A key, decades-old conservative insight is that people like most of what government does, so their only hope of victory is to relentlessly abstract away from anything specific to "government" or "spending" or "bureaucracy," empty linguistic vessels into which they can more easily pour bile. - ThreadSky

volts.wtf • 3 days ago

A key, decades-old conservative insight is that people like most of what government does, so their only hope of victory is to relentlessly abstract away from anything specific to "government" or "spending" or "bureaucracy," empty linguistic vessels into which they can more easily pour bile.

Reposted from Will Jordan

Incredible chart

Comments

mattferrel.bsky.social•3 days ago

“Waste, fraud, and abuse” is terrible!

Oh, specific examples? We’ll get back to you

duerpress.com•3 days ago

Voters shouldn't be this easy to manipulate.

If we get out of this--meaning (among other things) that public education survives--we must prioritize teaching kids about these tricks.
Politicians shouldn't be able to distort language without being CAUGHT and shamed.

tauheed-elahee.ca•1 day ago

The rich want less money going to government and more money going to their yachts.

brettlittle.bsky.social•3 days ago

Wow. They used a chart to intelligently go after USAID first?

phoenux.bsky.social•3 days ago

The fact national defense has 48% saying increase is insane to me considering we already spend more than the next 10 countries combined or something ridiculous like that.

han-shot-first.bsky.social•3 days ago

"Tax and spend," blah blah blah. All hand waving.

mppreston.bsky.social•3 days ago

Honestly think there’s some connection to the argument here (not all of which I agree with), but the tendency for abstraction and generalization over specificity erases the ability to have nuanced/informed debates https://apple.news/AusEoy9owQV6YEeLyk85nMw

umberto2.bsky.social•3 days ago

The entire Two Santa Claus Theory is predicted on the fact that Republicans love government spending. It’s 1 of the 2 Santa Clauses! The other being tax cuts.

umberto2.bsky.social•3 days ago

*predicated

striderhlc.bsky.social•3 days ago

Even republicans who claim to oppose government spending often seem to be doing so based on an unspoken assumption that things government agencies do would magically happen anyway if they didn’t exist.

striderhlc.bsky.social•3 days ago

(They also seem to be very into the assumption that power lines to rural areas and the interstate system just fell out of the sky)

davidslifka.bsky.social•3 days ago

Thank you for boosting this. Wild.

tom4okstate.bsky.social•3 days ago

A very good illustration of this concept is how Oklahoma City, the largest city in the reddest state in America with a Republican mayor, continually approves sales taxes that have completely rebuilt the city over the last 30 years.

suzynuze.bsky.social•3 days ago

And Democrats should counter that with stories of real people hurt by these actions, make “government”
or “fed worker” vivid and real instead of abstract. But I haven’t seen any of that.

3fecta.bsky.social•3 days ago

And on the bottom of the list, foreign aid, surveys have been done where half the people think foreign aid is 30-50% of the budget. Financial literacy would save us. Federal employees only being 4% of the budget being known by everybody would do wonders.

leastactionhero.bsky.social•3 days ago

people say the same thing about nasa. i’ve heard that it’s a hangover of the apollo era when it was a large chunk of the budget, but i kinda think it’s just bad literacy, as you suggest

lindsayb7707.bsky.social•3 days ago

They like that stuff but only if people they *don’t* like can’t get any of it.

lsherper.bsky.social•3 days ago

If Democrats want to win they need to actively pursue the growth of unions and seriously commit to bread and butter politics. This is the way to gain back lost trust. Also admitting a betrayal of trust happened instead of being part of the no accountability in politics epidemic.

rgh1205.bsky.social•3 days ago

Oh you mean that kind of government. Yeah, we want more of that.

butlerofdogs.bsky.social•3 days ago

And fraud

ford422.bsky.social•3 days ago

So they invent words like "the deep state." Postal workers, Forrest Rangers, accountants, scientists, none of that scares anybody.

jakubsamo.bsky.social•3 days ago

neelblair.bsky.social•3 days ago

For SURE increase social programs
But don't increase tax enforcement...
Also, super important that we make sure the tax system is fair.

...

.. sure... ok.

remoaugusto.bsky.social•3 days ago

📌

pdwschmidt.bsky.social•3 days ago

The same is true about the campaign against DEI and before that, CRT. An acronym avoids the need to talk specifics. But if you say, "is it o.k. for a university to offer programs to help veterans and first-gen students adjust to college life?" (something that DEI offices do), there's no issue.

ford422.bsky.social•3 days ago

Correct, there's a slimy dude who admits they "successfully rebranded" the jargon. Some MAGA are perfectly conditioned. They walk into a room, see CNN on a screen, and reflexively start chanting "fake news."

foxfirefey.bsky.social•3 days ago

Christopher Rufo. Important to recognize these bad actors on sight.

ford422.bsky.social•3 days ago

Thanks. His name escaped me at the time.

foxfirefey.bsky.social•3 days ago

It happens! This way anybody who saw your description would know that dread name.

coastally1337.bsky.social•3 days ago

It’s because they don’t like when people of color benefit from anything. Then all of a sudden it’s “we can’t afford it”

cajohnson-craig.bsky.social•3 days ago

"keep your government hands off my Medicare"

left/progressives in the US have such a profound messaging problem in front of us that it defies comprehension

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply