Just something MAGA-people seem to have a hard time with sometimes. Probably not as much when Americans are speaking to themselves, but as a non-American, sometimes it’s challenging to get “those people” to admit that there is indeed anything wrong with the US. As in they won’t accept a single criticism, and will loudly proclaim “America is the greatest country in the world”, while wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, which for me pretty explicitly means America isn’t great, if it has to be made to be such again.

  • Zorque@lemmy.worldEnglish
    01·
    4 months ago

    Has it taken a hard right shift? There’s far more civil liberty (the underlying thing most loud conservatives want to curtail) than “back in the day”.

    Sure, there’s a much greater schism between ideologies these days, what with the normalization of social media and media in general… but I’d be hard pressed to say that the country is a lot more right leaning than it used to be.

    • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      4 months ago

      I mean, if right wing people want to admit they are against civil liberties and they want to go back to the good old days of no civil rights then I wouldn’t interrupt them while they make that mistake.

    • HiddenLychee@lemmy.world
      1·
      4 months ago

      I think they’re probably referring to tax brackets and how much the ultra wealthy were taxed back in the 50s or something

    • Nollij@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      You bring up a valid point. There are many facets of life and a left/right divide, and some of them did shift left.

      But compared to the 50s (which is when many right wingers idolize), particularly starting with Reagan, we’ve seen:

      1. Push for theocracy

      2. The war on drugs

      3. Less “society” and more individualism. This is especially true regarding regulation of harmful activities for profit, such as corporate pollution

      4. Reduced enforcement of those laws that we do have, as long as it’s a corporate entity and/or for profit

      5. Massive consolidation of all industries. Competition is now mostly an illusion.

      6. Strong push against workers’ rights. Reduction in union protections, minimum wage laws, OSHA powers, etc

      7. Active, planned takeover of media. This was started by (IIRC) Roger Ailes that if the right controlled the media, Nixon would not have been impeached. He went on to found Fox News with that philosophy, and proved it correct with Trump. See also: Sinclair

      8. While this mostly happened at a state/local level, it has been nationwide. Government was intentionally ruined as an effective organization, and now provides way fewer/worse services

      These are just a few ways that the country has shifted right, but they are so impactful to the average person’s daily life.