USA Political Discussion

The co-admin of a group we run pointed me to this group. Thanks for approving me. Needless to say, I'm among many who was devastated with disbelief at the outcome of the November 5th election. Until then, I had hope that there was enough common sense out there to not let Trump 2.0 happen. I was wrong. Now, there is a chance that one in two people I work or associate with supported Trumpism.

After recently taking over a popular group here on RPR, a 'vote clause' was added to the group application for U.S. applicants. It reads as such:


The two questions I've gotten so far is 'What does politics have to do with roleplaying?' and 'Why does who I voted for matter?' It matters. To me anyway.

I also had a read through the Nazi/Hate Group character ban information. Personally, I think modern day republicans are in themselves a hate group.

How do you ascertain that someone hasn't simply lied on their application? Does their political beliefs leak into their roleplay? Have you noticed it before?

Yeeeah. Outside of how impossible it would be to vet people for something like how they voted without getting into some major privacy violations; what would it matter outside of their conduct within the group?

Don't get me wrong, I don't sympathize in any capacity with folks who sing Trump's praises. But there's also this welcome anonymity that is kinda core to RP (for me, at least) that doesn't lead me to knowing anything about the other person behind the characters they play. If they engage in the group without otherwise being a disturbance, how would people ever know who they voted for or what their personal credo is one way or another?

I don't think there's any way to set up a foolproof filter. People can definitely lie, for sure, but honestly, why would you choose to anonymously participate in a group that is openly and directly opposed to your political leanings to the point where there's a question about it on the application? Like, that can't be appealing to people, having to be on alert to avoid getting caught. So, I do think that's less likely than you'd probably assume.

Additionally, Trump voters tend to not be quiet about their leanings and do not take kindly to being called out on them. It's one of those "only a matter of time" things if they're surrounded by people who are on the opposite end of the idealogical spectrum -- particularly if any political discussions take place within that space.

I don't think the screening could be expected to be perfect, but I think having a barrier to entry is a fine step to take. Making an effort and taking a stance is better than doing nothing, if that's a step you need to take to preserve the community's comfort.

As for republicans being a hate group, I can't speak to the site's official stance but I would personally be inclined to agree that the party as a whole has become a vehicle to advance hateful agendas and policies. You know it's bad when even Dick Cheney voted blue. (As someone who was a teen during the Bush Years, I was Shook about that.)

If the group is a roleplay scenario or some sort of plot centric gathering and has no holding to Real Life and someone was interested in it why wouldn't they lie? If they aren't going to participate in political discussions that come up Out of Character it probably doesn't matter as much to them.

Not everyone who voted Red are die hard MAGA believers or lockstep followers of Trump. So I can see where someone may not really stand out in a group but still voted opposingly to the majority of the group they are in. Again though if the group is strictly a role-playing setting I don't see how political leanings would even come into play or discussion. I mean the OOC chat might be a plethora of woes and complaints about the new Administration.

In fact I'm certain the vast majority of users on this site that are American and of age probably voted for Harris.

I was just curious if political leanings or even locale of the player come out in such settings. How would you determine if someone was American or not?

Maybe I'm just more accustomed to RP communities that involve a good deal of OOC interaction overall. My experiences in groups outside of RPR's sample community probably are coloring my perception, but I've always found it fairly easy to pick up on political leanings in those settings. I don't think I would ever join a group that didn't have a solid OOC community as well, so it's quite possible that I'm the outlier!

Thanks for all the commentary. I know anyone can say anything on an application, just like there are most likely people under age 18 registering as an adult. The alcohol websites come to mind where they ask if you are of drinking age. Nothing is to stop anyone from clicking 'yes' and getting in. The application clause is more about letting the people wanting to join know where the group stands than keeping them out. . I figure it will put many if not most 2024 red voters off and they will not want in. Of course, there is no way of knowing for sure.
They support the hateful ideology by voting for it. I make no excuses for them. I myself do not wish to socialize with any of them if I can help it.

Everyone who voted Red believe that bigotry, misogyny, transphobia, racism and overal lack of human rights are not a deal breaker. To vote red while knowing the atrocities the right-wing side of politics not only endorse but encourage and make reality through their policies is to tell anyone who is a minority negatively affected by right-wing politics that their safety and well being don't matter.

I'm a not-straight woman. The woman I've been with is a not-straight not-cis woman. People who voted Red don't think our safety is important enough to vote against those who would actively try to erase our right to exist. They tell us in no uncertain terms that "Whatever the right-wing ideologies are doing to you doesn't affect me directly, and I don't care enough about how it affects you in your day to day life, so I'm going to vote for Republicans even though doing so could literally mean you lose access to your healthcare and I'm telling the rest of the world I'm okay with your mistreatment."

You can't vote Red and then say "Whatever they end up doing may not be something I agree with, my vote doesn't reflect that I think it's okay, I voted for others reasons" - but it does, 100%. We're not talking about financial policies to disagree with. Right-wing politics actively deny basic human rights to the most vulnerable populations on the planet. If you voted Red, you are right now telling me I and my loved ones don't deserve to exist. Because you voted for people who have the power to enforce the policies that result in my loved ones and myself not being allowed to exist and you didn't think it was important enough to vote against that mindset because you won't suffer the consequences and it's not important enough to you that we will suffer the consequences.

It also doesn't matter if they're Americans or not. Trumpers exist in my country too. Transphobia and homophobia have suddenly skyrocketed. People are siding with Trump all over the world and it's exceptionally distressing to see people defend their vote with "But I don't think like they do so it's okay". It's not.

I want nothing to do with people who voted against my right to exist whether that bleeds into RP OOCly or not. Someone who fundamentally doesn't believe I and my loved ones deserve to exist have no business being in my personal spaces, online and in real life because that is the bare minimum of human decency threshold to meet. They are inherently unsafe to be around because they've proven they do not care about my and my loved ones' well being in ANY capacity. I endorse making Trump voters incredibly uncomfortable in these kind of spaces through vetting processes like this because, if they don't care about our comfort over things we don't choose, I sure as hell am not going to care about the repercussions of their active choices where they had all the opportunities in the world to know and do better.

Thank you for looking out for the safety and well-being of your community, Blues.

Something that had increasingly become clear through a lot of interviews with Trump supporters at various levels, and through analysis of things they say, is that, actually, no, a lot of them really have no idea what they're supporting. They have been trained to listen without actually taking it in, to automatically rationalize nonsense into something positive, and to assume he speaks in hyperbole and only actually means the things they want him to mean. An example is interviews with farmers about his statements about mass deportations, where they will literally acknowledge that they know he said those things, but they "know" it "won't really be that bad" because that whole industry would collapse and destroy our food circulation, and they further believe it "unenforcible" anyway. They see it as a non-issue because it's already an "open secret" in the states that push hardest for deportation.

And that's only one of the ways that actually decent, loving, well-meaning people are deluding themselves into thinking Trump is a good choice.

I'm not saying that everywhere should freely let them in, mind you. Just that how they are making their decisions is not so cut and dry.

In that example though, that farmer was still fully aware that his campaign was run on racism, and then did a whole series of mental acrobatics to excuse it on the basis that he probably just talks endlessly about how much he hates certain groups of people but won't take actions that would personally impact the farmer negatively.

That still isn't a very safe person for members of those races to be around.

Trump has made openly racist and sexist remarks, ridiculed disabled people and made anti-LGBTQIA+ remarks. The Trump administration has also heavily run, openly, on anti-abortion and anti-women's rights policies.

A Trump voter who has been even minimally exposed to Trump will have been exposed to these remarks and decided they were okay with it. I don't understand how anyone can think otherwise.

I agree. Being they've had ten years to 'know' what Trump and his brand of Republicans are all about, I don't buy into the ignorant red voter. Not. one. bit. If they want to claim ignorance while not wanting a woman to be president, they can own it. And I can't understand how January 6th 2021 wasn't a dealbreaker for anyone who believed in the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law.

My job in public safety requires me to perform a duty of care to everyone. It doesn't matter if the overturned car on the highway has Trump/Vance 2024 stickers or Pride stickers on it. Everyone and their families get treated the same. Sometimes it isn't easy, and so in my off-time, I care not to be associating with the likes of the Trump-Republican mindset, or their 'ignorant' supporters.

Edit: I'm in Cali working the fires, and I am sorry but I did get a slight grin when I saw a millionaire's mansion burned to the ground with a partially charred Trump/Vance sign in the yard. Professionally I can't let this sort of stuff get in the way of public service, but I have to admit just a slight bit of gratification. Does that make me a bad person?