DocWatts

Member
 View profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    2,203

  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by DocWatts

  1. Posted

    11 hours ago, Gidiot said:

    Fdr was a great man but the internment camps happened under him to. Every vote is a harm reduction vote from a certain perspective, just some people actually inspire you to vote for them, Bernie, Obama in 2008 and 2012 but by the end of the second term people weren’t that impressed, Kennedy, Lincoln, were all highly inspirational people, the type of people you are proud of being your leader, maybe even al gore fits that category too, but the problem is that all of those people I mentioned have faults and there is no perfect president or person, that’s why policy is more important, america is too nationalistic to vote purely on policy like Northern Europe and others we need to vote on the person something the founding fathers may not like but it’s the reality, hopefully there will be a nice balance because just as important as the policy is the messenger and the delivery of that policy. There won’t be policy based voting until money is out politics and anyone can run with no advantage of being loaded beforehand. In a democracy you need to win people over by using your experience and by being able to get people to trust you, while I trust Biden, I’m not sure he’s going to fix any of the big problems, I’m happy to be proven wrong however and it seems like he would get out of the way for the new generation which is something that is sorely needed in this country, I could be wrong on this but it’s my observation based on his character

    A bunch of really good points; and I agree that looking at your Vote from a harm reduction standpoint makes a lot of sense.

    As for FDR, what you say about him is %100 true; I will push back just a bit in that there's no way he would have been elected to Four Terms if he wasn't able to inspire people the way he did (even if his policy platform was the exact same).  

    What's interesting about the American system is that the President combines what is in many other systems two different jobs: (1) The head of state who's job is to be the public face of the government and to connect with people. And (2) the Administrator (or bean counter) whose job is more about running the day to day running of the state. 

    In some other countries you have a President and also a Prime Minister, but in the America these roles are combined. This makes an already demanding job even more difficult, since it's always going to be more difficult to find someone who excels in both of those two roles.

  2. Posted

    1 hour ago, Hardkill said:

    Wait, Woodrow Wilson was a great leader and a highly intelligent man.

    Well... Yes and no. While he did try to present himself as a highly principled person, he was also an avowed White Supremacist. And not in a '100 years ago everyone was racist by our standards' kind of way, but in a 'highly racist even for his time' kind of way.

  4. Posted

    7 minutes ago, No Self said:

    I have the impression that Biden has science-based views on climate change. This would be the start of an amazing revolution and would change the entire world by legitimising serious environmentalism into global politics.

    Just because he isn't a natural-born entertainer like Trump doesn't make him a bad politician. Do you insist that your postman be charismatic and entertaining also?

    I mostly agree, but I would also argue that part of the President's job should be to instill a Vision for the country to aspire to, and be able to articulate it in a way that people can connect with. Agree or disagree with his politics, but Obama was very good at this. Biden... well he may be on board with some progressive policies, which is great, but I find him to be seriously lacking in that area.

    Again when the competition poses an existential threat to Democracy, moralizing over this sort of thing is counter productive, but its still disappointing that our expectations for leadership are so low.

  5. Posted

    1 hour ago, Hardkill said:

    Yeah, I agree with you on that. I still worry that there may still be too many block-headed people who are still not getting it in their heads that Trump has become arguably the most unstable, most dishonorable, and most unqualified president ever in contemporary U.S. history, whereas Biden is a truly temperate, honorable, and qualified politician who absolutely gives off the impression and actually is much more presidential than Trump could ever be.  

    I think you'd really have to reach back in American history to find another US president that's less qualified for the job. Maybe as far back as someone like Andrew Johnson who was extremely racist (even for the standards of the day) and bungled Reconstruction, eventually getting himself Impeached due to his obstructionism when it came to extending any sorts of rights or recognition for black people.

  6. Posted

    Biden kind of strikes me as the textbook definition of what people think of as a bland, middle of the road career politician. Just happenstance that after four years of Trump's antics that a boring old guy is a breath of fresh air for much of the country.

    As an aside, this Futurama quote comes to mind when I'm going in to vote for safe, middle of the road politicians without strong convictions or an inspiring vision because it's the only realistic alternative to right wing authoritarianism.

     

    unnamed (1).jpg

  8. Posted · Edited by DocWatts

    13 minutes ago, Emerald said:

    I think what has to be understood about Trump supporters is that they are victims of his demagoguery. Trump is a charismatic leader in the exact same way that cult leaders are. He preys upon many people who are typically dealing with some feelings of powerlessness and the emotional issues it causes. And he gives people someone to blame for their pain and anger. Thus, he becomes associated with empowerment and release of pent up anger. 

    This is why so many people identify so strongly with him and will bend themselves in pretzel knots to defend him at all costs. He becomes a symbol of validation for their most defensive reactions... and enable them to hide the wounds and vulnerabilities underneath that defensive reaction through projection, transference, and scapegoating of marginalized groups.

    So, even though what you're seeing is very ugly and destructive, these super devout Trump supporters are truly unconscious. They know not what they do. And the only way to get through to them is to help them address the emotional vulnerability that has made them susceptible to the control tactics of a demagogue in the first place. 

    Thanks for laying this out in such a clear, concise, and helpful way.

    It's so much more constructive to try and understand these people rather than just demonizing them.

    In order to diffuse these sort of ideologies, you really need a clear understanding of what makes them so attractive to people.

  9. Posted

    5 minutes ago, purerogue said:

    I was wondering why Left leaning people have problems to accept others point of views, I am not saying that you do not have such problem on other side , but people over there are way more accepting and ready to listen, for sure less concerned if their friends are one side or other, it is just political view. 

    I personally do not even think that any of sides in moderate  level are regression, both are progression, just progression from different point. 

    I guess in my mind it's a balancing act between being open to other points of view and being cognizant of the harms that someone is causing to other people. I think understanding why a person has a particular point of view is very important, regardless of my feelings one way or another.

    And I try to be understanding and empathetic towards people I disagree with, but I'm also human and there's limits in my patience when I see someone harming or brutalizing others. 

    I also think there's healthy and unhealthy versions of most political views, and its much more difficult to be friends with someone who's fallen into a toxic manifestation of a worldview, because it tends to infect others areas of thier life.

  11. Posted

    I do genuinely feel bad for some of these people because it's obvious that they're being lied to and manipulated. But I do have to weigh that against the harm that they're causing other people, especially the people being directly harmed by the policies they're supporting (black people, poor people, gay people, immigrants... just to name a few). I'm always going to have more sympathy for someone being brutalized that I am for someone manipulated into brutalizing others.

  12. Posted

    I think that the conversation around 'personal responsibility' needs to be reframed in a way that it can be reclaimed from people who only use it to moralize thier selfish behavior.

    As in once your own needs are met, you have a Personal Responsibility to help other people in your community, especially if you can do so at little cost to yourself. 

    Maybe reframe the conversation so that having the moral conviction to help others is looked at with the same romanticism as Rugged Individualism is in the current environment.

    ... Welp, guess I'll pull my heads out of the Clouds and return to reality, such as it is.^_^

     

  13. Posted · Edited by DocWatts
    fixing typo

    44 minutes ago, Bando said:

    What sucks about is that I get the feeling most Americans are like this, decent people who just get by paycheck to paycheck, this is why I value education and developing proper life skills so much. Its way too easy to be manipulated when you don't even have the education to know better

    I know a handful of these people, it's genuinely sad to see them being so obviously manipulated and taken advantage of. Fact is that the Republican party has literally nothing to offer the average American that will make their lives better in any way, so it makes sense that they have to resort to these sort of tactics to win elections. And that's in addition to just outright disenfranchising people.

  14. Posted · Edited by DocWatts

    1 hour ago, Opo said:

    I have multiple thoughts on this. 

    Nazis don't look intimidating to another nazi, but if you're black.. 

    Yea they are fat and weak. But if you're a old person just a little push can knock you off your feet and you can crack your skull on the ground. 

    Don't underestimate their stupidity. They can get scared easily and shoot you out of "self defense". 

    Edit: I need to type faster.

    Also people don't become fantastically devoted to a hateful political ideology because everything in their life is going awesome; just going off from the MAGA supporters that I've personally known, most of them have had some sort of obvious unmet deficiency need in their life that they project outwards on to others. People whose lives aren't going great and who feel like they have nothing to lose are obvious fodder for being propagandized into violence. Of course more of these people are just weak men LARPing as soldiers, but no way to tell at a glance who might be unbalanced or radicalized enough to shoot someone in the face or drive their car through a crowd of people.

    Of course it doesn't even have to come to that, just making someone who happens to be black think twice about potentially putting themselves in harms way in order to Vote accomplishes the same thing.

  16. Posted

    From an awesome rap album that's a playful stage Green take down of Corporate Greed, Privatization, and of shallow Consumerism ruining Rap as an art form. Also happens to be a concept album that's set in a cyberpunk dystopia with a host of science fiction references for good measure.

    Wind the clocks back to a simpler times
    Where you could talk and speak your mind
    Without assault or attack or combat
    All resources available in large quantities
    Before the deceit and greed and privatization
    Of everything that society placed inside it
    Spaces as a service to the patrons
    Now you pay for it and your credit better be good
    Or if there's an emergency, never see a foot
    Extended in your direction to help forget it
    Shred any evidence of wrong doing to make pledges
    Among secret societies with freaky fetishes
    Lie about what's really inside, they never let us in

  17. Posted · Edited by DocWatts

    39 minutes ago, Matt23 said:

    I kinda get the sense that Bret Weinstein may be dipping his toe in the reactionary tent a bit.  I don't really know lots about politics or his politics, but just from the little I've heard him speak and the circles he tends to swim in, I get a bit of a stage Green-Red-Blue (i.e., not Orange) resistance.  But I dunno.

    Yeah I can think of a number of public intellectuals on the Left who've had some negative experiences with some aspect of Green (usually some politically charged culture wars issue that's impacted them in some way), and end up dipping a toe in to Right wing reactionary politics in response to this.

    You don't want to throw out the baby with the bath water though, as people can still provide valuable insights through their work, despite them having somewhat unenlightened or misinformed positions on some social issues. 
     

  23. Posted

    As an aside, the Roman Republic used a similar system with thier governing system, where they would elect two Consuls to serve as heads of state; and it didn't stop their system from collapsing in on itself.

    For a system like that to even have a chance at working both sides would have to be working in Good faith, which is far from a given in when you consider that one of our two political parties operates as a corporatist shill with no moral qualms about eroding Democracy if its politically advantageous to do so (look at almost anything that Mitch McConnell has done if you want evidence for this).

  25. Posted · Edited by DocWatts

    5 minutes ago, Yali said:

    @DocWatts Oakland County is solid.

    Agreed. One of the more interesting things about Michigan is how diverse it is in different areas. You have urban sprawl, vast stretches of forested wilderness, incredibly wealthy areas populated with mansions, giant sand dunes, a handful of progressive cities that would be at home on the West Coast, urban ghettos, hipsters, rednecks... the list goes on and on.