The Official "Damned Trump" Thread: Phase II

[Jackalope]

I think that we've been an oligarchy dressed in democratic clothing for some time now.

Citizen's United sealed the deal, but it goes back farther than that.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The issue isn't that low IQ people or uneducated people were allowed to vote. It's that those that stand to loose the most were actively prevented from voting. Whether by people hanging around outside polling stations or mass queries as to individuals right to vote.
That is a direct attack against the people, undermining their democratic rights and setting up the overthrow of democracy.
Restricting suffrage isn't the answer, expanding and reinforcing it is.

I wasn't being serious when I said that about voting power equivalent to IQs, that's why I added "but seriously get rid of the electoral collage" but YES! Trump is literally a fascist who forcefully tried to change the result of an election by overthrowing the government! This is a direct attack on our democracy and one of many! Why don't people get that? Why am I the one getting shit for calling Trumpism the fascist cancer that it is on an atheist site on a thread titled The Official Damned Trump thread?! This is a huge fucking deal! I've never been more scared for our democracy!

I'm fearful for our democracy as well. That doesn't mean that bragging about Mensa membership or finger-wagging others is the way to garner followers or support.

There's plenty of people here who agree with your points, but I suspect a proportion of them are put off by your delivery.

And no matter IQ tests and Mensa memberships, the ability to communicate with people is a significant measure of intelligence as well. You must not only know your message, but know your audience, and just as importantly speak to them in a way that inspires and appeals to them.

Take a breath. You're at an atheist forum; disagreement comes with the territory.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Baby, I'm a Mensa member and I'm sick of getting jerked around by people 35 IQ points lower like yourself.

Again, an intelligence quotient doesn’t equate to wisdom or maturity.

Boru

Stanford-Binet only measures a couple of particular types of intelligence, as you know. That's the real issue here. It's one thing to be able to, say, define the Fibonacci series, and another thing entirely to see a solution to a problem defined not by mathematics but complex human interactions, which S-B cannot measure.

Einstein was smart, but he couldn't politic like FDR. FDR was smart, but he couldn't physics like Albert. They're two different approaches to intelligence.

[The Grand Nudger]

The council of learned people thing isn't the worst idea..and it's more or less how advisory councils used to work. I think we probably should add some minimum job requirements to state and federal positions...they love piling those on when they hire us, after all. Maybe our ag secretary shouldn't be a climate change denier - for example. I wouldn't put them in charge, though. I'd put them in charge of doing what we say. Limit who can hold an office, and limit what they can do with it.

I'm not going for benevolence. Let's try competence first and talk benevolence later.

[AFTT47]

Rizen, I had the same idea when I was a young adult. There are two problems with voting power tied to intelligence.

One is that society belongs to everyone, not just to those on the right side of the Bell curve.

The second is that what constitutes intelligence is nebulous. IQ only tests a specific type of problem-solving ability and even that is difficult to measure. MENSA is indeed one of the organizations with a legitimate IQ test. But IQ says nothing about creativity, empathy or ability to think outside the box. Are you familiar with Dr. Ben Carson? Look him up. He's a neurosurgeon and a particularly good one at that. And he's a fucking nut job.

[Rizen]

I wasn't being serious when I said that about voting power equivalent to IQs, that's why I added "but seriously get rid of the electoral collage" but YES! Trump is literally a fascist who forcefully tried to change the result of an election by overthrowing the government! This is a direct attack on our democracy and one of many! Why don't people get that? Why am I the one getting shit for calling Trumpism the fascist cancer that it is on an atheist site on a thread titled The Official Damned Trump thread?! This is a huge fucking deal! I've never been more scared for our democracy!

I'm fearful for our democracy as well. That doesn't mean that bragging about Mensa membership or finger-wagging others is the way to garner followers or support.

There's plenty of people here who agree with your points, but I suspect a proportion of them are put off by your delivery.

And no matter IQ tests and Mensa memberships, the ability to communicate with people is a significant measure of intelligence as well. You must not only know your message, but know your audience, and just as importantly speak to them in a way that inspires and appeals to them.

Take a breath. You're at an atheist forum; disagreement comes with the territory.

I'm not the one who started it. I'm sick of people belittling activism! What have they ever done to improve the world?! I used to be a nice guy but you know what? Nice guys finish last! I'm sick of being jerked around and I am god damn fed up with the human dog shit that are the majority voters of this country!

[arewethereyet]

Take your meds. Your anger is a little over the top. Settle down a bit, Hoss.

[The Grand Nudger]

What a knob.

[Angrboda]

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm not the one who started it. I'm sick of people belittling activism! What have they ever done to improve the world?! I used to be a nice guy but you know what? Nice guys finish last! I'm sick of being jerked around and I am god damn fed up with the human dog shit that are the majority voters of this country!

I wrote absolutely nothing about who started this, or apportioning blame, I simply offered a little insight on how to deal with folks here. Take it or leave it as you see fit. It's that whole honey-vs-vinegar thing Mom used to tell me about.

Anyone wanting to change the world must seek allies -- and tailor their approach to that goal.