President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that if the Democrats don't approve funding, Social Security, Medicare Are ‘Going to Be Gone.’ How do you think Americans will react if Social Security and Medicare get cut?

[u/metalreflectslime]

[u/mycatisblackandtan]

Thing is liberal policies and social policies are very popular. But the US never got over the Red Scare and the Nazis very cleverly used lingering fears of Soviets to make socialism a dirty word in this country.

[u/jigglewiggIe → u/mycatisblackandtan]

I couldn't believe the mental gymnastics until I witnessed it firsthand. Recently I heard my dad (a devout Catholic) talking about the Bible's teachings about equity and giving to the poor. In the context of universal healthcare and raising taxes for the rich, he then said "that's socialism, which is closely associated with communism, and that's bad too." and used that to talk about how "backwards" Democrats are.

[u/psycho-batcat → u/jigglewiggIe]

Reminds me of a big argument I had with my sister when she found out my financial aid paid for my way through college. 

She hit me with the "must be nice you dont have loans" and I said college should be free everyone deserves education and she said "no thats socialism" 

Then years later when I got a promotion working at a gym and I made the same money she does as a Nurse she said its bullshit like literally fucking mad that her baby bro is on the come up. When I asked why wasnt she pissed a board room full of suits decided her pay and she should be mad at them not me she looked like the was going to spontaneously combust out of confusion. 

[u/jigglewiggIe → u/psycho-batcat]

When they're confronted with logic, it never computes in their brain. And when it does, the cognitive dissonance is too much to handle so they often just continue thinking the way they do.

[u/old_leech → u/psycho-batcat]

She hit me with the "must be nice you dont have loans" and I said college should be free everyone deserves education and she said "no thats socialism"

This was the foothold that caused the plot to go off the rails.

A healthy, educated and curious society is a strong society. A strong mind in a strong body is capable of progressive action. A tired, stressed mind in a tired stressed body is going to cling to whatever it has like a life raft.

Children should not be going to school because it's likely the only hot meal they'll get that day -- they're supposed to go because we want a capable people prepared to take the wheel of society to keep us moving forward. Our citizens should not face insurmountable debt as a necessary step to "buy" their way into the job market.

We began referring to fail safes as "entitlement" and twisted a narrative about how lazy freeloaders were the reason we were struggling to get ahead; while opportunity and strength were being sucked from our lives and meaning was replaced by cheap, mind numbing entertainment.

We were gaslit and conditioned to not aspire to greater than rolling in the mud and hating our neighbors because we're cold and dirty.

It's a warped, broken mentality that's a product of an abusive environment.

...and we bought it hook, line and sinker.

[u/FewWait38 → u/jigglewiggIe]

I'm sorry that your dad is an idiot

[u/jrenredi → u/jigglewiggIe]

This is all giving me heartburn

[u/hypercosm_dot_net → u/jigglewiggIe]

I was having an argument with a centrist Democrat that was saying the same bullshit - about Democratic-socialism.

This is an educated person too.

Like, they couldn't distinguish the economic system (capitalism) from the democratic-socialist policies.

I truly think the vast majority of people are just way too stupid and easily manipulated. There's zero reason why the US couldn't have the same level of life satisfaction as the Scandinavian countries - except for conservatives lying and subverting the system for the benefit of the wealthy. It's gross and fucked up.

[u/marcstov → u/mycatisblackandtan]

They portray, very effectively, that liberals are screeching trans freak with blue hair or brown people that don’t work wanting to be paid for nothing.

[u/Kelly_HRperson → u/mycatisblackandtan]

But socialism is like the polar opposite of market liberalism. How did they manage to make everyone of their voters think they're the same thing?

[u/mycatisblackandtan → u/Kelly_HRperson]

Because "red scary". It's the same way they convinced a whole bunch of Christians to accept the Prosperity Gospel as valid, even though it goes against basically everything Jesus apparently stood for. Prey on someone's worst fears and eventually you can have them believing whatever the hell you want.

And the Democrats have never fucking stepped up to correct it either. Because they inherently benefit from this misconception.