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“Legacy media” when used in the context of politics is by its very definition the big 3 networks, the cable news networks, NPR, PBS, NYT, WSJ and the rest of print media. Trying to include Twitter or Joe Rogan into that mix is pure intellectual dishonesty. 

Edited by Macklemore

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1 minute ago, Macklemore said:

Legacy media is by its very definition the big 3 networks, the cable news networks, public broadcasting, NYT, WSJ and the rest of print media. Trying to include Twitter or Joe Rogan into that mix is pure intellectual dishonesty. 

We are talking about mainstream media not legacy media

5 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

“Legacy media” when used in the context of politics is by its very definition the big 3 networks, the cable news networks, NPR, PBS, NYT, WSJ and the rest of print media. Trying to include Twitter or Joe Rogan into that mix is pure intellectual dishonesty. 

The word "legacy" is different from the word "mainstream" and may be more precise.

There is no question that right wing media is rampant.

Edited by TwiceHorn

7 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Ok whatever.  Completely disingenuous and you know it.

I don't. You're asking me to adopt your point of view without sharing it. 
 

 

9 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Sure, they covered Trump vastly more, you want to try and sell me that wasn’t with the motivation of trying to harm him?  Give me a fucking break.  “Trump is a fascist felon” is Republican language?  Really?

Their motivation? What does that even mean? And in the context of Trump, pushing their own negative stories is a stated part of their campaign strategy, so even if they were "trying to harm" him, they are working in service of Republican objectives.  Come on, man. 
These are for-profit companies and with the exception of NPR, news is a business.  That's why the #1 source for news and political coverage is FOX news, and why political and politics adjacent podcasts have a larger audience than any news broadcasts. 

7 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

“Legacy media” when used in the context of politics is by its very definition the big 3 networks, the cable news networks, NPR, PBS, NYT, WSJ and the rest of print media. Trying to include Twitter or Joe Rogan into that mix is pure intellectual dishonesty. 

He was saying "mainstream" media, not "legacy" media. They are not interchangable words. He's still wrong, though. 

1 minute ago, Sawbonz said:

We are talking about mainstream media not legacy media

Keep being dishonest and trying to get over with such stupidity. Left wing editorial control and the bias implicit from these sources in their articles and hosts is the issue. MAGA has created its own information ecosystem separate and apart from legacy media which we detest. To try to shoehorn right wing podcasts, Twitter, Rumble videos, Truth Social, etc and say they’re mainstream media is a fucking joke and dishonest as hell.

Just now, Macklemore said:

Keep being dishonest and trying to get over with such stupidity. Left wing editorial control and the bias implicit from these sources in their articles and hosts is the issue. MAGA has created its own information ecosystem separate and apart from legacy media which we detest. To try to shoehorn right wing podcasts, Twitter, Rumble videos, Truth Social, etc and say they’re mainstream media is a fucking joke and dishonest as hell.

Sure, they just have the biggest, most devoted audiences and dominate both the cultural narrative and the outcome of elections. That doesn't sound "mainstream" at all. 

3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

And in the context of Trump, pushing their own negative stories is a stated part of their campaign strategy,

Source 

4 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

He was saying "mainstream" media, not "legacy" media. They are not interchangable words. He's still wrong, though

Turns out I was right

52 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Oh cool, a gotcha based on redefining words.  

 

23 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

“Trump is a fascist felon” is Republican language?  Really?

Really:

Trump "certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure."

“Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that,” 

John Kelly (R)

"Trump should be taken into custody. He is a convicted felon and just violated the conditions of his bail agreement by threatening someone's life. He needs to be sent away."

Anthony Scaramucci (R)

 

Edited by DDD Dad

3 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Keep being dishonest and trying to get over with such stupidity. Left wing editorial control and the bias implicit from these sources in their articles and hosts is the issue. MAGA has created its own information ecosystem separate and apart from legacy media which we detest. To try to shoehorn right wing podcasts, Twitter, Rumble videos, Truth Social, etc and say they’re mainstream media is a fucking joke and dishonest as hell.

You seem not to know the definition of mainstream. I posted it upthread you should learn it

 

Trump bringing down prices already 

 


image.thumb.png.e833ed38a4869954d2706ab9d98df021.png


 

 

Edited by Incredulity

2 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

You seem not to know the definition of mainstream. I posted it upthread you should learn it

Sure, sure, End Wokeness, Gunther Englemann, etc have the same reach and influence as the NYT, the Sunday morning talk shows, etc. which sets the table for what is being discussed nationally. Fuck off you disingenuous piece of shit.  

4 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Source 

It's a technique of control through disorientation, to force the media into a state of constant reaction and seeking comment.  Here's one example

 

5 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Turns out I was right

Nope, I understood what you meant, although it's extremely odd that you selected those three and not Newspapers, Local news, Fox, and CNN, but I'm fine with "legacy media." Republicans financially, editorially and narratively control legacy media, which is what you actually mean when you say "mainstream."  Oh, and the rest of us are supposed to also say "mainstream" when we mean "legacy", otherwise we are the ones being disingenuous. 

 

4 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Sure, sure, End Wokeness, Gunther Englemann, etc have the same reach and influence as the NYT, the Sunday morning talk shows, etc. which sets the table for what is being discussed nationally. Fuck off you disingenuous piece of shit.  

Again you don’t know what mainstream means. I gave you the definition but I can’t read it for you or make you understand it

10 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Sure, sure, End Wokeness, Gunther Englemann, etc have the same reach and influence as the NYT, the Sunday morning talk shows, etc. which sets the table for what is being discussed nationally. Fuck off you disingenuous piece of shit.  

The person/people calling themself  "Gunther Eagleman" have 30% more followers on Twitter than Brian Stelter of CNN, and nearly four times as many followers as the Times top columnist, David Brooks. He also has about 35% more followers than Kristen Welker, host of Meet The Press. 
Try again?

Edited by Bozo_Casanova

7 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Gunther Eaglemant has 30% more followers on Twitter than Brian Stelter of CNN, and nearly four times as many followers as the Times top columnist, David Brooks. He also has about 35% more followers than Kristen Welker, host of Meet The Press. 
Try again?

Who gives a shit about how many followers Brian Stetler has on Twitter!! He is just the asshole who runs CNN. Are you really trying to compare the breadth and reach of CNN and say that it pales in comparison to Gunther Engleman. Clips from CNN’s talking heads makes up a good chunk of right wing Twitter commentary — no one would give a shit if it wasn’t mainstream media. How about you agree on using the terms Old Media and New Media instead? 

Edited by Macklemore

Oh gosh, look like somebody agrees with me. @Incredulity, this one is for you:

 

Quote

I am very surprised that the Democrats, who fought a hard and valiant fight in the 2020 Presidential Election, raising a record amount of money, didn’t have lots of $’s left over. Now they are being squeezed by vendors and others. Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do. We have a lot of money left over in that our biggest asset in the campaign was “Earned Media,” and that doesn’t cost very much. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

 

12 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

It's a technique of control through disorientation, to force the media into a state of constant reaction and seeking comment.  Here's one example

So is Trump playing 5d chess or a moronic orange buffoon?  It can’t be both.

9 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

The person/people calling themself  "Gunther Eagleman" have 30% more followers on Twitter than Brian Stelter of CNN, and nearly four times as many followers as the Times top columnist, David Brooks. He also has about 35% more followers than Kristen Welker, host of Meet The Press. 
Try again?

And he's a douchebag liar.

1 minute ago, Macklemore said:

Who gives a shit about how many followers Brian Stetler has on Twitter!!, He is just the asshole who runs CNN. Are you really trying to compare the breadth and reach of CNN and say that it pales in comparison to Gunther Engleman. Clips from CNN’s talking heads makes up a good chunk of right wing Twitter commentary — no one would give a shit if it wasn’t mainstream media. How about you agree on using the terms Old Media and New Media instead? 

You're trying to compare one guy's account with the breadth of the network? Wouldn't it be better to compare the breadth and influence of Twitter and CNN? I don't think anybody would argue CNN is more influential.

2 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

So is Trump playing 5d chess or a moronic orange buffoon?  It can’t be both.

"We" have always conceded that Trump is a master of the media, particularly when it comes to currying favor among a certain sector of the electorate.

3 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

So is Trump playing 5d chess or a moronic orange buffoon?  It can’t be both.

5D chess. He's brilliant at the use and control of media. I've never said anything else and people who do are really dumb. 

Legacy media is dead, and if anything this election proved it died years ago. 

I'm Generation X and don't really watch any regular TV anymore outside of sports. With the ease of streaming and modern TVs, I find myself on YouTube a bunch. It's completely free. I can imagine younger people on tighter budgets not paying for any cable TV at all. You can find streams of any live sports game if you search for it. And the right has smartly taken advantage of YouTube and dominates it. Rumble is almost entirely right wing political content. 

But I think even the right got caught off guard with how dead legacy media is. In their wildest dreams they were not expecting this sort of electoral domination. 

24 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Sure, sure, End Wokeness, Gunther Englemann, etc have the same reach and influence as the NYT, the Sunday morning talk shows, etc. which sets the table for what is being discussed nationally. Fuck off you disingenuous piece of shit.  

I can tell you when my MAGA parents call they aren’t talking about the NYT, WSJ, etc. They are talking about Candace Owens, Joe Rogan, etc which I think was the point being made. What’s the viewership on the Sunday Morning talk shows versus Elon’s followers on Twitter.

I would agree they don’t meet the historical definition of mainstream media, but you should be able to agree the R’s own the information/content wars at the moment through the various types of media outside of Legacy maybe. You can debate semantics (which seems popular around here) or you can debate the message/point (which is what most normal people would do). 

Edited by Brew

Because she is not a cult leader, those shirts would have been on sale after the election no matter the outcome. 

The cult wears their colors and campaign stuff year round. They love the identity with Trump and never recognize his losses.

Trump relies on this for income.

11 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

I'm Generation X and don't really watch any regular TV anymore outside of sports.

One of the wildest things is when I go over to my folks house and cable TV is on. It's like a culture shock.

Legacy media is dead, and if anything this election proved it died years ago. 
I'm Generation X and don't really watch any regular TV anymore outside of sports. With the ease of streaming and modern TVs, I find myself on YouTube a bunch. It's completely free. I can imagine younger people on tighter budgets not paying for any cable TV at all. You can find streams of any live sports game if you search for it. And the right has smartly taken advantage of YouTube and dominates it. Rumble is almost entirely right wing political content. 
But I think even the right got caught off guard with how dead legacy media is. In their wildest dreams they were not expecting this sort of electoral domination. 

I watch the local news. I mainly watch for the nightly weather. Outside of that, we watch streaming services - either trash reality TV or documentaries.

It feels like even Fox News is a relic of the past at this point. It helped the Trump in 2016. But after 2020, a lot of people moved on to other right wing media. 

Everything is moving very fast in the media space. I'd guess by 2028 there will be a few VERY popular media channels that aren't on our radar now or don't even exist yet. 

 

 

19 hours ago, quigley said:

Cool. You didn't answer the question.

When do you, in your personal life, tell people to have guns trained on people? If my child did that, they would be corrected. Adults don't use those words.

I understand your point about Trumps words being mischaracterized. But his speaks is ripe for mischaracterization because it's so meandering and disjointed.

Trump is evoking violence against a political rival. Why Cheney should be subjected to violence is besides the point. "Nine barrels," to me, means firing squad. Maybe I watched too many Hogans Heroes or something.

It really is this simple. Except for the rifle she has, he describes a firing squad. 

Who describes battle as nine rifles pointed at your face? He didn't start heading for the firing squad description but it's all but unquestionable that this is the imagery he arrived at.

Speaking of the rotting corpse that is legacy media. Check out SNL’s opening last night. SEC Shorts are putting out higher quality skits:

I’m Gen X and I still consume legacy media. I read the NYT everyday so I know what the enemy is thinking and the WSJ to get news that conforms more to my worldview, watch Bill Maher (who still manages to be funny and compelling despite me not agreeing with most of his politics), but I avoid the cable news networks except for things like Election Night. SNL used to be must watch. Now look at them.

Edited by Macklemore

1 minute ago, Macklemore said:

news that conforms more to my worldview

That's not news.

3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

That's not news.

Opinion section of the WSJ that is what I meant. I filter the bias when reading the NYT news articles which you’ll see even in their international coverage. IMO, they NYT is the best when it comes to international news because the rest of the American news scene is completely bereft of coverage.

This bizarre image of a man dressed as an 1890's frontier cowboy stealing a child's doll in the upper Midwest of the mid-1930s has been seen 19.6 Million times, which is about 20-25X the readership of the NYT opinion section. 

 

Edited by Bozo_Casanova

1 hour ago, Sawbonz said:

“Mainstream” is any source that doesn’t feed him what he wants to hear 

 

14 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

news that conforms more to my worldview

See?

21 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

To be fair and balanced, here’s a Kamala supporter who resorted to violence:

 

Thug gonna thug

Both sides!!!

3 hours ago, Sawbonz said:

Boston is probably the most racist city in the country 

This is so true.  Growing up in Texas, the racism was much more subtle and passive aggressive.  Move to Boston to do my residency….HOLY SHIT!  It was truly shocking to hear complete strangers letting their racist freak flags fly.  And that was pre-Trump.  I can’t even imagine what its like now.

Edited by Horn Dog

28 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

To be fair and balanced, here’s a Kamala supporter who resorted to violence:

 

Thug gonna thug

Hate crime? I've always liked @TwiceHorn take. Just call it assault and be done with it.

17 minutes ago, Macklemore said:

Opinion section of the WSJ that is what I meant. I filter the bias when reading the NYT news articles which you’ll see even in their international coverage. IMO, they NYT is the best when it comes to international news because the rest of the American news scene is completely bereft of coverage.

This isn’t complicated. Republican have control of:

- Mainstream media

- Legacy media

- New media

- Old media

16 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

Joe Rogan’s podcast is a psychological warfare engine, it is specifically designed to create the fact-free, confusing, frustrating miasma that defines the American information space especially for 18-29 males.  It is popular with them not because it offers a productive way to grapple with disappointments or overcome them, but because it serves to validate their anger and confirm their lack of agency in a hostile and unnavigable world.
 

In healthy information space, it is immediately apparent that the ravings of RFK Jr. are not worthy of the same consideration as the thoughts of a renowned astrophysicist, but the cumulative effect of being a Rogan listener is to come away with a very different feeling.  Not that RFK Jr. is wrong and the physicist right, or even that they have equally valid claims, but instead that it is impossible and pointless to try to adjudicate.  
 

Rogan had clearly been driving the boat more often into the specifically right-wing fever swamp, although the common thread of his show is to elevate the dark and conspiratorial on par with rational and even interesting discourse.  He’s been wildly successful, and his audience has been conditioned to do the opposite of critical thinking.  It’s all just vibes and via a form of reflexive control they will adopt the vibes Rogan is feeling which was always going to be Trumpy this cycle.  He has independently invented and created a medium that closely follows Soviet information warfare doctrine, which is really effective. 
 

At best a standard and mainstream actor like Kamala gains nothing tactically, and at worst it’s harmful among the target audience because they have all been conditioned to reject and distrust anything that appears mainstream.  Strategically, any form of liberal democracy depends on educating future generations to reflexively reject media like Rogan’s. 
 

 

Dana White called him, "The Mighty and Powerful Joe Rogan," and he was not just being friendly. They know who their audience is.

OK, so hear me out. I know there are party organizers on here. We can solve this if for any other reason than to stop the back and forth of what is media between webster and oxford.

Pigeons.Yep, that is it. Pigeons. Dems need someone to make a cute movie about a sad teenager who uses pigeons to communicate with their friends. Aim this at the 15-17 year old demographic. Then in 2026 unveil the Pigeon Gram. This is an electronic "pigeon" you can send direct to your friends with the media embeds that you believe are true. The receiver gets a cute little pigeon that nests on their phone/tablet/email/instagram/facebook whatever media you want to use. It links you direct to the clip on any media source you follow.

Fucking simple. All checks and money orders via OrlandiValuta can be made out to my cousin Chepe in Oaxaca. He sells paper mache pears on the side. You can't miss him.

bird walk GIF by CBC

Edited by InkaUtexas
I am kidding, but can we move the definitions to a new thread. Maybe Ana's new one on commodity prices.

3 hours ago, Gatorubet said:

if you think that agreeing with the Cheaneys that January 6 was treason Is the reason Kamala lost the election, you are a bigger idiot than I think you are.  And if by some magic you are actually correct, then certainly our country deserves to become known as the shit hole of all shit holes with the stupidest population of voting public in the world. 

I’ve had a lot of time to think about it and I’ve come to the conclusion that America needs a deep long depression with massive human suffering and misery so that even the stupidest people will eventually be able to open their eyes and see the things that are important.   When you can’t feed your family, owning libs is less important -  then you might listen to a progressive.    Everyone is too stupid and happy right now to worry about anyone but themselves in the most superficial fashion.   Fortunately, Trump is about to fix that.

Except when times are tough people get angry and blame others.

People were angry about a couple of transgender people playing sports. It was a largely ginned up issue.  Like seriously why does it even matter? Let them live thier life ffs.

 

It's only going to get worse. Trump isn't going to just hurt marginalized groups; he's going to hurt his supporters and they will be very angry but it will not be directed at him, they will double down hate and blame on anyone they can.

Families have been ripped apart and silos are thus more fortified.

 

Shits going to suck 

  • Popular Post
1 hour ago, Incredulity said:

So is Trump playing 5d chess or a moronic orange buffoon?  It can’t be both.

I’m pretty damn good at running a medical practice.  If you put a controller in my hand and asked me to play a video game, I’d absolutely be a buffoon.  Want me to run a social media account?  Buffoon. 

Trump is absolutely a buffoon when it comes to running a business and understanding basic economics.  He’s a genius with the media and self promotion. 

Why can’t it be both?   That’s laughable.  

Face leopards chomping away, this is so great!!!!  Stupid dummy minority get deserve!!!!!!1!11!

 

@StalinsCuckIcecreamZCone just posted:

“Hispanic neighbors just broke down into ball of jelly.  Trump gestapo patrolling the neighborhood as we speak.  They told me they didn’t know Trump was ACTUALLY Hitlers grandson”

33 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

Hate crime? I've always liked @TwiceHorn take. Just call it assault and be done with it.

Well, it's ok by me for the prosecution to argue during sentencing that a "hate" motivation should enhance the sentence.  So, not entirely done with it.

But, I disfavor new crimes or new categories of crime that don't meaningfully differ from the old ones.  Just another form of pandering by criminal law.

36 minutes ago, Born to Run said:

People were angry about a couple of transgender people playing sports. It was a largely ginned up issue.  Like seriously why does it even matter? Let them live thier life ffs.

There are probably still people out there that think the Algerian boxer should have her medal taken away. 

  • Popular Post
On 11/8/2024 at 1:52 PM, Anastasis said:

My point is that multigenerational households are not a modern American cultural norm, and that has been particularly the case since the 1950s. To expand further, this is primarily a phenomena of white American cultural norms. To the extent that the trend has been reversing over the last couple decades, it is driven by non-white cultures and first and second generation immigrant families. Some of y'all are getting really bogged down in the reference to the 1950's American white picket fence Americana propaganda. If you don't think that propaganda existed, don't think that it influences modern Americans' perceptions of middle class ideals, or want to quibble about whether there is one car or two, we can agree to disagree, and that is ok. We are in agreement (I think) that the basic QOL components that the post-WWII American middle class was founded around are eroding and increasingly unattainable. Those QOL components are primarily achievable by high income earners today, like top 10% income earners. And that is probably cutting it thin. 

 

Picture

 

 

On 11/8/2024 at 2:03 PM, Gatorubet said:

Really? This is exactly the sort of intellectual dishonesty that you favor that leads to your reputation here.  I said absolutely not one thing in support of or against generational households.

I merely pointed out  that your data point construct  - being a single income person supporting their family like the 1960s - was still absolutely an obtainable goal, not something false “sold” to them.  it’s just that now nobody wants that particular life. From my perspective, it was more the 1980s ‘greed is good’ philosophy, with an emphasis placed on how much you made and how nice a neighborhood you lived in that altered your little white house construct.

 If you truly wanted to be accurate, you should’ve listed the lie that spending money on college would always be a good decision.   People who became literally financially crippled through ridiculous educational debt have a right to feel hopeless and that they were lied to.    It took me six years to graduate, and I literally earned every dollar of my college degree, including tuition and living expenses.   I had to work part time while I was going to school and I took many semesters off to work as a union laborer, which made much more money than minimum wage. But I graduated with no debt, somebody that made my decision to obtain a post graduate degree financially sensible. People who owe 150 K for a philosophy degree should be angry, but should’ve had enough sense to know where that was leading.  I very much blame high school guidance counselors and universities for selling that bill of goods

Since you brought up multigenerational living, I think it is an idea that will happen of necessity rather than planning, as people will not be able to put mama in the nursing home or Assisted Living m ok  due to insufficient assets.   A combination of family assisting with a modicum of hourly caregivers is likely way less expensive. 

And of greater importance, in many cases it would result in better care for their elderly loved ones.  And I can see part of grandma or grandpa‘s Social Security being used to help pay the mortgage on that multigenerational home.  All of that is not a bad thing in my mind, as family needs to support family.

 

 

Alright, it's taken me a couple days to reply to this, because I wanted to have time to actually sit down and articulate what I am trying to communicate properly. There are so many threads and ideas flying around so quickly, I can't possibly keep up with what is where anymore, so this is definitely covering shit that is talked about elsewhere. I'll apologize in advance for what is an especially long winded post from me, but if we can stop insulting each other for 10 minutes here I think the core of this country's problems have been easily identifiable for a very long time. As far as solutions, I honestly have none.

 

Ana, I understand your point on multigenerational families and their lack of prevalence in America, but that is kind of a side show as a peripheral issue. The reason I asked you to expand is captured in your post above. We in fact don't agree at all that QOL has eroded, and I think that is the fundamental issue, not between me and you, but with the American middle class. QOL has increased for every American currently alive in immeasurable ways, which is something I've been screaming for the better part of two decades. What gator is describing is correct and he is one of the first people I've seen to really get it.

As I said, all the threads are coming to fast and furious for me to remember, but in one of them I noted that the US middle class is living in an unreality, and that is literally what has happened. They have a mental construct based purely off of emotion, and there is no rational response to that. When the most privileged humans to ever grace the planet think they are losing, there's nothing you can say in empirical terms to reason with that, it's a total fantasy. The basic truth now is that the lowliest peon in a western democracy is more privileged than Henry VIII. Set aside the ease of modern life, things like basic sanitation, and just consider time singularly. More raw time is the one thing that can't be bought (though us wealthy ones definitely buy more time for ourselves, early boarding on planes, car rides instead of sharing, meals made by others...), just watch billionaire psychos desperately trying to unlock the fountain of youth with treatments. But guess what? As a society we did just that. Average life expectancy is 77 years in the US, literally the average American has 20 years more life on the planet than one of the most powerful and privileged persons of all time. We somehow engineered ourselves an exemption from the laws of nature, which is insane. Yet we have country that thinks it's losing? Unreality. We have fundamentally lost the ability to even know what privilege even is. Because there are millions of people in subsaharan Africa, Southeast Asia, South America who have not gotten to this point yet, they are in fact half a millennium behind in most respects. Right now. On Planet Earth.

To look specifically to the change in the US vis a vis the 50's or 60s, which is getting more specifically into what you are saying and what gator is speaking about, it's the same thing just on a smaller scale. You will get no argument from me that the general populace has been force fed American Dream™ propaganda for a century. They have been lied to and pandered to, had their heads filled with all sorts of dreamy nonsense. But what it even means to be middle class now is so divorced from when even my childhood took place, it's unrecognizable. And I'm just a late Gen Xer. The house I was born into would basically been considered uninhabitable these days by a middle class person. From the fixtures, to the floors, no HVAC, it would be a tear down for any buyer. It may even be torn down now, I don't know. But it was the average middle class family house then. The townhouse my mom bought and she and I moved to after my parents split was a a solid middle class house. It would be considered something the working poor rent these days. The little pocket device we all carry has condensed trillions of dollars of technology into something that the lowliest working man can video chat a relative across the globe with, the ability to be with our loved ones across time and space is literally in our hands. Rockafeller and Vanderbilt could not buy this in their wildest fantasies with all their money, much less a middle class person from 1972. Just looking at dollars and cents phones have put more accumulated wealth in peoples lives than a 1950s family would ever seen combined. Health outcomes now vs then? No comparison. These are the very things that define QOL, and we are unimaginably ahead of where we were just 30 years ago, much less 70 years ago. People can absolutely have the 1950s ideal, one income, yadda yadda, but they don't want that life. At all. The way people people even characterize middle class now is totally separate from any empirical definition and hence undefinable. It's raw unadulterated emotion, and thus can never been attained. So as I said elsewhere, there is no policy outcome that will appease these people, it's by definition impossible to.

 

As Andrew Breibart himself noted, politics is downstream of culture. American culture has been sick for a long, long time, and in so many ways. Morally, aesthetically, socially, this has been something coming for decades, since the 80s at least. There's been small flashes of breaking out that torpor, but nothing that has sustained against the downward trajectory. This isn't something Trump did, or the Democrats, or even politicians in general. I've said this for so long now that I can only vaguely remember when I first got the sense this was happening. The American people did this to themselves. I have no answers on how it will change. I used to think maybe I did, but this election put that to bed permanently. I fear absent a worldwide depression and massive war, it will just be a gradual decline to black.

 

So, I guess in toto, TL;DR We played ourselves.

Alternatively, I ain't reading all that I'm happy for u tho or sorry that happened

 

 

 

 

 

Love this whole exchange. We’re gonna make the cr great again. I’ll respond later with objective data supporting my view that QOL and attainment of middle class ideals has been on downward trend, but just want to acknowledge that this is how message boards are suppose to work. Thanks for that post. 

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