Donald Trump would be on track to win a historic landslide in November — if so many US voters didn’t find him personally repugnant.
Roughly 53 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the former president. And yet, when asked about Trump’s ability to handle key issues — or the impact of his policies — voters routinely give the Republican candidate higher marks than President Biden.
In a YouGov survey released this month, Trump boasted an advantage over Biden on 10 of the 15 issues polled. On the three issues that voters routinely name as top priorities — the economy, immigration, and inflation — respondents said that Trump would do a better job by double-digit margins.
Meanwhile, in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 40 percent of voters said that Trump’s policies had helped them personally, while just 18 percent said the same of Biden. If Americans could elect a normal human being with Trump’s reputation for being “tough” on immigration and good at economics, they would almost certainly do so.
Biden is fortunate that voters do not have that option. But to erase Trump’s small but stubborn lead in the polls, the president needs to erode his GOP rival’s advantage on the issues.
No need to be unconvinced, right wingers have explicitly said that’s what they want. Benny Shaps recently said something to the effect of “It’s unhealthy to retire, everyone that retires ends up dying in a few years. We should all work as long as possible.”
Perhaps it’s that social security doesn’t let folks do much beyond existing. If they had money to travel and adventure and indulge in hobbies, maybe folks would live longer. Ben just convinced me that we need to pay people way more both while they work and in retirement.
It’s also because personal fulfillment and social connections (and a lot of physical activity) in western society are built entirely around work. You make friends at work, you talk to people at work, you walk around and move at work. Work is meant to sort of be your mental stimulation. So many people simply forget/don’t have the resources to develop connections outside of work, and then when they retire even with money they find themselves lost and aimless. Some find new ways to self-fufill, but others don’t. Without some external motivation forcing them to develop, they wither, because the system has not taught them otherwise.
Eh. Work gives me none of that. Been remote since COVID. I do get mental stimulation but honestly I get plenty of that from social media and video games - keeps my mind active and focused. If I ever do get to retire I’ll probably add woodworking to my hobbies. Most likely I’ll either die working or get some horrible disease and die because I couldn’t work and lost insurance.
But I’ll tell you, I’m fifty. Been in my career for twenty five years. I still enjoy what I do but I’m getting fucking tired of the way software development is managed. People and corporations suck all the enjoyment out of otherwise fulfilling careers. I’m not looking to retire but if I hit the lottery tomorrow (which I won’t because I don’t gamble) I wouldn’t look back. Maybe I’d go fishing with my dad more. Once he retires.
We’re not so very different you and I. Take a couple words out and mad-lib them and I could have written this.
Fist-bump fellow disgruntled Gen-X’er. May we both win Fuck You money.
In western society? Bro, in Japan and S. Korea, they’ve never heard of a work-life balance. This isn’t a western thing, this is a class issue.
Good point. If social security won’t allow for us to live with at least at a reasonable quality of life, then it’s as if life just gets worse from there.
My dad is on disability and social security. He doesn’t really treat himself or go on vacations anymore! Instead it’s a balance between the mortgage and every day expenses.
These people seem to not understand the concept of hobbies. You can still “work”, just on things that are actually fulfilling and make you happy.
I am an older millennial and have come to realize most adults don’t have hobbies. They either give up on it all or try to make their kids a hobby, which is a whole different level of self destruction.
I was chatting with the self imposed suburban adult “friends” and told them how I recently started learning the guitar. None of them understood. “Why would you do that? You won’t be in a band.” I am not trying to be goddamn Kirk Hammet or try out for Dreamtheater, I just want to be able to play some rifts for myself and noodle around.
People get their weird idea that a hobby must also be a means to an end rather than just something creative to pass time.