Fox News tells them that it's socialism and that's basically communism, so it's bad. Now go back to church, donate lots of money to extremely rich preachers and die quickly, ta.
Bit of an aside, but the sad thing is, most of the richest preachers preside over the poorest congregations. Ties in with the poor backing Donald Trump despite being worse off under him. A lot of poor people here think that they are poor because they haven't prayed to God enough. If they worship God more and give more money to the church God will favour them more and make them richer. (Even my wife, who actually did come from a well off family, had the belief that tithing is a form of invrstment... I've managed to steer her away from the crazy over the years... . Poorer people here are even more convinced). To many people a rich preacher is rich because God loves him more... And all they need to do to be rich is give more money to the church so that God will love them more too. So, you end up with the poorest most desperate people giving all they can to the church. Those poor people who voted Trump all have the delusion they will be rich someday and so they want to protect the privilege of the rich. The middle have no such delusions.. they know there is no real social mobility in America.
My first wife was American. When I visited the states for the first time, years ago now, I heard one of these jokers on the radio. Not believing it could possibly be serious, I laughed my arse off and started taking the piss. My ex wife then told me to be quiet as her parents gave money to one of these charlatans. Un-****ing-believable! Even when they saw these ****ers in their limos and the mansions they lived in, the penny still didn't seem to drop.
It's worrying just how many Americans buy into this **** really. Especially given how 'educated' the majority of Americans are and the access they have to cutting edge technology and information. The religious right in the US have far too much influence.
There is promise though. The millennial generation are much more likely to say they are not affiliated with any religion than older generations. It's a flip from a vast majority being religious to a majority being not religious. I think another 10 years and America will be a lot closer to Europe socially and politically. Trump represents the last hurrah of the older bigot generations. he is the baby boomers revenge for America electing a centrist blackman. I remember growing up, my grandparents generation seemed pretty intolerant and religious to me. I think Americans growing up now are experiencing the same shift we witnessed when we were growing up. America is just a few generations behind the curve.
I lived in NYC for a year just after the WTC attacks and I remember then, than the majority of New Yorkers were opposed to Bush taking them to war in Iraq and did not buy into the anti-muslim rhetoric. I've also spent a fair bit of time in California and find that most people I speak to are pretty switched on about world affairs and reject the idea of a christian right wing agenda (although there are pockets of it). I suppose the two coasts are renowned for their liberal views, whilst vast swathes of Bible belt middle America fully endorses this sort of crap ?
Yeah, the coasts are much more progressive. The South East less so but getting more progressive as people from the North move South.
Correct me if I'm wrong but not usually the norm. Most Americans don't know what's happening beyond their own State. i.e. they're not really switched on with worldly affairs and this is part of the reason they fall for the ****e they see on Fox News for example.
Yep, I think the coastal cities are more liberal and switched on. It's the vast swathes of Bible belt America that is still stuck in the 19th Century. You're right about the news though, the main news channels are simply vacuous ****e. I don't know if you've ever watched a US news programme, but it's basically like a cross between a UK local news programme and something like Richard and Judy (or whatever it's called now) If you want proper political debate, and world news, then you have to seek it out. Usually via Newspapers. In the US it's kind of the other way round to the UK. In the UK the newspapers are full of partisan politics and scaremongering bullshit stories and the TV news is (relatively) impartial. In the US, the TV channels are hugely partisan, and the Newspapers tend to be more serious and impartial.
No, Piskie is right. America, or at least the America I lived in, is like 3-4 different countries. The East coast is pretty sophisticated ( by US standards) and as dippy as Californians can be,they're more clued up too. The great swathes of the mid west, and the south too are far less so. Especially a lot of the south, which is home to a good many f The aforementioned redneck inbreds.
Yeh I get the same impression. Although even the Newspapers are regional aren't they? I think USA Today is the only national paper?
Plenty of national news here. It's international that is missing. I'd suspect 80% of Americans couldn't tell you the name of the national leader of Canada or Mexico, even though they're our neighbors.
