So this will probably be a very long thread. And as in many other political threads most people will disagree with me. For transparency reasons I am living in Germany I was a conservative as a teenager but became a lefty inter alia because of economical reasons at first. I think I once read in a German newspaper with high reputation Bernie Sanders would be concerning his economical stances either in the German centrist left or centrist right wing party in my country. I could try to analyze which party would better fit to his economical plans. I think it depends on the policies. For example no German party really none would be against universal free health care or (with less certainty), be against free public colleges. So the pre-conditions are pretty different.
So who is responsible for the mess that the US is currently in. The issues are multilayered and solely the description could take a whole thread. But this would be a boring start. I think one of the people who is responsible for the current crisis is Barack Obama. One could say the same about Tony Blair in UK. Their neoliberal and austerity policies fueled the multicrises we are in. In Germany there were also neoliberal reforms but the situation is different here because of the special history.
Obama in his campaign pretended to be an outsider. He promised change. And still way too many journalists suck him off for that. He was a fraud not as bad as Trump but he was responsible for the rise of Trump. Obama had a super majority and he delivered almost nothing. His reforms were a joke and was way too much concerned what the tea party thinks about him. The centrist approach wanting to please both sides was so fucking naive. The GOP plays hard ball something the leftwingers in the DNC would never dare to do. Obama was a national disappointment. He is one reason why young Americans became cynical about politics. He is one reason why people doubt whether voting really matters. I mean he had the majority and he simply did not deliver. In Western countries austerity policies were en vogue to that time. The disadvatanges of globalisations were negligible for them. They saw the advantages for the anywheres (cosmopolitans) and did not care aat all bout the somewheres (communitarians). To put it simply. The elites did not give a fuck about the average Joe and Jane. Most tax policies favored them. They profited of trade deals and all the good things that globalisation brought along. While the side-effects were outsourced to the workers. Areas like the Rust belt were seen as irrelevant. As Hillary Clinton showed very well parts of the elites look down at average workers. Her quote about the deplorables of Trump voters showed her arrogance. Clinton was an horrible candidate. They had the strategy to boost Trump in the primaries because they thought he was the easiest candidate to beat. Well this is simply hubris. As you will see later I am despite all of that a leftwinger but I have to say there is a compilation on youtube which has million of views. Listing all the democratic elites making fun of Trump and his voters which hugely backfired. I consider the choice in favor of Trump still a terrible mistake but I had to chuckle when watching that video. I was shocked that Trump won. (I only read mainstream German media to that time and I was quite young). I was consternated after his victory and asked myself how the media elites could be so wrong. I think in the US some people want to blame the loss of Clinton on sexism and fake news/Russia. Well she was a horrible candidate and the voters wanted to show the middle finger to the democratic elites who on the outside pretend to be in favor of equality but secretly they run away with all the money. Clinton and her staff did not realize how much anger the voters had about the globalisation and that for example her bombing of Lybia was the opposite of what the American voters wanted concerning foreign policies.
I hope after this paragraph some people might be glad that this thread does not solely consist of sucking off Democrats. There are so many grievances in the US system that it is hard to sum them up. Personally I think comparing it to Obama I see clear progress in Biden's policies. He more or less undertook some Trump policies (with other less provoking names) which can be called protectionism. I think he checks he gave the Americans during the covid lockdowns were great. Though he did fully deliver what he promisied (less money). So partially it was a success on the other hand also a disappointment. I think if there are referendums in the US many Americans vote in favor of policies that favor the common men. So in other terms leftwing policies. It is intricate to explain why at elections we don't see the same happening. I think one reason is the heated culture war. The GOP was skilled enough to convince voters that cultural issues are more important than their own economical interests. Something I cannot really comprehend for my personal values. Trump pretended to be an outsider while being part of the elite. His tax cuts gave all the profits to the elites in an insane magnitude. Tucker Carlson is also very good in pretending to fight against the elites while he makes millions brainwashing people to vote against their own economical interests. And that fucking bud light ads are more important than earning a fair wage.
Here comes one of the most unpopular opinions of this thread. The emphasis on free spech without almost any limits is toxic for the US society. (which is kind of undermining this forum which benefits of that. A paradox I have so far no good answer for. Maybe it depends on the issues but I think I should not waste time on this topic at this point.) In my country when I read about the US the following is common sense. The GOP has radicalized itself in the last decades. So much that it can be called in part a right-wing extreme party. There are people in the US that intoxicate the societal climate for their own advanage. People like Nick Fuentes, Alex Jones or a company like Breitbart are toxic for democrcaies that want to function. It is the paradox of tolerance of the philosopher Karl Popper. If the state is too tolerant towards people who want to undermine and destory democracy this can damage the system and can lead to its fall. Conspiracies have become way too influential in the US. Maybe I am biased because I only communicate with US-citizens on the internet but I think the magnitude in which Americans believe in conspiracies has become a huge problem. It makes them susceptible for strategies like "flood the zone with shit" how Steve Bannon called it. This can be observed in so many political debates. There are always pundits that repeat the same standard platitudes. Morever they always portray it as if there were only two choices. A big issue is in my opionion the US two-party system because usually the both parties nominate status quo candidates that are both in favor of the rich and big companies/powerful lobbies. It is pretty much the DNA of US democracy that the game is rigged in favor of the rich. Though to give my take on conspiracies more nuances. The Americans have a lot of good reasons for paranoia. All the big broadcast stations spread their corporate propaganda. The "leftwing" channels want to be seen as progressive and posture themselves as fighter for equality. Though they only use cultural topics for wanting to be seen as progressive while rigging the game in favor of the lobbies and companies that finance them. In my opinion PBS is way too much in favor of the centrist "we have to listen to both sides" approach. Something similar happened to the BBC during the Brexit campaign. Furthermore other points like the NSA spying, the secret operations of the CIA or Iraq war crimes raise legitimate questions about US politics. After all of this it is no wonder the people believe in conspiracies but it has become way too much and people believe in insane theories like baby eating elites/pizza gate, space laser, reptiloids, Qanon stuff or the Great reset.
I think this thread is already insanely long and no one will read it anyway. There are more less attractive issues to talk about. Campaign finance reforms, more support in small donor donations,measures against corporate campaign contributions, state ballot initatives (though I don't have detailed knowledge on that. Something people will claim about 99% of the stuff which I wrote here if I am lucky enough that one person would be willing to reply or even read this). Democrats have to deliver on the economical topics of the country and decrease their focus of cultural topics. Personally I think free higher education, a minimum wage, decrease in military spending, infrastructure spending programms, free health care for all could be topics to help to heal the nation in the long run. I think the Biden advisers have understood that to a certain point. Though the small progress the country makes is not enough. But compared to Obama the policies have become better. I think making climate change policies a point about creating jobs is the absolutely right way to go. Something the German politicians never understood. I don't think Biden will heal the nation he is way too moderate for that. But they learned some lessons of the Obama years to be fair.
There would be other topics. A potential constitutional crisis if Trump has to go to prison., a potential civil war (very unlikely) but riots don't seem to be that unlikely. The supreme court which will shape the country's future also with unpopular decisions like on abortion and no good answer for that. I don't think court packing is a good way to go. But I have not read enough about it. Foreign policy, Ukraine war/China, alternative candidates like Ron DeSantis, migration, wokeness, polarization of the parties..
Holy shit this is a long ass thread noone will read or like. But Oslo I am wating for a call of you.
So who is responsible for the mess that the US is currently in. The issues are multilayered and solely the description could take a whole thread. But this would be a boring start. I think one of the people who is responsible for the current crisis is Barack Obama. One could say the same about Tony Blair in UK. Their neoliberal and austerity policies fueled the multicrises we are in. In Germany there were also neoliberal reforms but the situation is different here because of the special history.
Obama in his campaign pretended to be an outsider. He promised change. And still way too many journalists suck him off for that. He was a fraud not as bad as Trump but he was responsible for the rise of Trump. Obama had a super majority and he delivered almost nothing. His reforms were a joke and was way too much concerned what the tea party thinks about him. The centrist approach wanting to please both sides was so fucking naive. The GOP plays hard ball something the leftwingers in the DNC would never dare to do. Obama was a national disappointment. He is one reason why young Americans became cynical about politics. He is one reason why people doubt whether voting really matters. I mean he had the majority and he simply did not deliver. In Western countries austerity policies were en vogue to that time. The disadvatanges of globalisations were negligible for them. They saw the advantages for the anywheres (cosmopolitans) and did not care aat all bout the somewheres (communitarians). To put it simply. The elites did not give a fuck about the average Joe and Jane. Most tax policies favored them. They profited of trade deals and all the good things that globalisation brought along. While the side-effects were outsourced to the workers. Areas like the Rust belt were seen as irrelevant. As Hillary Clinton showed very well parts of the elites look down at average workers. Her quote about the deplorables of Trump voters showed her arrogance. Clinton was an horrible candidate. They had the strategy to boost Trump in the primaries because they thought he was the easiest candidate to beat. Well this is simply hubris. As you will see later I am despite all of that a leftwinger but I have to say there is a compilation on youtube which has million of views. Listing all the democratic elites making fun of Trump and his voters which hugely backfired. I consider the choice in favor of Trump still a terrible mistake but I had to chuckle when watching that video. I was shocked that Trump won. (I only read mainstream German media to that time and I was quite young). I was consternated after his victory and asked myself how the media elites could be so wrong. I think in the US some people want to blame the loss of Clinton on sexism and fake news/Russia. Well she was a horrible candidate and the voters wanted to show the middle finger to the democratic elites who on the outside pretend to be in favor of equality but secretly they run away with all the money. Clinton and her staff did not realize how much anger the voters had about the globalisation and that for example her bombing of Lybia was the opposite of what the American voters wanted concerning foreign policies.
I hope after this paragraph some people might be glad that this thread does not solely consist of sucking off Democrats. There are so many grievances in the US system that it is hard to sum them up. Personally I think comparing it to Obama I see clear progress in Biden's policies. He more or less undertook some Trump policies (with other less provoking names) which can be called protectionism. I think he checks he gave the Americans during the covid lockdowns were great. Though he did fully deliver what he promisied (less money). So partially it was a success on the other hand also a disappointment. I think if there are referendums in the US many Americans vote in favor of policies that favor the common men. So in other terms leftwing policies. It is intricate to explain why at elections we don't see the same happening. I think one reason is the heated culture war. The GOP was skilled enough to convince voters that cultural issues are more important than their own economical interests. Something I cannot really comprehend for my personal values. Trump pretended to be an outsider while being part of the elite. His tax cuts gave all the profits to the elites in an insane magnitude. Tucker Carlson is also very good in pretending to fight against the elites while he makes millions brainwashing people to vote against their own economical interests. And that fucking bud light ads are more important than earning a fair wage.
Here comes one of the most unpopular opinions of this thread. The emphasis on free spech without almost any limits is toxic for the US society. (which is kind of undermining this forum which benefits of that. A paradox I have so far no good answer for. Maybe it depends on the issues but I think I should not waste time on this topic at this point.) In my country when I read about the US the following is common sense. The GOP has radicalized itself in the last decades. So much that it can be called in part a right-wing extreme party. There are people in the US that intoxicate the societal climate for their own advanage. People like Nick Fuentes, Alex Jones or a company like Breitbart are toxic for democrcaies that want to function. It is the paradox of tolerance of the philosopher Karl Popper. If the state is too tolerant towards people who want to undermine and destory democracy this can damage the system and can lead to its fall. Conspiracies have become way too influential in the US. Maybe I am biased because I only communicate with US-citizens on the internet but I think the magnitude in which Americans believe in conspiracies has become a huge problem. It makes them susceptible for strategies like "flood the zone with shit" how Steve Bannon called it. This can be observed in so many political debates. There are always pundits that repeat the same standard platitudes. Morever they always portray it as if there were only two choices. A big issue is in my opionion the US two-party system because usually the both parties nominate status quo candidates that are both in favor of the rich and big companies/powerful lobbies. It is pretty much the DNA of US democracy that the game is rigged in favor of the rich. Though to give my take on conspiracies more nuances. The Americans have a lot of good reasons for paranoia. All the big broadcast stations spread their corporate propaganda. The "leftwing" channels want to be seen as progressive and posture themselves as fighter for equality. Though they only use cultural topics for wanting to be seen as progressive while rigging the game in favor of the lobbies and companies that finance them. In my opinion PBS is way too much in favor of the centrist "we have to listen to both sides" approach. Something similar happened to the BBC during the Brexit campaign. Furthermore other points like the NSA spying, the secret operations of the CIA or Iraq war crimes raise legitimate questions about US politics. After all of this it is no wonder the people believe in conspiracies but it has become way too much and people believe in insane theories like baby eating elites/pizza gate, space laser, reptiloids, Qanon stuff or the Great reset.
I think this thread is already insanely long and no one will read it anyway. There are more less attractive issues to talk about. Campaign finance reforms, more support in small donor donations,measures against corporate campaign contributions, state ballot initatives (though I don't have detailed knowledge on that. Something people will claim about 99% of the stuff which I wrote here if I am lucky enough that one person would be willing to reply or even read this). Democrats have to deliver on the economical topics of the country and decrease their focus of cultural topics. Personally I think free higher education, a minimum wage, decrease in military spending, infrastructure spending programms, free health care for all could be topics to help to heal the nation in the long run. I think the Biden advisers have understood that to a certain point. Though the small progress the country makes is not enough. But compared to Obama the policies have become better. I think making climate change policies a point about creating jobs is the absolutely right way to go. Something the German politicians never understood. I don't think Biden will heal the nation he is way too moderate for that. But they learned some lessons of the Obama years to be fair.
There would be other topics. A potential constitutional crisis if Trump has to go to prison., a potential civil war (very unlikely) but riots don't seem to be that unlikely. The supreme court which will shape the country's future also with unpopular decisions like on abortion and no good answer for that. I don't think court packing is a good way to go. But I have not read enough about it. Foreign policy, Ukraine war/China, alternative candidates like Ron DeSantis, migration, wokeness, polarization of the parties..
Holy shit this is a long ass thread noone will read or like. But Oslo I am wating for a call of you.
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