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I saw all the doom and gloom tweets, but didn't realize most of the cause boils down to policy decisions. Call your elected officials and tell them you don't wa
by dfxm12 4y ago
I saw all the doom and gloom tweets, but didn't realize most of the cause boils down to policy decisions. Call your elected officials and tell them you don't want to die an avoidable early death.
- epgui 4y agoI mean, what else could be the cause? One way or another, it'll come down to some insane policy decision or other. And this "states vs federal" power struggle in America (not my country) basically guarantees that there will be variance across states. The division of powers made sense in the old days, but in today's day and age it's crazy that there are not more standards set across the board at the federal level. It's not my battle to fight, but it is depressing to see America squander so many opportunities to make things better.
- Rebelgecko 4y agoEven though there's definitely a strong state by state correlation, I thought it was interesting that a number of states (like South Dakota and Wyoming) had such a wide range of outcomes. Not sure of that's just randomness due to smaller population sizes or what
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- zoklet-enjoyer 4y agoThose are reservations. MT, ND, MN, WI too https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_reservation
- Rebelgecko 4y agoWell, that's a very depressing answer to the mystery. Thanks though!
- red-iron-pine 4y agoSmaller populations, more rural populations -- see also: rural vs urban divide -- and, as another poster mentioned, Native American reservations, which are often some of the poorest areas in the US.
- ip26 4y agoThe problem with federal standards is getting everyone to agree. If state standards aren’t allowed and California wants tougher environmental standards on California land, but Texas doesn’t, you force a showdown, a loser, and simmering resentment for decades.
- epgui 4y ago100% agree with the first sentence. > If state standards aren’t allowed and California wants tougher environmental standards on California land, but Texas doesn’t, you force a showdown, a loser, and simmering resentment for decades. Federal standards are in the interest of all citizens, whether or not they frustrate some state politician or not shouldn't even count as an objection. I don't care if the Texas government is happy, but I do care if the people in Texas are healthy. Maybe that's just me though.
- ip26 4y agoFirst, I’m sure it’s hard to imagine, but California could lose said showdown and find themselves obstructed from protecting even only California. Second, it’s not just some lone politician that would care. The whole Roe v. Wade thing should have made clear that half of the country had been seething to overturn it for decades. Our whole system is built on consent of the governed; Federal mandate is therefore tricky if one large state is in overwhelming support of an issue while another is overwhelmingly opposed.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- pfannkuchen 4y agoWhat changed between the old days and now to make running many independent(ish) experiments in government stop making sense?
- lapcat 4y agoThe 13 colonies were not "experiments". They were preexisting local governments that needed to come to agreement on forming a new nation after overthrowing the rule of the British King. The compromises made in the US Constitution were the price for that agreement at the time. The problem is that people in the 21st century still feel bound by an 18th century agreement. I guess the alternative is another civil war, so that might be why the agreement lasts, no matter how shaky and dubious.
- brightball 4y agoMany US states are size equivalent to entire EU countries. There’s no need to let the EU control those countries directly, same goes for states. Going one level higher up the chain doesn’t gain anything other than further separating people from policy makers.
- lapcat 4y agoHowever, US states are vastly more interconnected than EU countries. We all (well, mostly) speak the same language, we all use the same currency and always have used the same currency, you can walk or drive across the borders of any states with nobody checking or caring, and indeed states don't need to take individual responsibility for protecting their borders militarily. You can live and work in any state you want and move to or work in a different state at any time. The US military is mostly nationalized. The state-based National Guard does exist, but it's quite small and weak compared to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. And the National Guard doesn't have nuclear weapons! Imagine if individual US states controlled nukes...
- 23B1 4y agoSure seems to me like any time the technocrat/commentariat/coastal crowd point out the various problems with the American South, it's always with this patronizing schadenfreude vibe. "Haha guys look at the poor dumb hicks who don't know what's best for them"
- hotpotamus 4y agoI had a co-worker whose neighbor died recently not all that much after his 40th birthday from some combination of smoking, occupational exposure to construction debris/chemicals, and long covid. He was on the list for a lung transplant for a bit, but no one seemed to believe that gave him any chance, and it did not. Perhaps if he had not smoked, worn proper PPE when needed, and gotten a covid vaccine, he would be alive today. It seems that his downwardly mobile southern culture failed him quite completely, but I do agree that if you had told him that, you'd probably be thought of as a patronizing.
- lapcat 4y ago> Call your elected officials and tell them you don't want to die an avoidable early death. I'm pretty sure they know that already.
- themitigating 4y agoExactly, I'll tell them I want restrictions on guns, more speed limit enforcement, universal healthcar....oh you were trying to be sarcastic
- wesleywt 4y agoI don't think you have noticed. But politics has devolved into being anti-woke rather than making adult policy decisions.