Hardkill

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  2. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

    There is some truth in that, but also, during that time black people were mistreated and women couldn't have credit cards.

    Will black people eventually riot against corporations, the rich, and the right-wing politicians as soon our country truly reaches the nadir of late stage capitalism?

  3. Posted

    11 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    Yes.

    Life in America is about as good as life gets.

    That's kind of true.

    Although, some experts have still warned that the current economic system, characterized by income inequality, wealth concentration, and declining social mobility, could lead to such very unwanted consequences for everyone including widespread rioting, economic collapse, Breakdown of social cohesion, sharp decline of public health, major breakdown of our natural environment, and so on. I remember you even mentioning that all of that before on your video on "Inside the Mind of Trump" about that and how that will occur before our country enters into stage Green.

    Do you think that's still likely to happen?

  4. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    It takes a lot to generate an actual revolt.

    American society is advanced enough that most people don't want to revolt.

    Although we literally had a mini revolt my those MAGA.

    So, despite the fact that the anti-establishment sentiment in our country has become so palpable these days we are still not even close to having any revolt for the foreseeable future?

    Is it because American society has already made such significant progress in many areas, providing a relatively high standard of living, social stability, and political freedom? Plus, the fact that America still has a strong tradition of democratic institutions, civil society organizations, and political processes that have allowed for peaceful expression of dissent and gradual reform?

    4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    They have brainwashed themselves with right-wing media.

    That's true. They indeed have been brainwashed by that and Trump. 

    Conversely, Democratic voters haven't been brainwashed by anyone as toxic as Trump or by anything as toxic as the right-wing media. The left-wing media ecosystem hasn't ever promoted misinformation, conspiracy theories, and extremist ideologies anywhere near to extent that the right-wing media has. Also, even progressives like Bernie Sanders, who can be toxic at times, still have been much more civil and intellectually honesty by far than "right-wing populists" leaders like Trump.

  5. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    20 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    1) When the plebs are exploited badly enough, they can revolt. Which is why the job of the elites is to exploit plebs but just shy of infuriating them.

    2) Nearly all those revolutions follow with a conservative backlash and in any case elites regain power, but maybe in a slightly different form. All the power hungry revolutionaries themselves become the new vampiric elites.

    1. Oh I see! you know, I kinda thought that. So, that's why those in power, including the government officials and corporate interests, often must make concessions to the demands of the people to maintain social stability and avoid widespread unrest. This is a fundamental aspect of democratic governance and the balance of power in society. Correct?

    2. Oh yeah, that's true. Yet, many of them lead to permanent positive fundamental changes for their societies and their people.

    3. So, despite the notable rise in people's frustration and disillusionment with our country's institutions and the government, most Americans still have not been exploited badly enough to the point of wanting a revolt in the US?

  6. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    58 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    Trump is demagogue -- that is a power hungry elitist who dupes the least intelligent plebs into thinking he will help them.

    Because there is an asymmetry between left and right. Being right-wing requires zero intelligence or education. Being left-wing requires intellectual and moral work.

    Most plebs lean conservative because they are not thinking, they are conforming to their culture.

    The powerful are like vampires who feed off the uneducated plebs. Of course eventually the plebs get fed up with it, but it's hard for them to change anything because they have no power. Nothing new here. This is human civilization in a nutshell.

    Hmm...Okay, I see what you're saying.

    But then how do you explain the fact that there have been many instances in world history where true anti-establishment revolutionists have successfully overthrown the powerful elites and fundamentally changed their country's entire system such as Trotsky and Lenin with their Bolshevik revolution, the leaders of the French Revolution (1789-1799), the Oliver Cromwell and the British Civil War (1642-1651), the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution, Frederick Douglass and other leaders of their abolitionist movement Lincoln and the American Civil War, the union leaders of the most intense labor strikes in the U.S. history (the late 1800s and early 1900), leaders of the early 1900s Progressive movement, FDR and his New Deal agenda, MLK and Malcolm X and their Civil Rights movement, the leaders of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s, Gandhi and his Indian Independence Movement (1857-1947) etc.? 

    I mean those historic events no doubt were accompanied by great violence, horrific bloodshed, and significant human suffering. Yet, how or why were enough of the plebs in each of those movements inspired by their leaders to truly revolt like hell against the establishment?

    Isn't that what Bernie Sanders was trying to say when the country needed such a revolution?

  7. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

    Fundamentally, power is an elitist thing, it is not for the plebs. You have to be power hungry to get power, and most normies are not power hungry. Power is a hierarchical. It's difficult to flatten it.

    Yeah, but how come Trump ran for president successfully as right-wing populist and why does he still have such an unusually strong grip over so much of the GOP establishment? Yet, why didn't Bernie Sanders strong anti-establishment message ever work in either of his 2016 or 2020 presidential campaigns like it did with Trump from the right, especially when the American people became visibly angry with the establishment during each of those elections, particularly during 2016? 

    Also, how does one still reconcile with what you're saying along with the fact that most people across the political spectrum in the USA have gotten sick and tired of the status quo and the establishment?

     

  8. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    No doubt has anti-establishment sentiment been at historic highs for several years for a number reasons:

     

    • Public Trust in Government: Trust in the federal government is low, with only 24% of Americans saying they trust the government.
    • Approval of Political Leadership: Political leadership has seen a decline in approval ratings, with George W. Bush's ratings dropping from 86% to 24% by the end of his presidency.
    • Religion: Religion's influence in American life has seen a decline, with fewer Americans praying or attending religious services.
    • Media: News organizations have seen a decline in trust, with many Americans questioning their professionalism and objectivity.
    • Political Polarization: Political polarization has increased, with many Americans identifying as independents and expressing frustration with the two-party system.
    • Economic Inequality: Economic inequality has increased, with many Americans expressing concerns about the growing wealth gap and the impact of globalization.
    • Government Response to Crises: The government's response to crises such as Hurricane Katrina and the COVID-19 pandemic has been criticized, leading to a decline in trust and approval.
    • Rise of Alternative Media: The rise of alternative media sources has led to a decline in trust in traditional media outlets and a shift towards more partisan sources.
    • Political Scandals: Political scandals such as Watergate and the Iraq War have led to a decline in trust in government and political leadership.
    • Growing Frustration: Growing frustration with the political system, economic inequality, and social issues has led to an increase in anti-establishment sentiment.

     

    We all know that Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election was of course partly due to his ability to tap into this anti-establishment sentiment that was prevalent among many American voters. In fact, anti-establishment sentiment in America has grown even more ever since Trump left office and Biden, who is a more pro-establishment politician, became president in 2021.

    Yet, most politicians in power throughout the entire US government are still not particularly populists. There are actually less Democratic populists in power than Republican populists in America, even though Democratic progressive populists have been gaining significant influence and momentum within the party, particularly among progressive activists and younger voters. Even when we account for the fact that Progressives, including democratic socialists and populists, have been gaining very significant ground within the Democratic Party, currently make up about half of the House Democrats in Congress, and have comprised of a growing number of prominent US Senators in Congress, the more moderate/establishment Democrats have still been the dominant faction of their party.

    In fact, if I am not mistaken, despite the fact that the right-wing populism of Trump and MAGA has taken over the whole Republican party, the majority of Republicans in both chambers of Congress are not really populists either. Neither are the majority of GOP state governors throughout the country really populists either.

    Then again, most people in the USA have gotten sick and tired of constantly feeling let down by pro-establishment traditional career politicians who haven't done enough to change the status quo in order to fix so many pressing issues that desperately need to be addressed in our country.

    Just to be clear, I am not necessarily advocating for the idea of having all progressive populists be in charge of the entire government. I would just like to understand from a nuanced perspective as to why most politicians in power in America still aren't populists.

  9. Posted

    Every safe and effective drug administered through prescription or under the guidance of healthcare professionals HAS SOME KIND OF POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS!!!

    COVID vaccines are no different. Not to mention, that the methods various platforms or mediums used to develop COVID-19 vaccines including Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, Viral vector vaccines, and inactivated or killed virus vaccines, HAVE ALL BEEN HIGHLY SUBSTANTIATED by many years of extensive and rigorous testing in clinical trials involving tens of thousands of participants to evaluate their safety and efficacy. The entire research and testing process were performed by the best the medical doctors/scientists in the world. In fact, about 99.99% of all medical doctors/scientists have all concurred that practically everyone in the world should get the first one or two dose of the vaccine and then follow that up with booster shots regularly.

    Only a very tiny percentage of rogue quack doctors out there in the world have been speaking out against it because those weirdos have been running some kind of scam.

  10. Posted

    23 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    I don't see why right-wing media would decline when half of the country will always be right-wing.

    Well, like I said before, the right-wing media will likely still be always a major part of both the mainstream media and alternative media. However, there seem to be something going on with the right wing media.

    What do you think it is?

  11. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

     

    Of course, the right-wing media ecosystem will probably still always stand as a formidable force in America and throughout the rest of the world. However, if all of this is true and it continues to be true, then that's very good news for the country and the rest of the world, especially with the serious rise in the left-wing/liberal/progressive media ecosystem since the late 2010s.

  12. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    16 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    Your view is too narrow and short.

     

    11 hours ago, Bobby_2021 said:

    They would interested in dialogue and negotiations, which is absent from our leaders nowadays. 

    Right now, US has the attitude of either you comply with what we say or get hit with sanctions. They are still living off of the winner status they got from the cold war and don't yet realise that regional hedgemons are popping up that makes this of dominance unfeasible.

    This kind of my way or the highway is what got us into the trouble in the first place. We need more dialogue and discussion and common sense as opposed to polarization and domination.

    So, it's going to take about a decade or so of more pain and suffering for us to get through these serious global problems and learn better from them?

  13. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    10 minutes ago, Bobby_2021 said:

    As prof Mearsheimer said, if there were a solution, we would be talking about it. There is no way out of it at the moment.

    The fate rests upon the will of political leaders to make sensible decisions. Right now they are entirely disconnected from the minds if the general populace.

    Anyone who disagree with them is marked a Russian propagandists, anti liberal, anti democratic, anti Semitic etc.

    So you would be the bad guy to even suggest a solution, let alone gather the will to make it happen. You might even end up in their hit list. Not even kidding.

    What would FDR, Lincoln, or Washington do?

    What would Winston Churchill do?

  14. Posted

    On 4/25/2024 at 8:40 PM, Leo Gura said:

    Meh...

    The world is still more peaceful and civilized than ever.

    Pundits gotta invent problems otherwise they'd be out of a job.

    Be careful with this doomerism porn.

     

    On 4/25/2024 at 9:07 PM, Bobby_2021 said:

    @Leo Gura The world was far more peaceful during 2009-19 than during the last 4 years. 

    Africa is in a crisis. There are missiles facing Europe and Russia. China might invade Taiwan, Iran might block the shipping in red sea.

    Defence spending is on rise all across the world. I bet they are not buying weapons en mass for "peaceful purposes".

    It's usually calm before a storm. 

    Yeah, I agree with Bobby. The world has been more unstable than it has been in a long time. 

    What do you predict will eventually happen to the world in a more positive note even when taking into account everything that professor Mearsheimer has said?

  16. Posted

    1 hour ago, Bobby_2021 said:

    This matter is more complicated than most people give credit to. I agree that I didn't do justice to explain it well.

    Taxes are necessary. But they serve a different purpose in the economy than most people think. It's just that the purpose is to not fund things.

    You might think that you need to raise taxes to do stuff. 

    But taxes are here to hold the economy in shape. It is a tool used by the government on the economy. 

    The government do not need taxes to fund its own stuff.

    At the end of the day, you need a functional economy. That's the first priority in economics. Taxes help in a functional economy. Taxes will not be helpful in idealistic causes like reducing inequality by taxing the rich.

    That is not what taxes are meant for and that is coming from a fundamental misunderstandings of how the economy and taxes work.

    Ok, who told you this?

  17. Posted

    Btw @Bobby_2021 @actuallyenlightened the post WWII economic boom, otherwise called the Golden Age of Capitalism, which occurred approximately from 1945 to 1975, was arguably the greatest period of economic prosperity in American history, and the taxes on the rich and big corporations were the highest they ever were in US history. 

    How about the 1990s? While the taxes on the rich and big corporations during that decade weren't as high as they were during the mid 1900s, they were actually significantly higher back then than during either the 80s, the aughts, 2010s, and 2020s. Yet, the 90s decade was another incredible period of economic expansion that also could arguably be considered the greatest period of economic prosperity in US history. Plus, it was also the only decade since the mid 1900s that saw a federal budget surplus and very significant decrease in the national debt. 

    As for Biden and the Democrats since 2021, he and the Democrats in Congress raised taxes on the rich and corporations, and at the same time the economy has grown much more and much faster under Biden's presidency than it did during Trump's presidency. Even when you look at Biden's first 3 years and 2 months as president now and compare that with Trump's first 3 years and 2 months as president before the pandemic hit the country, the economy still has grown much more and much faster under Biden than under Trump. Plus, Biden and his party have been significantly reversing the economic inequality in our country ever since he first took office.

  18. Posted

    39 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    BPD can be a really taxing, stubborn, life-long condition. It's hard for such people to live normal well-functioning lives because their mind is so chaotic.

    It's no surprise that such people have a high suicide rate.

    It's hard for a normal person to understand the hell that BPD can be and how stubborn it is.

    Yeah, it's very sad.

    There are also too many different people in the world with too many different kinds of hells they go through. 

    Stuff like this makes me feel very depressed about humanity.

  19. Posted

    5 hours ago, Bobby_2021 said:

    Did the united states collect an extra 2T in taxes before going to Iraq and Afghanistan Invasion?

    Ask yourself how they funded the war.

    Where did the money come from?

    No, it didn’t and the war Iraq and Afghanistan was a total waste of time and money (except for the assassination of Osama Bin Laden). That’s one big why we went into much worse of a federal deficit/national debt.

    So, why are you saying that taxes don’t fund anything?

  20. Posted

    5 hours ago, Bobby_2021 said:

    This is a huge myth that does more damage than good.

    Taxes do not fund anything.

    Taxes are not used to build roads.

    Taxes are not used to subside healthcare.

    Taxes are not funding the Ukraine aid package, or any other foreign aid package for that matter.

    Taxes do not fund wars even though the expenditure runs into trillions.

    Taxes exist for a different purpose, rather a complicated one.

    Politicians like Sanders and AOC know this. But to explain it to the masses is a pain in the ass. So they keep hammering the narrative to #TaxTheRich.

    Because it's palatable to the masses. 

    No one ever really explains how exactly inequality is bad or if concentration of wealth harms the economy. It's something we are supposed to believe.

    Are you serious?

  21. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    @actuallyenlightened That’s a big misconception.
     

    Actually taxing the rich and corporations to a very significant degree actually is better for the economy because it doesn’t just provide ample amount of money for the government to pay for government funded social programs (Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, Social Security retirement funds, public infrastructure, public education, necessary welfare, etc.) and government funded services (public schooling, military, police, FBI, CIA, fire fighters, etc.).
     

    Taxing the billionaire crime lord and corporate tyranny heavily is also crucial to maintain stability of the US economy for a number of reasons. One reason is that it provides much better levels of consumer spending by providing enough money for the middle class, working class, and lower class people in the country, with which is essential for keeping the economy from going into a recession/depression and significantly growing the economy. Another reason is that it reduces excessive capital that many rich people and big corporations may be encouraged to use for engaging in excessive speculation in the stock market. That also, extremely important for preventing another financial crisis or severe recession/depression from happening. An additional reason is that it actually encourages even more people to pursue entrepreneurship and start-ups by providing enough everyday people with enough capital to do so. Plus, tax raises on the rich and corporations are needed to reduce the federal deficit/national debt. One more reason is that it greatly reduces excessive economic inequality which reduces economic anxiety, resentment amongst the vast majority of Americans. If anxiety and resentment about the nation’s economy becomes too widespread, especially if it largely pertains to an overwhelming sentiment of economic injustice then the people will cause widespread catastrophic civil unrest throughout the whole country. Believe me, you do not want to see that happen. 
     

    Have you read up on the history of the Gilded Age or the history of the Great Depression? Did you also realize that one of the reasons that Trump got elected president in 2016 is because of the economic inequality which has been growing for decades made too many Americans vulnerable to being won over by an extreme right-wing populist racist demagogue such as Trump who gotten away with promoting hyper nationalism and authoritarianism. It’s just like the way Hitler convince the people of Germany to support Nazism and worldwide fascism largely because of extreme economic inequality that occurred all over Europe in addition to wanting revenge on the whole world for being fucked over by the rest of Europe during WW1.

  23. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    7 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

    I think RFK is trying to be more woke than Biden, since Biden is being framed as a neolib establishment corporatist centrist. Which he is.

    Biden is not woke. Which is why progressives hate him.

    Biden is actually turning about to be not nearly as much of a neolib establishment corporatist centrist as he used to be. In fact, he is becoming the most economic populist president since LBJ in the 1960s. He also has arguably become the most pro-union president since FDR. He is making a serious departure from the dominance of neoliberalism even more so than Obama did. His economic policies have drawn on the New Keynesian style economics, which is an upgrade from the older Keynesian style economics that dominated during the extended New Deal era.

     

  24. Posted

    11 hours ago, Davino said:

    Or maybe he will play the martyr, getting even more votes

    These types of people make problems their opportunities. Napoleon style

    Whether he wins or loses the trial, the game plane for both outcomes is already scripted and thought of. Millions of dollars are invested into campaign strategies for presidency in the USA.

    That's a misleading statement being made from the pollsters and pundits.

    Sure, it would further strengthen his support from vast majority of the Republican/conservative base, but former NIkki Hayley voters who makeup a significant amount of Republicans have said they will vote against Trump if he is convicted. Also, a significant portion of moderate an Independent will probably be even more turned off by Trump, while Democrats and liberals might be even more energized by realizing how much higher the stakes are for this election if or when they realize how much more dangerous and insane Trump is.