politics
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
view the rest of the comments
Oh yeah, I mean as an outside observer they’ve seemed pretty ineffective.
But I do wonder how much is exacerbated by, for example: foreign interference/propaganda, sub-par educational levels and engagement of the electorate, 24/7 News entertainment, citizens united, the absolute audacity of the boomer generation to benefit from very generous social policies and then turn around and screw the younger generations on the exact same benefits they themselves received.
The American default (and increasingly, the Western default) seems to be fuck you I got mine (until something bad happens to me).
Now, I’m not American - I just pay attention. My boomer parents in law will sit there and complain about the state of every service - paid or social - like banking, doctors etc. and I have to contain myself when I tell them that capitalism by nature degrades and enshittifies every good thing the middle class had and that Millennials really, truly, do not believe anything will ever be good again. They look at me like I have 5 heads. Truly not a clue.
Well as an American witnessing the decline from within, I’d say you are fairly perceptive for an outsider. You’ve identified some of the biggest obstacles we’re facing. The attitudes of the boomers, who simply will not relinquish their grip on power (US Congress is the oldest legislative body in the world), have been devastating for our future. This has surely been shaped by unfettered greed and unbridled avarice brought on by capitalism.
The main point I was making is that the Dems have truly revealed themselves to be controlled opposition. They campaigned so hard with scare tactics of “Trump bad” and “end of democracy.” And now their strategy is to do nothing?! It’s beyond pathetic - it is a betrayal. So many Americans thought Dems were fighting for them all these years, but the insidiousness of the neoliberal machine ensured the only ones to gain since the 1970s had been the ultra wealthy and corporations. The wealth disparity in our country is honestly startling to witness firsthand.
This is why we need a real populist party to rise up and actually fight for the people. I have full confidence that if this happens, the tides will turn within a very short timespan. We are perhaps witnessing the beginnings of such a phenomenon, with Bernie Sanders and AOC’s fight oligarchs tour, but I’m afraid they will simply default to trying to convert the democrats into a useful party instead of building a new one. That path will be mired in obstacles and betrayal, and will ultimately fail. It simply has to be a new party in order to succeed.