31–40 of 214 posts
On the other hand...we won the space race and we went to the moon, except only 15 guys or thereabout went and for the rest of us didn't mean anything substantial at all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there any reason why you believe the US isn't that country?
Rightists are scared of energy sources beyond coal and oil; leftists are scared of information technology that could replace human workers; homeowners are scared to make any physical changes to their neighborhoods and cities because it would "change the neighborhood character"; legislators are scared/incapable of making any fundamental changes to governance because it would be difficult, and can't agree on anything;…
I knew it was going to be China. China's infrastructure building is beyond impressive. I always come back to this map of China's high speed rail built in 16 years (2008-2024) [1]. China is actually run by a meritocratic bureaucracy rather than the dumbest of people who do nothing more than sell pardons, run crypto scams, transfer government funds to the wealthiest of people, pander to religious hallucinations and sel…
> And no, it's not just one party that does this There's some very heavy lifting you have to do to make the parties look at all close. If the Democrats had a supermajority for long enough, you would see some real change for the better, because we can actually protest Democrats to get them to do things, while the Republicans will just silence any dissent using US military against its citizens. Unfortunately a Democrat…
The Democratic Party is absolutely complicit in everything going on. The term used is "controlled opposition". With the current government shutdown, I think it's taken the Republicans by surprise that the Democrats have (thus far) actually stood up for something and they really don't know what to do because it so rarely happens.
Like why wasn't this happening with the last debt ceiling increase earlier this year? Particularly because there was a fairly awful amendment in the last CR that ended Congress's ability to end the state of emergency the president could declare to use extraordinary powers. That seems like worth standing up to.
Go back to 2012 or so when Bush's tax cuts were expiring. Harry Reid had the Senate Republicans over a barrel until... Joe Biden got involved and just capitulated for absolutely no reason. And got nothing in return.
The last Senate supermarjority was in Obama's first term. It was fairly brief actually (less than a month) due to people taking sick and Republicans using a frivolous court case to stop Al Franken taking his seat. But there still was one.
Obama's signature legislative accomplishment was the ACA and what did it do? It was a massive giveaway to insurance companies. There was even a proposal to allow people to enrol in Medicare at 55 (instead of 65) which was derailed by Joe Lieberman. Why? United Health Care was an employer in his state (Connecticut).
But here's the dirty little secret. Democrats love nothing more than using the filibuster as an excuse to do nothing. If that fails, use "institutionalism". The filibuster is not a constitutional construct. It is part of the rules of the Senate. Originally you had to stand up and speak for so many hours to filibuster. Now you just raise your hand and say "filibuster".
If you have a majority in the House and Senate and a president in the White House, you can pass whatever you want.
And let's not forget we just had an election cycle where the Democratic Party openly and intentionally chose to materially support a genocide (that they could've stopped at any point with a phone call) rather than win an election at a time they were (rightly) calling their opponent a fascist.
I think I’m going to visit China soon, to the Pearl River Delta. I want to meet manufacturers and advance a product I am working on, and having lived in the US my entire life, I desperately need to see what it’s like when a country is really trying to build a future.
Is there any reason why you believe the US isn't that country?
There are two United States. A prosperous nation and a struggling nation. See both.
I’m from a now depressed rural town. When I periodically drive home it gets a little more ramshackle every year. My town had 20 operating dairy farms, now 0. Three industrial facilities, now one, which is now fully automated and employs security guards and guys to load trucks.
The best jobs are police, teachers and logistics people at a nearby distribution center.
I pay my entry engineers in real terms 15% less than I made 30 years ago. Housing is about 30% higher in real terms. Our benefit overhead grows 2x inflation.
Then travel abroad.
Part of me seeing the record and the whole artificial waterfall gave me a sense that it's not a race anymore, we already lost. On the other hand...we won the space race and we went to the moon, except only 15 guys or thereabout went and for the rest of us didn't mean anything substantial at all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rightists are scared of energy sources beyond coal and oil; leftists are scared of information technology that could replace human workers; homeowners are scared to make any physical changes to their neighborhoods and cities because it would "change the neighborhood character"; legislators are scared/incapable of making any fundamental changes to governance because it would be difficult, and can't agree on anything;…
All of this. Everyone in the US is basically afraid of something.
Did this part concern anyone else? > Last month, a team of engineers deployed 96 trucks to strategic points across the bridge to recreate heavy traffic conditions to ensure it would not buckle. Reminds me of this https://featureassets.gocomics.com/assets/74c15210deb9013171...
I didn't even like driving over the West Seattle Bridge and it's only 140 ft up.
Chinese bridge, designed by Chinese engineers, built by Chinese workers, captured with (we assume) a Chinese drone. What a spectacular scene. I am proud on behalf of all the people who worked together to achieve this.