things are really not going well on GAF: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1311633
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=223936008&postcount=34
Nailed it.
The last 24 hours have been rough for me and I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out the fuck happened. Reading stuff like that is helping a lot with my perspective, which I admit was very narrow. I put social issues at the forefront, thinking that would tip the scales. I was wrong and it fucked my shit up pretty bad.
I won't forgive the hardcore republicans who side with Trump just because they're republicans. That's garbage. But I get why a person who is struggling to get by in a dying city who can't find work because their company shipped the jobs overseas can feel like the last 16 years of Repub and Dem politics have fucked them over something fierce. They look at Trump and see someone trying to bring the system down. It's the same hope and change rhetoric that got Obama elected. It's weird to say that but I think it's true.
I agree. It was a blind spot for me too. I've never really been to the rust belt. I've been to the country plenty of times - I'm from Texas so of course - but it's hard for me to reconcile it because that way of life is so foreign to me. I don't know anyone in the country and all the people I know from the country don't live in the country because there's better opportunities in the city. I have lived in a bubble and didn't recognize that the fact people have to move to cities is partly part of the problem. You shouldn't have to have your way of life die out because of the absence of the very political policy that promises to assist all of us. It's a hard pill to swallow...but I get it now. David Wong was right. Thisismyusername was right too. Dems and Republicans fucked up. When you see someone like Trump willing to topple over both establishments and your way of life is crumbling and you can't find a fucking job, you're gonna want to cry out for help. I know that for all my criticisms of Hillary and even Obama, I've been willing to look away because they will help *me* but I've unfortunately lived life without the self awareness that people may have legitimate grievance. More than anything, we need someone to help out rural and middle America and not on empty promises and not in a manner that affects the environment in a negative way (i.e. bringing back coal).
I've said on here and on gaf that white people are racist, but it's ultimately an amalgamation of my fear, of my hurt, of my pain. It could have been potentially harmful and destructive and I just didn't give a shit. When people like Kinitari were banned, I certainly didn't want that. So I agree neogaf is a bad place for discussion. Banning people just for disagreeing is not a good modus operandi and I'm seeing it in many progressive and liberal enclaves. On a subreddit I go to, anyone who disagrees with the status quo of the subreddit has their post deleted or they are banned. To be fair, that subreddit is also conveniently always raided by white supremacists. It's a simple subreddit for black women and they constantly try to fuck with us. The result? Banning anyone who disagrees. Legitimate grievance has turned into an environment where the only acceptable people are ones we agree with.
I'm really glad I took my gaf break now.
PS: FFIX's vanilla battle system is still dog shit and FFVIII is still a better game.
I still respect you, hun. Even if you went down the rabbit hole and lost some respect from me ("FUCK ALL WHITE PEOPLE"). I'm glad you're understanding that
just because some of us don't necessarily agree with the method or means of BLM, doesn't make us racist or not knowing the plight.
Like I said: I'm all for black betterment, I just don't think screaming "WHITE PEOPLE ARE RACIST" and when whites
try to discuss what they can do or try to learn, blacks scoffing and going "OH YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND!
" is productive. Consequently, that same community doesn't understand why poor whites are turning to drugs, having suicides spike, seeing the towns they grew up in dying. Because "fuck them crackers, they're getting what they deserve for racism" and
half of that community went to school with and had no issues with blacks.
As much as I hate to say it, it's a "shades of grey" issue and both sides are not better than the other. Like I said when you guys were talking down me: When you're screaming "RACIST" at folks that don't agree like the BCT on GAF does, you're no better than the folks you're decrying.
Hopefully in the next four years, everyone will reconcile. Black, White, Latino, Middle-Eastern, Asian.
Everyone. And together we all go "you know our economy is fucked and people are going into debt trying to survive [get a college degree to get better work because that's what society and the nation is jamming down their throats], let's fix this and get everyone a better life." And hopefully in the next four years the police-state doesn't get worse (but I'm not hopeful on that, as sad as it is to say).
It sucks, but this has to be a wake-up call to "the Establishment" that when you have someone like Trump and Bernie garnering support (even if it isn't minority support, granted) you have to
look at why they're getting that support.
