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Hate to break it to you but Trump lost the popular vote and there are several states and many counties that will always go republican despite them losing the po

Hate to break it to you but Trump lost the popular vote and there are several states and many counties that will always go republican despite them losing the popular vote. Is your electoral system fair if it is this gerrymandered? Furthermore, most states and districts are “safe” for one of the two main parties. Of the remaining places, a voter can choose between either of only two parties. If neither represent them, then they have no one to vote for. This situation is not “free” in the true sense of the word. You do not have a free vote, and in most places your vote is meaningless. Worse still is the fact that one of your political parties openly attempted to overthrow the result of the election in order to stay in power, and the other party has not brought the full force of the law to bare for fear of speaking civil unrest. It is not hyperbolic to warn Americans of the extreme danger their democracy is in, nor of its inherent weakness due to the rather antiquated voting system it uses. Stacking a court goes against the separation of power that the three estates were supposed to uphold. No party that openly tries to pack a court against the will of the people should get a single vote from anyone who cares about freedom. America is sailing very close to the wind and Americans should not be complacent about the risks they face

the_only_law 4y ago
Not related to GP, but just something that's common on thread like this in general. There seems to be an attitude that the modern world has ushered some eternal era and that since everything is better in the modern world nothing can ever get worse again and the empire will never decline. Not surprised, given the sites association with VCs and startups that operate on the delusion of infinite growth.
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  Yes. Similar to what people like Bill Gates and Jordan Peterson keep repeating while wanting to generally maintain core status quo traits. Stephen Pinker championing this and being buddies with the first two is also of note. Tho their optimism point is to be happy with what you have and calm down and so on. As if the way we have our current rights was gotten by calming down.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    > Tho their optimism point is to be happy with what you have and calm down and so on. Sure, that's fair, I'll even agree that the tone of many of these pieces is hyperbolic. But I'm not going to stick my head in the sand and pretend that things can't go bad, because that's a sure fire way to ensure they eventually do go bad.
    - skinnymuch 4y ago
      Well I’m disagreeing with that statement haha. So I think it’s only fair cuz it sounds fair and calm. But it’s said by people who want to preserve their own high status in society and don’t care about serious progress being made any more. As if America doesn’t have so many people paycheck to paycheck, in poverty, etc. and that’s just America
shapefrog 4y ago
> Hate to break it to you but Trump lost the popular vote You are aware that the competition is for the most electoral college seats. I am fairly certain that the Democrats were aware of this for the election as well. Yet armed with this knowledege they still lost to the worst run campaign in a century fronted by an actual clown. > Is your electoral system fair if it is this gerrymandered? I mean, the people elected to office litterally promised to gerrymander. If the people elect someone who brings in proportional representation will you have a problem with that? > Furthermore, most states and districts are “safe” for one of the two main parties. Hang on, those "safe" districts are "safe" because an overwhelming majority of people vote for the party that wins... That is democracy! Are you arguing for or against democracy? > No party that openly tries to pack a court against the will of the people should get a single vote from anyone who cares about freedom Litteral campaign promise, and people voted for it in numbers, it is the will of the people. > It is not hyperbolic to warn Americans of the extreme danger their democracy is in The problem is democracy itself. People are voting for shitty hacky demi-gods selling them a used car that runs on snake oil. Every side of every agenda has become infected with this horrible disease, but what is happening is the logical conclusion of what happens when you combine democracy with an erosion of education. It didnt start this year or with trump etc. It has been happening for decades. The population is now so poorly equiped to navigate the most basic of tasks that a foreign power can swing an election by spending $100,000 on some facebook ads.
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  You missed the point of this entire thread. The whole point is fairness and freedom. Not about the basic obvious truth that Trump won the electoral college. That’s a pointless factoid that everyone is already agreeing with. The rest of the comment appears to be along similar lines of logic.
  - shapefrog 4y ago
    > free and fair elections, are being turned down this year What changed this year? The most commone argument for the election not being free and fair here is "electoral college vs popular vote". Some have even backed up the very point by showing that this situation has been persistent for the last 20 years, so ... what changed this year? Did they add electoral college votes to red states or something? Free and fair elections - personally I think of elections not being free and fair someone standing next to you as you vote saying vote for vlad or we will kill your whole familiy or votes being thrown in the bin. As far as I am aware none of that is happening. Its pretty bad faith to say Republicans claiming electoral fraud is the Big Lie but when Dems say its Not a Free and Fair Election that it is an irrefutable evidence and vice versa. Simultaneously holding the belief that the elctions are Not Free and Fair while claiming that they are indeed Free and Fair depending upon which party is claiming it is rank hypocracy at best.

the_only_law 4y ago

Not related to GP, but just something that's common on thread like this in general. There seems to be an attitude that the modern world has ushered some eternal era and that since everything is better in the modern world nothing can ever get worse again and the empire will never decline. Not surprised, given the sites association with VCs and startups that operate on the delusion of infinite growth.

skinnymuch 4y ago
Yes. Similar to what people like Bill Gates and Jordan Peterson keep repeating while wanting to generally maintain core status quo traits. Stephen Pinker championing this and being buddies with the first two is also of note. Tho their optimism point is to be happy with what you have and calm down and so on. As if the way we have our current rights was gotten by calming down.
- the_only_law 4y ago
  > Tho their optimism point is to be happy with what you have and calm down and so on. Sure, that's fair, I'll even agree that the tone of many of these pieces is hyperbolic. But I'm not going to stick my head in the sand and pretend that things can't go bad, because that's a sure fire way to ensure they eventually do go bad.
  - skinnymuch 4y ago
    Well I’m disagreeing with that statement haha. So I think it’s only fair cuz it sounds fair and calm. But it’s said by people who want to preserve their own high status in society and don’t care about serious progress being made any more. As if America doesn’t have so many people paycheck to paycheck, in poverty, etc. and that’s just America

shapefrog 4y ago

> Hate to break it to you but Trump lost the popular vote You are aware that the competition is for the most electoral college seats. I am fairly certain that the Democrats were aware of this for the election as well. Yet armed with this knowledege they still lost to the worst run campaign in a century fronted by an actual clown. > Is your electoral system fair if it is this gerrymandered? I mean, the people elected to office litterally promised to gerrymander. If the people elect someone who brings in proportional representation will you have a problem with that? > Furthermore, most states and districts are “safe” for one of the two main parties. Hang on, those "safe" districts are "safe" because an overwhelming majority of people vote for the party that wins... That is democracy! Are you arguing for or against democracy? > No party that openly tries to pack a court against the will of the people should get a single vote from anyone who cares about freedom Litteral campaign promise, and people voted for it in numbers, it is the will of the people. > It is not hyperbolic to warn Americans of the extreme danger their democracy is in The problem is democracy itself. People are voting for shitty hacky demi-gods selling them a used car that runs on snake oil. Every side of every agenda has become infected with this horrible disease, but what is happening is the logical conclusion of what happens when you combine democracy with an erosion of education. It didnt start this year or with trump etc. It has been happening for decades. The population is now so poorly equiped to navigate the most basic of tasks that a foreign power can swing an election by spending $100,000 on some facebook ads.

skinnymuch 4y ago
You missed the point of this entire thread. The whole point is fairness and freedom. Not about the basic obvious truth that Trump won the electoral college. That’s a pointless factoid that everyone is already agreeing with. The rest of the comment appears to be along similar lines of logic.
- shapefrog 4y ago
  > free and fair elections, are being turned down this year What changed this year? The most commone argument for the election not being free and fair here is "electoral college vs popular vote". Some have even backed up the very point by showing that this situation has been persistent for the last 20 years, so ... what changed this year? Did they add electoral college votes to red states or something? Free and fair elections - personally I think of elections not being free and fair someone standing next to you as you vote saying vote for vlad or we will kill your whole familiy or votes being thrown in the bin. As far as I am aware none of that is happening. Its pretty bad faith to say Republicans claiming electoral fraud is the Big Lie but when Dems say its Not a Free and Fair Election that it is an irrefutable evidence and vice versa. Simultaneously holding the belief that the elctions are Not Free and Fair while claiming that they are indeed Free and Fair depending upon which party is claiming it is rank hypocracy at best.