4 ms·

I regularly get called both a libtard (by conservatives) and a nazi (by liberals) because I generally lean towards the left socially but the right economically.

I regularly get called both a libtard (by conservatives) and a nazi (by liberals) because I generally lean towards the left socially but the right economically. Both sides come off like a bunch of children screaming at each other hurling insults without actually accomplishing anything or wanting to have a genuine discussion. The entire American political system is a joke at this point, it's basically reality television

deleted 7y ago
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switchbak 7y ago
I worked in the states (Michigan) briefly in 2010, and I was shocked at the state of discourse among regular folks back then. As someone from outside the US political system, I was amazed at the simmering discontent (anecdotal experience, of course) - and even got caught in the crossfire a couple times myself. That simmer is now boiling over (certainly in some circles), and the polarization/black and white thinking appears to be going global. It's a tough time to try to hold nuance and accommodate ambiguity. Especially when those yelling the loudest seem to be rewarded by our dysfunctional controversy-chasing media outlets. There's certainly been times in history where discourse has been at similar levels, but I think we're going to need some strong course corrections here. Not sure how that's going to work, given the financial incentives to keep people angry at each other.
mises 7y ago
Half the problem is that two parties have screwed up the nation, and no one lets third parties get a say. Remember they wouldn't even let Gary Johnson (libertarian candidate) debate back in 2016, even after he was polling widely at double digits? https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/let-gary-johnson-debate-clinton-trump https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/let-gary-johnso...
- beat 7y ago
  You should look up Duverger's Law, and understand why we have a two party system.
  - munk-a 7y ago
    Yea, that's a good explanation on the "what" cause - but I think it's more an issue of political corruption leading the two parties to mutually that everything is best if there are just two parties. FPTP single candidate voting districts are just broken.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

switchbak 7y ago

I worked in the states (Michigan) briefly in 2010, and I was shocked at the state of discourse among regular folks back then. As someone from outside the US political system, I was amazed at the simmering discontent (anecdotal experience, of course) - and even got caught in the crossfire a couple times myself. That simmer is now boiling over (certainly in some circles), and the polarization/black and white thinking appears to be going global. It's a tough time to try to hold nuance and accommodate ambiguity. Especially when those yelling the loudest seem to be rewarded by our dysfunctional controversy-chasing media outlets. There's certainly been times in history where discourse has been at similar levels, but I think we're going to need some strong course corrections here. Not sure how that's going to work, given the financial incentives to keep people angry at each other.

mises 7y ago

Half the problem is that two parties have screwed up the nation, and no one lets third parties get a say. Remember they wouldn't even let Gary Johnson (libertarian candidate) debate back in 2016, even after he was polling widely at double digits? https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/let-gary-johnson-debate-clinton-trump https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/let-gary-johnso...

beat 7y ago
You should look up Duverger's Law, and understand why we have a two party system.
- munk-a 7y ago
  Yea, that's a good explanation on the "what" cause - but I think it's more an issue of political corruption leading the two parties to mutually that everything is best if there are just two parties. FPTP single candidate voting districts are just broken.