Election 2020

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-15-2020, 10:54 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: How large was Japanese culture compared to Red culture today at the time? Red culture is about 74 million strong today. Realistically, 300,000 deaths is less than a 1% of the total population. Blue culture is about 82 million strong today. 300,000 is less than a percent of the total population for size. It's pretty clear that Covid had a greater impact on Blue Culture than Red Culture and it still does today. In short, we have no reason to change our culture. Whatever bad that is said about us is largely untrue and repeated by people who don't have a clue about us. Like I said, you and I could be neighbors or business acquaintances or passer by's but I doubt that we'd ever be friends or give two shit less about each other.

The population of Japan in 1940 was about 73.111 million.  This is similar enough to the 74 million you claim for the red culture.  Saying they will require a similar amount of deaths before they will consider shifting thought patterns seems plausible.  You certainly found reason to shrug off 300,000.  A much larger count seems required before a change in values comes.  The blue are taking it much more seriously.  Just comparing Biden's effort against Trump's and you can see the difference.

While initially the deaths were in blue port areas, at this point the bug has spread considerably.  The red are making a point of not taking precautions.  Even in heavily blue areas of the country like Massachusetts we are getting a surge, in part due to this red lack of precautions.  You hear stories about people refusing to wear masks, or ignoring the one way signs in grocery stores that are supposed to make social distancing more effective.  This lack of precautions is not just killing the red.  The blue are victims of this lack of precautions by the red as well.  Shrugging it off as a blue problem is a delusion.  Still, I have no idea to what degree this red lack of precautions is making the red more the victims.

I think Trump's claiming vaccine priority for White House personnel after they made it a point of politicizing the precautions is the height of hypocrisy, people like security, maids, and cleaners excepted.

A part of it is Trump's willingness to lie, a common belief that the virus is a hoax.  You would think that 300,000 dead bodies don't lie.  But still, the red will make up reasons to leave their culture unchanged.  They maintain the unravelling selfishness over the crisis sacrifice for the common good.  Then they die.

I quite believe a good number of red don't embrace the extreme behaviors that set the red stereotype.  The deliberate dangerous avoiding of behaviors that restrict COVID, the attempt to impose their own religious culture on others who do not share their religion, the racist bad cop behavior, the structural racism, the Proud Boys invasion of urban areas to instigate violence, the Wolverine Watchmen's willingness to go lawless, the red readiness to accept lies that perpetuate their culture, the deliberate hurting of the poor working man in order to hurt minorities, all remain problematic.  

Not all red are worst case crazy.

But enough are to trigger a blue response against it.

How many of the above traits do you celebrate and are personally dedicated to?  Yet, if you are not willing to stand up and fight against them, can you blame blues for embracing the stereotype?

(12-15-2020, 10:54 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: The Japanese citizens were indoctrinated by years of Japanese government propaganda that portrayed American soldiers as brutal savages which is why so many of the jumped off cliffs vs surrendering and being taken alive by American soldiers.

But suicide and a lack of respect for lives were a broader part of Japanese culture of the time than for most cultures.  There is one tale of American soldiers wandering from foxhole to foxhole, making noise as they approach, not bothering much to demand surrender but waiting for the shot indicating suicide.  The culture was that strong.  Even today, you occasionally read about the recent spike in Japanese suicides that likely resulted from their stringent isolation efforts.  This result in a far greater suicide count locally than COVID's effects.