How has the political landscape changed you as a person?

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I get angry way more easily, and it's fed into both anxiety and genuinely a pretty strong sense of insecurity too.

I trust people a lot less right off the bat.

Generally feels like it's caused my antisocial tendencies to speak more for me than I'd like. I'm not my ideal kind of person a lot of time — I just can't get myself into a mental space that sustains it.

I'm generally able to act better in spaces like this with anonymity. In person, I'll often go to great lengths to avoid speaking to people other than my closest friends. I'm positive that even though I want to be a good person in real life, I generally come off as aloof, dodgy, and sometimes aggressively distancing. I spent my 20's being far more amicable and approachable.

 

[cdm00]

much more informed politically now, the Trump era zoomed me to the left and made me realize that TN politics suck booty (there's 95% nothing interesting regarding our elections unless Bill Lee does some republican voter suppression shenanigans)

was 16 when the orange fucker was elected (was a known Hillary supporter around the school)

Biden's polling right now gives me hope

 

[skeezx]

politics is reality so it'll shape you regardless

but semantics aside yes it's been pretty traumatizing. i'm just glad shit hit the fan when i was older, if i were 25 right now i'd be dousing myself in gasoline lighting a match but i've learned shit sucks and you roll with it to whatever extent

 

[gogosox82]

It actually started in 2008 when i became essentially a soc dem. 2016 has only pushed me further to the left. It made me realize that the country was built on these racist structures and it wasn't enough to just change to head of state from a white one to a black one. Those racist structure will still exist and liberal capitalism will not allow it to change.

 

[fragamemnon]

I was always an End of History styled liberal, that hasn't changed. I don't box out activists on the left though, I am very aware that I'm old guard and without new ideas and evolution liberalism can get in really sticky places.

 

[Nepenthe]

I'm angrier in general.

I stopped thinking conservatives were misinformed and now default to them being purposefully bigoted shitstains who are out to fuck minorities over.

I'm fucking tired of centrists and liberals upholding the sanctity of systems, rules, and decorum that conservatives consciously do not abide by, systems and rules which were made specifically to exclude minorities.

I just stopped having a sense of optimism and hope, resigned to the idea that America will always be a white-ass hellhole, and there's nothing I can do about it aside from hunker down in whatever spaces I can carve for myself. Fuck this country and the boat it rode in on.

 

[Trigonometrize]

I've gone full 360. OK maybe not full. ~2014 I would've given the naive take that political disagreements shouldn't ruin relationships. Intelligent people can disagree and still be friends, etc. Then 2016 to 2019 I further and further was prepared to cut off relationships when someone had a bad enough political take. But I think I was underselling the prevalence of propaganda from right-wing media and its influence, and I also am just too damn tired to torpedo relationships when that's all it feels like you have sometimes. It's not good for mental health to think the sum of the person comes from whether or not they vote for Joe Biden, even if they're a fucking idiot if they don't.

 

[astroturfing]

i will never trust a conservative, with anything. ever.

they are wrong about absolutely everything and might as well be a different species.

 

[mattiewheels]

For people who say it turned them into a communist, I always wonder this from a place of ignorance, but how do you actually BE a communist in your day to day, especially in a country like the US that kind of forces you to participate in capitalism at every turn?

 

[iksenpets]

I worry that the degree to which I hate Republicans isn't healthy for me, lol.

 

[Mekanos]

For people who say it turned them into a communist, I always wonder this from a place of ignorance, but how do you actually BE a communist in your day to day, especially in a country like the US that kind of forces you to participate in capitalism at every turn?

Click to shrink...

Capitalism isn't a religion you opt in or out of. We all must live under it. It is the fundamental mode of production and culture the entire global sphere lives under. The endgoal of communism is to change the mode of production in global society and shift the social relations and culture under it. As for what we can do under it, well, the pandemic has killed a lot of organizing, but most communists I know will tell you the important part is being involved in our communities, building up solidarity and alternate power structures, and performing work for those who need it while advocating for a pathway to a future besides one of capitalism.

If you've ever been in an actual leftist group you'll see we argue a lot over how to do that, but that's the basic idea lol

 

[Sun's Resting Place]

I have become far less tolerant of people's shitposting about politics and being "ironically racist" or whatever. I've been asking people to stop whenever I see it, regardless of if it makes me 'cool' or not or ruining someone's fun.

I spent too much time in my teenage years being quiet when someone shared something fucked up or racist and just not saying anything because I was afraid people would reject me from their friend circles. Turns out, I had less to worry about than I thought. People, for the most part, are willing to listen. It's a minority that will get pissed off at you.

 

[Elegant Weapon]

vindication in the worst way possible

I've been angry but would get gaslit and told to "work harder and stop blaming white people" type bullshit when I spoke about racism

Around the start of the year there were multiple threads on this forum with lots of posters calming that this site is so particularly negative and everyone gets along in their real daily lives.... white privilege bullshit

fast forward to George Floyd being tortured to death on camera and now suddenly everyone is woke to the very real anti-black racism that supposedly didn't exist anymore

Even though I don't believe everything I think, I trust my gut feelings about people and situations even more

 

[sphagnum]

For people who say it turned them into a communist, I always wonder this from a place of ignorance, but how do you actually BE a communist in your day to day, especially in a country like the US that kind of forces you to participate in capitalism at every turn?

Click to shrink...

Everyone participates in capitalism. That wouldn't change until capitalism goes under. But in general, there are a number of different ways communists try to express their beliefs - they might get involved in established politics (DSA types or one of a billion minor parties that go nowhere) or activism of one sort or another (various organizations) which may or may not involve direct action, they do union work, they make media (plenty online), they park in academia where they focus on analysis and theory, they shitpost on the internet, etc. Sometimes anarchists try to run communes or communal spaces.

 

[jelly]

Much more informed but I absolutely hate that I follow politics now. It's such a load of depressing corrupt shit that never changes and flips between awful and bad, mostly full of useless people clocking in and being two faced short sighted twats counting down the days until retirement or a private gig off the back of corruption instead of working as a whole to do something better for society as a public servant. Conservatives can get in the bin for eternity, how awful are these people. As for masses, that's even more depressing considering who seems to be in power. Politicians must laugh their asses off at the public, they've got it so good and no amount of fuck ups seems to change course of society to any great degree because they keep allowing fuckwits to be in power.

 

[samoyed]

For people who say it turned them into a communist, I always wonder this from a place of ignorance, but how do you actually BE a communist in your day to day, especially in a country like the US that kind of forces you to participate in capitalism at every turn?

Click to shrink...

Read theory. Talk with other commies. Activism. Helping out your friends and colleagues via mutual aid.

It is not something as simple as saying "I'm communist" then suddenly you're free of capitalism, doesn't work like that. Didn't work for peasants living under feudalism either. Communism is something you try to build/work towards. Even people in Vietnam who're raised into socialism struggle with living it in their day-to-day life (to embody your ideology through your actions is a thing leftists call praxis) because global finance imposes capitalism on developing countries via economic pressure. This is just one of the things you become attuned to if you spend a lot of time thinking about far left topics; the ebb and flow of power across the world.

 

[ClickyCal']

Not much other than just being more enraged and disgusted at republicans, and pissed at people that sat out in 2016.

 

[Deleted member 4346]

I always knew that there was a strong class-based element to our politics. But I used to look at the world through a lens of race and identity first, and my sense of class-based politics was incomplete. Since 2016 I've started seeing the world much differently. But for me it's all kinda come full circle. In 2000 I recognized that both Gore and Bush were rich, racist, old white men, so I didn't vote for either of them. Neither represented my interests. Not my class interests, not my racial interests. There was a difference in degree between how awful these two men were, sure, but they were both awful.

Twenty years later, I feel the exact same way, but now I see that it is the system working as it is intended to work. Capitalism isn't going to be voted away at the ballot box. I went from being a social democrat to being a full-on communist. You can't reform this system. Reforms will always be corroded. And the capital class isn't going to surrender their ill-gotten gains to create a welfare state.

Anyway, I feel sad, living under such an unjust system, one which has much deteriorated in my lifetime, but I also feel more clarity. Current events do fill me with anxiety but I have a gallow's-humor outlook, helps me get through.

I turned into a communist.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, this.

 

[GillianSeed79]

It's pushed me far to left to the point where I view any Republicans' opinions as not worth considering at all, and I view them as actively harmful to our country. It's exposed the fact that systematic racism in the U.S. is basically never going to go away and half the country is flat out racist/fascist. It has shown me that the majority of the people in this country are woefully uneducated, willfully ignorant, and maliciously politically disengaged to the point that it puts myself and my family's lives at risk. It has brought me far closer to fellow leftists but has made me realize we have no true left party and the left barely has any political power in this country. The American dream has always been a myth and a lie.

If I had the means to and the skills to leave I would, but even if had those I can't because no one in their right mind is going to open their borders to Americans. Currently, I'm taking classes online to get a better job and marketable skills. If that can be my ticket out so be it, but I doubt I'll be able to leave for some time. My goal now is work the next 20-25 years and retire with my wife in another country.

 

[TreeMePls]

It pushed me to the point where I view Dems as an actual right wing party and the GOP as a literal cancer

 

[Deleted member 4346]

I'm fucking tired of centrists and liberals upholding the sanctity of systems, rules, and decorum that conservatives consciously do not abide by, systems and rules which were made specifically to exclude minorities.

Click to shrink...

I always believed this but what squared the circle for me was realizing that centrists and liberals uphold the sanctity of the systems and rules which are designed to be exclusionary largely because they are protecting the interests of the wealthy (and the white majority!) by ensuring that progress is very slow, or nonexistent. Almost the entirety of the Democratic Party is controlled opposition!

We aren't meant to win under this system. Until we scrap the system and come up with something better, we are going to continue losing.

 

[Deleted member 7130]

I turned into a communist.

Click to shrink...

Same. Over the short course of this election cycle, I went from socdem to...

 

[gogosox82]

I always believed this but what squared the circle for me was realizing that centrists and liberals uphold the sanctity of the systems and rules which are designed to be exclusionary largely because they are protecting the interests of the wealthy (and the white majority!) by ensuring that progress is very slow, or nonexistent. Almost the entirety of the Democratic Party is controlled opposition!

We aren't meant to win under this system. Until we scrap the system and come up with something better, we are going to continue losing.

Click to shrink...

Agreed

 

[Abhor]

Pushed me way further to the left. I have a disdain for moderates.

 

[dabig2]

It is not something as simple as saying "I'm communist" then suddenly you're free of capitalism, doesn't work like that. Didn't work for peasants living under feudalism either. Communism is something you try to build/work towards. Even people in Vietnam who're raised into socialism struggle with living it in their day-to-day life (to embody your ideology through your actions is a thing leftists call praxis) because global finance imposes capitalism on developing countries via economic pressure. This is just one of the things you become attuned to if you spend a lot of time thinking about far left topics; the ebb and flow of power across the world.

Click to shrink...

Definitely agree.

As Marx puts it: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles"

One of the earliest steps in communism that I think is important is recognizing the inherent class struggle. For instance, simply asking yourself some Qs about society and why things "are" is a vital step - and really not even a step cause we're talking about a process within a process.

It would be literally planet-saving if more Americans could get to this point. Not even saying they'll all become communists afterwards, but sometimes just getting to that inquiry step and then digging deeper is all we need for positive change to happen.

But capitalism has a vested interest in making sure we don't get to that point. It treats itself as inevitable, so any questions that threaten that hegemony are discouraged. And since capitalism governs our entire lives from birth to death currently, it has become very successful at making sure the scales continue to tip in its favor.

 

[Advance.Wars.Sgt.]

The last 4 years just reinforced what I already believed prior to 2016: that Republicans are trash and are also the enemy to progress.

 

[Richietto]

I'm angrier in general.

I stopped thinking conservatives were misinformed and now default to them being purposefully bigoted shitstains who are out to fuck minorities over.

I'm fucking tired of centrists and liberals upholding the sanctity of systems, rules, and decorum that conservatives consciously do not abide by, systems and rules which were made specifically to exclude minorities.

I just stopped having a sense of optimism and hope, resigned to the idea that America will always be a white-ass hellhole, and there's nothing I can do about it aside from hunker down in whatever spaces I can carve for myself. Fuck this country and the boat it rode in on.

Click to shrink...

You always hit the nail right on the head. My feelings exactly.

 

[Codeblue]

Left the Dem party with the understanding that a humane society is incompatible with liberalism and that the Republican party are even worse.

 

[Mathieran]

I am a lot more stressed. I'm more of a leftist than ever.

This kinda started during the Obama years, but I'm definitely now a fuck all Republicans kinda person. And I don't believe playing nice or fair is the way to go with them.

 

[Jencks]

It's made me way more cynical and pushed me way farther left.

 

[Deleted member 13015]

I went from apolitical to leaning left.

Yep, the last 6 months have been that hard to ignore.

 

[Freezasaurus]

I am now a creature sustained by rage.

 

[Anoregon]

I have fully lost the ability to respect people who vote republican. Prior to 2016 I was at least able to entertain the idea that people could have shit political beliefs but still be somewhat worthwhile people; the idea that politics is just one aspect of a person and doesn't define them. That's all over. If you support any aspect of the party of Trump in 2020 you are absolute fucking garbage and I want nothing to do with you.

 

[Deleted member 22630]

I'm so far left I fell off the cliff.

 

[Mage_of_Cinder]

My tolerance for intolerance has taken a nose dive. I wanna slap every racist, sexist, oppurtunistic, and nationalistic piece of shit human I find. I tried adjusting my perspective and let others think what they want because they have the right to.
Since they cannot respect others, I no longer desire to treat them with basic decency. I'm done.

 

[shrapnelmagnet]

I turned into a communist.

Click to shrink...

проповедовать, comrade.

 

[John Rabbit]

Personally: I'm more stressed more often but I'm far more capable of handling it and dealing with it positively.

Politically: I went from "I'm a Democrat because I care about the environment and schools and stuff!" to "Burn this motherfucker down and take as many of these fascist death-cultists down with it."

I have ZERO time for these right-wing fucks anymore.

 

[TAJ]

I care FAR less about family and friends, but that's about it.
I think I could possibly count the people who I'd cry for if they died on one hand at this point.

 

[Doc Laserstein]

I'm a lot less open with new people. I used to take a pretty positive approach to meeting people, but I've found myself being more guarded and assuming the worst of everyone until I learn otherwise. It's a terrible approach to take, and it makes me feel like shit, but I haven't been able to get past it.

 

[Inyourprime]

I used to not care that much about politics and would even consider voting for a Republican when I first got the opportunity to vote.

Now, I pay way too much attention. And I am so far left I can't even see the right anymore.

 

[OneEyedKing]

I turned into a communist.

Click to shrink...

This right here.

 

[Kevers]

I'm ready to fight a mother fucker or two.

 

[Deleted member 24021]

I used to be a Republican but 2016 and onwards made me realize what a colossal piece of shit I was. I'm a hard Dem now because of all the shit the current administration has done, and I no longer have any right leaning ideologies.

Edit: I should mention that I didn't vote for Trump in 2016, I started transitioning to the left in 2015, but didn't fully change until I saw the true nature of the Republican Party. Before 2016 I didn't pay attention to any politics.

 

[Orayn]

I have become fully jokerified.

 

[Sordid Plebeian]

Hard to say, I'm not sure how I would be feeling if it weren't for Trump shaking things up so much that I really needed to look past surface level politics at the factors that have historically built to the many dilemmas we face today. I like to think that seeing a constantly lying hypocrite ruin this country has made me more honest and consistent in turn.

I used to be a Republican but 2016 and onwards made me realize what a colossal piece of shit I was. I'm a hard Dem now because of all the shit the current administration has done, and I no longer have any right leaning ideologies.

Click to shrink...

Good for you man, that's not an easy thing to do

 

[Deleted member 24021]

Good for you man, that's not an easy thing to do

Click to shrink...

I'm glad I did change because I really was a terrible person, doing that even made me a much happier person overall. I voted for Biden this year and will continue to vote Dem until I die because I want to see those fascist fucks get squashed like roaches.

 

[TheAndyMan]

Made me realize that there are fundamental problems that exist, whether this clown is in office.(Climate Change, corporate money, voting system, electoral college to name a few).

Edit:
Conservatives,even the moderate conservatives don't have the solutions to the problems we face. And the Democrat party is faar from perfect as well.

 

[Midnight Jon]

immensely dumb shit from the right turned me from apathetic into a hardcore socdem, then intensely dumb shit from further left rocketing upward to match that has kept me there, then the right went full unapologetic nazi and now here i am with a tire iron

 

[zero_suit]

I now have a low tolerance for centrism. Republicans have been trash to me since W's time in office, when I was in high school.

 

[GenTask]

Pessimistic, realist, anarchist, green, anti-war, anti-imperialist is what it's turned me into over 15 years of this b.s. I don't know if this topic is specific to u.s. politics, but as an American, over time I've read and seen too many historical parallels to see the writing on the wall. It's made me realize the history that is taught here is also complete joke.

The political system here is heading for disaster, everything is a mess in a morally corrupt country that above all desires more military spending on behalf of Democratic Centrists and Republicans year after year to terrorize people across the globe, spending that could be shifted instead on top down reform and social uplift.