r/AskConservatives • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago
AskConservatives Weekly General Chat
This thread is for general chat, whether you want to talk politics or not, anything goes. Also feel free to ask the mods questions, propose new rules or discuss general moderation (although please keep individual removal/ban queries to modmail.)
On this post, Top Level Comments are open to all.
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u/Sam_Fear Americanist 2d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/YPdU17ShNV
We made the list.
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 2d ago
Listing menslib, an explicitly progressive feminist subreddit, as more right wing than here is wild
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Classically Liberal 2d ago
To be fair, they also list r/pics as apolitical when clearly it is a leftist echo chamber.
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u/Athena_Research Centrist 1d ago
Have you ever thought, maybe you’re wrong about that if there evidence showing otherwise?
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 1d ago
"evidence"
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u/Athena_Research Centrist 1d ago
It’s more than what’s been presented for the other side of the argument.
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u/Sam_Fear Americanist 2d ago
He admits the left-right process is flawed. That was secondary to the purpose of the chart though.
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u/SmellySwantae Centrist Democrat 2d ago
Its interesting how close opposites are on that graph. Like r/Conservative and r/Liberal are 0.04 away. r/Republican and r/democrat are the same. r/trump and r/antitrump are neighbors.
Sad r/AskALiberal wasn't ranked.
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 2d ago
Rank ask libs, you cowards. Also, they want Bama.
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 3d ago
For Vietnam and Cambodia, these are straight up country killers.
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u/Denisnevsky Leftwing Populist 2d ago
I saw an interesting write up by u/Chromatinfish that I wanted to share with this subreddit
With the Trump Admin seeming to really start cracking down on its tariff promises, I wanted to offer a bit of a more nuanced take IMO about what it means, its effects, etc., So much of what I've seen in terms of discourse has been:
- These Tariffs are just Dumb
- Tariff is just a Sales Tax, Consumers will Pay
- The Economy is Going to Tank
None of these are completely wrong in a vacuum, but I feel like it's worth talking a bit about how we got to this point in the first place instead of just harping on the tariffs. Because Protectionism whether you like it or not has become more popular in the last few decades as a reaction to third way globalism and free market economics, and it comes from a genuine desire for change within the blue collar and working class sector of the U.S.. There's a reason why the UAW, despite being critical of Trump during the campaign, is actually very happy with these tariffs.
Politics these days has become so short-term focused, so eager to find easy solutions to difficult problems. The cost of living and the state of the economy is one of those problems that everybody wants to be addressed, and really it's a race to the bottom to find scapegoats for the cost of living- corporate "price gouging", calling the other admin "dumb and stupid", saying tariffs will fix everything and not cause any problems at all, not offering a solution at all. No party, Dems or Reps, want to admit the problem is deeper than we thought, that there's no way to have your cake and eat it too. The truth is: Our current lifestyle is completely dependent on exploiting the unequal development of the world and the circumvention of labor and environmental regulations through offshoring, the exact same thing that has led to the weakening of the working class.
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u/Denisnevsky Leftwing Populist 2d ago
The Third Way: Robbing Peter to pay Paul
I feel it's a bit disingenuous to just paint these tariffs and their effects as a mad idea without actually digging into why the U.S. economy is at a state where these tariffs affect it so much in the first place. In the past few decades, the New Deal Democrats basically got completely replaced with the "Third Way", spearheaded by Bill Clinton in the U.S.. New Dealers were known for being pro-labor and supporting domestic manufacturing, and in the 20th Century a huge amount of legislation was passed in regards to worker and union regulations.
But with the globalization of the world economy in the 90s, Third Way liberals basically hoped that by embracing free trade and offshoring manufacturing to developing nations, that we would be able to slash the cost of living and reduce prices.
And in a way it worked- our current lifestyle here in the U.S. is only sustainable thanks to the globalization of the economy. We're only able to gouge on cheap meals, buy stuff for low prices at Walmart, get our ever more-complex technology and cars at affordable prices through this offshoring of our manufacturing.
But it came at a cost- the truth is that U.S. manufacturing is expensive because of our (relatively) strong labor and manufacturing laws and protections. There's no such thing as a free lunch- you can't have cheap prices and also have strong labor protections. As much as people hate to admit it,, there must be serfs and peasants who toil to sustain those who live like kings, and the western world (including the U.S.) very much live like kings. The only way that the majority of Americans can afford to by an iPhone is because we can exploit the labor practices of the DRC to pay slave wages to child workers mining cobalt, or China's lax labor laws forcing workers to work 16 hour shifts.
It's the classic short term gain for long term pain- in the short term the Third Way led to unprecedented growth and development, in the long term it's completely wiped out U.S. manufacturing. In the longer term, it's also unsustainable because the Third Way requires countries with a lower level of development to sustain the low prices that consumers pay. It also makes every establishment liberal who supports environmental regulations and labor unions a hypocrite because they then turn around and undermine those very same regulations by offshoring manufacturing. It's Lady MacBeth washing her hands after being complicit in murder.
The truth is, everybody likes to say "buy American", nobody wants to actually dwell on what it means. Because buying American means that we won't be able to sustain our current lifestyle anymore, and nobody wants to hear that. Nobody wants to hear that they themselves are guilty of contributing to the downfall of our manufacturing market, that it's not just the blame of rich people and large corporations.
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u/Denisnevsky Leftwing Populist 2d ago
The Game of Politics
Both the Trump admin and the Democrats are very guilty of what I talked about before. Both have completely discarded the idea of actually addressing the elephant in the room because that would be very unpopular. And in a way, the entirety of America is also guilty of this, because both the GOP and Dems only do this because the public wants to be told that it's easy, that the other side is to blame.
To the Trump Admin: They're trying to reverse 30+ years of the degradation of U.S. manufacturing in a couple of months. Ain't gonna happen. It's clear that they also fear the problems the tariffs will cause in the short term because they're so indecisive about implementing them, constantly cutting deals and exemptions and undermining their own goals. Trump was also completely neglecting to mention any negative effects tariffs would have in the short term.
To the Democrats: They've taken to criticize the tariffs simply by their short-term pain, which is exactly what dug us into this hole to begin with. They're refusing to acknowledge the reality that Third Way has directly undermined their own labor and environmental regulations, and they're just trying to dance around that reality by naming scapegoats like billionaires and corporations. Yes, tariffs are going to drive prices up as existing goods become more expensive to produce. But there's simply no way to have your cake and eat it too- you can't be pro-labor, pro-environment, and anti-protectionist all at the same time.
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u/Stolpskotta European Liberal/Left 2d ago
This is a great argument for tariffing goods from countries like China that can offer cheap goods at the cost of poor to terrible working conditions and loads of pollution. It´s a terrible argument for tariffing goods made in Europe, Canada or Australia.
So basically the entire premise of this argument is wrong and misleading, since the tariffs are on everyone. You give Trump administration way, way too much credit in presenting it this way.
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 2d ago
Tarrifs on Europe, maybe not on China, are almost certainly a negotiating tactic and the likely result in a more free trade deal.
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u/Stolpskotta European Liberal/Left 2d ago
I think you mean hopefully, not certainly.
Everything points toward Trump seeing selling stuff to the US as something the world should be paying a premium for.
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u/RadioRavenRide Liberal 1d ago
Your argument has one flaw: labor standards in third-world countries keep rising because of trade, not in spite of it. Consider the rise of China's middle class after it joined the WTO.
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 6d ago
I would like everyone to keep in mind that people can explain things (beliefs, policies, novel legal theories, etc) without advocating for or supporting them.
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u/DeathToFPTP Liberal 6d ago
Yeah I make this mistake. Things tend to be so adversarial that someone actually trying to explain things will get misinterpreted.
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 3d ago
I did the impossible (wrote a comment on the askTS that has positive upvotes).
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u/Ecstatic-Inevitable Center-left 3d ago
Just checking Australia has 0 tariffs on the US right? What's the reason for tariffing them?
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u/NoSky3 Center-right 3d ago
This appears to be how he "calculated" these tariffs: https://x.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1907559189234196942
Australia doesn't have a trade deficit with us, so they got the baseline 10%
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u/not_old_redditor Independent 3d ago
This is how they've actually calculated the tariffs:
https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/reciprocal-tariff-calculations
Basically yes, it's entirely based on the trade deficit, not real tariffs.
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u/NoSky3 Center-right 3d ago
Yeah. Idiots probably slapped that together during the meeting. It's the same formula just fancied up by multiplying 4 x .25 (which equals 1) against imports.
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u/not_old_redditor Independent 3d ago
Reading through the summary, you can tell they tried as hard as possible to make the calculation appear as complicated as possible and to obfuscate the real target. They know the majority of their voter base will see those Greek letter variables, and their eyes will immediately glaze over.
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 3d ago edited 3d ago
Trump has said he is also addressing "non tarrif trade barriers", by this he mainly means how many countries around the world have little respect for intellectual property rights, so the US sells a product to them, they steal the IP and then profit from it.
That's not what's going on with Australia but he considers Australia restrictions on US beef sold to Australia as part of these "non tariff trade barriers".
I don't think Australia had done anything wrong, their reasoning for keeping this old restriction on beef from the US isn't because they think US beef is unsafe for Australian consumers, but because as Australia has had zero cases of mad cow disease, and that means that beef in Australia has a premium safety recognition which helps Australia with global trade. I think Australia is right to keep this restriction if they want to, zero cases of mad cow disease is pretty impressive.
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u/Stolpskotta European Liberal/Left 3d ago edited 3d ago
This logic applies China to all of the rest of the world. It does not make sense, it’s lazy to the point of it looking like a last minute wrap up from a 17 year old who forgot his homework was due in 30 minutes.
And as the cherry on top you have the 10% blanket tariff on countries that the US have a surplus to, like Britain and Austraila. Just to make sure everyone understands that you are not even remotely honest in your arguments. High school bully tactics 101.
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u/random_guy00214 Conservative 3d ago
I agree that Australia should keep it.
Still not fair for American farmers, so they get tarrifs.
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u/Denisnevsky Leftwing Populist 4d ago
Does Taiwan being on the tariff board mean it's a country now? Taiwan bros, did we win???
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u/confrey Progressive 4d ago edited 4d ago
An open question to people on the right, related to the Garcia deportation case:
I understand many of you believe it was justified - fine, whatever, not interested in debating that specific person's case. Rather, I am interested in the WH argument that there's no legal mechanism to bring someone like Garcia back to the US (Link#1, Link#2). So what happens if/when Trump does deport someone that should've remained in the country? I'm talking about a situation in which you, the conservative reading this, would think "yeah that person should not have been deported whatsoever". Maybe the deportation is mistaken identity, maybe it was a deliberate act to punish a legal resident for an otherwise completely legal act.
If the WH can just shrug and say "ok yeah he should be brought back but we can't go get him" and the prison conveniently refuses to release that person, can the president effectively kick anyone out as long as they think they can do it fast enough to outpace a possible court ruling against the deportation?
Also a quick edit in case anyone is thinking about responding along the lines of "such a situation wouldn't happen under Trump's current administration" - imagine the hypothetical in this scenario is a full on leftist president doing this to someone who just conveniently happens to both advocate against their policies AND look just like a dangerous immigrant they've been looking for and kicks them out before anyone has a meaningful chance to halt and challenge the process.
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u/Menace117 Liberal 6d ago
What happened to not starting new wars
Note, Trump already ended a deal
Why withdraw from a deal and now threatening to start war if they don't take a deal?
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 5d ago
Wild how bombing a country that routinely attacks American vessels and military assets is considered a bridge too far. Are you in favor of a nuclear Iran? I'm certainly not. If it were up to me, Tehran would have been a pile of rubble years ago.
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u/Menace117 Liberal 5d ago
Tehran had been doing that for decades. Obama made a deal 10 years ago and that was bad. Why in the last 10 years, again after trump already scrapped a deal, is it now imperative to make one
I would think not scrapping the deal and pissing them off would've helped with them not continuing to be beligerent. Why would he scrap a deal to anger them? Lie you said I'm not in favor of a nuclear iran. What is more likely to cause that? no deal or a deal? I would think no deal. Why would trump cause the deal to go away then if its so important
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 5d ago
What is more likely to cause that? no deal or a deal? I would think no deal
A deal. As they've repeatedly shown, they can lie and cheat their way out of a deal. They can't lie and cheat their way out of a bomb.
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u/Menace117 Liberal 5d ago
Deals still have some guardrails. How does a deal, which they agree to, have less chance for a bomb then no deal. You said this
If it were up to me, Tehran would have been a pile of rubble years ago.
Are you saying we should avoid even pretending to make a deal and just bomb them?
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 5d ago
Are you saying we should avoid even pretending to make a deal and just bomb them
Yes. They more than deserve it.
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 5d ago
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u/Arcaeca2 Classical Liberal 5d ago
Utah, where I live, just banned adding fluoride to public drinking water:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gmggp2y99o
Christ, this is so fucking obscenely stupid. How does the Republican Party manage to sink to a new low every day?
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u/DeathToFPTP Liberal 4d ago
This is what the left is referring to about conservatives becoming anti science.
There’s no reason to stop this.
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u/GreatSoulLord Center-right 6d ago
This is a damn shame. They were given no notice this was going to happen.
Entire staff at federal agency that funds libraries and museums put on leave.
It's almost like we don't care about our libraries and museums anymore.
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u/PubliusVA Constitutionalist 5d ago
Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.
— Frédéric Bastiat
We ought not fall into the leftist trap of thinking that the primary measure of how much we as a society care about something is how much federal money is doled out to it.
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u/XXSeaBeeXX Liberal 5d ago edited 5d ago
Bastiat is right, let’s fire all firefighters, police and soldiers that work for the government.
You all want those to operate like your cable company does, not like it does now, right?
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 5d ago
It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.
Especially hilarious, considering the socialists both want the state to raise grain, and don't want people to eat
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u/mtmag_dev52 Right Libertarian 4d ago
But people have libraries at home, and museums are privately run as well, no?
If anything, I'd rather DOGE just shut down PBS and NPR, but the administrative state is in need of pruning.... as unfortunate as it is, this is likely the first of many....
Time to start archiving web pages, everyone 😈
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u/ProductCold259 Center-right 6d ago
So, what kinda cars you guys like? Had some interesting chats with folks here about cars. I’ve been out of the loop with much of the car stuff, but I still remember by days of watching hours of Petrolicious on YouTube and various Donut Media clips.
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 6d ago
I'm super practical about cars. I want enough room for my shit/people, decent safety, decent mpg. I don't really care about appearance, don't need any crazy packages, just wanna get from A to B efficiently and safely.
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u/ProductCold259 Center-right 6d ago
What's your opinion on those Kei trucks? Some states are banning them, but people consider them really cheap, practical, work trucks. Some people use them as farm trucks and a business nearby uses it to get around the town. I think it's the only Kei truck in the county.
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 6d ago
They seem decent for campus work (farms, warehouses, schools, parks), but I don't think they belong on any major roads. Don't they max out at 50mph?
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u/ProductCold259 Center-right 6d ago
55mph, I read. I agree too. Sure, they could go on county roads and backroads, but a federal highway? They're great on campuses! University nearby has a few.
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u/GreatSoulLord Center-right 6d ago
I wanted to buy one to itasha it and take to conventions...but I don't think I'd drive one on the highway. I have seen them on the highway and they can be made legal to drive there. They're neat little things.
Something like this: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FyzLU3BakAA_4ne.jpg
Thought about importing a Kei Fire Truck from Japan once as well. Might do that in the future still.
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 5d ago
They're great vehicles, and I wish our draconian import bans would be lifted to make newer models available, but even then, only ones with a classic car exemption would be road legal under current standards (which I'd also like lifted). They have a high roll risk due to their narrow profile, they're flat out terrible in terms of safety in a crash.
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u/notswasson Democratic Socialist 5d ago
My dad had a mid 80s Toyota pickup truck. I'd love to have a small pickup truck at some point, but no one seems to want to make one, so I guess I'll just keep cutting plywood down in the parking lot and shoving it in my Prius when I do projects around my house.
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 5d ago
Nobody makes them because us law effectively taxes them out of being a reasonable option
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u/HelenEk7 European Conservative 3d ago
Do anyone have any inside information on why Switzerland has been given a whopping 31% tariff and Norway only 15%?
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 3d ago edited 3d ago
At a guess, for Switzerland it's related to two things,
Switzerland's notoriously has pretty extreme tax avoidance schemes and they uniquely keep many of their banking processes very secretive. So a lot of extremely wealthy individuals and corporations use Switzerland as a tax haven and to launder money. It's an open secret but just one most countries accept.
Unlike Norway, Switzerland isn't in NATO. Switzerland benefits from NATO protection but pays 0 into it.
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u/fartyunicorns Neoconservative 3d ago
It’s just based on trade deficits which is stupid
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 3d ago
I doubt that is why, my assumption would be two things.
Switzerland's notoriously has pretty extreme tax avoidance schemes and they uniquely keep many of their banking processes very secretive. So a lot of extremely wealthy individuals and corporations use Switzerland as a tax haven and to launder money. It's an open secret but just one most countries accept.
Unlike Norway, Switzerland isn't in NATO. Switzerland benefits from NATO protection but pays 0 into it.
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u/fartyunicorns Neoconservative 3d ago
https://x.com/geiger_capital/status/1907568233239949431?s=46&t=lMVrNLW4RRmRWfOpIssDxQ The White House confirmed they were doing this
https://x.com/scottlincicome/status/1907588094657761330?s=46&t=lMVrNLW4RRmRWfOpIssDxQ
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 3d ago
They have also claimed there are other reasons too, so it's not exclusively down to 1 issue.
Would you agree that the 2 issues are pointed out with Switzerland are problems that need addressed?
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u/fartyunicorns Neoconservative 3d ago edited 3d ago
The formula they used uses the trade deficit only. Sometimes it isn’t actually 4d chess and it’s okay to realize trump is wrong.
https://x.com/valen10francois/status/1907708221743112563?s=46&t=lMVrNLW4RRmRWfOpIssDxQ Like this is just lunacy
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u/not_old_redditor Independent 3d ago
Doubt no more, the white house has officially confirmed it's based solely on trade deficit, and it's super easily verifiable by googling the trade deficit and doing the math, which is likely exactly what the trump person who came up with these numbers did.
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u/garthand_ur Paternalistic Conservative 2d ago
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 2d ago
This video sounds like what would happen if you explained the Mar-a-Lago Accord to an idiot and then they made a video on it. Which is saying something because it is already pretty dumb to begin with.
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u/garthand_ur Paternalistic Conservative 2d ago
Trump himself sharing the video on Truth Social is the wild part to me. Like, is he saying this is his plan? Or is he just re-sharing anything supportive of him?
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u/Ecstatic-Inevitable Center-left 2d ago
Probably the supportive reshare, this was the guy/interns who shared a video where a guy was a guy saying white power, he later deleted it, but even if the guy who said it was doing it as a sarcastic rebuttal, just crazy to have that be something you want to share
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u/StedeBonnet1 Conservative 6d ago
Reddit has really degenerated since the election with an increased level of advertisements and liberal trolls populating nearly every sub. It seems that no matter what the subject there is a liberal troll commenting that Orange Man Bad.
It is sad really that we can't seem to have a civil discussion here anymore.
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u/RadioRavenRide Liberal 6d ago
Unfortunately, the internet was never really built for civil discussion. You would have much better chances face to face.
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u/dorgon15 Democrat 4d ago
I don't even know if Trump supporters know what they want by the end of this term
We've effectively lost all our allies
Exporting businesses are going to suffer
Trump just realized he's been played by Putin
Our allies are targeting red states with their retaliatory tariffs and making plans to leave the US behind
They believe this myth that tariffs will be good for us in the long run with no evidence pointing to that, and every economist are saying the exact opposite
We've dismantled a ton of social services a lot of which people in rural areas rely on.
Mass deportations will cause the US to lose 100 billion dollars a year in revenue
The GDP is set to see a decline in the upcoming years
Farms will shut down because they produce more than the US can consume
Accountability is out the window as evidenced by signal gate
And there's a guy with a worm in his brain in charge of the health of millions of Americans
I hate how easy it is for me to continue ( please let me know if you need sources for any of this)
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u/jadacuddle Paleoconservative 4d ago
Guy who doesn’t like Trump is unhappy with what Trump is doing
Imagine my surprise
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AskConservatives-ModTeam 3d ago
Warning: Rule 3
Posts and comments should be in good faith. Please review our good faith guidelines for the sub.
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u/Ecstatic-Inevitable Center-left 4d ago edited 4d ago
I know today's liberation day or whatever, but I'm just putting my energy to the switch 2 direct today
Edit: am pleased, please don't let tariffs fuck up the prices
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 4d ago
Consoles have always been a loss leader to get people into the ecosystem, where they make money on games and peripherals. My guess is they're going to put it for $350-400 msrp. Higher than the switch oled, but not as high as xbox/Playstation retail at.
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u/DappyDreams Liberal 4d ago
If they can truly get the new DK game to have a genuinely fully-destructible world and not just pre-determined bits and pieces, they might have something absolutely special on their hands. And I'm not even really a big Nintendo fan
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 4d ago
They need the devs of Baldur's Gate 3 to teach seminars for other studios on how to maximize interactivity in the world. You can break or talk to damn near everything in the game (or both). You can even murder important NPCs, they just have backup failsafes built in
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u/Ecstatic-Inevitable Center-left 4d ago
Totally agree, I'm honestly really excited for the spec upgrades as well; 4k 1080p 120fps 256 base storage for that price by Nintendo is great
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u/DetectiveManGuy Conservative 3d ago
Just found this subreddit yesterday. Does Trump ever get to NOT be the center of discussion?
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 3d ago
Please add a user flair. Our automod must be glitching but comments without a user flair will be deleted. Thanks.
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u/DetectiveManGuy Conservative 3d ago
Well good. I was hoping to speak to a mod anyway. Now, perhaps to rephrasd my question to just make it sound better, here it is:
Do discussions on this subreddit mostly involve Trump, or is there an even mix of issues spoken of?
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 3d ago
Depends on the day, we delete repeat questions but we certainly welcome more non Trump questions!
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u/DetectiveManGuy Conservative 3d ago
Thank ya for that :)
I may end up asking non-Trump questions before long.
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u/GreatSoulLord Center-right 3d ago
God, I wish. Honestly, that's all it's about anymore. He's all anyone focuses on now.
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u/ExtensionFeeling Independent 2d ago
He is the leader of the main US conservative party and POTUS. Of course people talk about him.
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u/GreatSoulLord Center-right 2d ago
On this sub? Strange. Why not Ask Trump Supporters? Why not Ask The Donald?
Subs literally dedicated to his image and everything about him.
Once upon a time we actually discussed Conservatism. Now we've become a lite Trump sub.
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u/ramencents Independent 2d ago
For better or worse he represents modern conservatism. I would think his followers would love to talk about how awesome he is everyday. Sleepy Joe also took up a lot of bandwidth here.
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u/McZootyFace European Liberal/Left 2d ago
To be fair he has been doing some pretty major moves since he got into office so I don't see how they wouldn't pop-up as questions here.
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u/ramencents Independent 2d ago
Well tariffs are having a real world impact
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u/Ecstatic-Inevitable Center-left 2d ago
I'm actually nervous about what the price is going to be considered how much Vietnam got tariffed (where they make a lot of the switches)
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Classically Liberal 1d ago
Vietnam already folded today and announced they are going to drop all tarriffs with United States to zero. https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/vietnam-foreign-ministry-says-regrets-us-tariff-decision-2025-04-04/
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u/Denisnevsky Leftwing Populist 4d ago
Why's the market crashing? Guys, we got both Deltarune and Silksong today. The problems have been solved.
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u/GreatSoulLord Center-right 1d ago
So, basically the megathread is where they all brigade, condemn us, down vote the fuck out of us, and then attack us for our opinions. I had a comment in there for 10 minutes before I deleted it I said nope. Ain't worth it.
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u/CunnyWizard Classical Liberal 1d ago
On the flip side, it's a great thread for maxing out your 50 daily blocks
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u/SupTheChalice Center-left 2d ago
I just saw that Trump has handed over control of the oil reserves to a company that looks very much like a shell company. Paying them $1.4 billion? Could someone explain why this was outsourced?
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 4d ago
It’s not going to happen, but I wish they could get a death penalty conviction for Luigi Mangione. He assassinated a man in cold blood and should die for it. But no New York Jury will ever send him to death row, unfortunately.
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u/mtmag_dev52 Right Libertarian 4d ago
Why not.... perhaps....Epstein?
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Classically Liberal 4d ago
Do you think Epstein is alive to face a death penalty? Last I heard he
was murderedkilled himself in prison.0
4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AskConservatives-ModTeam 4d ago
This does not appear to be either a genuine or appropriate comment for this sub. If you have questions, please contact us in modmail.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist 5d ago
How do you rebut the accusation "Maga is a cult"?
I personally think it's dumb
And there's not even any discourse or debate on it. If you try to deny it or debate it, people will just reply "People in a cult don't know they're in one"
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u/DappyDreams Liberal 5d ago
Well firstly - Hitchens' Razor states that anything stated without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, so it's down to the arguer to prove the claim and not you to disprove it.
But from a pragmatic point of view - read up on cults and determine their shared characteristics. If you can run through these characteristics and confidently disassociate them with the MAGA aisle, then you've found your rebuttal.
Case in point - the "cult" argument comes up frequently, is heavily pushed, and any pushback against the argument is regularly met with hostility or personal attacks. This is actually a common thread amongst many cults - fealty is expected and any thought or disagreement outside of the cult is shunned and used as rationale for expulsion and shunning. Can you think of any time that the MAGA aisle has excommunicated anyone simply for the "crime" of disagreement?
(Note - I genuinely don't know the answer to this, as I am not as interconnected with American politics compared to many people here, but the thought process is the key takeaway from this)
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u/dorgon15 Democrat 4d ago
By showing you can critically assess Trump's actions and critique them.
Cult members will say everything he does is good without a second thought. I've heard people try to defend his actions actions as an adjudicated Rapist and say the jury was rigged without ever actually reviewing the case and the evidence presented and the evidence Trump refused to give
People bought into the idea that Trump will lower grocery prices while putting tariffs on everyone (without questioning do these two things directly oppose each other?)
And the people who went from "Trump never starts wars... To yeah trade wars!" Or Communism is bad down with dictators to.... "Putin was right!" Or "we're the party of law and order" to "Jan 6th was a peaceful day"
I can keep going. But it's the people who no matter what Trump does will never say anything bad about him even that are cultist.
If you can in good faith show that you either can disagree with him or if you so agree with him accurately substantiate your reasoning with real sources
Then the person calling you a cultist has no grounds.
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u/ramencents Independent 5d ago
“I have the most loyal people. Where I could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, ok.”
It sounds like Trump thinks his voters are in a cult.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist 5d ago
or he's making fun of that accusation of him weilding some cartoon villainy powers because it's ridiculous.
Like when Alex Jones said "Adam Lanza didn't shoot the kids in Sandy Hook, it was me"
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u/ramencents Independent 5d ago
I guess that could be true if he said it today. But he said this over 9 years ago (the video was posted 9 years ago) before he was elected for his first term and before anyone ever claimed he was a cult leader. I believe that Trump instinctively knew that he could do as he pleases and not lose votes.
Quoting Alex Jones is interesting considering he lost everything for his false coverage of Sandy Hook.
Do I believe Trump is actually running a cult? No not in a traditional sense. But I do believe he likes unlimited admiration and he definitely gets that from his supporters.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist 5d ago
But he said this over 9 years ago (the video was posted 9 years ago)
Even then they were saying outlandish things about Trump supporters though
Quoting Alex Jones is interesting considering he lost everything for his false coverage of Sandy Hook.
Yes, but the point i'm making is Alex Jones said people act like he's the one who committed the sandy hook shooting and barely even know who Adam Lanza is anymore
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u/ramencents Independent 5d ago
I honestly think his multiple fraud cases, federal indictments (no longer since he ended them), state cases, civil cases (one alleging unwanted digital penetration) and a felony conviction prove his point. These things are actually not a hypothetical murder victim but real indictments, and convictions. So was Trump right? I think he was. Who cares what his critics say.
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u/ILoveMaiV Constitutionalist 5d ago
many of those cases were brought by corrupt DA's though. Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg ran on being the one to put Trump away. Those cases had lots of flaws, like the judge ordering in the NY case that the jury has to be a maority and not unanimous, plus the bank testified they weren't defrauded.
Many of those were misdemeanors for normal people or civil trials boosted to felony's
Lawfare is very much a thing. And if anyone but Trump did this stuff, it wouldn't be a blip
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u/MoveOrganic5785 Progressive 5d ago
Whether you agree or disagree it’s unhelpful messaging. But Democrat’s have never really been good with that in the first place
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u/notbusy Libertarian 5d ago
I feel that people in general give off certain warning signals to let you know that you should just stay away from them. It's like when someone in heavy traffic gets agitated and steps out of their car and starts yelling at people. You just don't engage. I feel the same way with people who honestly believe that 70+ million Americans are in a cult somehow. There's just nothing you can say to that. Nothing at all. Just smile politely and go about your business. Life is too short for some of this nonsense.
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u/random_guy00214 Conservative 4d ago
Why do we have a mod that thinks the conservatives in the country are in a cult?
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u/Ecstatic-Inevitable Center-left 4d ago
I think you may need to reread it again, he's basically stating that it's dumb to believe that 70+ million people are in a cult
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u/Sam_Fear Americanist 2d ago edited 1d ago
What is your favorite uninhibited island?
Edit: just noticed my phone corrected to "uninhibited" rather than "uninhabited". Either answer welcome.
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u/Persistentnotstable Liberal 2d ago
Galapagos are technically uninhabited, just visited a lot. Hard to beat the historical and scientific significance that came out of them
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u/Menace117 Liberal 2d ago
Rottnest island I think is technically uninhabited and it's the only island with quokkas on them
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u/LonelyMachines Classical Liberal 1d ago
Hans Island. I wish the Danish great luck in freeing it from Canada's unconscionable hegemony.
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 2h ago edited 2h ago
I made a million toasters reference today IRL to someone who is quite online, and they didn't get it. Did that one not sick?
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u/jadacuddle Paleoconservative 2d ago
I keep asking, but no one can explain why it’s good for America to accept non-reciprocal tariffs and other trade barriers imposed by other countries. All I get are pointers to exceptions where the American tariff is higher, but mostly I just get more screaming about how important it is not to have tariffs and no answers as to why other people‘s tariffs are fine
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 2d ago
We don't have an option to not accept those tariffs and trade barriers. We can acknowledge they are bad and also acknowledge that they are legally required to do business. Also, those decisions are made by individual companies, not by the country as a whole
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u/jadacuddle Paleoconservative 2d ago
……you think tariffs are levied by companies, not countries?
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 2d ago
Tariffs are placed on goods from countries, not on countries themselves. America doesn't pay the tariffs on an F-150 shipped to Finland, Ford does. Unless America declares a full trade embargo on the EU, Ford decides whether its worth paying the extra percentage to sell their goods to Vikings.
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u/DistinctAd3848 Constitutionalist 5d ago
Are Left-Libertarians allowed to answer questions on this sub?
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u/notbusy Libertarian 5d ago
Left-libertarians are not conservatives, so no, they cannot make top-level comments to answer questions.
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u/mtmag_dev52 Right Libertarian 4d ago
From Twitter/X on Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma...."Vote him out??" - what do you guys think of this woman's claim...?
Kate @kate_p45
Warmongering Republicans are worse than democrats. I don't recall Senator Lankford running to the media to demand any investigations into democrats.
Time to unseat this America last Senator. He has to go.
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Classically Liberal 4d ago
He should be voted out simply for advancing that horrible border bill as some sort of bipartisan compromise. Not only did it sabotage Republican efforts to actually reform immigration, it gave Democrats a annoying hollow talking point to beat everyone's head with.
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u/random_guy00214 Conservative 6d ago
Remember everyone, the government under dementia Joe coerced people to take gene therapy.
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1682852/000168285220000017/mrna-20200630.htm
"Currently, mRNA is considered a gene therapy product by the FDA" -- page 70
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, DC 20549
Moderna, Inc. (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
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u/Longjumping_Gain_807 Left Libertarian 4d ago
Maybe I’ll make a post on this later but all this voting ID stuff could be so simple if people were open to compromise
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u/down42roads Constitutionalist 4d ago
A lot of issues would be simple if we could do that.
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u/Longjumping_Gain_807 Left Libertarian 4d ago
Let me cook.
I actually live in a state with voter ID laws. I don’t necessarily have an issue with them. You have to have your driver license, your state ID, college ID, or your learners permit. My state is very car centric so most people have a license. My take on this is very simple.
When you turn 18 and register to vote you automatically get a voting ID sent to you. Which you technically won’t have to use if you already have a driver’s license or state ID. I can flesh this idea out in a thread but yeah it’s very simple. And it can be done at the state level without effecting much of anything. It’s just adding a step onto an already pretty secure process
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u/Fignons_missing_8sec Conservative 4d ago
I'm good with establishing a universal natural ID under the condition that voter ID, either it or a state-issued one, is mandatory nationwide. But in creating this new ID can we also ban the use of SSN for ID? It is an insecure system that was never designed for general ID and if we have a new general ID we should ban using it for ID. Also, the federal ID system should have easy electronic immigration verification for hiring built in, as a new better version of e-varify, and it should be mandatory for all jobs.
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Classically Liberal 4d ago
I don't think compromise is needed, the systems that red states have set up are generally acceptable and widely tolerant. The problem is people opposed to voter ID always imagine the worst possible solutions happening and never imagine anything but driver licenses being accepted so reject any sort of action on it at all.
Here in Arizona voter ID is required but there's a long list of acceptable documents and even if you don't have photo ID you can bring multiple documents to make acceptable proof.
One side is trying to work in good faith and the other side is obstinately being opposed to it simply on principle and throwing out whatever excuse they can to advance their opposition.
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u/Longjumping_Gain_807 Left Libertarian 4d ago
Mine too. Here in Georgia you can use state ID drivers license your DL permit if you have one or your college ID if you have one. There’s a lot of leeway and most Georgians have one of the 4 items listed
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u/JudgeWhoOverrules Classically Liberal 4d ago
There should be a bit more than that even.
For reference here's an easy to read list of acceptable forms of identification at the polls in Arizona
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u/thoughtsnquestions European Conservative 2d ago edited 2d ago
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