fwiw: "You all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern Missouri..."

[steve2470]

Link to tweet

original thread by RadioFreeTom:

Link to tweet

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1297184349897490432.html (for easier reading)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. So, they think we're weak.

Wait till we beat their asses into the ground in November.

A hard rain's gonna fall, someone sang once. It's a good thought.

[abakan]

24. Bob Dylan...nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

29. Thank you! I couldn't remember. n/t

[abakan]

30. I'm a life long fan

I know almost all the words to his songs. I'll be glad to help anytime.
I really admire you and your posts.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

31. Aw......thank you so much, my dear abakan!

I appreciate your kindness.

[mountain grammy]

68. Kindness is what they hate

Let’s kill em with it. And like you said, beat their asses November 3rd.

[MyOwnPeace]

78. Hey you two!!!!!

abakan / California Peggy - STOP THAT!!!!

That's being kind, understanding, culturally aware. You KNOW they HATE THAT!!!!!!

[abakan]

85. good let's see more of it.

Thanks

[Star-Thrower]

95. I saw him live

six times all with front row seats. At one of them I yelled "I LOVE BOB DYLAN" and he actually winked at me. Been a fan since his very first album.

[Nasruddin]

48. No

It's a glorification of sociopathy. It's rampant in our culture.

Look at the movie heroes or the characters in pop songs:
rule breakers, jackasses, lone wolves, massively murderous destructives, cons, gold diggers, cheaters who win out in the end
(I like a good adventure movie as much as anyone but I know it's fiction)
For the richer and more urban, you have your wolves of wall street & your urban gangstas.
Our culture (our popular culture) does NOT glorify people who help others, work hard, fix things that are broken, to anything approaching the degree it glorifies jackasses. This wasn't always the case, even with right wing material. Think of the movie The Fountainhead.

Some of these wannabe-sociopaths do fear that they themselves are weak. Not all of them.
How they think about other people is not clear (probably not as "other people", but I can't say). They are definitely not their tribe so it doesn't much matter what happens to them, as long as they are seen to be losing.

[parhelion]

102. Great summation!

This is a perfect summation of what I have been thinking and trying to understand and express lately. I have a very difficult time trying to grasp the overall social and cultural climate that has created and nurtured these sociopathic Trump cultists. The ends justify the means for them, and the dumbing down and degradation of our culture was a calculated strategy that has worked all too well for the moneyed elite. No egregious incompetence or blatant plethora of lies and deception from their dear leader matters, so long as he continues to back their “bullying the liberals“ ideology. It’s all about the support for their inferiority complex, deep-seated racism and sociopathy wrapped in a flag. The cultural decline that has deified the bully, cheater, con and “gangsta” is at the root of the slide into fascism we are facing.

[Volaris]

50. And then start putting their clan really leaders in prison.

And then if they have to break down and cry, we can just laugh at them for their 'weakness'.

They're only looked down upon when they act like lowlife deplorables. They want to vote for less shit for themselves and more shit for rich assholes who really do look down on them, fine by me. But you dont get to act all butt hurt if we think that's stupid (because objectively IT IS) and call you on it.

Dumbasses.

[certainot]

58. weak means uncertain to them. authoritarianism is measured with the Uncertainty Avoidance Index

they have a problem with people who are not bothered by uncertainty, don't have to be right, who won't conform, don't have to win, can tolerate differences, and disorder, etc. authoritarians have more sex on the wrong brain, which can create an irrational need for certainty. the inability to handle uncertainty means authoritarians are more fearful than liberals and they make up for it by creating certainty - by simplifying everything and reducing to absolutes so they can judge with good evil, right wrong, winner loser, black white.

creating certainty requires rationalization and denial and that's about the only time someone like trump uses the creative side of the brain. that's when trapped sex energy can finally escape to the pleasure centers, so it feels good to lie and hurt people

[Star-Thrower]

93. And what'll you do now

my blue-eyed son? And what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin'
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest dark forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
And the executioner's face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I'll tell and speak it and think it and breathe it
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it
And I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin'
But I'll know my song well before I start singin'
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall

[CaliforniaPeggy]

94. Thank you so much, my dear Star-Thrower!

Those are wonderful lyrics. I hadn't seen them before.

[Star-Thrower]

96. Thank you

Dylan was definitely ahead of his time in virtually all of his songs. He's a national hero and a 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37643621

[CaliforniaPeggy]

100. What a fascinating article! So much I didn't know about him.

I just scanned it now and will return to get further into its depths.

[Yavin4]

2. There are clusters of Americans that are not worth reaching.

The status of these people in Ozarks are raised because they're White and are considered a priority over the millions of Americans who live in densely populated urban areas and suburban areas. They don't count. Ozark rednecks do. Fuck that.

States like CA, NY, ILL, VA, and Mass have amazing cities, industries, and universities, etc. What is America without Silicon Valley, Hollywood, The Ivy League, Univ. of Chicago, Stanford, and yes, the global financial services industries. Without these, America would be a global backwater full of ignorant people like those in this Ozark town. More than likely we would be invaded and occupied by some foreign nation.

If these people want to wallow in their ignorance, so be it. The rest of us, the vast majority, want, and deserve, better for ourselves and our children.

[yardwork]

13. There are a lot of great universities in southern states too.

Lots of good smart kind people here in the south, too.

[Yavin4]

15. Some yes, but they're not globally renowned like those in Mass, CA, NY, and Ill

Not to be a snob, but it's the truth. I didn't attend any of these elite universities, but I do understand their global appeal.

[yardwork]

20. You are misinformed.

Google Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt University, Rice University, and many others.

[AdamGG]

25. There's blue bubbles around those universities

and some rural red bubbles in blue states.

[DBoon]

74. They have more in common with highly educated areas in other states

than with the willfully ignorant populations surrounding them.

While strong universities and kind smart people are everywhere (and deserve to be supported everywhere) unfortunately there are not enough of them to change the political culture of some states.

[onetexan]

97. In the larger, urban cities, yes. @the Ozarks it's mostly rural

[onetexan]

92. Next weekend we're about to go visit my inlaws who live @the foothills of the Ozarks

a small town north of Little Rock, AR. They're 2 retired doctors living on a ranch raising horses. They tell me most everyone around them are Catholics whose families have lived in that area farming their land for over a hundred years. There is very little diversity, if any, and few people venture outside of their small community. If they do, it would be the young people who leave for college & jobs. The lack of diversity is one problem. The grievance politics that they've been left behind is the other. Those 2 problems combined
breeds a culture of resentment and hate. In the summer of 2016 before the fateful general election there were Trump signs all over the area. Will be interesting this Saturday if they're as many given 45 has screwed over farmers.

[SamKnause]

3. Confused:

What does looked down up mean ???

I know what looked down upon means, but have never heard of looked down up.

[panader0]

8. It's the opposite of looking up and down. Down up, up down, in out, here there.

I lost my keys once and looked up and down for them, but never found them until I looked down up.
It really works.....

[dmr]

9. I'm sure it's just a typo

[Peregrine Took]

53. LOL - that's what I thought. Its a typo. They don't like being looked down UPON. n/t

[Me.]

4. Here's The Thing...We Actually Do Get It

We just don't agree with it. We ain't gotta understand anything.

[LakeArenal]

7. Exactly. Really felt like"mansplaining"

I got it. I get it. I have gotten it.
My mother is second youngest of 15. From Texarkana TX.

I not only get it. I have seen it. Heard it. Lived it.

God, also, is made in their image. Not the other way around.

[Blecht]

44. I think the target for the rant are people like those who write for the NY times editorial pages

David Brooks in a diner, Maureen Dowd in a cannabis stupor, etc.

They're always looking for reasons that are not there.

Economic anxiety -- LOL.

[Peregrine Took]

59. I still find it madly confounding as its antithetical to everything I was taught and beileve in.

Being a good person is something to be scorned, pathetic, mocked by your fellow man?

Mary Trump said in her book that Fred Trump believed this way, too. What a vile pack of wolves that clan was - except for Mary.

[Runningdawg]

5. I live an hour's drive away.

Plenty of the idiots over here in OK too. They don't care what Trump can do FOR them. They only care what he WILL do to their enemies. Praise Jesus and pass the ammo.

[smirkymonkey]

45. Well said!

These are people who are consumed with hatred and bitterness. They will never take responsibility for their own lives,which is why they so desperately need a big daddy to stick it to those who do.

[edhopper]

6. Fuck them!

They're not the people we need to reach.

[Liberal In Texas]

10. And that mindset comes from decades of listening to RW hate radio

while they're working in the shop or in the fields and then sitting down in front of the TV at night to watch Fox millionaires feed them more propaganda.

They probably barely made it through school, if they even did, and never learned things like critical thinking or that reading could be enjoyable.

[BComplex]

33. That's what is killing our democracy; hate radio, conspiracy tv.Fox, OANN, and Limbaugh.

[onetexan]

98. Bingo! The sooner Limpbiscuit is deepsixed by his cancer the better. One less RW foulmouth

polluting the airwaves.

[calimary]

34. Exactly and totally. Hate radio VALIDATED them.

As no one else and no one else ever did or ever has. But it’s for a very sorry reason.

The powers behind it see them only as marks - to be manipulated, used for building a power base, and cheated out of what little money they still have. Prey upon their hopes and dreads as they sink into minority status throughout America and really hate that fact. They hate it that they have to make room for “those” people and this is how they react. By clinging to the false prophets (or more accurately, false profits who tell them what they want to hear, and validate their pettiest grievances).

[LuvNewcastle]

75. A lot of the shit they hear on the radio

is stuff that they already believe. Limbaugh, Hannity, Alex Jones, Fox News, OANN, etc. tell them things that they already believe or things that they want to believe. Many of these beliefs come from radical Protestantism and secret societies.

The Q-Anon cult is growing because it says things about moderates and lefties that the radical fascist rednecks want to believe about them. Q-Anons want to be at war with anyone who is sane and who looks a politics in a rational way. They don't really care if it's true or not. As Trump says, "just say it and they will believe it." A lot of them know that prominent Democrats aren't child-molesting cannibals, but they know that plenty of others are stupid enough to believe it and that will be enough to bring them to war against liberals.

Q-Anons want civil war because they hate liberals so much and they love Trump because they believe he can bring it about. Just let Joe Biden win this election and watch Trump try to start it. For him and the Q-Anons, it will be now or never.

[The Genealogist]

11. I too live in the Ozarks, I know what that person is talking about

I live in the "queen city" of the Ozarks. Believe it or not, there are a handful of blue neighborhoods in town. Go out in the country 10, 15 miles and you better hope you don't make a wrong turn, lest some hillbilly appear with a gun cuz yer on his land. The radio dial is chock-a-block with right wing blather, so much so that there aren't enough hate radio programs to fill them all. The only thing that a lot of Trumpists in this area stand for is fuck the liberals. As long as someone to the left of Ronald Reagan is owned, they are happy. Bitter, angry, hateful people pissed at what amounts to caricatures.

[yardwork]

12. Toxic Americanism.

Our uniquely American myth about freedom arising from personal strength and independence - grounded in our nation's history of slavery and genocide - is our biggest weakness.

It's toxic for everybody, including those who supposedly are the pinnacle of strength and power, the white males who buy the myth. It's destroying them.

[Girard442]

51. No kidding. I was taking a tour of the website of the local paper where I grew up in the Bible Belt.

I decided to scan the obits because I'm weird that way. I was astonished to see how many people had died untimely deaths. Seems like an environment of hate and ignorance isn't particularly too healthy. Jesus said love thy neighbor as thyself. They haven't even gotten the thyself part right.

[Buckeyeblue]

14. What they don't understand is the Trump victory was just symbolic for them

They still live the miserable lives that they lived before. And they are still looked down upon, not because of where they live, but because of their devotion to ignorance. Hell, the man that they are voting for looks down on them. He has not done one single thing to help them. So if they are voting to piss of liberals, they are even more ignorant than I give them credit for.

[Nasruddin]

56. Not agreeing

I think you may have missed the point, or not fully grasped it yet.

They may, or may not be ignorant.
There are many who are very well read and very wery well informed. They still come to this conclusion, because it suits them.

The question really is, why does it suit them, & what is to be done about it?

[Buckeyeblue]

83. This is what I get from the article

Many of the Trump supporters are doing so out of spite. They resent the agenda--and maybe the supposed arrogance--of "liberals" because of some perceived slight.

I think if it comes down to anything it's racism. I grew up in southwest Ohio. It wasn't uncommon to hear white people express their racism behind closed doors. In very blatant terms. Some of the people I grew up with took up the worldview of their parents and some of us were able to shake free.

[dmr]

16. They won't mind giving up their Social Security checks, food stamps, clean air & water, NOAA, FDIC,

Weak, yet thoughtful and intelligent Americans designed and implemented programs, agencies, departments to benefit us all. Safe food to eat, safe skies, safe medications, safe working conditions, ... you get my drift.

I get it, decades of hate radio has demonized Democrats, and anything liberal. These people are unable to critical think.

The things they enjoy in life, and the things that make their lives easier and safer more than likely occurred because of a Democrat.

Go ahead and hate us, but they do it at their own peril.

[McCamy Taylor]

17. Meaning Trump's base are not the "rugged individualists"

that they claim to be. They are a bunch of whiny little teenagers who are all about "How can I impress other people?" Pathetic.

[Squinch]

18. I hope we are not going back to the endless shrill cries of, "You just don't understand the Trump

voter!"

Yes, we do understand the Trump voter. They are not that complicated.

We get that they're motivated by hate and ignorance and they resent us for looking down on them. And guess what? We do. They are so stupid that they voted for Trump. And then he screwed them and stole from them every way possible. And they're going to vote for him again. So yes. We look down on them. And will continue to. Because they are morons.

Yes, we get it. They are not able to be convinced. Yes. So let's not waste our brain space discussing the fact that they are not able to be convinced. Let's move on.

There are plenty who did not vote for Hillary and who we CAN get to this year. Let's go for voters who aren't in-bred, who have consciences, who CAN be reasoned with, who DO understand the forces that are making their lives so bleak right now.

[stopdiggin]

23. well put

I don't have time to waste on inbred hillbillies
(and, as a type, there are inbred hillbillies in pretty much every corner of the country)

[PirateRo]

19. Status. Thus is one if the best descriptions I've ever seen. Thank you!

This is why pointing a finger at them while laughing hysterically works so well.

It costs them status. Their flawed perception shows you revealing their own inadequacy in your laughter. Point and laugh. It’s the new interface, when all other interfaces fail.

[ismnotwasm]

21. Agree

Leave those people alone, unless they commit crimes, or you feel like telling them off for their bullshit.. They don’t give a shit. They are up here in Washington state as well. No minds will be changed.

I occasionally mess with them. It’s usually not worth it.

[stopdiggin]

22. pretty much gospel truth

and the largest truth of all -- don't waste any time trying to understand or "account" for it. The OP gets it right. It's a fool's errand.
----- -----

[Roc2020]

26. I don't agree. I think most

democrats and liberals 'get it'. We get 'it'. And now that we do get it we are going to come out in such a force in this election to make sure Trump and his supporters 'get it' and leave no doubt.

[MarcA]

27. More than a few destroyed their brains with booze and meth.

They live to hate. Some of them are dangerous and wear white collars.

[elias7]

28. They make America weak. In the world's eyes and in actuality.

They’re just too stupid to realize they’ve already lost to history.

[TheFarseer]

32. Yes

Agree 100% with this assessment. That’s why it’s more effective for this segment to portray Trump as a weak loser, which he is. You’ll never get them to vote blue but you might convince them both sides suck - don’t waste time voting.

[roamer65]

35. Let them rot in their rural hell.

Their rural areas are rotting. I regularly go into rural Michigan. It is dying at an ever faster rate.

[barbtries]

36. i tried to tell my friend this

but she didn't believe it.

[Collimator]

37. I think the point of the writer's narrative

is that there is no point in trying to argue with some people. One of my housemates mentioned that he has heard some people claiming the Michelle Obama is racist against white people. I barely looked up to respond.

He then apologized, "I know that you don't like to talk about politics. ." That isn't true and it certainly wasn't the case right then. It was such a groundless claim that I didn't see any point in refuting it. There are people in the world today who believe that the earth is flat, despite the abundance of evidence.

Some people are simply not worth my time. If they want to look down on me, they may be my guest. I know my own value and acknowledge my many flaws. Ongoing hate is its own punishment.

Life is short. Truth will out. Axioms and platitudes can be overused. Time to go.

[Mariana]

86. Truth will out

but it won't be believed by those who don't wish to believe it.

[Tommymac]

38. In other words 'They' are just ANIMALS. Where is the Gom Jabbar?

Might makes Right. Survival of the fittest. Brawn not brains. Violence. Hatred. Racism. Misogyny.

Well fuck all their ignorant lazy racist asses and may Covid take them to an early grave.

I loath willful ignorance.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

39. Thank you for posting this.

What an insightful statement about those people. And why there's no point in wasting any energy on trying to make them change their ignorant minds. I'm also pretty sure that overall they get far more government benefits than any comparable group of liberals. Pay less taxes, too. They probably think paying taxes is for suckers. I just wish they could get all of those benefits cut off. Oh, wait, pretty soon all those rural jerks will lose their mail service. That will do for a starter.

[BComplex]

40. Unfortunately, this thread has been pretty enlightening. I wish there was no market for

pandering to these idiots.

[rustysgurl]

41. I too lived in the Ozarks ...

... not far from the Queen City. My parents retired there when I was in high school. It was hell. The entire county was red... BLOOD red. Most of the Republican candidates ran unopposed in the general elections. Democrats didn't even bother to organize, and I don't remember one Democratic candidate EVER winning an elected office in that county.

People in these areas work hard for not much. They look at big city folks as soft, weak and entitled. They will disagree with them just to disagree. They love their guns, their churches and their independence. Some of them live on food stamps and other assistance, but they are looked down on by most of the folks around there. Jobs are few; decent paying jobs even fewer. Most farm, and then work a job to pay the bills. Some commute 40-75 miles one way to Springfield or Branson to work.

Life there is not easy. These people, while hard working, are resentful. They are resentful of big city folks who have more. They are resentful of liberals who want to give "handouts" to people who don't work as hard as they do. They especially don't want to help immigrants or anyone who doesn't look like them. True story. One of the factories in our small town brought in an engineer and his family from St Louis. They were black. They didn't last 6 months. They were shunned. Folks in the grocery stores wouldn't check them out. Restaurants wouldn't wait on them. People looked right through them, unless of course you are talking about the police, who (I kid you not) would stop the man at least once a week in town for one cockamamie vehicle violation or another. He packed up his family and went back to St Louis. I felt so sorry for them. But when I expressed my disgust at the unfairness, friends just shrugged and said, "that's the way we are."

Nothing, absolutely nothing, will convince these people that anyone running on the Democratic ticket is worthy of their vote. They revile Democrats, and I am sure the 8 years of the Obama presidency was absolute hell for them. Trump is their boy. He makes it ok for them to say what they've always thought, and he puts liberals in their places (or so they think). He could shoot their grandmothers and they would find a way to rationalize it. Him letting a bunch of black and brown people die in a pandemic doesn't affect them. Nothing he does affects them directly (or hasn't so far), so they don't care. They live in a very tiny sphere, and unless something affects them directly, they are content to let him do whatever he wants, as long as it's against Democrats. As the poster said ... they HATE Democrats and all they stand for. So anyone with an "R" next to their name is fine with them. He/She could be the world's worst, but they'd elect them anyway.

Going into these areas and trying to convince the citizens that they are voting against their own interests is akin to John Chau getting himself rowed over to the off-limits North Sentinel Island off the coast of India. He pretty much knew the outcome before he set foot on land, and anyone visiting Blood Red Missouri knows the same.

[Peregrine Took]

62. Biden wants to peel off some of these vile knuckleheads to vote for him...is it possible?

Are they impressed by his empathy and compassion towards others, his decency and civility?

Nope. Those are traits they find contemptible, even a joke to be scorned.

How do you even reach people like that who are so sick in their worldview?

62 million nimrods voted for him last time.

[Normanart]

64. Growing up in Kentucky

I could not get out of there fast enough. The OP and your comment pretty much sums it up. My signature line shows how I deal with it.

[matt819]

42. What about pockets of trump humpers in otherwise liberal places?

There's a house flying a keep america great tumpence flag. I looked up the guy. He's an executive for a national company with a large presence in the area. And a few houses down - on my road, btw - there's a don't tread on me flag. Apart from them, I don't know the politics of anyone on my road.

KKK country? I get it. In a blue pocket in a purple state? And a seemingly accomplished person at that? Is their goal only to fuck liberals? We really are living in two - at least - separate countries. Or one country that each of us views in very different terms. I guess they have to think they way they do or the cognitive dissonance (a liberal construct, probably) will make their heads explode.

[Mariana]

87. "Is their goal only to fuck liberals?"

Probably. If that person has been listening to right wing radio and Fox News Channel for years on end, I would say definitely. Accomplished people in liberal places aren't immune to propaganda.

[cayugafalls]

43. They will always be here. They hate. That's what they do. Programmed

To hate liberals by the constant barrage of Reich-wing media.

It is not going away anytime soon. We have to overcome it, drown them out. They are not the majority, we need to start shouting back in the darkness and stand up to the madness.

Let them wither and fall in November. The only way to beat them is to expose their hatred for all to see, rile them up, expose their sociopath behavior. Get them to look the camera in the lens and tell the truth. They hate.

Love will win it all. I believe that.

Vote.

[catbyte]

46. What a load. They've just been brainwashed by decades of rural right wing AM hate radio to think

that we "look down" on them. Even though many of them are the biggest "takers" of government largesse, they've bought into the toxic mix of willful ignorance, distrust of Democrats, bigotry, and hatred of "the other" that the likes of Limbaugh have drilled into them for decades. They've been successfully manipulated into voting against their own interests time and again because listening to those assholes makes them feel superior, not equal. And, seriously, there will be no reaching them until hate radio dies off and I don't see that happening any time soon.

What a clusterfuck.

[bucolic_frolic]

47. No different than rigid male minds everywhere - black and white world

authoritarian mindset iow

[Nasruddin]

57. Plenty of double-X's in the Trump mix, I'm afraid

[DinahMoeHum]

49. "playing chicken with nature", huh? No cure for that brand of stupid.

Fuck 'em. Let 'em learn the hard way.

Nature always has the final word.

[patphil]

52. Tens of millions of Americans have a huge wellspring of hatred deep in their souls.

They back Trump because he gave them permission to bring it out into the open and revel in it. They didn't become Trump backers, Trump found them and made them his base, and they love him for the power he gives them.

They would sooner see the Republic die than give that power up.

What most people don't realize is that the roots of their hatred are in fear. Fear left unresolved leads to anger. Anger unresolved leads to hatred. Hatred unresolved leads to violence.

The Trump shit show won't go down quietly. They have tasted the power their master has given them. It has made them mad.
If we don't stop the process this November, things will continue the downward spiral as the Republic circles the drain.

Vote this November as if it is your last vote...it might be.

[Hip2bSquare]

54. We absolutely do get it!!

It was obvious from day one, when that disgusting fool in the White House made fun for the disabled reporter. We got it when he called our neighbors to the south drug dealers and rapists. We absolutely got when they ignored the numerous counts of sexual assault against him... we got it after learning he slept with a porn star after his 3rd wife just gave birth to his 5th child, we got it after continuously watching trump having to remove his lips for putin's ass time and time and time again, over and over watching his repulsiveness and vile, and still they continue to support him.

We get it, have gotten it and won't forget it. We are trying to erase them. Not from living but from having any significant impact on elections and the policies of this country, because they are useless to the progress of this country.

Liberals have WON with the majority since Herbert Walker and still sit back patiently waiting for our government to fix the rules that allows this to continue to happen.

And it will get fixed!

[Joinfortmill]

55. They are dumber than doorknobs.

[smirkymonkey]

60. Status. It has always been about status for these people.

And status is about ego. It is completely selfish and cares nothing for the greater good. I just had a conversation with my therapist yesterday and we were talking about people who were otherwise bright and well educated, but who still strongly supported Trump and I told her that there was one thing I noticed about all of these people (that I knew).

Anecdotally, they are all very status conscious. It is very common to hear things from them such as "That person thinks they are so much better than we are." or "Those people think they are so superior." Without exception, they are constantly measuring their own status among others. I never hear those sentiments from people I know who are liberal. We tend not to think think of ourselves as lesser than or greater than in the first place. We know we are but one of many, and are right sized. We tend to think of ourselves as members of a community and even though we might have a certain status in that community, it is not our identity. We are members of the human race first and foremost.

Not so with them. They must always feel superior, but frequently feel inferior, which accounts for their anger and bitterness toward those whom they feel look down upon them or who they think should be below them and wish to elevate themselves. And the party that looks to elevate all colors, creeds and races. Short of a miracle or a major life changing even for these people, they will never change.

[renate]

81. This post and especially the last two paragraphs are so insightful

This whole thread is, but your post really struck me, because yes, it’s the people at the bottom of the pecking order who are always saying things like “they think they’re so much better than we are” about the very people who want to lift everybody up.

[smirkymonkey]

88. Yes, exactly. They resent us trying to lift others up because they feel it will only make them

look worse. And they can't have that. They always need people to look down upon to make themselves feel better.

[chowder66]

61. That is a long FB post to say.. they must hate because they are weak due to their own insecurities.

Hatred is typically born out of fear of others, fear of not being accepted, fear of being seen for who they really are, fear of being alone, fear of not mattering.

What these people lack is solid coping skills. I will say this until I'm blue in the face.
They turn to religion to cope and therefore are some of the worst believers (people who don't hate and regard religion for its better nature do not fall into these groups and may actually do greater good).
They turn to guns and machismo/paternal traditions to feel strong. It's a mask, a bandaid for their troubled egos.
They turn to misogyny because they lack self-discipline and self-compassion. Same goes for homophobia.
They turn to racism and zionism because of all of the above and they are insecure in their own non-racist, non-zionist traditions and culture.
They latch onto the traditions that are harmful and negative and internalize that as some sort of point of pride because they cannot admit some things are just plain wrong and destructive. Until they start to change those things it will be bred into the next generations.

They project onto others because they confuse their hatred as self-importance when it's really based on fear (of their own weaknesses and lack of self-esteem).

[chowder66]

67. I want to add that if this is about status, being looked down upon then maybe they should stop being

so gullible and buying into their own party that uses and abuses them over and over. If it isn't their own party then it may be the churches, if it isn't the churches, it may be their family, their neighbors or their 20 times elected officials. They should study what their officials have been doing and not been doing.

These people should try making changes that are basically the opposite of everything they know.

Change the channel from Fox and read the Washington Post, join Habitat for Humanity or a local charity that is established and known for good works nationally or recognized by all spectrums of people.
Maybe try electing a democrat in a lower office and see what happens - track their work. Engage with them to see if they listen and try to work on behalf of their constituents.
Get their noses out of Facebook and Social Media for months at a time or longer. Break patterns and habits.

Coping mechanisms need to be taught from preschool onward and even in workplaces. There needs to be some sort of ease-of-access for the occasional or ongoing need for de-stressing and/or psychological and emotional care.

If vets can get help with PTSD then regular citizens should be able to get help with the stresses of life without feeling weak for asking.
The only weakness that could be measured when reaching out for support like this is the lack of acknowledging the need for additional tools to help oneself.

Asking for help is a major strength, it means you care enough about yourself and others to figure something personal out or at least to work at it.

[GoCubsGo]

79. Yep, exactly. It all boils down to fear.

Which explains why they love authoritarian types like Trump. They need a daddy to take care of them, and protect them from those "filthy dirty" liberals, brown people, yellow people,science, gays,educated people, transgendered people, feminists, socialists, non-Christians, and insert other favorite boogeyman here. They fear that any success by "The Other" means some sort of loss for them, be it status, money, or any of the freedoms they enjoy.

[chowder66]

82. Agree but they do not have good support systems. Those systems are underhandedly

keeping these people from self-actualization and self-compassion. They are being fed upon by the political and religious machines that demand money from people who are struggling or not getting anywhere. Hell even if people are doing okay or better than okay are getting trapped in this cyclical bullshit.

They are being told everything sucks and it's all the big bad worlds fault. Or if it isn't the big bad worlds fault it's theirs and they should suffer a while longer until the rich do something about it ....which will never transpire. The are in a feedback loop and they can't think beyond the din of noise from those in power. Everyone around them believes the same things and has the same-bad-dialogue tracking in their brains and there are no real challengers to break through.

These people need to break that cycle to get the changes they need. This will be the first step in getting their esteem back.

If they took the time to look into the actions of their politicians, local political and religious orgs (especially those that require loads of $$$) and businesses that support them.... I'm pretty sure they would find some ugly truths.

They feel disenfranchised.
Because of what they see in their social media threads? Or is it because what's really happening in their communities is driven by those in power from their own party and elected officials. It's not like they would have to turn around and vote for democrats (which they have the option to do if they ever choose to) but they can get well informed and elect people that are more moderate who may do more for them especially since they can hold accountable those who are willing to change, evolve, stand up and represent them.

[Dukkha]

63. We totally got it from day and and equally give zero fucks for you

We care about the moderates and classic conservatives who got duped by a con man and possess the humility and maturity to acknowledge the buyers remorse. They're the ones who will actually think and vote for a better future the next time around and fix this quagmire. We absolutely do NOT care about the MAGAt slime who will follow their orange demagogue over the cliff just to own the libs. Do so at your own demise, but you're not taking the rest of the country, or for that matter the planet with you. You don't matter at all. Don't even THINK about crying for our bailout when your life is in destitution! You'll get NOTHING! Pull yourself upon your bootstraps and fix your own fucking worthless lives.

[the_sly_pig]

65. I appreciate the writer.....

Taking the time to explain. The problem is that I could care less about these self absorbed, racist, hillbilly f@@ks. You can’t fix stupid, but stupid can kill. I have conflicting thoughts about what to do about lethal stupidity.

[oldsoftie]

66. I've been saying similar for a LONG time. Its not racism. It really is "I hate liberals"

Sure, SOME are racists, but the disdain for liberalism really IS the driving force. None of the trumpers I know are racists. I see it EVERY day. I hear it from people i deal with. The ruination of the country if "those damn liberals" get in charge. Communists! (even though trump LOVES Putin). We'll lose all our money!!!
But they seem to forget the money they made in the market when Obama was president. And I have even seen "I lost money under Obama", to which i respond, "if thats true, you need to either fire your financial advisor or you need to GET one"

[Laura PourMeADrink]

69. Why we don't concentrate on what THEY and the middle

Want instead of what we care about is the hugest mistake during election. Care about and act upon our priorities AFTER we get in.

[GulfCoast66]

70. They are just imitating the god they worship

I grew up as one of them in an evangelical church and hardly the most hard core of them.

Preachers in these churches never talk about acting like Jesus and actually helping those less fortunate. The very opposite.

They are taught anyone not in their tight circle are agents of the Satan who must be opposed at all times. Compromising with them is a betrayal of god. And remember the god they believe mainly exists to send most humans to the pit of burning hell. But not them. They are special.

I never really understood true empathy and love of my fellow man until I realized it was all silly superstition. Thank goodness I followed a scientific education and started working for a large, diverse and inclusive company in a metro area.

[pansypoo53219]

71. trump was on TEEVEE! he's famous! he's rich. media brainwashing since ronny raygun. then fux gnewz.

this is the monster the hate media created. remember the fairness doctrine reagan killed.

[Silent3]

72. For anyone who wants the text of that message, not a screen shot...

...I ran the picture through some OCR software:

xenophonsXiphos:

You all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern Missouri, one of the last places where the KKK still has a relatively strong established presence. They don't give a shit what he does. He's just something to rally around and hate liberals, that's it, period. He absolutely realizes that and plays it up, they love it, he knows they love it, and the fact that people act like it's anything other than that just proves that liberals are idiots, all the more reason for high fives all around.

If you keep getting caught up in why do they not realize blah blah blah and how can they still back him after blah blah blah, you are not understanding what is the underlying motivating factor of his support. It's fuck liberals, that's pretty much it.

Have you noticed he can do pretty much anything imaginable and they'll explain some way that rationalizes it that makes zero logical sense? Because they're not even keeping track of any logical narrative, it's irrelevant, fuck liberals is the only relevant thing, trust me, I know first hand what I'm talking about. That's why they just laugh at it all, because you all don't even realize they really truly don't give a fuck about whatever the conversation is about, it's just a side mission story that doesn't really matter anyways. That's all just trivial details - the economy, health care, whatever. Fuck liberals.

Look at the thing with not wearing the masks. I can tell you what that's about. It's about exposing fear. They're playing chicken with nature and whoever flinches just moved down their internal pecking order, one step closer to being a liberal.

You gotta understand the one core value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider weakness, because that's what they believe strength is, hatred for weakness. And I mean passionate, sadistic hatred. And I'm not exaggerating. Believe me. Sadistic, passionate hatred, and that's what proves they're strong, their passionate hatred for weakness. Sometimes they lump in vulnerability, a compromised circumstance, or an overwhelming circumstance in there with weakness, too, because people tend to start humbling themselves when they're in those circumstances and that's an obvious sign of weakness.

Kindness=weakness. Honesty=weakness. Compromise=weakness. They consider their very existence to be superior in every way to anyone who doesn't hate weakness as much as they do. They consider liberals to be weak people that are inferior, almost a different species, and the fact that liberals are so weak is why they have to unite in large numbers, which they find disgusting, but it's that disgust that is a true expression of their natural superiority.

Go ahead and try to have a logical, rational conversation with them though. Just keep in mind what I said here and think about it.

[gordianot]

73. I have lived in this area for more than 50 years.

I totally reject the idea they are upset because they are looked down upon or ridiculed. Try this one instead Southern Missouri is tribal. Encroach on their land they will go out of the way cheat, steal, harass as much as they can. It takes long term community ties to be accepted and even then someone from a neighboring town can be labeled a “feriner”. They are fair game. The reason Trump registers he is a nasty POS no matter how friendly they appear so are they and you are the mark. Nasty bigotry is a way of life. There are many young people who escape this cycle but too often as others reject them they return to the nest like homing pigeons. Whatever poverty you assume they manage to get what they want.

[Kaiserguy]

76. Same thing here in NW PA

its all about the hate and racisms they don't give a damn about anything else. There are a lot more signs this year than in 2016. You can tell who is a Trumper within a couple mins of talking to them. They think that everyone here is just like them. Hell the area where I live went something like 75% for Trump in 2016. This is not a nice place to live .

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

77. Who is Tom Nichols and why should we care. Like you have to live i the Ozarks to know

Trump humping liberal-hating far rw whackadoodles?

UH NO, a lot of us came from those people, have a family tree full of them, and have to continue having contact with them on a semi regular basis.

A lot of us came from those close minded places and got the hell out and moved to more diverse and liberal places for jobs or school or just to get away from the close mindedness and bigotry. Theres nothing special about the ones that stayed - many are very kind and good people even if they are conservative, but its a fact that a lot of them are bitter and angry and like to find others to blame for their own failures in life. RW talk radio is happy to provide scapegoats for them to hate.

Harsh? Yep, but if the shoe fits....

[moondust]

80. I get it enough to know

that I won't even drive through some parts of the U.S. if there is any way to avoid it.

It didn't used to be this bad IMO but seems to have slowly disintegrated since the common struggle of WWII.

[LiberalLovinLug]

84. Of course there is an element of this crowd in every country

What is shocking is the sheer amount of these deplorable people in the US. In a rich, western, modern country with all the freedoms and information at their fingertips. One ugly truth that Trump has exposed.

And is there any way to reverse it? I don't know. Even if tomorrow, (or next January) Biden has the House and Senate, and passes a new fairness doctrine forcing radio stations to employ more liberal hosts, it would take years, a whole generation, to de-program any significant number.

If Democrats actually do get all houses, we have to go full def con 1 and push through right away bills that target misinformation in the traditional media and social media. Even like creating a limit to how much lying a network "news" show on TV or radio, or social media like YouTube accounts, can get away with before they are shut down or lose their licence. Emphasize that it is about the dangers of misinformation from both the Left and the Right. (shhhh,.....even though we know which side is the overwhelming fact free one). Make them rail against holding the "librul" media to tell the truth.

Of course this true statement in the OP would indicate that they would rise up and call this some evil deep state Democrat plot. Truth = weakness too. Truth is unpredictable. Hearing it may make them uncomfortable. Some libtard telling them they are WRONG? That is why they would protest this kind of bill. But that is not a reason to delay it, to pretend they actually want to debate it. THEY DON'T CARE IF IT HELPS TO WEED OUT THE LIES. There is no convincing to do. Just cram the bill through.

The other one is electoral reform. Limiting financial contributions from the wealthy and corps. And writing new legislation to force the SCOTUS to reverse its appalling decision on Citizens United. And limiting gerrymandering. And even tackling the unfair representation balance between big States and small States, make it based on population at least a little more than it is.

then......start working on M4A, what the majority wants.

Take a lesson from the GOPs playbook. When you have the chance, ram through as much as you can. Do something new every day like they are. Make their heads spin so that by the time they are screaming about some new "social justice" bill, we will already be voting on the next action. Even if we lose support in the first year, and the Lincoln Project turns on us, its worth it.

[DFW]

89. To many communities in these areas

The need to look down on someone is overpowering. If that community is economically depressed, AND socially homogeneous, the enemy is anyone National Hate Radio says it is. As a southerner, I have heard the rationale often enough. If you offer any help, to them it means you look down upon them ("who are YOU to say that WE need any help?" ). They will accept your help, and then despise you for having offered it in the first place.

With Fox Noise and National Hate Radio blaring 24/7, it is not a mentality easily eradicated.

[DSandra]

90. This is why turning out our base and other non-brainwashed people is paramount

Much if not most of the Republican Party is so far gone that they would rather destroy America than vote for a Democrat.

[DSandra]

91. They have essentially been conditioned for a dictatorship

They will follow the dictator as long as he is a bully and attacks the “weak” and vulnerable.

[Baltimike]

99. This is the spot on truth. Every word

That's why they need to be toldt. NOT "told"...TOLDT.

A bully will bully you until you fight back

[Skittles]

101. see that's the thing though

you look up to a rich, pussy grabbing con man and I will look down on you....END OF STORY

[Lady Freedom Returns]

103. Yup, biggest reason I wanted out of there.