posted ago by acasper ago by acasper +3 / -0

I am seeing a lot of conversation about what we are against. This is important dialogue but the heart of a movement is always in what it stands for. If we allow what we are against to define us they live in our heads rent free. What do we stand FOR?

Comments (12)
sorted by:
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
2
acasper [S] 2 points ago +2 / -0

Hey I appreciate this! Trump stands for an opposition to much of the status quo to me. In no way do I blindly support any politician and that includes Trump. He demonstrated that he aligned with my ideals when he promoted American exceptionalism and reshoring industry. I especially appreciated the restraint with which he handled many situations most recently the transition of power to Biden and the use of federal forces in policing matters around riots and health matters around covid over the last year. He could have behaved like a dictator and even as the media called him a dictator he refused to do so. Those actions exposed the hypocrisy of our opposition in the moment and will continue to do so as we move forward (states now trying to depoliticize covid, prevent violent rioting, etc).

Yes Trump was divisive, but what actually made him divisive? To a great degree I have found that it was a media that had a profit incentive to portray him as a divisive politician. There are many instances of this that persist to this day and are clearly part of a cohesive and dictated narrative that stems from technocrats who have no ideology except a willingness to do anything to accumulate power. My favorite example is the claim that Trump is a white supremacist racist who hates people of color. He is not and was not. I’d love to hear your perspective on this specifically as you mentioned it in your original comment.

Much of my support of Trump stemmed from a respect of his willingness to call out the hypocrisy of narratives like “Voter ID is Exclusionary” for what they were and are. Identitarian Pandering. People of all colors can get an ID. They know where the DMV is. They need a drivers license just like everyone else. Another favorite of mine was “Immigration is Good” while entirely disregarding the balance that exists in any society and the obviously detrimental impact of illegal immigration on citizens and the immigrants themselves. Illegal immigration serves to increase the power of technocrats by allowing them to subvert the free market of labor through threats of deportation. Preventing illegal immigration prevents their ability to do so. What is being proposed currently around mass naturalization is something that I am in support of in spirit. That being said, if we’re going to mass naturalize we need to prevent the illegal immigration before doing so and subject those being naturalize to a reasonable scrutiny of their actions. Take the opportunity to pilot a new immigration model that can be incrementally improved and implemented at our borders.

I do find it telling that you didn’t ask me what I believe in personally and instead seemed to frame me, as a user of TDW, as a Trump Sycophant which I am most definitely not. I question your motives for participating in this community but fully acknowledge your right to be here and question mine as well.

0
mynewhat 0 points ago +1 / -1

Yes Trump was divisive, but what actually made him divisive?

Here are individual tweets from Trump, no media translating or interfering:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DknGZs6WsAA16Gq.jpg

https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/8D06/production/_91220163_453f96c2-724e-4dfa-9653-73deb8c3ea55.png

https://static.politico.com/6e/c8/c81da1e744cca36005fc0b094f29/150911-trump-tweet-screenshot-1160.jpg

https://i.insider.com/59dd308092406c2a008b5965?width=750&format=jpeg&auto=webp

Before we go down the other routes, I'm curious if you could read these and still come away feeling that Trump's behavior wasn't the divisive element in play here and still pin it on the "media." Because I think that's a really easy out for people to not own up to the fact that he's a pretty despicable person in general.

1
acasper [S] 1 point ago +1 / -0

I looked at all of them. He said those things. I don’t have a problem with him saying any of them. I also noticed that only the first image includes tweets from during his presidency. How about you answer my questions now. This is a dialogue after all and I feel like you’re trying to “deradicalize” using the Socratic Method. You’re doing it wrong though. Argumentation is a collaborative exercise. Implicit in argumentation is a questioning of your own pre-suppositions. I again question your motives and call you out for not arguing a position in good faith but instead arguing against your own construct while trying to prove your hypothesis with manipulative tactics as opposed to attempting to disprove it.