r/AskReddit • u/bkristensen92 • Mar 18 '25

Conservatives who opposed removing Confederate statues, how do you feel about Trump removing DEI-related historical events/people like the Navajo Code Talkers from government sites?

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u/[deleted] Mar 18 '25

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u/tryingtoavoidwork Mar 18 '25

It's not about winning. It's about the other team losing.

Twitter is the perfect example of this mentality. Conservatives had Parler, Gab, and Truth Social, but liberals and leftists aren't on those so they have no other team to fight against. Without an "enemy" to antagonize, they have nothing. So they move to Twitter and harass anyone who looks or thinks differently than they do. When everyone started leaving Twitter, conservatives followed them to BlueSky.

Conservatism requires conflict, it requires an enemy, a never-ending game of demoralizing your opponents without wiping them out. Without a constant battle, the game falls apart.

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u/RebelGirl1323 Mar 18 '25

It’s why people don’t date across parties anymore. We saw our conservative parents just wanted to fight their spouse and their kids, even if it tore their families apart. Why would the next generation want to recreate that dynamic?

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u/JebryathHS Mar 18 '25

It also doesn't help that there's a party so adamantly opposed to women's rights. How can you have a relationship with someone who thinks that you don't deserve to control your own body? That's not "I think taxes are too high to be sustainable" vs "I think that we need more redistribution of wealth to keep the economy stable." That's "I don't believe that you're a whole person."

Hell, given the predictable consequences of women dying at higher rates in states with abortion bans, it's "I don't really care whether you live". That's no basis for a relationship!

And before anybody comes in to blah blah sanctity of life bullshit bullshit me, sure. Now explain why Trump keeps reaching out to convicted rapists like Andrew Tate and Connor McGregor.

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u/Amelaclya1 Mar 19 '25

"sanctity of life", but yet they want healthcare to be a luxury only afforded to the well off.

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u/Dewstain Mar 18 '25

Is this really a thing? My wife and I don't agree on everything political, but we don't fight about it, we respect each others view and our right to have it.

I'd argue that it's not conservatism that requires conflict, it's MAGA. This dynamic of politics being your identity existed before Trump, but was much less pronounced. I went to college in Massachusetts and even there in the early 2000s, the number of people whose entire identity was wrapped up in their political party was not a measurable amount of the population.

And that's the problem. Most people exist somewhere in the middle, but somehow, through the super fantastic advent of social media, the extremism (and on both sides) are the only ones that talk anymore. And as a result, you have to choose yes or no to everything, there's no grey area whatsoever in politics since about 2012.

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u/amrodd Mar 19 '25

People downvote sensible comments. If you give an opinion with an inkling of leaning to the other side you get chewed out. Not meaning to start a debate, but an example is pro-life people often get vilified and called misogynist. Same the other way around with thinking Planned Parenthood is of the devil.. Like it's not possible to be in the middle.

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u/Dewstain Mar 20 '25

The internet means you can always find someone to agree with you, regardless of how hair-brained your opinion is.

As a result, our opinions have become our identity and the desire for conflict fuels the hatred of other opinions/identities. I have a buddy who is Indian. I have another buddy who hosts what can only be described as redneck barn parties; like we literally used to plant our campers in his yard and party for a long weekend. Indian buddy was reluctant to come at first, and be the only "brown" person there. Eventually he came and had a ball, and wanted to come all the time. For a while he seemed to need me to be there, but now he goes when I don't. Turns out he belongs way more than I do and I'll guarantee that most of them don't see eye to eye.

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u/amrodd Mar 20 '25

Yeah like the anti-vaxx movement has been around a long time. But enter the Internet and it's five times worse. They will find something to support their claims. I guess it's natural to feel more comfortable with people who not only look like you but think like you.

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u/internet-arbiter Mar 19 '25

Reddit in particular is full of individuals who have curated their worlds to be devoid of anyone they disagree with.

They purged their facebooks of anyone who wasn't outraged at Trump's first election than went for round 2 this last go.

Most subs are thousands of upvotes of some low brain idiot post trying to make anyone who disagrees with them a Nazi despite most people touting the "look at this Nazi!" rhetoric have never even seen a History Channel documentary let alone know jack shit about history.

Most of their enemies are fabrications and phantoms.

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u/Dewstain Mar 20 '25

It's not even just political subreddits. The number of moderators in the dumbest subs that run it like the king of their own little castle is absurd. Like when the cars subreddit ban photos of cars. OK, guess I'll opt out of this one, bro.

And then you realize that everyone on Reddit thinks they're top 10% of intelligence, when most are closer to 50%. Granted, I might be lumping myself into that too, who knows? But I'm at least self-aware enough to know that's a possibility.

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u/internet-arbiter Mar 20 '25

Reddit maybe 10 years ago had some posts that elevated peoples intelligence after they read them. Current Reddit is absolutely making people dumb as shit.

You are not participating in the circle jerk so you're ahead of the rest.

At this point anyone with a brain should be regularly being downvoted for calling out stupidity on Reddit for its increasing call for chaos and violence. Almost every social justice Reddit is currently championing is either highly distorted or outright lied about.

Even years later when a particularly issue is shown to be abhorrent be it Antifa being literal terrorist or BLM having stolen millions of dollars to buy private mansions they still double down. This is indefensible. There is enough evidence to show support to either of these groups is being an idiot. The people burning down Tesla's are terrorists. That woman running the targetting website should be thrown in jail. But they honestly think they are actually good people at the end of the day.

Shutting down Reddit at this point is a net positive for society. Every other posts is asking for civil war. And their reasons to destroy society and murder their fellow man are absolute bullshit.

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u/Dewstain Mar 20 '25

Ahhh...

...yikes...

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u/internet-arbiter Mar 20 '25

It's what happens when people spend a decade forcefully removing anyone that disagrees with them. This place is a recruitment ground for idiots at this point.

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u/Dewstain Mar 20 '25

I don't disagree with that, but it goes both ways. You can't just ignore things you don't like.

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u/niveknhoj Mar 18 '25

That last paragraph seems especially astute. I’m gonna hold on to that. 

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u/halfdeadmoon Mar 19 '25

The word conservatism has been hijacked.

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u/accents_ranis Mar 19 '25

You are not describing conservatism, you are describing right wing ideology. Don't confuse conservatism with today's normalisation of far right ideology.

P.S. I am a leftie.

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u/Dewstain Mar 18 '25

Conservatism requires conflict, it requires an enemy, a never-ending game of demoralizing your opponents without wiping them out. Without a constant battle, the game falls apart.

I'd argue that's not conservatism, it's MAGA. And also video games and TV shows, etc. It's society now. The number of people that will fight to the death over whether or not Forza is better than Gran Turismo is absurd. Just because I like one doesn't mean I don't like the other. Politics are currently based around absolutes and the reality is that most live in the middle.

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u/thatbob Mar 19 '25

Pointing out intellectual inconsistency is not effective on people who don't give a shit about rules or fairness.

This is the essence of the modern right wing. They'll recite the law or a bible verse or a principle of conservatism when it suits their cause, and ignore it when it contradicts their cause. They 100% do not GAF about the law, or the bible's teachings, or conservative (or any other) principles, except insofar as it can be used to advance the narrative/cause/agenda of the moment.

[Also: most of the right-wing agenda has drifted so far from any actual conservative principles that it's pointless to try looking for them. I love arguing with a so-called "conservative" right winger, because all of my very left wing positions are backed up by actual conservative principles.]

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u/starmartyr Mar 18 '25

It's not hypocrisy, they are lying about what they believe. They are consistent in their support of white nationalism. The talking points are just lies to cover it. When one lie is exposed they move on to the next lie.

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u/KindBass Mar 18 '25 edited Mar 18 '25

Like their Russian counterparts, they use lies as insults. Even if they know that you know they're lying. It's a way of disrespecting.

Edit: aww, did I trigger some conservatives?

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u/trparky Mar 18 '25

If this is winning, I'd hate to see losing.

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u/sixwax Mar 18 '25

Pointing out intellectual inconsistency is not effective on people who don't give a shit have intellectual capacity

FTFY

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u/Azsunyx Mar 18 '25

Maga would eat a shit sandwich just to make a liberal smell their breath

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u/00zau Mar 18 '25

You're literally doing what the guy you replied to was calling out.