• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Thankfully we got the greatest president the country has ever seen instead.

    I hope not. FDR did a lot of great things, but he was also a racist who didn’t give the same benefits to non-white people as white people and, of course, was responsible for the shameful Japanese-American concentration camps.

    If that’s the greatest president, we have never had any hope.

    • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Objectively, almost every president is a piece of shit and you need to judge them by the merits of their time. Almost every white dude alive in America was a racist shit bag by today’s standards. FDR accomplished a ton, and it was all for the common man. Please, tell me who you think was a better president?

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I don’t know, any number of the ones who didn’t commit genocide? Or do I need to ignore that because of the antiquated time period of… *checks notes* 80 years ago?

        • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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          1 year ago

          FDR didn’t commit genocide. The Japanese internments were a national shame but were not genocidal in nature.

          He is only guilty of it you count segregation itself, which he didn’t start and couldn’t stop, though the New Deal coalition he assembled would evolve and become key to the growing Civil Rights movement even if the New Deal itself wasn’t as fair to black people as it should have been, like everything else in America.

          I personally would choose Lincoln as number one but FDR is definitely a contender for best. Certainly better than you should have expected from a segregation-era liberal.

            • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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              1 year ago

              Not that either. A grave injustice that could very easily have become such, one that corrupt local officials certainly abused, but there were no death marches, no mass executions, and no cultural extermination.

              Misuse of the term genocide dilutes the impact of the accusation, and you should just be generally careful of trying to tear down one of the few presidents who tried to make things better for… Well, anyone. We haven’t really had one since before Reagan that did more than talk a good game and then stab labor in the back.

                • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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                  1 year ago

                  When they say “with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous” they do that by actually removing the people from the region instead of forcing them into camps in the region and then letting them out again.

                  That and, you know, mass murder.

        • hypelightfly@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          They asked for a specific example and you failed to provide one. You had 45 choices and couldn’t even pick one?

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I didn’t really want to get into an argument about another president when we were talking about this one, but if you agree not to argue with me about that president, I’ll name one. Otherwise, forget it. I don’t want to get into two arguments in the same thread.

            • hypelightfly@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Doubling down I see. It’s an opinion and while I may not agree with whoever you think is the best president you can’t really be wrong.

              I’m just annoyed at people who rant about other peoples opinions but refuse to offer their own when asked. You aren’t arguing in good faith here.

              For the record I don’t think FDR was the best president but I also disagree with some of your characterizations.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Fine. Jimmy Carter. But I’m not interested in discussing why with you, especially considering your attitude.

                • hypelightfly@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  See, that wasn’t so hard and I actually agree with you too. Now why couldn’t you have given the other user the curtesy of answering their question and having a discussion in good faith instead of ranting about their opinion without addressing anything they said?

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    Because it wasn’t relevant to the discussion. It was an attempt to sidetrack into talking about someone else. Why is that not clear to you?

        • Astroturfed@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          So, you think be cause 80 years doesn’t sound like long enough people weren’t that bad? That’s a really silly argument. 80 years ago they strung black people up from trees for looking at a white woman too long in half the country. This kind of mentality is why we gloss over the huge portion of the country that is still seriously racist. There’s plenty of people alive TODAY that protested integration.

    • Eldritch@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That. And when he caught fascists scheming in the Republican party. Instead of investigating and rooting them out. He merely threatened to do it if they blocked his legislation. So in the short term he got his legislation through. And in the long term got it gutted and neutered, saddling us with a now fully fascist Republican party. Thanks FDR.

      He did some short sighted good. But that posturing and playing fast and loose screwed us all over.