Election 2018

[Eric the Green]

(10-31-2018, 03:20 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(10-30-2018, 01:15 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Pushing a new theory is quite welcome; however I don't think you can hold that since I might disagree with your theory, that I am an extremist who promotes violence. I may predict violence, but that doesn't mean I approve. Remember my prime function here is as a prophet with a good track record, and that prophecy is based on many things including T4T and astrology.

Nukes make crisis wars between two major powers unlikely.  Nukes have not to date shown any sign of stopping proxy wars, so total peace remains distant.  I propose this makes the Information Age more peaceful, but not totally peaceful.  Not even close.  

We used to need violence to curb elites who declined to move without it.  Thus, we had wars like the US Revolution and US Civil War in the Industrial Age.  Kings and Slaveholders do not lead autocratically democracies in the Information Age.  Thus, there is no need to remove them.  

Elites still exist and the rural voters have recently supported them.  Oh, yes.  But would they defy the Congress if it passed a tax scheme that did not give the elites a vast division of wealth, if they passed a strong carbon tax that provides motive to switch to renewable and pays for cleanup, if they got aggressive in outlawing gun ownership by people who had been judged a deadly threat by mental health professionals?  I do not perceive them as fighting a crisis level war over any issue.  (Well, if Congress tried to ignore the Second Amendment, it would get close...)  The spiral of violence is stuck at lone nut and shows no sign of moving beyond that level.  Thus, we are not likely to fight wars over most issues that can be resolved at the voting booth, which are all of the hot issues.

(10-30-2018, 01:15 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Thinks this INTP, it does not appear that logic and self-interest have much bearing on the voting habits of Republicans. I don't think the blue side is spewing hate. Calling the red side on its hate and lies is called for. We can hope some independent voters can respond to fact, logic, and self interest that depends on community interest. So the blues keep putting it out.

The blues are much more civil than the reds, but people are human and need sometimes to hit back when struck. One has to make allowances; we humans are still too primitive to expect sainthood from them. There will always be a few who lash out, like antifa is accused of doing, especially if democratic channels are closed, as the reds are trying to accomplish. We can't let the red paint all the blues as antifa. We can't let the reds get away with their lies and hate; the power of Trump and his rallies and those like him is too powerful to ignore. Once he gets his crowd going, a monster is released, not unlike those released by Hitler and Mussolini. We can't underestimate the power of the hate on the other side. We can respond as Dr. King asked, if we can. It's not easy to do. And Dr. King did not fail to respond to his enemies and critics with the stark realities and the facts. It's going to take a great mobilization to defeat the red side. That's job one in this 4T. And part of that is motivation by pointing out how dangerous the other side is. Both sides do it; it's part of the election game now, along with the money race.

Hmm...  I wonder.  You seem to put people in stereotypes emotionally as you Feel and Judge them.  Your posting of TV skits as an argument for blue thought is more Feeling than Thinking.  You Judge people as fitting a niche rather than trying to Perceive how they actually are.  You do not react or respond to Thinking arguments that disagree with your worldview.  

Are you sure you are an INTP?  The Myers Briggs tests are vulnerable to people who have fooled themselves.

Your comments about me and others always say more about me than about you, and demonstrate the same qualities in yourself that you criticize in others. 

I am something of an expert on that test, and have taken it many times. It's true that in my T and F scores the margins are razor thin, but predominantly the T usually wins out. If you could appreciate all the thought designs I have discovered, you could see that I fit the type very well. Architect, philosopher, designer; that's always been me, even though I veered toward feeling in the late sixties and that time left its mark on me.

I am very happy that, in the midst of such deception and tyranny and the utter banal foolishness in the White House and congress, that I can watch and share the comics who make it more bearable by subjecting our leaders to ridicule and unmasking their foolishness. Meyers, Colbert, Maher and Oliver are masters of their craft, and these times would not be bearable without them. I'm glad someone in the media is telling the truth to offset all the bullshit from the far right media.

I don't know how far the resistance would go if the congress swerved to the center-left. Past patterns might continue, and they might be mitigated to some extent by some features of our new age. I can only make the best prediction I can, and others can make theirs, and we'll see what happens. I can't disagree with your scenario, and hope for the best, but I can't be sure which one will happen.

You don't realize the degree of division, polarization, and far-right fanaticism that has this country spellbound in its grip, and now heightened by Trump's deliberate stoking of it. Others have pointed this out to you as well. It is not my fault if I realize that there's a lot of folks today who can't be reasoned with. Heck, it's even true for most people online most of the time. There is inherent worth and value in each human being. I hold that as an article of faith and principle. Nevertheless, the practical reality today is that we are divided into two tribes and further into single-issue voters, many of whom can't be reached. It's the proverbial (Paul Newman film quote by Strother Martin) "failure to communicate." I'm afraid that's what "we've got," and it may end up that somebody "gets it." But, there are some people who are still open enough to listen, including the many independent voters whose ranks have swelled as the parties have polarized.