Ok, I can get sort of disagreeing the wildfires are from climate change - that’s a couple of logical steps you have to make. But “It’s not causing anyone to cough” is plainly ludicrous. It was making me cough when I went outside.

“It doesn’t smell bad”? Maybe they have COVID and lost their sense of smell altogether? It certainly smelled bad to me. And if you thought it smelled great - wow. I just don’t ever want to be around you if you like those sorts of smells. I can’t see it actually working with anyone who’s ever been in wildfire smoke before - like you don’t need science or education or anything to notice if it makes you cough, or tell something doesn’t smell great.

  • watson387@sopuli.xyz
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    2 years ago

    Let’s be real. A lot of these people don’t actually believe anything that comes out of their mouth, but if they think it’ll trigger a liberal they’re down with it.

    • jmp242@sopuli.xyzOP
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      I especially don’t get this “dying to trigger the libs”. Interesting tactic I have to say. I am not compelled to try and trigger anyone - are they all trolls now or something? I have more interesting things to do than to cut off my nose to piss someone else off.

      • Fox@feddit.de
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        I think there is a lot of pride to be conservative coming into play here. Hard to explain, but I sometimes see this in my family. They proudly present their ignorance to show off their conservativism, hold it in front of them like a banner. When I inquire a bit deeper their views are often a bit more reasonable, it just feels like average boomers wanting to be cool by flaunting their ignorance, as weird as this sounds.

        • piece@feddit.it
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          Yeah it feels like most right wing people are more progressive than they think.

          I’m not from the U.S. but everytime I talk with a conservative we agree on a lot of things once they stop talking with slogans

          • Fox@feddit.de
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            That’s my experience too. Often when I talk to people they have pretty moderate or left-leaning views that would fit well in any of our more left-leaning parties. However the majority of them still votes for our biggest conservative party, which openly promises and does the opposite of what they claim they would want in a conversation. Frustrating.

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      The documentary Behind the Curve explores this idea a bit. It follows die hard flat earthers around their daily lives to get to know them a bit more.

      There’s a running theme throughout the movie that these people weren’t very happy with their lives prior to becoming flat earthers. Joining the “movement” gave them instant friends and a sense of direction. There’s subtle hints now and again that most don’t actually believe the Earth is flat, but they feel like “coming out” would ruin their reputation with their new community.

      I get the sense that a lot of right wingers feel the same.

      • Anarch157a@lemmy.world
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        and the reason we don’t hear much about flat earth any more is because most of them moved on… to QAnon.

      • kamenoko@sh.itjust.works
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        The Right uses fear and intimidation to keep their base in line. They brainwash their children into believing as they do that an absolute authority exists and someone will tell them who that is and that to succeed in life all they have to do is follow a proscription.

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    People I work with are infinitely suspicious of the wildfires. They say shit like, “Hmm, isn’t it odd they all started around the same time?”

    Yes, Jeffrey, that’s how wildfires work. Entire biomes burn to the ground if the conditions are hot and dry for long enough.

    • owenp@kbin.social
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      Yeah, there’s a “Trudeau started the wildfires as an excuse for carbon taxes” narrative that is insanely popular among the Canadian right wing.

      I’ve even seen some “15 Minute Cities” theorists claiming the fires are being lit in order to “drive people into the liberal cities so the government can control them”.

      It’s just entirely divorced from reality.

      • 𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏@lemmy.one
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        Some 15 minute cities critics really make me laugh when they fail to realise the area they live in is already a “15 minute city” with a school, grocery store and library a stone’s throw away, no car or bicycle needed

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    I kind of gave up trying to convince my family that this isn’t healthy, especially my high risk family members. I don’t get why they just don’t seem to care, especially the ones with major health problems.

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      Same … it’s clear that attempting to convince my own family is just as effective as speaking to a charcuterie board. Want to breathe the smoke? Fine, go ham. I’m fresh out of pity for the science deniers.

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        But that’s the thing, the people in my family refusing to take precautions have health issues and use science when it keeps them alive! Like, which is it???

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      I’m 38 with good breathing but I have multiple sclerosis. Wildfires make it so I’m unable to move my legs or do much of anything. It’s real and some people are idiots.

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        I effectively grew out of my mild asthma when I was younger (especially as I stopped being around cigarette smoke), so I had a bit of a panic when I had symptoms for the first time in 10 years last Tuesday before I learned why it looked like a doom map outside…

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          That must have scared the shit out of you. To have something mild come back and more angry is a no thank you.

    • Chris@lemmy.world
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      I don’t know why it’s so hard to understand that breathing particulate matter into your lungs isn’t a good thing… A child should be able to understand this. My 10 and 12 year old INSTINCTIVELY understood this… they pulled their shirts up over their nose on their own when we woke up and went outside on the first bad day.

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    You don’t need a high level of education to know you shouldn’t inject bleach into your system to kill COVID-19, and yet people died listening to Trump’s suggestion.

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      I think it is the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” mentality driven ad absurdum.
      Especially the US seems to strongly polarized that anything said by someone who could be considered left leaning, will mean that the entire topic is now a leftist topic and that you have to take the opposite stance to it, no matter how stupid it is. That’s how topics like climate change ended up becoming so politicized (and not in the way it should have).

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      Not for the rich oil tycoons. But yeah, for the brain washed masses it must be exhausting. But I think that only furthers their rage and obstinence. They’ed rather that than admin they’ve been fooled or used.

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      It comes from the same place as the deeply held but mutually exclusive beliefs that the government is both totally stupid and incompetent but also so capable and efficient that they are somehow carrying out massive conspiracies on the entire citizenry.

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      They’re not just doing it to do it

      well that’s part of it, but it’s mainly “if we accept that climate change is real, then it’s us who are at fault for it; as such we need to discredit and downplay it and anything resulting from it”

      like they have a vested interest in saying that it’s not a big deal, it’s a conscious choice that they’re making; they’re not being stupid (or at least not in choosing to deny this)

    • gabuwu@beehaw.org
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      There will come point where they have no choice but to admit something is wrong, no matter how much try to ignore it.

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          I used to think that way, but climate change doesn’t discriminate. It will be the great equalizer. When global famine first hits, those with the most hoarded will become targets and no amount of private contracted bodyguards will be able to protect them. With that being said, it’s easy to be doom and gloom about climate change but please have faith that ultimately humanity will persevere even though it will get quite bad for a time. Remember, climate doom is just another means to encourage apathy and inaction. All hope is not lost, and future generations will pull thru.

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    I’ve also been seeing so many comments on news posts about the fire talking about how they are intentional fires.

    I don’t understand how these people are allowed to spread such misinformation 😔

  • Landrin201@lemmy.ml
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    I mean, to me (in the DC area, so not nearly as bad as it was further north) it just smelled like a campfire outside to me. It wasn’t a particularly offensive smell.

    But I could FEEL that the air quality was bad every time I took a breath, and I don’t have any kinds of respiratory issues.

    • jmp242@sopuli.xyzOP
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      Ok, if you were further away it could have smelled different. Up here in NY it smelled like burning trash and plastic and chemicals. It was horrible. I was referring to people who live in the same small town as I do, so they had to smell the same thing.

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        To be clear I’m not downplaying how terrible it must have smelled in more heavily effected areas; I didn’t mean to come across as doing so.

    • Seraph089@sh.itjust.works
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      It doesn’t help that there was a landfill fire nearby right when the wildfire smoke was blowing in. Or that VA was trying to keep it quiet so everyone would just blame the Canada situation for the air being so bad.

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    I think its disingenuous to say that right wing media is saying this. Most right wing media I’ve seen does not deny that the smoke is dangerous. While some people have claimed that there is little to no health risk, as far as I’m aware no one has tried to describe it as “a good thing”. The article you linked has no purpose but to spread baseless hate and negativity, much like most right wing media.

    • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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      I’d say it’s inaccurate to claim right wing media in general is claiming it’s a good thing, but as for anyone claiming such, well, there’s an example in the article

      Greg Kelly on Newsmax blamed them on “our woke friends to the north,” before describing the smoke as “manageable,” “not an unpleasant odor,” and “a beautiful, interesting aura.”

      • sanpedropeddler@sh.itjust.works
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        I read the article, this is not an example of a claim that its’s a good thing. Sure its a laughable attempt to downplay how serious it is, but he in no way claimed it was overall a good thing. Manageable means it is negative but not significant, he isn’t praising wildfires and begging for more of them.

        • kamenoko@sh.itjust.works
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          This is going to be the worst year for forest fires in Canada, ever. They’re downplaying the implication of this because they’re the ones who keep making laws to keep industrial polluters safe.

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    Eh, right-wing media says a lot of things. This is definitely one of their takes of all time.

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    These people just have an all encompassing need to be contrarian. But if they wanna go and frolick in the aqi 500 air be my guest.

    • Chris@lemmy.world
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      Yes… I like it when problems are somewhat self-correcting. If only it were even more so… can we get them to think anthrax is good for them?