I watch it happen all the time, but things are way shittier in Maine than in Finland, and getting shitter all the time after being quite peaceful and safe like Finland not so long ago. That makes a lot of people ready to reconsider political ideas when it has been one-party dominance for so long.
I’d say I’m fully red-pilled at this point, or at least firmly anti-socialist (as defined in practical functioning terms, not strictly “seizing the means of production”). It is impossible for me to see anything but disaster in Maine, because I’m watching it unfold around me in observable and measurable ways.
I was never a full-fledged communist, but I was a Chomsky acolyte and pretty hardcore progressive 20 years ago, especially with gun laws. Adopting a new political worldview is possible, but only if people are ready to take the antidote to unreason, which has always been facts laid out in a compelling and honest manner.
There’s a reason why every socialist movement in history is powered by youth. Young people are very idealistic, along with the deadly combination of ignorance and confidence. They are always ready to believe the people who say they have the answers to society’s problems, and people are always ready to claim to have them. It really seems to attract sociopaths and narcissists.
The average age of the Bolsheviks was only around 25 in 1917. National Socialists were a bit older, but still quite young with an average age of 35 among Nazi party members in 1933. They were all quite young, especially considering a decade of activism preceded Nazi seizure of power.
Maine’s Democratic Socialist revolution is a bit different, as it seems to be powered by white women of all ages, along with the “marginalized group” demographic they’ve both created (by promoting transgenderism) and imported by using public funds to resettle a new voting bloc in the jurisdiction. Many of our policies are justified because we’re supposed to feel “empathy” towards anyone who the Democratic Socialists define as “marginalized”, then allow ourselves to be taxed into oblivion while politically-connected grifters make out like bandits.
Like @Bauber said, a backlash of biblical proportions is awaiting them if they keep this up, because the men don’t want it, and the men are much kinder than anyone has given them credit for… So far, at least.
That’s part of why I spend so much time on local politics these days. It is much easier to make objective statements of fact about what’s happening all around you, whereas so much of national politics is shrouded to normal folks. The veil of secrecy is what is difficult to pierce, and weasel words that are “technically true” remain a very dangerous weapon.
Case-in-point. I’ve now reviewed all of the public records for the grant application to Lewiston’s “low barrier” homeless shelter concept. Lewiston’s Economic and Community Development Director hired a consulting firm to do a financial analysis of the nonprofit who was awarded 1.2 million dollars in city funding last week, making them eligible for another 2.5 million in state funding. In their communications, Lewiston’s ECD Director gave very clear, precise instructions to the consultant to NOT make any recommendations.
This gives the city council the cover they need to move ahead with a financial disaster without anyone being able to say that they ignored expert opinion.
Having reviewed all of the financials myself, there is absolutely no way this will not require additional millions in public money, and my government has lied to me about it the entire way, while making “technically true” statements the entire time.
It is the same basic thing the media does. They phrase things in such a way that their words are mushy enough to entertain different possibilities, all while they know exactly what their plan is. Maybe not the low-level elected officials, most of whom are quite dull, but Party leadership is frighteningly intelligent and cunning.
Bingo.
