The Partisan Divide on Issues

[Eric the Green]

Actually, the problems with conservatism today and in circa 1929-32 are much the same, for the same reason. Covid is severe in the USA because Trump tore down government programs created to deal with pandemics, and expected states to cure it on their own without funding and instead of a national mobilization. And the economy never really recovered for many people from the great recession brought about by the same trickle-down, free-market policies that caused the great depression. Government is not the solution; government is the problem. Destroy the administrative state. Trump is the final failure of Reaganomics, which was the final development of Coolidge and Hoover policies.

"Reagan was the key figure of the conservative era, setting the tone and policies of the time. I would put Trump as the bad president who took those policies to absurdity and killed them."

That's right.

[Eric the Green]

(12-16-2020, 10:56 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(12-16-2020, 04:16 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(12-15-2020, 05:13 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(12-12-2020, 12:44 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(12-11-2020, 08:13 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: If Trump was simply a shock jock then you wouldn't be in the unenviable position that you're in right now. I already made it through a group of Democrats who were much tougher than you. Oh, and I did it without a major fight or firing a shot so to speak. You weren't around, you wouldn't know what I'm capable of doing and guess what, I'm just one of the millions of Trump supporters. Guess what, Trump got me three supreme court judges and a few hundred lower court judges to balance the lower courts and his loss has given us a couple of chumps with something to prove to play with so to speak. Trump still has a term left and as long as he's not in the same condition as Biden then he'll vindicate himself and accomplishment by winning a second term.

Trump is simply a shock jock, because that's all it takes to hook you idiots.

How much do you want to bet that he's reelected if he runs in 2024?

I thought I answered that already. It depends on who is nominated in 2024.

All this talk about the "historic nature" of Harris as vice-president-elect could end up being very ironic, if that choice turns out to be the death knell of the republic.

Are you going to ignore an election result and nominate someone other than Harris who will most likely be President by then? Biden's people won't be able to hide Biden's condition for long being half the country already knows that he's got dementia. You should be happy, Liberals (the blue personality cult) don't like the idea of a republic and prefer a dictatorship. Ain't that what you want?

No, it's what YOU want, obviously. The end of democracy. And my astrological method of horoscope scores shows that Harris will never be president. Biden does not have dementia, and he is as ambitious as anyone. He will stick around and may even run for re-election. But if Harris is nominated in 2024 instead, then your chance will come again to screw up the country.

Your only idea of freedom is freedom to carry AR-15s around so you can massacre people whenever the hell you want. I could care less if that freedom is taken away from you.

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-17-2020, 07:45 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(12-16-2020, 10:56 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: Are you going to ignore an election result and nominate someone other than Harris who will most likely be President by then? Biden's people won't be able to hide Biden's condition for long being half the country already knows that he's got dementia. You should be happy, Liberals (the blue personality cult) don't like the idea of a republic and prefer a dictatorship. Ain't that what you want?

No, it's what YOU want, obviously. The end of democracy. And my astrological method of horoscope scores shows that Harris will never be president. Biden does not have dementia, and he is as ambitious as anyone. He will stick around and may even run for re-election. But if Harris is nominated in 2024 instead, then your chance will come again to screw up the country.

Your only idea of freedom is freedom to carry AR-15s around so you can massacre people whenever the hell you want. I could care less if that freedom is taken away from you.

I doubt even Trump want to see an end to democracy.  He just wants to scam his base out of as much cash as possible.  The fraudulent voting thing is just a way of doing that.  You have to keep the tensions high to keep the big bucks rolling in and bribe your enablers to keep it going.  Democracy failing doesn't matter that much to him.  So what if he destroys the country in the process of making a little money?

Nor do I think Classic wants to carry a gun around and massacre people.  He is too much of a chicken.  He talks a big game, but...

I don't think Biden has dementia any more than I do the Harris is all that bad.  You are so much into your astrology that you are doing a big lie scene as repetitively and forcefully as Trump.

Try to act a little bit like you live on Earth 1?

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-17-2020, 07:40 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: Actually, the problems with conservatism today and in circa 1929-32 are much the same, for the same reason. Covid is severe in the USA because Trump tore down government programs created to deal with pandemics, and expected states to cure it on their own without funding and instead of a national mobilization. And the economy never really recovered for many people from the great recession brought about by the same trickle-down, free-market policies that caused the great depression. Government is not the solution; government is the problem. Destroy the administrative state. Trump is the final failure of Reaganomics, which was the final development of Coolidge and Hoover policies.

I would say you are right at a high level.  In the Guilded Age and recent unraveling, the conservatives did not want to use government to solve the problems of the time.  The specifics?

In the Guilded Age, the theory was that the government did not attempt to regulate the economy.  In the recent recession, they favored voodoo economics and trickle down.  Spend and debt in good times and bad.  The result was the same, periodic collapses.  There were depressions periodically in the Guilded Age, and the “It’s the economy stupid” and Great Recession in more recent times.

But the COVID collapse is due to COVID, not economics.  I am no fan of trickle down Voodoo.  Still, it is good for a term and at least half of the second.  The collapse came early and for different reasons.  The getting out will be different too.

[David Horn]

(12-17-2020, 08:24 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 07:45 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(12-16-2020, 10:56 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: Are you going to ignore an election result and nominate someone other than Harris who will most likely be President by then? Biden's people won't be able to hide Biden's condition for long being half the country already knows that he's got dementia. You should be happy, Liberals (the blue personality cult) don't like the idea of a republic and prefer a dictatorship. Ain't that what you want?

No, it's what YOU want, obviously. The end of democracy. And my astrological method of horoscope scores shows that Harris will never be president. Biden does not have dementia, and he is as ambitious as anyone. He will stick around and may even run for re-election. But if Harris is nominated in 2024 instead, then your chance will come again to screw up the country.

Your only idea of freedom is freedom to carry AR-15s around so you can massacre people whenever the hell you want. I could care less if that freedom is taken away from you.

I doubt even Trump want to see an end to democracy.  He just wants to scam his base out of as much cash as possible.  The fraudulent voting thing is just a way of doing that.  You have to keep the tensions high to keep the big bucks rolling in and bribe your enablers to keep it going.  Democracy failing doesn't matter that much to him.  So what if he destroys the country in the process of making a little money?

Nor do I think Classic wants to carry a gun around and massacre people.  He is too much of a chicken.  He talks a big game, but...

I don't think Biden has dementia any more than I do the Harris is all that bad.  You are so much into your astrology that you are doing a big lie scene as repetitively and forcefully as Trump.

Try to act a little bit like you live on Earth 1?

I'm not so sure of that.  Democracy is the hardest environment for grifting, especially for well placed grifters.  Assume the Donald knows this at the gut level, if no other way.

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-17-2020, 01:50 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 08:24 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: I doubt even Trump want to see an end to democracy.  He just wants to scam his base out of as much cash as possible.  The fraudulent voting thing is just a way of doing that.  You have to keep the tensions high to keep the big bucks rolling in and bribe your enablers to keep it going.  Democracy failing doesn't matter that much to him.  So what if he destroys the country in the process of making a little money?

I'm not so sure of that.  Democracy is the hardest environment for grifting, especially for well placed grifters.  Assume the Donald knows this at the gut level, if no other way.

I'm pretty sure.  It is working.  Folks are sending him a bunch of money.  I'm sure if he could find a way to be president for life he'd try for it, but in the meanwhile he'll take the cash.

[TnT]

Classic:

"Biden's people won't be able to hide Biden's condition for long being half the country already knows that he's got dementia."

Let's drill into this a bit. I've spent all of my professional life in the medical field. The last ten years in the field of EMS, in the street, in the back of ambulances with patients. Many actually HAD dementia. It turns out that there may be as many as 100 kinds of dementia. There are signs and symptoms of these.

So ... you make the claim that "half the country" knows. What, exactly, do you think they know? "Google-Med?" Or some fever-dream claim by some Breitbart lunatic that makes something up that "half the country" wants to believe anyway?

I've watched Joe Biden on stage, responding to challenging circumstances. Responding to stimuli that look pretty stiff to me.

I'm all ears. Give me two signs or symptoms. (Btw, it takes more than two to really nail down such a diagnosis.)

Get down to specifics. Diagnosing at a distance is a real skill. If "Half the country" can do it, they must be pretty special. So, let's have it. I'm all ears.

[David Horn]

(12-17-2020, 02:09 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 01:50 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 08:24 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: I doubt even Trump want to see an end to democracy.  He just wants to scam his base out of as much cash as possible.  The fraudulent voting thing is just a way of doing that.  You have to keep the tensions high to keep the big bucks rolling in and bribe your enablers to keep it going.  Democracy failing doesn't matter that much to him.  So what if he destroys the country in the process of making a little money?

I'm not so sure of that.  Democracy is the hardest environment for grifting, especially for well placed grifters.  Assume the Donald knows this at the gut level, if no other way.

I'm pretty sure.  It is working.  Folks are sending him a bunch of money.  I'm sure if he could find a way to be president for life he'd try for it, but in the meanwhile he'll take the cash.

On that we agree.  Trump's #1 issue is money, followed by money, money and his family.  That's it.

[Classic-Xer]

(12-18-2020, 12:08 AM)TnT Wrote: Classic:

"Biden's people won't be able to hide Biden's condition for long being half the country already knows that he's got dementia."

Let's drill into this a bit.  I've spent all of my professional life in the medical field.  The last ten years in the field of EMS, in the street, in the back of ambulances with patients.  Many actually HAD dementia.  It turns out that there may be as many as 100 kinds of dementia.  There are signs and symptoms of these.

So ... you make the claim that "half the country" knows.  What, exactly, do you think they know?  "Google-Med?"  Or some fever-dream claim by some Breitbart lunatic that makes something up that "half the country" wants to believe anyway?

I've watched Joe Biden on stage, responding to challenging circumstances.  Responding to stimuli that look pretty stiff to me.

I'm all ears.  Give me two signs or symptoms.  (Btw, it takes more than two to really nail down such a diagnosis.)

Get down to specifics.  Diagnosing at a distance is a real skill.  If "Half the country" can do it, they must be pretty special.  So, let's have it.  I'm all ears.

You watched him on what stage? The national debates? A small political rally with a small group of loyal political supporters. Did you see any moderators really testing him or challenging him with tough question or just run of the mill and pretty low key? I had an aging mother his age with dementia. I'm able to recognize the obvious signs associated with it. Like you, I have first hand knowledge and experience. I saw him take a prearranged question today from some show host. I watched him struggle to answer it on his own and I  watched him glance down to read the response that was given to him in advance. He has two years in office at best based on what I've seen/know of him so far. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually showing early signs of Alzheimer's which my mother was eventually diagnosed within a few years after we learned about her being treated for dementia.

Yes. The half of the country that voted for Trump knows that Biden is showing signs of dementia or old age as we used to say a few decades ago. Yes. Professionals would have to do a bunch of cognitive tests which Biden hasn't taken and doesn't need according to Biden. I know one thing, I wouldn't want to be you or a Democrat in office or a member of his administration if/when the Biden charade or Wag The Dog scenario that we just witnessed and are able clearly see these days blows up in their faces and rips the country/government that you and others seem more reliant upon these days apart.

[Classic-Xer]

(12-18-2020, 07:57 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 02:09 PM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 01:50 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-17-2020, 08:24 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: I doubt even Trump want to see an end to democracy.  He just wants to scam his base out of as much cash as possible.  The fraudulent voting thing is just a way of doing that.  You have to keep the tensions high to keep the big bucks rolling in and bribe your enablers to keep it going.  Democracy failing doesn't matter that much to him.  So what if he destroys the country in the process of making a little money?

I'm not so sure of that.  Democracy is the hardest environment for grifting, especially for well placed grifters.  Assume the Donald knows this at the gut level, if no other way.

I'm pretty sure.  It is working.  Folks are sending him a bunch of money.  I'm sure if he could find a way to be president for life he'd try for it, but in the meanwhile he'll take the cash.

On that we agree.  Trump's #1 issue is money, followed by money, money and his family.  That's it.

How much money has he lost while in office? How much of a cut in income did he take while serving in office? How much money did the Clinton's, Obama's and Biden's make or set up to make for themselves while they were in office? Yes, there are a lot folks contributing money to his legal defense as a thank you for the job he did while in office and/or as an advance for his next run for President in 2024. You shouldn't mind if we (the 70 some million who voted for Trumped) give him a billion or two to match the Democrats and their donors and significantly raise the anti/increase the price of a US Congressional and senate seats. Trump won't need money for himself, he's already set to make a fortune off America First which is what he represents. So, what do we do about you selfish, conceded, arrogant everything else more importants.

[Einzige]

You people, again, are utterly incapable of thinking systematically. MUH TRUMP, MUH BIDEN.

[Classic-Xer]

(12-17-2020, 07:45 AM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(12-16-2020, 10:56 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(12-16-2020, 04:16 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(12-15-2020, 05:13 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(12-12-2020, 12:44 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Trump is simply a shock jock, because that's all it takes to hook you idiots.

How much do you want to bet that he's reelected if he runs in 2024?

I thought I answered that already. It depends on who is nominated in 2024.

All this talk about the "historic nature" of Harris as vice-president-elect could end up being very ironic, if that choice turns out to be the death knell of the republic.

Are you going to ignore an election result and nominate someone other than Harris who will most likely be President by then? Biden's people won't be able to hide Biden's condition for long being half the country already knows that he's got dementia. You should be happy, Liberals (the blue personality cult) don't like the idea of a republic and prefer a dictatorship. Ain't that what you want?

No, it's what YOU want, obviously. The end of democracy. And my astrological method of horoscope scores shows that Harris will never be president. Biden does not have dementia, and he is as ambitious as anyone. He will stick around and may even run for re-election. But if Harris is nominated in 2024 instead, then your chance will come again to screw up the country.

Your only idea of freedom is freedom to carry AR-15s around so you can massacre people whenever the hell you want. I could care less if that freedom is taken away from you.

As I've told you before, I have no interest in losing any of my American rights including my right to vote. Harris will be President if Biden is unable to finish out his term. That is what you voted and was willing to accept when you voted for the Biden/Harris ticket right? What is so difficult about accepting that distinct possibility? Biden has dementia. So, it's really just a matter of how long the Democratic political system (news, media, politicians, political spokes people and strategists) and his personal handlers/decision makers are able to hide it from the public altogether and able spin it and weasel their way of not knowing or caring about it and so forth.

[Classic-Xer]

(12-18-2020, 11:09 PM)Einzige Wrote: You people, again, are utterly incapable of thinking systematically. MUH TRUMP, MUH BIDEN.

You have no known system to show me that exists or existed at one time for me to think of systematically. You should also know by now that I'm quite capable of thinking systematically.

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-18-2020, 11:37 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote:

(12-18-2020, 11:09 PM)Einzige Wrote: You people, again, are utterly incapable of thinking systematically. MUH TRUMP, MUH BIDEN.

You have no known system to show me that exists or existed at one time for me to think of systematically. You should also know by now that I'm quite capable of thinking systematically.

By systematically, Einzige seems to mean according to a system, a theory.  I tend to disagree.  The current dialectic seems to be the red seeking to avoid change, the blue seeking to solve problems.  True, there are several distinct issues in the difference.  Elitism, racism, the environment, immigration, economic theories, in Bush 43’s time Neo Colonialism, have splintered the discussion in part due to a complex reality.

By focusing more on the single issue of capital, Marxism is locked on a much simpler and more obsolete perspective.  The system is more obvious.  The current dominant systems are more complex.  Nowadays, capitalism is the problem with the elites, those that own the means of production and buy influence with the government.  Just one issue.

In Bush 43’s time I characterized the red administration as an alliance of Neo Conservative military people, big oil and fundamentalists.  In Trump’s time, the elite, the racists, the fundamentalists, the con men near the White House have shifted the alliance somewhat.  The core is still there, though.  Each wants to keep an old racket going.  They look to an advantage they have always had, and aim to keep it.  On the flip side, the Democrats see various problems, often associated with long existing oppression, and strive to end it.

Granted, the reality is more complex.  If you think simply, you don’t see any system, just a bunch of issues.  I think the systems are there if you want to see it.

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-18-2020, 11:13 PM)Classic-Xer Wrote: As I've told you before, I have no interest in losing any of my American rights including my right to vote. Harris will be President if Biden is unable to finish out his term. That is what you voted and was willing to accept when you voted for the Biden/Harris ticket right? What is so difficult about accepting that distinct possibility? Biden has dementia. So, it's really just a matter of how long the Democratic political system (news, media, politicians, political spokes people and strategists) and his personal handlers/decision makers are able to hide it from the public altogether and able spin it and weasel their way of not knowing or caring about it and so forth.

Not able to finish a term? It seems Trump is failing more than than Biden might. He failed to act on the recent Russian cyber attack. He failed with a facial attack on democracy, which is more likely a scam to draw money from the base. He failed to take action on the racist violence and systematic racism. He seems more focused today on pardoning folks and denying the incoming administration information than running the country. One theme in the blue press is that he is fighting to keep a job he is no longer interested in doing.

Then again, failing to change the status quo, allowing past injustices to continue, would be a Republican thing. I’m not sure that ought to include the Russians, or encourage a con man administration, but the reds were all in favor. A Buchanan or Hoover bad president seems part of the turnings? You have to demonstrate the old values have failed to get people to accept the new?

I’m seeing Biden as bringing in a competent team that he is sill quite capable of coordinating. If Reagan could do it, Biden can too. I would as soon have seen someone younger in charge, but he was capable of uniting the Democrats and getting rid of Trump. That’s the important thing.

[David Horn]

(12-19-2020, 04:27 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: ...  The current dialectic seems to be the red seeking to avoid change, the blue seeking to solve problems...

I honestly would like to believe this is true, but the signs seem to point elsewhere. Red is not opposed to change at all; in fact, they pushed some outrageous radical and reprehensible change under Trump (one of the primary reasons his followers love him). Change can be for the worse as well as the better. And Blue is looking more and more like throwbacks to some mythical model to faux perfection, wedded in process rather than progress. All the return-to-normal cheerleaders are out in the streets being their typical mild selves, advocating for more Clinton/Obama, as long as none of their toes get crushed.

If, as seems likely, Biden adds a Republican or two to his cabinet or the upper echelons of the West Wing, feel free to go back to sleep. We'll be in for a muddle.

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-19-2020, 07:37 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-19-2020, 04:27 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: ...  The current dialectic seems to be the red seeking to avoid change, the blue seeking to solve problems...

I honestly would like to believe this is true, but the signs seem to point elsewhere.  Red is not opposed to change at all; in fact, they pushed some outrageous radical and reprehensible change under Trump (one of the primary reasons his followers love him).  Change can be for the worse as well as the better.  And Blue is looking more and more like throwbacks to some mythical model to faux perfection, wedded in process rather than progress.  All the return-to-normal cheerleaders are out in the streets being their typical mild selves, advocating for more Clinton/Obama, as long as none of their toes get crushed.

If, as seems likely, Biden adds a Republican or two to his cabinet or the upper echelons of the West Wing, feel free to go back to sleep. We'll be in for a muddle.

I see the major issues of the crisis as being elitism, racism, sexism, environmentalism, COVID, and if the economy can be separated from elitism, that.  Class structure is the key to the first three.  We have a remnant of the Agricultural Age. Environmentalism is associated with the old belief that God gave the Earth to be exploited rather than it needing to be conserved.  We have to grow beyond it.  COVID can be lumped with being prepared for various natural disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, ocean rise and pandemics.  Trump specifically is weak on the above.  The idea that independent rural inhabitants can take care of whatever comes at them is the opposite theory.  Urban folk start thinking of saving a whole city.  Working together and having a plan seems a better solution.

What do you see as the crisis issues?  I can agree to a nostalgia to get away from the Trump era, but if we are to try to build back better we have to move on.  

Methinks you have been dwelling among the red too long.

[Einzige]

The complexity of Capital is a deliberate obscurantism. Issues of race, sex, etc. are produced by this social order to obscure the actual relations of power in society. Nothing more. All you people know to do is to reduce the social question to nebulous value judgments, knowing that this absolves you of the real - physical, necessary - struggle to resolve them. Even a pituitary moron like Classic X'er knows his insinuation of violence against Democrats is patently false. It's all an identity-based LARP. And capitalism prepackages identities for sale.

[beechnut79]

(12-19-2020, 07:56 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(12-19-2020, 07:37 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(12-19-2020, 04:27 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote: ...  The current dialectic seems to be the red seeking to avoid change, the blue seeking to solve problems...

I honestly would like to believe this is true, but the signs seem to point elsewhere.  Red is not opposed to change at all; in fact, they pushed some outrageous radical and reprehensible change under Trump (one of the primary reasons his followers love him).  Change can be for the worse as well as the better.  And Blue is looking more and more like throwbacks to some mythical model to faux perfection, wedded in process rather than progress.  All the return-to-normal cheerleaders are out in the streets being their typical mild selves, advocating for more Clinton/Obama, as long as none of their toes get crushed.

If, as seems likely, Biden adds a Republican or two to his cabinet or the upper echelons of the West Wing, feel free to go back to sleep. We'll be in for a muddle.

I see the major issues of the crisis as being elitism, racism, sexism, environmentalism, COVID, and if the economy can be separated from elitism, that.  Class structure is the key to the first three.  We have a remnant of the Agricultural Age. Environmentalism is associated with the old belief that God gave the Earth to be exploited rather than it needing to be conserved.  We have to grow beyond it.  COVID can be lumped with being prepared for various natural disasters, including hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, ocean rise and pandemics.  Trump specifically is weak on the above.  The idea that independent rural inhabitants can take care of whatever comes at them is the opposite theory.  Urban folk start thinking of saving a whole city.  Working together and having a plan seems a better solution.

What do you see as the crisis issues?  I can agree to a nostalgia to get away from the Trump era, but if we are to try to build back better we have to move on.  

Methinks you have been dwelling among the red too long.

Over on the 4T website I brought up an issue that doesn’t get nearly the coverage that it should, and that is the lack of affordable housing and how developers are hamstrung by restrictive zoning laws and homeowners associations.

Also feel it is time to legalize or at least decriminalize sex work. The PTB now should realize that prohibition of this activity hasn’t been any more successful than it was with liquor a century ago. And yet some sex workers themselves don’t want legalization because then they would have to start paying taxes on it.

Perhaps the legal drinking age should be lowered as well to bring us in line with the rest of the world. The US is just about the only place in the developed world where you have to be 21 to have a drink. And it is being enforced in a very draconian way. Where I live if you purchase alcohol products at the grocery, if the cashier is less than 21, he or she can’t even ring up the sale. A manager has to be called, thus holding up the lines.

I would also like to see us move away from a strict at will employment model towards a system where a just cause is needed for employers to fire somebody. Several years ago I wrote a book titled JUDAS TIMES SEVEN, which deals with the dark side of office politics. Should have become a best seller but didn’t have the necessary funds for prom and still don’t.  Maybe if I win the lottery.

Will leave you with these four but I am sure there will be more.

[Bob Butler 54]

(12-19-2020, 11:26 AM)beechnut79 Wrote: Over on the 4T website I brought up an issue that doesn’t get nearly the coverage that it should, and that is the lack of affordable housing and how developers are hamstrung by restrictive zoning laws and homeowners associations.

Also feel it is time to legalize or at least decriminalize sex work. The PTB now should realize that prohibition of this activity hasn’t been any more successful than it was with liquor a century ago. And yet some sex workers themselves don’t want legalization because then they would have to start paying taxes on it.

Perhaps the legal drinking age should be lowered as well to bring us in line with the rest of the world. The US is just about the only place in the developed world where you have to be 21 to have a drink. And it is being enforced in a very draconian way. Where I live if you purchase alcohol products at the grocery, if the cashier is less than 21, he or she can’t even ring up the sale. A manager has to be called, thus holding up the lines.

I would also like to see us move away from a strict at will employment model towards a system where a just cause is needed for employers to fire somebody. Several years ago I wrote a book titled JUDAS TIMES SEVEN, which deals with the dark side of office politics. Should have become a best seller but didn’t have the necessary funds for prom and still don’t.  Maybe if I win the lottery.

Will leave you with these four but I am sure there will be more.

I don’t really see those as crisis issues.  They are worthy issues, perhaps.  But none of them have killed as many as COVID or a crisis war, and none of them have drawn as large a set of protests as Black Lives Matter.  I could see them as minor planks in a major party platform, but not as leading off big deal planks during critical times.

I may be biased in that I am looking at crises as a way of moving further from the Agricultural Age and towards the Information Age.  Broadly, the issues you suggest are not doing stuff like getting rid of slaves, kings and dictators.  I have my arrow of progress: human rights, democracy and equality.  None of your issues scream of those.

Your four at least might be lumped broadly together as deregulation.  At various time people thought they had a good idea, but maybe it wasn’t a good idea after all, and maybe times have changed.  Freedom from the government intruding on people’s freedom, hurrah?  Banning dangerous and harmful behaviors, hurrah?

I do want to regulate safety, though.  If some elite values profits putting worker lives at risk, I want the government to come down hard on the side of the worker.  If another elite wants to play loose with the stock market or other banker stuff, tough, I don’t want an economic collapse due to greed.

On the other hand I wouldn’t think much of regulating morality or taste.  If some Bible thumping fundamentalist wants to ban whores, or some neighborhood association thinks it would be neat to paint all houses in the neighborhood white, I will be very dubious.

And some things change.  Drunks responded to poor working conditions in the Gilded Age by beating up their wives were a real problem once.  We are now far more moderate in our alcohol and drug abuse.  We also recognize that prohibition does not work well, that people get what they want, and criminals will profit by it.  Rules which seemingly looked wise once now look less wise.  Neither extreme of prohibition or rampant public abuse seems desirable.

Again, you present some interesting ideas, but not crisis problems.  If after the COVID vaccines get plentiful enough to make a herd immunity, and everyone declares the crisis over and wants to binge getting high and whoring, we are not apt to stay in crisis mode just to get rid of the regulations against drugs and whores.