ADVERTISEMENT

Current events

More bullshit right now than I can remember during my lifetime following American politics.

Fear mongering, slander, hyper-hyperbole, etc. Stay classy, Illini fans.

No matter who wins, life on earth will continue.

The political class is living in the past. An October surprise won’t determine the outcome. There are very few undecided voters and early voting has began. Enthusiasm (positive and negative) will tip the scales in the battleground states.
Colleges campus around the USA were either shut down or barricaded in protest of the war in Viet Nam !

Bombs were set off on college buildings or apartments.

Weatherman AND BLA groups murdered New Jersy State Police !

I and many others believe this election will be seminal towards the future of the USA !

Either way !
 
It has a lot more to do with the climate change hoax than it does covid. Articles can easily be found that young couples are afraid to have children out of fear the global catastrophies predicted come true. Fear has been fed to them from when they were young.
Birth rates today are correlated with a country's development. Developed nations have lower birth rates and less developed countries have higher birth rates.
 
It has a lot more to do with the climate change hoax than it does covid. Articles can easily be found that young couples are afraid to have children out of fear the global catastrophies predicted come true. Fear has been fed to them from when they were young.

About 2/3 of young adults in Australia have “climate anxiety”
 
About 2/3 of young adults in Australia have “climate anxiety”
US birth rate decline
2015 - 2024 2.5%
1997 - 2024 15.2%
1970 - 1997 13.8%

If you look at the data for the US, the fear of climate change impacting the birth rate does not hold up.

If you look at the data since 1997, the Great Recession had by far the biggest impact on declining birth rates.

My theory is that people who don't want kids in the first place are using climate change as an excuse. It is a more noble reason than to say I can't find a partner or children are too expensive.

Again since 2015 US birth rates have been relatively flat. If climate change was a major factor, there then would be a significant decline as climate change has become a much bigger issue today than ever before.
 
Last edited:
2/3 of Americans support mass deportations. Since 2015 the percentage of non-white voters who are in favor of mass deportations has gone up 24 points. What was 33% in 2015 is now 57%. 57% of non-whites want illegals deported.

Oh, hey. BTW. Latest polling data has Trump +2 nationally over Harris. Best numbers he has had since Biden dropped out.
 
2/3 of Americans support mass deportations. Since 2015 the percentage of non-white voters who are in favor of mass deportations has gone up 24 points. What was 33% in 2015 is now 57%. 57% of non-whites want illegals deported.

Oh, hey. BTW. Latest polling data has Trump +2 nationally over Harris. Best numbers he has had since Biden dropped out.
What polls are those? I see something different.



They show a very close race.
 
Jeff said textiles wouldn’t come back. Welp. Here’s a jeans manufacturer doing just that in the US.


One small company making jeans is not the entire textile industry. It is a niche manufacturer making jeans that cost about twice as much as similar jeans (Target Goodfellow jeans). You think you have made some great point; you have not. I previously said niche products could be made in the US.
 
Last edited:
Social media is not the major reason.


The parties were more similar in the 1970s than today. In particular, Republicans have moved much more to the right.

Going back 50 years is irrelevant. That was the era of the eastern establishment that dominated American politics. It’s long gone, although some still cling to it.

The ideological shifts impacting today’s politics and political discourse began in earnest in the post Clinton era. Democrats have shifted further to the left over that period of time than Republicans have to the right. Moderates have declined in both parties. It coincides with the introduction and growth of the internet.

What’s probably more significant than ideological shifts is the new coalitions of voters who have emerged. Which is why politicians tend to take a divide and conquer approach, and why people can’t talk to each other like civilized human beings.

Social media may not be THE reason people hate each other and every aspect of American life is politicized, but it’s a major reason. And the most ideologically pure have the biggest mouths.

Other reasons: The catastrophic failure of our public education system; urbanization; competing interests (i.e. environmentalism vs energy industry jobs, intersectionality, etc.); competition and corruption in the mass media; political incentives that reward polarization; lack of social and economic mobility in the U.S. over the last 4 decades.

Biggest reason of all…stupid people.
 
Last edited:
Going back 50 years is irrelevant. That was the era of the eastern establishment that dominated American politics. It’s long gone.

The ideological shifts impacting today’s politics and political discourse began in earnest in the post Clinton era. Democrats have shifted further to the left over that period of time than Republicans have to the right. Reagan Democrats are now Republicans. Neo conservatives are now Democrats.

What’s probably more significant than ideological shifts is the new coalitions of voters who have emerged. Which is why politicians tend to take a divide and conquer approach, and why people can’t talk to each other like civilized human beings.

Social media may not be THE reason people hate each other and every aspect of American life is politicized, but it’s a major reason.

Other reasons: The catastrophic failure of our public education system; urbanization; competing interests (i.e. environmentalism vs energy industry jobs); competition and corruption in the mass media; political incentives that reward polarization; lack of social and economic mobility in the U.S. over the last 4 decades.

Biggest reason of all…stupid people.
Per Pew Research, Republicans have moved more to the right in the last 20 years than Democrats to the left.

I agree that there are very significant shifts in the demographic coalitions of each party.
I have been a Republican all my life but with the Republican party becoming a nativist populist party I am moving more toward the Democratic party as are some of my suburbanite neighbors. Although, I don't see how this should create greater anger between people. I cannot stand Trump but I am friends with Trump voters.

I do agree social media adds gasoline to the fire.
 
Per Pew Research, Republicans have moved more to the right in the last 20 years than Democrats to the left.

That is demonstrably false, particularly as it applies to the electorate.

There are definitely pockets of the type of tribalism that you describe, but it doesn’t appear to be much of a trend.

 
One thing I would add. There is a minority group of extremists from both parties serving in government. That group has an inordinate amount of influence because of House / Senate rules, they get nearly all of the media attention, and they are relentless self promoters who are motivated only by personal ambition. People who only pay attention to the nightly news tend to define the parties based on that group of nuts. Other politicians are afraid of them.
 
Didn’t have social media back then.
That's true, and is a whole other can of worms. As are the behaviors of the unelected and permanent bureaucracies within the federal government.

I was actually limiting my thoughts to the established journalistic outlets though. Network debate "moderators" ganging up on one candidate while coddling the other, perpetuation of falsehoods long after they were shown to be false, suppression of stories to influence elections, allowing candidates to get away with brazen lies in the "public square" (and I don't mean the usual/traditional rhetorical hyperbole), a complete lack of genuine journalistic curiosity, "fact check" becoming the number 1 example of an oxymoron in the English language. That sort of stuff.
 

Older people are more likely to get the vaccine. Older people are also more likely to die than younger people.

There are so many variables involved that this is difficult to discuss. Of course, the lack of transparency doesn’t help. Neither does people mocking those that have been harmed by saying they should see a shrink. Where is the compassion?
 
Per Pew Research, Republicans have moved more to the right in the last 20 years than Democrats to the left.

I agree that there are very significant shifts in the demographic coalitions of each party.
I have been a Republican all my life but with the Republican party becoming a nativist populist party I am moving more toward the Democratic party as are some of my suburbanite neighbors. Although, I don't see how this should create greater anger between people. I cannot stand Trump but I am friends with Trump voters.

I do agree social media adds gasoline to the fire.
This is Pew Research. What you claim is false. I already posted this in this very thread.

 
  • Like
Reactions: tjfleck6
One thing I would add. There is a minority group of extremists from both parties serving in government. That group has an inordinate amount of influence because of House / Senate rules, they get nearly all of the media attention, and they are relentless self promoters who are motivated only by personal ambition. People who only pay attention to the nightly news tend to define the parties based on that group of nuts. Other politicians are afraid of them.
One thing that is different from the 70's and 80's that hasn't been mentioned is C-Span. Has it actually done any good? What I see is more grandstanding by politicians now than real substance of transparency to the electorate.
 
Averaging out of RCP Presidential polls, Kamala is +1.6. On the same date in 2020 BIden held a +8.9 advantage and in 2016 Clinton sat at a +7.1.

If Harris wins, it's because more people are willing to say they are voting for Trump and the silent Trump voters are not missing data, but otherwise, she's lost.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: BigWill
This is Pew Research. What you claim is false. I already posted this in this very thread.

My unscientific opinion is that the Dems under Biden basically became AOC: Green New Deal, open borders, college loan handouts, continued anti-police restrictions, LBGTQ+ everywhere, DEI everywhere, pack the courts with left wing justices, etc. That is far left, so if the Pew research only goes thru 2017, they are missing a further shift left. The main contention between AOC and the Biden administration is Israel and if Harris is elected they probably will pivot to an AOC position on that as well.
 
My unscientific opinion is that the Dems under Biden basically became AOC: Green New Deal, open borders, college loan handouts, continued anti-police restrictions, LBGTQ+ everywhere, DEI everywhere, pack the courts with left wing justices, etc. That is far left, so if the Pew research only goes thru 2017, they are missing a further shift left. The main contention between AOC and the Biden administration is Israel and if Harris is elected they probably will pivot to an AOC position on that as well.
Obama moved the party much further left. And yes. You are correct. Not knowing the results past 2017, they have moved even further to the left, which is why I won't vote for any of them. The natural reaction is to get a bunch of Republicans voted in whether you like them all or not, in order to play tug of war to get the Dems to intelligently move back towards the center.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ILisBest
Israel needs to keep their foot on the gas. They are doing a pretty good job.
 
Obama moved the party much further left. And yes. You are correct. Not knowing the results past 2017, they have moved even further to the left, which is why I won't vote for any of them. The natural reaction is to get a bunch of Republicans voted in whether you like them all or not, in order to play tug of war to get the Dems to intelligently move back towards the center.
Good post. I would add that when Obama was left completely unchecked by the media(in regards to IRS/ spying, etc), it created a bigger problem. The Biden administration was emboldened to openly weaponize the government against people it disagrees with. Now the Harris campaign accuses a future Trump admin of doing this. Crazy times.
 
I may not live long enough to see it but I wouldn't be surprised to see Elon Musk as the Republican candidate at some point. The Republicans need to reinvent themselves as more pragmatic and less ideological as they lose millions of supporters every year through "attrition". It would be hard for any regular politician to pull this off but he seems like the alpha that could do it. I have no idea what he stands for on each issue but his stance on free speech is a good start. The political processes of even 20 years ago are antiquated in this era of social media so Musk, even as soon as 2028 could happen.
 
I may not live long enough to see it but I wouldn't be surprised to see Elon Musk as the Republican candidate at some point. The Republicans need to reinvent themselves as more pragmatic and less ideological as they lose millions of supporters every year through "attrition". It would be hard for any regular politician to pull this off but he seems like the alpha that could do it. I have no idea what he stands for on each issue but his stance on free speech is a good start. The political processes of even 20 years ago are antiquated in this era of social media so Musk, even as soon as 2028 could happen.
I think he would need to be born in the US which he was not. I am guessing he has bigger fish to fry in the engineer space. Also, I believe he was largely dragged into his current involvement in this arena from the threat of prosecution from the dems.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tjfleck6
Ah, Stonedax received his info from edited videos from the KamalaHQ. His camp lies to him a lot 🤣. Oh, the irony

How gullible or indoctrinated in the cult you guys are to believe that. I have seen him sway and do the jerk dance a couple of dozen times all over the internet and legitimate news on television. Pathetic.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT