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The divergence of the Democrats and Republicans is twenty first century.
They were not identical back in the day, but they were broadly the same pro business pro money machines.
Not unusual, happens in most parts of the world.
I don't know how you think that stopped in the 21st century. They just hid it behind the blatant attack on the growing identity movements.
https://beerinfo.com/homebrewing-law-signed-by-jimmy-carter-...
Both parties are worse than the other on the issues they promise to be better on.
It's almost like it's a big club that you're not a member of.
Both these ignore a lot of context. Carter had to do something about stagflation. Deregulation that promotes competition and appointing Volcker to the Fed aren't directly eroding worker's rights like Reagan's solution of union busting. Reagan signed the machine gun ban as part of an amendment to pass the Firearms Owners' Protection Act that was endorsed by the NRA.
> It's almost like it's a big club that you're not a member of.
Agreed, but not in the way that you're thinking of. The "big club" is capable of understanding nuance and making dispassionate decisions (or at least their can hire people who can do that on their behalf). Regular voters react to emotional sound bites and outsource their critical thinking to those in the "big club" who superficially align with their worldview.
People forget this, Reagan literally started the charter and expectations for the modern gun control movement just because of Black Panther advancements and protests in the street with firearms.
In reality I think there is a lot of daylight between the parties on social issues that do not affect current power structures.
Abortion, trans rights, women's rights, gay marriage, religion in public schools, etc: Tons of difference.
Funding genocide, subsidising the fossil fuel industry, maintaining a for-profit healthcare system, opposing ranked choice or instant run-off voting, keeping third parties out, refusing to enforce anti-trust law, refusing to raise the minimum wage, no accountability for police brutality, etc: Broad bipartisan support.
I think there's simply a difference between funds going towards foreign policy, and ones that basically deny you autonomy. America is highly individualistic, but that's also just human nature. Many will care more about their groceries increasing by $10 a month than a billion dollars going towards a war somewhere else.
Also helps that America hasn't experienced a war on its soil in almost 80 years now. Or technically 200 years since I don't think Hawaii was ratified yet. The idea barely registers as possible to happen.
QED.
Or
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSaFnDH...
What choices we have.
Replace the Israeli flag with the US one when we invade someone else again.
In doing that, they ceded rural America, which was devastated by NAFTA and other Clinton era policies. Giant agribusiness makes money, but the prosperous dairy operators really need regulation at the federal level to thrive. I grew up in a town that was solid rural democrat… that was gutted like a fish. 30 operating dairy farms to 1, which is a vertically integrated farm/dairy that delivers to consumers directly. The feed stores, gone. Tractor dealer, gone. The best job in town is truck driving and it’s solid trumper land.
The modern conservative narrative is really simple, and is mostly hot air. Those chicken processing plants and farms in nowhereville that need a steady supply of cheap, dumb labor with no workers comp aren’t run by democrats. Bread & circus, until the crowd demands more.
good thing we elected a party that loves nothing more than federal regulation… /s
I am neither democrat nor republican so I have no skin in the game here but I think this thinking here is very naive.
Ever wonder why thousands of Mexicans woke up one day and decided to walk across the desert, never to return? Well, we flooded the market with massive quantities of subsidized corn and put their farms out of business. We did the same thing domestically with other commodities in places like New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
With dairy, you had in-state production requirements and quotas that maintained a balance in price. A smallish dairy farm could support a household reasonably prosperously — there were thousands of farms in places like New York. Now you need thousands of cows to survive - that why milk is often cheaper than water in the supermarket.
But just like WalMart, it gutted a key price of the rural economy. Hell, I watched it happen on a farm I worked on, that operated since the 1600s under the Dutch. Since the early 2000s they board horses for rich people to pay their property taxes.
It has consistently been about illegal immigration.
You are calling people "low IQ" and "Idiots" and you, literally in this very post, show you are falling for the same thing they fell for.
don’t fall for that - illegal immigration is strictly election issue - republican love nothing more than exploiting illegal immigrants for personal gain (especially most vocal states like texas)
If this was true, why for decades have they been so concerned about which countries immigrants were coming from and so unsupportive of attempts to provide legal means to get the workers businesses need while opposing penalties for the businesses which hire people who can’t work legally? This situation isn’t new, there have been so many discussions for decades, but we’re still locked in the situation where businesses depend on Spanish-speaking workers but too many Americans oppose legal ways for them to work here.
My idiot grandmother, in no uncertain terms, thinks Mexicans should be deported for racist reasons. She has let the curtain slip enough times to make that obvious. I don’t think it’s bad to call outright racist people “idiots”.
A recent bill tighening on illegal immigration had bipartisan support in rejecting it.
Again, narrative vs. business reality. They love underpaying employees with no beneits or legal protections.
Not Trump. He’s been opposed to immigration from the ‘wrong” countries, regardless of legality.
The way to eliminate illegal immigration is to go after the people who hire them. But Trump isn't going to put rich white people in jail.
... for majority of people every single opinion and thought
they have just magically lines up with one political party ...
To be more exact: in the end the RNC/DNC comes down to votes in maybe 10 small states before candidates decide to drop out and stop wasting money on a losing battle. Those 2 candidates are what's on our ballot.
I'm in california and I don't think I ever had any say in the DNC because it's already said and done by that time from a bunch of swing states that may collectively have less represenatives than my state. There are some very good liberals I fully side with, but they don't get to be on that ballent.
EDIT: I’ll elaborate quickly why… the country is so divided these days that you can hardly engage in any conversation regarding politics across the aisle. so your only option to discuss things is with like-minded people. now when you get into like-minded group there is a herd mentality happening and serious echo chamber. here’s a personal example - one of my dearest friends on this planet used to be as liberal as they come - 100% all the way… over the years, due to various reasons like the direction of the democratic party as well as deep-end social media she turned right. it did not happen overnight, it happened over several election cycles. I have watched her be swayed to the right on issue by issue … I am educated and wise and I understood this (she is not the only one either in my “circle”) and I looked at all the issues and was like “ok, sure but she will NEVER be against abortion…” well… you know how this story ends…
I do believe that majority (I was talking in absolutes before but of course there are no absolutes) of americans are simply not smart enough to realize that two-party system made them mental slaves to those parties… finding pro-abortion republican might be as interesting as trying to find waldo :)
>> This is simply not true.
> it simply is :)
People make choices for a multitude of reasons.
Sometimes those choices are knowingly to their detriment and can be confounding to others whom are not a part of their decision process. Many times the reasoning is "sacrifice for the greater good", where "the greater good" is defined by the very people who are the harbinger of their pain. Other times, it can be as simple as; "my life sucks so everyone else's should too!"
I am sure there are many more categories which could be provided as well.
But to say:
.. for majority of people every single opinion and thought
they have just magically lines up with one political party ...
I was about to edit mine to clarify that I am not judging you nor your comments, instead simply providing my perspective in the hope it helps.
"Just say no" to nihilism[0].
I replied to this comment:
And yet people will mock you for saying that
both parties are the same.
In philosophy, nihilism (/ˈnaɪ(h)ɪlɪzəm, ˈniː-/; from Latin
nihil 'nothing') is any viewpoint, or a family of views,
that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of
human existence, namely knowledge, morality, or
meaning.
What alternative to an electoral process do you have in mind? And please be specific so that I may understand.
more than one major political party would be a good start so that your “democracy” is more little more than “it is 2am at a bar and there are two of the ugliest people to ever roam the Earth but you are drunk and you are taking one of them home with ya…” :)
> more than one major political party would be a good start so that your “democracy” is more little more than “it is 2am at a bar and there are two of the ugliest people to ever roam the Earth but you are drunk and you are taking one of them home with ya…” :)
:-D
That's a funny, and sadly appropriate, metaphor.
Getting rid of "first past the post"[0] and the "Citizen United" SCOTUS decision[1] are key to achieve this IMHO. Both will be incredibly difficult to remediate as they combine to maximize the inertia of the status quo.
0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting