Newfie wrote:I don’t see much chance out of it without some significant reform
The_Toecutter wrote:In the U.S., outside of a small series of wedge issues that each effect only minorities of the population, issues seemingly picked to divide and conquer an ever increasingly irate, hopeless, and impoverished public, there is no difference between the two parties.
Ibon wrote:I know this is not popular but the best solution to solve the political impasse of the USA is to break the country apart into several autonomous separate nations.
Bust it up.
Outcast_Searcher wrote:Ibon wrote:I know this is not popular but the best solution to solve the political impasse of the USA is to break the country apart into several autonomous separate nations.
Bust it up.
And then you'd have perfection, like, say, with the EU? Simple intuitive solutions aren't effective for productive resolution of complex problems.
But they are a popular internet meme. See "The Death of Expertise".
Outcast_Searcher wrote:Funny how the US public is so "impoverished", and yet the median household income has surged so much (in current dollars) in the decade since The Great Recession. Oh, and in the last 3.5 decades as well.
And let's remember, that since 1984, inflation in the US has been quite tame on average, especially sin the past decade.
And of course, let's ignore the surge in interest and movement re raising the minimum wage by a LOT, to help the poor.
Somehow, claiming the same politically motivated nonsense over and over just doesn't stand up to real world facts.
What's next? Telling us about all the "starving" people in the US (as though social programs don't exist to the tune of a good $trillion a year), due to poor diet choices?
Newfie wrote:There is, or should be no doubt, that our Consumer culture is broken. Recently I’ve been in a bing pointing out that this Consumerisim is like an extra tax that goes straight to the rich. Don’t know if I’m getting traction in that idea or not.
Ibon wrote:I have lived in several small countries, some rich, some poor, but they all shared some important characteristics somehow relevant to what ails the political system in the US currently. Switzerland and Panama where I lived both have populations under 8 million people. Both countries from border to border is under 6 hundred miles.
Small countries are not global powers.
Small countries do not spend a significant part of their GDP on the military.
Small countries tend to become provincial in the issues that dominate political discourse.
Small countries tend to have vibrant mom and pop industries and a lack of corporate influence dominating economic life. You do not see faceless boulevards of chain stores.
Cultural identity in small countries is not burdened with exceptionalism
The USA political system is currently a huge juggernaut of special interests all jockeying for power.
I know this is not popular but the best solution to solve the political impasse of the USA is to break the country apart into several autonomous separate nations.
Bust it up.
careinke wrote:It's already busted up, we call them States. We just need to take away more Federal Power and give it back to the states where it belongs....
Ibon wrote:. Why not let these regions take off the shackles of federal incompetence and run with nationhood to allow for this cultural speciation?
We don't have to destroy the US and break it up into pieces to get limited federal government and more autonomy for the states. We just have to vote for people who will reduce the size of the federal government and return more of the power to the states and local regions.
Pops wrote:In Understanding Media in the 60s came the phrase "the medium is the message." Simply, the medium (TV, print, internet, or any technology) has intrinsic effects beyond the obvious. So, in an example Mcluan wrote, " the message of a newscast about a heinous crime may be less about the individual news story itself (the content), and more about the change in public attitude towards crime that the newscast engenders by the fact that such crimes are in effect being brought into the home to watch over dinner."
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