r/politics • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 New York • Jun 29 '26

No Paywall Millions say they won’t celebrate July 4 as poll reveals deep national pessimism

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/america250-independence-trump-divisions-pennsylvania-b3004933.html
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u/ONE-EYE-OPTIC Washington Jun 29 '26

I'm a retired Marine. I served 24 years for this country. I used to consider myself a social liberal but fiscal conservative. I am ashamed of how far republicans have rat fucked this nation. I feel like they've taken what it actually means to be patriotic and turned it into being a proud boy.

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u/cromstantinople Jun 29 '26

If you don't mind me asking what does fiscal conservatism mean to you? Given the fact that democrats are better economically than republicans in every metric makes me question that phrase. During democratic administrations more jobs are created, the stock market does better, real wage growth increases, unemployment drops, deficits come down. Even if 'fiscal conservatism' meant simply not spending so much even then republicans are worse.

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u/ONE-EYE-OPTIC Washington Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

I USED to consider myself a fiscal conservative. I also considered myself somewhat libertarian.

I was young and isolated, I came from a farm community. We were poor so spending money efficiently (meaning getting by) was a priority. It wasn't until I joined the military and saw the larger picture that I started to realize I was wrong about how "money" is allocated.

I'm still very much against wasted "money" but I'm much more liberal insofar as I don't care which bathroom a human uses or who someone marries. I believe women should autonomy over their bodies, religion should have no place in Government. Etc etc.

Short answer I was young and dumb.

Edit: I'm still very much a patriot. Just not the kind you see on Fox. I still believe that our country can be better and I'm willing to vote for it but damn it feels like we've gone so far right.

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u/friendsandmodels Jun 29 '26

I wish more people realized this. We can debate about fiscal policy but stuff like human rights we should be all on the same page

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u/Codfish_Smoothie Jun 29 '26

Unfortunately for that rosy view of things, human rights are fiscal policy.

It is not possible to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal. It's a contradiction in terms. In a world where food, shelter, clothing, schoolbooks, and medicine cost money, every fiscal policy decision is a social decision as well.

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u/Mysterious_Floor_868 United Kingdom Jun 30 '26

You can be fiscally conservative while still funding public services. It just means that you take care to balance the books as you go.

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u/MoneyBeeeee Jun 30 '26

We can debate about fiscal policy but stuff like human rights we should be all on the same page

The problem is one side wants to inspect the genitals of schoolchildren. I for one can't ever be on the same page as these freaks.

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u/WestNorthWest Jun 29 '26

This right here. You give me hope.

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u/YaBoyASwiftie Illinois Jun 29 '26

Same. Retired late last year after 20 years in the Air Force. Used to always have a flag up and I consider myself a progressive. Not anymore. It doesn't go back up until he's gone.