4 ms·

I'm honestly surprised anyone had to ask this question. Suppression Of Dissent is actually a term. Why do hotels sue guests who post negative reviews on Yelp? W

by zelon88 10y ago

I'm honestly surprised anyone had to ask this question. Suppression Of Dissent is actually a term. Why do hotels sue guests who post negative reviews on Yelp? Why did the Stasi Police exist? Why is a clown poster of Putin illegal in Russia? We are being converted into an oligarchy. The administration is backed by a demographic that either doesn't realize this, or doesn't care. They unabashedly silence their opposition on the floors of Congress and the Senate all the time. Can't get your legislation through? Change the rules. The GOP has no constituents. Nobody with a net worth under $10,000,000 matters to the GOP.

AnimalMuppet 10y ago
> The GOP has no constituents. Nobody with a net worth under $10,000,000 matters to the GOP. You might re-examine that belief in light of the last election...
- michaelchisari 10y ago
  I think the disagreement might be in the distinction between constituents and supporters.
- dopamean 10y ago
  I think there are a lot of people who support the GOP (evidenced by the last election) but very few the GOP actually look out for.
  - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
    Well, if that's the distinction we're talking about, then I would say that the Democratic Party also has far fewer people that it looks out for than that vote for it. They no longer seem to have the working class as a constituency, for example.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - nojvek 10y ago
      Trump was perceived as the lesser of the two evils. Looking at Hillary's donation list, it was even more pronounced that she was a Corporation puppet. Trump was the wild "fuck you" card who was perceived as the only candidate that would not sell out.
      - klipt 10y ago
        Except Trump is a corporation[1], which now gets federal money funneled into its pockets every time the president golfs at Mar-a-lago. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Organization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Organization
eric_h 10y ago
> We are being converted into an oligarchy. The administration is backed by a demographic that either doesn't realize this, or doesn't care A portion doesn't realize, and another portion is likely actively in favor of this outcome, as oligarchies are pretty good for the oligarchs (at least for a while). Unfortunately the first portion has the votes, and the second has the money; that's just the way things are at the moment. The issues the GOP are getting those low income votes on are total fabrications (yeah, sure, coal will come back, even though no one's investing in it; it was the environmentalists that cost those mining jobs, not the robots that replaced the miners; "We're Pro Life", unless you've already exited the womb), but it works, apparently. I'm really not sure what steps we can take to increase the level of rational, critical thought in this discussion. People read a headline, get the endorphin rush of reading something that confirms their own biases, retweet and then stop thinking! I've noticed this bias in my own behavior and have taken steps to correct it - if an article just feels good to read, I must double check that its sources are well cited and its points are correct, otherwise it gets a mark of questionable credibility in my brain. I don't really know how to convince others to do the same...
cmurf 10y ago
Request for refinement. Oligarchy is just rule by a few, perhaps you mean rule by the wealthy, plutocracy, which seems to be more compatible with your argument. But then the GOP do have constituents, via a continued enhancement of the Southern strategy, to get people to vote against their economic interests. Of course there simply aren't enough plutocrats to win elections, so they have to rile up some masses with various promises, rhetoric, and occasionally throwing them red meat.

by zelon88 10y ago

AnimalMuppet 10y ago

> The GOP has no constituents. Nobody with a net worth under $10,000,000 matters to the GOP. You might re-examine that belief in light of the last election...

michaelchisari 10y ago
I think the disagreement might be in the distinction between constituents and supporters.
dopamean 10y ago
I think there are a lot of people who support the GOP (evidenced by the last election) but very few the GOP actually look out for.
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago
  Well, if that's the distinction we're talking about, then I would say that the Democratic Party also has far fewer people that it looks out for than that vote for it. They no longer seem to have the working class as a constituency, for example.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - nojvek 10y ago
    Trump was perceived as the lesser of the two evils. Looking at Hillary's donation list, it was even more pronounced that she was a Corporation puppet. Trump was the wild "fuck you" card who was perceived as the only candidate that would not sell out.
    - klipt 10y ago
      Except Trump is a corporation[1], which now gets federal money funneled into its pockets every time the president golfs at Mar-a-lago. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Organization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trump_Organization

eric_h 10y ago

> We are being converted into an oligarchy. The administration is backed by a demographic that either doesn't realize this, or doesn't care A portion doesn't realize, and another portion is likely actively in favor of this outcome, as oligarchies are pretty good for the oligarchs (at least for a while). Unfortunately the first portion has the votes, and the second has the money; that's just the way things are at the moment. The issues the GOP are getting those low income votes on are total fabrications (yeah, sure, coal will come back, even though no one's investing in it; it was the environmentalists that cost those mining jobs, not the robots that replaced the miners; "We're Pro Life", unless you've already exited the womb), but it works, apparently. I'm really not sure what steps we can take to increase the level of rational, critical thought in this discussion. People read a headline, get the endorphin rush of reading something that confirms their own biases, retweet and then stop thinking! I've noticed this bias in my own behavior and have taken steps to correct it - if an article just feels good to read, I must double check that its sources are well cited and its points are correct, otherwise it gets a mark of questionable credibility in my brain. I don't really know how to convince others to do the same...

cmurf 10y ago

Request for refinement. Oligarchy is just rule by a few, perhaps you mean rule by the wealthy, plutocracy, which seems to be more compatible with your argument. But then the GOP do have constituents, via a continued enhancement of the Southern strategy, to get people to vote against their economic interests. Of course there simply aren't enough plutocrats to win elections, so they have to rile up some masses with various promises, rhetoric, and occasionally throwing them red meat.