Bay 12 Games Forum

I believe democracy works. But this crisis has shown me that the US political system does not.

Having done some deep thinking, I've come to the conclusion that the root of the problem is a vicious cycle. First, that we do not have Democracy in the United States, but rather a failed democracy based on minority rule on multiple levels, from city/county to federal. This minority rule goes to whichever group is most effective at branding, not at policy, argument, coherency, or any other useful metric. Due to this, effective leadership and sound policy is the exception, rather than the rule. And so, the population of the voting public has less information, less education, less engagement, and less trust for its government.

This results in an impoverished, ignorant, and hateful populous that cannot discriminate between good leaders and bad, and is uninterested in policy or ethics. The only way to win over such a group is to have the right regional appellation. I specifically include Democrats in this not because they are as bad as Republicans (Democratic politicians are not so cynically broken as Republicans, and in fact in some places do indeed provide a path to recover), but rather because they are still stuck in the same system, so even the effective politicians of the left must use the same dirty tools.

We see ourselves that in the primary, the winner was not the one with an effective policy proposal, not the one who had no sex scandals, not the one who was most coherent and healthy, not the one who was able to reach out to minorities, and not the one who was closer in age to the voting public, but instead the one with the greatest brand recognition.

I do not know how to recover from this. We see that the ignorant American public is already killing itself by legislature by voting against healthcare, and against global cooperation. We see it is killing itself by turning against the WHO and other international cooperation.

In fact, the more I consider it, I wonder if this is how the purge of the unemployable will go. I don't see how the economy can possibly recover without a restructuring that there is no signs of happening. People think it will go back to normal on its own, but that will take decades of growth at old rates. Without a socialist reconstruction, the poverty will kill far more people than the plague. This is not to criticize shelter-in-place orders; it's the failure to plan for recovery that worries me. And that is, as they say, a plan to fail.

We need a new way of doing things. The lessons before us are obvious, but so many Americans will refuse to learn. Food is more expensive than we thought, when you aren't using slaves to harvest it. Communication networks are essential, and must not be built on arbitrary limitations and expectations. Medicine is a human right, and needs expert leadership, not partisan or self-interested administration. Commerce inevitably fails in emergencies.

If Americans deserve life and liberty, this is the event that will destroy the Democratic and Republican parties.

Is right now really the time to be repeating the same sectarian nonsense that's been floating around for decades? The states are largely identical, and where they are different is largely the effect of subgroups within the state -- no state has some magical effect that ends right at its borders. If Four Corners shifted to the left twenty miles, nobody would be able to just tell. California's forest fires are a by-product of rural land-use policies and easy commutes; the water it moves comes largely from within the state itself; the earthquakes, well the earthquakes are a gimmie.

My point is, we're all facing the return of a banished horseman of the apocalypse. I'd argue that the only thing worth really consider among the differences between states, or indeed nations, is whether or not their governments are 1: wise enough to recommend the correct action; 2: trustworthy enough to be listened to; and 3: honest enough to reveal even the data that is not flattering.

While so far California's state actions have been reasonably decent, I can't say the same for the federal political structure in both parties. Rand Paul has taken a radically pro-pestilence stance, and Nancy Pelosi is now several steps to the right of Donald Trump, arguing against strong support for those affected for Coronavirus while taking decisive action to insulate herself from the economic shock by selling her stock based on inside information. I want her recalled, or maybe impeached.

White man whose brain is unraveling vs Orange man whose brain is unraveling

Much wow.
Such vote

People had a chance to vote for Bernie, but the south spoke. They want to have a delirious racist to replace the delirious racist.

Progressives didn't show up at the polls. We got what we deserved.

I believed that Bernie was able to energize the populous, to get people to actually be assed to show up, but I was wrong.

As much as I hate Biden and everything he stands for, he's still going to be better than Trump. And apparently Biden supporters actually know that you have to vote instead of fucking tweeting about it.

The progressive movement in the US is pathetic.

I am losing faith in polling very rapidly. I took the Trump victory as just MSN/Fox manipulation; 538 gave him a 30%, and winning with those odds is pretty much possible.

But looking at the vast disparity between the environment I see and the forecasts before and after the early primaries, I don't understand how anyone thought Biden had a chance, nor how he can have one going forward. But the polls are saying that the massive front-runner with a huge base and an energized support network has a less than 50% chance of winning, about the same odds as a contested convention.

This is bizarre. Why didn't Biden face a contested convention when he was the "front runner?" The next few contests are going to prove it. If these forecasts keep being so far off the mark so regularly, I don't see how political forecasting can claim to be any kind of science.

If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the political subsection of an internet forum dedicated to instructing an entire society of bearded psychopaths what do to with their every waking hour.