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Re: Current Events Thread
The problem we are in I think is that the current system has some serious inequalities and flaws, but yet, it's also the most successful system we have ever had, in that the cultural and technological developments our society has overseen have increased the lifespan and the standard of living of everyone, including the poor and disaffected, quite dramatically.
Who is we? When you say this is the best system we've ever had?
Humans overall.
Which isn't to say that life isn't shit for a lot of people but apparently it's actually getting less shit overall each year, and there
s less suffering now than at any other point in history - even though there's still a ton of suffering going on now.For example according to world vision website the number of kids dying from preventable causes before age 5 is less than half what it was in 1990. Likewise in 1990 36% of the world was existing on $1.90 a day or less, now that number is 9%.
Mind you they go on to talk about the risks of the pandemic reversing that progress - so I'm not saying there's no issues.
But yeah I guess my point is that capitalism is horrible in some ways in that a lot of people lose the game so to speak - but the overall trend of quality of living for everyone does seem to SLOWLY improve...so it seems to work even though it's a horrid system at times.
Then we have the various experiments into other systems like communism and so on that seemed to collapse and/or result in significant numbers of deaths.
So I guess I'm just saying while there's room for improvement, we'd want to be careful cos at least things kinda work at the moment. To some degree anyway.
This is the thing that gets me, there's an outright refusal to acknowledge that things are not just better, but exponentially better. People seem to be programmed that capitalism is just bad, even though they personally benefited from it, and has brought more people out of poverty than any other system ever invented. Overall, we're dealing with resentful, entitled, spoiled children, who'd rather burn the system down that gave them so much, instead of allowing it do the same for others. We can make it better... But that can't happen if you're invested in it NOT existing.
"Yeah, but 200 years ago!!!!"
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: Current Events Thread
I'm glad I don't have a side, they're all equally terrible. Whether storming the capital, or the white house, or state houses, they're all swine who feed from the same trough.
I believe your argument is shared by most people. Decent people don’t get giddy when they hear the President was rushed into a bunker because an angry mob breached the White House fence. Decent people don’t celebrate when an angry mob breaches the Capitol. Yet somehow the riots and occupations that have gone on for over a year are glanced over in the media and we obsess over January 6th. A member of the Nation of Islam posted on social media he was attacking the US for their treatment of blacks, then rams his car into the Capitol killing the same amount of police on January 6th, and we’ve already forgotten. It’s not like he was motivated by political rhetoric….
The amount of police officers murdered in the past 2 weeks is staggering, yet the media would have you believe a 16 year old in the motion of plunging a knife into someone’s chest was the victim.
I don’t think our planet is going anywhere anytime soon. Nor do I think society is going to collapse. The people who preach this stuff generally don’t do anything to demonstrate their beliefs. If you believed the collapse of society was coming, wouldn’t now be the time to learn how to hunt, farm, scavenge and build shelter? Rather than focus on convincing others a woman can have an erection and the moral rightness of admitting millions of unskilled economic migrants?
Re: Current Events Thread
This is real. It's not a parody. This actually happened.
Wow.
Like I said on the last page....
We have amused ourselves to death.
Instead of people focusing on legitimate issues this country needs to deal with, THIS is the kind of shit that gets attention.
Can't acknowledge how many times you win on a game show without being labeled a white supremacist.
What's next.... accusations of cultural appropriation if a white person is caught buying a watermelon or some collard greens?
I wish we could go back to the 20th century.
Good to see you back, Flagg.
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: Current Events Thread
I don't understand all the doom and gloom. Of course I don't agree with everything the Biden admin is doing, but it's largely business as usual. He doesn't have the votes to implement the wacky shit the progressives want, and members of his own party have stood firm in opposing a massive power grab. Kudos to Manchin, Sinema and Kelly.
No court packing, no removing the filibuster, and no using reconciliation to bypass rules that have been implemented for over a century. Maybe they can work together on the much needed infrastructure plan. Maybe they can work on immigration. It's all but assured the GOP will reclaim Congress in 20 months with historical precedent and the political landscape. I'd much rather the hyper partisanship nonsense end, and the moderates in both party's working together to find middle ground solutions to our problems. We saw both sides be completes asses and hypocrites during Obama and Trump. Maybe it's time for our legislature to do their damn jobs and ignore the mouth breathers on twitter and network media.
Re: Current Events Thread
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell-sa … 02299.html
You don’t negotiate with people who publicly say the plan will get no Republican votes.
The only incentive to negotiate is to make it appear as bipartisan as possible.
There’s no version of this the Republicans will ever support so i say Dems should just do what they want while still keeping all 50 votes needed.
Even if they do the $600 billion version i guarantee no Republican will vote for it.
Re: Current Events Thread
There have been 15 bills passed, 10 signed, 0 filibusters from Republicans.
It's not exactly what you're describing. They have a plan they know isn't getting passed, so the strategy was to try and get around needing bipartisan support, which doesn't look like they can do here. I mean, just because you say everything is infrastructure doesn't make it so. They tried to ram things through and were stopped by other democrats (which is why they really, really, really want those two extra senators by making D.C. a state, but that looks DOA also). This was a strategy used by Pelosi and Schumer during the Trump years: don't negotiate, make bills unpassable, wait for the elections.
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: Current Events Thread
https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell-sa … 02299.html
You don’t negotiate with people who publicly say the plan will get no Republican votes.
The only incentive to negotiate is to make it appear as bipartisan as possible.
There’s no version of this the Republicans will ever support so i say Dems should just do what they want while still keeping all 50 votes needed.
Even if they do the $600 billion version i guarantee no Republican will vote for it.
They said there are no votes for the 4 Trillion dollar plan, not that they’re against any plan. Did you read what was in the 4 trillion dollar bill? Why do you support those inclusions that fall out of the traditional definition of “infrastructure”. There’s a real chance here to get a 1.5 trillion bill dedicated to bridges, roads and other “infrastructure”. A bipartisan group of Senators is working on it. That’s a good thing.
I disagree, I believe something over 1 trillion if tied to actual infrastructure would get broad Republican support. There are a bunch of good ideas moderates could rally behind and improve the lives of the every day American if they cut out the excess to appease their base.
