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The fastest way to get depressed is to read the news. I can't name a single decent leader of a major country/party/region today. Everywhere we look, there are p

The fastest way to get depressed is to read the news. I can't name a single decent leader of a major country/party/region today. Everywhere we look, there are politicians stroking differences. We desperately need good leaders and thoughtful/responsible voters.

jedberg 7y ago
Merkel seems to be doing a good job unifying her country. But I'm not German so I don't really know.
- prostheticvamp 7y ago
  Highlights of the 20th and 21st centuries: German unity.
- leipert 7y ago
  Well in the last few years, we have seen an uproar of the right wing party „AfD“. Some attribute that to Merkel‘s Party moving away from the conservative side of things. After Fukushima, Merkel pushed for immediately closing out all nuclear power plants, which some say also say is in conflict with our plans of becoming carbon neutral. Massive financial support for solar and wind energy has been stopped as well, which devasted at least the local solar industry. We had waves of right wing terrorism, her party is pushing something like a „black 0“ (no new debt) instead of investing in infrastructure, schools and the like. Even pushing that on other European countries like Greece or Spain, which definitely would need to invest. There are just slow or no plans for meeting climate goals or modernize the automotive sector. Personally I think it has become very quiet around the chancellor, the inertia is almost unbearable sometimes. The government is supposed to stimulate progress and move our Society forward. But as I see it, we are moving very slowly with a captain who doesn’t like to rethink their course.
  - mr_toad 7y ago
    > investing in infrastructure, schools and the like. Borrowing money to pay for schools is making children pay for their schooling.
    - rwnspace 7y ago
      Indeed, and that's exactly the model much of the world uses for adult education. Except that better early-years schooling has at least as large and probably much bigger effect on the future productivity and health of society.
    - Out_of_Characte 7y ago
      This is a bit shortsighted. Just because a country is in debt doesn't mean the best way forward is to pay off the debt as fast as possible. Once you're out of debt you'll still need to have an economy and well educated people to run the place. Imagine if the US took an even more extreme example and refused to pay police officers before the national debt. Good luck for recovering from actual anarchy. You can't reverse past bad policy, you can only move forward from where you're standing.
- justaguyhere 7y ago
  She seems better than others but I am also not German, so I don't know. When Trudeau and Macron came along, they seemed better - until they too turned out to be disappointments. It is very disappointing and depressing that out of 7+ billion people, we can't produce a few dozen sensible leaders. The business world doesn't seem better either, even in the tech industry which was supposed to attract better people. Then again, how is one supposed to take on a billionaire who casually throws half a billion (!!!!) dollars of his own money just at the beginning of a primary race? https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808163144/bloomberg-has-already-spent-450-million-on-ads-since-launching-his-campaign https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808163144/bloomberg-has-alrea...

jedberg 7y ago

Merkel seems to be doing a good job unifying her country. But I'm not German so I don't really know.

prostheticvamp 7y ago
Highlights of the 20th and 21st centuries: German unity.
leipert 7y ago
Well in the last few years, we have seen an uproar of the right wing party „AfD“. Some attribute that to Merkel‘s Party moving away from the conservative side of things. After Fukushima, Merkel pushed for immediately closing out all nuclear power plants, which some say also say is in conflict with our plans of becoming carbon neutral. Massive financial support for solar and wind energy has been stopped as well, which devasted at least the local solar industry. We had waves of right wing terrorism, her party is pushing something like a „black 0“ (no new debt) instead of investing in infrastructure, schools and the like. Even pushing that on other European countries like Greece or Spain, which definitely would need to invest. There are just slow or no plans for meeting climate goals or modernize the automotive sector. Personally I think it has become very quiet around the chancellor, the inertia is almost unbearable sometimes. The government is supposed to stimulate progress and move our Society forward. But as I see it, we are moving very slowly with a captain who doesn’t like to rethink their course.
- mr_toad 7y ago
  > investing in infrastructure, schools and the like. Borrowing money to pay for schools is making children pay for their schooling.
  - rwnspace 7y ago
    Indeed, and that's exactly the model much of the world uses for adult education. Except that better early-years schooling has at least as large and probably much bigger effect on the future productivity and health of society.
  - Out_of_Characte 7y ago
    This is a bit shortsighted. Just because a country is in debt doesn't mean the best way forward is to pay off the debt as fast as possible. Once you're out of debt you'll still need to have an economy and well educated people to run the place. Imagine if the US took an even more extreme example and refused to pay police officers before the national debt. Good luck for recovering from actual anarchy. You can't reverse past bad policy, you can only move forward from where you're standing.
justaguyhere 7y ago
She seems better than others but I am also not German, so I don't know. When Trudeau and Macron came along, they seemed better - until they too turned out to be disappointments. It is very disappointing and depressing that out of 7+ billion people, we can't produce a few dozen sensible leaders. The business world doesn't seem better either, even in the tech industry which was supposed to attract better people. Then again, how is one supposed to take on a billionaire who casually throws half a billion (!!!!) dollars of his own money just at the beginning of a primary race? https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808163144/bloomberg-has-already-spent-450-million-on-ads-since-launching-his-campaign https://www.npr.org/2020/02/21/808163144/bloomberg-has-alrea...