Hey guys one of the things I miss about reddit is communities like r/Conservative or r/conspiracy, not because I agree with really anything they say there, but because it’s a challenge for me.
It’s really easy to say “no you’re dumb and wrong”, but I like going down rabbit holes so I will take the bat shit insane stuff they say and find actual sources to refute them. I know it won’t actually change any minds but it’s fun for me.
I know theres @conservative@lemm.ee but that is basically just non-conservatives making fun of conservatives. And I have not been able to find any good conspiracy theory communities on Lemmy at all.
Any advice?
The vitriol between Republicans and Democrats in the US has always been there, and I think it started escalating rapidly after Nixon. Even with George Bush Jr in the early 2000s, which had its own set of big problems, it was still “civilized,” although people look back at that time and think it was insane (because it was). But the rhetoric has only accelerated even more, and the Trump administrations are the natural end result of this ever-increasing polarization, unfortunately.
I feel like “reasonable” Republican positions died with out after Reagan. Even though most people in this space will never say Regan’s positions were reasonable (much less good or defensible), there was still a veneer of civility and respect for what little democratic function America had at the time.
At this point, all of that has been thrown out the window. Even Pence, for how evil of a person he is, still refused to destroy the process, at least.
This is exactly how I feel. it’s like somewhere after 2000 people just gave up being civil, not just in politics although it feels like that’s where it’s become not just acceptable but almost required to demonize your opponent.
I’m not quite old enough to really have first hand experience or interest in politics before 1995 or so, but a lot of people seem to mark the time around Reagan as an inflection point.