Yesterday I was around a textbook Trump supporter: uneducated, blue-collar, has a very homogeneous friend group, rarely travels, doesn't read, doesn't read or even watch news, gets all his information from equally uneducated coworkers, at least a little racist... you know, classic. He is, in most ways, I will point out, a good person, however. Anyway, a piece on the news came on the TV about the current protests in Iran. Instantly, he began shouting that the protesters were "idiots."
Now, let's analyze this and uncover the astounding level of ignorance displayed:
- First of all, he has zero knowledge about Iran.
- He knows nothing about its past or current political climate.
- He knows nothing about its current economic situation.
- He knows nothing about why Iranian citizens are protesting.
- (By the way, they are protesting because of high unemployment rates, inflation of food and gas prices, government proposals to cut subsidies that keep prices low, and they want some of the political leaders removed, among other things. Read about it here.)
- Here's where it gets even better: He evidently is unaware that Trump, Pence, and (presumably) the entire Trump administration support the protesters.
- Were he to find out this information, I have no doubt that he would INSTANTLY change his opinion of the protesters ("Wait, Trump supports the protesters and is against the Iranian government? Hmm, well then, yeah, keep protesting!").
What can we take away from such an example? Basically, how most Trump supporters think. In short, near instantaneous decision-making with or without facts (they don't care!), snap judgements, inflexible opinions, close-mindedness, single-issue voting, etc. As I've written about before, the Dunning-Kruger effect (which is, basically, knowing so little you don't even know how little you know, and, as a result, having inexplicable confidence) is on full display with these people.
Now, let's analyze on a deeper level. Why did this person instantly not like the protesters without having any prior knowledge as to why they were protesting?
- To start, I would guess that most examples of protests he's seen before involve more liberal/left-wing people, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement and, more recently, anti-Trump protests, the women's march, the marches for science, and so on. (Amazingly, I didn't notice one conservative complain about the tiki-torch-wielding neo-Nazis and white nationalists that marched in 2017 with helmets, body armor, shields, and weapons shouting racist (and completely incoherent) chants. Interesting.)
- I would also guess that seeing people throw rocks, damage property, and in general creating a chaotic atmosphere is disagreeable to him, therefore, they are bad people (again, without understanding why they're protesting).
- If he were living in Iran and experiencing the same things the citizens there are experiencing, perhaps he would be protesting too, since he is always dissatisfied with our government.
You see, Trump is just a symptom of the disease that is the Republican party, an entity whose greed, corruption, hypocrisy, lies, and shamelessness dumbfound me every day. I am, however, used to these pieces of human trash tarnishing our Constitution, our government, and our country every single day. The issue I have now is with Trump supporters. They are damaging our society and will leave scars on this country and world for generations to come. They are the laughing stock of the world right now and are hurting the image and reputation of this country.
They are treating politics and the well-being of our nation like a sport: as long as the other team loses, they're happy. They would rather see this country burn than let Democrats have their way. Trump won because of white backlash against Barack Obama being president for eight years. Period. End of discussion.
So, when you are too stupid to know that you have healthcare because of the Affordable Care Act, but think you don't like it because conservatives named it Obamacare to make you instantly hate it, you shouldn't talk before you do your research.
When you say you're Christian but support child molestors, rapists, adulterers, and all-around scumbags, I recommend keeping your mouth shut until you can admit you aren't a Christian. That's something many of us would love to hear you say.
Research what the Trump administration is doing. Research what your state and local governments are doing. Get informed — there's no excuse not to.
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