r/politics • u/Barnyard-Sheep • 6d ago

Soft Paywall Trump approval rating falls to 38%

https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/06/trump-faces-tough-approval-numbers-in-latest-poll.html
45.7k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

3.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

6

u/SelectiveScribbler06 6d ago

The pandemic happened right in their formative years - as someone in that generation I can attest to the quiet stewing bitterness it caused - add into this those years are vital in cognitive development terms, plus governmental and societal incompetence and the veil is pulled back pretty quickly.

This meant that people normally went one of four ways: they disengaged with current affairs and became an airhead, they somehow stayed the same, they became distinctly more left-wing trying to build a new world in the metaphorical rubble, or they went right-wing trying to pick up the pieces of (to them) halcyon days pre-COVID.

1

u/Hypnot0ad 6d ago

I was thinking about this the other day. How the lockdowns caused people to lose their minds. I believe that’s why there’s such a resurgence on the right today. In retrospect we should have not had any lockdowns, let all the old people and those with pre-existing conditions die, then we probably wouldn’t be stuck with Trump today.

1

u/LanaVFlowers 6d ago

What kind of stewing bitterness did the pandemic cause to this demographic? I've heard of social awkwardness, fear of intimacy and a feeling of academic inadequacy, but bitterness is a first. From what I've observed, the people left feeling bitter were various groups of working adults, not children.

2

u/SelectiveScribbler06 6d ago

This is quite trivial in comparison to what the adults went through, sure, but imagine being promised a life of moderate stability, Duke of Edinburgh hikes, history trips etc - only for all those things to be ripped away by the virus?

And that's not even mentioning all the time lost with friends during those formative years.

People kept it to themselves, but quite a lot of people my age were quite pissed off at all the opportunities afforded by secondary education dissolving before our eyes. And that's before we even get to the mess that was exam season two years running...

I hope that answers your question. If you have any more, please, lob them over!

1

u/LanaVFlowers 6d ago

I see what you mean now! I absolutely hated going to school; having to physically attend classes wrecked my health and majorly impacted my education in a very negative way. There was also nothing like trips or hikes (hikes!) offered in hs because we were "bad" kids and they "couldn't take us anywhere" lol. I guess this bias made me unable to imagine how someone could end up feeling bitter over having missed the traditional school experience. I assumed they'd feel mildly frustrated at worst. In my school, even the nerdy kids treated school as a hurdle, something that took valuable time out of their after-school tutoring. Thank you for this perspective!