A small business owner who voted for Donald Trump recently posted a video on TikTok, pleading for help as crushing tariffs on China threatened to bankrupt his operation, which imports alloy wheels. His call for support, however, drew little sympathy from some fellow Americans.
“Votes have consequences,” he was told, with many comments from Twitter/X users relishing the notion that another MAGA voter was suffering because of their political choice. The backlash prompted a second video from the man, in which he dropped several F-bombs while criticizing the apparent heartlessness of those celebrating his hardship.
Because they always end all of these rants about how unfair it all is with. But I’d still vote for trump.
It’s not like they are genuinely reaching out trying to be better people. They admit no fault they admit no wrongdoing they just want everybody else to make it not be happening for them. They are not little kids they don’t get to pretend that their own decisions have no bearing on reality.
Again, people aren’t going to magically reach that point. “Oh, I lost everything, despite following all of my values. I guess this must be the consequences of my values being wrong” is not a thing that happens in real life. It takes someone to be sympathetic and compassionate, so they feel safe to be vulnerable, so they can unlearn their negative world view.
People don’t change all at once, generally. You don’t go from supporting trump to disavowing imperialism over night. It’s a slow, invisible process, and it can be stopped entirely or disrupted by entering a scenario where the individual feels threatened or isolated.
I am not saying we all just need to link hands and sing kum ba ya. All I’m saying is have some compassion for people who are, most likely, poorer, less well educated and got manipulated, brainwashed, and gaslighted their entire lives into supporting fascism, especially when those people are obviously suffering.