: Man, people have not only been spoiled rotten for decades but also wholly forgotten the history of only the last eighty years.
All kinds of shit it entirely doable, but too many MFs have lived such a cush life, luxurious when compared to their own grandparents and parents, that they avoid minor inconvenience at all costs, including the stability what's left of civilization.
Also, Fuck Thatcher and Reagan and their ilk.
@S_r_stone: Ronnie wanted to "help the economy" by ending most government college grants and letting private lenders and banks make student loans, not to mention reduce higher ed funding, and so the colleges and universities began raising tuition but especially fees. Then administrative bloat came in, paid for by what the institutions used to spend on, you know, education.
@S_r_stone: Of course Reagan was a "deficit hawk" only on public spending. He blew up military spending, surely making the ghost of Keynes do a double-take. He put the US in probably eternal debt. Fuck him. If Hell existed, I'd wish for him to have residence there.
@thedisasterautist Many, including me, like to compare positions of Ronnie and GOP of the time where he would be properly horrified at the current GOP positions. Yet, he also set us on the trajectory to get to the extremism we currently have.
The positions set us on the trajectory but worse was exploiting cultural bigotry to get elected in the first place. Nurturing white grievance and beginning Christian Nationalism with the "Moral Majority."
It was all dog whistles back then.
@thedisasterautist The dog whistles have transitioned to a megaphone. What used to be "the quiet part" is now openly shouted.
I remember Reagan's "welfare queen" speech. They took a few examples of actual fraud to nurture a belief all programs to help the poor were unnecessary.
Corporate welfare OTOH, where the entire practice is problematic rather than isolated instances of fraud, is sacrosanct to them. Because the donor class can't be questioned or touched.