Real Data...

[_subgenius]

....can often lead to Real Decisions, correct?

So, I ask those who browse through this thread to share the real impact that the Trump administration has had on their lives, from a measurable, tangible, and somewhat empirical position. For example:

Has your income tax changed ? Have your federal/state benefits changed? What goods and services have changed for you?

I understand that many posters may want to say that for the last 17 months my emotional well-being has changed or my ability to not-watch the news has changed, and that is ok. I am not interested in debating someone's asserting here, because the responses are assumed to be real and honest.

Thank you for your time.

[_subgenius]

I have found that the amount of income tax I pay has gone down, but a state that i pay income tax in has increased the amount I pay them.

My insurance is unchanged.

I have gotten an increase in salary bonuses and rate of pay raise directly due to the business tax changes.

I have found many of my family members are overly emotional with regards to Trump, I have found that I enjoy antagonizing them at times, because of that.

Buttressed by my age and experience, I have found the younger generation to be mostly entertaining.

I could swear people are becoming worse automobile drivers.

[_grindael]

In the last two years my insurance has gone up $200 a year (no incidents - nothing changed at all) and my rent (don't own a home currently) has gone up $280 a month. (Same place for 10 years)

I just had to move. Not blaming any of this on Trump, cause I don't know if his policies impacted these things, but that's what I'm dealing with.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

His tax cuts and massive debt-financing the federal government has stressed me out a little because I worry about the purchasing power of the dollar devaluing a little quicker than I'm comfortable with. Luckily the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, which cools the real estate market down, which actually helps keep the dollar retain purchasing. Other than that it's just political theater for me, on a personal level.

- Doc

[_grindael]

Well, I lost everything when I was in a work accident ten years ago. All down the drain because the Governor here in NY (Democrat) favored the Corporations and changed all the Comp laws to favor them. I'm still trying to recover from it all.

[_DarkHelmet]

You gotta give Trump some credit. He may destroy our alliances, cozy up with dictators, and divide america into warring tribes, but at least he's making the trains run on time.

[_subgenius]

You gotta give Trump some credit. He may destroy our alliances, cozy up with dictators, and divide america into warring tribes, but at least he's making the trains run on time.

and as it is relevant to OP, i assume you ride the train?

[_subgenius]

So, the data currently available supports the assertion that no one on this thread is under "horrifying circumstances" because of Trump.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Not me. I'm kicking ass. I closed on a second home in a tight market, and am now hooking a family member up with cheap rent. That said, doesn't the debt financing concern you at all? It's a sort of niggling that does, in fact, cause me anxiety which I feel on a day-to-day basis. Also, the opioid crisis needs strong national leadership, which I'm not seeing. Seeing people nod off in public, outside of the downtown core, bothers me. I'd lie to see Trump take a stronger role combatting an issue that's killing Americans.

- Doc

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

So, the data currently available supports the assertion that no one on this thread is under "horrifying circumstances" because of Trump.

You know. I actually thought about this topic again last night as kids were coming by to trick or treat. We had scary music. Candy. Spooky lights. A fog machine. It all came together nicely at our tiny home in our part of the city. We were happy.

I think the real question to ask and that few would be willing to answer is, "What have you done that has made your life better?"

There’s no way to convince a Republican or Democrat or Mormon or Ex-Mormon (to keep this topical to the board) they're wrong about the bad things they think of other people, or they're wrong to feel angry or victimized by others because you can ALWAYS find reasons to feel hatred, anger, and fear towards others, and a lot of times those reasons are perfectly reasonable. I see a lot of that now. I saw a lot of that during Obama. Bush. Clinton. Bush I. And Reagan.

It's an endless cycle.

In a weird sort of way it’s perfectly reasonable for, say, Ajax to be angry that Black folks because of his personal experience. No doubt those Black folks have perfectly reasonable reasons to be angry at White men, too. Human history is an unending cycle of violence, both perceived and imagined, and if you look for it you can find the guilt in anyone that'll justify your anger. Anyone telling anyone else they're wrong to be angry will be torn a new one, because all of us, everyone, experiences incredible hardships throughout our lives. No one gets through life unscathed. That's the human condition.

I think the right answer to topical hate is that it’s pointless. Finding something to be angry about is trivially easy but also useless. You see this so much in any comments section of virtually any news org, blog, or social media account. It may be reasonable and based on some truths to feel angry; and everyone has a right to be angry, but it doesn’t get anyone anywhere even when it’s valid. The only thing you can do is focus on what makes your life, your family’s life, your community, better. And directing rage on a scapegoat doesn’t, whether or not it's President or a sports figure, a religious leader, or whatever. It doesn’t make it better, it makes things worse, and that’s that.

Ajax isn't wrong to feel angry at Black people, KG isn't wrong to feel angry at Republicans, BLM types aren't wrong to be pissed at White folks, Schreech isn't wrong to hate the haters, Bach isn't wrong to feel anger toward the moderators, Rosebud isn't wrong to be angry with Open Stories Foundation, and I'm not wrong to be insanely angry with Bud Adams who moved my Houston Oilers to Tennessee; because you can never really prove to an angry person that their own anger was only making their own life worse, and that if they could only see themselves from the outside in would a light go on.

Letting go of anger, which is forgiveness, for yourself, is not about realizing nothing all that bad happened to you or nobody is really guilty of wronging you, it’s about realizing that hanging on to anger is only hurting you, not making your own life better. Anger has its place as a self-defense motivator, but once it’s served it’s purpose and you aren’t in immediate danger anymore, you have to learn to let it go and put it away and focus positive energy on solving problems in front of you in your own life, regardless of what happened to you in the past.

If you are wise and brave enough to do recognize the corrosiveness of hate, then you can escape the gravity of this feeling, and work on making your individual experience the best one it can be, free from the burden of anger. Most people aren’t introspective enough, or if they are, brave enough to hit the eject button on hate, and they remain stuck in an endlessly pessimistic note or tone or vibe. That doesn’t mean anger ‘wins’ if you choose to exist in anger. It’s just that anger makes losers of us all*.

So, no. Trump isn't going to make me feel anything I don't wish to feel. Neither is some Democrat. I'm in control of my internal processes, and I refuse to cede responsibility for that to anyone else because that just doesn't work.

- Doc

* Who hasn't lost their cool on this board, or in life, or at work, or with a friend or family member? Ultimately, the individual in his or her own existential reality, is the one that loses because you can't force the other person to feel your sense of hate, powerlessness, or ire. You're the one left feeling that, and that's the rub.