• aesthelete@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I don’t think all of them enjoy inflicting pain, but Gen Z Trump voters are just Trump voters, and some of them certainly enjoy inflicting pain (especially those walking around puppeting rape threats). I find the actions people take to be more illustrative of their character than imagined back stories.

    No offense to you, but I’ve personally read tens of thousands of words in the wake of 2016 about economic anxiety only to have those same people suddenly about face on every economic issue once “their guy” took over and the opening of your post reminded me a lot of that.

    • ArchRecord@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      and some of them certainly enjoy inflicting pain (especially those walking around puppeting rape threats)

      Oh, definitely. There are always going to be some people that enjoy causing pain, and I’m not ignorant of their existence. I just believe that, broadly speaking, the majority of people in most groups, young Gen Z men included, don’t actually enjoy causing harm, or even necessarily believe they’re causing harm in the first place.

      Right-wing grifters have a very easy time convincing people of arbitrary divides to cause conflict, and when young men are in a situation just like the rest of their female Gen Z peers, but don’t see the same issues happening to those women because of their media bubble, to them, the world just looks like it’s leaving them behind.

      To them, they don’t see themselves as causing pain, only as trying to gain back what they’ve “lost.”

      Essentially, while I do believe their beliefs are often wrong and misguided, I don’t think that most of them believe they’re even causing harm in the first place, let alone enjoy doing so.

      • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Essentially, while I do believe their beliefs are often wrong and misguided, I don’t think that most of them believe they’re even causing harm in the first place, let alone enjoy doing so.

        I dunno man, the liberal tears shit, the “your body my choice” shit, the “hang Mike Pence chants”, the insurrection, people rolling coal and flying Trump flags off cities in f-150s, etc etc. A lot of them fully know they’re being assholes at very least. There are surely some kinder, gentler fascists among them but like, those ones are ok with the constant asshole behavior as well so they’re enablers.

        It sucks to learn that so many people are like this or at very least accepting of it. I bought democrats’ collective “it’s a loud minority” for a time, but at some point you just have to accept that this country is full of ignorant, fascist-loving, borderline-psychopathic assholes, or continue deluding yourself.