Hi, all.

As should be news to no one, polarization and animosity between conservatives and liberals is at one of its all-time highs in America right now. There’s even talk of a second civil war looming. Obviously, there are strong passions and convictions on both sides, and people on both sides have claimed that the other is a grave threat to the integrity of the nation itself. I’m familiar with the views and concerns of my own side: we view Donald Trump’s (and his allies’ and supporters’) statements and actions as being an attack on the democratic process that defines our nation, and are worried that the strategies and tactics he and they are employing will make future elections farcical, paving the way for an authoritarian state (a dictatorship). I am less familiar with why conservatives feel Democrats and liberals are a threat to the nation and its integrity in similar fashion. My best guess is that conservatives buy Trump’s assertions that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, and thus might have similar fears as liberals do, but I also get the sense conservatives have deeper, older concerns than this, and that Trump was/is viewed as a solution to them.

Can you please try to articulate here what those fears are? And, to any liberals reading this, please refrain from answering in conservatives’ stead. I’m interested in their opinions, not your opinions of their opinions.

  • @[email protected]
    0•11 months ago

    A huge amount of laws are enforced not particularly because of the crime itself, but rather because someone wants to prosecute the person who happened to commit the crime.

    Uhh, this is kinda weird. I’m just going to say okay. Someone wants to prosecute a person who happened to commit a crime. Sure. But the person also committed a crime that can be prosecuted. What is the reason they shouldn’t be prosecuted? Why should the potential criminal just be let off because it looks like they’re being targeted?

    It’s the difference between Trump’s several indictments and Jim Jordan’s vendetta against Fani Willis inr response. The former are driven by the crimes committed by a particular person while the latter is a weak attempt to find something problematic to derail the prosecution of Trump. Fani Willis wasn’t on anyone’s radar until she indicted Trump, and only now is Jordan initiating a probe.

    To the right, there’s an attitude that people should be keeping much more of what they earn, even if someone else might use it better.

    Oof. Yes, I like this. I’ll keep this in mind going forward. Thank you.