• Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      I picture a well-to-do and relatively worry-free middle class father of four who drives a brand new truck, owns a massive home, probably does electrical work, and tells himself every day that the Democrats are ruining his way of life and encroaching on his freedoms.

      I live in Alberta now and that’s 80% of conservatives up here, except replace Biden with Trudeau and replace their way of life with even less to worry about than Americans.

      • root_beer@midwest.social
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        10 months ago

        Wears oakleys and under armour shirts with American flags on the sleeves, has a goatee and a shaved head; he has a McMansion with a huge yard, in a place just outside the suburbs, far enough away so he can drive his brodozer to the grocery store to pick up a six pack of bud heavy (none of that bud light trans shit (are they still whining about that?)), with no sidewalks so his kids can’t really go anywhere on their own and he can then complain that kids these days don’t go outside anymore and spend all their time on tiktok (posted on Facebook)

      • theangryseal@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Yep, sounds like my father in law.

        It’s crazy how cultural political views are these days. When I was a kid, everyone I knew just about was a democrat (coal country).

        One goofy hat later, bam.

        What really shifted my area though was environmentalism. People came out talking about how terrible their only means of living was for the world, started working to eradicate it, and forgot about the people dependent on it.

        I imagine that in an ideal world, the end of the 90s wouldn’t have resulted in manufacturing jobs all going to China. Factories would have been built in Appalachia, unions would have thrived, and my people wouldn’t have shifted so drastically.

        Nothing motivates hatred quite like taking the food out of a man’s mouth.

        • Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca
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          10 months ago

          The perspective is similar in Alberta, except with oil and gas - and nearly everyone in the industry is quite well off rather than living in poverty like many in coal country. It’s very difficult to change anyone’s mind regarding the negatives when the entire industry has made them and the generations before them wealthy while requiring very little education out of the gate.