Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

This is just blatant misinformation. Since r/pics is the only example you've chosen to give us, let's evaluate it: I've scrolled through the current first 50 posts in Hot, and 0 of them are death threats, thinly veiled or otherwise. "Packed full", indeed.

And here, so it isn't simply my word vs. his; these are the current posts:

  Protest, "Musk Stole Your Tax Data"
  Picture of Nazi being punched after making a Nazi salute
  Protest, "The Whole World is Watching"
  Painting over values at the FBI
  McConnell in a wheelchair
  Flag upside down outside State Dept.
  Kid covering ears with politician in foreground
  "Buy Canadian Instead" sign in CA store
  Protest, no visible message, flag with corp logos instead of stars
  German anti-fascism protest
  UFC fight match post KO [KO'd opponent is a neo-Nazi]
  US Marine holding flag in distress position
  Protestor, "No kings in America", dressed as Cap. America, mouth taped over
  Protest "Nobody voted for Elon"
  Protest "Stop Musk's Takeover"
  Picture of Trudeau
  Protest "Smells like Fascism"

- The nazi punching thread had several moderated comments ranked near the top which were presumably calls to violence.

- The Mitch McConnal thread has many people looking forward to his death, hoping he goes to hell, and a few deleted comments.

- A musk thread has "eat the rich" and storm the capitol. Not super highly ranked.

I didn't go through all of them but it certainly is a bit odious.

Also note though how there's only 1 non political thread and the remainder are anti trump. This is on a general interest sub and what is likely to be an unremarkable day in the administration!

Reddit has been basically unusable for anything concerning politics since, and nowadays with politics leaking out into every damn sub possible it definitely has a problem.

If you stop your thought at just “people are losing their shit”, thats seeing half the world.

I’d say thats disingenuous, because it misses or dismisses the incredibly alarming actions that have precipitated them.

If you genuinely care about it, then you might be interested in knowing why people are responding like this. For example, people generally hate Nazis, and punching Nazis is a popular idea.

DO people expect themselves to be polite when the see a takeover and destruction of their government? “it looks like pre WW2 Germany out there, do pass the salt dear.”

Hacker News is radicalizing, and is very likely going to have to decide if it’s going to be pro MAGA or not.

What did people think the response was going to be once Trump did everything he said he would? People would lie back and let things happen?

In America? The land of the second amendment? I mean people should be happy, after this liberals are going to be proud members of the NRA.

As someone who tries to be non partisan, and isn't even american, I am fatigued by all of the claims that the world within the USA is ending. Whenever I take the time to examine any of the claims they tend to be fairly hollow or making slippery slope arguments.

As an international user of reddit, there are many of us I presume, I want the outrage to be saved for Trumps undeniable and worst offenses. In my eyes the memecoin was worse than anything which has happened since he became president and yet it has completely left the collective focus. Everything since then has just been a mix of people allowing trump to dictate the media cycle and the deep state deploying its immune system.

If we review democracies through history that have at some point become less democratic, I think describing the process of how that actually happens as being a slippery slope is quite apt. I’d say it’s more of a fallacy to assume that democracy is a secure default state of being rather than an ideal that we must collectively support or lose entirely—that we can safely “slip” a little without risking a slide further down the slope.

You are misattributing American madness to the people it is being inflicted on rather than the instigators. We have oil wells behind our homes and schools and the white picket fence chemists I knew and looked up to as a kid are the reason we all have PFAs in our blood. Our president vacillates between saber-rattling at our closest allies, starting a new war in the Middle East, and causing constitutional crises every other day. We don’t have a single-payer healthcare option like every other developed country and our “social safety nets” are so impacted and difficult to get, they might as well not exist for most people. We do, however, have some very, very profitable oligopolies (some which make very tasty fish sandwiches) and higher income inequality than India or Russia.

As well as thousands who are normal hard-working people.

> taken back Panama Canal from Chinese dictatorship

By using threats of force like a dictatorship.

> attempted to shrink the size of the government and American tax burden

In illegal, non-democratic ways.

> put more tariffs on Chinese dictatorship

As well as more democratic allies.

> focused US on AI

Without understanding the huge risks involved for all of humanity.

> taken over Gaza to prevent another war between Israel and Hamas

By doing ethnic cleansing.

> gotten Mexico and Canada to finally own up to protecting the border

And in the process lost the trust and respect of allies.

They did not do this. Everyone can read the post that you’re responding to.

Do you have sources for that? Honestly trying to find out. Thanks!

The temperature is so high right now, and it's only continuing to rise because there seems to be zero accountability for what's happening whether it's pardons or Musk running unfettered through government accounts. Unfortunately, it's natural for people to keep escalating when they see no other avenue.

Also, Biden has already addressed the numbers coming across the border [1]. So again, the people who are left are mostly hard working people trying to make a life.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36e41dx425o

There is a reason people are angry and the truth is Musk/trump have gone too far. It's bizarre to say but we are watching the downfall of the USA in real time. The country has been captured by criminals who are working to destroy it–folks are going to be angry about that.

I grew up an active NRA member, shooting since I was 6. I have long since disassociated myself with the group but want to make it clear - a lot of liberals have guns and regularly practice using them.

We don't need the NRA (a Putin funded organization) to do that!

They also map to historical counter-examples.

You don't have to go far. Take hysterical false positives like #RussiaGate, which turned out to be a manufactured hoax.

Then I realized that my kindergarten teacher was onto something when she told us we should be nice and share our toys, and I grew up.

Are you for real? Is this seriously a good faith argument? My man, you may be a true believer, and that is no compliment. Course correct. Try to steelman a bit.

No, I'm not. I'm making a statement about a particular claim: that Reddit is overwhelmed with leftist death threats.

I said nothing about r/pics being apolitical, and I'm not taking a stance in this comment chain about whether I think r/pics should or should not be apolitical. That's a different claim, and you're moving the goalposts.

No, as evidenced by the "Politics" flair. (But also no, the rules of the sub do not forbid political images.)

> Does it tend to feature current events and is that lineup just proportional to the magnitude of what's happening right now?

Yep.

I also had trouble with all the far right wingers who kept talking about civil war.

Or you didn't experience, or don't know what they are, what they think and what they want ; neither the aftermath.

If you feel the need to defend the salute I would suggest digging into that.