29th February 2016, 3:21 PM
A Black Falcon Wrote:You are right that the Democratic Party is much less left-wing than the left parties in most European nations, but this country is more conservative in a lot of ways than most of Europe is, so that is understandable. Considering America's electorate, I think the Democratic Party mostly does a good job policy-wise, or at least they do now and in recent decades. Yes, they are lots of things about the party I wish were more liberal (most obviously, the failure to do enough about climate change is terrible), but I do like and care about the party, so I think the best way to accomplish that is by pushing for better Democrats, not blowing up the system.
I don't really think we're as conservative as most people believe we are. This is a perception which is largely driven by the fact that conservatives have dominated the media (in spite of their protestations to the contrary), and they are just generally louder and more inspired to vote. I would love to have universal voter registration and mail-in voting. That would wipe out whatever of the Republican Party is left after they get through destroying themselves.
I can't like or care about the Party because it sucks, frankly. With the power, money and influence the party has, there's no excuse for allowing downticket elections to go uncontested. The problem with the Dems is that, after the poundings the party took at the hands of Nixon and Reagan, they're timid. They're afraid to fight directly, and have resorted to "we're not as bad as the GOP" as the core of its message. It's true, but it's both uninspiring and their pusillanimity undermines the message anyhow. Obama got rolled by the GOP until he finally figured out that there was no point in negotiations, that he could accomplish great things if he used the powers available to him and started acting unilaterally.
Because, progressive ideas are actually pretty popular.
Quote:This is quite interesting. What you're saying here sounds exactly like medieval European explanations for why society should stay in order, with the nobility on top and peasants below -- if you rock the boat you challenge the fate of your soul, which matters more than your earthly suffering. So it's a familiar concept to me, though not so much as applied to modern politics...
However, the Republicans do not believe in an ordered society like medieval theologians did -- they believe that you can make yourself great by making a lot of money. In the middle ages merchants were not thought highly of; the divine status of nobility did not usually just come with a fortune, but through blood.
It depends on which Republicans, though. It's a party divided, roughly, between corporatists and evangelicals. They have their differences, but there's enough overlap to have, at least, kept the coalition a threat to the country. The Koch Bros. arm of the party couldn't care less about Christianity or wedding cakes for gay couples or replacing established scientific theory with creationist pudding in school textbooks, and the Family Research Council arm of the party couldn't care less about tax breaks for 'job creators' and slashing entitlements. But, in between, you have your Ted Cruz types who take billionaire donations while promising a return to the good ol' days of the Spanish Inquisition, carrying a cross while ignoring basically everything his savior was alleged to say about the poor and downtrodden. The Tea Party is, largely, a microcosm of this weird and delusional cooperation.
Quote:Heh... that's nice. I don't remember the specifics of much of our arguments (I could look up a lot of it, though, in the site's old threads...), though I certainly remember having them. I probably remember my constant arguments with OB1 about videogames more... when I think of '00s TC that's the first thing I think of. :p As for political debates though, I'm sure if I looked back I'd see some things I disagree with now, but I'd probably still agree with most of it. Hopefully that's because I was right, not just because it's hard for me to change my mind on things that it's made up about. :) ... And with that, you see my usual thing that I'm always my own worst critic and can't help but always be hard on myself even if someone says something positive about me. Ah well...
I think now, in large part, it's because you were right. We argued about gay marriage, the Iraq war, probably guns, certainly religious freedom. There probably isn't a single position I had then that I retain today.
Dark Jaguar Wrote:That said, I've heard surprisingly little from both Hillary and Sanders on climate change. They've both mentioned it, but it hasn't been a major pillar for either campaign. That said, the important question I have is which one of them is more likely to actually take action regarding it?
Bill McKibben, the guy who introduced the concept of climate change into the public consciousness, is a huge Sanders backer. "Bernie's been in the forefront of all the crucial environmental fights of recent years", is a quote I mined from the back of Outsider in the White House.
YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER
WE STAND AT THE DOOR
WE STAND AT THE DOOR