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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

#451

Post by xtiansimon »

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…

> “There are probably isolated incidents…”

Read this and imagined corruption as non-linear. What before is “isolated incidents”, spreads like an SIRS (Susceptible → Infectious → Recovered → Susceptible) infection model.

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

#452

Post by anon84873628 »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #176
otterley wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s your angle here, exactly? I don’t get it.

I'm anti-Trump. If you tell people "Trump is a corrupt asshole", that has a chance at convincing supporters to abandon him. If you tell people "the US needs a cultural revolution due to events from past centuries", that's what got him elected in the first place. A good general wouldn't voluntarily shift the battleground to a region where their troops are weak. Political persuasion is no different. The Democratic Part…

This whole thread started with:

>We're still fighting the remnants of the confederacy. Germany and Japan in particular purged most of those elements from their society. Here we built statues to the evil fucks

That is a historical fact which has important explanatory power. It may not directly be the best basis for public Democratic platform, which most people probably agree with. The core manifestation is in our institutions, and that's what we need to fix. I agree with you that framing it through the lens of corruption is the best overt political strategy.

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

#453

Post by anon84873628 »

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #144
ModernMech wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genghis Khan died 800 years ago. The last American to have born into slavery died in the ~1970s~ 1960s.

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

I don't think you can say "long dead" until no one who met them is still alive. We have 6 serving Senators over the age of 80, meaning they were born in the 40s or earlier. We have a total of 76 serving Senators who were born before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed...

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

#454

Post by anon84873628 »

creato wrote: post #168
otterley wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s your angle here, exactly? I don’t get it.

That the issue of slavery has weak explanatory power for what is happening today.

You should check out this podcast episode with two historians, tracing the influence of the Confederacy ideology all the way to the current Supreme Court:

https://youtu.be/1i2VuPACBbU?si=8jv8XrRTLHJ9hHTu

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

#455

Post by DANmode »

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…

> But finally real.

The word you’re looking for is blatant.

It has been there over 50 years, with the ratchet tightening toward where we are now not each year - but mostly in the shadows, not in your face laughing.

Two things change each year: - how much the populace has been proven to “take”

- how much further the empire’s attention is spread out, leading to it not serving its own interests and citizens, aside from continuity of governance

Not everyone pointing out corruption is normalizing it, by the way. I’m personally looking forward to the conclusion of that.

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

#456

Post by DANmode »

jimkleiber wrote: post #240
hakunin wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Yup, if i claim everyone is corrupt, then i can be corrupt. Ironically, if im corrupt, i probably honestly assume everyone else is, or at least superficially assume that, because if i don't, i might think other people are good and i am bad.

> Yup, if i claim everyone is corrupt, then i can be corrupt.

We could just decide that’s not how it goes.

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

#457

Post by sagarm »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #253
pseudosavant wrote: post #38

Looking at their charts, Democrats and Independents clearly think corruption is up a lot since 2024. But Republicans think corruption is down from 2024. The polarization of the electorate in the U.S. is pretty incredible.

That's crazy lol, how do you watch the President pump and dump Trumpcoin and then come back for pt. 2 with Melaniacoin and think corruption is down?

Because their information environment was convincing them Biden was corrupt because... Hunter's laptop?

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

#458

Post by m4ck_ »

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…

It doesn't event attempt to address any of those issues or anything real. American politics is all about keeping the working class distracted and pointing fingers at each other while the ownership class rapes (literally) and pillages.

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

#459

Post by sagarm »

imthatsteve wrote: post #441
spicymaki wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is correct. That is why I changed from independent to an actual political party. There is no point, it is highly improbable that I would ever vote for the party that is against my values. The two main US political parties are diametrically opposed.

The parties arent actually opposed its just that democrats want to change everything and republicans dont. Dems propose something and reps oppose it. Thats generally how its supposed to work but usually there is a debate that should accompany the proposals. The general difference between a liberal mindset and a conservative mindset is the difficulty in making things work. Liberals believe that things usually work and…

Can you seriously look around at the wild policy swings we observe and say that Reps want the status quo?

If yes, you might want to look at your information environment.

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

#460

Post by sagarm »

imthatsteve wrote: post #444
spicymaki wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Voting 3rd party is throwing away your vote in the US electoral system. The reason is structural. Currently, I believe there are two independent senators and one independent representative. Independents are not another party they are just unenrolled and they all caucus with one of the two major parties. There is no third party representation in congress.

Less than one third of eligible voters vote. Your espousing a self fulfilling prophecy. The only reason party politics exists is because of you and people like you who keep spouting this lie that keeps them in power. So instead of lying just say that you fully agree with everything both parties do and thats why you keep them in power and refuse to vote for someone rather than against.

The two party system is the game theoretic result of first past the post. No amount of wishing will change that.
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