We could discuss how Trump is also merely inheriting this enormous mess, what he'll do with it, and how much it will harm or benefit everyone, but I'll pass.Dan Rowden wrote:Are you being deliberately obtuse? 1. I don't know where I stand on drone attacks. I am undecided on my personal view of the efficacy and ethics in the sense that I can't tell if they're worse than any other shit powerful nations do. 2. The Bush Jnr regime initiated the concept and the Obama regime scaled it up. The Obama regime didn't start the geo-poloitical shitfight they inherited or the drone methodology (and their secrecy is neither extraordinary or relevant). 3. Drone attacks have nothing whatever to do with any comparison of Trump to any other regime. They are utterly irrelevant, at this juncture. Therefore, they do not constitute any kind of 'counterpoint' to anything and do not constitute any point of comparison between Trump and any other administration.Russell Parr wrote:Here's one. To which you responded with one of your trademark witty one-liners.
Sure. We could discuss whether or not Fox truly gets to the bottom of the issues, or simply plays up the Left vs Right paradigm like the MSM always has, but I'll pass.Do you mean outside of the ubiquitous edifice of the Murdoch empire, which couldn't be any more conservative/right-wing if it tried?Perhaps 'far left' is a bit exaggerated in your case. My statement has to do with, and is in reference to the excessive demonifying of the right, or those of the right, or even those that aren't outright against the right, that is so prevalent in the media, and in a lot of left leaning people these days.
And there you have it. Your worldview, in these matters, is dependent on what particular issues you decide to involve yourself with, or are naturally drawn to. In other words: subjectivity and empiricism. This has little to nothing to do with wisdom, except perhaps in the manner that you carry yourself within your venture, as long as you don't get too caught up in within it.Of course. Political partisanship is something of which I know a great deal. I have spent the last 2 years in pitched battle with 'my side' of the political divide over their partisan bullshit, their hypocrisy, their irrationality and blind authoritarianism. I continue to be so. I know the madness of political partisanship intimately. I've never in my life experienced censorship (being banned) like I experienced on supposedly 'progressive' political blogs. Attachment to a political ideology, whatever it may be, results in madness, but that does not speak, necessarily, to the relative value of a particular socio-political worldview in its raw sense.
I'll bite here.In what sense are things going to shit? Is that a real statement or a politically invented fiction? And if things are going to shit, what was good about the non-shitness and who/what created that?
The gap between the rich and the poor is as wide as ever. The US Government continues to serve the rich, the special interests, the corporate lobbyists, at the expense of the middle, working class. The problems that caused the financial crisis in 08 are still here, and in some ways worse than ever. The national debt is at an all time high. The debt limit will again be reached soon, presumably before summer, probably forcing another round of hyperinflation *erm* QE, and probably another government shutdown. The trade deficit remains over a whopping $500 billion per year, undoubtedly pissing off many of our international partners. The petrodollar, which is one of the last things keeping the US afloat from an international standpoint, is continually being eroded upon, and is the main reason for the wars in the middle east.
Need I go on? I don't see you bringing up or addressing any of these things, and that's because your subjective experience leads you towards a different focus. Yes, what you see is shit. What I see is shit. It's all shit. There's poison everywhere, no matter where you look.
To speculate just how bad things really are, or will be, is an immensely complex subject, and reaches beyond our scopes as finite individuals. But we can all agree that things aren't going well. Nothing but symptoms of an imminent collapse. Now, who or what do we blame? This question is too simplistic to ask.
Actually, I know who to blame, as I stated a page or two ago: the bankers and their corrupt corporate and political cronies. It's a simplistic answer but it's the best we have, IMO.
This thread might be 90-95% more philosophically charged, but its focus is still irrelevant to the pursuit of enlightenment. But it is rather entertaining. So be it. Hell, it even got jimhaz to admit his own shortcomings, so perhaps there's value yet to be extracted.This thread is more vibrant and philosophically charged than 80% of what's happened here in the last 12 months, so, no, it ought not be moved. And, to be candid, I'm more than happy to pull rank on the issue as this is not, in fact, a democracy.As for where this thread belongs, while I also agree that there are very interesting things to be learned from it, the division is based primarily on political opinions and empirical observations. As I see no resolution being reached soon, my vote goes towards moving it.