Random Politics Thread

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic… [Capitalism] started out with a noble and high motive… but like most human systems it fell victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today capitalism has out-lived its usefulness.

Thought I'd post this here.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Blue lives matter = cop lives matter. Naturally this was in response to Black Lives Matter because many cops and many non-black people can't fathom something being about them/not including them. If they can't remain part of the conversation, they will be relevant by force.

I'm not really a fan of that whole blue lives matter slogan and it does remind me of these people who demand a heterosexual pride day in response to gay pride parades, but to be fair, it didn't help matters when certain people were making calls for violence towards cops at some BLM events. Also, BLM needs to develop better optics. There's plenty of good examples of police misconduct, yet some of the cases they have held front and center have been controversial (i.e. disputed accounts of events, disputed evidence) and really haven't endeared the public or the media to their cause. There might not be such a large Blue Live Matter movement had BLM had a better grasp on PR from the start.

 

[ceecee]

I'm not really a fan of that whole blue lives matter slogan and it does remind me of these people who demand a heterosexual pride day in response to gay pride parades, but to be fair, it didn't help matters when certain people were making calls for violence towards cops at some BLM events. Also, BLM needs to develop better optics. There's plenty of good examples of police misconduct, yet some of the cases they have held front and center have been controversial (i.e. disputed accounts of events, disputed evidence) and really haven't endeared the public or the media to their cause.

Oh yes Straight Pride Day.

Do you know that several men that protested at Ferguson keep turning up dead?

A puzzling number of men tied to the Ferguson protests have since died - Chicago Tribune

Ferguson Activists Question Deaths of Six Men Connected to Protests - Rolling Stone

Several were involved with BLM. Weird huh? While I agree they need better optics and it would help if the women who started the group were the face of the group but, there is obviously something else going on that may be the reason. The Blue Lives Matter thing is quickly becoming co-opted by white ethno-state fans and other right wing groups, like my favorite one no one has heard of.

Right Wing Death Squad: The Ticking Time Bomb of Trumpism - It's Going Down

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

[MENTION=195]Jaguar[/MENTION].

If worker pay had kept up with productivity gains since 1968, today's minimum wage would be $24 an hour.

Similarly, the skills of experts in stock trading and designing complex financial instruments would have much less value if we had a financial transactions tax in place and allowed large banks to fail when their mistakes made them insolvent.

 

[ceecee]

Trump weighs travel ban expansion in coming days - POLITICO

Nations under consideration to be added to an expanded Trump travel ban include: Belarus, Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania:

lol Lots of black and brown non-Christians (of course) on that list but Belarus is interesting. Would be willing to bet Russia will try to grab it back at some point in the not too distant future.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Trump weighs travel ban expansion in coming days - POLITICO

lol Lots of black and brown non-Christians (of course) on that list but Belarus is interesting. Would be willing to bet Russia will try to grab it back at some point in the not too distant future.

Well they already have close union. Russian army is also already there. While Belarus is probably more authoritarian then Russia.
In the case there is no "ambition" of Belarus president this would already be closed story. After all "Belarus" means "white Russia" if I am not mistaken.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Who do you think Putin's heir will be when he dies or leaves office? He's not getting any younger.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Who do you think Putin's heir will be when he dies or leaves office? He's not getting any younger.

Medvedev would be obvious successor but there doesn't seem to be a ton of confidence in him lasting beyond a transitional rule.

I am not sure that is known even in the top circles of Russia. Plus Putin has something like 4 more years in the office.
You can make random guesses but that is pointless.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I am not sure that is known even in the top circles of Russia. Plus Putin has something like 4 more years in the office.
You can make random guesses but that is pointless.

He's not going to leave office in 4 years. Not willingly.

 

[Virtual ghost]

He's not going to leave office in 4 years. Not willingly.

He will be old enough to do it. Although the question is more like how much present he will be once he "leaves".


To be honest I often wonder what will happen if they put someone charismatic but competent into the big chair.

 

[Virtual ghost]

However whoever rules Russia the country will not change that much.

Therefore I find it more interesting to think about who will be the next head of Germany. That is much more in the air and equally important.

 

[Red Herring]

However whoever rules Russia the country will not change that much.

Therefore I find it more interesting to think about who will be the next head of Germany. That is much more in the air and equally important.

Nobody here has any idea either. Likely another CDU member. The big question is: will it be someone from Merkel's moderate wing or someone more to the right? A moderate would obviously appeal more to the center and make yet another grand coalition easier. A rightwinger would make the disgruntled part of the party base happier and possibly weaken the AfD. The conservatives won't cooperate with the far-right in the forseable future, at least not on a national or regional level. And there is no real majority on the left, so it's basically either a grand coalition dominated by the conservatives or a coalition between conservatives and Greens (it's been done sucessfully on a state level and less crazy than it may sound)

 

[Jaguar]

[MENTION=195]Jaguar[/MENTION].

If worker pay had kept up with productivity gains since 1968, today's minimum wage would be $24 an hour. Similarly, the skills of experts in stock trading and designing complex financial instruments would have much less value if we had a financial transactions tax in place and allowed large banks to fail when their mistakes made them insolvent.

And you're posting to me about large banks because?

 

[Virtual ghost]

Nobody here has any idea either. Likely another CDU member. The big question is: will it be someone from Merkel's moderate wing or someone more to the right? A moderate would obviously appeal more to the center and make yet another grand coalition easier. A rightwinger would make the disgruntled part of the party base happier and possibly weaken the AfD. The conservatives won't cooperate with the far-right in the forseable future, at least not on a national or regional level. And there is no real majority on the left, so it's basically either a grand coalition dominated by the conservatives or a coalition between conservatives and Greens (it's been done sucessfully on a state level and less crazy than it may sound)

I know. Plus Austria is going into the EPP-Green experiment.


Although I am really more interested in exact person, two people that have basically same positions can have much different impact. Which is what really counts.

 

[Jaguar]

Bernie tried to use this clip against Biden:

Bernie Sanders on Twitter: "Let’s be honest, Joe. One of us fought for decades to cut Social Security, and one of us didn’t. But don’t take it from me. Take it from you.… "


All I had to do was listen to what Joe was saying in the audio, and how he was saying it. Sarcasm out the ass, by Joe. I knew there was only one thing he could be talking about and I was right - keeping the government from shutting down. And yet Bernie actually tried to use this audio to fool people into thinking what Joe was saying were his positions on issues, under normal circumstances. Which is totally false. As far as I'm concerned, Bernie is no different than Trump. A lying parasite who will say and do anything to win - even taking pieces of audio out of context.

Fuck off, Bernie. You really are desperate at this point.

 

[Red Herring]

I know. Plus Austria is going into the EPP-Green experiment.


Although I am really more interested in exact person, two people that have basically same positions can have much different impact. Which is what really counts.

Yes and no. Germany is a parliamentary democracy (the coalition parties agree on an agenda in a coalition agreement, the individual cabinet ministers then suggest projects/bills whch the chancelor might endorse or reject or simply remain silent on and that parliament, sometimes also the second chamber, has to pass) so the chancelor doesn't actually have all that much power. We also don't really go for big charismatic leaders. The chancelor is the head and the leader of the government but I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what was the last political project that Merkel implemented that was important to her. At this point she seems to simply administrate the country like a janitor.

If you want names: AKK (one of Merkel's favorites) is way out of her depth and rather unpopular, I don't see her as chancelor material. von der Leyen (another close friend of Merkel) would have been an option but went to Brussels instead. Merz is a favorite of the right wing of the party and the business world would love him but he wouldn't be good for the country and I really hope he won't make it as I can't stand the guy. Jens Spahn (health secretary) thinks he could do the job but is probably too young and inexperienced.
The SPD is in a coma and doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of presenting the next chancelor. Habeck, one of the head of the Greens, might become foreign secretary in a coalition with the CDU. He is relatively popular and more of a pragmatist.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

And you're posting to me about large banks because?

You seem to think capitalism is fine the way it is, that income inequality is not a problem, and that the people in charge of those failing banks deserve their massive amounts of money for "working hard."

 

[Jaguar]

You seem to think capitalism is fine the way it is, that income inequality is not a problem, and that the people in charge of those failing banks deserve their massive amounts of money for "working hard."

And of course you have posts of mine saying exactly that, right? Wrong. You should start a company that specializes in online smear campaigns. The truth is of no interest to you. Go work for Bernie!

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

And of course you have posts of mine saying exactly that, right? Wrong. You should start a company that specializes in online smear campaigns. The truth is of no interest to you. Go work for Bernie!

You said as much earlier when I was talking about taxation. You said it was unfair to tax them because they "contribute more." You said that capitalism was awesome because it rewards people who work hard. Never once have you acknowledged an understanding of why people might want to tax billionaires more. Instead, you've constantly denounced it as unjust because they "work harder." Stop with the gaslighting.

 

[Virtual ghost]

Yes and no. Germany is a parliamentary democracy (the coalition parties agree on an agenda in a coalition agreement, the individual cabinet ministers then suggest projects/bills whch the chancelor might endorse or reject or simply remain silent on and that parliament, sometimes also the second chamber, has to pass) so the chancelor doesn't actually have all that much power. We also don't really go for big charismatic leaders. The chancelor is the head and the leader of the government but I couldn't tell you off the top of my head what was the last political project that Merkel implemented that was important to her. At this point she seems to simply administrate the country like a janitor.

If you want names: AKK (one of Merkel's favorites) is way out of her depth and rather unpopular, I don't see her as chancelor material. von der Leyen (another close friend of Merkel) would have been an option but went to Brussels instead. Merz is a favorite of the right wing of the party and the business world would love him but he wouldn't be good for the country and I really hope he won't make it as I can't stand the guy. Jens Spahn (health secretary) thinks he could do the job but is probably too young and inexperienced.
The SPD is in a coma and doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of presenting the next chancelor. Habeck, one of the head of the Greens, might become foreign secretary in a coalition with the CDU. He is relatively popular and more of a pragmatist.

Well she is in a way "technical/keeper chancelor". I know you aren't big on charisma but regardless of that I think there is a certain element of personal touch in all this. Plus according to polls even CDU and Greens will perhaps needs a third partner for majority. Which is where personal touch can come as factor.


But as I said in other posts: Germany is basically the main reason why we down here still have relative democracy. Without Germany and EU in the modern world we would probably be somewhere among the lines of our neighbors further to the south-east. Therefore even with the economic push from both Russia and China the system somehow stands. Plus it is pretty obvious that some "invisible" hand holds nationalist side of conservatives from taking over the party. Because if Balkan style politicians take over the political scene and positions it is game over for any genuine democracy. Even the current situation isn't really a democracy by West European standards but it will have to suffice. Therefore for us Germany is very important factor at this point.