• spauldo@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    GWB publicly condoning torture.

    I grew up during the tail end of the cold war. Torture was something the Soviets did. We were better than that.

    And sure, I knew the CIA did stuff like that under the table, but it was never OK.

    It’s what got me interested in politics, and why I feel that we shouldn’t try to hide the bad things we’ve done when we teach history. Knowing what we’re capable of is necessary to keep ourselves from repeating the mistakes of the past.

  • davemeech@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    2016 US elections was a ridiculously sobering moment for realizing that we had not progressed nearly to the extent that I nievely thought.

    • lollygagger@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      This one rings home pretty hard. I’ve definitely viewed the people around me differently since then. And especially since covid as well.

    • atp2112@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Up until that point, I was a naive centrist that thought sane liberalism would win out. That election single-handedly destroyed that view and slammed me hard to the left.

      • ∟⊔⊤∦∣≶@lemmy.nz
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        1 year ago

        You’re probably in the real center now, my understanding is American center is to the right, and their left is actually closer to center

        • atp2112@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I should probably clarify that it slammed me firmly in the Bernie camp, but I’ve drifted even further to the left (broadly libertarian/anarcho-socialism) since then

  • corroded@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    COVID-19. People simply refused to do the absolute minimum to stop the spread of the virus. At least in my community, everyone was still socializing with friends and family (without a mask, of course), going out to eat, taking part in recreational activities with other people. Something as simple as “stay away from other people until we get this under control” was too hard for the American public. It certain changed my view of the people around me.

    • nonailsleft@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Haha I remember a talking head saying at the start that this could bring humanity closer together and I sat laughing in my couch for a minute