Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister

Post by thebooktocome » Thu, Oct 20, 2022, 2:22 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #317

thebooktocome wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A cursory glance at the various Wikipedia lists of politicians assassinated in either country rebuts your last point. US political discourse is vastly more hostile than you give it credit for, as well. Veiled death threats (shooting pictures of opponents, burning in effigy, etc.) are increasingly common, particularly on the conservative side.

> A cursory glance at the various Wikipedia lists of politicians assassinated in either country rebuts your last point. Huh? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Congress... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_British_MPs_killed_in_... UK 3 in last 30 years, US 2. For a US population of 40x larger, and easier access to guns.

Post by gadders » Thu, Oct 20, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

zimpenfish wrote: post #319

ben_w wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the BBC still counts, though I left the country in 2018 and most of my subsequent experience of the BBC has been the satirical news quizzes "Have I Got News For You", "Mock The Week" (TV), and "The News Quiz" (radio/podcast).

The BBC, at least in the last few years, has definitely been, if not taken over, strongly guided by the Tories (because they hold the purse strings, control over appointments, etc. and are vocal about this whenever the BBC annoy them.)

Post by dreen » Thu, Oct 20, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

xorcist wrote: post #174

akudha wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Britain, Brazil, Australia, Philippines, India, Turkey, U.S … it is mind numbing that of all the good, talented people these countries have, only the dumbest, worst of the worst end up in positions of power. Depressing. At this point, we can just randomly pick a citizen to be President or PM. We might have better chances that way

There is somewhat established, half serious, idea in political science to pick a random citizen instead of a general election, I can't remember the name though. Over time the two systems would converge, and it's much harder to exert undue influence over the candidates when it really could be anybody. It's one of those ideas that's worth taking seriously even if it's never implemented anywhere.

Post by elisaado » Thu, Oct 20, 2022, 2:23 PM UTC

nequo wrote: post #297

ShredKazoo wrote: post #275

This might sound crazy... but if the UK is already de facto ruled by financial markets, in the sense that the PM has to step down if the markets don't like what they're doing, maybe it's time to try prediction market-based governance for real? What would've happened if instead of simply announcing the proposal, Truss had described the proposal and the government had sponsored a conditional prediction market on the ec…

This is an interesting idea. Although if anyone has enough money to single-handedly move the market price, it devolves into a dictatorship of that person.

Post by light_hue_1 » Thu, Oct 20, 2022, 2:24 PM UTC

scott_w wrote: post #281

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>even though they're savagely roasting each other, they're doing in a way that feels somehow good-hearted and doesn't lay bare the naked resentment and hatred that seems to be all we have left in the USA. The difference is they all went to the same schools together. Makes close to zero difference who runs the country, because once you’ve lived under both sides it’s the same thing.

That's not even remotely true. The Leader of the Opposition (Keir Starmer) went to Reigate, then to Leeds University. Gordon Brown went to Edinburgh University, Jeremy Corbyn went to North London Poly. Only Ed Milliband and Tony Blair went to Oxford, which is where (of the Conservative Party): David Cameron, Boris Johnson, Theresa May and Liz Truss went. Saying "living under both sides is the same thing" is also obse…