this post was submitted on 15 Mar 2025
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Leopards Ate My Face

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[–] hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world 26 points 1 day ago (5 children)

How the fuck did democrats go from the party that hates misinformation to the party that believes implausible posts on a platform known to be full nonsense because it fits a cute narrative?

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 7 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

How did getting laid off during cutbacks go from commonplace to implausible? Are you taking the wrong meds?

[–] hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 38 minutes ago

Nobody is this stupid. You're being intentionally dishonest.

USDA isn't the private sector. There are strict rules against firing the vast majority of employees. It's why Trump has largely gone after probationary employees, as they have less protections. Even that has been wrapped up in several different ongoing court cases.

There are also mortgage forbearance programs designed for temporary job loss. Even without them, foreclosure is a lengthy process. It's not something that's initiated after one missed payment.

So for this story to be true:

  1. OP, a progressive Twitter influencer, lives next to a hardcore MAGA republican. Unlikely, but relatively common
  2. Said MAGA republican is also a federal government employee. More unlikely, but still relatively common
  3. Said federal government employee is among the roughly 10 percent of government workers that are probationary. Relatively rare, but not unheard of
  4. Despite being new to federal employment and federal employment known for someone that you do for the long haul for pension reasons, OP's neighbor has the money to buy a house. Relatively rare, but not unheard of
  5. Despite having the finances for a home, is in such dire straits that the only option after one missed paycheck is to sell their home. Very rare, but not unheard of
  6. Despite being very into politics and a government employee, is wholly unaware of the pending legal actions against said firing, including the current rulings reversing the staffing cuts.

All of this is possible. The world is a strange place. However the confluence of all those things being true is highly improbable, perfectly matches the "dumb conservatives gonna regret their choice" narrative progressive influencers push, and is sourced from a platform known for being full of misinformation and bait.

[–] MiniMoose4Free@lemm.ee 23 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ah, the classic anything I don't agree with is fake news.

[–] hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world 12 points 19 hours ago (3 children)
  • On Twitter, the site known for random misinformation
  • OP knows their neighbor well enough to know where they work, despite that not being nearly as common these days and OP not seeming like the kind of guy that would befriend Trump supporters
  • OP's neighbor is one of the minority of federal workers who are probationary employees, because that's the only group Elon has been able to really fire right now
  • OP's neighbor simultaneously being a homeowner with a previously-stable job, but being in such dire financial straits that simply missing two paychecks results in a complete crashout.
  • OP's neighbor then selling the house instead of taking advantage of the large number of hardship programs that would be available for someone with issues paying their mortgage, at least temporarily.

Like is this possible? Yes. However it's highly implausible, and conveniently matches the whole "stupid Drunpf supporters regret their decision" narrative that both Lemmy and reddit absolutely adore. To take this at any sort of face value without any genuine shred of concrete evidence is insane.

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 6 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

OP's neighbor is one of the minority of federal workers who are probationary employees, because that's the only group Elon has been able to really fire right now

This part isn't true. At this point, probably over half of the fired workers were permanent, from agencies that are closing or are implementing RIFs. Most are still drawing paychecks, but budgeting does (and should) change once someone is informed that they'll be out of a job in the next month or two.

For many agencies, these satellite offices often have monopsony power over workers of certain job skills. NOAA and the National Weather Service employ a lot of people who have job functions not really available from another employer, especially without moving. The same is true of NIH and CDC. HHS just announced the closure of several lawyer offices, and those specialists are going to have a bit of a rough time finding replacement jobs. USDA is a big organization, and have a ton of economists and scientists who would basically have to take a big pay cut if they're laid off in this environment.

You're downplaying just how devastating some of these job losses are, by ignoring that many of these people moved to these cities in reliance on the job stability they expected, and downplaying the number of people affected and the length of tenure these people have.

I don't have a strong view of whether this story is literally true of this specific account's neighbor. But I can tell you that versions of this story have happened to thousands already, and will happen to tens of thousands more.

[–] hesusingthespiritbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 36 minutes ago

In other words you don't give a shit about facts so long as they fit your worldview.

[–] theterrasque@infosec.pub 7 points 19 hours ago

Everyone is assuming he lost the house. Maybe he got a better job and is moving to a new and better house, closer to the new job

[–] Civil_Liberty@lemm.ee 3 points 18 hours ago

If OP's neighbor got a promotion within the last 2 years he is a probationary employee.

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip -3 points 20 hours ago

Ah, the classic “don’t believe everything you read on the internet” is more like it. That’s half the reason we’re in the mess.

ask any millenial what all our parents were telling us until they got on facebook.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

So anyways I started shit posting...

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip -1 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Considering how Lemmy feels about democrats and how everyone claims to be a true leftist…

[–] InputZero@lemmy.world 10 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (1 children)

Just because the Democrats are the most left leaning party available to Americans doesn't make the democratic party a left leaning party. If anything the Democrats are centerists because their ultimate objective is to maintain the status quo. Lemmy reaches to far more countries that just the United States, places that have left leaning parties. Even left-wing extremists parties, although they're definitely on the ropes lately.

The Democrats aren't a progressive party, they're a conservative party. It's just with MAGA in the room the scale has moved so far to the right that the center (conservative) seems progressive.

[–] LandedGentry@lemmy.zip -1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

I’m not really sure what you’re responding to here. I’m just saying this person is assuming the poster isn’t a leftist on a site that more dominated by leftists than true blue democrats.

It’s a classic “anyone who does something wrong must be on a different team.”