“Whenever I try to draw a line from Ronald Reagan and the Reagan administration to Donald Trump, there’s opposition even from many Democrats but specifically among Republicans who’ve become ‘Never Trumpers.’”
I enjoyed this episode a lot. I particularly liked your insight, Stephen, about the myth of Reagan being as if someone’s understanding of Reagan stopped at age 10. That’s exactly what I think when I hear acquaintances insist that they just want things to be like they were in the ‘80s when we were young. They’ve gained no perspective on what we weren’t seeing in the news in elementary school. They just want that simple understanding back. They want to be able to trust the news, to believe that what they have is due to their own hard work, and that following the rules is what gave them the position they have. They have no patience for the nuance that should have come with age. Reagan wasn’t portrayed as racist in the pop press of the time, how dare I ask them to reconsider that understanding? Maybe he was homophobic, they acknowledge, but is that really wrong? Maybe he was right all along and that’s why their parents’ home values quintupled in twenty years. Maybe they can ignore social justice and just focus on their own checkbook.
I think I’m going to have to read the book before I’m going to be sold on the dangers of the national debt. But like when I discuss the horrors of fast fashion with people, I am pretty sure there is an underlying fear within me: but what if fairness/justice/security means I get less than I’m used to having? I have no fear that I won’t survive the revelation that I’ve been wrong.
Great comment. No one likes paying taxes, but we like roads fixed, Social Security checks and a host of other things. I’m all for universal health care for the same reason. I think that “promoting the general welfare” is a concept that’s lost on people.
Trumpism: the death throes of the Reagan Revolution. Here’s praying the damage can be contained—and that we can finally move on.
“Whenever I try to draw a line from Ronald Reagan and the Reagan administration to Donald Trump, there’s opposition even from many Democrats but specifically among Republicans who’ve become ‘Never Trumpers.’”
The line couldn’t be more clear.
Republicans been the same old crazy shit since the "Southern Strategy" - Eisenhower being the last real "country club republican" president.
The plot to destroy America began with Nixon.
I enjoyed this episode a lot. I particularly liked your insight, Stephen, about the myth of Reagan being as if someone’s understanding of Reagan stopped at age 10. That’s exactly what I think when I hear acquaintances insist that they just want things to be like they were in the ‘80s when we were young. They’ve gained no perspective on what we weren’t seeing in the news in elementary school. They just want that simple understanding back. They want to be able to trust the news, to believe that what they have is due to their own hard work, and that following the rules is what gave them the position they have. They have no patience for the nuance that should have come with age. Reagan wasn’t portrayed as racist in the pop press of the time, how dare I ask them to reconsider that understanding? Maybe he was homophobic, they acknowledge, but is that really wrong? Maybe he was right all along and that’s why their parents’ home values quintupled in twenty years. Maybe they can ignore social justice and just focus on their own checkbook.
I think I’m going to have to read the book before I’m going to be sold on the dangers of the national debt. But like when I discuss the horrors of fast fashion with people, I am pretty sure there is an underlying fear within me: but what if fairness/justice/security means I get less than I’m used to having? I have no fear that I won’t survive the revelation that I’ve been wrong.
Great comment. No one likes paying taxes, but we like roads fixed, Social Security checks and a host of other things. I’m all for universal health care for the same reason. I think that “promoting the general welfare” is a concept that’s lost on people.
Thank you!