Was reading an article about religion being important to designing our social constructs and social organization. It gives us the power and willingness to sacrifice, which creates the sense of cooperation needed to make a large group sustainable.
Why, from an evolutionary point of view, would someone signal religious commitment? A likely explanation is that the function is to secure the benefits of cooperation. Cooperation with others is often a risky activity: there is the constant possibility that the other person will free-ride or cheat, making off with the benefits without paying the costs. The more complex the social group, and the easier it is to move between groups, the higher the risks: whereas in small groups we can keep track of who is honest and reliable, in a large group or when interacting with strangers, we can’t rely on reputation.
And it got me back to thinking about religion's waning influence on society. Aside from football teams (a very small impact on general society) and political groups, I cannot think of any other social groups that allow us to signal cooperation towards a better society.
Are you concerned about how Trump's impeachment will impact our divided society?
Not as concerned as I am that Trump has irrevocably damaged the fabric of honest political discourse in this country.
Not as concerned as I am that politics is now a religion itself unconcerned with facts and analysis and more concerned with blind fealty in the name of "winning".
Not as concerned as I am that Trump has effectively eliminated the idea that there are things such as facts that need not be disputed.
I personally hope he's thrown out of office as fast as possible, but realize that won't happen. Hopefully he's voted out, I don't even care who wins at this point. Almost anything is better than the caricature we currently have in office. It's an embarrassment.
oh ok.
All ideology should be left out of the conversation, with maybe the exception to the Fed. We're much more advanced than Adam Smith and Keynes. The only ideology should be the American ideal of freedom and exceptionalism.
I could not agree more (although impeachment has always been an inherently political process)
Trump is a threat to both freedom, cozying up to dictators and constantly degrading the existence of objective facts, and American exceptionalism, being a complete laughing stock to the international community and dramatically reducing our allies' confidence in American leadership.
His removal from office should not be ideologically-driven. It should be a statement of patriotism and an express endorsement of the Constitution of the United States. Instead, he most likely will remain in office because his political allies would rather excuse his multitude of crimes than take a political loss for the sake of the country.
Amen.
Also, this is a HUGE deal to me:
I think the ramifications of this will present itself for a long time. I very good example of this is the OJ trial. Everything pointed to him being guilty, but the use of gas lighting and other (admittedly brilliant) techniques the defense used got him off of the murder charge. This is a hyperfocused example that will play out on broader scales now that my opinion > your fact.
There's a lot going on here.
There are thousands of non-religious charities and other groups that allow just that - not to mention groups that work toward combating climate change, voting rights, etc. that some groups would argue would provide a better society.
If anything, religious affiliation in 2019 is a neutral to negative indicator of one's willingness to cooperate or willingness to work toward a better society, depending on the religion and how that person expresses it.
No. Trump is the result of a divided society, not the cause.
Trump is actively undermining Democracy and the Presidency. He attempted to coerce a friendly foreign government to investigate a political rival by withholding aid. His administration admitted this, live, to the press. He peddles conspiracy theories, created by a foreign antagonist who actually did interfere with the last presidential election, about said friendly foreign government, even though it has been thoroughly debunked. His policies have led to a rise in white nationalism and children being separated from their parents and kept in cages. Many, many people he has hired have been convicted of crimes, including multiple felonies. He degrades the office on an almost daily basis - attacking individual citizens, rambling on about toilets and other nonsense, lying continuously, stealing money from his own charity, etc. His government and the right wing media circus spread a constant assault on objective truths. He is a laughingstock to the international community we once led. That doesn't even get into his personal failures, like all of the claims of sexual assault.
The divide in our society is what allows this - it isn't a result of it. Republicans will acquit Trump in the impeachment hearing, for purely political reasons, signaling to both Trump and future presidents that such crimes can go without punishment.
I agree impeachment is not far off base because he has betrayed the country by making a mockery of the office.
So let's bring it back to what he has done or is doing that would be missed when he leaves office (from impeachment, end of term, or voting out). I'm sure some Trump boyos will chime in eventually.
I think he made a first pass at some things that are important to the country such as border security and trying to understand better our relationship with China and it's rising influence on the world.
The candidates in the frontrunning like Bernie, Warren, Buttigiege, and Biden are mostly asked about democrat specific platform issues like medicare or private healthcare system, etc. And I think that's wrong.
I think there will be two main unfortunate aftershocks from the Trump Presidency.
The first is yet to be seen, but the Democratic party has undoubtedly shifted to the left. Whether or not Warren and Sanders are the new flag-bearers or Buttigieg or Biden inevitably get the nomination, there are going to be far-left policies that the candidate agrees to in order to keep the progressive wing of the party from staying home. Trump has already emboldened the progressive wing of the party, creating a situation where they can say or propose almost anything (wealth tax? green new deal?) and still have it be preferable to a continuation of the Trump presidency. I think that the issue of Border Security specifically will shift too far to the left as a result of Trump and Stephen Miller's disgusting inhumane approach to migrants. There will be overcompensation across the political spectrum to clean up the mess this administration leaves behind. Taxes will definitely go up.
The second is that I think the Republican party/Fox News' disinformation campaign is going to get worse before it gets better. Republicans were do-nothing obstructionists toward the end of Obama's Presidency, and had already talked about immediately impeaching Hillary if she won the 2016 election. While I think it is doubtful Trump gets reelected, I do think Republicans will maintain control of the Senate, and there is no reason to believe that there will be a willingness to work with whichever Democrat is in the Presidency. I would expect the spread of nonsense, conspiracy theories, and "alternative facts" to continue.
All of this is unfortunate. I was a staunch Republican all of my life up until only a few years ago and still believe in a lot of what the party used to stand for. While I undoubtedly have become more liberal over the years, the party has also left people like me - well-educated, successful people in urban areas - in the past. I have no time for hate, either overt or of the dog whistle variety, anti-intellectualism, climate denial, nonsensical conspiracy theories, or allowing rampant criminality. The country needs an effective and common sense party that supports small business and small government while championing personal freedoms. It doesn't have one.
This isn't a uniquely American problem either. England's election today is between their own isolationist embarrassment of a leader and a thoroughly unlikable and out of the mainstream opposition candidate.
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