Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
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The rest of world never sees the poor and desperate America, they mostly stay in the decently rich bits of New York or California, and have no idea what a "food desert" is.
@quinn or if they do manage to bumble their way into one, nobody back home believes them about how they exist.
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@quinn or if they do manage to bumble their way into one, nobody back home believes them about how they exist.
@genehack fuckin true man
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The rest of world never sees the poor and desperate America, they mostly stay in the decently rich bits of New York or California, and have no idea what a "food desert" is.
I often cite this article you wrote in 2013 to show the dark side of the U.S..
I guess things are even worse, now.https://medium.com/quinn-norton/the-values-of-money-f3db7e13e6e3
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@quinn It sounds like India, but kind of reversed. The rest of the world doesn’t often see the amount of wealth flying around in Indian cities, right next to the slums.
@samir there's a lot of similarities! But reversed global reputations. Though Indian healthcare isn't as completely deranged as American healthcare.
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The rest of world never sees the poor and desperate America, they mostly stay in the decently rich bits of New York or California, and have no idea what a "food desert" is.
@quinn Hollywood plays a big part too.
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@samir there's a lot of similarities! But reversed global reputations. Though Indian healthcare isn't as completely deranged as American healthcare.
@quinn Nowhere is, but it’s still fucked in different ways.
You have enlightened me.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn IIRC it was Republicans in the 1970s who decided that an educated population would be too much of a hassle (and not likely to vote conservative)?
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@CapitalB you really don't. Unless you get out of tourist America and really talk to people about their lives, you have no idea.
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@quinn IIRC it was Republicans in the 1970s who decided that an educated population would be too much of a hassle (and not likely to vote conservative)?
@floe there's not really a moment like that. Recall that we leaned in on slavery until it caused one of, if not the, most bloody pre modern wars. Poverty and enslavement are our original sins.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn I... honestly don't even think Europe is much better than that, it varies by country but as a subcontinent we're pretty much only ever a few years away from the US with regards to how bad shit is politically
If anything I often feel Americans are more compassionate, less passive, more willing to fight for their and their communities' lives
In my part of the world at least people have given up and are just willing to roll over for anyone who comes in with a bit of power because hey, if you lick the boot maybe it won't kick you? (it invariably does)
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn For me, the reason that is hard to understand is that information is easily obtainable if looking outside. However it seems more like an unwillingness of many (not all I know ofc) to do so, so they actively choose the gaslighting.
And yes, this also happens in my country and Europe among some groups. -
@NickSchwanck @quinn That's part of it though. We're brought up from early childhood on to act this way — that not doing so is bad even. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people believe it even at the same time as they go completely bankrupt and have to use the kids' college fund to pay for a single medical emergency, but in other words it's all part of the same trick.
People are raised to be ignorant and anything that tries to correct this is systematically destroyed.
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@NickSchwanck @quinn That's part of it though. We're brought up from early childhood on to act this way — that not doing so is bad even. Don't get me wrong, a lot of people believe it even at the same time as they go completely bankrupt and have to use the kids' college fund to pay for a single medical emergency, but in other words it's all part of the same trick.
People are raised to be ignorant and anything that tries to correct this is systematically destroyed.
@NickSchwanck @quinn I wish I could find an old cartoon I saw online once. It has two plants that are exactly the same in pots that are exactly the same and one says to the other "I'm so glad I was born in *this* pot and not *that* pot."
It took them a long time to get us to that point. Try not to hate the ignorant fools too much. They're fools, but it took a whole system to get them there.
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@quinn Hollywood plays a big part too.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn I do have to say that some Europeans have some of the same issues. Brexit immediately springs to mind. They definitely lag behind us in the sheer self destruction, self hate, etc this society has built up, but there are a lot of "elites" trying very hard to do this same stuff everywhere.
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@NickSchwanck @quinn It's very hard to put into words. We all grow up here in a system that continuously every single day all day for all our lives gaslights and lies to us, telling us evil is good and good is evil, hate is love and love is hate, etc etc. A whole Orwellian nightmare. We're taught from day one not to recognize or accept this system for what it is despite all the warnings (we're supposed to reject the warners as biased.)
As I said, it's a whole system.
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@NickSchwanck @quinn The deadly dangerous power of mainstream media simply can't be understated can it? And, by the same token, a lot of social media as well. Facebook and now X are particularly dangerous for doing this same stuff to people.
Some of this comes down to human nature. If a person is saturated with this stuff and they've grown up taught not to think for themselves, then it tells them how to think and it works.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
"money and power pump for a tiny elite class"
I think it’s not much different in some European countries, such as Germany. At the very least, things are moving in the same direction.
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Europeans don't, maybe sometimes can't, understand the absolute crushing pressure and gaslighting that most Americans are put through to make us the way we are.
It's a decades long effort to turn most of the population into a money and power pump for a tiny elite class, all while grinding us into dust.
We're crazy and scared all the time, and have no idea what's going on in the rest of the world.
There's a reason dying of opiates seemed like a rational choice to a lot of people.
@quinn Imperialism is a cold mother
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"money and power pump for a tiny elite class"
I think it’s not much different in some European countries, such as Germany. At the very least, things are moving in the same direction.
@aerofreak @quinn Oh yes. The whole world is turning right. Pretty hard, I might add. Everything with empathy, care, or equal rights is being marked a target.
