I know that these attitudes exist in every country (hell, sometimes you wanna knock out an Albertan for spewing stuff about the rest of the country), but it feels that in America, there is a strain of just hatred that has persisted for decades and centuries. Donald Trump gave a voice to this breed of American hater but that fact that he'll retain something like 40% of the country's support regardless of what he does says too much about how America is so weirdly disparate and cobbled together. I've read a bit about the Southern Strategy, and these divisions have existed since the Civil War, and it continues to survive and thrive to this day, but what exactly is this animosity that was once veiled under the name "economic anxiety" stem from? Why do Republicans have such widespread support? Where are American attitudes bred from? Now I'm not referring to all Americans, but there is a sizable contingent of Americans, large enough that it's difficult to discuss them as a fringe movement that support isolationist/bigoted positions pretty much from the outset without wanting to debate or listen. Is it a broken education system? Essentially, why would you rather vote for someone that in the long run is gonna harm you and yours, but you'll vote them in because their positions are that they'll block people different than you from achieving the same or better than you? Jealousy? Is Manifest Destiny such a strong belief that certain Americans genuinely believe it's a real creed to live by?
The reason I'm asking is I read that story about the Florida governor blaming the New York governor and New York residents for spreading the virus. Like... bitch, it's a virus. It doesn't look at borders or your political stance. It just wants to spread and spread and probably kill people. You're better off working with your fellow Americans than playing this divisive shit in the face of a literal existential threat. How can people's hatred be that strong that they're happy New York or California or whatever is suffering, even if you know that same suffering is coming for you?
The reason I'm asking is I read that story about the Florida governor blaming the New York governor and New York residents for spreading the virus. Like... bitch, it's a virus. It doesn't look at borders or your political stance. It just wants to spread and spread and probably kill people. You're better off working with your fellow Americans than playing this divisive shit in the face of a literal existential threat. How can people's hatred be that strong that they're happy New York or California or whatever is suffering, even if you know that same suffering is coming for you?
