Outpost716 wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:48 pm
Then what
is? How would
you,
NegativeApproach, fix this? What are your suggestions? I'm all ears (eyes, whatever)! Please, enlighten me with your solution to the problem of the United States. Teach me something. I'm not unwilling to change my stance or reform my opinion, but you're going to have to work for it. You're going to have to substantiate your claims. And you have no reason to believe this, but I'm genuinely interested. But, I don't want to read more complaints and more about how powerless/not rich you are. I want to read your exact ideas (even in the absence of wealth) how you or anyone would solve this problem. That said, what's your perfect world? How does any of your "I'm taking my ball and going home!" solve the problem of this election?
The first step is to remove money from politics. Have a nationalized tax-payer funded campaign fincancing.
From there, we have a plethora of things that would fix the system, including a significantly higher tax rate (perhaps the rate from the 60s when america "was great" before?) for those who earn a million dollars a year or less, universal single-payer health care, the end of mass incarceration for non-violent offenders, and a universal basic income.
However, all of these things are non-starters, because:
Outpost716 wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:48 pm
Yes, rich people
do fund candidates, I'd be without any integrity if I didn't grant that; but you don't think they're not hedging their bets? You think they don't throw money at multiple candidates to see which sticks? C'mon! Their interest is in one thing: the amassing and continued amassing of wealth. They'll go with whomever wins, so long as they get what they want.
The point is, the rich don't dictate policy. They can't be
bothered with policy -unless it affects their bottom line. You really, honestly think they'd climb down from on high to set forth a policy that doesn't and won't affect them? You think they care whether or not you have a job? healthcare? happiness? Hahahahaha!
Shiiiiiiiiiiiit.
This is all false. The rich DO dictate policy. They have their lobbyists write the laws, and the people in congress rubber-stamp them.
If that wasn't the case, explain every single tax break for the rich since the 1960s... Do you think that those things are the will of the people?
NegativeApproach wrote:
The wealth divide and lack of social mobility, lack of 1st world health care, and the fact that yes, he's coming for your guns, are a recipe for disaster.
You can vote for that garbage if you want, but I won't participate in a charade of democracy.
Outpost716 wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:48 pm
So, to your mind: Biden == Trump? Have I got that right? It doesn't matter to you at all? Who would? Burnie? Or is he a broken puppet of wealthy interests, too? Warren? Budeg--- however you spell his name? ANYONE running for office in the US?
And, so that I'm sure that I completely understand you, I'll ask: It doesn't matter to you that Trump knew about the dangers of the pandemic and chose,
CHOSE to deliberately mislead the people of this country (well, the ones that believed him anyway), then deny it to save face? It doesn't matter to you that he is a boastful, arrogant, broke-ass narcissist who really only wants attention and to be 'Liked' and retweeted in the hearts and minds of the under/uneducated? It doesn't matter to you that (whether you like them or not), the people around you have been mislead and manipulated?
Trump poorly handled the pandemic. That's clear. He bungles everything. I'm not terrifed that Western Democracy will falter and crumble for someone who can't institute a single major policy without it running into significant snags (border wall, Muslim ban, ACA repeal, etc etc etc). The guy is a clown.
The real problem here is that we have corporate/profit-driven health care. THAT is the main reason we have a quarter million dead. If we had real health care in this country, people wouldn't be trying to make sense of it all. They would simply be getting the treatment that they need. Instead, we have people falling through the cracks and dying at record rates. That's not ALL Trump's fault, and to blame only Trump is to ignore the failures of our broken health care system.
Outpost716 wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:48 pm
Though, I will suggest that you're likely to be better off elsewhere - like Finland, Norway, - hell, any country that made the "Happiest Places to Live" list. Clearly, the US isn't going to change, so why do you remain? Why, in all that you enumerate is wrong with this country, do you even bother sticking around? Serious question.
"Love it or leave it", huh? Where have I heard that before?
NegativeApproach wrote:
Choosing not to play in a rigged and broken game is very much my right, and I'd argue its my duty as an American.
Outpost716 wrote: Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:48 pm
Well then! Take your toys and go home. Also, this is a cop-out and hardly American.
It's not a cop out. Our system currently serves only the wealthy. You can pretend that it doesn't if you'd like. It's a fallacy.