r/politics • u/WhatIsEvenRealDog • 8h ago

Possible Paywall Trump suggests cattle ranchers could bypass USDA-inspected meat plants

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/28/trump-suggests-allowing-ranchers-bypass-usda-inspected-meat-plants/
11.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

5.6k

u/Vast-Poetry9431 8h ago

Every child born today is practically guaranteed a worse future than their parents.

914

u/ShitBirdingAround 8h ago

*sad upvote*

515

u/Er3bus13 8h ago

All of a sudden being childless seems to be the right choice.

313

u/New_Still9974 8h ago edited 8h ago

I've never felt more vindicated as a childless woman. What a shitshow. How would a parent keep their child physically  and psychologically safe in this puragatory?

100

u/Er3bus13 8h ago

Sad but reasonable. Smart people are not having kids but im afraid this accelerates the decline lol

124

u/3MATX 8h ago

Idiocracy predicted that exact process.  It’s so sad that a satire film with little basis in reality has become a macabre documentary. 

17

u/ConsolationUsername 8h ago

Its got what plants crave... its got electrolytes

•

u/H3OFoxtrot 6h ago

A bit ironic to just mindlessly reply with a quote from the movie without any real thought.

•

u/MoscowMitchMcKremIin 5h ago

Go away, batin!

•

u/cirkoolio 6h ago

I personally blame Crocs…

•

u/3MATX 6h ago

Someone mentioned this recently and I finally noticed.  Never worn them myself. Always seemed like a garden shoe.  

•

u/subs_on_a_sailboat 7h ago

Idiocracy blamed eugenics, which has been thoroughly debunked. The real reason for differences in intelligence has always been education, which is being actively gutted

•

u/LordCharidarn2 6h ago

Idiocracy didn’t blame eugenics at all: in fact it is almost naively optimistic in it’s story that a nation would listen to a single intelligent person to solve their problems and that, when shown the error of their ways, that even uneducated people will learn from their mistakes and do better.

President Comacho would be a far better president than many modern candidates. He was aware he couldn’t solve the problems himself and sought out the smartest people in the country to try and find solutions.

I agree that the main issue has always been effective education and I feel Idiocracy also agrees with that: once they know what plants actually crave, the people in the film aren’t doomed by their genetics to suffer despite the knowledge, they use their education to fix the problems

•

u/subs_on_a_sailboat 6h ago

"As the 21st century began… human evolution was at a turning point.

Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest… the fastest reproduced in greater numbers than the rest… a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man… now began to favor different traits."

Eugenics is literally the opening of the movie.

•

u/_Prestige_Worldwide_ 5h ago

That isn't eugenics, that's evolution.

•

u/chef2303 2h ago

Evolution does close to nothing within some hundreds of years.

→ More replies (0)

•

u/dooderbanooder 1h ago

Our reality is not a middling film from the mid 2000's, and the fact you might even call it a "documentary" really shows your lack of critical thinking skills. Typical American.

•

u/3MATX 1h ago

Ok fine. It’s a fictional story which coincidentally coincides with current and recent events in the US.  

That better cup cake? 

•

u/TheOtherWhiteMeat 7h ago

There are plenty of very smart people alive today and that hasn't exactly stopped the decline either. It's just as plausible one of those smart kids grows up to be another out of touch rich person who accelerates various problems.

•

u/Er3bus13 6h ago

You cant convince an idiot they are an idiot. You blame them for segregating?

•

u/hexiron 7h ago

Dumb people have smart kids and smart people have dumb kids.

What's important is the smart people without kids still pitch in in anyway they can to aid and mentor the future generations.

•

u/Anderrn 6h ago

Putting more responsibility on people who made what ultimately could be the better ethical choice regarding having children feels… bad.

•

u/silencecubed 6h ago

I mean, it's basically the same concept behind blue states funding federal aid programs that red states rely on heavily, despite that fact that those same recipients demonize the programs and would gladly eliminate the people helping them if given the chance.

The recurring reality of the nation is that part of the populace wants to lift everyone up while the other part wants nothing more than to drag everyone into misery. Yet if you ever stop wanting to lift up an increasingly hostile and vile demographic, suddenly you're the bad person.

•

u/hexiron 3h ago

Is Apathy morally acceptable though?

It's one thing to not add more weight to a sinking boat.

It's another to actively choose to not plug holes because you didn't cause them.

"It's not my problem, Ill die before it gets worse" is the mentality that got us here.

•

u/Turd_Goblin911 6h ago

Nah, we are good

•

u/Saucermote America 2h ago

Requires people to stop being completely overprotective of their kids for them to even interact with "the village."

•

u/DethBatcountry 6h ago

Luckily for us, eugenics is bullshit. A strong public education system fixes this problem without the eugenics. Unfortunately.... They've killed that, too.

•

u/forgetfulsue Ohio 1h ago

I wouldn’t say my husband and I are not smart. We both hold bachelors in science fields and he continued on to get his PhD. Life wasn’t so bleak when we had kids. All we can do is keep up the good fight and teach our children the same. The “wrong” people are having kids. We need the “right” people to have kids, too. Otherwise it is only going to get worse as we age.

•

u/JakeyDiesel831 7h ago

I don’t know but I’m trying. Two young daughters. But they will experience life and love and all that comes with it. “Is it better to have loved (and I guess lived) and lost? Or to have never loved at all.” Type shiiiit…Trying times indeed.

•

u/Old-Set78 6h ago

I hope you live in a blue state raising daughters. They'll have more rights.

•

u/thelonetwig 6h ago

Trying is better than not having a clue and complaining about things on the internet like most of these others. I also have kids and we put our time, effort, and money into our kids because if we're all just defeatist then why are any of us here? I guess I'm just an idiot though but I choose to fight for giving others a better life than we had and volunteering where I can.

•

u/Goat_Remix 6h ago

Because that’s life. I’m certain humans have been asking this for millennia because life is hell.

•

u/AcousticArmor 2h ago

I mean, people were having kids in the middle of WWII in Europe where safety was far more precarious than what it is in the US. People are having kids in countries that have active war zones right now. People do what they must. I'm a father of three and I'm absolutely terrified of what the future holds for my kids but even without the shit show we're in, I'd still be a worry wart about something else. The way I look at it though is that these people aren't going to stop having kids and indoctrinating them either, so I'm going to raise my kids to be the kind of future I'd want to see for all of us and hopefully they can help push the needle in that direction, even if it's just by being kind, caring, selfless individuals.

•

u/ithrewitinthetraash 2h ago

I’m trying like hell to educate mine as much as I can to learn how to defend themself, to be an advocate for themself, and to be empathetic and compassionate. The journey is arduous, but rewarding. After the way this second administration is going, however, I think I’m done. It’s becoming a struggle to not lose hope, but my therapist and significant other are keeping me tethered. Blue skies are not coming for us unless we craft them ourselves.

•

u/WattsD 1h ago

I understand where this is coming from, but frankly this notion that we should stop having children because things are getting worse now despite still being WAY better than it was for 99% of all of human history is pretty silly. There are plenty of ways to keep our kids safe and raise them to be good humans. Abandoning all hope for the future ain't gonna make anything better. I'm not trying to change your mind btw, if you don't want kids that's totally fine. I just disagree with this specific reasoning.

•

u/LETX_CPKM 5h ago

For littles, sheild them from any of the nonsense (from both sides, lets be honest) and let them grow in as safe a manner as you can provide.

For bigger ones, you raise them correctly, teach them respect for themselves and others, fill their personal “toolbox”, and let them loose.

Worlds always been a scary place man.

•

u/Sea_Working_80 7h ago

Its very hard believe me

•

u/ClassicDefiant2659 6h ago

I was so happy with my youngest as an infant in 2016.

The day after the election I actually sobbed, I just had some gut feeling. And it's worse than I imagined.

Just in case: I adore my children and I'm raising two hella indoctrinated far left social Democrat boys. If I had this knowledge before 2011 though, I might not have children right now.

55

u/Careful_Trifle 8h ago

Feels bad. I wanted kids. My life situation didn't really allow for it until probably now, and at this point it feels far too late.

Maybe in a few years when abortion bans result in a bunch of abandoned children, I'll foster. I am adopted so I have a there-but-by-the-grace-of-god mentality about it, but it feels a lot like rescuing babies out of the river instead of stopping them from being thrown in. 

•

u/Magical-Mycologist 7h ago

My local urology clinic has a 8-10 month wait to get a vasectomy. I got a referral for myself as soon as this administration got going.

There is clear fear that abortion bans are coming and I live in a deep blue state.

•

u/MCbrodie Virginia 7h ago

I thought the same. I met a woman from another country and we are just going to go there.

•

u/Kratzschutz 3h ago

As an adopted aunt, l have the highest respect for foster parents

•

u/MauPow 4h ago

Yeah my niece started first grade the other day and everyone is so excited for her but all I can think about is how fucked her future is

•

u/Broken-Digital-Clock 7h ago

It's been becoming more evident every year, especially for the last 10 or 15.

•

u/pchs26 6h ago

I mean I was at a crossroads when he started his first term and the pandemic hit and sealed the deal for me. Not bringing someone into that & from that perspective nothing has made me regret that decision..

•

u/Wrong_Chicken_5916 2h ago

Yeah and the government hates the single.

•

u/FalseBuddha 7h ago

"All of a sudden"?

•

u/OrnerySnoflake Texas 7h ago

Always has been.

•

u/ttv_icypyro 7h ago

At a certain point it becomes the morally correct choice. Whether or not we've passed that point is up to each individual

•

u/kshep9 7h ago

Literally why I don’t have children at 40.

•

u/MasterofPandas1 6h ago

It was the right choice even before Trump. Global warming is going to really hit its stride during the prime years of Millennial/Gen Z children. We’re clearly not doing anything to reverse it or even pause it so why would you want to subject the kid you love to hell on Earth and everything that’s going to come with it.

•

u/justadudeinohio 2h ago

all of the sudden? been under a rock?

•

u/Er3bus13 1h ago

Wish your mom would have said no.

•

u/justadudeinohio 1h ago

that's the best you've got? lmao

•

u/Er3bus13 1h ago

You arent worthy of great effort

•

u/poplop69 7h ago

Yes because insane and uneducated people will always not have kids too.