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> There is one party that benefits from people with foreign mindsets participating in American elections. It's well on display in the article too with the mult

> There is one party that benefits from people with foreign mindsets participating in American elections. It's well on display in the article too with the multiple examples of recent immigrants bemoaning [price] inflation, but then just assuming this is the immediate fault of the current administration and going on to say they're going to vote for former party that was actually responsible for creating much of the core [monetary] inflation that is driving current price inflation. Some basic education in economics and more on separation of powers (aka bureaucracy) could do wonders.

rayiner 2y ago
I don’t disagree with your overall point, but I don’t think it’s a matter of “education.” Average people don’t vote/act according to formally reasoning things out. They act based on intuition and socialization. And the socialization of immigrants is completely different than of the people who founded the country. I know a bunch of New England Congregationalists. These are people whose families came over on the Mayflower. And from my perspective as a Bangladeshi they’re like some alien civilization. Like, they find it vaguely unseemly to have food with too much flavor. But they have a crazy high conscientiousness and process-focus, high social trust, and a reflexive aversion to waste. When you put people like that in charge of a country, it turns out a certain way. If those people still comprised the majority of voters, we probably wouldn’t have a $35 trillion debt today. At a G7 meeting after the global financial crisis, Angela Merkel, daughter of a Lutheran pastor, started crying because the other countries insisted Germany engage in deficit spending. Bangladeshis wouldn’t act like that.
- mindslight 2y ago
  Yeah, "education" was not the right word. My own gripe is more about something like critical analysis in the context of our larger system. Continuing with the example, the commenters in the article were likely spurred on by the reactionary media constantly taking the very real issue of inflation and then fallaciously pinning it on the current administration. But instead of defending themselves, sticking with the topic, and directing blame where it belongs (massive monetary creation hidden while monetary velocity was very low), the democratic party seemingly reacts something like "oh no, not inflation again. did we cause it this time? we can't even remember. best to stay quiet.", and then goes on talking about their own disjoint narratives, with that same setup of a core of truth but the conclusions running amok. And sorry, but your initial point was very much partisan. You didn't name a specific party, but you certainly directed people to focus on one of them. Even if different people focused on different parties, that's still driving partisanship. Personally I see the effects we're each describing playing out for the immediate benefit of both political teams, with the loser being any sort of shared discourse.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - rayiner 2y ago
    I agree with you about the causes of the current fiscal situation. If you look at videos from 2008, Trump was criticizing the Fed’s zero interest rate policy saying it would cause a problem down the line. Then what did he do once in office? Sent everyone checks with his name on them. That’s the exact sort of thing politicians do in Bangladesh. My mom, who never even considered voting for Romney or McCain or Bush, is hoping Trump beats Harris. The GOP is doing what it needs to adapt to cultural change, just as it did with Reagan, who flipped Catholics by declaring a truce with the new deal.

rayiner 2y ago

I don’t disagree with your overall point, but I don’t think it’s a matter of “education.” Average people don’t vote/act according to formally reasoning things out. They act based on intuition and socialization. And the socialization of immigrants is completely different than of the people who founded the country. I know a bunch of New England Congregationalists. These are people whose families came over on the Mayflower. And from my perspective as a Bangladeshi they’re like some alien civilization. Like, they find it vaguely unseemly to have food with too much flavor. But they have a crazy high conscientiousness and process-focus, high social trust, and a reflexive aversion to waste. When you put people like that in charge of a country, it turns out a certain way. If those people still comprised the majority of voters, we probably wouldn’t have a $35 trillion debt today. At a G7 meeting after the global financial crisis, Angela Merkel, daughter of a Lutheran pastor, started crying because the other countries insisted Germany engage in deficit spending. Bangladeshis wouldn’t act like that.

mindslight 2y ago
Yeah, "education" was not the right word. My own gripe is more about something like critical analysis in the context of our larger system. Continuing with the example, the commenters in the article were likely spurred on by the reactionary media constantly taking the very real issue of inflation and then fallaciously pinning it on the current administration. But instead of defending themselves, sticking with the topic, and directing blame where it belongs (massive monetary creation hidden while monetary velocity was very low), the democratic party seemingly reacts something like "oh no, not inflation again. did we cause it this time? we can't even remember. best to stay quiet.", and then goes on talking about their own disjoint narratives, with that same setup of a core of truth but the conclusions running amok. And sorry, but your initial point was very much partisan. You didn't name a specific party, but you certainly directed people to focus on one of them. Even if different people focused on different parties, that's still driving partisanship. Personally I see the effects we're each describing playing out for the immediate benefit of both political teams, with the loser being any sort of shared discourse.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- rayiner 2y ago
  I agree with you about the causes of the current fiscal situation. If you look at videos from 2008, Trump was criticizing the Fed’s zero interest rate policy saying it would cause a problem down the line. Then what did he do once in office? Sent everyone checks with his name on them. That’s the exact sort of thing politicians do in Bangladesh. My mom, who never even considered voting for Romney or McCain or Bush, is hoping Trump beats Harris. The GOP is doing what it needs to adapt to cultural change, just as it did with Reagan, who flipped Catholics by declaring a truce with the new deal.