Re: Discussion of the 2020 American Federal Election
I wasn't originally going to pop in here, in fact I'm not at all a politics person. Until now I've voted in agreement with my family, because I felt they've had my best interests at heart and were more informed than I am. And they probably are, but as of late I am not sure how I actually feel and it's... kind of nerve-racking for me now.
As someone with a dash of Aspergers, it's hard for me to process stuff like politics. So much contradiction. So much emotion and passion behind it. So much fact checking required to know the truth, which I don't know how to do.
I've never once, until the other day, really gotten into politics. I'd rather sit back and let other people decide the big stuff for me. I have a guilty conscience about this, but as a child I was allowed to do it. My family tried to get me to do things, but upon any sign of resistance or fight from my side, they figured it was just easier to do things for me, or to simplify things as much as possible so I would understand it in the relevant context. I'm so used to those mixd feelings, those feelings of whether I should do something myself or let other people do it for me, that I run away from the big stuff like politics, because I know there's a certain amount of responsibility related to it, and a certain amount of political smarts which I don't have. I certainly couldn't keep America functioning, and thus I have a hard time being super critical of those who do.
My family are all pro Trump. Full stop. They would never vote for Biden, and they hated Obama. I talked to my mom about it a few minutes before writing this post, as I was curious to see what she thought of the recent events surrounding Trump.
She likes Trump because he stands for what america should be. A free country where working hard is rewarded. She deeply values working for what you have. "Kids now don't want to pay for college," she said. "I think that's ridiculous. If you want to go to college, you should pay for it."
"Your stepsister," she explained. "Your stepsister is full democrat. She didn't want to pay for college. She thinks everything should just be handed to her. If her dad were still alive... he wouldn't even talk to her if he knew how she was. Trump tries to encourage people to work hard and pay for what they have. I'm all for helping people who can't work, but I'm not going to help some Joe Shmoe who sits at home doing nothing."
She didn't get animated and ranty, but she did seem passionate and unwilling to listen to a counterargument. Not that I would've provided one; I was sensing that tone of superiority that made me step back.
I watched the debate, which I admit was a shock to me. I never watch those. But I did watch this time, mostly out of curiosity. I didn't understand any of the concepts Biden or Trump threw around beyond a pathetically basic level. I didn't know the acceptable amount of deviation from debate decorum, and even I expected it to get a little rough. but by the end of it, even I, the political invalid, who only watched it because I was a little curious, came away from it awestruck. Was this really how debates should go? Can't two political figures, especially the president of our country, conduct himself better than that? I didn't think so, and that's why I sided with Biden during the debate. He could've said the stupidest things about how this country should be run, but something in his tone assured me. His softspoken voice and his way of addressing "You at home" repeatedly... that alone just made me want to listen to him. He spoke passionately, persuasively and to us. Like I say, what he said didn't matter, I'm just going by his tone of voice and inflection.
I would not have said that to anyone especially in my family, for fear that I would be dismissed as an idiot who didn't know what he was talking about. But when everyone else, even my own family, were agitated by Trump's behavior at the debate, I felt immense relief. At least, we could agree that Trump did things he wasn't supposed to do.
Even with that debate aside, something about Trump bothers me. He just comes off as arrogant and manipulative. Maybe I'm letting other people's opinions influence me too much. In fact I'm pretty sure I am; I don't watch many of his speeches. But even I am concerned. He constantly tells lies, or at least that's what I read. He is so self-assured. He calls countries shitholes, insults women, and tells white supremecy groups (I had to look up the definition of that last night btw) to stand back, but stand by. And if it is true that he made a remark shown to the public, jokingly or not, that we should be injecting bleach into ourselves to protect against Covid 19, well. Even if I am a political idiot, I don't want our president getting a free pass on any of that. But my family, either because of ignorance of this information or otherwise, seem unable to criticize him for it.
When I asked my mom and her boyfriend about what they thought of the debate, their response went something like this. "Trump can be a bully with bad manners, and he just needs to shut up and let Biden talk. But he does the right things, and he makes America the place it should be. Biden wants to put the country under lockdown. As soon as he becomes president he'll shut the whole country down again. He wants to take away gun rights. That's not how America should be. So no, you don't want to vote for Biden. Deal with Trump for a few more years and then vote for Pence, he's a nice guy who will still do what's right."
Later, the boyfriend said something about Kamala Harris sleeping with men to get her way up the ladder. I really don't need to know who sleeps with who. and if that actually has any influence on Harris's position, which he seemed to think it did, I personally find it horrifying, not just because it's a thing, but also because the country actually cares who Harris is sleeping with. I, at least, don't want to know any of it!
Had I only talked to my family about this, I would've been convinced that republican was my choice. But I am a firm believer that there are two, possibly more, sides to every story, and it is for that reason that I reluctantly started reading this thread. I wanted to hear different people's perspectives. I wanted to understand the issues.
I have nothing at all against this thread. i'm actually kind of happy it exists on these terms, as someone else could eventually have made a similar thread on less friendly terms. This quote in particular got me thinking:
If you still support Trump, you're either an authoritarian, or you're in support of authoritarianism, or your hatred of the left is so unbelievably out of size that you've lost all perspective...
Would love to know what you folks think, and if any of you can still justify supporting the current Cheeto-in-chief after this.
If my family were on this forum, they would not at all be happy about this I'm sure!
Let me stress that I love my family dearly. I might make them out to be unreasonable people, but they are not. They're heavily opinionated about politics, but they're generally calm, respectable people who I am very glad to have in my life. I still live with them and while I feel self-conscious about it, I am infinitely grateful that they are willingly keeping a roof over my head and trying to support me. But I just can't understand them sometimes. If they believe in the value of work so much, why are they not kicking me out of the house? I'm blind and things are harder for me. Is that it? Does my stepsister being a democrat mean she expects things to be handed to her? Is that how democrats generally are? Is that even how she feels, or are they letting their powers of interpretation tell them that? I'm not going to ask her about it; we've never had reason to talk about it and I'm keeping it that way. I love her too much even though we don't get a chance to speak very often.
Another thing, about 7 years ago I received a fair settlement from the hospital I was born in because some doctors believe my blindness could have been prevented, or at least reduced to low vision, had the eye doctor overseeing my care been more proactive/less neglegent. From the beginning I wanted nothing to do with this, but I was dragged into it (I was 17 and not an adult when the case was raised). I still have mixed feelings well after it's done and over with, but to be honest if I could have, I would've stopped it. It's just another reminder that things will get handed to me because I have a disability. For a family who preaches you should work for what you have, seeking a settlement for this long after it happened seems a little contradictory in my book. But everyone who knows about this is happy for me because I now have money to use when I need it. What does this say about us? Does it speak at all to whether we are more on the republican or democrat side, or something else altogether which I don't even know about? Or am I thinking about this all wrong? I'm just trying to make sense of it and I can't do it, and this is why I previously let politics go.
Now I almost wish I had just stood down from the debate entirely. I'm still going to vote, my family insists that I do, even though I don't feel qualified. If a political person from my family has to help me do it, I'll vote for Trump to keep on the family's good side. If I can vote confidentially, I may actually consider Biden, but will be so scared to commit to it it's not even funny. That's sad, but I'm not the only one who can't decide what to vote for right now from what I'm reading. So yeah. I'm trying not to think about it. Tbf, I don't even want to vote, especially not now. Not after I've invested so much energy into this and gotten myself into this mental/emotional trap.
I know I'm probably coming off as whining and exhibiting learned helplessness at this point. Maybe I should just shut up. I don't expect that anyone will really have another answer for me. But at least I've put this out there for better or for worse, and maybe, just maybe, it'll mean something to someone. Hopefully some day I'll find what I need to resolve this.
As an aside, I can't get the chords and the melodies these candidates sing out of my head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=un9x-DjTMT0
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