Right wing nuts thread (7 Viewers)

Users who are viewing this thread

    You've provided no evidence at all.

    Easily verifiable with a simple google search. I apologize for using facts, instead of anecdotal stories and assuming you can type www.google.com

    Bankruptcy discharge - https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/history-of-student-loans-bankruptcy-discharge

    Cohort data - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-...hood-today-compares-with-prior-generations-2/

    You should also remember purchasing power when talking about wealth. That 44k today isn't what it was in the 70's.

    LA - LA. said:
    You don't see the internal contradiction of those two statements?

    People are individual people who respond and react to the same major shared events in very different ways, because they are unique, complex individuals
    LA - LA. said:
    Did we all get shaped and turn out the same way from COVID? We obviously didn't. My grandparents lived through the Great Depression. Some were very miserly and stingy and the others were overly generous. Two very different individual outcomes to the same shared experience.


    That is the fundamental flaw in the idea that one's birth generation is a significant indicator and predictor of how an individual will be. It also makes the false assumption that the people in each generation have universally unique traits from the people of other generations. Every generation has every kind of people as far as behavioral traits and values, because like you very accurately stated "people are people."

    Generations, particularly blaming generations, is just another manifestation of tribalism used to keep us divided and squabbling with each other instead of unifying against the foundation of all inequity and inequality, the systemic perpetuation of caste/class systems. Don't eat the cheese, it's toxic and only does harm.

    You are essentially trying to make this argument.


    We can agree to disagree that you can lump together individuals born in the same period, and make comparisons about wealth, voting patterns, and race. That seems extremely rational and sane to me.

    P.S. Joe Biden has a MIXED history with student loans. You should do some more reading.

    P.S.S. There is some serious thin skin on this board regarding this topic. We can talk about race all day long, but you start talking about dividing people up by age? Whoa buddy, how dare you.

    Please for the love of god, stop with the anecdotal stories. If you can't handle a conversations about demographics without getting all up in your feelings. Fine, just ignore the post and move on. This should not be triggering.
     
    Last edited:
    And guess which "generation" is actually going to amass the most wealth? Hint, it isn't the "Boomers."

    This seems to be a bit of a tangent to this thread, but I think this particular stat is a bit misleading in this context, given that a key reason that the millennials are poised to become the richest generation over the next 20 years is that they - well, some of them - are going to inherit it from the boomers and silent generation.

    Does sharing the wealth - patchily - between generations really count when it's happening because they can't take it with them?
     
    Blame. It is always easier to blame someone else for one’s problems because humans are immersed in various systems that evolved over time to become the drivers of how problems are viewed and dealt with.

    The so-called Boomers came of age in a time of extreme social conflict particularly in the West as a whole and in this country in particular. The lenses which must be used to examine this are anthropology, sociology and psychology. Historical records are simply data which were recorded by humans that had biases based upon the times at which they came to exist, matured and became data recorders. This has been the process since historical records came to exist. There is also the idea of “winners write the history” an excellent example of which is “we defeated the Nazis” when the Soviets had much more to do with that.

    History is a record of dynamic events caused by and impacting power holders.

    As for Boomer greed? Are Bezos, Musk, Gates Boomers? What about Zuckerberg? How about Evan Speigel?

    Technology has made the most impact on humans in the last 40 years. Actions of humans long dead created the societal laws, regulations, rules, mores and theomythologies that continue to be the road that we all run on or the hamster wheel we run in if you prefer. Look at the changes that occurred in political economy during the 1950’s through the 1970’s and see what upheaval that was. Look how some Gen-Xers, Gen-Yers, Millenials and Gen-Zers are trying to drag the country backwards. The have gotten elected to congress. They form companies that are reactionary in nature. They utilize social media created by people in those same age groups to push reactionary ideas.

    There is an enormous amount of blame to go around. It is inherent in the psyche to blame those who came before while ignoring or downplaying themselves.
     
    Please for the love of god, stop with the anecdotal stories. If you can't handle a conversations about demographics without getting all up in your feelings. Fine, just ignore the post and move on. This should not be triggering.
    When you make assumptions about inherent traits of any group it is triggering. Try going to a group of black people and telling them that black people are lazy and see how that goes. Saying that boomers are selfish is just a shallow idea, which you refute yourself when you say people are just people. I totally agree with that. People are just people and not much has changed since the Middle Ages as far as human personality traits. There are roughly equal numbers of good and bad, selfish and altruistic, whatever trait you care to mention, between generations. This idea that generations share inherent traits is pretty ridiculous and is the sociological version of astrology.

    You didn’t provide any facts, just opinions, so I didn’t feel I had to provide facts to argue against your proffering. My response was “in kind” with yours, in that we both were offering opinions. So it’s pretty odd that you attack my response. Speaking of thin skin….
     
    wasn't sure where to put this
    ===================
    They want our rhythm, but not our blues.

    I say that a lot in my writing because a lot of my writing highlights the many ways in which (some) white people trip over themselves to co-opt and flat-out steal ideas, phrases, content, dances, music, and anything else Black people have. It is a founding principle of this country; it began with the enslavement and forced labor/wage theft of Black people in the 1600s.

    These days, it takes on forms both big and “small” (small is doing a lot, from commercial ad campaigns for skincare companies to Keith Olbermann running the phrase “Bye, Felicia” into the ground to the author who gets a huge book contract writing stories about predominantly Black characters using stereotypical Black tropes — and it’s later revealed she’s a white woman (she tried to explain herself, but …).

    Marjorie Taylor Greene showing up to the State of the Union address on Thursday evening wearing full MAGA regalia and a T-shirt with “Say Her Name” emblazoned across the front is the latest example of white people going too far when it comes to stealing things from Black people.

    #SayHerName was coined in 2015 by Kimberlé Crenshaw — co-founder and executive director of the African American Policy Institute. Crenshaw, who is a civil rights activist and law professor, coined the phrase after the “mysterious” death of Sandra Bland — a Black woman motorist who died under suspicious circumstances while in police custody after a questionable traffic stop in Texas.

    Crenshaw told the Associated Press this week that the point behind #SayHerName was to “break the silence around Black women, girls, and femmes whose lives have been taken by police.”

    Marjorie Taylor Greene wasn’t wearing her shirt to uplift the name of a Black woman, however. She was wearing it to further politicize the death of nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed in Georgia. The undocumented status of the man accused of killing her has become a hot-button talking point for those on the right who want to criticize President Joe Biden and his border policies.

    Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn’t really care about Lakin Riley. She is using Lakin’s unfortunate and undeserved death as a prop in her political agenda. It is less about the killing of a young college student than it is about “owning” Joe Biden and making this tragic situation into a contrived statement about the need for more border security.

    Lakin Riley absolutely deserves justice, as does her family; I am not here to diminish that.

    The #SayHerName hashtag, however, was not created for women who look like Lakin, nor was it created for women who die under the types of circumstances under which Lakin’s life was taken.

    White women’s deaths don’t go unanswered or unattended in the same way the deaths of Black women do. White women get all the attention in the media. Yes, Lakin’s story should be heard, but it should not be at the expense of the untold number of Black women’s stories that go unheard.

    Black women are one of the most marginalized groups of people in the United States. We are overlooked, underprotected, unheard, mistreated and misunderstood in so many aspects of American life that simply existing on a daily basis can be an exhausting effort.

    Our needs go unmet. Our cries go unheard. Our humanity is repeatedly overlooked.

    So when Marjorie Taylor Greene co-opts the #SayHerName hashtag for the political optics of it all, it diminishes the true purpose of the hashtag, and it is especially insulting because people like Marjorie Taylor Greene are the kinds of folks who objected to us using or having the hashtag in the first place.

    We were criticized for using it in reference to Black women killed by police, but there’s nothing wrong with using it to make the killing of a young white woman a statement on border security policies.

    As Crenshaw said in a statement to AP, “Everywhere, we see the appropriation of progressive and inclusionary concepts in an effort to devalue, distort and suppress the movements they have been created to advance. When most people only hear about these ideas from those that seek to repurpose and debase them, then our ability to speak truth to power is further restricted.”..................



     
    Texas Governor Greg Abbott's warning to musicians who have pulled out of the South by Southwest festival (SXSW) over the U.S. Army's sponsorship could put the festival's economic impact of $300 million at risk.

    The internationally recognized festival brings thousands of visitors to Austin each March, showcasing music, film and interactive media. This year's festival is running through Saturday and includes live panels and special events.

    In 2023, SXSW brought in $380.9 million of spending activity to Austin, surpassing even pre-pandemic numbers, according to an analysis by Greyhill Advisors.

    On Tuesday, musicians including Kneecap, Lambrini Girls, Scowl, Gel, Okay Shalom, Squirrel Flower and Sprints began pulling out of SXSW in protest of the U.S. Army's sponsorship amid heightened tensions in the U.S. and around the world due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The musicians have cited the U.S Army's role amid the conflict as the U.S. has provided strong support and military aid to Israel following Hamas' October 7 attacks.

    Abbott criticized the musicians in a post on X, formerly Twitter, warning them "don't come back" to the state.

    "Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship. Bye. Don't come back. Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command. San Antonio is Military City USA. We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas. If you don't like it, don't come here," Abbott wrote.

    There are concerns that the governor's warning could put the revenue that the festival brings in each year at risk. Newsweek has reached out to Abbott's office and SXSW via email for comment.

    "SXSW does not agree with Governor Abbott," SXSW wrote on X. "We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech. Across the globe, we are witnessing unspeakable tragedies, the rise of repressive regimes, and the increasing spread of violent conflict. It's more crucial than ever that we come together to solve these greater humanitarian issues."

    After a two-year pause in the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event's impact on the Austin economy in 2022 totaled $280.7 million, according to SXSW, as it typically attracts over 300,000 people each year...........


     
    ENID, Okla. — The photo of Judd Blevins was unmistakable.

    In it, Blevins, bearded and heavyset, held a tiki torch on the University of Virginia campus, on the eve of Unite the Right, a 2017 coming-together of the nation’s neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups.

    Connie Vickers had found the photo online along with others showing Blevins marching alongside an angry mob — a crowd of men recorded throughout the night spitting and shouting “Jews will not replace us!” Vickers had it enlarged at a local print and copy shop.

    On a January night in 2023, she and Nancy Presnall, best friends, retirees and rare Democrats in a deeply red Oklahoma county, brought it to a sparsely attended forum where Blevins, a candidate running to represent Ward 1 on Enid’s six-seat City Council, was making his case.

    They had hoped to get a question in while Blevins was on stage, but settled for confronting him after.

    Hearts pumping, Presnall and Vickers approached the 41-year-old former Marine. From a kitchen trash bag, Vickers pulled out the blown-up photo of Blevins and asked about his ties to white nationalists.

    As his campaign manager whisked a red-faced Blevins away, Vickers and Presnall followed, yelling, “Answer the question, Judd!”

    “He ran away from two little old ladies,” Presnall recalled.

    Two weeks later, on Valentine’s Day, Blevins won his race, unseating the Republican incumbent, widely viewed as a devoted public servant, who died from cancer later that year. Voters seemed to appreciate Blevins’ bio: a veteran who’d served in Iraq and who’d worked a manual job in Tulsa before moving back to his hometown to take over his father’s roofing business. Blevins described himself as a man of God and extolled the city as a place where “traditional values” remained the norm.

    The message resounded in Enid, a city nearly 100 miles north of Oklahoma City with just over 50,000 people. In 1980, more than 90% of the area's residents were white; now less than 3 in 4 are. Enid is both one of the country’s most quickly diversifying places and one of the most conservative, where residents describe the ever-present whirring of jets from nearby Vance Air Force Base as “the sound of freedom.”

    It’s not clear how many voters knew about Blevins’ white nationalist ties. There was an article in the local paper, which Blevins labeled “a hit piece,” but beyond the confrontation with Vickers and Presnall, it just wasn’t talked about. Blevins wasn’t asked about it at campaign events or forums and his opponent never brought it up.

    But a white nationalist campaigning for office is one thing; his election is another. And Blevins’ win didn’t sit well with many in Enid. It marked the beginning of a fight to expel Blevins from the City Council — a fight for the very soul of Enid that would unite a coalition of its most progressive residents, divide its conservatives and show the power of community organizing.

    Over the next year, grandmothers would be branded antifa radicals, local organizers would be accused of attempted murder, and a national white power movement would stake its claim on the City Council. And for a growing number of state and local governments confronting extremism in their ranks, the outcome of that fight — Blevins’ recall election on April 2 — will serve either as a model or a warning.............


    1710352383509.png
     
    ENID, Okla. — The photo of Judd Blevins was unmistakable.

    In it, Blevins, bearded and heavyset, held a tiki torch on the University of Virginia campus, on the eve of Unite the Right, a 2017 coming-together of the nation’s neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups.

    Connie Vickers had found the photo online along with others showing Blevins marching alongside an angry mob — a crowd of men recorded throughout the night spitting and shouting “Jews will not replace us!” Vickers had it enlarged at a local print and copy shop.

    On a January night in 2023, she and Nancy Presnall, best friends, retirees and rare Democrats in a deeply red Oklahoma county, brought it to a sparsely attended forum where Blevins, a candidate running to represent Ward 1 on Enid’s six-seat City Council, was making his case.

    They had hoped to get a question in while Blevins was on stage, but settled for confronting him after.

    Hearts pumping, Presnall and Vickers approached the 41-year-old former Marine. From a kitchen trash bag, Vickers pulled out the blown-up photo of Blevins and asked about his ties to white nationalists.

    As his campaign manager whisked a red-faced Blevins away, Vickers and Presnall followed, yelling, “Answer the question, Judd!”

    “He ran away from two little old ladies,” Presnall recalled.

    Two weeks later, on Valentine’s Day, Blevins won his race, unseating the Republican incumbent, widely viewed as a devoted public servant, who died from cancer later that year. Voters seemed to appreciate Blevins’ bio: a veteran who’d served in Iraq and who’d worked a manual job in Tulsa before moving back to his hometown to take over his father’s roofing business. Blevins described himself as a man of God and extolled the city as a place where “traditional values” remained the norm.

    The message resounded in Enid, a city nearly 100 miles north of Oklahoma City with just over 50,000 people. In 1980, more than 90% of the area's residents were white; now less than 3 in 4 are. Enid is both one of the country’s most quickly diversifying places and one of the most conservative, where residents describe the ever-present whirring of jets from nearby Vance Air Force Base as “the sound of freedom.”

    It’s not clear how many voters knew about Blevins’ white nationalist ties. There was an article in the local paper, which Blevins labeled “a hit piece,” but beyond the confrontation with Vickers and Presnall, it just wasn’t talked about. Blevins wasn’t asked about it at campaign events or forums and his opponent never brought it up.

    But a white nationalist campaigning for office is one thing; his election is another. And Blevins’ win didn’t sit well with many in Enid. It marked the beginning of a fight to expel Blevins from the City Council — a fight for the very soul of Enid that would unite a coalition of its most progressive residents, divide its conservatives and show the power of community organizing.

    Over the next year, grandmothers would be branded antifa radicals, local organizers would be accused of attempted murder, and a national white power movement would stake its claim on the City Council. And for a growing number of state and local governments confronting extremism in their ranks, the outcome of that fight — Blevins’ recall election on April 2 — will serve either as a model or a warning.............


    1710352383509.png

    I wish I had more confidence that he'd be punted.
     
    Texas Governor Greg Abbott's warning to musicians who have pulled out of the South by Southwest festival (SXSW) over the U.S. Army's sponsorship could put the festival's economic impact of $300 million at risk.

    The internationally recognized festival brings thousands of visitors to Austin each March, showcasing music, film and interactive media. This year's festival is running through Saturday and includes live panels and special events.

    In 2023, SXSW brought in $380.9 million of spending activity to Austin, surpassing even pre-pandemic numbers, according to an analysis by Greyhill Advisors.

    On Tuesday, musicians including Kneecap, Lambrini Girls, Scowl, Gel, Okay Shalom, Squirrel Flower and Sprints began pulling out of SXSW in protest of the U.S. Army's sponsorship amid heightened tensions in the U.S. and around the world due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. The musicians have cited the U.S Army's role amid the conflict as the U.S. has provided strong support and military aid to Israel following Hamas' October 7 attacks.

    Abbott criticized the musicians in a post on X, formerly Twitter, warning them "don't come back" to the state.

    "Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship. Bye. Don't come back. Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command. San Antonio is Military City USA. We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas. If you don't like it, don't come here," Abbott wrote.

    There are concerns that the governor's warning could put the revenue that the festival brings in each year at risk. Newsweek has reached out to Abbott's office and SXSW via email for comment.

    "SXSW does not agree with Governor Abbott," SXSW wrote on X. "We are an organization that welcomes diverse viewpoints. Music is the soul of SXSW, and it has long been our legacy. We fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech. Across the globe, we are witnessing unspeakable tragedies, the rise of repressive regimes, and the increasing spread of violent conflict. It's more crucial than ever that we come together to solve these greater humanitarian issues."

    After a two-year pause in the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event's impact on the Austin economy in 2022 totaled $280.7 million, according to SXSW, as it typically attracts over 300,000 people each year...........



    Rs love the First Amendment until someone uses it to say something they don’t like. Then they pitch a hissy fit.
     
    This seems to be a bit of a tangent to this thread, but I think this particular stat is a bit misleading in this context, given that a key reason that the millennials are poised to become the richest generation over the next 20 years is that they - well, some of them - are going to inherit it from the boomers and silent generation.

    Does sharing the wealth - patchily - between generations really count when it's happening because they can't take it with them?
    This is how boomers got their wealth, largely, yet we still see them being touted as “wealthy” when they got their money the exact same way. Not seeing the misleading bit here.
     
    And then also today, a sitting governor made and released a commercial for an out-of-state dental clinic on social media.

     
    And then also today, a sitting governor made and released a commercial for an out-of-state dental clinic on social media.


    Easy way to see if she can move the needle outside of the Dakotas
     

    Create an account or login to comment

    You must be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create account

    Create an account on our community. It's easy!

    Log in

    Already have an account? Log in here.

    Advertisement

    General News Feed

    Fact Checkers News Feed

    Sponsored

    Back
    Top Bottom