We have heard much about the puzzle that US economic performance under President Joe Biden has been much stronger than voters perceive it to be.  But the current episode is just one instance of a bigger historical puzzle:  the US economy has since World War II consistently done better under Democratic presidents than under Republican presidents.  This fact is even less widely known, including among Democratic voters, than the truth about Biden’s term.  Indeed, some poll results suggest that more Americans believe the reverse, that Republican presidents are better stewards of the economy than Democrats.

Reposting because the last one got auto-mod removed 😭

Summary is basically that Republican presidents have historically been worse for the economy! How the hell do people believe the opposite!?

Previous thread got restored! Thanks !jordanlund 🫡

https://lemmy.world/post/21035170?scrollToComments=true

  • Miles O'Brien@startrek.websiteEnglish
    15·
    10 days ago

    I was working with someone who I made the assumption they’d be a Democrat. Call me racist or otherwise bigotted if you want, but I legitimately can’t understand why anyone who isn’t a straight white male would want to vote republican.

    He genuinely thinks Republicans are better for the economy, DT is completely sane and it’s BIDEN that’s turning senile and showing clear signs of dementia on live TV, and that DT is “good for the country”

    I figured through some prodding questions that it’s because of the little amount of news he DOES see, it’s almost entirely Faux News and their ilk.

    So I asked him some rather leading questions about who is making money off of what we are doing while we work. Cause we know the prices of these things we make, and we know how much we get paid. Massive difference.

    So he understands that the CEOs and other higher ups are basically robbing the lower parts of their work pyramid, he understands that the people with money are greedy and won’t willingly part with it, that they will do anything to keep their money and the power they get with it, AND that they own media outlets outright and back certain politicians.

    He was clearly thinking about how all that connects with “billionaires own the media and want to tell you to vote republican because that keeps them in power” but after about 5 minutes of clearly contemplative silence, he goes “I don’t know man, it’s still a toss up to me.”

    At that point I just kind of gave up. I can only show someone the door. I can’t make them walk through it.

    • fluxion@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      10 days ago

      It’s impressive you brought them into Undecided territory. Most of these folks are fully indoctrinated cult members at this point.

    • GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world
      8·
      10 days ago

      The way I see people like this is that they have too many other things tied up in their decision. It’s not just about facts they have friends, co-workers, family that all believe a certain way. If they were to make a big change to this way of thinking it puts them on the outside of their social group.

      But what you may have done with your line of questioning is set a seed for change in their thinking. It may take a while to grow into an obvious change but it can happen. Of course this means that they have to put the work in to grow those ideas, which may not happen but it was good to do.