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Problems with politics in the U.S.
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Absnt Offline
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Post: #1
Problems with politics in the U.S.

Here are some of the major problems I think cause devastating amounts of problems within the U.S.

-- Approval rating: 82.5 Percent of Americans disapprove of how congress is doing their job. So, pretty much everyone doesn't like them. Conversely, everyone seems to LOVE their own states congressman. Know why? Because a congressman will do something stupid that will support his state, and everyone there will like it, but everyone else will hate it because it's only helping a select group. So no one likes congress as a whole, they just like it when federal money is dumped into their little problems. Example: Bridge to nowhere would have provided jobs, and work, and a bridge in Alaska, but it would have aided all of 50 fucking people. 128 MILLION dollars for that? Fuck no.

-- Gerrymandering: They draw up congressional districts in strange ways, just so it gives their party an advantage. They'll group all of the democrats in one area, and then make three different districts with a majority of republicans. Thus, the republicans get more, even if there are more democrats in the state. Both parties do this. It's rigging the election, and it's completely legal.

-- Special interest groups and Campaign Finance: Interest groups give lawmakers money, information, or other things for favours in congress. By favours, I mean they slip some bullshit law in that supports their side, and saves them money. Virtually every candidate does this. Not necessarily because they want to, but because if they don't they won't raise enough money to win the next election. It just won't fucking happen. In order to win, they must take money from interest groups and rich people.

-- Decision rules / Voting systems / Plurality Systems: There are multiple different ways to count votes, and set up the voting system. Since we are retarded, we use the Plurality Voting system. This means we all get to vote for 1 person, and 1 person only. This is fine and will give us the most popular person if there are only two candidates, but if there are any more, it opens up the possibility of a hated person by say, 80% of the population a chance to win because everyone else voted so differently they couldn't agree on one candidate. So no other candidate got more than 19% of the vote. Since the hated candidate had a fringe 20% of supporters, he wins. To understand this better read this: http://votebuddy.com/votemeth.htm

-- Federal Agencies: Basically all federal agencies can come up with "rules" which are pretty much laws which we must follow. We don't vote for those running the Federal Agencies, only the president, who is in theory the head of these departments, but basically has no say in what they do. Their job is to come up with rules and regulate what their agency is supposed to regulate. This is fine, since there is no way conggress could ever know enough to make reasonable laws in every industry. The problem is, often enough, they put restrictions on what citizens can and cannot do and make corrupt laws due to interest groups. Interest groups often appeal to them, and get rules made that actually aren't better for everyone, just better for the interest group or industry they are lobbying for.

-- Two party system: This ties into the whole plurality rule thing. If a third party candidate shows up, and 1% of the democrats decide to vote for him, it could make the democrats loose even though they would have won. This happened in 2000 with Bush and Gore. Nadar, the third party candidate, through off the vote. Plus, people always end up agreeing with their god damn party, without much thought. THINK FOR YOURSELF JACKASS.

-- Political Education: Schools do not teach enough of this shit, and don't go into detail about it. Politics is a huge field, and to understand government and everything that goes on in it takes a long ass time. It's so complicated now that very few people have time to keep up with politics. People are fucking ignorant. (Me included, probably.)

-- Voting Turnout / Ballots: It is very hard to vote in the U.S. Seriously, every other democratic country has better turnout ratings because they make it easy to vote. We don't. Some states still use those fucking punch-hole cards to vote. And we have to REGISTER TO VOTE?!?!?! Are you serious? What the fucking shit? I know damn right the government has us all documented, so why the fuck don't they just automatically register us when we turn eighteen, like other countries? When someone gets their license, give them the option to set it so they can automatically be registered to vote. Or give them the option to send in a form that will automatically register them every year. Or something. This shit is retarded. AND, we should stop fucking around with punch hole cards and UPDATE OUR GODDAMN ballot counting system, and ballot system itself. Stop using hardcopy you dinosaurs.

-- CUT THE BUDGET, just not my budget: Everyone wants to cut the federal budget, they just don't want to cut it for the military, or education, or defence, or anything else, really. Stop being pussies, we need to stop spending so much. People are going to loose jobs. People are going to get displaced. We need to stop this shit. The problem with stopping it is, INTEREST GROUPS WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN, and the people who are responsible for cutting the budget are the people who would probably lose their jobs if they did.

Lawmaking: Why the fuck do we have bills that are hundreds of pages long, in which one line can legalize something like the permanent detention of U.S citizens? Fucking WHY is that even legal?

Feel free to add to this.

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03-01-2012 03:06 AM
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Stadium Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Government in any form is a fail.

No, this is Patrick.
03-01-2012 03:08 AM
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HeartofShadows Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

DEMOCRACY FUCK UYEAH1

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03-01-2012 03:12 AM
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-01-2012 03:08 AM)StadiumArcadium Wrote:  Government in any form is a fail.

Hidden stuff:
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Dear Tumblrites: Despite your wrongly self-diagnosed PTSD, no line of scientific evidence suggests people can be triggered over the internet. Triggering works through the senses (i.e. smell, taste, touch, vision, hearing.) but it goes through real time; if you're not experiencing it in real life as it's ACTUALLY HAPPENING in your ACTUAL life, you CANNOT be triggered. The only exception to this is if you have a seizure, but then again, that's triggered by epilepsy (i.e. rapidly-changing flashing lights) NOT PTSD. Remembering a bad incident is NOT the same thing as having a flashback. When you remember, you think; when you flashback, you feel.

#HashTagsAreForIdiots

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Max Stirnir Wrote:"In the time of spirits thoughts grew till they overtopped my head, whose offspring they yet were; they hovered about me and convulsed me like fever-phantasies -- an awful power. The thoughts had become corporeal on their own account, were ghosts, e. g. God, Emperor, Pope, Fatherland, etc. If I destroy their corporeity, then I take them back into mine, and say: "I alone am corporeal." And now I take the world as what it is to me, as mine, as my property; I refer all to myself." The Ego and Its Own, pg. 15
Charles Manson Wrote:“Look down at me and you see a fool;
look up at me and you see a god;
look straight at me and you see yourself”
HeartofShadows Wrote:"Life is nothing more than a druggie trying to get their quick fix of happiness while dealing with the harsh withdrawal of reality"
Osip Mandelstam Wrote:"I divide all of world literature into authorized and unauthorized works. The former are all trash; the latter--stolen air. I want to spit in the face of every writer who first obtains permission and then writes." The Fourth Prose, 1930.
Lukas Foss Wrote:That is why the analogy of stealing does not work. With a thief, we want to know how much money he stole, and from whom. With the artist it is not how much he took and from whom, but what he did with it.
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03-01-2012 03:37 AM
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SaintVicious Offline
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Post: #5
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Money
03-01-2012 03:39 AM
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Sociopath Offline
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Post: #6
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-01-2012 03:39 AM)SaintVicious Wrote:  Money

Mo' money, mo' problems.

Hidden stuff:
TRIGGER WARNING: THIS TRIGGER WARNING CONTAINS TRIGGER WARNINGS!

Dear Tumblrites: Despite your wrongly self-diagnosed PTSD, no line of scientific evidence suggests people can be triggered over the internet. Triggering works through the senses (i.e. smell, taste, touch, vision, hearing.) but it goes through real time; if you're not experiencing it in real life as it's ACTUALLY HAPPENING in your ACTUAL life, you CANNOT be triggered. The only exception to this is if you have a seizure, but then again, that's triggered by epilepsy (i.e. rapidly-changing flashing lights) NOT PTSD. Remembering a bad incident is NOT the same thing as having a flashback. When you remember, you think; when you flashback, you feel.

#HashTagsAreForIdiots

[Image: violator_blackbg_110x32.gif]
Max Stirnir Wrote:"In the time of spirits thoughts grew till they overtopped my head, whose offspring they yet were; they hovered about me and convulsed me like fever-phantasies -- an awful power. The thoughts had become corporeal on their own account, were ghosts, e. g. God, Emperor, Pope, Fatherland, etc. If I destroy their corporeity, then I take them back into mine, and say: "I alone am corporeal." And now I take the world as what it is to me, as mine, as my property; I refer all to myself." The Ego and Its Own, pg. 15
Charles Manson Wrote:“Look down at me and you see a fool;
look up at me and you see a god;
look straight at me and you see yourself”
HeartofShadows Wrote:"Life is nothing more than a druggie trying to get their quick fix of happiness while dealing with the harsh withdrawal of reality"
Osip Mandelstam Wrote:"I divide all of world literature into authorized and unauthorized works. The former are all trash; the latter--stolen air. I want to spit in the face of every writer who first obtains permission and then writes." The Fourth Prose, 1930.
Lukas Foss Wrote:That is why the analogy of stealing does not work. With a thief, we want to know how much money he stole, and from whom. With the artist it is not how much he took and from whom, but what he did with it.
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03-01-2012 03:40 AM
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Absnt Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

I think if we fix these problems, we'll have a much better democracy, and a much better society as a whole. We could progress so much faster. I'm sure there are more problems, but I'm still learning this shit, so I'll add to the list as I find them / remember them.

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03-01-2012 04:00 AM
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Well written absent, as always.

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03-01-2012 05:41 AM
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gore goroth Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Absent, how much spending do you want to cut?

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03-01-2012 08:49 AM
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Absnt Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

A lot. We spend more on our military than any other country even comes close to spending. We spend more than every corporation in the U.S makes annually. (I think.) Read this:

Eisenhower Wrote:Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea. Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations. This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Only after WWII did we start to maintain a massive military industrial complex. And, like Eisenhower wrote, we needed to be vigilant and careful about letting this massive new branch of government gain too much political and economic power. Obviously, we haven't been, and now they have more power than any other part of our government. They tried to audit a couple of different military branches, and this is what the auditors said:

Quote:Again in 2011, the GAO could not "render an opinion on the 2011 consolidated financial statements of the federal government", with a major obstacle again being "serious financial management problems at the Department of Defense (DOD) that made its financial statements unauditable".[18]

In December 2011, the GAO found that "neither the Navy nor the Marine Corps have implemented effective processes for reconciling their FBWT." According to the GAO, "An agency’s FBWT account is similar in concept to a corporate bank account. The difference is that instead of a cash balance, FBWT represents unexpended spending authority in appropriations." In addition, "As of April 2011, there were more than $22 billion unmatched disbursements and collections affecting more than 10,000 lines of accounting."[19]

So we literally cannot audit them. They don't keep their books correctly, and there are so many different discrepancies and misspendings it's impossible to actually know entirely what's going on.

So how much do I think we should cut out of the defense budget? I'm no economist, but certainly, we should not be sustaining a military so vast that it can, at any given time, invade MULTIPLE countries on a whim without a second thought. We should drastically cut the militarily's numbers, and funding, during peacetime. Sure, we should allow maintenance and research, and all of that, but why should we be prepared for WWIII at any given moment? We've instigated many different wars because of this massive amount of spending. Personally, I think we should start by cutting our defense budget in half. Don't worry, we'll still, by far, have the largest military on the planet. Look:

[Image: mVGL5.png] -- Bit ridiculous.

For starters. I'm no expert, but I could get into the education budget, the multiple federal agencies that have the SAME EXACT JOB, the amount we spend on useless projects, the amount we waste on campaign finance, shit, the amount senators spend sending out personal letters at taxpayers expense needs cut. We waste SO fucking much. It's a shame.

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03-02-2012 06:27 AM
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gore goroth Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

I think we would need to cut far more than simply just military spending. Look at government size back when the constitution was founded. It was tiny compared to now. Did government take over healthcare and hand out welfare checks??? Nope. I would make most of government disappear. So do you plan on cutting spending on more than just the military??? How much government would you cut?? I remember you talked about some kind of minarchy a while back, do you still think that now???

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03-03-2012 10:27 AM
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gore goroth Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

And on the voting bit, I don't think shitty voter turnout is the ballot system. True, it needs updates but that's not the reason behind shitty voter turnout. People don't want to vote anymore because there are only 2 hypocritical parties that have a chance in hell at winning. Also almost all the members of those two parties will give up their core values for interest groups.

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03-03-2012 10:33 AM
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

I feel some of the problems with cronyism are problems of perverse incentives. Corporations and other special interests lobby Washington for benefits because Washington has the power to give them benefits. Our mighty overlords have the power to grant subsidies to favored industries or make anti-competitive regulations (which is what almost all regulation amounts to).

If, say, a constitutional amendment banned this power it would take away the incentive for corporations to lobby Congress for goodies. Blow up the candy factory, no more candy.

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03-03-2012 03:52 PM
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-01-2012 04:00 AM)Absentinsomniac Wrote:  I think if we fix these problems, we'll have a much better democracy, and a much better society as a whole. We could progress so much faster. I'm sure there are more problems, but I'm still learning this shit, so I'll add to the list as I find them / remember them.
Nice list. Just about every democracy in the world would function better if they fixed all these problems.

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03-04-2012 03:31 AM
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Absnt Offline
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-03-2012 10:27 AM)gore goroth Wrote:  I think we would need to cut far more than simply just military spending. Look at government size back when the constitution was founded. It was tiny compared to now. Did government take over healthcare and hand out welfare checks??? Nope. I would make most of government disappear. So do you plan on cutting spending on more than just the military??? How much government would you cut?? I remember you talked about some kind of minarchy a while back, do you still think that now???

Yeah, I still think a minarchy would be ideal, if we're to keep our current form of government that is. I would cut a hell of a lot more than just the military, but the military is, I think, the biggest waste of money we have now... I think our government should definitely be as small as we can get it without giving up too many comforts, and equalities. I don't think I'd cut the government so it'd be the size it was during the articles of confederation, or even as small as it was after the constitution was adopted, but I certainly think the size it has grown to today is ridiculous. Again, I'm no economist, but this shit is getting a little out of hand.

Quote:And on the voting bit, I don't think shitty voter turnout is the ballot system. True, it needs updates but that's not the reason behind shitty voter turnout. People don't want to vote anymore because there are only 2 hypocritical parties that have a chance in hell at winning. Also almost all the members of those two parties will give up their core values for interest groups.

That certainly plays a part in it. Other democratic countries that have a better system do have better turnout rates though... Even if they do have two party systems like us. We still have much of what we were using in the 17 and 1800's implemented. Which is not at all what we need in this modern age. In other countries, everyone is registered as soon as they come of age, and if they go to a different part of the country, they don't have to send in a "mail vote" or whatever they call them.

It should also be noted that no one gives a fuck about voting for congressman, which is also probably do to education. (There's a correlation, anyway.) But yeah, I agree, certainly some of the problems with our voting turnout is due to the two party system. Although, if everyone who didn't vote did, and if everyone who didn't vote voted for a third party, that person would win. So I don't really see the logic behind it...

Quote:I feel some of the problems with cronyism are problems of perverse incentives. Corporations and other special interests lobby Washington for benefits because Washington has the power to give them benefits. Our mighty overlords have the power to grant subsidies to favored industries or make anti-competitive regulations (which is what almost all regulation amounts to).

If, say, a constitutional amendment banned this power it would take away the incentive for corporations to lobby Congress for goodies. Blow up the candy factory, no more candy.

We'd still need to create legislation, however, and as long as they are making legislation there's room for corporate interests to lobby... I don't see how an amendment like that would be practical.

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03-05-2012 10:34 AM
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Exactly what services should the government be providing in this proposed minarchy thing??? What services do you still deem are necessary?? Examples like roads, etc...

What functions of government need to be cut??? What things does government do today that are unnecessary? What departments need to be cut from the beaurocracy??

In the early days of the U.S. the federal government didn't force people to pay income tax. It relied more on tariffs for money. Today it seems like the opposite. We pay a good percent of our money to the government through income tax, yet things like NAFTA make trade free and it is so easy to outscource for big business. Would you go back to trade taxation more?? Would you still have income tax??

Another question. Do you think it is the government's job to "regulate" the economy?? If so, to what extent??

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03-05-2012 12:00 PM
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RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-05-2012 12:00 PM)gore goroth Wrote:  Exactly what services should the government be providing in this proposed minarchy thing??? What services do you still deem are necessary?? Examples like roads, etc...

What functions of government need to be cut??? What things does government do today that are unnecessary? What departments need to be cut from the beaurocracy??

I'm in no way educated as to weather privatization over public transit, or privatization over any or all public necessities is a good idea or not. My first impression, however, indicates that if we are to privatize public utilities such as roads, water processing, and the like, a lot of oversight is necessary. I don't trust corporations to maintain public transit in the face of economic downturn. I don't trust them to keep my water clean, either, without an incentive to do so. Competition isn't really possible. Only 1 corporation will be able to make a giant highway from here to there, otherwise we'd have dozens of highways fucking up the environment all over the place.

Same with water processing. The government is in this business for a reason, and while I agree that they certainly need to cut their bureaucracy and get shit done instead of working on projects just to stimulate the economy, I certainly think they are doing a decent job. (Well, decent enough that is.) Not to mention, I've never broken the bank trying to pay for tolls...

The government, in my opinion, has a duty to investigate and protect the public from fraud. (Since it's illegal.) On that note, they have a duty to regulate business so they aren't committing illegal activities in the name of profit. That is hardly debatable. I think, however, that we also need governmental bodies in place to ensure corporations aren't fucking up the environment. I like breathing. I think public utilies, such as high ways and water processing, are alright. If the government does not NEED to be in the business, however, I think it should probably, depending on the situation, be privatized.

Take the case of the bell telephone company, for example. (Eventually turning into AT&T) They were creating a "public utility" although they were a private company. Eventually, due to their patents and what not, they obtained the backing of the government. They were invincible. They became a government backed monopoly on the business. This was not a good thing, because they eventually ended up holding back innovation, throwing invention to the wind, and ensuring that they remained a multi million dollar company by ensuring that no one usurped their usefulness as a company. They cut down smaller companies, and, eventually, the company had to be split up into regional corporations.

Yes, some "public" utilities should remain the hands of private entities, without any backing from the government. Srsly. But for such public utilities as roads, and water processing, the government seems to me, at least on initial review, to be necessary. (Again, I haven't researched this much, and I may change my mind upon further investigation.)

Aside from public utilities, I think it is the role of the government to protect us. (Police, military, etc.) But only to the extent NECESSARY. None of this extravagant industrial military complex spending. I also think the government should uphold corporate promises and contracts. Investigate and destroy fraud, and ensure the peoples basic rights are protected. Other than that, they should gtfo of everyones business.

Quote:In the early days of the U.S. the federal government didn't force people to pay income tax. It relied more on tariffs for money. Today it seems like the opposite. We pay a good percent of our money to the government through income tax, yet things like NAFTA make trade free and it is so easy to outscource for big business. Would you go back to trade taxation more?? Would you still have income tax??

We're all humans. Isolationism is cool and all, but if we cut ourselves off from the rest of the world, force people to pay a shitload of money to trade with us, and ensure our own survival over the rest of the worlds, it seems like a bit of a dick move. I don't know about any of that shit. I think, once the government is much, much smaller, taxation won't be that big of a deal. Once we have reduced the size of the government, everyone will be paying much, much less of their overall income to the government, and we shouldn't really need to rely on trade taxes and all of that...

Quote:Another question. Do you think it is the government's job to "regulate" the economy?? If so, to what extent??

To an extent. They should ensure corporations follow the law. (Make sure they aren't poisoning us, or the environment.) Uncle sam should make sure corporations aren't ripping us off. I think it's also important to note that necessities should certainly be regulated. We need to ensure we'll all have enough food and water and shelter, and that it'll all be affordable. The free market should do a pretty good job of this, but what happens when a handful of giant corporations take control of those industries and end up bankrupt? We all die? (I'm using an example that doesn't really exist, perhaps the car industry would be a better example?)

So yeah, I think the extent the government should regulate the economy should be limited to cutting up huge corporatoins into smaller ones. (Preventing corporations of massive sizes from forming.) And ensuring they aren't unethically doing business in the first place. They shouldn't be allowed to rip people off, or use dirty techniques to destroy competition, and that sort of thing.

Other than that, they should stay the fuck out of the economy. If shit gets TOO fucked up, and they REALLY think they know how to fix it, I guess they can try, but from my basic understanding of capitalism, if the government doesn't get involved in the first place, and if they prevent massive corporations from forming, the economy should never really end up in that state anyways.

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03-05-2012 01:39 PM
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thewake Offline
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Post: #18
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-05-2012 10:34 AM)Absentinsomniac Wrote:  
Quote:I feel some of the problems with cronyism are problems of perverse incentives. Corporations and other special interests lobby Washington for benefits because Washington has the power to give them benefits. Our mighty overlords have the power to grant subsidies to favored industries or make anti-competitive regulations (which is what almost all regulation amounts to).

If, say, a constitutional amendment banned this power it would take away the incentive for corporations to lobby Congress for goodies. Blow up the candy factory, no more candy.

We'd still need to create legislation, however, and as long as they are making legislation there's room for corporate interests to lobby... I don't see how an amendment like that would be practical.
What I'm talking about are specific types of legislation such as (but not necessarily limited to, or even including) subsidies and anti-competitive regulations.

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03-06-2012 08:01 AM
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The Offline
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Post: #19
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Anyone notice that America ISN'T EVEN A FUCKING DEMOCRACY!

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03-06-2012 11:01 AM
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The Shadowman Offline
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Post: #20
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-06-2012 11:01 AM)The Wrote:  Anyone notice that America ISN'T EVEN A FUCKING DEMOCRACY!
Yes, it's only a democracy in the loosest meaning of the word democracy.

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(This post was last modified: 03-07-2012 12:01 AM by The Shadowman.)
03-07-2012 12:00 AM
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thewake Offline
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Post: #21
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-07-2012 12:00 AM)The Shadowman Wrote:  
(03-06-2012 11:01 AM)The Wrote:  Anyone notice that America ISN'T EVEN A FUCKING DEMOCRACY!
Yes, it's only a democracy in the loosest meaning of the word democracy.

America is a representative democracy, otherwise known as a democratic republic. Seeing as direct, or pure, democracy isn't a viable option for a nation of any appreciable size, I really don't see a problem with this particular fact.

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03-07-2012 07:30 AM
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Geeksta Offline
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Post: #22
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

It is de jure a democracy, de facto an oligarchy.

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03-11-2012 11:12 AM
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gore goroth Offline
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Post: #23
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

Folks, democracy doesn't mean shit. The "will of the people" is just the new excuse for the existence of the state. Hitler was elected to his position. Saddam Hussein was elected too. Just because a country is a democracy, doesn't really mean its a first world successful country.

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03-11-2012 03:07 PM
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Levio_Sah Away
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Post: #24
RE: Problems with politics in the U.S.

(03-01-2012 03:08 AM)Stadium Wrote:  Government in any form is a fail.

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03-11-2012 06:01 PM
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