Will natural disasters help unite Americans?
Asked by
JLeslie (
65687
)
8 hours ago
from iPhone
Or, make things worse?
I used to say when the aliens land from another planet Earthlings will unite.
Right after 9/11 it seemed like most Americans were united regardless of political party.
A common foe can be a uniter.
We just had two strong hurricanes in the Southeast US and people from everywhere both charitable and paid are coming to help. Neighbors are helping neighbors. Government is also addressing needs.
There are some horrible destructive rumors being circulated trying to disrupt this coming together of help; but overall, it is us against nature regardless of politics.
Ultimately, do you think devastating natural disasters bring Americans more together or drive us more apart?
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16 Answers
No. Right wingers believe that Kamala Harris and the Democrats created and steered the hurricanes to devastate republican controlled states.
No.
I thought COVID would have united us, but it only divided us further. It’s such a sad state of affairs, really.
Clearly not from the news as cited above.
Just look at the above answers and tell me people don’t see the world in a self-affirming bubble. The first two posts went right to nasty politics. If a natural disaster wiped out people’s ability to hide behind a keyboard and stay in said bubbles then people absolutely will be more united.
What you cited above is what I meant by the rumors. People are believing some of the most inane ideas being passed around.
Do you think the reports of militia looking for FEMA workers are true or made up? If you think it is made up, who do you think is starting those rumors. It disrupted FEMA workers from doing their jobs, and then people will say FEMA was not doing their job and blame Biden or Harris for it.
The state of affairs in the US politically is so completely depressing.
Yet, here on the ground, people are helping each other, and very little politics comes into play. When people try to inject politics there is a revolt against it, with people not having time for the bullshit when they have no electricity and are worried about getting gas and food.
I do have facebook friends who I actually know, but I would not call them real life friends, many are from childhood, who believe the Democrats possibly created the hurricanes or strengthened and directed them towards red states. Unbelievable. How can anyone start to stupid rumors? I think it might start with foreign enemies putting it into social media, but no matter what or who, it’s baffling people believe it.
How many people really believe that. I’ll wager not very many but it keeps getting highlighted because of some people’s need to call it out and get that dopamine hit to feel good. They fuel a market for those stories in the process. I don’t doubt one or more idiots are out there threatening FEMA workers. I’m also confident that the media and/or keyboard warriors are completely exaggerating it.
@Blackwater_Park They asked Governor Desantis before Milton hit if FEMA was going to block people from returning to their homes. Remember he was putting out evacuation orders and literally DeSantis and other local government officials were saying, “you will die,” or “you will most likely die if you stay in Zone A or B” in the counties with orders. They did not sugar coat at all. He gave this marginally right wing answer along with a reasonable answer, it could go either way depending on your political leaning. He basically said, “No, this is our state the federal government can’t stop people from returning to their homes. We will be immediately allowing people to return if it is safe. If it is not safe there might be some delay.” I paraphrased there, but that was the basic idea. He was being factual, but still added in a little bit of we aren’t going to let the fed push us around. He was excellent in my opinion leading up to the hurricane overall, I give him credit. What a shame he very often adds in some sort of right wing extremist talking point or dog whistle.
You don’t need a lot of people to cause huge disruptions. To create a significant change in a country.
@ragingloli Which is funny because those same right wingers say that humans are not responsible for climate change.
As far as the Democrats being able to control the weather, my favorite comeback to that conspiracy theory is that if we really could control the weather, we would have taken Mar-A-Lago out a long time ago.
I will say that in general I do think neighbors come together to help each other after a disaster but in terms of them changing the larger political landscape, as it were, I don’t think so as we see.
@janbb This.
On a smaller scale, communities work together, help each other, and contribute to the recovery effort. Do disasters cause united political messaging? Well no, definitely not, but nothing does these days (and sometimes that’s actually a good thing—when we’re politically united, we invade Iraq and pass draconian crime bills that lead to mass incarceration).
Conspiracy theories and rejection of federal aid occur every time there’s a disaster, but it’s not a majority of people. It wasn’t that long ago that “Jewish space laser” rhetoric was bandied about after destructive wildfires in California, but was that coming from the people who were actually affected by the disasters or from opportunists who use every disaster to spread their BS political messaging? People I knew who had lost their homes weren’t saying that kind of crap; it was coming from internet freaks in rainy climates who have no concept of how wildfires work looking to laugh at “coastal liberals” watching their livelihood go up in flames.
It’s unfortunate that opportunistic anti-government types can disrupt a recovery effort, but I don’t think it’s broadly representative of what communities actually do in the wake of a disaster.
I started following some NC news outlets on FB after Helene to see the damage that was caused. There are many locals who believe the lies being told by Trump and other MAGA. For the most part though I do believe communities do come together after a disaster.
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