sorry, i read my previous comments and they’re pretty aggressive. i am so raw and scared right now and i just want to scream.

the democrats have one path back to power: making a serious commitment to fixing the extreme inequalities that exist between groups: black and white, urban and rural, rich and poor.

the status quo that the democrats built and maintained created the conditions that led to trump. if the democrats were, you know, better, maybe none of this would have happened.

Fair enough. Here is my take on why a person might vote for trump (aside from bigotry, hatred of trans people, etc): I think some people consider a Trump vote a protest vote. The condition of many black people in America has been bad under both democrats and republicans (though for the last several decades, republicans have been demonstrably worse). Institutional racism is real, and people are angry about the status quo. I think many people feel like both democrats and establishment republicans have failed them, and voting for an outsider might be a way to shake up the system. However, as a protest vote, Trump is a poor choice. He is the apotheosis of white privilege. He was born rich. His family business was notorious for discriminating against black people (both under DJT and his father). His own family members have warned the public that Trump is racist towards black people. His comments and actions during his first term are not consistent with a leader who wants to help people of colour. Trump is definitely shaking things up, but it won’t be in a way that benefits anyone but straight white Christians of means.

I agree that alienating and dehumanizing voters can be counterproductive in a democracy. If democrats want to win next time, they have to persuade some portion of non-voting and republican-voting Americans to vote democrat instead. There are many methods of persuasion, though - and not all people are amenable to all forms of persuasion. No one likes to feel foolish, and surely some people who voted for Trump are feeling a bit foolish right now. Pointing out ironic examples like this guy who supported Trump and is gradually learning to regret his decision might have some merit.

The noble savage trope is about the supposed moral and physical superiority of people living in a natural, pre-industrial environment. It simply doesn’t apply. Do I think that people who vote for trump have an invalid perspective? Yes I do. Do they need to adopt my perspective? There are lots of people I don’t agree with who don’t support fascism. I am not such a believer in moral relativism to think that anyone is above criticism for their political opinions.

This has nothing to do with noble savages etc. Trump has said and done many racist things directed at black people. He has provided aid, comfort, and pardons to white supremacists. If you are part of a group that Trump targets and disdains and you still vote for Trump, it doesn’t matter how you justify it (hate for trans people, greed, etc.). It makes no sense for a non-white person to be support a white supremacist. As for white Trump voters - they finally found their hitler.

A lot of the bad stuff that happens on the internet is directly related to perceived anonymity. If you want to bully, harass, make bigoted statements, disseminate propaganda, or shill for a corporation, it’s better to be anonymous. If a country gives its citizens the right to free speech and reasonable protections for privacy, a non-anonymous internet is better. Besides, anonymity on the internet is an illusion for about 99% of internet users. All of the big social media companies know who you are - their whole business depends on the data they collect on you, and that data is worth much less if it can’t be associated with an individual. They also have heavy incentives to share that information with the government. Try making an ‘anonymous’ threat against your country’s leader and see if any law-enforcement types decide to visit you.

Sir, do you have the original receipt?

Musk has now surpassed Carnegie. You are right about Mansa Musa (for now), but the gap is closing. According to google today, Musk is at $334B, Carnegie peaked at a modest $309B, and Mansa Musa had about $400B, though there are quibbles about personal wealth vs. kingdom’s treasury. If you want to compare Musk and Musa, I think you could reasonably add the GDP of the US to Musk’s fortune, since he is one of the puppeteers behind Trump. All figures adjusted for inflation, by the way.

Haha right you are. It is in his nature, I suppose, to grasp and grasp after already being the richest person in history. In a better world, we would put people like Musk in a nice, humane institution.

Yep. Fortunately for Elon (and, you know, fascism) he doesn’t need it any more. For Elon, it is already ‘Mission Accomplished’. The richest, most thin-skinned losers on Earth already control the biggest economy and the biggest military. What more could that shitstain hope to get out of Twitter?

The cleanup took forever.

Hi! With the OED, it has been like that at least since I started university in 2007. However, lots of public libraries have subscriptions. I just go to my library website, login, and follow the link to the OED. There are many other reference tools that are also included in my library card. Libraries rule!

Edit: you can check merriam-webster for free, I think