Democrats & Republicans would rather rehash the same issue (2A) that we all know isn’t going to change, no amount of mass shootings in this country will make the idiots in charge change anything related to the second amendment.
In the last 6 months, inflation has continued to rampant and the overall economy has worsened tremendously, we are virtually at the breaking point of a full-blown financial crisis and all dems/republicans can seem to care about is scoring jabs at each other. For reference, this week I saw from fox that Ron DeSantis was facing backlash for eating pudding with three fingers.
Biden’s not concerned with inflation? He doesn’t even know what he had for fucking breakfast.
I would have considered myself a democrat by all means but in my lifetime I have witnessed nothing inspirational or to get behind and support. There needs to be a massive exodus on the hill. Things need to change.
Think of politicians as investment bank MDs.
Like MDs, politicians do not care about you at all, but they need you (but only a little bit). MDs need you to crank out comment turns and model updates, and politicians need you to keep them in office. While IBs at least pay you salary and bonus (during good years), politicians do nothing for you. They pass legislation that may benefit you, but that is never their intention or priority.
They want to maximize their wealth and operate in their own best interests, and will never advocate or go to bat for you. They do not care about what's best for their country, they are motivated solely by short-term greed. Same with how an MD doesnt give two shits if his bank goes under the day after he retires, so what?
Politicians and Banker MDs ask themselves the same question when it comes to virtually all work-related decision making: How can I get exorbitantly wealthy as quickly as possible, and then, how can they see multiples of that initial wealth? It is much easier to view politicians accordingly when you view them in the appropriate light.
"2 party" (uniparty & other) system is a bitch isn't it
single transferable vote in America when?
Mathematically the most sensible way to vote in primaries is to allow people to vote for as many candidates as they want on the same ballot, none of this ranked choice bullshit. This makes the vote distribution naturally center onto the candidates with the most broad appeal and doesn't allow for any of the messiness where the person who ends up winning is someone who in the primaries less than 20% of people supported in the first place. One would think Democrats might support such a measure because it gives a much truer sense of meaning to the popular vote, but inherently threatens the 2-party system since it lets alternative parties have a realistic competitive opportunity if they can reach broader appeal which is much easier in the modern age (since they would no longer be seen as throwing away a vote).
Both parties play for the same team. Their worst nightmare is the population realizing that. Also, absolute wall of text below, not gonna lie.
DT6 made a remarkable parallel with the MD comment. In our current state, politicians do need us, but only ever so slightly. While I'd like to say I'm optimistic that'll change, as long as we continue to be force-fed fake culture wars, angry partisan news, and a general sense of "the other party is your enemy" talk, I wonder if we'll ever learn to work with one another again. Many people say we're more divided as a nation now than ever, but I wonder if that's the case. The one thing that I know is that social media has given a lot of wackjobs a sizeable audience, which may make it appear a lot more prevalent. The conspiracy theorist that once could only scream on the street corner to an audience of 50 now has a social media following of 5 million. See the issue here?
You consider(ed?) yourself a Democrat, yet are extremely dissatisfied (saying it nicely - won't put words in your mouth) with many things about the Democratic Party. I consider myself a Republican, and fucking HATE so many things about the people I have chosen to 'align' myself with. So many Democrats carry a snide sense of absolutely unbearable elitism, blatantly labeling everybody who doesn't exactly agree with them as bigoted idiots - all while simultaneously claiming that three figures of genders exist and I am supposed to pay money to members of a different race because my great-grandfather was a racist. Flip the script - Republicans create fake culture wars about how drag queens and gay people are the biggest threats to America, while still claiming the election was 'stolen' because they can't accept the fact their third grader of a President somehow didn't win reelection.
As stupid as a lot of these people may appear, I seriously doubt all of them genuinely think in the way that they speak. They're paid actors, enriched by corporations and bought out by controlled interest groups, who will say anything to rile up their respective base(s) and get the conversation off real issues. There is no remote attempt to work together, there is zero initiation to try and find common-sense solutions, and the extremes of both sides have fired up a deeply unsettling amount of people who are willing to ignore all reality and go to war over something that isn't even true. Fact-checking is nonexistent because now the 'fact-checkers' are spewing the same conspiracy bullshit as the talking heads on CNN and Fox News are. Any attempt to point out a slight modification in an argument is met with such harsh and derogatory retribution, that debate is discouraged, no one will meet in the middle, and people just fuckin' give up. At this point, can you blame 'em?
Now, the above text is my pessimistic side speaking. Maybe 'realistic' is a better word, but who knows? The optimist in me believes one thing - politicians don't start out this way. I genuinely feel as if many people start locally, with a genuine intention to help those around them. They'll win a local city council election, then rise to a State Senate seat, eventually to a U.S. Congress(wo)man of their district. They like seeing their constituents happy, and they genuinely think they're going to change the political space around them on a national level.
Then, one of two things happens: number one is the arrival of the first 'donation.' The first lobbying effort, the first kickback, the first favor that must be returned. Seems pretty easy to justify - if you were in that seat, maybe you're thinking "well, I've done a lot of good things for the people in my district. If an oil corporation wants to buy me a new car, then why not? I deserve it." Then, the second donation comes in. Then the third. You see where I'm going.
The second option is arguably sadder: politicians with any sort of moderate viewpoints go for a standard reelection run, only to find themselves primaried by a louder, more vulgar, and far more extreme version of themselves. Their once-agreeable constituents have seen how politics are now being played on the national level, and decided they want something new! They want more extreme! They want more partisan power! To keep up, this once-reasonable candidate is now being forced to campaign on things they don't believe, to be pushed farther and farther to the right or left, just so they can keep their job. Suddenly, they've become the person they never wanted to be.
This is a lot of words. Not sure what inspired me to write another novel today, but here we are. I would love to say that I think we could become more of a communal nation again, but only time will tell. Maybe one day we'll be able to look back at this cycle and think how silly it all was.
This is extremely well articulated, I couldnt agree more Stonks1990
This is demonstrably true. I can't find the place where I found the data, but I took a class in college about Congress and our professor conducted research on how the average congressman from their respective party has increasingly diverged from the middle of their respective camps (i.e., Dems in the House are increasingly left and Republicans are increasingly right). Of course, this is the outcome of a first-past-the-post electoral system for Congress (both Alaska and Maine replaced it with a ranked-choice voting system although I haven't done as much research about it).
I forget the other statistic but from what I remember, voter turnout is higher in presidential elections than in local elections, which is again telling and the product of the political class riling people up instead of voters caring about their local communities (where they have the largest influence on a daily basis).
There's a difference between fringe and leadership. The leadership of the republican party engages in BS cultural issues you mention above, while the fringes of the democratic party engage in what you have issue with. It's a false equivalency.
The difference is that the majority of national-stage democrats are not advocating for reparations (it's a city council initiative with no teeth in San Francisco...) and shrug at what gender someone wants to call themselves, while the majority of national-stage republicans ARE spending the majority of their time passing anti-gay / anti-trans bills and ARE publicly saying the election was rigged. It's literally DeSantis and Kevin McCarthy's entire strategy to enflame the culture war that you yourself say is red meat - what national-stage democrat goes on TV talking about reparations?
The fact is the republicans are going to crash the economy this summer with the debt ceiling - McCarthy's hands are completely tied by his faustian bargain with the extreme wing of the party. They are GOING to tie something culture war to the bill, and if McCarthy pulls it out they will yank his leadership (he gave them that power to win the speakership). The bill will be DOA and the US will default on its debt, all because the GOP absolutely hates gay people.
I assume you're being deliberately disingenuous here to score some partisan points. You're telling me that Democrats don't push nonsensical culture war issues? I can name Critical Race theory in schools, shutting down schools over COVID, pretending our border isn't in crisis, defund the police, pushing gun bans, etc. And don't get me started on the way you all treat crime in your cities. It's embarrassing.
If Republicans give too big a spotlight to fringe crazies, then Dems certainly give too big a spotlight to rabid Progressive interests far outside of the mainstream.
BTW I've heard that Republicans will crash the economy over the debt ceiling every time a democrat president has been in office going back some 20 years now- has yet to materialize but always makes a great talking point and you clearly believe it, which just shows you how these partisan conflicts inform voter perceptions.
"Be the change you seek."
Why were my posts "removed by the mod team"? Can you point to what I said that was offensive, or that wasn't the view of a majority of this country and a (very sizable) supermajority of the world?
As they say, finance is Hollywood for smart people, sports is Hollywood for athletic people, politics is Hollywood for ugly people, and Hollywood is Hollywood for good looking people. All in all, it operates the same, meaning, its all about making money, usually from drawing eyeballs. So you might be a hardcore basketball fan and want defense in the NBA, but the way to make money is games that are 151-149. Or you might want a perfectly acted and directed drama movie with depth, but you get another FAst and Furious movie.
My girlfriend works in politics, sees this all the time. Americas on average have a 6th grade reading level, a lot don't vote, most voters have no idea about the topics and vote along party lines or whoever they seem to like more. No one, including the politicians, know whats going on or how to effectively fix things, they're just trying to get re-elected an the medias trying to draw eyeballs. So nothing can tell you about Mit Romney's policies, but everyone knows Binders full of woman. Or people probably couldn't tell you any presidential candidates tax policies in elections they've voted in, but everyone remembers Ken Bone.
The people (voters) to me are the worst. I can never get over when Presidents have rallies and there are growth men standing behind them going wild; as a man I don't think I'll ever be that excited over another man/woman/person whose not related to me (even then). The extreme ones are the ones we cater to, and they are blind as ever, posting on social media, going to rallies, but what really has changed. But its flashy and gets people going, when really they could get into local politics and actually make a change, or volunteer and help people.
Want to offer a bit of a different take here:
I was born and raised in DC, have been exposed to this stuff all of my life, and by sheer luck I am close with people who have wielded serious influence over the functioning of our government/country.
First things first, there are two sides of each politician you all are talking about: a public version and a private version. The public version will talk about 2A, abortion, police violence, etc because its what their constituents want. The private version is much more pragmatic and focused on governing effectively and in the interests of their constituents. Yes, there are exceptions, but this is what I've found to be true.
Funny enough, I know for a fact that some of the most far-right politicians are actually very close friends with other far-left politicians.
Also LMAO if you think congresspeople are calling all the shots and making shit happen. They're absolutely not. The power of policy officials and their workforces cannot be understated.
Bottom line, the people who are actually creating and executing impactful policies will never be on TV or in the papers. Maybe a few of the senior most folks will, but most are low-key by design and will stay that way.
that's as rare as a unicorn
50/50 chance you're being sarcastic, but also kinda true. It is a very transient place.
My brother raised his daughter and son in NW DC.
Blame the American people themselves. They're the ones electing these morons into office and then bitch and complain that they don't do shit for them. Pennsylvania voted for a literal retard because the TV Doctor doesn't want men using the woman's restroom. Kentucky voted for a turtle who would knowingly backstab Trump, then Kentuckians would bitch and complain he's a RINO. The country is morally corrupted and will get worse!
Politician should not be a career. You should have to have 10-15 years of business or law experience, and be wealthy enough where you can't be bought by special interets. I don't understand(I do), how politicians can go from 150k-250k salaries to 50mm net worth by just working in government.
They sell books
They didn't used to be. When we were a smaller nation it certainly came over as people who felt the need to hang up the tools for a few months in order to serve their country but then go back to work. Obviously that's changed as we know now thanks to certain political figures across the board.
And yes EH, they sell books. After the fact. Still doesn't look good to some though.
I hear a lot about who we should blame. Not effective. The question is, what do we fix and how.
Very few ideas to fix our system are actionable.
The one thing that feels actionable to me is to vote for the major party that at least sometimes wants to reduce government. Obviously that’s the GOP, even if 90% of the time they don’t even want to reduce it. At least they have a thought in that direction once in a while. Unlike the Dems who never miss an opportunity to add more regulations and taxes as a solution to every single problem. I’d rather have the guy who pretends to be about small government, and fails 90% of the time, than the guy who is fully the opposite of that.
"Reducing government" isn't going to stop cracked out homeless people from throwing piss bottles at you, stop thugs from paralyzing your aunt during a robbery, stop entire communities from ODing on fentanyl. The rot facing America is deeper and more fundamental. High level discussion about regulation, tax policy etc. is the sort of conversation you get to have when you're a real country, not a decaying husk of one.
Cool let’s do more big government. Going great, why stop.
We need to stop having dinosaurs running the country. Watching them in hearing grilling tiktok and billionaires is just a total waste of time
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