3 ms·

You are missing the fact that not all societies are open Closed authoritarian societies, even those under sanction, have a ruling and privileged classes that D

by toss1 4y ago

You are missing the fact that not all societies are open Closed authoritarian societies, even those under sanction, have a ruling and privileged classes that DO have all the amenities — basically by extracting all the wealth to the small ruling classes. Even if it is only a microscopic percentage of the society that is at the top, it can still amount to substantial numbers.

DoctorNick 4y ago
- toss1 4y ago
  Indeed the USA does have some aspects of this - certainly it is too lax in preventing a set of extractive and exploitative industries/industrialists from hoarding most of the resources and income and taxing it too little But the USA, while an unhelathy democracy, is NOT yet an authoritarian state. It is, however, within one minor and one major election from becoming one. If you think the above description actually fully describes the USA, you REALLY haven't seen anything yet. If small-d democracy fails in the next two elections, these will truly look like the good old days, and you'll be telling your grandchildren how good it was in the early 2020s, as the USA (and probably most western democracies with it) descend to the authoritarian depths of Russia, Venezuela, China, NK, etc. While it is far from perfect, it is critical to understand the differences, and get out and vote while you still can to prevent the much worse failure from becoming reality.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
    Thank you for stating this. As much as I worry about US ( and my adopted home ), it is a ridiculous exaggeration to call it outright authoritarian ( or closed for that matter ). It does not mean that there are no attempts at making it so, but I think we are still somewhat far from it for now. Sometimes I wonder if the exaggeration is just the way we communicate today ( everything is a crisis / sky is falling / we are all gonna die / find out which commonly used household item is deadly ) as that is what the population was taught about the world by interacting with ads online.
    - toss1 4y ago
      Yes, while there is a heavy dose of hyperbole in the media and internet spheres, I think the effect is actually to obscure the level of the present danger. Kind of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" problem — e.g., while people yelled "Nazi!" at GW Bush and D Cheney, many of the new crop in that party have already literally tried to steal an election and will implement authoritarian policies if they get power - so much so that even Cheney's daughter is an outcast for merely trying to adhere to democratic principles. The difference is whether the voters choose their leaders or the leaders choose their voters. So, while we are most definitely not there yet, democracy is literally teetering on the brink, and if too many people fail to vote, everyone will get to see up close what a real autocracy looks like. Seriously, the only thing on the ballot this year is democracy, and people must show up and vote for small-d democratic candidates down to dogcatcher. Get you and every friend you know to show up.

by toss1 4y ago

DoctorNick 4y ago

toss1 4y ago
Indeed the USA does have some aspects of this - certainly it is too lax in preventing a set of extractive and exploitative industries/industrialists from hoarding most of the resources and income and taxing it too little But the USA, while an unhelathy democracy, is NOT yet an authoritarian state. It is, however, within one minor and one major election from becoming one. If you think the above description actually fully describes the USA, you REALLY haven't seen anything yet. If small-d democracy fails in the next two elections, these will truly look like the good old days, and you'll be telling your grandchildren how good it was in the early 2020s, as the USA (and probably most western democracies with it) descend to the authoritarian depths of Russia, Venezuela, China, NK, etc. While it is far from perfect, it is critical to understand the differences, and get out and vote while you still can to prevent the much worse failure from becoming reality.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
  Thank you for stating this. As much as I worry about US ( and my adopted home ), it is a ridiculous exaggeration to call it outright authoritarian ( or closed for that matter ). It does not mean that there are no attempts at making it so, but I think we are still somewhat far from it for now. Sometimes I wonder if the exaggeration is just the way we communicate today ( everything is a crisis / sky is falling / we are all gonna die / find out which commonly used household item is deadly ) as that is what the population was taught about the world by interacting with ads online.
  - toss1 4y ago
    Yes, while there is a heavy dose of hyperbole in the media and internet spheres, I think the effect is actually to obscure the level of the present danger. Kind of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf" problem — e.g., while people yelled "Nazi!" at GW Bush and D Cheney, many of the new crop in that party have already literally tried to steal an election and will implement authoritarian policies if they get power - so much so that even Cheney's daughter is an outcast for merely trying to adhere to democratic principles. The difference is whether the voters choose their leaders or the leaders choose their voters. So, while we are most definitely not there yet, democracy is literally teetering on the brink, and if too many people fail to vote, everyone will get to see up close what a real autocracy looks like. Seriously, the only thing on the ballot this year is democracy, and people must show up and vote for small-d democratic candidates down to dogcatcher. Get you and every friend you know to show up.