Purposeful ignorance - exiting US politics

71 dB · April 20, 2020, 05:41:14 AM

2020 has been insane! I started it with high hopes. The primaries started well for Bernie. Then SHIT HIT THE FAN!!!

Bloodie monday: In or order to stop Bernie the establishmet rally behind Biden and it totally changed the game. Bernie started losing! What happened was traumatizing for the left (FUCK YOU ESTABLISHMENT AND YOUR FUCKING ENDLESS GREET!!)

This alone would have ruined 2020 for me, but of course Covid-19 makes sure 2020 is totally ruined for everyone!! I am so fucking tired of this SHIT!!! Hardly nothing good in the World happens!! What the fuck??? Now I have been sick since thursday and I don't know if it's covid or what! I have been careful and done social distancing. I haven't seen my dad in 5 weeks! what the fuck?

Yeah, right now I DON'T care are US politics! 40.000 deaths and more will come. The US asked for this. I don't care. So tired of the world.

MusicTurner · April 20, 2020, 05:54:00 AM

Sorry to hear that, but chances are that it's probably not Covid. Have you asked your doctor for advice?

Karl Henning · April 20, 2020, 05:56:47 AM

Forget about Bernie, let it go, and feel better, Poju.

71 dB · April 20, 2020, 06:00:01 AM

Quote from: MusicTurner on April 20, 2020, 05:54:00 AM
Sorry to hear that, but chances are that it's probably not Covid. Have you asked your doctor for advice?

Yes, it can be something else. I haven't asked doctors for advice. Usually I rest home and take care of myself and I get better in 1 or 2 days.

MusicTurner · April 20, 2020, 06:08:00 AM

OK, take care.

71 dB · April 20, 2020, 07:39:15 AM

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on April 20, 2020, 05:56:47 AM
Forget about Bernie, let it go, and feel better, Poju.

Thanks Karl!

It's difficult to forget someone like Bernie, but I can always try. The last few years teached me the US is not a first world country. It is a rich banana republic/third world country pretending to be something better. I can keep admiring the great things the US has given to the world, but overall it's not a very admirable country. My father has always disliked the US apart from some few things like jazz. I am finally beginning to understand why. George W. Bush and Donald Trump are not anomalies. They are establishment-approved presidents. Tax cuts for the rich and so on. Bernie is NOT establishment-approved so in oligarchy he was stopped twice. In real democracy Bernie would have become the president in 2016 and the handling of Corona virus epidemy would be miles better than it is with the reality tv baffoon.

Hang on on that side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Herman · April 20, 2020, 07:57:06 AM

Quote from: 71 dB on April 20, 2020, 05:41:14 AM
What the fuck??? Now I have been sick since thursday and I don't know if it's covid or what! I have been careful and done social distancing. I haven't seen my dad in 5 weeks! what the fuck?

it depends on what symptoms you are experiencing. There are countless other, more innocuous ways to feel bad.

Covid symptoms are a dry cough, exhaustion, a terrifying headache and a lot of men also get a back ache.

A lot of people lose their sense of taste and smell early on. So get a bar of chocolate or a nice beer and tell us what's it taste like. (Or even easier: go to the loo, and if you think it smells like roses, you may have a problem.)

Check these things and call your doctor if you want to talk about it.

71 dB · April 20, 2020, 09:44:29 AM

Quote from: Herman on April 20, 2020, 07:57:06 AM
it depends on what symptoms you are experiencing. There are countless other, more innocuous ways to feel bad.

Covid symptoms are a dry cough, exhaustion, a terrifying headache and a lot of men also get a back ache.

A lot of people lose their sense of taste and smell early on. So get a bar of chocolate or a nice beer and tell us what's it taste like. (Or even easier: go to the loo, and if you think it smells like roses, you may have a problem.)

Check these things and call your doctor if you want to talk about it.

My symptoms have not been very "covidian." The only reason I include covid is timing, but this can be a pure coincidence. For someone who has felt ill I have hardly any cough. I have feld exhausted, but that goes for any illness. Headache also hasn't been an issue. My nose has been very congested, but I can smell things just fine. I feel a bit dizzy and my whole body is "restless" telling me I am not ok. Luckily now I am feeling a bit better so there is hope this is finally going away.

Karl Henning · April 20, 2020, 09:51:07 AM

Good.

SimonNZ · April 20, 2020, 11:10:08 AM

Your symptoms may be anxiety related. Try not to focus on things that cause you to get worked up.

71 dB · April 20, 2020, 12:16:01 PM

Quote from: SimonNZ on April 20, 2020, 11:10:08 AM
Your symptoms may be anxiety related. Try not to focus on things that cause you to get worked up.

Chances are you are right, but easier said than done in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic... $:-\$

SimonNZ · April 20, 2020, 12:42:05 PM

Yeah, I meant all that other rubbish in post 20. Stop watching those outrage!! peddlers on Youtube and your anxiety levels will go down.

greg · April 20, 2020, 01:16:11 PM

Quote from: Herman on April 03, 2020, 09:59:50 AM
But then, a lot of people think the exact same thing about their country.

I believe that's called chauvinism.

Wouldn't that rather be called Nationalism?

71 dB · April 20, 2020, 01:41:26 PM

Quote from: SimonNZ on April 20, 2020, 12:42:05 PM
Yeah, I meant all that other rubbish in post 20. Stop watching those outrage!! peddlers on Youtube and your anxiety levels will go down.

Stopping watching Youtube doesn't make me less aware of what is happening in the World, especially now that I understand US politics better and people don't "unlearn" things just like that. I can follow only Finnish news, but they tell about US politics too. The rest of my life I will be sad about Bernie not being the 45th president for 2 terms. That would have made so much good not only for the US, but the whole World.

Life would be so easy if you could just ignore the bad and concentrate on the good, but life isn't like that. All we can do it to try to make the good "bigger" than the bad so that it wins. That's where I am struggling. When I was younger I was also naive and unaware of a lot of the bad in the World. I even denied wars existed. I didn't believe humans were so stupid to have wars, but wars exist.

Holden · April 21, 2020, 12:20:37 AM

US politics is an enigma to someone, like me, who lives outside of the US. Yet I can't help but notice so many anomalies. These are some of them.

You need a shit load of money to enter the race for POTUS starting with candidature for your own party. I view that system as something like Texas Hold'em poker. You carry on until someone outbids you (or you them) or you run out of money. "Sorry guys, I fold".

Local elections for Sherriff. I am just astounded that the employment of many leading law enforcement officers is down to a public vote. No wonder there are hundreds, maybe thousands of crime fiction novels where the local Sherriff is corrupt.

The Electoral College - a system where you can get considerably less overall votes than the other guy but still be elected POTUS.

But the one that resonates most strongly with me is prevalent on this and many other forums. "I didn't vote for this guy so lets see how quickly we can shoot him down". Trump is the one squarely in the crosshairs at the moment but think back to Obama. The concerted campaign to prove he wasn't a US citizen (and therefore impeachable) was so vehement it took me by surprise. The anti Obama and anti Trump sentiment has been lead by the media leaving me with zero trust in what they say.

So I'm with 71db on this except I've got no interest in American politics. Do you have the system you deserve? I'm not sure if oligarchy is the correct term but there is a hell of a lot of power invested in a very small group of people.

Herman · April 21, 2020, 01:56:31 AM

well, it isn't too hard to understand.

The US electoral system is an eighteenth century structure, intended for the original East Coast states grafted on an oversize country, where you need vast sums of money to buy airtime on tv if you want to reach people. The Electoral College is a dinosaur bone kept in place because it's keeping the GOP in power.

The latter is changing. Using social media is in some ways cheaper than buying tv ads. They do both now. But you need vast numbers of staff and these people aren't cheap. And then of course, if you're Trump, you need to pay the women / sex dolls your sons are sleeping with 180.000 a year, too.

Holden · April 21, 2020, 01:18:40 PM

Quote from: Herman on April 21, 2020, 01:56:31 AM
well, it isn't too hard to understand.

The US electoral system is an eighteenth century structure, intended for the original East Coast states grafted on an oversize country, where you need vast sums of money to buy airtime on tv if you want to reach people. The Electoral College is a dinosaur bone kept in place because it's keeping the GOP in power.

The latter is changing. Using social media is in some ways cheaper than buying tv ads. They do both now. But you need vast numbers of staff and these people aren't cheap. And then of course, if you're Trump, you need to pay the women / sex dolls your sons are sleeping with 180.000 a year, too.