What are the least well known political issues?

[trenton]

I am seeking uncommon knowledge.  There are some issues which people either underestimate or don't know about at all.  I am looking for issues which politicians never talk about.  This is how politics could be used to educate ourselves.

I learned about several unknown issues already.

Developmental psychology is not mainstream.  Suicide rates in autism are gradually becoming more known.  Psychedelics are expected to become more mainstream soon according to rebel wisdom. 

Food is a frequently ignored issue even though baby food is known to be toxic.  Food is an extremely threatening issue for food producers, medical scientists, and the FDA.  Issues which are extremely threatening to the status quo must be ignored or unknown.  Modern slavery for example is threatening to all countries which benefit from the corrupt global supply chain.

Feminists often under estimate the importance of men's rights.  If the unique ways in which men and women are oppressed are not addressed, then equality can't be achieved.  Feminists are starting to realize this.

What obscure political issues do you know about?

[Boethius]

Here's a relatively obscure political issues: boys are poorly served by our contemporary education system. By this I mean that they are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with attention deficit disorders and put on medication, less likely to be able to happily sit still than girls are in elementary school, more likely to be punished for misbehavior, and less likely to graduate high school or attend college.

This is an issue that gets attention here and there (The Atlantic has written some articles on it) but it's kind of viewed as uncouth to talk about since the official Social Justice view of American society involves women overcoming the system of oppression known as Patriarchy. In other words, we "should" be focused on seeing women catching up to men and so we "shouldn't" worry about boys falling behind girls. The exceptions to this rule occurs when female journalists write articles for mainstream publications decrying the paucity of dateable men (by which they mean college-educated men) or anti-racism articles come out condemning the rates at which Black male youths are being disproportionately punished in school. In those contexts it's apparently acceptable to talk about the education problems facing males.

This is an issue that I find important in itself, and also as a "canary in the coal mine" in terms of how much the Social Justice framework holds sway over what gets printed in mainstream media sites.

[Preety_India]

I think one of the issues that never gets talked about or is generally brushed under the carpet is the issue of unemployment due to mass immigration.  It does lead to higher rates of unemployment especially for the rural youth who aren't every educated and the jobs are easily taken by immigrants who work hard and have the required education to get these jobs. This leads to higher unemployment rates for the underprivileged rural youth. But since such a topic would normally raise anti immigration sentiment, most mainstream media choose to ignore it. 

Anyone who brings up the issue in social media is usually labelled as racist, xenophobic and a bigot. 

 

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by Preety_India

[trenton]

@Boethius I heard of that issue before.  I forgot about it because nobody talks about.  This is related to men's rights and stepping beyond the feminist narrative out society is sucked into.  We do not appreciate that boys and girls have immutable differences and preferred learning styles.

I did have a hard time sitting still in classes and I was especially weird because of autism.  My brother was also having a hard time with school, so I needed to help mentor him.  Rather than scald him for his poor grades and tell him how important it is to take school seriously, I focus on relating to him as much as possible without saying "we all had to go through this so suck it up.". This is a much more effective way to mentor boys struggling in school.

I explained some of the real problems with the educational system.  For example, my brother felt like a worthless failure because he did bad in math.  He was studying not because he was curious and wanted to learn, but because he had to.  Our schools are often poor at bringing out a child's curiosity and we need to personally hone our passion for learning because school can't do it.  Math can be a beautiful thing to learn if school does not make it harder than it needs to be.  I then shared with him various strategies to make school easier and he is much happier now.

 I also emphasized the the importance of emotional mastery and he received a lot of benefit from it.  He finds it difficult to grasp with the fact that school did not teach this subject at all.  Without emotional mastery, boys are subject to the stereotype that we are supposed to be emotionless robots.  This leads to reduced emotional intelligence in men, contributing to psychological problems and potentially worsening crime rates.  Crime is also more likely if you drop out of school.  The consequences of our poor educational system are serious.

[trenton]

@Preety_India you make a good point.  You are noticing how people can be hurt because of trigger happy social justice warriors failing to appreciate the complexity of the issue.  There is often a kernel of truth in the other side of the issue of we pay attention.

This seems to go back to the issue of education.  It looks like an issue worth reading into.  If there were improved internet connection in rural areas, the employment rate would likely improve not only in rural areas, but also in urban areas.  Rural areas have a hard time attracting teachers from the city.  In cities there are often more than enough teachers.  Those left behind could become online teachers for under privileged rural areas.

This would explain why people in rural areas could become racist or xenophobic if they were hurt because of illegal immigrants.

Edited April 24, 2021 by trenton
Messed up link

[DocWatts]

The fact that increasing numbers of young men are having difficulty attracting romantic partners and forming meaningful social relationships.

This is affecting something like 1 in 4 men under the age of 40, and has increased markedly since it began trending upward in 2008.

Obviously this leads to social problems such as widespread feelings of sadness and alienation. It also provides fuel for toxic ideologies such as Incels, and other forms of destructive and unhealthy masculinity.

Vaush did an excellent video on the subject a while back. Considering the large number of people that this ultimately effects, I do find it a bit surprising that it isn't discussed more often than it is.

 

Edited April 24, 2021 by DocWatts

[trenton]

@Husseinisdoingfine I never heard about modern imperialism. It is probably related to modern slavery when low income countries are exploited for cheap labor.  Both are motivated by capitalism and it would be very threatening to the status quo to acknowledge these widespread human rights violations.I

Where did you learn about this?

[trenton]

@DocWatts I am a part of this trend.  Without a clear life purpose I don't see the value in forming relationships.  I will probably need to watch this video.  I have already resigned myself to living alone and dying a virgin.  This may not be the healthiest way to live my life.  I don't understand what psychological difference the lack of a relationship leads to. 

One reason I don't seek a relationship is because I think I will regret letting a woman into my life for several reasons.  This probably leads some people to mansplaining.  I probably have a lot of bad assumptions about women in relationships given that I have never been in one.  I think she is going to turn into a distraction, an economic burden, and someone to fight with.  I think I am projecting stereotypes onto potential dating partners.

If I were to let a woman into my life, it could be someone who is okay with me being myself.  Most people are not okay with it because my well meaning actions are often interpreted in the worst way possible.  This might be why I get a little sad sometimes.  Thanks for the post.

[Blackhawk]

That Sweden isn't a member of Nato. The politicians don't do the right thing and join the defense alliance of the free world mainly because they are too afraid of Russia. Which means they let a foreign country rule over our security politics.

I'm doing my best to convince the swedes that we should join Nato.. But it doesn't look promising.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Blackhawk

[DocWatts]

@trenton

I can empathize, as someone who's naturally very introverted, I tend to find socializing somewhat draining, and not at all something that I have a natural affinity for. Rather, it's something I've had to work on over the years. Whoever said that socialization is like a Muscle was %100 on point.

I think Vaush gives some good advice in his follow up video on the subject. 

 

 

[trenton]

3 hours ago, Blackhawk said:

That Sweden isn't a member of Nato. The politicians don't do the right thing and join the defence alliance of the free world mainly because they are too afraid of Russia. Which means they let a foreign country rule over our security politics.

I'm doing my best to convince the swedes that we should join Nato.. But it doesn't look promising.

@Blackhawk I am curious about what arguments you are using.  I did a little bit of research on this unknown issue, and it looks like Sweden is mixed in the issue.  for example, the people in favor of joining NATO are in nearly equal numbers to those against it.  It seems unclear as to what is the most secure option for Sweden.  This is a very divisive issue and the country is split.

[Blackhawk]

2 hours ago, trenton said:

@Blackhawk I am curious about what arguments you are using.  I did a little bit of research on this unknown issue, and it looks like Sweden is mixed in the issue.  for example, the people in favor of joining NATO are in nearly equal numbers to those against it.  It seems unclear as to what is the most secure option for Sweden.  This is a very divisive issue and the country is split.

There are books written about this subject.. which I have read.

Nato reminds me of the holism thing which Leo has talked about. Because all member countries goes together for the greater good. It acts as one. It prevents wars because attacking a Nato member would be suicide. Together is strong.

The former Sovjetunion states Georgia and Ukraine aren't Nato members, and they have been attacked by Russia. While the Baltic states (former Sovjetunion states Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) are Nato members, and they haven't been attacked by Russia. It's their Nato membership which has saved them. Ukraine is now begging for a Nato membership, but unfortunately they can't join Nato right now because that would instantly trigger a war with Russia. A country should join Nato before war starts, to prevent a war from starting, that's why I want Sweden and Finland to join Nato now while we still have peace.

NATO is a international intergovernmental political organization in which the decisions are made by consensus between all 30 sovereign member states, and every member has veto right, so everyone benefit. But hostile aggressive countries do not benefit because they can't attack members.

"These organizations bring member states together to cooperate on a particular theme or issues that have global impacts and implications such as human rights, trade, development, poverty, gender or migration."
https://libguides.lub.lu.se/c.php?g=489859&p=3938549

 

"Article 5 provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked."
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm

 

Basically every swede who is against a Nato membership is against it because they believe in some myth about Nato, or have misconceptions about it. Every argument against a membership can be killed by pure facts. Most swedes don't really know what Nato even is, they just have prejudices and wrong notions. And they also don't know that Sweden isn't neutral anymore, because we are EU members, and we have a thing called "solidaritetsförklaringen" in which we promise to help other Nordic and EU countries if they are attacked.

If a war happens in our proximity then Sweden will be dragged into the war even if we aren't members in Nato.

And if Russia attacks Sweden it will be because it needs Gotland (a swedish island) and maybe southern Sweden because of strategic reasons if Russia attacks the Baltic states. Because Russia can then cut off Nato from helping the Baltic states, by putting air and sea missile systems on Gotland and southern Sweden, so Nato can't come from west to assist the Baltics.

In case of a war Sweden will assist Nato anyway (despite our lack of membership). And Russia knows it. And Russia will act accordingly. So there is no reason for Sweden to not join Nato. Sweden is a close partner with Nato.

A Nato membership would definitely increase the safety not only for Sweden, but also for the Baltics. The Baltics have repeatedly said that a swedish membership would increase their safety.

It's also morally important to be on the good side and defend the free world, our shared western values, human rights and democracy, by being a member of Nato.

For example Belgium don't have any foes, they are surrounded by friendly democratic countries, they are cocooned in safety, but they are still members of Nato because of moral reasons. They want to contribute to a good cause.

Almost all the good guys are members of Nato.

This should be enough to understand that Nato is good and that Sweden and Finland should join it: Trump didn't like Nato and other international cooperations, while Biden loves them.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Blackhawk

[Blackhawk]

 

[trenton]

@Blackhawk I looked through your posts and it looks like you have done a lot of research.  I see a lot of reasons Sweden and other nations would benefit from this membership.

The common positions against joining NATO are...

Sweden does not want to be put in a position in which they have to fight in Afghanistan because of the need to defend the United States.  Secondly, Sweden only spends about 1% of its GDP on defense.  NATO would encourage Sweden to double the defense budget.  Sweden values neutrality in war, and NATO membership would require their involvement.

How do you respond to these arguments?

I think one of your key arguments is that Sweden is not really neutral and it would improve the safety of other nations if they did join.

I find this thread of unknown political issues to be very informative and educational.  Thanks everybody for your help so far.

[trenton]

@DocWatts I watched both of the videos you sent.  I watched the video with intense interest when compared to other videos I watch.  I noticed how the community often failed to take the issue seriously as they attributed virginity rates to a skyrocketing gay population. 

The reason I took it seriously is because I don't socialize much.  I could be underestimating the psychological benefits of forming healthy relationships rather than no relationship.  This is similar to the fatherless epidemic.  Children who grow up without A father have psychological problems such as A lack of courage.  I was affected by this issue and I want to fully understand how much I could be affected by the environment I grow up in.

A good take away is to treat everyone the same as you would treat any other human being.  A mistake men make is that they think they have treat one woman differently, but this makes her uncomfortable when she picks up on sexual innuendos.

[BipolarGrowth]

People with psychotic mental health disorders (namely bipolar disorder and schizophrenia) are often spiritually gifted. In many ancient, and even some modern, indigenous cultures, these people often became shamans. In some cultures they frequently took psychedelics to further develop their roles as visionaries and healers. Now it’s thought by doctors that these are the absolute last people who should use psychedelics. Now we’re medicated with drugs that blunt our innate abilities and told that the states that lead to the development of these abilities are to be avoided. This is because we see these psychedelics trigger spiritual emergencies (manic and/or psychotic episodes often) in the individuals which cannot be worked through properly with current infrastructure. Most of the time medications are unnecessary if proper support and respect is given for these experiences. In the past, shamans didn’t have to do the same subsistence-focused roles. They focused solely on perfecting their craft. Their role was immensely important to the society. They had their basic needs (food & shelter namely) taken care of by others so the focus could be on their very taxing and intense work. We’re talking about diving into the depths of “insanity” to pull out useful insights and gain abilities which transcend the understanding of normal science and materialism. Good luck trying to do that in modern contexts where there is not the financial support and respect to make this feasible. If we took thousands or even millions of “mentally ill” people who struggle to find success and purpose and supported them in developing their natural abilities, our world would flourish in many ways. I’ve personally experienced the literal magic capable of an individual who goes down this path, and I haven’t even had the proper support to develop these abilities. A big part of the problem is reductionism and materialism have added to large disbelief in these abilities even being possible. Not to mention we were demonized by stage blue religions which has most of the people who believe in miraculous things thinking our abilities are somehow evil. 
 

A simple set of policies which would help this situation would be to allow people who seriously wish to pursue the shamanic path immunity to laws related to consciousness-expanding substances and a basic living wage to be given by the government as proof that this work was being taken seriously was shown. Sadly we won’t see these things happen for quite some time. Society will have to raise to a stage green average before this is even a possible consideration by lawmakers. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by BipolarGrowth

[trenton]

@Husseinisdoingfine thank you for clarifying.  this is the first time I started learning about modern imperialism.  What I find concerning is that higher wages in countries like America could make imperialism worse by inflating the value of goods we export.  For example, the current minimum wage in the U.S. Is around 10 dollars, but a living wage is 20 dollars.  Would this be disastrous for poor countries?

If it is terrible for poor countries, it explains why Sanders would support imperialism.  This helps me to appreciate the need for worker rights across the globe because if we are self absorbed and only care about American workers, it comes at the expense of hurting other countries through unequal exchange.  This looks like a massive elephant in the room that is not acknowledged.  I never thought of trade as being this serious of an issue.

We are definitely in the dark ages and have a ton of development that has yet to be done around the world.

[trenton]

@BipolarGrowth I never heard of the possibility that psychosis could be a good thing.  people with these mental disorders are easily demonized as they end up in prison without their spiritual development.

One thing related to this issue is how anxiety pills are designed to suppress anxiety.  The alternative is to frame anxiety as a good thing as in some situations it makes us more alert and more active.  Anxiety could help us if the issue were framed in different way.  This is a recent development in the field of medicine.

[trenton]

I would like to add child marriage to our thread of ignored political issues.  There are loopholes in the laws against statutory rape and many states do not set a minimum age at which a person can get married.  Child marriage also facilitates human trafficking and modern slavery.

The global slavery index recommends that the minimum age of marriage should be raised to 18 with or without parental consent.  Our laws vary from state to state, but this legislation would ban all child marriage if it applies to all states.

[Blackhawk]

8 hours ago, trenton said:

@Blackhawk 

The common positions against joining NATO are...

Sweden does not want to be put in a position in which they have to fight in Afghanistan because of the need to defend the United States. 

Secondly, Sweden only spends about 1% of its GDP on defense.  NATO would encourage Sweden to double the defense budget.  Sweden values neutrality in war, and NATO membership would require their involvement.

Argument #1: The fact is that since Nato is a intergovernmental organization Sweden wouldn't be forced to do anything at all. All 30 (it would be 31 with Sweden) member countries must agree on that article 5 should be activated.

But sure, the pressure would be big that Sweden should say yes for activating article 5.

 

Argument #2: Even when article 5 gets activated, it's up to the member country to decide how it will help.

 

Argument #3: It would be selfish (morally wrong) to not help your friends who you share democratic values with. To not defend the free world/the good side.

 

Argument #4: Since Nato is so powerful, the sheer power of it would eliminate most threats anyway. So what is the big deal even if Sweden would go into war together with Nato?

The exception is nuclear war, then we would all get annihilated, but that leads to argument #5: We have already chosen side, we aren't neutral anyway. We would assist Nato and the western world even when we aren't members of Nato. In the "solidaritetsförklaringen" (declaration of solidarity) which I mentioned before Sweden has officially promised to assist Nordic countries and EU countries. Sweden is so close with Nato that in case of a war the attacker would treat us pretty much as a Nato member. But since we aren't a official member we lose out on the 3 main benefits (there's more) which only a real membership can give: defense guarantees from Nato, decision power in Nato, and a pre-planned defense planning with Nato.

Sweden haven't really ever been neutral. In WW2 we managed to stay outside of the war because we helped Hitler (if you don't believe me: google it). That's not really neutral. And it shows that "neutrality" forces you to do ugly things.

And in the cold war we weren't really neutral. Our "neutrality" was a lie because we had secret agreements with USA, we were a secret ally with USA (again, if you don't believe me: google it.)

Article 5 in Nato has only been activated one time: when the 9/11 attacks happened. Sweden went into Afghanistan despite our lack of membership.

 

About the 2% of GDP thing:

It's not a requirement. So you can just ignore that 2% recommendation. Very few Nato countries spend 2% or more anyway.

Edited April 25, 2021 by Blackhawk