Ok, I can get sort of disagreeing the wildfires are from climate change - that’s a couple of logical steps you have to make. But “It’s not causing anyone to cough” is plainly ludicrous. It was making me cough when I went outside.

“It doesn’t smell bad”? Maybe they have COVID and lost their sense of smell altogether? It certainly smelled bad to me. And if you thought it smelled great - wow. I just don’t ever want to be around you if you like those sorts of smells. I can’t see it actually working with anyone who’s ever been in wildfire smoke before - like you don’t need science or education or anything to notice if it makes you cough, or tell something doesn’t smell great.

  • watson387@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Let’s be real. A lot of these people don’t actually believe anything that comes out of their mouth, but if they think it’ll trigger a liberal they’re down with it.

    • jmp242@sopuli.xyzOP
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      I especially don’t get this “dying to trigger the libs”. Interesting tactic I have to say. I am not compelled to try and trigger anyone - are they all trolls now or something? I have more interesting things to do than to cut off my nose to piss someone else off.

      • Fox@feddit.de
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        I think there is a lot of pride to be conservative coming into play here. Hard to explain, but I sometimes see this in my family. They proudly present their ignorance to show off their conservativism, hold it in front of them like a banner. When I inquire a bit deeper their views are often a bit more reasonable, it just feels like average boomers wanting to be cool by flaunting their ignorance, as weird as this sounds.

        • piece@feddit.it
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          Yeah it feels like most right wing people are more progressive than they think.

          I’m not from the U.S. but everytime I talk with a conservative we agree on a lot of things once they stop talking with slogans

          • Fox@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            That’s my experience too. Often when I talk to people they have pretty moderate or left-leaning views that would fit well in any of our more left-leaning parties. However the majority of them still votes for our biggest conservative party, which openly promises and does the opposite of what they claim they would want in a conversation. Frustrating.

        • grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world
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          Yes, there are likely lots of people like me who remember having smudge fires to keep the bugs down when working outside in the country or how a campsite smells.

          But, living in Alberta, with the air quality rapidly going to hell, the notion that breathing this stuff in day after day even if only when outside is somehow not harmful is ridiculous.

          I often find with really nuts conservative ideas there’s this kernel of truth that they are based on. The conservative focuses on that, the progressive focuses on the crazy parts. I am not excusing this. The lack of critical or deep thinking is a serious problem. All I’m trying to say is if you meet them in reality you might be able to find some common ground and maybe help them see another point of view or learn a little yourself about their perspective. Doesn’t quite work that way dealing with online trolls but occasional can in person.

    • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
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      The documentary Behind the Curve explores this idea a bit. It follows die hard flat earthers around their daily lives to get to know them a bit more.

      There’s a running theme throughout the movie that these people weren’t very happy with their lives prior to becoming flat earthers. Joining the “movement” gave them instant friends and a sense of direction. There’s subtle hints now and again that most don’t actually believe the Earth is flat, but they feel like “coming out” would ruin their reputation with their new community.

      I get the sense that a lot of right wingers feel the same.

      • Anarch157a@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        and the reason we don’t hear much about flat earth any more is because most of them moved on… to QAnon.

      • kamenoko@sh.itjust.works
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        The Right uses fear and intimidation to keep their base in line. They brainwash their children into believing as they do that an absolute authority exists and someone will tell them who that is and that to succeed in life all they have to do is follow a proscription.

  • Sarcasmo220@lemmy.ml
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    You don’t need a high level of education to know you shouldn’t inject bleach into your system to kill COVID-19, and yet people died listening to Trump’s suggestion.

  • taj@lemmy.ml
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    I’ve been coughing a lot, while working outside the last few days. I’m in Ohio, and it doesn’t look particularly dusty or smoky, but my lungs can sure feel it.

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    People I work with are infinitely suspicious of the wildfires. They say shit like, “Hmm, isn’t it odd they all started around the same time?”

    Yes, Jeffrey, that’s how wildfires work. Entire biomes burn to the ground if the conditions are hot and dry for long enough.

    • owenp@kbin.social
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      Yeah, there’s a “Trudeau started the wildfires as an excuse for carbon taxes” narrative that is insanely popular among the Canadian right wing.

      I’ve even seen some “15 Minute Cities” theorists claiming the fires are being lit in order to “drive people into the liberal cities so the government can control them”.

      It’s just entirely divorced from reality.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    “This doesn’t kill anybody, it doesn’t make anybody cough, this is not a health event,” he added, contradicting public health experts and basic common sense. “This has got nothing to do with climate. This is wildfire smoke. This is natural. This is not because of climate change. This is not because of fossil fuels.”

    Seriously, we should start making laws that put rich powerful assholes in jail when they start spouting obvious lies that make the world a worse place.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    I can get sort of disagreeing the wildfires are from climate change

    Eh, no. Wild fires would also occur without climate change, but anybody denying that climate change isn’t making wild fires (and a hundred other things) worse is not making a “couple of logical steps”, they’re denying science.

  • Landrin201@lemmy.ml
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    I mean, to me (in the DC area, so not nearly as bad as it was further north) it just smelled like a campfire outside to me. It wasn’t a particularly offensive smell.

    But I could FEEL that the air quality was bad every time I took a breath, and I don’t have any kinds of respiratory issues.

    • jmp242@sopuli.xyzOP
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      Ok, if you were further away it could have smelled different. Up here in NY it smelled like burning trash and plastic and chemicals. It was horrible. I was referring to people who live in the same small town as I do, so they had to smell the same thing.

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        To be clear I’m not downplaying how terrible it must have smelled in more heavily effected areas; I didn’t mean to come across as doing so.

  • maynarkh@lemmy.ml
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    You just buy a big slab of meat, put it on a coat hanger on the patio, free smoked meat!

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    These people just have an all encompassing need to be contrarian. But if they wanna go and frolick in the aqi 500 air be my guest.

    • Chris@lemmy.world
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      Yes… I like it when problems are somewhat self-correcting. If only it were even more so… can we get them to think anthrax is good for them?

    • gabuwu@beehaw.org
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      There will come point where they have no choice but to admit something is wrong, no matter how much try to ignore it.

    • hydrospanner@lemmy.ml
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      It comes from the same place as the deeply held but mutually exclusive beliefs that the government is both totally stupid and incompetent but also so capable and efficient that they are somehow carrying out massive conspiracies on the entire citizenry.

    • mattchu pichu@lemmy.world
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      Not for the rich oil tycoons. But yeah, for the brain washed masses it must be exhausting. But I think that only furthers their rage and obstinence. They’ed rather that than admin they’ve been fooled or used.

    • arcturus@lemmy.world
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      They’re not just doing it to do it

      well that’s part of it, but it’s mainly “if we accept that climate change is real, then it’s us who are at fault for it; as such we need to discredit and downplay it and anything resulting from it”

      like they have a vested interest in saying that it’s not a big deal, it’s a conscious choice that they’re making; they’re not being stupid (or at least not in choosing to deny this)