Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread • Hacker News Board

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

#421

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

otterley wrote: post #405

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're somewhat underestimating how effectively the far-left minority has scared others into silence. Anyways, I do what I can to push back against them when they say things which seem wacky to me, as in this instance. Maybe I should work harder to make my actual views clear. I added a few sentences to the end of my original comment in this thread: "I don't think this is a slavery thing. Trump just sucks." ht…

> I think you're somewhat underestimating how effectively the far-left minority has scared others into silence Besides all the YouTube videos, X posts, the addition of two new right-wing TV networks (OANN and NEWSMAX), “Truth” Social, WSJ, NY Post, etc.? Silence is a myth perpetuated by the right (“people are trying to suppress the truth and your 1A rights!”) to build a following when in fact opposition voices are pl…

I don't think people on the right are scared. I think too many center-left Democrats are scared.

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

#422

Post by CGMthrowaway » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

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…

That's a lot of words to issue a reproach of people using manipulating "truisms" and propagandic non-specifics, without using any specifics of your own.

You might have a strong argument but you seem to be afraid to name anyone or anything.

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

#423

Post by datsci_est_2015 » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

paisawalla wrote: post #208

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the implication here? Trump actually isn’t corrupt? Or Biden was actually secretly as corrupt as Trump is? Or more generally, the current state of affairs is somehow justifiable?

The implication is that even if I might agree with you, we ought not be subjecting each other to incoherent rants in lieu of substantive arguments. Just don't say anything, if the only thing you have to say is They Watch Fox News. Even if you're inclined to believe the conclusions, this should recognizably be a silly rant and I don't want to live in a world where we justify sloppy arguments if we agree with the concl…

When you vaguepost, you shouldn't be surprised when you receive follow-up comments asking for clarification, which was what I was doing. The most charitable interpretation, as another commenter noted, was that you were essentially saying "both sides bad".

> Even if you're inclined to believe the conclusions, this should recognizably be a silly rant ... If it triggers your defenses to the point where you can't see that this is a poor rant, it could be instructive to copy/paste it into an LLM and ask for an analysis or some counterarguments.

It seems to be triggering your defenses as well, to be frank. The primary claim:

> "A big reason that Republican voters were able to justify voting for Trump and open corruption was that they were bombarded with claims that there was a "Biden crime family" in office for four years."

Is essentially how I'm keeping my sanity living amongst people who voted for Trump. The only way I could find it justifiable is that somehow people believed that corruption wouldn't be this bad, or it was just as bad under Biden. I also know that there's a large contingent of nihilistic, psychopathic, "libertarian", chauvinistic technocrats that probably had no problem voting for Trump because they genuinely believed they would be able to make more money under a Trump presidency rather than a Harris presidency - but I choose to believe there are more people who were misled about relative corruption levels rather than pure psychopaths.

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

#424

Post by vzmax » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

budman1 wrote: post #402

swed420 wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The difference now is the openness and also the scale. Yes, we just need to go back to the good ol' days of corruption with decorum

as they say, the donald is 'stealing with both hands' and 'not leaving anything for others to eat'. in the past politicians would steal a little, and there was enough to go around. a couple of hundred grand on a land deal was OK. but $250B in crypto is just too much.

Where do you get the $250B crypto number. He is corruptly profiting of his position, plain as day, but $250B in crypto? Really? What's the point in ridiculous exaggerations like this when the truth is bad enough?

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

#425

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

otterley wrote: post #399

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #375

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people, including me, not all of us Republicans, have observed that the Dems were much saner before 2010 or so.

What happened around 2010 that might have precipitated whatever changes you’re thinking of?

Tumblr? Cultural shifts from social media started to gather momentum roughly around that time.

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

#426

Post by maxerickson » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

petcat wrote: post #401

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…

Yes, there is a lot of "actual politics". For instance, the Protect College Sports Act is currently being intensely debated. It centers on the idea of amateurism in college athletics and what that means for things like college football and the Olympic sports. Americans love dominating the world at the Olympics every few years and that's because of the NCAA and college athletes, so people care about it. > Over here in…

Protect College Sports Act not even on the radar for most people.

It's wild that a law that is more or less transparently about limiting player pay for their participation in a blatantly commercial activity gets cheered on by "fans".

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

#427

Post by imthatsteve » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #31

jeffbee wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Implying that it's always been this way is part of the reason we are now here. For my entire life, bad faith commentators insinuated that the federal government was rife with corruption. When under Democratic control, of course. The time that Al Gore made one long-distance telephone call from his official desk, using his own personal calling card, birthed over 200 New York Times articles, 30 of them on the front page…

"Both sides are just as bad" is copium for when the guy from "your side" is revealed to be a corrupt piece of shit. You don't like it, so you justify to yourself that the other party is also full of creeps and assholes and thieves, so you can continue to support your guy guilt free... Of course the supporters of one particular political party is much more better at gymnastics of the mental kind than the other side. H…

Thats just party politics operating as it was designed. You only have one real party just like communists and fascists. The democrats control everything in the country via bribes from their super pacs and "charitable" foundations and fundraisers.thats why they were so upset when us-aids got suppressed.

Thats why people give millions to the clintons for haiti and the Haitians never see a single penny. The corrupt take that tax money and give it to their friends who give it to charities which are owned and operated by their friends who then donate that money to campaigns or other charities who do the same thing.

The republicans are just as corrupt but their power comes from the dems pissing people off so instead they vote against the dems but the reps are the only other option so the reps do the exact same thing as the dems and steal tax payer money and set up laws that make it more difficult for small business to compete with government sponsored monopolies. The left and right parties are like a left and right hand they wont get in each others way or fight each other they cooperate to screw the american people over and the stupid americans keep pretending they have a choice between the left slap or the right slap. The only way to take control of the country is to root out the corruption but the corruption is perpetuated by party politics and stupid americans are more loyal to their stupid corrupt parties than their nation or neighbors.

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

#428

Post by petcat » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:16 PM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #426

petcat wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there is a lot of "actual politics". For instance, the Protect College Sports Act is currently being intensely debated. It centers on the idea of amateurism in college athletics and what that means for things like college football and the Olympic sports. Americans love dominating the world at the Olympics every few years and that's because of the NCAA and college athletes, so people care about it. > Over here in…

Protect College Sports Act not even on the radar for most people. It's wild that a law that is more or less transparently about limiting player pay for their participation in a blatantly commercial activity gets cheered on by "fans".

It's clear that you don't even know what the act is about since it has very little to do with paying players. That has already been explicitly allowed.

It's about the prevention of forming mega conferences and funneling all the money and talent to the top.

Judging from your response, if you actually knew what the PCSA was you would probably support it.

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

#429

Post by imthatsteve » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:17 PM UTC

iAMkenough wrote: post #11

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.

Sucks seeing the federal government weaponize the U.S. Postal Service to prevent legitimate ballots from being counted.

Okay so now that everyone has been shown how they can cheat the election with mail in ballots. How do you propose to stop the republicans from using mail in ballots to steal the next election? Since clearly you cant use the feds to weaponize the post office.

How do the democrats secure an election? Do you just make sure you stuff the box with more mail in ballots than the other guy? You already made it illegal to show id when casting a ballot so if the republicans want to play the same game as the democrats how do you stop em? Do you just claim that its okay when we do it?

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

#430

Post by cucumber3732842 » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 1:21 PM UTC

NewJazz wrote: post #163

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're only looking at the glass half empty side of things. The environment in the US is very diverse so why is it federally regulated to the degree it is? Not having to put up with rules that make sense in the arid plains or western deserts is gonna be a huge boon to everyone east of the Mississippi. The "consistency" argument is like 99% red herring. There's already a huge patchwork because the way federal agencies…

Most of north dakota, south dakota, montana, wyoming, idaho, eastern Washington, and oregon are a very similar set of ecosystems.

Which are a completely different set of ecosystems with different needs than the gulf coast, or the southwest, or the northeast.

Like for example aquifer depletion is a serious thing in the southwest. It's borderline irrelevant in the northeast which is only getting wetter with climate change anyway.

So you split the difference when you write the federal rules and the result is insufficient for the southwest and their governments have to do a bunch of BS rule stretching crap to take it further and a nuisance in the northeast where their governments have to do a bunch of the same BS in the other direction to lighten it up.

Why not just let these states write their own laws that work for them. Sure you'll probably get one or two screw ups but most states will probably be better served.