, but I digress. You have to understand that knowledge comes from experience and research though (just like youāve probably done, just as an individual and not mandated by a course). The most succulent of critiques can come from someone deeply established in a field, kinda like how Bernie Sanders made comments about the DNC after the election and it forced the media and all of us to discuss it and the message.
The truly dangerous ones are those who can fully understand how flawed a system is, but realize they must play it to their advantage to get what they āwantā out of life. I just canāt demonize the whole entire system when the people Iāve learned and read from were birthed from that experience. A lot of people realize after or during pursuing a degree, just how bad it is so itās some kind of awareness for a certain %. Now if theyāve fully embraced the system, you just have to find the examples they choose to ignore in their flawed beliefs.
I also donāt know how effective the āper quote responseā is. Iāve been guilty of it in the past, but honestly I think people just dont really read the ātit-for-tatā style comment replies (I find myself scrolling past if itās too long). If they see one thing they disagree with then they downvote the entire comment. I try to hit the points I want but change the length and style of response in regards to how effective I can actually communicate to the person.
Iām just happy that a little bit of sanity has returned to Lemmy (obvious from the changes in what got downvoted/upvoted or discussed heavily). It felt like everyone just completely drank the kool-aid so we could āsave Democracytm!!ā Unfortunately, I think people sold all the common-sense realty in their head for the Blue Superhero fallacy that could save us all from all the boogeymen. It will take time for some to let their head critique things effectively, some will never come back to reality. Itās one of the reasons I just asked a simple question instead of critiquing their entire argument (I think his entire premise is flawed, and happily skewed so Biden is still a hero in their eyes). Itās mostly there so other readers can see it and makes them pause for a second instead of just ābelievingā itās true. If the OP comes back with a sane comment Iāll engage in a discussion, but we see from the response to me they donāt want to discuss facts so Iām not engaging further.
If weāre going to have the superheroes, theyāre going to be us, so I guess it depends how badly we want them.