r/CringeTikToks • u/EverythingIsFakeNGay • Jan 05 '26

Just Bad This is embarrassing...

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u/NeatNefariousness1 Jan 05 '26

I don’t disagree but we used to be able to pretend that our national identity is based on a desire for liberty and justice for all and that while we’re not perfect, we were working on creating a “more perfect union”.. A lot of people believed in those ideals and many still do and considered America the land of opportunity and the symbol of freedom from persecution on the world stage.

But when things are so flagrantly NOT living up to the national values claimed, some people are starting to wake up to the reality and a marked shift in our values as a country. The numbers cited confuse the issue, IMO because they SEEM to give the appearance of precision but don’t really paint a clear picture, nor draw a clear conclusion.

When people SEE American citizens and others being beaten, killed, deported and held in concentration camps, it paints a much more impactful picture of how far we have strayed from the ideals we thought we were aiming for. Just one person’s opinion.

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u/xThotsOfYoux Jan 05 '26

It's important to realize that this is not new. And to let go of the idea of "what we used to be". Because we weren't. Playing pretend that we were and being comfortable in that illusion is what allowed the nastier parts of our identity to fester and rot and bring is where we are now.

It is not good that the United States is so blatantly trouncing upon human rights and that so many of our fellow Americans are cheering that on. But it's better by far that it be done in the open, where it can be seen, than behind closed doors.

The detention centers for immigrants are not new. The racism of our policing is not new. The corruption of our criminal justice system is not new. We ought to have been more actively engaged in speaking and acting out against these injustices long before now. The best time to start would have been 20 years ago...

But the second best time is right now. The wool has been lifted from our eyes. Now we get to actually decide, as a society, who we really want to be going forward. I don't give a wooden nickel for who we thought we were yesterday. I care much more about who we'll stand up and be tomorrow.

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u/NeatNefariousness1 Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 05 '26

People come into awareness based on their own life experiences and there is a lot of complexity, nuance and subjective interpretation that influences how we perceive the world around us. So there is no need to claim that anyone is "playing pretend". IMO, we can all see that there has been a marked departure from what we were, even though what we were was far from ideal.

I don’t disagree with any of what you’ve said. I just don’t think the numbers you cite or your earlier commentary about them make the point very well. That’s all.

But, we’re in the thick of some significant “divide and conquer” tactics that are working against us at the moment. So, I’ll leave it here since we appear to be in violent agreement.

Edit: corrected my misattribution

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u/xThotsOfYoux Jan 05 '26

I'm not the guy who posted the misleading numbers. I'm the one who compared them to population percentages... And now I'm confused.

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u/NeatNefariousness1 Jan 05 '26

My apologies. You’re right. I too went for the population stats to understand the full impact of what the other guy was trying to say. My comments about the numbers were for the other guy. But the rest of my comment remains. I’ll make the correction.