Random political thought thread.

[The Cat]

 

[Kephalos]

Farce is a type of comedy that uses absurd and highly improbable events in the plot. Situations are humorous because of their ludicrous and often ridiculous nature. The choice of setting is a key factor in farce, as the protagonist is sometimes at odds with the environment. Often the central character in a farce does not (or should not) belong in the place of the action. The audience will only accept the situation if they follow the conventions previously established. But characters in a farce can also quite logically belong in the setting they are placed in.

If the spat between US Catholic bishops, Catholic Democratic Congresspeople, and also Joe Biden were a farce (and it is), I would entitle it "The Wages of Pandering". The long and short of it is that the bishops want to excommunicate any politician that supports the human right to abortion. The political party system being what it is at this moment, this would mean a large chunk of the Democratic politicians.

Congressional Democrats published a statement against it, saying that their policies are consistent with that incoherent hodge-podge of doctrines and papal writings called Catholic Social Teaching. While this may very well be true, although CST can be used to support almost anything from a fascistic Städesstaat, to a 60s-type mixed economy, 80s-style deregulation, and 2000s-style dithering economic policy, the statement manages to miss the most important point, namely that what the Catholic Church (or any other religious movement) has to say about public policy is irrelevant. The US Constitution establishes a secular state, broadly speaking. Moreover, only about 23% of Americans are at least nominally Catholic, which means that even if every Catholic American believed what the bishops believe about abortion (and a lot don't) Catholics do not represent a consensus of the whole body of citizens. In a secular state only secular reasons can be used to justify public policy -- the bishops have every right to disagree and excommunicate people according to their internal rules, but they cannot set public policy for the rest of the citizens on anything.

More encouraging was Biden's own response, that it was a personal matter. The bishops' move is an attempt to use their soft, extralegal and unconstitutional power to sway believing politicians away from protecting the right to abortion, and also, let's be frank, to sway believing voters away from the Democrats and towards the Republican Party, using this issue in exactly the same way other, non-Catholic Christian churches in the US have been doing for some decades. Their success depends on believing Catholics realizing that it's not only them who live in the United States, and that in order for them to be a part of public discussions, they have to, like everyone else, use arguments that are acceptable to everybody. Otherwise a pluralistic state is unworkable.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

If anybody with the last name Trump actually serves any jail time, I'll eat my balls.

 

[Totenkindly]

More encouraging was Biden's own response, that it was a personal matter. The bishops' move is an attempt to use their soft, extralegal and unconstitutional power to sway believing politicians away from protecting the right to abortion, and also, let's be frank, to sway believing voters away from the Democrats and towards the Republican Party, using this issue in exactly the same way other, non-Catholic Christian churches in the US have been doing for some decades. Their success depends on believing Catholics realizing that it's not only them who live in the United States, and that in order for them to be a part of public discussions, they have to, like everyone else, use arguments that are acceptable to everybody. Otherwise a pluralistic state is unworkable.

The USA is extremely resistant at this point to what constitutes reasonable public discussion, which is why things have reached the point they are at. Particular religions see abdication of politics as abandoning the mission of God, and if you do not fight in the political sphere to drive the laws, then you are not following God. But yes, you are correct at how things should be approached. Particular groups have simply decided it is immoral to not throw their weight around politically, and certain areas of the country are driven primarily by religious concerns with little/no room for other approaches.

If anybody with the last name Trump actually serves any jail time, I'll eat my balls.

The odds might be slim, but the excitement remains palpable, especially if you promise to TikTok it.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

The odds might be slim, but the excitement remains palpable, especially if you promise to TikTok it.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I'd be very happy. I just think people with a lot of money and power can get away with quite a lot.

 

[Virtual ghost]

If anybody with the last name Trump actually serves any jail time, I'll eat my balls.

I don't know, that still seems as a risky bet. Especially if we consider the damage.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I don't know, that still seems as a risky bet. Especially if we consider the damage.

There's too many people involved making decisions who consider the most important thing to be "preserving the respect for institutions" which they interpret as not holding people in those institutions accountable.

Anyway I can always backpedal and claim I was talking about fruit, much of which is ball-shaped.

 

[Virtual ghost]

There's too many people involved making decisions who consider the most important thing to be "preserving the respect for institutions" which they interpret as not holding people in those institutions accountable.

Anyway I can always backpedal and claim I was talking about fruit, much of which is ball-shaped.

All true, but many in the GOP also want him out of the way (for various reasons). Therefore the odds probably aren't ultra low.
What makes that somewhat of risky bet on the long run.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Kephalos]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that international sports competitions, like the Olympics, "World" Cup, etc., only exacerbate nationalism?

 

[Coriolis]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that international sports competitions, like the Olympics, "World" Cup, etc., only exacerbate nationalism?

No more than intra-national competitions exacerbate provincialism, or whatever the equivalent would be on the state, province, or local level where many domestic sports teams are based. If anything, these competitions seem to provide a healthier outlet for national pride than more destructive activities that play out directly on the political or economic stage.

 

[Virtual ghost]

No more than intra-national competitions exacerbate provincialism, or whatever the equivalent would be on the state, province, or local level where many domestic sports teams are based. If anything, these competitions seem to provide a healthier outlet for national pride than more destructive activities that play out directly on the political or economic stage.

Are you sure about that ?

Something tells me you were never on Balkan style sport event.

Hint: feel free to guess what happens when some foreigners put a black player on the field.

 

[The Cat]

 

[ceecee]

As far as right wing/gun culture propaganda goes, this is pretty hilarious.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

As far as right wing/gun culture propaganda goes, this is pretty hilarious.

"Look out, he has a skateboard. I'm a big strong alpha male but that makes me shit my pants. "

 

[The Cat]

As far as right wing/gun culture propaganda goes, this is pretty hilarious.

But...then you factor in the target audience of that publication literally takes it deadly serious

 

[ceecee]

But...then you factor in the target audience of that publication literally takes it deadly serious

Oh yes. They inhabit an entirely different reality completely driven by fear.

 

[Virtual ghost]

What Vestager can teach Lina Khan on antitrust

Opinion: The global tax revolution is coming

 

[Kephalos]

This is one of the best books on politics I've ever read:

Dropbox - Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy -- Acemoglu and Robinson.pdf - Simplify your life

Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy is Daron Acemoglu's and James Robinson's book about politics and economics that came before the much more famous Why Nations Fail. Its description of Latin ¡n American politics will look so familiar to those of us who live in the region.

If you don't have time to read the entire book, read the first and second chapters.

 

[Burning Paradigm]

‘Should We Sell?’ After Collapse, Hot Florida Market Faces Uncertainty. - The New York Times

Unfortunate that it took a tragedy like this to underscore the importance of building climate-resilient infrastructure.

Not to take a hard swerve towards levity from this, but this evokes this classic clip: