You’re probably right. I just know some of the smarter people from my tiny town who are too scared to vote democrat (no judgment, whatever) that were hardcore Gary Johnson supporters last election were gunning for Yang this time around. I’m honestly interested to see what they’ll decide to do now that he’s out. *when I say smarter, I don’t mean politically.
I'm kinda in that boat too. I can't tell anyone outside my wife that I'm considering voting sanders if he gets it. There's a definite social pressure against it. I was a Johnson supporter too until he opened his mouth and revealed he's dumber than a box of bricks. I'm a libertarian except for the crazy parts (taxation is NOT theft!). I'm fiscally republican and socially liberal. People don't understand nuance. They don't think it's possible to hold beliefs across the entire spectrum of the political landscape. They think you have to love one side and vilify the other. I hate both parties equally. The only thing I'm firm on at this point is that I'm against trump being re-elected in every way, shape, and form. No "but hillary" to it.
I’m somewhat on the other side. Raised republican, voted McCain in 2008 and Obama in 2012. I consider myself a democrat/liberal/whatever slur is appropriate. My family is hardcore Trump cult, that means flying the Trump flag (literally) and believing that he does no wrong. They also consider themselves Christians which seems counterintuitive to me but I also consider myself an atheist so who knows. All I know is that if I were going to worship a public figure it wouldn’t be that one.
Ahhhh yes, the christian "we get our rights from god" crowd who also believe that people who come to this country illegally do not hold those same rights even when they're christian as well. They use the bible to justify their beliefs when it's beneficial to their argument, yet when you point out the two often juxtapose they resort to calling you whatever slur they can think of. Like I get it, it's ok to hold whatever beliefs you want even if I disagree with them. But be logical about it. I can deal with people who are wrong. I can accept that. Everyone sees the world differently. What I can't deal with are those who are willfully ignorant. Those are the type people who make me wish there was an IQ test for voting.
In this area, at least, there’s much more concern for fetuses than there is for any actual living being. I know if you’re outside of the rural Midwest that seems like a caricature but I can tell you that it’s real. March for life is legitimate because abortion=holocaust. I wish I were kidding but this is 100% how I was raised. I was in my twenties before it even seemed off to me.
So how did it go over that trump used to be dem? Am I remembering correctly that he paid for abortions of his mistresses too or was that just one of those myths that gets perpetuated so long it feels real? god the abortion debate seems so long ago I almost forgot it was a debate! This stuff is really still going on? I thought it was settled?
These are great questions that require the use of logic and, speaking only for my family and coworkers, they don’t seem to look at these things using logic. Trump is a means to an end. They take him at face value because he panders to them directly. It honestly makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.
Shame Andrew Yang is out, but he really didn’t fit the mold of either party. And he’s probably right about everything he’s predicting, it’s just a little too early to be enacting the reactionary policies for it.
He was right about some of the issues the country is/will be facing, but his signature policy and solution to these problems is inherently ridiculous. Free money for all isn't a viable economic plan. I bet nearly all his supporters go to Bernie. Man, is Warren tanking hard. I'm surprised at how well Klobuchar is doing in NH. Was that expected? She's not winning, but she's not very far behind either. I really, really hope this Buttigieg surge dies down after NH. Why is anybody voting for him again?
Its ridiculous now, but I think some day it will be inevitable. He’s right that too many jobs will eventually be automated.
I think an argument can be made for replacing food stamps, housing subsidies etc. with a single monthly cash payment. It reduces a lot of bureaucracy and bloat in those systems and would probably reduce the overall cost of all those programs. There are going to be some bad times when AI automation really gets rolling. If you just look at truck drivers there are 3.5 million people whose jobs are going to disappear. Even in a professional career like mine (civil engineer) you're starting to get advancements in CADD technology that will greatly reduce the number of entry level positions you need to produce the same amount of design plans.
Am I the only one that doesn’t think the automation revolution will be some socio economic disaster? We made it through the industrial revolution better off for it, we made it through the atomic age without vaporizing the earth. Maybe I’m an optimist but I’m guessing an unforeseen outlet in the economy or social structure will rise up to soften the feared outcomes and we’ll ultimately be much better off than we are now.
gotta have people making and maintaining those robots. Unless you build a robot to do it. And then another one to service that one. And then...
Sure, now were better off from the industry revolution. But while it was occurring it was a shit deal for a lot of people. Unemployment went up dramatically, workplace accidents became a common occurrence before laws and regulations to protect against them went into effect, and poverty, crime and slums all increased for decades until the course eventually corrected over time. It just depends how quickly it occurs, but there will problem be a point where the automation-per-job rate > labor replacement rate.
At some point they need to just admit they are for open borders. They get all pissy when people say it, but if you want no deportations, think ICE is a criminal organization, and don't want any more border security funding that is exactly what you're advocating for. How is it not open borders if you think deporting illegal immigrants is immoral? And the idea that flooding the market with cheap unskilled labor will never impact wages is ludicrous. I'm all for immigration to a certain point, but the policies some of them are now advocating for are stupid and untenable.
It will get messy for awhile, but yeah, people are just going to make more and more crap as automation goes up. If history has taught us anything it's that people will never stop buying more shit, no matter how much money they have.
So with a contested convention becoming increasingly likely, what are the chances Sanders wins the most delegates, but not a majority and the party decides to nominate someone else? I tend to think they wouldn't, but a lot of them really hate him.
I don't know that I would necessarily say that about Klobuchar, but Biden's campaign has been so fucking terrible. Ok Joe, we get it, you are such a better person than Trump. Nobody fucking cares. At some point your campaign needs a stronger message than pushing back against imaginary racism. A few people will lap it up, but for the general public this stupid shit does not top the list of concerns. Biden has made it clear he learned absolutely nothing from Hillary's failure. It was all she talked about, and now it's all he talks about. Trump bad. Trump so bad. Trump so racist. Hate crimes everywhere! Ugh. If you go to his website he actually has stuff on there, but I never see him address it in speeches. Say what you will about the other candidates, at least they are talking about actual issues. I think Biden is just too old and borderline senile to realize that what the media cares about and what the public cares about hasn't been the same thing for a long time.