Okay, so I was trying to make the point that wisdom of crowds was what I think is the missing sauce to the current political discourse. I know the government is wiretapping, you know the government is wiretapping, we both know it is an issue and bad, but the communities that vote currently do not and whenever a movement comes that starts moving that way, the movement gets scattered via every way imaginable (lawyers, FCC confusing net neutrality with net neutrality, patriots have nothing to hide, and Google’s “we collect but we have no plans to use it, yet besides we don’t do evil, yet”). Therefore as an example of “something that is bad that is not remediated because there is not a functioning society”, wiretapping serves as a perfect example. I really wish that we had more digital protections where I live.
I agree that there are different periods of time that have different “center” defining political action. If i were magically transported into the 90s then i would be a radical leftist. If I were here and now, i would say that i am left leaning in most areas, but the jury is out how to get the best result while applying (e.g. UBI, Net worth taxes, antitrust laws, long term cohesive plans against multi decade centers of power (China, Russia, Oligarchs in the USA) when the USA political cycle can be busted in an election cycle or two and some advertising spending, long term plans regarding energy when multi decade centers of power (Oil Oligarchs and coal lobbies) can overturn in an election cycle or two, etc.
Every single person on the planet was born to a place with a history and a family with a history. The USA did/does bad stuff to acquire power then grows a conscience and forces other nations to abide (perhaps to maintain their position of power). All growing up I had the USA portrayed as the “White Knight” who was protecting & allowing the world to grow while the bad guys were kept in check. I really don’t know exactly all the nuances of the last 50 years and requiring me to do the research to do my civic duty is an extra uphill battle right now (also I don’t like doing it, so i would prefer not to do it. I get depressed and paranoid the more i do it.) Right now I have to choose someone to trust regarding news before I form an opinion and vote. I really wish there was someone to “cheat off of” who was a news buff who wasn’t infected by the “all or nothing” mentality that seems to pervade everywhere. I wish that all the people in congress (republican and democrat) crossed the aisle on every 3rd issue based on what would actually be good for constituents. The amount of crossing the aisle has decreased with each election cycle.
Regarding starting a war to prevent war is a story of geometric progression aka exponential growth. Tesla ignored/laughed China’s BYD from 10 years ago, and BYD is now eating Tesla’s proverbial lunch in the luxury electric car sector. I was not trying to say it as an example that would make this seem like an extreme idea. This is just an idea that is applied throughout nature and human interaction throughout all ideas (from water rights to food security to economic wars (tarrifs/sanctions) to boots on the ground wars). Sorry that it seemed like I was going toward an “extreme” right or “extreme” left with that.
whenever a movement comes that starts moving that way, the movement gets scattered via every way imaginable (lawyers, FCC confusing net neutrality with net neutrality, patriots have nothing to hide, and Google’s “we collect but we have no plans to use it, yet besides we don’t do evil, yet”). Therefore as an example of “something that is bad that is not remediated because there is not a functioning society”
More specifically, it’s subverted by the rich and powerful. Which they are able to do as a natural consequence of the capitalist system in which we live. The only way to stop them from doing that sort of thing, of achieving a functional society, is to radically change things such that the upper class either no longer exists, or has a very limited ability to exert influence over government policy and public opinion.
The USA did/does bad stuff to acquire power then grows a conscience and forces other nations to abide (perhaps to maintain their position of power). All growing up I had the USA portrayed as the “White Knight” who was protecting & allowing the world to grow while the bad guys were kept in check.
That’s just propaganda and myth. The US went into Iraq and Afghanistan because of the material interests of the rich. Note that they have not invaded, or even stopped giving weapons to countries with atrocious human rights like Saudi Arabia or Israel. US foreign policy has always been about imperialism, it’s just more mask-off now than it has been.
I wish that all the people in congress (republican and democrat) crossed the aisle on every 3rd issue based on what would actually be good for constituents.
You know who loved crossing the aisle? Barack Obama. He ran as much more progressive than he actually governed, he bent over backwards to work with the Republicans even when the Democrats had a trifecta in government. And what did that get him? Complete stonewalling, vitriol, and hatred.
The mentality of the right today, this total unwillingness to compromise, has been seen before in history. It was the same mentality that they had in the Antebellum period regarding slavery. It was the mentality of Hitler, refusing to be satisfied even after taking Austria and Czechoslovakia. Each time, there has only been one way for that mentality to be changed, and that is by stomping it into the dirt and crushing it by force of arms. The right will simply keep going, and every concession will be percieved as a sign of weakness, up until reality smacks them down in one form or another. Hopefully, that will happen before it reaches the scale of global thermonuclear war.
How many times we have to try and fail to accomplish anything with this centrist, compromising approach, before you’re willing to consider the fact that it doesn’t work if the other side is stonewalling?
Okay, so I was trying to make the point that wisdom of crowds was what I think is the missing sauce to the current political discourse. I know the government is wiretapping, you know the government is wiretapping, we both know it is an issue and bad, but the communities that vote currently do not and whenever a movement comes that starts moving that way, the movement gets scattered via every way imaginable (lawyers, FCC confusing net neutrality with net neutrality, patriots have nothing to hide, and Google’s “we collect but we have no plans to use it, yet besides we don’t do evil, yet”). Therefore as an example of “something that is bad that is not remediated because there is not a functioning society”, wiretapping serves as a perfect example. I really wish that we had more digital protections where I live.
I agree that there are different periods of time that have different “center” defining political action. If i were magically transported into the 90s then i would be a radical leftist. If I were here and now, i would say that i am left leaning in most areas, but the jury is out how to get the best result while applying (e.g. UBI, Net worth taxes, antitrust laws, long term cohesive plans against multi decade centers of power (China, Russia, Oligarchs in the USA) when the USA political cycle can be busted in an election cycle or two and some advertising spending, long term plans regarding energy when multi decade centers of power (Oil Oligarchs and coal lobbies) can overturn in an election cycle or two, etc.
Every single person on the planet was born to a place with a history and a family with a history. The USA did/does bad stuff to acquire power then grows a conscience and forces other nations to abide (perhaps to maintain their position of power). All growing up I had the USA portrayed as the “White Knight” who was protecting & allowing the world to grow while the bad guys were kept in check. I really don’t know exactly all the nuances of the last 50 years and requiring me to do the research to do my civic duty is an extra uphill battle right now (also I don’t like doing it, so i would prefer not to do it. I get depressed and paranoid the more i do it.) Right now I have to choose someone to trust regarding news before I form an opinion and vote. I really wish there was someone to “cheat off of” who was a news buff who wasn’t infected by the “all or nothing” mentality that seems to pervade everywhere. I wish that all the people in congress (republican and democrat) crossed the aisle on every 3rd issue based on what would actually be good for constituents. The amount of crossing the aisle has decreased with each election cycle.
Regarding starting a war to prevent war is a story of geometric progression aka exponential growth. Tesla ignored/laughed China’s BYD from 10 years ago, and BYD is now eating Tesla’s proverbial lunch in the luxury electric car sector. I was not trying to say it as an example that would make this seem like an extreme idea. This is just an idea that is applied throughout nature and human interaction throughout all ideas (from water rights to food security to economic wars (tarrifs/sanctions) to boots on the ground wars). Sorry that it seemed like I was going toward an “extreme” right or “extreme” left with that.
More specifically, it’s subverted by the rich and powerful. Which they are able to do as a natural consequence of the capitalist system in which we live. The only way to stop them from doing that sort of thing, of achieving a functional society, is to radically change things such that the upper class either no longer exists, or has a very limited ability to exert influence over government policy and public opinion.
That’s just propaganda and myth. The US went into Iraq and Afghanistan because of the material interests of the rich. Note that they have not invaded, or even stopped giving weapons to countries with atrocious human rights like Saudi Arabia or Israel. US foreign policy has always been about imperialism, it’s just more mask-off now than it has been.
You know who loved crossing the aisle? Barack Obama. He ran as much more progressive than he actually governed, he bent over backwards to work with the Republicans even when the Democrats had a trifecta in government. And what did that get him? Complete stonewalling, vitriol, and hatred.
The mentality of the right today, this total unwillingness to compromise, has been seen before in history. It was the same mentality that they had in the Antebellum period regarding slavery. It was the mentality of Hitler, refusing to be satisfied even after taking Austria and Czechoslovakia. Each time, there has only been one way for that mentality to be changed, and that is by stomping it into the dirt and crushing it by force of arms. The right will simply keep going, and every concession will be percieved as a sign of weakness, up until reality smacks them down in one form or another. Hopefully, that will happen before it reaches the scale of global thermonuclear war.
How many times we have to try and fail to accomplish anything with this centrist, compromising approach, before you’re willing to consider the fact that it doesn’t work if the other side is stonewalling?