A Bigger Problem Than Trump

[onlinebiker]

So isn't it equally possible you are brainwashed as well? After all - if you are, you wouldn't know it, so protestations that you aren't seem rather meaningless.

Well, for one thing, I used to BE one of them. I once read Ayn Rand and thought it was economics gold. Now, like an ex-Christian reading the Bible, I wonder how I ever believed that crap. The fact that I can move around on the political spectrum based on convincing arguments or new facts would suggest I'm not the brainwashed one.

Second of all, result matter. I used to believe in Reagan and his "trickle down" economics because it was a new thing in the 80s. Now, I've seen it doesn't work so I don't support it anymore. Anyone who continues to support the idea despite how we've tried it on a state and federal level for the last 40 years hasn't learned anything. Again, because I learn from experience and change my mind accordingly, that would suggest I'm not the brainwashed one. 

Thirdly, I tend to be consistent with the standards that I hold politicians to, regardless of their political affiliation. If you called for umpteen Congressional investigations of Benghazi but gave W Bush a free pass on the whole Iraq War, you're probably the brainwashed one. If you obsess over HRC's unsecure email server but have no problem with Trump continuing to use his unsecure Android phone, you're probably the brainwashed one. If you think deficits don't matter when a Republican is in the White House but suddenly are clutching pearls over the deficits when a Democrat is in the White House, you're probably the brainwashed one. Etc. 

Finally, if you continue to support Trump despite the ruin he's brought to this country and the almost daily new stories about his corruption, incompetence and treason, dismissing any story you don't like with a flippant "fake news", you're probably the brainwashed one.

That is one possibility.

But there is another.

You traded one load of BS for a different load of BS.

....

That you were once convinced of what you now find ridiculous - it should give you pause to consider your position now.


I tend to think that political parties are insideous dens of corruption by design - after all - the main thrust is to win elections.

[Sal]

How would someone even know the difference between two political positions? Comparisons, I say.

[onlinebiker]

How would someone even know the difference between two political positions? Comparisons, I say.

The differences are far smaller than the simularities that matter.

The big problem with both IMO is that the largest point of a political party is the survival and superior position of the party to insure those at the top are able to wield power.

If you can't see it in "your" party - look at the NRA. It's exactly the same. The people at the top were most interested in the security of their power within the organization.

The stated goals of "service to the public" are window dressing - on par with "I won't come in your mouth".

[Anomalocaris]

I see this current political reality (whether in the US or here in Australia or elsewhere in the Western world) as, basically, the right reacting with intense indignance against the radical changes brought about recently in terms of cultural attitudes towards such things as abortion, feminism, marriage, racial justice. So atm, they may be generally winning more seats or higher positions of political power, but I see the pendulum of power swinging back to the other side sometime soon, especially that the current younger generations seem to overwhelmingly lean left.

I think the model of the pendulum is too simplistic.    The two sides are not roughly equal in fundamental scrupulousness pulling back and forth in a tug of war.    It really is a contest where one side Does really think, naively, that being scrupulous and respecting the other side is a strength in itself, while the other side is utterly unscrupulous And respects nothing whatsoever, but happily affect scrupulously and respect to a degree passable to the average level of discernment in the electorate. 

So the pull back from the current swing will be long, and will require a sea change in how the currently more respectable side view the other, and will eventually have to be carried out with ruthlessness currently unimagined.

[DeistPaladin]

Always. Give me a logical argument and back it up with facts and you'll have my attention.

[outtathereligioncloset]

There was a time in US history when the "winner" became president and the "runner-up" became vice president. Can you imagine Trump as president in 2016 with Hillary as his VP?