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.
this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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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
2016 elections and then covid. Now nazis rising to power again.
2016 Brexit referendum -> Turkish coup-> trump presidential win
It reinforced all my feelings about what was important in this world and simultaneously made very clear we are actually living in an age of sliding back, not of Progress. I was already very interested in politics by that point but with just about the knowledge to grab the weight but no proper explanation this summer half of 2016 felt like falling into chaos and uncertainty 3 times. In retrospect the outer two likely had much more influence on my life thereafter, but the middle one was the more jarring to watch unfold at the time.
2016 US elections was a ridiculously sobering moment for realizing that we had not progressed nearly to the extent that I nievely thought.
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.
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
The US Democrats are center right in many aspects yeah.
The whole "the world will end in 2012" hysteria back then. It was my first glimpse into conspiracy theories, which I've spent a lot of time learning about ever since. It made me realize that nothing is ever too idiotic to not have an alarming number of people fall for it. It's why I wasn't surprised by the rise of the Q-movement or the resistance against the absolute bare minimum of COVID measures because of microchips in vaccines etc. All of that were just yet additional "of course people believe that shit"-moments for me.
Like Tommy Lee Jones said in Men in Black "A person is smart - people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals."
I haven't been surprised by how stupid people can be in a long time.