US midterm election results

[RichardY]

@Serotoninluv

I think even running for supreme court judge, you have to have purpose that goes beyond rational calculation.

I remember backpacking once in Canada, was staying with a fundamentalist Christian, woman, certain strength in believing in God with every fibre of your being. Went to see a horseshow in Calgary, was funny because they had a skeleton of a horse, that had become extinct, before the horse was reintroduced by Europeans.

I see it more as a line in the sand, irreconcilable differences. To not think about politics, would be ace, more interested in some of the knowledge that can be drawn out of it. Progressivism at what cost and is it worth it? If it's inevitable, the question itself is meaningless, perhaps like Hegel. But to eliminate the notion of the future and be enlightened, what meaning does progressivism have when the notion of the future is eliminated, none. Is there anything potentially more addictive than politics? Love it, or Hate it.

[Leo Gura]

Regardless, Kavanaugh is definitely a liar and an ideologue. Which should be enough to disqualify him from a Supreme Court position.

It would be good if no partisan or ideologue was ever allowed to even apply for that job. The most important requirement for a judge is to be non-biased. That judges are liberal or conservative is silly. Judges must be neutral and openminded. But of course, that would de facto make them rather liberal, which conservatives would never abide.

The thing is that openmindedness is not acceptable to conservatives. Their entire philosophy is based on closedmindedness. Which is why self-actualization and conservativism are like oil and water and not just my personal political bias. Conservatives are neurologically wired to be more closedminded, as studies seem to show. Which doesn't mean they are always wrong but let's just say they fall more on the losing side of history, like dodo birds.

[now is forever]

9 hours ago, RichardY said:

The system is not democratic because a commission gets the final say. Perhaps like a senate, or house of lords, although that's more of a Republic. But even with the USA, numbers matter in a democracy. Whatever group is the largest wins. Pragmatism, at its finest. Which is why Hilary lost(Despite other things……………..), remnants of a Republic.

the european union system is also basically non democratic because the judicative is elected by the governments of the single countries what makes them preoccupied.

but more than that it is per definition a violation against the historical idea of division of powers. the roots of a modern democratic system.

yes judges should be unbiased and as neutral as possible, without political history and no connections to politicians as well as they should be not corruptible.

but unfortunateley is those shoulds were given up. not that the politicians who did that don’t know - they should know, that’s their job.

Edited November 8, 2018 by now is forever

[Annoynymous]

@Leo Gura what do you think of progressives? Do you think progressivism is not needed as it will naturally happen? I personally think of myself as a progressive. So if progression happens without me doing anything, i would rather sit back and do nothing. 

[Strikr]

18 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Even under Trump, the US is still becoming more liberal and progress is happening. Evolution & progress cannot ever be stopped. The attempt to stop it is itself part of the progress.

So in the end there is no losing, only winning if you are a progressive. It just doesn't happen as fast and directly as your ego might like.

Michigan legalized weed today. So there you go

"Michigan legalized weed today"

alright alright fair enough, more us country and my country will start to suck follow as usual, please US more legalization.

"even if you're a conservative, you're winning, you're just not aware of your victory" 

I m not a progressive though

Edited November 8, 2018 by Strikr

[Sockrattes]

19 hours ago, Annoynymous said:

What do you think about US mid term election results? I thought Democrats were going to have a landslide victory but it didn't happen, and it kinda disappoints me. Btw i am not talking about from the political point of view but from self actualization point of view. I think democrats are more green and progressives. Why american people are not willing to go for progressives and to hold on republicans (Blue conservatives)?     

I think the whole problem is rooted in the First-past-the-post voting system.

A system like this tends to split the population into two and less often more blocks. Candidates with mixed convictions, not liberal and not conservative but something in between, can't be elected that way, because those candidates will only harm those candidates, which are closer to their own views.

For example a libertarian candidate will basically always spoil a republican candidate. But a libertarian voter tends to be closer to a republican than to a democratic candidate.  Same applies to democratic and green candidates.

So a voter is basically forced to vote a republican or a democrat if he doesn't want his vote to be wasted. This is voting for the "lesser evil".

 

Candidates who wants to win don't even need to try anymore. In fact nobody cares about wether they are telling the truth or not. Candidates only needs to push a few buttons and go on tour with a few buzzwords and dog-whistle technics, and they are good to go. This and gerrymandering of course. 

 

As an European i have to say: It's truly embarrassing to have such a voting system in a nation like the US.

Democrats had at least 12 mio. more votes than republicans in the midterms. This means, they should have had 244 seats in the HOR.

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

The same thing happened during the Obama presidency.  Whichever party loses the presidential election usually does well in the midterms.  

[Joseph Maynor]

I have absolutely zero interest in politics.  I just want people to know that.  I’m not saying you should be like me.  I just feel the need to share that because it took me a lot of years to fully realize the utter stupidity and waste of time that politics is.  

Edited November 8, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

21 hours ago, Emerald said:

 

But I suppose that the preference for Republicans comes from a lot of people being traditionally minded, and voting for candidates who use traditional values as a mask for more nefarious agendas that actually disenfranchise many of their constituents who are poor and uneducated. Also, there are a lot of Republicans that run on the Southern Strategy which is meant to appeal to white racists. So, any anti-immigration or anti-minority rhetoric is always a huge voter draw in Red States because there are a lot of racists. For example, DeSantis won against Gillum (a black man) and in one of his debates with Gillum, he made an appeal to the people of Florida to not "Monkey" this one up... which is a clear racist dog-whistle. So, I'm sure the racist crowd was like "This is our guy!"

 

Which demographic do you think is the most racist; Mexican men, black women, or poor white people?

Edited November 8, 2018 by GenuinePerspectiveXC

[Forestluv]

1 minute ago, GenuinePerspectiveXC said:

Mexican men and black women are the actually the most racist demographics in the US.

Even if true, it’s a false equivalency since white is the dominant culture in the U.S.

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

2 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

Even if true, it’s a false equivalency since white is the dominant culture in the U.S.

They're still in a similar vMeme as white trash

[Forestluv]

5 minutes ago, GenuinePerspectiveXC said:

They're still in a similar vMeme as white trash

Ethnicity and social staus are often conflated - they are related issues, yet also distinct issues.

White oppresses color in the U.S.  Progress comes when white relinquishes oppressive behavior, not when color accepts being oppressed.

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

@Serotoninluv

Sovereignty =/= oppression

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

 

53 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

white relinquishes oppressive behavior

What behavior are you suggesting people 'relinquish'?

Edited November 8, 2018 by GenuinePerspectiveXC

[now is forever]

1 hour ago, Joseph Maynor said:

I have absolutely zero interest in politics.  I just want people to know that.  I’m not saying you should be like me.  I just feel the need to share that because it took me a lot of years to fully realize the utter stupidity and waste of time that politics is.  

would you give me your next vote then? excited ?

just for good overseas relations.

Edited November 8, 2018 by now is forever

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

12 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Regardless, Kavanaugh is definitely a liar and an ideologue.

No, not regardless. Ford fucked everything up and now that doesn't matter.

[Emerald]

56 minutes ago, GenuinePerspectiveXC said:

Which demographic do you think is the most racist; Mexican men, black women, or poor white people?

I'm originally from a deep Red place in Florida that's like 95% white (in the area with the poor/working class whites... aka my background), and the racism that I've noticed comes in mild to more severe forms in about 40% of those people. This is a HUGE number of people. So, because white people are the largest demographic that have the biggest sway on election results, that means that people on the Right know that they have to appeal to this group to get elected. So, they create dog whistles as a wink and nod to that demographic of people. This is called the Southern Strategy, and has been employed since the Voting Rights Act in the 60s when there was a political re-alignment. So, this is an example of institutionalized racism against non-white people that continues on into present day.

So, I don't know how bigoted Mexican men and black women generally are, nor is it relevant. It's not relevant because there are no candidates running on the "be racist against white people" platform, as this is political suicide. White people are the majority party. So, you can't only rely on non-white voters to win you an election. You have to appeal to white people as the majority demographic. And proposing bills that disenfranchise white people will simply not work. However, a politician running on the Southern Strategy will win votes and approval by promising to disenfranchise non-white people and making good on those promises.

So, the social power here is not conferable in any way. So, even if there are some mean black ladies somewhere out there who give white people the stink eye at the bus stop, it doesn't threaten to have any effect on the lives of white people, at all... except maybe hurting some snowflakes' feelings. And that's true, no matter how bigoted a demographic that's non-white generally is, as that party is still a minority and doesn't wield as much voting power or power to stack to the status quo in their favor. 

So, I suspect the way you're looking at this is by asking, which demographic do you really think are "better people"? Do you think Mexican men and black women are better than poor white people? And the answer is none of the above and no. I guarantee there are good people and knuckleheads in each group, in conferable proportions. People are all over the place on the spectrum of having it together and not having it together.

But this is not an issue of character, and framing it as such obscures the real issues. In reality, it's an issue of social power and the workings of a system that give more power to white individuals at the expense of non-white individuals. And it's important to be aware that this system is being leveraged by powerful people in the Right wing to get votes and approval on the backs of non-white people. 

[Forestluv]

39 minutes ago, GenuinePerspectiveXC said:

What behavior are you suggesting people 'relinquish'?

It’s not “people” it’s oppressive behavior of white people against people of color.

It’s all around us. The inability to see it is generally reflective of a privileged bubble.

I’ve found that the obvious can be difficult to see and privilege is strongly defended due to identity and desire for security.

For me, deeper knowing arose after I lived within poor families in Honduras, Guatemala, Peru and Colombia.  I lived with people in the Caravan. As well, I was in two relationships with women of color and received direct experience if oppressive behavior. 

My defense mechanisms were so strong, I could have debated anyone on the issue. I needed the direct experience to penetrate my peiveledge. 

So, if you want to truley know what this oppressive behavior is, I would recommend getting direct experience.

Part of privilege is that one doesn’t have to experience it - they do ‘t have to deal with it. They can debate online from a distance. 

 

 

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

30 minutes ago, Emerald said:

by promising to disenfranchise non-white people and making good on those promises.

There's only one party that runs on a racial platform, and it's not the republican party.  What 'promising of disenfranchisement are you talking about?"

30 minutes ago, Emerald said:

I don't know how bigoted Mexican men and black women generally are, nor is it relevant.

It is relevant. This vMeme voted Clinton over Sanders and now we have Trump because of it.

Edited November 8, 2018 by GenuinePerspectiveXC

[GenuinePerspectiveXC]

19 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

It’s not “people” it’s oppressive behavior of white people against people of color.

People aren't people?  wtf?  

19 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

So, if you want to truley know what this oppressive behavior is, I would recommend getting direct experience.

I was in a live-in relatioship with a Mexican girl for 2 years and her mom couldn't speak English.  It was not easy times.  I recommend you graduate out of Pure Green. I promise you the guilt phase will turn out to be BS.

Edited November 8, 2018 by GenuinePerspectiveXC