The comment sections of political articles are toxic

Even worse than YouTube comments

I decided to comment on a political article about Hillary Clinton’s chances in the general election, and offer my perspective as a student.

I said that millennials are sick of establishment candidates, and that Hillary won’t have the enthusiastic support of many of us if she’s the candidate in November:

Imagine my surprise when my comment was the most popular out of 2850 others, and my phone was blowing up in class every 10 minutes with raging replies.

Laugh or cry at some of the most ridiculous responses.

You greedy victim-complex millennial entitlement whores just want free stuff!

Seriously, the “free stuff” argument is an absurd talking point; if making better use of our taxes to have a more educated populace and higher quality of living and healthcare system is free stuff, we are happy to pay for it.

Why should voting be a quick and simple process, you lazy entitled schmuck?

When I told them that I didn’t decide I wanted to register for the primary till after the 30 day deadline and therefore will be prevented from casting my ballot in the primary, the “typical entitled lazy millennial” assumptions came out in force.

The condescension and smugness.

How about a system with automatic or same day voting, so people like me don’t miss out?

Or do we not want young people to vote?

More patronizing rants on the perils of free stuff

“Hey kiddo, DAE need schooling on the dangers of socialism? We shouldn’t spend our taxes on evil socialist programs that help people! Even though we have more poverty than other countries, we shouldn’t do anything about it, because America. You’re welcome for that lesson in common sense. Class dismissed.”

Bernie is literally Stalin



Things Bernie will not do:

  • nationalize all industries
  • abolish private property, freedom of speech and religion
  • ban FOX News and rename CNN as “Communist News Network”
  • Tax the rich at 100%

Here are some things Bernie will do:

  • make healthcare a right
  • invest in infrastructure to create jobs
  • increase the minimum wage to an amount people can actually live on
  • Maintain civil liberties such as reproductive, LGBT and privacy rights

Equating the totalitarian USSR communism and Bernie’s expansion of social programs is crazy.

This isn’t the 1950’s anymore and Bernie’s socialist programs are no more socialism than the military, public schools and the fire department.

Clintonites go on the attack too

Clinton supporters told me to “go join the tea party”, said that I’m not, “actually capable of rational thought, instead of emotional nonsense”, and called me a “nihilistic idiot”, a “Fraud [and] Vapid tea bagging progressive”, and, “sanctimonious vapid blow hard”. 

This was the saddest comment of all

I pray this is satire. Supporting equal rights for women, LGBT, and other races is not “open warfare” against straight white males.

As we see, fear of the “other” having the same amount of power as you can be one of the main motivators for Trump voters.

What’s the take away?

People like to make a lot of assumptions based on one comment, and this was more toxic than Youtube’s comments section.  Secondly, I still #feelthebern, and I’m not lazy.

One or two actual helpful comments from both sides made me think carefully about what to do in November, that were unfortunately rolled over by a wave of nonsense.

Also, one last thing: Bernie Sanders secretly wants free college so he can force those with below a 2.0 GPA to fight for us in the Middle East and set up a New World Order.

I read it on the internet, so it must be true.

 

 

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