04-24-2020, 11:10 AM
(04-23-2020, 05:14 AM)Isoko Wrote: Eric,
P. 1 I think it is too late in the game now to pass a good immigration reform system. It should have been done as early as the 1990s. Instead you have the growing slum problem there and that is not going away. Limited immigration is good for an economy, I agree, but when you go over that, it becomes a huge problem.
I can agree with you though that America does need new social safety nets and even universal health care but once again, it is too late to successfully enact it. Taxing the rich won't work as they will just flee with their wealth to offshore havens.
There is no other way for America at this stage but to collapse and rebuild a new economy. I just cannot honestly see at this stage how you could reform it successfully with all the problems you have.
P. 2 Regarding Russia, that is quite insulting actually. Russians DO have money, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg. When the new iPhone comes out, they are queuing up to buy it. Young people can afford to get apartments and I have seen Russians living better off then in the UK right now.
However there is big problems in the rest of the country and this is acknowledged by the liberal faction in Russia who do want to put more money into these areas rather then just the big two cities.
As for Russia being boring. Well yeah, I guess it is if you don't want to tread in Human faeces or get stabbed the first time you enter a city like what is the case in some American cities today. But at least you don't fear your kids getting shot in school here.
As for Putin being genocidal. Erm, you do know the definition of genocidal, right? Putin has done dodgy things, sure, but it's not like he has established gas chambers and millions of people are dying. That is just factually wrong.
I think the future of Russia after Putin is going to be economic liberalisation in terms of supporting small businesses and making sure more money is flowing into the state coffers. The young generation of Russia are not too bothered with great power politics so I think that Russia might take a back seat for a couple of decades in order to refocus it's its economy. Of course there will be another Putin, that is the nature of Russia, but I think there will be a few more democratic constraints in the future.
I don't see the connection between "growing slums" and the need for sensible immigration policy. I don't see the "growing slum" problem in the USA anyway. There have always been slums in the USA. That's because of our capitalist and neo-liberal orientation. If we still have too many slums, it's because we have been under the neo-liberal regime so long.
Perhaps you are looking at things askew at the USA from afar. I being a prophet myself see a different future than you, and I think my predictions have worked out pretty well. If the rich would flee to offshore havens in the future, they would have done it in the past. I don't think it is too late to enact a system in the USA that tends in the direction of more-advanced European countries. It seems to work fine for Europe, and the younger generations in America want it. So, it will come. What is right, eventually wins; not what is wrong, as you are inclined to believe. The problems in the USA are due to having turned away from progress and reform for 40 years. If we turn back to the directions we were in before 1980, we will advance again. It's never too late to do the right things. 1980 was a fluke election won by a charming actor. We need to wean ourselves off of his spell.
If it's too late for America to reform, why do you think it's not too late for Russia to reform? Putin has stuck his country so firmly in the past now that it will take a miracle for it to revive and get on the reform path again anytime soon. And for sure, his foreign policy is genocidal. His domestic policy is just tyrannical. Making excuses for Russia's extremely-authoritarian tradition does not wash, because Russia has always been as aggressive as it has been defensive.
But, people want the same things all over the world. Russians do have some great achievements in their history, as brower points out. In some ways, it's a great country. You never know; perhaps the next Awakening in Russia will bear more fruit. But it would be over-optimistic to expect it. The USA has a much richer progressive and liberal tradition; a new reform movement is more likely here, and is way overdue. The majority already favors it; it's a matter of reforming the system enough so it can have its way. Already gerrymandering has been reduced, and with more Democratic Party governors in place now, the next census will not lead to so much voter suppression.