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Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

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421–430 of 1001 posts

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#421

What is really keeping me up at night is the existential problem the US faces for the next 50 years: the ever increasingly large divide that is the polarizing of the electorate. We have to come together as Americans or someone will divide and conquer us.

By what measure is the US more divided than in the past?

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#422

Favorite fact about the 2020 election: Biden not only got more Black votes than Obama, he got a higher percentage of the Democratic Black vote (highest in history, in fact). IOW, Biden is significantly more popular among Blacks than Obama was in 2008 (or 2012). Amazing!

Yes, definitely no fraud at all in this election!

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#423

Being a centrist, I can definitely understand the desire for more conservative policies, and a rejection of more liberal policies. What has been tough for me personally, though, is to see a person as amoral as Trump get so much support. I DO agree that Trump has done some good things, things that before him neither the left nor the right was willing to do in a substantial way (mainly his forcing a re-evaluation of ou…

when you say "Amoral" some facts backing it up would be appreciated for the sake of the debate.

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#424

How does this election relate to the 2000 election when all media called Gore the winner, but then in December, Bush became the president elect? https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/11/04/the... "On election night, it was unclear who had won, with the electoral votes of the state of Florida still undecided. The returns showed that Bush had won Florida by such a close margin that state law required a rec…

The Associated Press, who called the election this year, and who has been calling US elections since 1848, didn't call the election for either side in 2000:

"AP did not call the closely contested race in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore – we stood behind our assessment that the margin in Florida made it too close to call."

https://www.ap.org/en-us/topics/politics/elections/how-we-ca...

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#425
post #322

What is really keeping me up at night is the existential problem the US faces for the next 50 years: the ever increasingly large divide that is the polarizing of the electorate. We have to come together as Americans or someone will divide and conquer us.

I was talking to a US expat this afternoon. Besides the congratulations and commenting the expectations for the new administration we reflected on the damage the last 30-40 years of propaganda for individualism have made. Individuals, their inner world and potential are very important, but you have systematically mortified the importance - and the “evolutionary advantage” - of the human societal organization. Over op…

When I think of submissive corporate drones, it's people in public unions.

Not the people at the mercy of Randian heroes like the entrepreneurs of silicon valley.

I had a friend who left public teaching because they wanted to own him and his votes for 35 years and a pension he'd never vote away. (not a drone right?)

As opposed those awful individuals who move between for profit companies choosing who and what they work for.

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#426
> Kamala Harris also made history as the first Black woman to become vice president, an achievement that comes as the U.S. faces a reckoning on racial justice. The California senator, who is also the first person of South Asian descent elected to the vice presidency, will become the highest-ranking woman ever to serve in government, four years after Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.

Can someone explain that last sentence to a non-American? Doesn't it simply reduce the whole paragraph to 'first female VP'? Or does it mean 'first female senator to go on to government, but not the first including non-senators', in which case.. uh-ok, is that significant?

Just seems like it's slicing her up into as many 'firsts' as possible.

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#427
post #106

I just realized that Trump could become presidential candidate again in 2024 for a second term. So it might not be over yet.

I don't think the USA has anything like Brazil's "Clean Record Act" (Lei da Ficha Limpa), but it's not unlikely that, once Trump leaves the presidency, he will face several lawsuits, and the outcome of these lawsuits might lead to him not being able to become a candidate for a while.

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#428

To me what this election (as well as the 2016 election) illustrates, is what a poor set of choices we have had. In no sane world should it have been difficult for the Democrats to defeat Donald Trump in 2016. He had no history in political office, and he lost the popular vote to just about the worst candidate the Democrats could have put up. Had the Democrats put up anyone who was less divisive than Hillary Clinton t…

> Had the Democrats put up anyone who was less divisive than Hillary Clinton then we are not where we are today.

You say this like Clinton did badly: she got 2.9M more votes than Trump!

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_United_States_presidentia...

Most of the voting public rejected Trump in 2016. It's just that 77K of those votes were in the "wrong" places (MI 10K; PA 44K; WI 23K).

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#429

What is really keeping me up at night is the existential problem the US faces for the next 50 years: the ever increasingly large divide that is the polarizing of the electorate. We have to come together as Americans or someone will divide and conquer us.

Should just get rid of the two party system and in 20 years there won't be a divide... Of course easier said then done.

Unfortunately that would require a revolution. The system is designed to prevent substantial change because the players are already aligned with its incentives. The last big systemic change was direct election of Senators in 1913.

Re: Biden wins White House, vowing new direction for divided U.S.

#430
post #408

Personally I think we are watching the slow death of the USA. May be from France I am not getting all the subtle details about the situation on the ground but the country seems to be completely divided. There is almost nothing now that holds America coherent as a country. It has too much variance to form a sensible cluster. It went from a basically almost racially homogeneous, English speaking, Christian - with a lot…

> Personally I think we are watching the slow death of the USA. May be from France I am not getting all the subtle details about the situation on the ground but the country seems to be completely divided.

I live in Washington DC and completely agree with you. The division has only been getting worse for years.

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