Half the US is in a cult. Austria also has a massive far right problem
As an American, Austria has its own problems with the far right.
Austrian conservative right was caught red handed accepting bribes… by german state public media. It’s mind blowing how similar the conservatives are in different countries. (= Corrupt and Weird)
Germany’s ARD and ZDF (et al) are not ‘state media’ btw. They are publicly funded but not run by the state. Each broadcaster has its own council that is supposed to be representative of German society that must by law include representatives from popular parties (not just the ones in government), unions, religions, human rights campaigners etc…
Only DW (Deutsche Welle) is run and owned by the government.
Yeah. I’m also not American and can’t understand how anybody would even consider voting for Trump. Is half of the US in a cult? And I’m Polish so I’m also concerned by the consequences of electing Trump.
Suppose you take a very superficial view of the U.S. without thinking too hard, and consider COVID to be either an exception or a conspiracy. Under Trump the economy seemed to be doing well, wages were up, inflation a nonissue, unemployment down, illegal immigration wasn’t often in the news, no war in Ukraine or Israel, Afghanistan had not collapsed, abortion was a nonissue, etc. Under Biden, constant news about illegal immigration waves, two wars, high inflation, abortion, etc.
Of course that ignores other issues, a lot of the “Trump economy” was actually the afterglow of the “Obama economy”, and if we give Trump a pass on COVID we should do the same for Biden and the economic shock that lead to inflation. Trump would not have supported Ukraine and layed the ground work for both the abortion and Afghanistan issues, etc.
But, keep in mind, half of Americans are below average and take whatever media they consume at face value, a lot of which is Fox News.
What kind of media were you consuming in US? I am in norway and even over here there was day in and day out of the latest insane thing trump had did or said the last 24h with video of some speach where some minority or the other got rights removed. Or some executive order that was right out of the ss handbook. Or kissing ass with some authorative dictator.
It was a 4 year of constantly feeling sorry for americans. And hoping the bottom was reached. But he allways managed to do something worse the next day.
I think we got a taste of the 24h news cycle in us and it was exhausting.
Also keep in mind, due to the vagaries of the Electoral College, a candidate can win with as little as 23% of the vote.
People have selective memory
Under Trump the economy seemed to be doing well, wages were up, inflation a nonissue, unemployment down,
Economy was doing good until mid 2018 when sugar rush of cut taxes for corporations run out and stick market was crashing. Those same people (trump supporters) were saying that we are due for recession.
The tax bill was the first major change that affected economy, I actually lost job by end of 2018, because outsourcing became more beneficial with the new tax bill. By end of 2018 all 401k earnings since beginning of 2018 were wiped.
2019 continued to have crashes and also started having supply issues (this was before covid)
illegal immigration wasn’t often in the news,
Like a clockwork, the caravans always seem to form during campaign season for some reason.
no war in Ukraine or Israel,
The thing is that despite what right wing media is spewing those aren’t our ways, our military is not involved. We are providing support.
Afghanistan had not collapsed,
Well this is something trump started and negotiated with Taliban (can you imagine he invited them to Camp Davis?). What outcome was expected when US negotiated withdrawal behind Afghanistan’s government back?
abortion was a nonissue, etc.
I don’t think this particular thing is helping trump.
can’t understand how anybody would even consider voting for Trump
When the world is rapidly changing, and people feel their quality of life decreasing, there are different types of answers: complicated ones and simple ones. If you buy into a simple answer, if your friends buy into it too, if you have news sources and community leaders that reinforce it, then it doesn’t really matter how outrageous that simple answer is. This has happened many times in many countries throughout history.
It kinda is a cult, yeah. White supremacy combined with “fundamentalist” (but not theologically sound) religion has been our main problem from the beginning.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, we had the chance to hang a lot of the people who were perpetuating the religion of white supremacy, but we didn’t do that and are paying for it now.
The other half can’t understand how anybody would even consider voting for Kamala. At the end of the day it’s tribal politics.
Do Austrians yell “OY YA FOCKIN CONT” when greeting a friend?
Trump is going to send the Austrians to Australia, just like he’s gonna send all those Haitian immigrants in Springfield back to Venezuela.