People Break Down Whether A Potential Partner's Politics Are A Dealbreaker
Reddit user duckmysick100 asked: 'How important are your partner’s political views to you? Is it a dealbreaker if they don’t align with your own?'
Twenty years ago, a question about politics and dating might have elicited very different answers.
But a large part of the United States seems to be getting more radicalized and more polarized.
While two decades ago most liberal versus conservative differences in the United States were about government size or spending, now it's about who has a right to exist or have body autonomy.
Reddit user duckmysick100 asked:
"How important are your partner’s political views to you? Is it a dealbreaker if they don’t align with your own?"
Who Cares?
"Politics? Don't really care. The way I see it is that fundamentally your partner needs to be your friend."
"I don't care what any of my friend's political beliefs are and I've gone years without even knowing the political beliefs of friends. I have friends who's political beliefs I strongly disagree with and I'm still friends with them."
"I don't care, because at the end of the day my friendships don't revolve around political action."
"Many might say I'm very privileged to be in a position where I can not care about my friends political beliefs, because it means generally speaking I believe there's unlikely to be political change that really affects me."
"I don't believe that, but maybe it's true. Maybe I am privileged in that regard."
"But y'know, that's a privilege I'll gratefully live with, because it means I can have more friends."
~ AtlasClone
"If my partner were any kind of extremist who hated other people based on the political infotainment they consume, that’s a deal breaker."
"If they’re the sort of person who refuses to be friends with or interact with people 'on the other team' that’s a dealbreaker."
"Politics just isn’t all that important to me."
"There’s nothing I can do to influence it and nothing anybody else can really do, so why waste my life making it my 'big interest'?"
"And there’s no chance in hell I could survive being married to somebody who makes politics the most important thing in their life."
~ Jawahhh
Not A Dealbreaker, But...
"You don't have to agree on every single issue, but you have to share a similar worldview and set of values."
"I assume there are couples who can be together regardless, but I can't imagine my significant other would see the world in a completely different light than me."
"Yeah, exactly. Politics would be like any other issue."
"If a woman in a relationship wanted four kids and the husband wanted two, you could work through that. Or land at a compromise. Or, hell, one or both changes their mind after the first kid or two. Nothing can prepare you for being a parent other than being a parent."
"Now, say the woman was dead set against ever having kids and the guy wanted as many kids as he could produce. Just two people with completely different worldviews."
~ 2020IsANightmare
"I think they don't have to be the SAME, but they can't be polar opposites."
~ murmeltearding
"It’s gotta be the same ballpark."
"If I’m center you gotta be center or moderate left/right. If I’m hard left you gotta be at least left of center."
"Hard left + hard right just ain’t it."
~ ClilloryHinton
"They can have a different idea than me on how to fix poverty (just an example) but they have to believe poverty is a problem."
"I need someone who lives in the same reality as me."
~ jackfaire
"Perfect way to describe it. My husband and I disagree about like, whether UBI is a good way to end poverty, but not whether ending poverty is a good goal."
~ coffeeclichehere
"Political views are based on core values and, in a relationship, are an element of what I qualify as 'compatibility'."
"So no, I can't be in a long term relationship with anyone who has drastically different viewpoints."
"Some small differences around the same edge are absolutely OK and, in a mature relationship, make for enriching conversations. But fundamentally different political views—no way."
~ SamaireB
"I can be in a relationship with someone with fundamentally different political views, but those views have to be rooted in reality and there are some dealbreakers."
"Like you believe in small government...OK, I'll argue but that's fine."
"You believe we should take children from immigrants as a disincentive to immigrate here? Yeah that's going to be a dealbreaker."
~ off_and_on_again
"We disagree on some details, especially because of our professions—I’m a nurse and he is a manager in manufacturing. But hearing each others’ viewpoints is helpful in staying balanced regarding the things we do disagree on."
"When it comes to human rights, though, we are completely on the same page."
"And I could not be in a relationship with someone who felt differently than me in that area. We have children, and it’s important to me that we are aligned with how we raise them."
~ Less_Tea2063
"I might support decriminalization of all drugs and creation of safe consumption sites."
"My partner might think that’s a little too far but believes the War on Drugs is poorly handled and more resources should be put toward treatment."
"That would be a-okay with me! We don’t need to be in lockstep, but clearly we’re both empathetic to addicts and think rehabilitation over punishment should be priority."
"If my partner thinks all addicts are lazy bums and they belong in jail or dead, well—we’re not going to be together long."
~ Rastiln
It's A Dealbreaker—Now
"I have a close family member who is married to someone with opposing political views, and frankly, I think it hurts their marriage."
"Obviously it's not their only issue, but it plays a role."
"Personally, I could never do it."
"Like other people have already said, it speaks to a person's core values."
~ padall
"Back before politics became batsh*t, maybe that wouldn't be as much of a problem."
"Now there is not a lot of common ground unless you're on the same side."
~ WouldYouPleaseKindly
"A Carter era Democrat and a Reagan era Republican could have at least some common ground."
"But that ship sailed thanks to Australian media tycoons and AM radio fear mongers."
~ Grabthars_Coping_Saw
"I have a friend whose husband came out strong for a certain presidential candidate simply because he rumored to be a great businessman. He refused to listen to any negative info like, say, how racist or sexist the guy was, because 'he’ll be great for the economy!'."
"My friend makes a point of carefully studying issues and candidates and she was certain there were dealbreakers about this presidential candidate for her husband if he would only take the time to learn. But he refused."
"He normally likes a good discussion so it was weird. She ended up on antidepressants because it really changed how she saw her spouse."
"January 6 opened his eyes a bit, but he still seems to be leaning a lot more to the right than she ever expected. And this suggests their values are moving father apart."
"It’s definitely taking a toll on their marriage."
"Believe me, she’s thinking hard. It’s tough because they’ve been together almost 40 years and it’s like suddenly she’s on Planet B."
~ JohnExcrement
"I have lost a lot of respect for people who, though seemly intelligent and thoughtful, supported the crazies in a certain political party."
"They are doing real damage to our society."
"Why would I want to date one?"
~ Zoneoftotal
"There is a certain political individual that if I found out my partner supported him, I honestly would feel the need for a breakup."
"Our core values would be so far apart that a relationship would be impossible."
"Most other politicians would cause me to groan or roll my eyes."
"This man served as a filter on dating apps. Anyone who liked this guy was an immediate skip."
~ TylerJWhit
It's Always Been A Dealbreaker
"It is extremely important. I can’t be with someone who doesn’t share my values."
"For example, when Covid hit, my spouse and I were 100% on the same page about how we would handle our safety, masks, vaccines etc... even though we had never discussed what we’d do in a global pandemic."
"But we agreed because we shared values."
"I watched many of my friends’ marriages struggle because the pandemic revealed their ideological differences."
"Politics are not theoretical. They affect your life in ways you can never anticipate."
~ Electrical-Spot863
"Some people seem to treat politics like sports, like it's separate from reality and doesn't really matter which 'team' you support."
"Getting along with someone despite supporting opposing sports teams, or having different tastes in music or movies, or whatever—that makes sense."
"The winner of an election, though, can have immense impact on what happens in the 'real world' when compared to who wins the Super Bowl / World Cup / Other Notable Sports Event."
~ DragoonDM
Only a handful of Redditors said politics was a non-issue.
But they also said they'd refuse to date anyone who thought politics were important in relationships or even friendships.
But the overwhelming majority felt political differences in the current climate would make a relationship a no-go.
What do you think?
As many wonderful destinations there are to visit around the globe, there are plenty to be avoided.
Top of my list is anywhere with too much nature.
I'm not camping or white water rafting.
And you can keep that zipline madness for crazy people.
Also, why swim in shark-infested waters?
This is my list, but Reddit had a lot of other ideas to throw into the mix to nix.
Redditor Sweet_Polly1 wanted to compare notes on travel plans, so they asked everyone:
"What country would you never visit?"
My motto? Stay at home. Watch Buffy. Sunnydale is safer than the tropics and they've got a hellmouth.
A Failed State
"Somalia."
IchBinDurstig
"Don't let Somalia stop your from visiting Somaliland. It's an independent country just beside Somalia. Not recognized by UN. But it is safe to visit. It is so safe people leave their money in the open and no one even thinks of stealing it."
mtahsin1246
"I was trying to think of the worst country to visit and I'm not sure I could endorse than this one."
"Afghanistan right now might be a bad idea too."
somedoofyouwontlike
"When we learned about 'failed states' in AP Government, Somolia was the example they always use. Essentially one of the closest examples to anarchy that we have."
10ioio
Chaos
"I follow a lot of travel groups, and whenever someone asks for the worst travel experience, an overwhelming amount of people always say Egypt."
MacaroniPoodle
"One Youtuber said they seemed so paranoid and disorganized in Egypt. They confiscated his drone, but he had to instruct them to make some sort of receipt system so he'd have a way to get it back."
"They were just putting it in a plastic bag, with no sticker or marking, or anything. Nobody knew the rules, if there were any. He had been to a lot of African and other countries, and never had such a disorganized and hostile time entering a country."
Cantgoavay
Danger
"Haiti."
JKL555666
"Having watched all 6 parts of this series on YouTube, I can confidently say it is one of the single most eye-opening series I have ever seen, and I have tremendous respect for the wonderful people in Haiti who don't let the situation drag them down."
"Having said that, I will also likely never visit Haiti, which really is too bad."
"Nearly every video involves the host nearly getting kidnapped, killed, or shaken down and if it wasn't for his top-tier fixer, he would likely not have made it."
Lothar_Ecklord
"The Haitian revolution was insane. It's disgusting that the country was absolutely bludgeoned with having to pay reparations to France for 'taking their slaves away.' If I recall correctly they were paying until pretty recently."
Firemage007
The goal is money...
"North Korea."
insertrudename
"You shouldn't visit even if you were NOT American."
"North Korea on paper is a country, but in reality it is a criminal organization. The goal is money. All of this other weird s**t like wacky rules and nukes is just to keep people in line and nations on their toes. The goal is money for the top people."
"Visiting North Korea helps them achieve these goals. You perpetuate human suffering for these 'fringe' trips."
bromosa_mimosa
Cool Down
Cool Down Season 2 GIF by FriendsGiphy"All countries in the tropics, they are too hot for my Scandinavian genes."
Karakoima
"Summers are more enjoyable north of the Arctic circle anyway. At least if you can sleep with the lights on, because the sun never sets."
Lawsoffire
Yeah, the heat in Florida is hot enough. Them tropics are crazy hot.
Not There
"Saudi Arabia."
TailsxCream4Eva
"Saudi, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain are on the Absolutely No list for me. Oman is the only country on the Arabian peninsula I would go to. I would like to go to Yemen too, but its currently an active war zone so that's not going to be an option anytime soon."
lal0cur4
"Anywhere you can go to prison and/or be tortured for being LGBTQ+ is going to be a no for me. That’s most of the Middle East."
drmanhattannfriends
Normal Life?
"Really surprised that Papua New Guinea hasn’t made the list. It’s not Somalia but it’s not far off either."
"A friend worked there briefly and spent the whole time in a heavily guarded gated complex (home), heavily guarded gated compound (work), or being escorted by armed guard in an armoured vehicle. He had to go through a number of debriefing sessions to adjust to the freedoms of normal life when he got back."
"That’s a big no thanks from me."
neinlights90210
Mixed Reactions
"I follow some travel subs and India and Egypt often come up as not worth it at all."
CDawgbmmrgr2
"Been to India twice. Easily one of the most amazing places I've been to and I've traveled quite a bit..amazing culture, lovely people, good food, easy travel etc. Yes you can get ripped off but it is not ever much. Traveling as a single woman would have complications though."
iforkedthelaw
"My answer is immediately India. Tons of people, any picture I've ever seen just screams you're coming home with a disease or parasite, not much I care to see, and no beef? Yep you'd have to pay me to visit it."
SpookyghostL34T
Hell on Earth
"Mauritania still has slavery. And locusts. All that oceanfront property and it still looks like hell on Earth."
knockatize
"I've been to Mauritania, Nouckachott is probably the worst thing about the country unless you venture out to the less built areas. They do have some nice vast beaches especially close to the airport and the desert is fascinating, but what's mostly sad is that even if you drive for a few miles away from the populated areas you're still bound to see rubbish and litter all over the place."
Barbygurl
Wherever...
Give Up GIF by TLC EuropeGiphy"In today's world? A whole bunch. Even if I wore the local garb and had male escorts I would not feel safe and I would not enjoy my time surrounded by animals who only see me as a sex toy."
"As much as I would LOVE to see what these areas hold, war torn countries, violent countries, places with large cartel presence, countries with a lot of corruption, countries who aren't exactly friends with my country. I love traveling and I love exploring but I also love being whole and alive."
100LittleButterflies
The world is a scary place.
I'm staying home... and if I do travel, I will be consulting tons of guidebooks and first-hand accounts. it seems you can never be too careful.
Well, which destinations would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
When Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in 2016, many felt that it was the beginning of the end of the Republican party.
As Trump's fear-mongering and rhetoric were a far cry from the policies of what the Republican party stood for in the days of Abraham Lincoln.
For many long-standing Republicans and conservatives, it marked the end of their time registered in the party, swiftly shifting to becoming a democrat or independent.
There were also many who remained loyal to their party but their support for the 45th president gradually vanished by the time he left office, in relative disgrace, in January of 2021.
"Ex Rrump supporters, what point did you stop supporting Trump and why?
A Slow And Steady Decline
"My dad started out from voting for and supporting him and always being annoyed when people talked sh*t about Trump."
"Then the pandemic happened and he spent a lot of time at home watching TV and seeing Trump give speeches, then he says, 'This guy is a f*cking moron' and he became more anti-Trump as time went by, especially after Jan 6."- forgottenmyth
Finding Their Own Voice
"I was like 19-20 years old when he became president so it was my first time voting."
"My parents are both republican so naturally I kinda just followed suit and voted for him."
"Then I watched everything that happened throughout his presidency, watched the Republicans and their thoughts and actions based on everything that had happened and was happening, and here we are."
"Voted blue last election, as a registered republican, which I find joy in, and likely to do so again."
"I hate politics with a passion but some of this stuff is just too f*cked for me to justify staying out of."- BIessthefaII
The Writing Was On The Wall
"I can't explain when, I can just explain the very slow gradient from all but wearing the red MAGA hat to going 'Hold the F*CK on'."
"My initial decision to vote for him wasn't really as a Conservative."
"Though I would align my ideals more with Conservatism of the 1950's."
"I'm from Vermont, and I remember watching the DNC's response to the threat that was Trump, become 'force Hillary Clinton down the nations throats' and the absolute rigged BS that was 'Super Delegates'."
"I liked things Bernie said, and while he's very left, the nature of politics would force him to the center."
"But to watch him Win Wyoming, and he got something like 3 Delegates and the lose, Hillary, got 11 because of Super Delegates was so frustrating as a voter."
"So I voted for Trump and I got sucked into the just asinine hype."
"I made excuses for the 'Grab her by the P*ssy' nightmare, the escorts, the accusations."
"I was starting to make 'valid' connections to how President Obama was NOT an American."
"Turns out, I'm an idiot, and at 30+ years old found out I too, had a Certificate of Live Birth, and I'm also an American."
"And how we're all going to be good because 'Haha, Trump and Putin are buddies so the world wont end'."
"I think the first crack started when my friend Mariah, who has sunk into a very dark depression since Trump was voted out, he meant THAT much to her, started to act out towards people who even questioned the President of the United States."
"And even openly stated, as a Veteran, that the constitution should be re-written so he could be President forever."
"I started to see how I was acting in her, and even more infuriating, is she's very good at acting like you, and then when you call her out on the BS, justifying why you're wrong to do it, and she's right."
"And then I started to get annoyed by the CONSTANT. TWEETING."
"The supposed 'Leader of the Free World' has no time for 60 tweets a day."
"The cracks became a fissure during COVID."
"I worked for a hospital, and I served in my states National Guard and was actively part of the response, out there, with the Nurses and Doctors."
"And I watched him do as much as he could to facilitate as little as possible, and dare I say stop hospitals from responding to the disaster, hold back supplies, 'bargain' with states and at one point, my state had to use State Police to guard resources so Federal Personnel wouldn't come and take them at the Governments direction."
"I was an American Citizen, serving to support my fellow Citizens, and the Commander in Chief, my boss, was actively making it all but impossible to help."
"Finally when I started to see who Republicans were who supported this man, I couldn't do it."
"Ted Cruze, Gym Jordan, MTG, Boebert, Desantis, and so on."
"I decided I could no longer look myself in the mirror if I supported such people as them, people who were religious extremists, sexual predators, and just the worst people that could possibly exist."
"I'm not proud that it took that much, or that it took an entire year, but in the end I'm just happy I escaped it."- the_walternate
The People He Was Associated With
"When he refused to condemn David Duke, ex-head of the KKK, and said that some veterans suffering from combat PTSD were 'not strong enough'."- BigTuna0890
Free From Influence
"I grew up in a very conservative fundamentalist Christian household that raised the American flag and right-winged politics higher than the Bible."
"I was taught in church that you can’t be a Christian and a democrat."
"I voted for Trump in 2016 not because I really liked him, but because I really didn’t like Hillary Clinton, or so I was told to before I began to think about what I believed for myself."
"After that year, I was groomed by my brother, who at the time was an infamous figurehead in the alt-right/white supremacist community, damn near the right hand of Richard Spencer."
"I would listen to his Skype calls with Spencer from the other room because we had fairly thin walls where we lived."
"At one point, I was actually involved with the white supremacist hate organization that my brother founded, albeit tangentially, I helped cut out flyers and posters that he would post throughout my town and the neighboring ones."
"In my defense, I knew little to nothing about his organization when I did this, not that that excuses the fact."
"I can’t really tell you when I began thinking differently."
"I know at some point I realized that there was a lot of what I believed that I only believed because it’s what I was always told growing up."
"Slowly, over the course of the last 6 years, I’ve gone from being a borderline Trump supporter to someone deeply ashamed of many things my family has taught me growing up."
"I’m closer of a centrist in the context of global politics, which to my family now means I’m what they could call a 'raging flaming liberal communist'.”
"I still hold my Christian beliefs quite closely, but I’d like to think that they come from a place of love for other people, rather than making sure 'everything I do is correct and everyone else knows they’re wrong'.”- Myrshall
Ignoring Puerto Rico
"I don’t know how a single person could support him after Puerto Rico."
"He said their natural disaster broke their budget, begrudgingly visited and tossed paper towels like basketballs, and mocked the pronunciation of the name."
"Oh yeah, and didn’t give a sh*t that an entire territory was destroyed with thousands of dead Americans."- gcaledonian
One can only be grateful that people's eyes were opened enough in 2020 to get him out of office.
How anyone's eyes weren't opened during his long, vulgar, misogynistic and racist campaign, however, is baffling to the point of disturbing.
Not nearly as disturbing, though, as the fact that countless people are still supporting him.
It always amazes to see what catches on culturally.
Do you remember your first Snuggie commercial?
It was a hilariously stupid idea.
5 years later everybody had one.
I think people walked a few runways in them.
That is just the tip of the iceburg.
Somethings that were meant to be silly have become way too real.
It's like gossip, it can all catch on fire and destroy society.
Redditor kk653 wanted to hear about the parts of life that have gotten to the opposite extreme of where they started. So they asked everyone out there:
"What started as a joke but people take it way too seriously today?"
Crocs. How did they become a thing?
Seriously?
happy tom cruise GIF by South Park Giphy"Scientology. Come on. He's a Sci-fi writer and now a bunch of people believe they have Mendichloreans or some sh*t in their blood making them do bad things. Wow."
Gillbreather
Stop Complaining
"Nyquil chicken."
"There was a guy who made a video on TikTok jokingly saying that he had a great recipe for cooking chicken in Nyquil. A few people made response videos, but everyone who saw it knew it was a joke."
"Then mainstream media picked it up, and blew it out of proportion. They made it sound like it was an actual trend for people to be cooking Nyquil. There are already plenty of problems on TikTok, we don't need to invent new ones to complain about."
TheAres1999
Morons
"That science can't explain why bumblebees can fly. It literally started as a joke among scientists. Now some anti-scientific morons use it as an argument against science. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummel-Paradoxon"
"Edit: English version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee#Misconception_about_flight"
Schlaueule
"I worked with a guy who literally used this as an argument for God against science. Which, regardless of your beliefs, is absolutely silly because I showed him multiple videos and articles telling how bees fly and he kept saying, 'Yes, but we can't explain it.'"
"*itch, they just did. Ten times! Listen!!"
kingferret53
The Test
"The Bechdel Test. Not that the issue it raises shouldn't be taken seriously, but people totally misunderstand that it was only supposed to highlight how absurd it is that so many movies fail to reach the very low bar it sets. I've seen filmmakers brag at Comic-Cons and the like now about how their movies pass the Bechdel Test and it's seen as a female character representation stamp of approval when it really just means it reached a satirically low bare minimum threshold originally created by a cartoonist."
VULCAN_WITCH
Fame
Donald Trump GIF by Election 2016Giphy"Celebrities becoming politicians."
ZaryssThesia
"After all this, I never want to be told I need experience for a job ever again."
ajlposh
Our political system isn't a joke, it's a travesty.
Currency
Shiba Inu Cryptocurrency GIF by Daryl AlexsyGiphy"Dogecoin."
Eparii
"I remember a Twitter post where someone asked the Dogecoin creator whether they thought about the environmental impact when creating this coin. He replied saying he took 2 hours to create the cryptocurrency and did not consider anything."
daaniscool
Types
"Those masculinity types, like Apha, Omega and Sigma male, etc. Some people take this too seriously."
Nihlus-N7
"People thought that's how wolves operate and just projected it onto humans. Turns out that wolves also don't do that."
idk_this_my_name
"I think the best part of that whole thing is the fact that the guy who first thought that's how wolf packs worked is the same one who found out it's not how they work."
DarthOptimist
Meow me not...
"Schrodinger's Cat was formulated as a thought experiment to illustrate how odd quantum mechanics is, not that the cat is actually both alive and dead."
uraniumraven
"Not just that, Schrodinger came up with it to demonstrate how absurd and ridiculous the idea was. It was just that his peers thought it actually demonstrated their ideas quite well and started using it as a layman's explanation."
AzyKool
"Schrodinger's cat lived long enough to become the villain."
macewystan
Science
flat earth sour brite crawlers GIF by TrolliGiphy"Flat Earth."
Pichuk
"I remember that it's a forum, i think it's called www.flatearth.org or something. The forum said that it was a debate training ground. The idea was, if you can defend such a ridiculous idea as saying that the earth is flat, then you can defend anything.
"Little did we know..."
nyenkaden
Brain power
"Brain only using 10% of its ability." - ksaunders8
"A better understanding of this would be that a traffic signal is only utilizing 1/3 of its capacity at any one time. If you observe over a time period/with diverse tasks you'll likely see 100% utilization." - Dry-Manufacturer-165
Bootstraps
"Pull yourself up by your bootstraps." Get on the floor and try it. It's impossible. That's the meaning. It was originally used as a sarcastic joke. But today it means the opposite because fanatical capitalists co-opted the phrase and changed the meaning to the opposite." - neonomen
Halloween Candy
"The idea that people are putting drugs or razor blades or other hazards in your kid's halloween candy."
"That is pure unadulterated media fear-mongering. They've been doing it for decades, and it's pure BS every time. I have to wonder if it's not some propaganda paid for by a candy company so people will buy candy to give out on Halloween instead of making it themselves. Sounds like something Nestle would do." - Generico300·
Music Choices
"Hating on Nickelback apparently." - honeydew_bunny
Birds work for the bourgeoise
"Birds aren’t real. I believe the guy who started it actually came out saying it was all intended as a joke and he’s surprised people actually take it seriously now." - jozzywolf121
Religious affiliations
"The church of the flying spaghetti?!" - WobblyBroth
Well that's a lot of jokes that didn't really land.
I've lost count of the number of theories floating about that say almost all of our world is rigged.
Do I believe in darker forces behind the curtain?
Yes. Absolutely. But some of these ideas seem impossible.
RedditorConsciousSloth wanted to know what major world news people actually think is a scam.
"What world event do you think was staged?"
Educate me. I'm probably just naive, I don't believe in a lot of these conspiracy ideas.
MLK
Will Smith Smh GIF by The Academy AwardsGiphy"The FBI killed Martin Luther King. I mean, his family recently won a court case that basically admitted that the police did a cover up. Also the Wendigoon Episode on it was amazing."
The_PracticalOne
The Verdict...
"In the UK a spy or someone who worked in intelligence was found dead in his apartment. He drowned in his bath, locked inside a North Face duffel bag. The lock was on the outside of the bag. Official verdict into his death... Suicide... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Gareth_Williams"
zwifter11
"Sounds like what happened to Garry Webb. Exposed a bunch of shady crap the CIA was doing in Central and South America."
lazy_phoenix
false-flag
"In 1964 the USS Maddox was attacked in Vietnam in what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident. This act convinced Congress to let the president put boots on the ground in Vietnam and essentially started the war. However documents declassified in the early 2000s revealed this was actually a false-flag operation."
Looks_at_this_clown
Political Lies
"The War on Drugs. Once you read about how Harry J. Anslinger manufactured the marijuana scare just to keep his job, you’ll realize how crazy the entire situation is. Anslinger was the DEA version of J. Edgar Hoover, and before the DEA even existed."
ghostful86
"There’s a White House memo that talks about how they’re using weed to vilify hippies and heroin to disenfranchise the black population. It even says 'Did we know that we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.'”
SassySavcy
Power King
classic movies eating GIFGiphy"The Erfurt latrine disaster in 1184. I fully believe that Henry VI staged that to create a power vacuum his family was equipped to take advantage of."
Smrtihara
That Henry was a mess. How'd he get so many wives?
Vanishing
david copperfield magic GIFGiphy"That time David Copperfield made the statue of liberty disappear. Definitely something fishy about that."
Gekidami
Infiltrate
"The 2016 'coup' in Turkey was staged to solidify Erdogan's presidency."
leffe123
"100%. The planes that were suppose to shoot him down just escorted him to land safely etc. If there ever was a legit part of it, that was a coup, they had been SO infiltrated that it was over before it started."
Adler4290
"Holy crap glad to see this so high. I always felt that too. One of the few world events I've actually watched live too."
pig_smart
Moscow
"1999 Moscow apartment bombings."
Shawn_NYC
"Hadn't heard of this before, damn. 'Former FSB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who defected and blamed the FSB for the bombings, was poisoned and killed in London in 2006.'"
Layer_3
"I’m surprised this isn’t more known about in the West. The FSB was literally caught red-handed planting explosives by local police."
bertiesghost
Speed
"Dale Jr. winning the July NASCAR race at Daytona after his father was killed in an accident there in February."
IdahoPatMan
"I 100% witnessed Nascar hand a win to Dale Jr at MIS in the mid-2000s. It went to a Green-White-Checker and as they were in the middle of turn 1 & 2, a car at the very back of the field ran out of gas and drove down into the in-field."
"At the exit of turn 2, Jr is running out of gas, but they throw the caution and he limps back to the garage, claiming the win under yellow. 2nd place was right behind if not alongside Jr when they threw the yellow, giving Jr the win."
MItrwaway
Don't Listen
sad vincent vega GIFGiphy“Internet Backlash. There are maybe a handful of real people and a million bots making all the news and all the decisions right now."
fishintheboat
a well oiled machine...
"Not an event per se but the fact everyone still thinks that Banksy is just one guy, trust me, it’s a well oiled machine that, even from the 99/2000 had a small team working on it all, it’s been one big money making exercise from the early days, the fact Robin and co are still getting away with it proves it works so good luck to them!"
Puzzleheaded_Song_70
Nero
"The Great Fire of Rome. But I’m not the only one that thinks this. People think Emperor Nero burned down swaths of the city just so he could buy up the land to make his mansion. The fact that that’s exactly what happened after the fire didn’t help his case. Dude was so evil people theorized he might’ve been the Anti-Christ."
BlackDwarfStar
Past and Modern
"At least some of the world’s conspiracy theories must be true but the thing that stops me believing most modern ones is that contemporary politics and business scandals have shown us that the human race is pretty much incapable of keeping secrets."
"Some of the conspiracy theories you hear would require so many different people and institutions, often with conflicting agendas, keeping secrets. That’s the bit that isn’t plausible. It was far more plausible in the time of JFK when info wasn’t as easily stored, recorded or shared."
RefurbedRhino
Ms. Jackson
janet jackson GIFGiphy"Janet Jackson and 'Boobgate.'"
notthesedays
"Janet got cancelled even though JT was the one who ripped off her top."
limbtz
Landings
"I believe the moon landing was real, but they went out of their way to pack as many tv cameras on the mission as possible, so in the most literal sense it was staged as a media production almost more so than a scientific mission."
classyhwale
"Science was an afterthought. It was not a secret that the US was doing it to beat the Russians. It was a commercial for how bad a** America was. Later on NASA used science to keep their budget."
JohnnyBA167
Crisis
"The energy price crisis in the UK right now. I suspect that when Russia Invaded Ukraine the oil companies saw an opportunity to make an unthinkable amount of money and our government are corrupt enough to just let them get away with it. The fact Rishi and Liz seem unwilling to talk about it or sympathise with people is enough proof."
Jacorpes
rumors
"Lil’ol’ Finland attacking mighty bear of Russia back in ’39. I mean, Russian later said it was staged, but the current leader is again going ”what, who said is was stages, does not look staged to me, I haven't heard such rumors before and uh we beat the nazis so we are never wrong.'"
CheesecakeMMXX
"Nothing"
"Shakespeare's plays."
WillCharGames
"Fun fact, Shakespeare's work often played to the lowbrow audience with sleazy sexual jokes. The title 'Much Ado About Nothing' is actually a saucy pun. It's about trying to get a woman married/laid, and what's between a woman's legs? Well. 'Nothing.' So it's much ado about... women's privates."
"He used that joke a lot, actually. It gets used in Hamlet! Basically any time he throws 'nothing' into the script the audience was meant to titter a little."
Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
The BOT situation is out of control.
What would you add to this list. Let us know in the comments below.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/