Presidential Debate + RFK

[zazen]

Money is the lifeblood of American politics, seeping into every corner of the system and corrupting it from within. It’s not democracy, it’s oligarchy with the lipstick of the democratic process.

- The ballot box is a suggestion box. Voting has become a hollow ritual, a pressure release valve for public discontent rather than a genuine mechanism for change. We're given the illusion of choice, but the menu is curated by two parties not allowing for anything else.

- As voting rights expanded, the relevance of those votes contracted. Allow the public to cathartically shout into a sound proof room, but let them know their grievances are heard. We've won the right to participate in a system that's been quietly hollowed out from the inside. Voting became democratised, but the power behind that vote has been diluted to homeopathic levels.

- The Supreme Court ruled corporations with personhood status alchemizing them into people and money into speech. Money literally talks, but what language? Money became words. Words became votes. Votes became commodified. It's a legal fiction that's metastasized into a political cancer. By equating money with speech, they've essentially given megaphones to the wealthy while the rest of us are left shouting into the void. It's turned democracy into an auction house where policies go to the highest bidder.

This unholy trinity - the neutered ballot box, the diluted vote, and the corporate citizen - forms the backbone of our modern oligarchy. It's a system where the appearance of democracy is maintained while its substance is stripped away, leaving us with a plutocratic skeleton wearing the tattered skin of a republic.

Edited June 28, 2024 by zazen

[Extreme Z7]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

The concern is not even Biden's current condition but where he will be in 2-3 years.

In 2-3 years, it's like the question won't be will he still be in a condition to run the country, more like "cremate or don't cremate?".

[Merkabah Star]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

The concern is not even Biden's current condition but where he will be in 2-3 years.

If you watched the first 30 minutes of the debate you would see the concern is very much his current condition. He will be lucky to keep his presidency going right now. 

[BlueOak]

12 minutes ago, Extreme Z7 said:

In 2-3 years, it's like the question won't be will he still be in a condition to run the country, more like "cremate or don't cremate?".

If he gets out of the president's position he'll live longer. It's a stressful and demanding position that's bound to age anyone. 

Big populations should be ruled by councils or large groups of people with collective responsibility, never a single individual. It's just one more reminder of the problems associated with this exaggerated individualist approach, of picking one person to take the weight of leadership over millions. But then almost every problem anyone talks about is associated with the same thing.

[zazen]

A different paradigm:

The concern isn’t the condition of Biden, it’s the condition of a system that props him up in the first place.

The concern isn’t about the state of the candidates, but about a structure that enables their rise.

What it makes clear is that who sits at the seat isn’t running the show, but that who is running the show is obscured from the public eye.

The fact that these are the options in a nation of over 300 million full of talent exposes a political machine that maintains the status quo of entrenched interests.

[Merkabah Star]

[Gennadiy1981]

is it only me but I felt that during this debate there was a promoter that’s why no one was invited in the audience. But I can be wrong.

i honestly felt very bad for Biden, he did very poorly. I mean common give a person a break, he is 81 and most people at that age are either in nursing homes or six feet under. So for him to even stand on a podium for over hour and a half you have to give him a credit. 
I watched only partial debates but Trump was also ok. I don’t know, this debate was pretty sad to watch. It’s like two elderly people whom you feel so bad that they got up from their rest and had to work. I felt so much pity I could not continue to watch. Seriously I felt so bad for them, like for your grandpas you know what I mean. 
 

Look Biden was not a bad president as much as conservatives mocked him, he did few crazy things during Covid but all in all, he was pretty in the center, he is one of the old democrats who is not into extreme view. But with all honesty, I don’t think he has strength to even work at the White House, not that I am against him, I don’t think he can physically do the job.

[Yimpa]

52 minutes ago, Gennadiy1981 said:

Seriously I felt so bad for them, like for your grandpas you know what I mean. 

[Hojo]

best people in america to be president years in a row. And its supposed to be taken seriously. This is very pathetic. American system make dumb people so they think this is intelligent conversation.

Edited June 29, 2024 by Hojo

[Raze]

https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-debate-photos-watch-parties-4426553a83cad0446421c4e667e8598f
 

AP published photos of American viewers watching the debate 

[Extreme Z7]

3 hours ago, BlueOak said:

If he gets out of the president's position he'll live longer. It's a stressful and demanding position that's bound to age anyone. 

Big populations should be ruled by councils or large groups of people with collective responsibility, never a single individual. It's just one more reminder of the problems associated with this exaggerated individualist approach, of picking one person to take the weight of leadership over millions. But then almost every problem anyone talks about is associated with the same thing.

Ahh ok, in that case, cremate.

So Biden will become many and not just an individual.

[aurum]

Stay the course people.

I agree it didn't look great for Joe. But calls for him to step down are absurd.

He is still the best option at this point.

[Juan]

As long Trump doesn’t comeback to be a president, I’m good. 
 

Also enjoy this funny video. 

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPREyYjsV/

[PenguinPablo]

Biden is a solid dude but DAMN he old

Trump is a fkn disgrace

Sad state of a affairs

[Leo Gura]

24 minutes ago, PenguinPablo said:

Biden is a solid dude

More frail than solid.

His whispering voice is like a deflated balloon. Really bad optics for a leader. He's like a car with 500,000 miles. You're not sure if it will get you to the store, nevermind a roadtrip.

They've done political science of how dictators get deposed. It often happens when they get so old optically that everyone around them gets shaky and starts looking for a replacement. This is why authoritarians always try to project physical strength, virility, and hide any of their health problems. Because as soon as a doubt is raised people get shaky and scheme for a replacement.

Edited June 29, 2024 by Leo Gura

[PenguinPablo]

10 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

They've done political science of how dictators get deposed. It often happens when they get so old optically that everyone around them gets shaky and starts looking for a replacement. This is why authoritarians always try to project physical strength, virility, and hide any of their health problems. Because as soon as a doubt is raised people get shaky and scheme for a replacement.

Sounds like you just described the plot of Chimp Empire

[Leo Gura]

Empire of Chimps is exactly what politics is. And Trump is the orangatang lord.

Edited June 29, 2024 by Leo Gura

[universe]

Well at least the news is now all about Biden and not Trump as usual. 

[Husseinisdoingfine]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Empire of Chimps is exactly what politics is. And Trump is the orangatang lord.

 

[zazen]

Mind the gap between rhetoric and reality

The Western hypocrisy in regards to democracy, free speech and human rights will have you thinking Westerners don't value their own Western values - but its the elites who don't. Every day people may have values, elites have interests. Power brokers weaponise the values of the populace as a smokescreen for their own gain. They wear these values like a cheap halloween costume.

This domestic sleight of hand shows up in Western foreign policy also. Spreading democracy and liberty is a guise for global dominion. The elites have perfected the art of harnessing the good hearts of the many to funnel power and profits into the hands of the few. Campaign promises, emotional appeals, manufactured consent with a complicit media, token gestures and scapegoating are all the tools of politics.

The tragedy is that the energy, passion, and genuine desire for positive change exhibited by ordinary citizens are real. But in the hands of cynical power, these become just another resource to be exploited. This exploitation of goodwill creates a feedback loop of polarised extremes - either despair and apathy or tribalism and anger. As people witness their efforts repeatedly twisted or nullified, they retreat from civic engagement, or become engaged in a tribalistic way full of anger against the 'other' side of the political aisle they lay blame to.

Westerners are raised on lofty notions of democracy, freedom, and human rights, only to witness their nations routinely violate these principles both domestically and abroad. This grand canyon between rhetoric and reality creates a pervasive sense of disorientation, disillusionment and disenchantment. Whats packaged to Westerners about their society, isn't whats found once the wrappers open. They struggle to reconcile the high-minded values they've internalised with the often brutal realpolitik practiced by their governments. In a cruel twist, many individuals internalise this discord, believing the fault lies within themselves rather than the system that surrounds them. This is where leftism creates a atmosphere of shame, guilt and self loathing over the West's past and current injustices.

To remedy this, its important to realise that this feeling of malaise and cognitive dissonance isn't because of you, its because of whats around you. It's not your state of mind, it's the state of affairs of the structure you live in. In light of Leo's recent video on traps, heres one to be mindful of: don't internalise the contradiction and cognitive whiplash caused by the difference between public ideals and private interests. Quite literally, you need to mind the gap between rhetoric and reality - be mindful enough to separate elite interests and actions from the peoples - or else conflating what your country does with what you or your neighbour are will lead to nihilism, confusion, tribalism and in the case of leftists, self flagellation. 

Edited June 29, 2024 by zazen