I feel like if asbestos was banned today there'd be a huge pro-asbestos movement

I have heard that Obama supports breathing.

I also heard Obama supports Trump, so if you like Trump it means you like Obama and that makes u a dumb librul. Checkmate, everyone.
I heard Obama and Biden are anti mask and anti universal healthcare now.

Are you talking about liberals being dumb?

/j

Yeah, dumb liberals with their dumb vaccines and pasteurized milk and fluoridated water and science. 🙄
- Fucking libtards
  
  They probably don't even know how to do the tariff hokey pokey.
  
  Tariffs go up, stocks go down. You can't explain that.
- Liberals were against vaccines long before conservatives were. It was never mainstream, but it was getting there.
- I literally cannot tell them apart from a fascist Maga!
  -young American leftists
  
  I hate that the word fascist has become the new slur people use when they hear something that is against there core political beliefs. There are real fascists but they are not everyone who isn't far left. I see this turning into a left version of the red scare. People are getting increasingly extreme and violent on each side which is dangerous for the long term stability of the US. In reality I think we need more moderate politicians who are willing to reach across political briefs and backgrounds.
  
  We needed that 40 years ago, in 2025 we have to fight against actual fascists doing actually fascist things.
  
  Correct. If anything, we've been too conservative with the word in the past decade or so. They're openly talking about shipping off undesirables to gulags, but we're supposed to tone down our rhetoric and not call them fascists.
  
  ...if they don't want to be called fascists, maybe they should consider not being fcking fascists...
  
  The Definition of Fascism
  ...there's a word for people who supported the nazi party even though they didn't agree with all of its policies: nazi...

What other side? Sure there are always a few rational people. However the vast majority choose a side and then blindly oppose anything the other side says/does. When their side happens to have critical thinking on their side they are for that, but that isn't a factor in why they choose something.

Trying to convince yourself otherwise proves that you are ignoring the issues on your own side. If you really were a rational thinker you would have to choose your side separately for every single issue - nobody has time for that which in turn means you sometimes rely on someone who turns out to be irrational but because they have proved rational in other areas you trust them here too.

If you really were a rational thinker you would have to choose your side separately for every single issue - nobody has time for that
This really is not that difficult nor time consuming.
- It is absolutely difficult and very time consuming
  
  For some.
  
  There are literally hundreds of complex interconnected issues that affect our daily lives. It is impossible to have a well-informed stance on all of them. No one benefits from strong opinions based on an oversimplified understanding. That's childish.
  
  The things that directly affect me are all things that one side is against. One side wants to remove my ability to be myself get mental health care etc.
  I don't love the other side but it's the only one that will allow me time to get to a point where I can be useful in getting my ideas to people.
  
  Completely agree.
I'm an independent thinker. In the past republicans and democrats had both good and bad ideas.
In today's world democrats are more for the people as a country and care more about citizens, example, making sure kids in schools get free lunches, "no child should go hungry" as they understand not everyone is rich and can afford proper meals for dinner later in the day, the cause being maybe medical debt or other unforseen hardships, example. A car accident and need a sudden co-payment of $2000 to fix or replace their car. While republicans want to stop free lunches to save 12¢ extra in a state/county tax. So I've seen Republicans only show greed for themselves which in turn completely halts advancements in a society. Example, private healthcare. You would pay significantly less in a raise in federal tax compared to a monthly premium+ medical bills. The math isn't that hard to do, but Republicans are so blinded by the thought of "my hard earned money is for me and not for Susan who has 3 kids and her husband has terminal cancer. Now she has to pay $250,000 when he dies.
So in short. Democratic party in my eyes has been for people. Republican party in my eyes has been for themselves and everyone else can live in the streets.
If you have morals and standards, its not hard to take a stance on every issue. If you support education, it doesnt take much looking into anything about education to understand how decisions fit into your worldview. And even if you support some aspects of one side and some from the other, you still have to pick a side because welcome to Americas 2 party system.
My experience with many users on lemmy who support "critical thinking" are not actually advocating critical thinking. Theyre trying to justify their mental gymnastics while simultaneously feeding their self-righteous egos
I also think it hasn't helped that the news as become more of a propaganda outlet. They probably live in a bubble.
- ...this is the crux of it: until we confront the disinformation sphere authoritatively, the problem will persist, and crossing that line is antithetical to the american identity...
  ...i fear that the american identity must immolate itself, one way or the other...
  
  It is sad to me that Lemmy has been taken over by people calling others fascist. I think from a moderation perspective any highly political content should be removed immediately unless it is in the proper community. I'm tied of see comment after comment talking about how everyone and there dog is a fascist and other related rhetoric. It is ultimately easier to name call than it is to actually show empathy to someone you absolutely disagree with. I like to read other peoples options but the problem is that many here have turned a option into fact. Asking why they feel some way just pisses people off and makes them defensive instead of generating good discussions. Words like "fascism" ultimately serve the interests of those in power not individuals. It is used as a tool to get people emotionally engaged instead of mentally engaged. Emotional people are much easier to control and influence.
  In short, I'm saddened to see Lemmy be taken over by useless political circle jerking. None of it does anything useful other than scare off new Lemmy users.
  
  ICE agents under the republican-elected Donald Trump's republican administration arrested the wrong brown person, and after realizing this, said "take him anyway."
  This is it, possiblylinux. That's the SS. We have the gestapo. There is no more "fiscal conservative." There is no more "classical libertarian." We are nazis now.
  You can either be a classical american war hero and strongly oppose this, or you can be a nazi. Those are your options. I'm not saying this euphemistically. I'm not saying it as a metaphor. I'm not exaggerating for dramatic effect.
  If you do not live in the US currently, and you do not want to be relocated to Guantanamo Bay or El Salvador, then you should not come here.

Thats however what everybody thinks about themselves

Nope. Both sides are not the same. Period.
- It’s not about them actually being the same.
  What @lowleekun@ani.social is saying is that no one sees themselves as the bad guy, regardless of what their opponents think.
  
  Sure, they can view themselves however they want. Doesn't change reality.
  
  You’re low key proving my point about how people think.
  
  It's funny because I 100% agree with you both.
- Look mate i agree but when arguing with comservatives that the exact same attitude that they give you and it annoys me because it is not a real argument to say "you are wrong and have no critical thinking skills" yet here we are again.
  
  Conservatives are wrong and are reactionary in a way that shows they have no critical thinking skills. It is ok to acknowledge that.
A lot of those people are correct.