4 ms·

> If congress decides the people care things will change Hah

by throwaway27448 5mo ago

bluGill 5mo ago
Midterm elections are coming up.
- amanaplanacanal 5mo ago
  I think they are afraid they are going to get creamed in November, but for some reason they are more afraid of the president. They might not be wrong about this, the president is known for siccing the department of Justice on his political enemies.
  - cmrdporcupine 5mo ago
    As a Canadian watching from a distance the fact that the administration and its congressional allies etc don't seem to be concerned at all about what is going to happen in November gives me a lot of apprehension about what they might know that is not being stated publicly. Midterms coming up and prosecuting an endless "war" that doubles gas prices, and not seeming concerned at all about the blowback? What's up with that?
    - SpicyLemonZest 5mo ago
      Once you accept that Trump is literally senile, a lot of things click into place. Why does he seem unable to predict obvious consequences of the actions he takes? Why does he fixate on random mean words and repeat them with no regard for normal political strategy? Why does he randomly fall asleep on camera? When he says that he has no reason to worry because the polls show everyone loves him, I think he genuinely believes that.
      - cmrdporcupine 5mo ago
        That's a given, but what is the excuse for Bessent and so on, who are clearly very smart. Just in a really bad way.
        thatguy0900 5mo ago
        To some extent those people have all been vastly enriching themselves with insider trading. They're going to be getting pardons as well. What's the worst that will probably happen to them, they retire to some country with their new fortunes?
        kashunstva 5mo ago
        Bessent is really smart? It’s possible he may be; but he communicates so poorly, that unless you knew anything of his background (I do not.) then it would be hard to assess. If he understands anything about monetary policy, apart from personal enrichment - which of course is a given in this administration, one couldn’t discern that from his public utterances.
        cmrdporcupine 5mo ago
        I'd say it's not ... smart about economics. No, he clearly is not. He's a blunt ideological tool for a kleptocracy. More smart about politics and power in the Machiavellian sense.
        SpicyLemonZest 5mo ago
        They correctly understand that a boss who randomly assigns them new shoes (https://archive.is/2Z4qS https://archive.is/2Z4qS) is too far gone and will not reward them for bringing attention to political issues he thinks are fake news. I'm sure Bessent is already planning his tell-all memoir about how he worked hard behind the scenes against the scheming viziers who were causing all the problems.
- throwaway27448 5mo ago
  When you figure out how to leverage a vote to get something, let me know. Last time I tried this I was screamed at for electing a fascist for withholding it.
  - bluGill 4mo ago
    You will be screamed at no matter what you do. So don't let that get in your way. It is important to vote. Remember when people are screaming that at least you're sending a message because votes even for third parties are counted and when third parties start to get a lot of attention that does change what the major parties do. So don't worry about so-called wasted votes. They're never wasted. Sometimes you don't have a good option, but you can pick the best option you have.
  - GJim 4mo ago
    "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice".
    - throwaway27448 4mo ago
      When our state furnishes candidates worth voting for, maybe I'll consider it a democracy.
GJim 5mo ago
That fatalistic attitude is why your democracy is in peril. Get off your arse and take lessons on protesting from the French.
- deleted 5mo ago
  [deleted]
- engineer_22 5mo ago
  Social unrest is not usually a hallmark of a functioning society.
  - GJim 4mo ago
    Social unrest is how equality and functional societies were obtained.
    - bluGill 4mo ago
      A society needs to allow that unrest first. Both directly allow it, but also the type of thinking that would cause it.
    - throwaway27448 4mo ago
      Alright so let's obtain that society
      - cindyllm 4mo ago
        [dead]
    - engineer_22 4mo ago
      Touché But your argument implies society was dysfunctional, and unrest made it functional. I don't think we are actually disagreeing here
- Arubis 5mo ago
  The French have more of a social safety net, which enables extended protests. I understand the irony in stating this (well then, USian, get off your ass and demand a social safety net), but the chicken-and-egg problem is real. This is setting aside cultural mores and biases; for an example thereof, see sibling comment.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]

> If congress decides the people care things will change Hah

bluGill 5mo ago

Midterm elections are coming up.

amanaplanacanal 5mo ago
I think they are afraid they are going to get creamed in November, but for some reason they are more afraid of the president. They might not be wrong about this, the president is known for siccing the department of Justice on his political enemies.
- cmrdporcupine 5mo ago
  As a Canadian watching from a distance the fact that the administration and its congressional allies etc don't seem to be concerned at all about what is going to happen in November gives me a lot of apprehension about what they might know that is not being stated publicly. Midterms coming up and prosecuting an endless "war" that doubles gas prices, and not seeming concerned at all about the blowback? What's up with that?
  - SpicyLemonZest 5mo ago
    Once you accept that Trump is literally senile, a lot of things click into place. Why does he seem unable to predict obvious consequences of the actions he takes? Why does he fixate on random mean words and repeat them with no regard for normal political strategy? Why does he randomly fall asleep on camera? When he says that he has no reason to worry because the polls show everyone loves him, I think he genuinely believes that.
    - cmrdporcupine 5mo ago
      That's a given, but what is the excuse for Bessent and so on, who are clearly very smart. Just in a really bad way.
      - thatguy0900 5mo ago
        To some extent those people have all been vastly enriching themselves with insider trading. They're going to be getting pardons as well. What's the worst that will probably happen to them, they retire to some country with their new fortunes?
      - kashunstva 5mo ago
        Bessent is really smart? It’s possible he may be; but he communicates so poorly, that unless you knew anything of his background (I do not.) then it would be hard to assess. If he understands anything about monetary policy, apart from personal enrichment - which of course is a given in this administration, one couldn’t discern that from his public utterances.
        cmrdporcupine 5mo ago
        I'd say it's not ... smart about economics. No, he clearly is not. He's a blunt ideological tool for a kleptocracy. More smart about politics and power in the Machiavellian sense.
      - SpicyLemonZest 5mo ago
        They correctly understand that a boss who randomly assigns them new shoes (https://archive.is/2Z4qS https://archive.is/2Z4qS) is too far gone and will not reward them for bringing attention to political issues he thinks are fake news. I'm sure Bessent is already planning his tell-all memoir about how he worked hard behind the scenes against the scheming viziers who were causing all the problems.
throwaway27448 5mo ago
When you figure out how to leverage a vote to get something, let me know. Last time I tried this I was screamed at for electing a fascist for withholding it.
- bluGill 4mo ago
  You will be screamed at no matter what you do. So don't let that get in your way. It is important to vote. Remember when people are screaming that at least you're sending a message because votes even for third parties are counted and when third parties start to get a lot of attention that does change what the major parties do. So don't worry about so-called wasted votes. They're never wasted. Sometimes you don't have a good option, but you can pick the best option you have.
- GJim 4mo ago
  "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice".
  - throwaway27448 4mo ago
    When our state furnishes candidates worth voting for, maybe I'll consider it a democracy.

GJim 5mo ago

That fatalistic attitude is why your democracy is in peril. Get off your arse and take lessons on protesting from the French.

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
engineer_22 5mo ago
Social unrest is not usually a hallmark of a functioning society.
- GJim 4mo ago
  Social unrest is how equality and functional societies were obtained.
  - bluGill 4mo ago
    A society needs to allow that unrest first. Both directly allow it, but also the type of thinking that would cause it.
  - throwaway27448 4mo ago
    Alright so let's obtain that society
    - cindyllm 4mo ago
      [dead]
  - engineer_22 4mo ago
    Touché But your argument implies society was dysfunctional, and unrest made it functional. I don't think we are actually disagreeing here
Arubis 5mo ago
The French have more of a social safety net, which enables extended protests. I understand the irony in stating this (well then, USian, get off your ass and demand a social safety net), but the chicken-and-egg problem is real. This is setting aside cultural mores and biases; for an example thereof, see sibling comment.

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]