[bayarearefugee]

> we can do better than this

In theory we can do better than this, in practice we can't.

40% of the people in the US would rather starve to death themselves than live in a world where people they hate for their skin color get anything without toiling for it.

[troosevelt]

I appreciate that there is a significant chunk of people that are like this, but I think if you really believe the 40% number or anything like it, you're giving yourself a false worldview.

The majority of people aren't racist nor do they have a problem with government helping them out. What was happening (are you referencing 2024?) in 2024 and today was a government saying the economy was fine when it is not. When that happens, people are going to pick the person that isn't in power, who says they are going to fix it, even if they aren't. "It's the economy stupid". People care about their own well-being above pretty much everything else most of the time.

I don't think putting this on racism or anything else (though it is a smaller factor) helps, it's just rhetoric. 40% of the people in the US aren't dedicateed racists, they are, however, in working groups that the government has ignored for decades.

[zzzeek]

> if you really believe the 40% number or anything like it, you're giving yourself a false worldview.

> The majority of people aren't racist nor do they have a problem with government helping them out.

40% is ....not a majority

the current POTUS has a 37% approval rating and this is considered to be historically low, due to wars, corruption, etc.

but even with all of that corruption and failure, 37% of surveyed adults, *still approve*. This includes his frequent, deeply racist tirades on Twitter. They approve!

[troosevelt]

But it's not even approaching 40%, nor did I tie the two together. If you think the 33% of people who voted from Trump did it because they are racist you are wrong. Some did, a lot that wasn't their primary concern. It's viewing pepole wrong to think that.

What's the point of being that pedantic, Mike?

[zzzeek]

have you talked to Trump voters? I have talked to many, many, in my family, in my neighborhood, everywhere.

If there is one view that ties them all together, it's racism (and misogyny). Loud and clear.

If any president of any party posted a tweet like [1] or [2], I would never ever answer "I approve of the job theyre doing" in a poll.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/us/politics/trump-china-i...

[2] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-trumps-racist-so...

[troosevelt]

Yes, I've talked to Trump voters and I know people who aren't especially strong Trump supporters that voted for him because the economy was shit. Their reasoning wasn't racism. There is a huge chunk where that is their reasoning, sure.

Once again, if you think it's 40% of 33%, you're wrong. Not everybody who voted for Trump is a racist, it's just not how people work.

[jjkaczor]

If you vote/support someone who runs on a racist platform - you are getting that as part of the "package deal":

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2016/11/10/the-cinemax-theory-of...

[zzzeek]

tribalism is totally how people work when they lack culture, education and critical thinking skills!

here's some basic reading on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_favoritism

[eudamoniac]

A president could literally shout Korean slurs all day long (I'm Korean) and get a Nazi symbol tattooed on his forehead, and if he continued to do a good job of policymaking I would approve in that poll, though hate the guy. This is what you are not understanding about Trump voters. We really don't care if Trump is racist at all. But that's not because we are racist ourselves. That's just not relevant to the political platform. If he starts passing racist policies, that's bad, but otherwise we don't give a shit.

Leftists, on the other hand, are very highly concerned with the moral purity of their candidates, even above their political efficacy. I don't understand it myself.

[zzzeek]

> If he starts passing racist policies, that's bad, but otherwise we don't give a shit.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/03/pentagon-pet...

> Since Trump returned to office in January last year, Pete Hegseth, the rumbustious defense secretary who has made it his mission to remake a military ethos he denounced as “woke”, has fired or forcibly retired 24 generals and senior commanders, with no performance-related reason given.

> About 60% have been Black or female, an approach seemingly driven by the administration’s proclaimed onslaught against “DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] hires”.

so..it's not "racist" when it's "oh all those Black men and women are obviously DEI hires", is that the logic?

[amanaplanacanal]

So do you expect Republicans to be thrown out of office en masse in the upcoming election?

I personally expect plenty of them to get reelected even if they claim that everything is just fine.

[troosevelt]

I think we're gonna see some def Democratic gains because the economy is shit and that's how voting always happens.

The only argument I was making is it's no where near 40% of people that are voting for somebody cause they're racist. If you believe that then you're not going to see the world accurately. It's not how people work.

But it goes back to my main point, Dem gains won't be what they should be because politics are a very vague and murky thing and people make all kinds of justifications for why they vote for their person. See the stat where most people rate Congress poorly but their Congressperson highly. It's not racism, it's that politics are inherently pretty stupid.

[hax0ron3]

This is a very strong exaggeration of the reality. It's similar to saying "almost all Democratic Party voters want to turn the US into Soviet communism", and is about equally inaccurate.