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Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

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Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#411

Post by iamnothere »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #252
iamnothere wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problems that happened during the Clinton admin (with the exception of Whitewater) weren’t so much corruption as they were short-sighted neoliberal trade deals and hostility to organized labor, which accelerated the process of hollowing out the country. But this was also an unusual period in US history due to the end of the Cold War, so this administration could be an exception. Most of the scandals from this per…

> short-sighted neoliberal trade deals and hostility to organized labor, which accelerated the process of hollowing out the country What if they weren't short-sighted and not hostile? Look at Germany, which did not do this and instead kept strong provisions in favor of organized labor and protecting their domestic industry from foreign entrants. They can't keep doing it anymore. That would have been our future. But w…

This ignores that Germany is not energy independent (unlike the US), and that it suddenly lost its main energy supply and followed this up by closing its remaining nuclear facilities, a massive self-own.

This also ignores that the US is now having serious trouble supplying its own military and tech sector due to the same deindustrialization! It also basically created its most formidable geopolitical competitor through this process.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#412

Post by budman1 »

Loughla wrote: post #54
yongjik wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's worse. It's not that the government doesn't care that the public hates it; it's more like the government is doing whatever it wants and half the public is going wild absolutely loving it. Well, maybe a bit less than half these days.

The half that supports this nonsense genuinely believes this level of corruption has always existed. They're just happy it's their team this time. I simply do not understand American politics.

The threshold is 5%. About 5% needs to be stolen to keep the system operating.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#413

Post by [deleted] »

budman1 wrote: post #410
kolanos wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The national favorability rating for the Democratic Party sits around 39% to 41% favorable, with unfavorable ratings ranging from 48% to 54% across recent mid-2026 polls. [0] And Congress as a whole... > The approval rating for the U.S. Congress stands at 10%, while disapproval has climbed to 86%, according to data from Gallup. [1] So not sure what this is really telling us? [0]: https://fiftyplusone.news/polls/fav…

I hate my congressman. Why, he won't listen to me. No public meetings, no interviews with real press. Only 1 way phone calls, where you can submit questions via e-mail a day before the event. No private meetings either. I have repeatedly called both his local office and his DC office. If I have a donation, a staffer will meet with me. His philosophy is simple "You love Donald, I love Donald". It is the focus of the m…

[deleted]

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#414

Post by budman1 »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #311
CyberDildonics wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not comprehensible without understanding that huge amounts of people are watching straight up lies and propaganda all day every day for their 'news'.

A lot of the early Trump responses were incredulous about some insane thing Trump said to a rally crowd, but he was basically repeating whatever insanity they'd all heard on Fox News the night before.

and those folks at the rally eat it up. true believers.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#415

Post by budman1 »

rapind wrote: post #83
Loughla wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The half that supports this nonsense genuinely believes this level of corruption has always existed. They're just happy it's their team this time. I simply do not understand American politics.

If Trump tomorrow says communism is great, then every Fox news host, MAGA content creator, and MAGA bot would be extolling the virtues of communism. The republican house and senate would enable it, maybe with a small bribe here and there. There is no line. There is no integrity. It's just looting.

look what they did for Russia.

Mortal enemy of the US to closest friend in 2 weeks.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#416

Post by andai »

garte wrote: post #397

What I'm wondering these last few years is whether American "politics" has anything actually political to discuss like ensuring the pension system is still intact in 30 years, improving access to a solid education (and even more so: what does that mean?), drug prevention, transparent election processes, tax and debt management... Over here in Europe you only hear about "US politics" like guns and cars or DEI ... stuf…

> Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

> The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic-Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#417

Post by budman1 »

ModernMech wrote: post #149
0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 1970s were 50 years ago. "Long dead", in other words. Did you know that Brazil didn't abolish until 1888? They also imported far more than the US: https://www.slavevoyages.org/static/uploads/01.jpg

It's recent enough that people living today knew former slaves. That's not ancient history at all, so I think the comparison is not good. I'm sure Brazil also has to deal with fallout of their practices, but I don't see how it changes how the fallout of US slavery impacts the US.

I don't know any former slaves.

I don't know anyone that has spoken to a former slave.

And most people of color in the US's ancestors were not slaves in the US south. They came as immigrants from other countries.

The issue is not slavery. It might be racism. But it is not "I can't have slaves anymore"

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#418

Post by andai »

hakunin wrote: post #195
autoexec wrote: post #8

Corruption in the US isn't new, but it's never been done as openly as it has been recently. I don't think it's a good thing. It shows that the government isn't concerned about what the public thinks, which suggests that they believe they no longer have to be. That's not a healthy sign for what's supposed to be a democracy.

Saying “US corruption isn’t new” is a truism. There are probably isolated incidents, and many unproven theories, but everyone is quick to agree with this statement because it’s a common feeling everyone has now for some reason. The reality of corruption is likely much smaller and more boring than people think. What we’re witnessing now is what should be called corruption. That corruption that everyone has been scream…

Maybe we should define what words mean.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#419

Post by ninkendo »

swed420 wrote: post #396
ninkendo wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really interested in getting into a debate here, I’m just pointing out that GGP said “openness and also the scale”, to which you ignored the “scale” part and pretended it’s only about being corrupt in the open versus in private. I can point this out without making a comment at all (although I have my opinions) on whether I agree if the scale has changed. (To be clear, I absolutely believe the scale has increased…

> arguing about this is gonna be fruitless because it’s all subjective, there’s no hard numbers for any of it I was just genuinely curious what somebody with your set of opinions has in mind for a time frame, because "1/100th the corruption" is too vague for me to quantify in my head. As for arguing, I generally don't expect to change opinions with comments, especially those of whom I'm engaging with directly, so no…

1/100th is hyperbole. But it has gone up. My opinion on the timeframe is the obvious one:

Since Trump. Entirely.

I generally think there’s actually not that much corruption in politics in the US. Mostly just insider trading, if you count by dollar amount. But I think generally there have been studies on the net worth of people before they are elected to public office versus after, and it’s within a few percentage points of the general population. There’s also the issue of lobbying firms hiring ex politicians but to be honest there’s something to be said for an ex-politician as a lobbyist: they have expertise and connections, they’re valuable to lobbying firms even if there’s no favors involved.

What we have now is:

- The president openly hocking a cryptocurrency and making billions off of it

- Taking money for early access to his posts on truth social, which is essentially how he communicates to the public. “Give me money and I’ll tell you first”

- Giving pardons to his supporters in a brazen and obvious way

- Taking donations from private donors to fund his pet projects like the White House ballroom

I could go on but like I said, I’m not really interested in the actual debate here because nobody’s gonna change their minds if they haven’t already.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#420

Post by CGMthrowaway »

autoexec wrote: post #8

Corruption in the US isn't new, but it's never been done as openly as it has been recently. I don't think it's a good thing. It shows that the government isn't concerned about what the public thinks, which suggests that they believe they no longer have to be. That's not a healthy sign for what's supposed to be a democracy.

>Corruption in the US isn't new, but it's never been done as openly as it has been recently.

It's been open a long time. Patriot Act/Snowden/Assange, JFK coverup, shutting churches to keep Walmart open, social media censorship, gerrymandering, immigration enforcement, etc

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