It’s painful to suffer the consequences of people’s choices… it’s like when the whole class loses the movie and has to run laps for a few kids and their poor behavior choices. 😭
I would like to know why those who voted for Trump continue to believe his lies over and over again. He has continually said whatever people want to hear and then changes his tune. This is not anything new!! I feel like people believe whatever they hear and are too lazy to check the source and verify facts.
I’ve been wrestling with the same questions and wanted to better understand why this keeps happening. After looking into some research in psychology, a few concepts stood out. There’s something called the “Illusory Truth Effect,” where hearing a claim—true or not—repeated often enough makes it feel more believable, especially if it matches what people already want to be true. Once those beliefs take root, “Confirmation Bias” kicks in. People tend to pay attention only to information that supports what they think and ignore sources that challenge their views. Over time, this can cause “Cognitive Dissonance,” where someone is torn between their beliefs and evidence that directly contradicts those beliefs. Instead of facing that tension and possibly changing their minds, it’s often easier to dismiss contrary information as “fake” or the product of a “rigged” system.
None of this is an excuse for ignoring facts, but understanding these psychological tendencies might give us some insight into why people continue to believe certain claims, even when those claims don’t hold up under scrutiny.
I'm sure they will find a way to blame it all on Biden and the democrats even though they will no longer be in power, they refuse to accept that their cult leader could ever do anything wrong.
Trump has a history of admitting that he says things that are not true. Remember when he privately said that he knew Covid was more contagious and deadly than the flu, even while his public speeches compared Covid to the flu and said public health officials were overreacting? He knows what people want to hear, and gives it to them even when it contradicts reality.
And yet you’ll hear people regularly say “At least he says exactly what thinks.” Even people who do not like him give him that benefit of the doubt. It’s almost as if people like him benefit from a double standard throughout their lives, being held responsible for nothing…
Anyone who understands finance and economics would understand that Trump could not bring down prices. It’s unfortunate this information was not shared before the election, or that voters would research this issue themselves. On another note, we have travelled in this year, airports were jammed, highways packed. Locally, restaurants need reservations for dinner! So while prices are high, a large segment of the population is still spending. Are segments of people struggling…yes. What will Trump do to help them?
During 2020, I followed Sharon and learned so much about what executive power had control of and what they did not. Many believe that raising the tariffs will bring production back to American soil, and in my opinion that isn’t what is going to happen, and we will all suffer for the increase in prices.
Yes, exactly. It may bring some production back to the U.S. in certain areas, but it's long range. It doesn't happen overnight as it takes some time to build up manufacturing facilities. Also, the reality is that companies that make products domestically end up raising prices too, because they can, to be in line with products that are imported that pay tariffs.
So (not) shocked that an elected official who ran on unrealistic promises suddenly gets realistic now that it’s time to govern. I see this as an indictment on the (willful?) ignorance of the American public and the degradation of education and solid journalism.
Yes, but the problem is deeper. "Ignorance" is now a relative term. I might think someone is ignorant if they don't consume any reputable news sources with ethical standards. They might think I'm ignorant for deferring to anyone else's expertise on a subject. And while we all have our biases and preferences, I do have to acknowledge that historically people have been screwed by "experts" in the past that they were coaxed into trusting, so it's a tough nut to crack as far as finding a solution to building public trust.
I don't think we can go back to the days of Murrow and Cronkite. Or, at least, not for everyone. We need to find some sort of hybrid system of journalism, where people are exposed to both the mainstream and fringe views, but somehow both sources of information have to stand up to some intense scrutiny if they want access to our eyes and ears. And therefore the news you consume has less to do with your identity, and more to do with the quality of the journalism. I think about this all day every day, it's exhausting!
Are you referring to the one that promised to build 3,000,000 new homes? They all exaggerate! It’s up to us, the voters, to educate ourselves and then determine which candidate is the better choice.
FWIW, building 3 million new homes was not an exaggeration or an impractical promise. Harris had a legitimate plan to make it happen - funding, regulation reduction, incentives for smaller housing and affordable apartments, etc. While "3 million homes" was a hopeful promise, it had the data behind it to be legitimate.
Broadly I think the goal would be to increase availability and slow the rise in housing costs. I live in rural southern Maine; across the state, but especially the further north you go, we have very poor infrastructure and even poorer access to hospitals and healthcare, yet the average home price in our state is nearly half a million. A house on our dead-end road, within close proximity to a gun range (not a safety issue, but a noisy one! Our neighbor who sold the house complained about it regularly.) just sold for nearly 3/4 of a million dollars. Forgive me, but that is bonkers! I'd be very happy if President Trump put forth a similar plan to house more people more affordably than that.
If actually implemented, the availability of more affordable housing would be great. My concerns around how and if this would work bring back recent memories of Biden’s plan of 500,000 charging stations during his tenure of which only 7 are currently operational. Billions were set aside for this however the results are subpar.
Of course, unlike housing, EV charging stations are a newer industry that is still not standardized and it hasn't even been totally clear what kind of EV chargers they should be investing in (it sounds like Tesla is possibly going to be industry standard?). Housing would be a totally different project as that industry is not only preexisting but well-established.
Based on the laws of supply and demand, I'd generally imagine this would cool the market and bring housing costs down. But of course, as Emily referenced, it depends very much on the neighborhoods where homes are being built and the general market in that area. I suppose it's moot at this point as Harris lost and her plans won't be put into place.
My question was always about how American farms could produce and harvest enough to cover the amount of food we import. Gas too. We simply can’t. Even if there was a situation where we did, I’d foresee those to actually cost even more money since America has higher wages.
I read that this was the least informed voting population in recent times. We are influenced by big media groups that have an interest in an uninformed, ignorant viewership. I wish everyone would just turn off their TVs completely but I also respect that hardworking and exhausted people don’t have hours to devote to parsing out fact from fiction on a daily basis. The 40-year long right-wing takeover of the media has sadly won. We are all worse off for it.
Here's what's chilling me lately...I don't think Trump has any reason to care. He can't run again, so he doesn't need to keep Americans happy, not even his supporters. While the Republican party is almost entirely blindly loyal to him, I dont think he's loyal to them or even cares about them at all. He's changed his party affiliation several times over the years. So he's probably not worried, as previous 2nd term presidents have been, about keeping his party in power once he's gone. Trump cares about Trump, and for him, that seems to only mean appearing to be *right* at any cost. That leaves me wondering just how far he'll push limits over the next 4 years.
I do think Trump cares what the public thinks of him, though. He's vain and narcissistic enough to want adoration, so he'll do what he thinks is necessary to get the public to praise him. Granted, he only really needs the praise of his most loyal base, but that's still SOME people he'll want to please.
I’d argue most politicians DO care about people - it’s not a job you get into without caring a little about the people and world around you. I just think as they climb the ladder, they get further removed from the general public while lobbyists skew their views (and their campaign pockets). A few well-placed campaign finance laws would make a massive difference in the way politicians approach people.
As we sadly watched more and more people believe the lies the Orange One told, I kept thinking and saying to myself and my husband, why are all theses Republicans (we live in Idaho - very Red) bitching about food prices while they drive around in $70,000 Telsas and new trucks, fill restaurants to capacity every night and spend their days filling carts at Costco. But never took the time to understand the economics about their grievances. Well, let's see what they say when the reality of the economic situation doesn't improve. Of course, they'll continue to blame it on the Biden Administration. It's hard not to have a voice that's heard here in Idaho and watch as this circus is about to come to town. Buckle up and hang on.......it's about to get real.
Looking forward to things getting real and 'the circus'. I'm grateful on a daily basis that the Trump won this election. There are many people who voted for Trump for a variety of reasons. They are educated and took time to understand what a lot of people care about and those people didn't feel heard by Harris.
Matt Stoller wrote recently that monopolies are the biggest driver of our high prices, and that enforcing antitrust laws would benefit both business and citizens - https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-ftc-revives-the - some interesting history of this area of law at the link
We are all going to suffer the consequences of trump supporters. He was never going to do anything other than create chaos, seek revenge on any who have insulted him and pillage our country for his- and his oligarch friends- gain. I continue to pray our country can survive this deeply corrupt administration. I don’t know that the poor and working people can.
Robn, I try to be cordial and understanding in these discussions, but you rarely have anything to offer other than an argument based upon your opinion. When offered evidence contrary to your beliefs, you do not seem open to what others have to say. You have brought up the way Kamala was placed at the top of the ticket a couple of times, when others have provided evidence (including Sharon) that this process wasn’t “shady” as you described it. It often seems you are here to argue instead of to learn from others.
Jessica, my opinion is no more or no less valid than yours. This is a comment section open to all subscribers. Agreeing is not a requirement. With respect to the Harris nomination, while the process wasn’t illegal, it wasn’t handled as transparently as it could have been. There were definitely inner workings at play in the decision for Biden to step aside. I will never believe Kamala Harris was the top pick to replace Biden on the presidential ticket. However, given the short window of time between Biden stepping aside and the upcoming election, the possible race/sex issues that would have arisen had she not been the nominee and the fact the huge amount of money already donated to the Biden/Harris ticket which would have been forfeited had anyone other than the one of them been the next person nominated, the party was really left with no other choice than Harris. She was in the right place at the right time, plain and simple in my OPINION.
You’re absolutely right - of course you can share your opinion - but I never implied that you were not allowed to do so. Differences in opinion are normal and healthy. However, so many of the comments you’ve shared don’t have basis in fact (one example is when you stated Biden treated Trump poorly and I asked for examples, you replied with something about Hilary’s emails). I subscribed to this Substack to have engaging conversations with people who were willing to share their point of view in a respectful manner with evidence to back it up. Otherwise, it’s no different than perusing through Facebook comments.
For the people who stated this is an echo chamber, I am listening. Do you have an example of a Substack where the comment section is not an echo chamber? Legitimately asking because I’d be curious to see what that looks like to others.
Sorry, what is it that we are beginning to see? Can you point to something specific just so I have an idea of what you are referencing? (I promise I'm not disputing what you're saying - just trying to grasp the specifics of the conversation.)
This literally sounds like something a bridge troll would say before making you answer a nonsensical riddle. Please, make a definitive statement or a coherent argument, or just stop.
You know what? My point was not to hurl insults, but I hear you and I’m sorry if that was hurtful. My point is that there is nothing of substance being said with which to agree or disagree. I am calling out the fact that the function of these comments is to stir up doubt in the absence of any credible claims or evidence.
I am absolutely appalled at this crowd, who were so up in arms about the publication in the media of allegations against various politicians on the right (I won’t even get into the fact that they were supported by credible witnesses). All this talk about needing to see due process before being willing to believe any of the accusations and needing to hear the accused actually admit themselves to shady dealings before you would be able to acknowledge wrongdoing. Yet here you are with the vaguest of insinuations completely lacking in substance or credibility, happily stirring up doubt with meaningless and baseless claims. Unbelievable.
Thank you for this important information. This is one of the best explanations of price issues I have read. I only wish everyone understood it better. I am sure that when things go poorly, the current administration will be blamed. Someone said this was the least informed electorate ever. I agree.
It’s painful to suffer the consequences of people’s choices… it’s like when the whole class loses the movie and has to run laps for a few kids and their poor behavior choices. 😭
What? Trump lying? How unheard of! Truly, I'm shocked.
It'll be interesting to hear all of the excuses his superfans come up with for him...I wonder who they'll blame.
The Democrats, you silly goose 😉
I would like to know why those who voted for Trump continue to believe his lies over and over again. He has continually said whatever people want to hear and then changes his tune. This is not anything new!! I feel like people believe whatever they hear and are too lazy to check the source and verify facts.
I’ve been wrestling with the same questions and wanted to better understand why this keeps happening. After looking into some research in psychology, a few concepts stood out. There’s something called the “Illusory Truth Effect,” where hearing a claim—true or not—repeated often enough makes it feel more believable, especially if it matches what people already want to be true. Once those beliefs take root, “Confirmation Bias” kicks in. People tend to pay attention only to information that supports what they think and ignore sources that challenge their views. Over time, this can cause “Cognitive Dissonance,” where someone is torn between their beliefs and evidence that directly contradicts those beliefs. Instead of facing that tension and possibly changing their minds, it’s often easier to dismiss contrary information as “fake” or the product of a “rigged” system.
None of this is an excuse for ignoring facts, but understanding these psychological tendencies might give us some insight into why people continue to believe certain claims, even when those claims don’t hold up under scrutiny.
Some of us simply could not fathom the alternative candidate…
I’m curious, what was it about the other candidate that was unfathomable? Genuine question.
For starters, everything about how she became the candidate.
I don’t understand, do you mean her nomination through the DNC, or something else?
I would be very interested to hear you say more.
I'm sure they will find a way to blame it all on Biden and the democrats even though they will no longer be in power, they refuse to accept that their cult leader could ever do anything wrong.
Trump has a history of admitting that he says things that are not true. Remember when he privately said that he knew Covid was more contagious and deadly than the flu, even while his public speeches compared Covid to the flu and said public health officials were overreacting? He knows what people want to hear, and gives it to them even when it contradicts reality.
And yet you’ll hear people regularly say “At least he says exactly what thinks.” Even people who do not like him give him that benefit of the doubt. It’s almost as if people like him benefit from a double standard throughout their lives, being held responsible for nothing…
This! It’s mind boggling that his voters simultaneously say “he says it like it is” and “he doesn’t mean what he just said”.
Anyone who understands finance and economics would understand that Trump could not bring down prices. It’s unfortunate this information was not shared before the election, or that voters would research this issue themselves. On another note, we have travelled in this year, airports were jammed, highways packed. Locally, restaurants need reservations for dinner! So while prices are high, a large segment of the population is still spending. Are segments of people struggling…yes. What will Trump do to help them?
During 2020, I followed Sharon and learned so much about what executive power had control of and what they did not. Many believe that raising the tariffs will bring production back to American soil, and in my opinion that isn’t what is going to happen, and we will all suffer for the increase in prices.
Yes, exactly. It may bring some production back to the U.S. in certain areas, but it's long range. It doesn't happen overnight as it takes some time to build up manufacturing facilities. Also, the reality is that companies that make products domestically end up raising prices too, because they can, to be in line with products that are imported that pay tariffs.
So (not) shocked that an elected official who ran on unrealistic promises suddenly gets realistic now that it’s time to govern. I see this as an indictment on the (willful?) ignorance of the American public and the degradation of education and solid journalism.
SO. MUCH. WILLFUL. IGNORANCE. It's becoming physically painful to watch
Yes, but the problem is deeper. "Ignorance" is now a relative term. I might think someone is ignorant if they don't consume any reputable news sources with ethical standards. They might think I'm ignorant for deferring to anyone else's expertise on a subject. And while we all have our biases and preferences, I do have to acknowledge that historically people have been screwed by "experts" in the past that they were coaxed into trusting, so it's a tough nut to crack as far as finding a solution to building public trust.
I don't think we can go back to the days of Murrow and Cronkite. Or, at least, not for everyone. We need to find some sort of hybrid system of journalism, where people are exposed to both the mainstream and fringe views, but somehow both sources of information have to stand up to some intense scrutiny if they want access to our eyes and ears. And therefore the news you consume has less to do with your identity, and more to do with the quality of the journalism. I think about this all day every day, it's exhausting!
Are you referring to the one that promised to build 3,000,000 new homes? They all exaggerate! It’s up to us, the voters, to educate ourselves and then determine which candidate is the better choice.
FWIW, building 3 million new homes was not an exaggeration or an impractical promise. Harris had a legitimate plan to make it happen - funding, regulation reduction, incentives for smaller housing and affordable apartments, etc. While "3 million homes" was a hopeful promise, it had the data behind it to be legitimate.
What effects do you think, if any, this would have had on other housing prices/availability?
Broadly I think the goal would be to increase availability and slow the rise in housing costs. I live in rural southern Maine; across the state, but especially the further north you go, we have very poor infrastructure and even poorer access to hospitals and healthcare, yet the average home price in our state is nearly half a million. A house on our dead-end road, within close proximity to a gun range (not a safety issue, but a noisy one! Our neighbor who sold the house complained about it regularly.) just sold for nearly 3/4 of a million dollars. Forgive me, but that is bonkers! I'd be very happy if President Trump put forth a similar plan to house more people more affordably than that.
If actually implemented, the availability of more affordable housing would be great. My concerns around how and if this would work bring back recent memories of Biden’s plan of 500,000 charging stations during his tenure of which only 7 are currently operational. Billions were set aside for this however the results are subpar.
The actual goal was/is 500,000 *by 2030* but, yes, that's been a very slow process: https://www.autoweek.com/news/a60702457/federal-funds-yield-only-8-ev-charging-stations/
Of course, unlike housing, EV charging stations are a newer industry that is still not standardized and it hasn't even been totally clear what kind of EV chargers they should be investing in (it sounds like Tesla is possibly going to be industry standard?). Housing would be a totally different project as that industry is not only preexisting but well-established.
Based on the laws of supply and demand, I'd generally imagine this would cool the market and bring housing costs down. But of course, as Emily referenced, it depends very much on the neighborhoods where homes are being built and the general market in that area. I suppose it's moot at this point as Harris lost and her plans won't be put into place.
Really unfortunate so many bought in to his campaign promises he wasn't going to be able to deliver.
My question was always about how American farms could produce and harvest enough to cover the amount of food we import. Gas too. We simply can’t. Even if there was a situation where we did, I’d foresee those to actually cost even more money since America has higher wages.
I read that this was the least informed voting population in recent times. We are influenced by big media groups that have an interest in an uninformed, ignorant viewership. I wish everyone would just turn off their TVs completely but I also respect that hardworking and exhausted people don’t have hours to devote to parsing out fact from fiction on a daily basis. The 40-year long right-wing takeover of the media has sadly won. We are all worse off for it.
Here's what's chilling me lately...I don't think Trump has any reason to care. He can't run again, so he doesn't need to keep Americans happy, not even his supporters. While the Republican party is almost entirely blindly loyal to him, I dont think he's loyal to them or even cares about them at all. He's changed his party affiliation several times over the years. So he's probably not worried, as previous 2nd term presidents have been, about keeping his party in power once he's gone. Trump cares about Trump, and for him, that seems to only mean appearing to be *right* at any cost. That leaves me wondering just how far he'll push limits over the next 4 years.
He has never cared
I do think Trump cares what the public thinks of him, though. He's vain and narcissistic enough to want adoration, so he'll do what he thinks is necessary to get the public to praise him. Granted, he only really needs the praise of his most loyal base, but that's still SOME people he'll want to please.
I agree, Ashley. However, I don't think most politicians care about people. Trump just cares more than most about what people think of him.
I’d argue most politicians DO care about people - it’s not a job you get into without caring a little about the people and world around you. I just think as they climb the ladder, they get further removed from the general public while lobbyists skew their views (and their campaign pockets). A few well-placed campaign finance laws would make a massive difference in the way politicians approach people.
As we sadly watched more and more people believe the lies the Orange One told, I kept thinking and saying to myself and my husband, why are all theses Republicans (we live in Idaho - very Red) bitching about food prices while they drive around in $70,000 Telsas and new trucks, fill restaurants to capacity every night and spend their days filling carts at Costco. But never took the time to understand the economics about their grievances. Well, let's see what they say when the reality of the economic situation doesn't improve. Of course, they'll continue to blame it on the Biden Administration. It's hard not to have a voice that's heard here in Idaho and watch as this circus is about to come to town. Buckle up and hang on.......it's about to get real.
Looking forward to things getting real and 'the circus'. I'm grateful on a daily basis that the Trump won this election. There are many people who voted for Trump for a variety of reasons. They are educated and took time to understand what a lot of people care about and those people didn't feel heard by Harris.
Thank you for this Sharon. Not a Trump supporter I know wanted to hear this or didn’t believe it before the election and whelp, here we are.
Matt Stoller wrote recently that monopolies are the biggest driver of our high prices, and that enforcing antitrust laws would benefit both business and citizens - https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-ftc-revives-the - some interesting history of this area of law at the link
We are all going to suffer the consequences of trump supporters. He was never going to do anything other than create chaos, seek revenge on any who have insulted him and pillage our country for his- and his oligarch friends- gain. I continue to pray our country can survive this deeply corrupt administration. I don’t know that the poor and working people can.
And uncover that which the other side has tried to conceal for years! Don’t worry, our country will be in better hands than we would had Harris won.
What do you believe will be uncovered? Do you have a specific idea of what has been concealed, or just general suspicion that something is going on?
Time will continue to tell the tales. We are just beginning to see…
Robn, I try to be cordial and understanding in these discussions, but you rarely have anything to offer other than an argument based upon your opinion. When offered evidence contrary to your beliefs, you do not seem open to what others have to say. You have brought up the way Kamala was placed at the top of the ticket a couple of times, when others have provided evidence (including Sharon) that this process wasn’t “shady” as you described it. It often seems you are here to argue instead of to learn from others.
Calling anything she says an argument is quite generous.
Jessica, my opinion is no more or no less valid than yours. This is a comment section open to all subscribers. Agreeing is not a requirement. With respect to the Harris nomination, while the process wasn’t illegal, it wasn’t handled as transparently as it could have been. There were definitely inner workings at play in the decision for Biden to step aside. I will never believe Kamala Harris was the top pick to replace Biden on the presidential ticket. However, given the short window of time between Biden stepping aside and the upcoming election, the possible race/sex issues that would have arisen had she not been the nominee and the fact the huge amount of money already donated to the Biden/Harris ticket which would have been forfeited had anyone other than the one of them been the next person nominated, the party was really left with no other choice than Harris. She was in the right place at the right time, plain and simple in my OPINION.
You’re absolutely right - of course you can share your opinion - but I never implied that you were not allowed to do so. Differences in opinion are normal and healthy. However, so many of the comments you’ve shared don’t have basis in fact (one example is when you stated Biden treated Trump poorly and I asked for examples, you replied with something about Hilary’s emails). I subscribed to this Substack to have engaging conversations with people who were willing to share their point of view in a respectful manner with evidence to back it up. Otherwise, it’s no different than perusing through Facebook comments.
For the people who stated this is an echo chamber, I am listening. Do you have an example of a Substack where the comment section is not an echo chamber? Legitimately asking because I’d be curious to see what that looks like to others.
Sorry, what is it that we are beginning to see? Can you point to something specific just so I have an idea of what you are referencing? (I promise I'm not disputing what you're saying - just trying to grasp the specifics of the conversation.)
This literally sounds like something a bridge troll would say before making you answer a nonsensical riddle. Please, make a definitive statement or a coherent argument, or just stop.
So when you don’t agree with or don’t like comments, you hurl insults? This is so unnecessary and not classy.
You know what? My point was not to hurl insults, but I hear you and I’m sorry if that was hurtful. My point is that there is nothing of substance being said with which to agree or disagree. I am calling out the fact that the function of these comments is to stir up doubt in the absence of any credible claims or evidence.
Robn I’m genuinely curious about what you object to in Kamala Harris
Amen. This comment section is 😬😬😬😬. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Robn.
I am absolutely appalled at this crowd, who were so up in arms about the publication in the media of allegations against various politicians on the right (I won’t even get into the fact that they were supported by credible witnesses). All this talk about needing to see due process before being willing to believe any of the accusations and needing to hear the accused actually admit themselves to shady dealings before you would be able to acknowledge wrongdoing. Yet here you are with the vaguest of insinuations completely lacking in substance or credibility, happily stirring up doubt with meaningless and baseless claims. Unbelievable.
Never disappoints! 😂😂
Thank you for this important information. This is one of the best explanations of price issues I have read. I only wish everyone understood it better. I am sure that when things go poorly, the current administration will be blamed. Someone said this was the least informed electorate ever. I agree.
Hmmm yea. Who will be too blame for this. Immigrants? Oh wait. They will be deported
I really wish the people who needed to read this had read it in October.