4 ms·

Random thoughts: > One common mechanism was the establishment of an emergency committee— sometimes at the state level, other times at the level of the county o

Random thoughts: > One common mechanism was the establishment of an emergency committee— sometimes at the state level, other times at the level of the county or city— to deal with the overwhelming need for organization, communication, and cooperation among individuals, agencies, and organizations. It's interesting they brought this up because the debate is often framed by the right as the "zippy right wing free market capitalists" versus "the slow and inefficient left." Yet from my perspective as a left-leaning individual, Republicans have tried to halt, sabotage and corrupt reasonable reform until it becomes unrecognizable -- i.e., Obamacare. Or they sabotage attempts to deal with COVID-19 reasonably. If I'm being fair, it seems like institutional rot goes much deeper than any political ideology. > It is striking to me how many of the old Silicon Valley builders—people of Andreeson's generation—were social outcasts in their youth. These people felt estranged from the established corsus honorum of American society. Ironically, they were social outcasts because they spent the majority of their time focusing on stuff that mainstream society didn't understand the value of -- messing around with computers. Now that internet-based businesses have become so profitable, upper middle class kids with sufficient aptitude are generally encouraged to mess around with computers. Someone tells their grandparents they want to be a software developer, and they're proud of them (thinking of all the people who've gotten rich off the internet), instead of saying "what the hell is that?"

noir_lord 6y ago
> Republicans have tried to halt, sabotage and corrupt reasonable reform until it becomes unrecognizable Republicans are conservatives which comes from > averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values. They don't want to change the system because they like the system (even if objectively the system is bad for them and they've been told it isn't or that Issue A is all that matters, ignore B through Z while we decimate you). Single Issues are a huge facet of American politics and are used by both sides to divide people who have more in-common with each other than the groups in charge. From an outsider perspective I frequently wonder why it's not more visible, I certainly see it my countries national politics though not to the same extent. And even when people do realise there is a problem they then hang around waiting for the perfect single solution to fix it forever which is an ideal opportunity for politicians who don't want the problem fixing. If I'm been ultra cynical (and I try not to be) as an example, Roe V. Wade been over-turned would be a disaster to the GOP, the promise to try to do so is far more powerful at getting people out to vote than actually doing it - which requires both doing it and then having to promise something else. Divide and conquer all the way down.
- chasd00 6y ago
  "Single Issues are a huge facet of American politics and are used by both sides to divide people who have more in-common with each other than the groups in charge." that's a very good point. Sometimes i fantasize about what changes could have been made if the Tea Party and the Occupy Wallstreet people realized they were two sides of the same coin back in 2009. Both groups were quickly divided and subverted, set against each other, and destroyed out of fear of them coming to that realization IMO.
  - noir_lord 6y ago
    It is like the parable of the "blind men and the elephant" one side has the trunk, the other the foot but both are mad at the same elephant.
- asdfman123 6y ago
  > Single Issues are a huge facet of American politics and are used by both sides to divide people who have more in-common with each other than the groups in charge. Because the shared values are dressed up in completely different narratives. I find talking to my conservative friend, he shares all of the concerns about problems with the justice system and inequality, but when I roll it together as "racism" he vehemently objects. We're told the other side sees things dramatically differently, though. Or that the want to kill babies.
  - DuskStar 6y ago
    > I find talking to my conservative friend, he shares all of the concerns about problems with the justice system and inequality, but when I roll it together as "racism" he vehemently objects. If the issue is racism, that means that a fix for the justice system's problems won't affect him. You're implicitly saying that any mistreatment he's experienced at the hands of the police is the way things should be, and that it shouldn't be fixed. Saying the problem is racism is saying that only a fraction of the US deserves a solution, and it shouldn't be too hard to see why some people will find that disagreeable.
war1025 6y ago
> If I'm being fair, it seems like institutional rot goes much deeper than any political ideology. I've taken to voting the past few election cycles, starting in 2016. The fact that nothing ever changes and the media just screams louder and louder about their narrative of the week has right about put me off of caring about politics again.

noir_lord 6y ago

> Republicans have tried to halt, sabotage and corrupt reasonable reform until it becomes unrecognizable Republicans are conservatives which comes from > averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values. They don't want to change the system because they like the system (even if objectively the system is bad for them and they've been told it isn't or that Issue A is all that matters, ignore B through Z while we decimate you). Single Issues are a huge facet of American politics and are used by both sides to divide people who have more in-common with each other than the groups in charge. From an outsider perspective I frequently wonder why it's not more visible, I certainly see it my countries national politics though not to the same extent. And even when people do realise there is a problem they then hang around waiting for the perfect single solution to fix it forever which is an ideal opportunity for politicians who don't want the problem fixing. If I'm been ultra cynical (and I try not to be) as an example, Roe V. Wade been over-turned would be a disaster to the GOP, the promise to try to do so is far more powerful at getting people out to vote than actually doing it - which requires both doing it and then having to promise something else. Divide and conquer all the way down.

chasd00 6y ago
"Single Issues are a huge facet of American politics and are used by both sides to divide people who have more in-common with each other than the groups in charge." that's a very good point. Sometimes i fantasize about what changes could have been made if the Tea Party and the Occupy Wallstreet people realized they were two sides of the same coin back in 2009. Both groups were quickly divided and subverted, set against each other, and destroyed out of fear of them coming to that realization IMO.
- noir_lord 6y ago
  It is like the parable of the "blind men and the elephant" one side has the trunk, the other the foot but both are mad at the same elephant.
asdfman123 6y ago
> Single Issues are a huge facet of American politics and are used by both sides to divide people who have more in-common with each other than the groups in charge. Because the shared values are dressed up in completely different narratives. I find talking to my conservative friend, he shares all of the concerns about problems with the justice system and inequality, but when I roll it together as "racism" he vehemently objects. We're told the other side sees things dramatically differently, though. Or that the want to kill babies.
- DuskStar 6y ago
  > I find talking to my conservative friend, he shares all of the concerns about problems with the justice system and inequality, but when I roll it together as "racism" he vehemently objects. If the issue is racism, that means that a fix for the justice system's problems won't affect him. You're implicitly saying that any mistreatment he's experienced at the hands of the police is the way things should be, and that it shouldn't be fixed. Saying the problem is racism is saying that only a fraction of the US deserves a solution, and it shouldn't be too hard to see why some people will find that disagreeable.

war1025 6y ago

> If I'm being fair, it seems like institutional rot goes much deeper than any political ideology. I've taken to voting the past few election cycles, starting in 2016. The fact that nothing ever changes and the media just screams louder and louder about their narrative of the week has right about put me off of caring about politics again.