Clark Nikolai Posted Friday at 02:51 PM Share Posted Friday at 02:51 PM On 11/19/2024 at 2:05 AM, Ilkka Nissila said: From a European point of view, I would say that on economic policies the US Democrats are center-right, From a Canadian perspective as well. The US Democratic Party would be considered centre-right in Canada. Having said that even Canadian politics is more right than it used to be, much like the world. This was predicted by historians. When resources run out, people start fighting over their differences (which previously would have been ignored) then political opportunists see this and use it to gain power. Andrew Reid and eatstoomuchjam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majoraxis Posted Friday at 04:50 PM Share Posted Friday at 04:50 PM 3 hours ago, Snowfun said: Isn’t that precisely the problem? What we “believe” to be true isn’t enough. We should endeavour to listen to the evidence so we know what is true. (And, yes, we can argue about the evidence and its significance but that is all part of the epistemological process - it doesn’t diminish the difference between what is true and what is not. Irrespective of what I, or anyone else, might believe). Exactly - we are programmed to to believe what we believe for the benefits of the powers that be. We are programed/incented to take sides so that the rich get richer. We all have confirmation bias and confirm what we are programmed to confirm. Trump, Biden, Harris, Obama, Bush, the Clintons all play for the same team. That's what they all laughed when Trump said I ran into Hillary and she said pardon me - they are not putting each other in jail - they know the joke is on the common person. We need to get to the montage scene in our own personal movies where we realize what is closer to the true: Programming equals profit for the powers that be and we are all programmed and pitted against each other and we actually have more in common than we are programmed to believe. Jules in Pulp Fiction had his realization. I wish all of our personal story arcs would include a realization about how we are all programmed to some degree or another... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted Saturday at 01:45 PM Author Administrators Share Posted Saturday at 01:45 PM 20 hours ago, majoraxis said: We are programed/incented to take sides so that the rich get richer. We can deprogram ourselves very easily, just by using character and ethics as a guide in politics. Trump and his inner circle are unsavoury, unintelligent and many of them are convicted felons. BUT - apparently this resonates with the American public which I'm sorry to say is just fucking embarrassing for your nation - it shows to the rest of the world that quality of character, being a public servant, and ethical behaviour is of no interest to over half of your population and that you'd willingly vote for crooks if you think it's good for the economy. I have news for you, it won't be good for the economy. It'll be good for the 1% and the rest of you will be enjoying inflation in the region of 15% before too long. The media in the US is appalling, it is the most biased in the world, be it CNN or Fox, they're both completely incapable of taking a balanced objective view of politics. In the UK, the BBC has withered away, corrupted by the Tory party and hamstrung by the abuse of the BBC's impartiality rule. So we are in a bad situation here as well, and when you add Murdoch to the scene and his shitty tabloids which have somehow managed to cling onto relevance in the so-called enlightened age of the internet, it's no wonder people are distracted by all the arguing and less able to focus on quality of character and policy. Too many aggressive interviewers whose only aim is to pick holes in everything, whether it's a good politician or not, or a good policy or not... nobody is immune to the constant shit stirring of the media. It's not even real journalism a lot of it, and it brings the country down. It sometimes gets so depressing to see, that you start to think about emigrating to Russia to enjoy the more 'favourable' and 'patriotic' media 🙂 Yet in the end, what I am saying is... You don't need the media. The truth is out there for all to see about what kind of characters and ethics are on display with Trump and his inner circle. We need better journalism, yes... But you can make up your own mind whether it's sensible to have a convicted crook as the leader of the free world. There has to be a move away from the two main parties also - as they're both becoming corrupted in some form or another. The Democrats by vanity career politics and drab humourless political correctness, and the Republicans by a complete loss of sanity. majoraxis and eatstoomuchjam 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted Saturday at 01:47 PM Author Administrators Share Posted Saturday at 01:47 PM By the way, the world needs a strong United States. Because the alternatives to our way of life are far worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majoraxis Posted Saturday at 09:09 PM Share Posted Saturday at 09:09 PM I was hoping for something more like this: 7 hours ago, Andrew Reid said: We can deprogram ourselves very easily, just by using character and ethics as a guide in politics. Trump and his inner circle are unsavoury, unintelligent and many of them are convicted felons. BUT - apparently this resonates with the American public which I'm sorry to say is just fucking embarrassing for your nation - it shows to the rest of the world that quality of character, being a public servant, and ethical behaviour is of no interest to over half of your population and that you'd willingly vote for crooks if you think it's good for the economy. Taking a position of moral superiority is blindly following the mainstream media programming. I believe the following: All politicians have character flaws and will ultimately chose what is best for those who got them in office and will keep them in office. No politician is on your side. They only serve themselves. Pick the politician who serves your interests, when they are serving their own interests. It is the people against the government not democrats vs republican. We are all programmed to take a side. Deprogramming ourselves from believing that there is a morally superior side is difficult. I believe each party is just one of the two wings on the same elite bird. I believe in the people, who, with the power of free speech, will free each other's minds so that we can suffer through this together as friends rather than enemies. Of course this is just my opinion, as we will never have all of the true facts, ever, though it may feel like you absolute know what is right - you do not - because what is absolutely right is absolutely unknowable. Same goes for me and my opinion - it has no more value than yours or any other. I could be completely wrong and that is fine, as long as it gets people thinking about what they believe to be true and that the facts that they live and die by are almost certainly based on some falsehoods. That said, I love your reviews and believe they immensely benefit from your belief that there is a right and a wrong way to do things, which you point out so clearly. You are a genius at making the technical details have value, meaning and consequences. ...in this case of politics, I believe the details are mostly exaggerated and sometime fabricated to prey on our human tendencies of wanting to be right, which, in other situations would be our strength, but in the case of politics, pits us against each other making us "slaves" as Morpheus said to the elite ruling class. Taking the red pill is not the easy road as Neo shows us, but it makes all the difference, if we believe the Matrix (programming for profit) is real. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted 3 hours ago Author Administrators Share Posted 3 hours ago On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: I was hoping for something more like this: Taking a position of moral superiority is blindly following the mainstream media programming. Here we go... down the conspiracy rabbit hole. The one thing consistent in all of this I've noticed myself is that Trump voters are very distrustful of media, journalism, institutions... Yet some bloke on Facebook posting stuff = TRUTH! You can't take a moral position on Trump? Because thats blindly following the media? I'm sorry I just can't agree. On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: I believe the following: All politicians have character flaws and will ultimately chose what is best for those who got them in office and will keep them in office. Being a convicted fraudster and allegedly rapist is a pretty big character flaw for the leader of a country like the US. It shouldn't disqualify someone from being a sales rep perhaps, but leader of the free world definitely. It isn't my "mass media programming" that is convincing me of that by the way. It's the justice system that is. Which is why it is important to trust the experts and institutions because they do their jobs based on the FACTS, apolitically. You may not think it, to listen to social media bubbles, echo chambers and much of the right-leaning media though... Because they want to destroy the truth and the evidence, any to discredit the checks or balances on power. On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: No politician is on your side. They only serve themselves. Pick the politician who serves your interests, when they are serving their own interests. Sorry but in what particular ways is Trump going to serve your interests when he hikes inflation and deports key workers using the military and concentration camps? Is he also going to serve your interests when he puts 50% tariffs on Chinese imports or Japanese cameras? What about when he stitches up the judicial system to pardon himself and a bunch of other convicts? Stitching up the legal system so that his pals can stay in power for a generation? Polluting the environment with his promise to "drill baby drill"... bringing large scale industrial manufacturing back to the USA... more pollution. More lung cancer. People only see the jobs and economic benefit... not the widespread problems that China's environment and air quality has from all of their manufacturing of our cheap Amazon electronics. I think you have to be a bit careful what you wish for. On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: we will never have all of the true facts This isn't true at all. There are facts and these are not a matter of opinion or "fake news". That's because they're backed by documented evidence. Like the fact that Trump had crate after crate of classified documents at home, with the intent to profit from it in some ways - most likely by selling the info, which could then find itself in the hands of hostile nations like Russia. And yet there has been no accountability, no punishment, and before you say "But what about Biden" it isn't a sport. It is about this specific fact of Trump with the documents and what his intent was in stealing so many from the secure enclaves of your fucking government. On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: ever, though it may feel like you absolute know what is right - you do not - because what is absolutely right is absolutely unknowable. Complete nonsense. On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: Same goes for me and my opinion - it has no more value than yours or any other. Some opinions DO have more value than others. The quality of source material, the quality of research, the objectivity of the discourse, and a lot else besides. I'd sooner listen to a trained, professional New York judge who has prosecuted thousands of people based on cold hard evidence, than to some Fox news twat. On 11/23/2024 at 9:09 PM, majoraxis said: Taking the red pill is not the easy road as Neo shows us, but it makes all the difference, if we believe the Matrix (programming for profit) is real. I hate the Matrix tbh, tired shite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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