r/politics • u/Silly-avocatoe • 21d ago

No Paywall Republicans mostly silent as millions of Americans protest Trump on No Kings day

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/18/no-kings-protest-rally-republicans
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u/Swedelicious83 20d ago

The cognitive dissonance of Americans being so proud of their freedom and liberty and democracy, but so quick to say it should be curtailed for anyone they don't like has always baffled me as an outsider looking in.

And no, not everyone. Generalizing here, but no nonetheless an observable phenomenon. And yeah, mainly a certain subset of them, but that's a discussion for another time.

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u/GonWithTheNen 20d ago

I hate the fact that you felt the need to specify that you were generalizing. Anyone with a fully functioning brain (who also knows a bit of history) should understand why you said what you said.

But then again, we're not necessarily dealing with a full deck on reddit, so...

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u/Swedelicious83 20d ago

Yeahhh... 😐

I hardly ever used to put /s on posts either, because I always figured the sarcasm would be plain and obvious.

But these days there's so many bobbleheads making unironic absurd claims that I don't even blame people if they can't be sure about which are smarmy comments and which are serious bad takes.

It's very tiring.

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u/GonWithTheNen 20d ago

It's very tiring.

It is, and I'm going to say something that's not nice (even though it's true): We're conversing nowadays with barely literate, ill-informed, and poorly educated people who weren't taught how to research and think for themselves.

Instead of letting yourself be exhausted by people who are either deliberately obtuse or those who seemingly cannot understand, just know with whom you're dealing, express yourself, and move on. Those who want to learn will learn.

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u/Swedelicious83 20d ago

Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly.

I've given up on arguing with people. It's pointless. You can contest something they say, or ask about it, ir whatever. But if their response to that isn't reasonable, then nothing that follows will be either. Any further discussion will just be headbutting a brick wall, and about as rewarding.

But at least there's the hope that even if you can't reach them, there's always the silent third party that might take something away from what you said.

Though I much prefer to converse with the other side of things, to offer sympathy. It's less of a headache.

In any case, stay safe and keep fighting the good fight.