Caring deeply about my message exactly every 4 years is truly inspiring

  • mommykink@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Everything to me just points to this being a very confused and disaffected kid who wanted to do something memorable with his life. I genuinely don’t think there was much consideration beyond that. He was 20 years old, were your political beliefs as concrete and nuanced when you were that age as they are today?

    • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      I was 19 for 9/11. It solidified where I stood pretty well. I’d say 20 year olds today could easily be just as galvanized, especially with the way social media has changed things since then.

      • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        Hey we’re the same age! I remember when 9/11 happened and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, that I didn’t really know the main differences of news sources and fully understand how they leaned one way or another. I remember watching Fox News at the time, but didn’t really realize that it was blatant propaganda. It wasn’t until I started looking into other news sources and then looked into media biases that I started to realize just how fucked up Fox News is.

        So I don’t really expect most 19 or 20 year olds to really know what’s trustworthy and what’s not.

        • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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          4 months ago

          Just curious, were you from a conservative family? Or was it just out of the natural political ignorance of youth? I only ask, because my parents were mildly progressive, and I feel that I was sure Fox News was propaganda about as soon as I learned it existed in high school.

          My parents never told me this explicitly, either. I just remember Fox News being very pro-Bush at the time I discovered it, and immediately knew it was garbage. I was maybe 15 or so.

          Not saying this is you, but I can only imagine how hard it must be to break out of that spell, when it’s been force fed to someone by their parents for their whole lives. It’s similar to religion in that way.

          • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            No, not a super religious or conservative family. My step-dar was ex-military and eventually went down a Fox News hole later in his life that he will never climb out of. But at the time, it was just ignorance on my part as what was considered “news” and what wasn’t.

    • makyo@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      He’s the prototypical American lone wolf shooter, it’s not complicated

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Everything to me just points to this being a very confused and disaffected kid who wanted to do something memorable with his life.

      Used to be, a guy like this would simply shoot up a school. But now that he’s shooting at our Dear Leader, its time to get serious about gun control mental health violent political rhetoric Tankies.

    • Korne127@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      were your political beliefs as concrete and nuanced when you were that age as they are today

      …yeah. To be fair, I’m 22, but I’ve been in the board of a local political party for over 3 years now. You could maybe make that argument for 16, but honestly, even then I was at political demonstrations.

      • ruckblack@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        I’d argue that your experience is an exception and not the rule. Most teenagers aren’t nearly so politically involved. And at 29, I’m a very different person than when I was 20.

        • kautau@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Yeah until I went to college, and then met very diverse groups of people compared to who I grew up with, wasn’t super involved with politics. I then volunteered to do cold-calling for obama’s campaign, and getting perspectives from Americans all over the nation and what was important to them, (most of these were on the fence voters) and then explaining to many of them how they did in fact align much more with obama’s policy than they thought, was a really challenging and rewarding experience to me as a 19 year old. Everyone’s experience is difference, and I’m thankful to have experiences early in my life that have set up what I believe in

        • III@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          I’d argue that maybe the world for kids today isn’t the same as it was for you 10 years ago and maybe you aren’t the authority on it.

          • ruckblack@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            Does the comment I replied to’s personal anecdote make them the authority on the political involvement of teenagers? Did I ever claim to be the authority? We’re having conversation, relax

    • aseriesoftubes@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yep, this is it. Before, he was an awkward kid from a backward place with no friends and no prospects. Now, his name is forever associated with Donald Trump.