USA Politics

[Karl Henning]

[...] As the saying goes, it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble; it's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

cf. Kulinski.

[Todd]

You guys keep dunking on 71dB for not being American, but it's not clear to me that living in the US gives one any special insight into US politics

It does.

[71 dB]

You guys keep dunking on 71dB for not being American, but it's not clear to me that living in the US gives one any special insight into US politics when reliable information sources are just as available to anyone living abroad (unreliable ones, too!)  I'd even say that living in the US probably obscures a lot of things about US politics.  As the saying goes, it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble; it's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

That's a nice support of me, thanks! My point has been all along people living outside the US may have insight people in the US doesn't have so much. Foreigner can have insight. I learn from foreigners about my own country, Finland. I never thought Slot Machines in grocery stores are weird, but apparently they exist only in Finland and people from other countries are surprised to see slot machines in grocery stores. 

[Todd]

My point has been all along people living outside the US may have insight people in the US doesn't have so much.

What, specifically?

[SimonNZ]

It does.

What, specifically?

Actually I agree, in theory, in specific ways, with your earlier post.

But you yourself refuse to elaborate on anything when asked to do so.

[JBS]

You guys keep dunking on 71dB for not being American, but it's not clear to me that living in the US gives one any special insight into US politics when reliable information sources are just as available to anyone living abroad (unreliable ones, too!)  I'd even say that living in the US probably obscures a lot of things about US politics.  As the saying goes, it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble; it's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

My problem with him is his certitude that truth is to be found only in certain sources, which happen to share his own ideology, and to dismiss any information to the contrary as "corporate" misinformation. If he was as skeptical of progressive sources as he is of "corporate" media, I would still argue with him, but I don't think I would dunk on him.

[JBS]

That's a nice support of me, thanks! My point has been all along people living outside the US may have insight people in the US doesn't have so much. Foreigner can have insight. I learn from foreigners about my own country, Finland. I never thought Slot Machines in grocery stores are weird, but apparently they exist only in Finland and people from other countries are surprised to see slot machines in grocery stores. 

Visit Las Vegas. They seem to allow slot machines everywhere.
I don't know if they actually have them in groceries there but I wouldn't be surprised if they do.

[drogulus]

Btw, this very summer I was using Google Maps and Waze simultaneously. At a crossroad, the former told me "Turn left" while the latter told me "Turn right". I drove forward but eventually the Waze's turned up to have been the correct advice.

     What, no synthesis?

[drogulus]

You guys keep dunking on 71dB for not being American, but it's not clear to me that living in the US gives one any special insight into US politics when reliable information sources are just as available to anyone living abroad (unreliable ones, too!)  I'd even say that living in the US probably obscures a lot of things about US politics.  As the saying goes, it ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble; it's what you know for sure that just ain't so.

     Agreeing with a minority of Americans is bad. Agreeing with a majority of Americans is good. Finnish Man Bad. He doesn't understand America.

     One might imagine Bad Finnish Man doesn't understand Americans don't agree with him about health care or climate change. He might think Americans reject the labels affixed to policies they actually want. I think this is true in an "I'm an American and I know best" kind of way. Bad Finnish Man has no way of knowing this, though.

     

[arpeggio]

I think 71dB is right on most of the time.

The one area I think he is a little off on is his perception of the wealth in this country.  Most of the wealthy are pretty decent and liberal in their politics.  Of course there are conservatives like the Koch Brothers.  All one has to do is check out the Patriotic Millionaires website.  One of our senators from Virginia, Mark Warner, is a Democrat and he is the wealthiest member of the Senate.

[drogulus]

I think 71dB is right on most of the time.

    Most of what is right about what he says is available in the corporate media, which is where the self styled radicals get much of their information and most of what's most reliable.

[Karl Henning]

White evangelicals and Catholics may finally be opening their ears

) An August Fox News poll found support for Joe Biden among White evangelicals at 28 percent — significantly higher than the 16 percent who supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 exit polls. A recent Vote Common Good survey indicated an 11 percentage point shift toward Biden among evangelicals and Catholics who supported Donald Trump in 2016. These surveys are not evidence of collapsing approval for Trump among these groups, but they may signal an erosion of support. And Trump can't afford to lose any ground among the base of his base. (

[Daverz]

I think 71dB is right on most of the time.

The one area I think he is a little off on is his perception of the wealth in this country.  Most of the wealthy are pretty decent and liberal in their politics.  Of course there are conservatives like the Koch Brothers.  All one has to do is check out the Patriotic Millionaires website.  One of our senators from Virginia, Mark Warner, is a Democrat and he is the wealthiest member of the Senate.

I think the wealthy tend to think of themselves as enlightened and cosmopolitan.  They probably find homophobia and vulgar racism distasteful.  On the other hand, they tend to be anti-union, often rabidly so, and usually opposed to more generous social services like universal healthcare.  I'm sure Ivanka Trump thinks of herself as an enlightened and forward-thinking woman.

[arpeggio]

On the other hand, they tend to be anti-union, often rabidly so, and usually opposed to more generous social services like universal healthcare.

Some of them do, some of them do not.

I checked out the Patriotic Millionaire Website and it appears most the them support unions and universal healthcare.

[Florestan]

Developped in Israel, bought and owned by Google. Concerns about individuals tracked. That's about it I guess.

I've been using it for three years now. My experience is that it's a mostly reliable GPS application which also offers real-time warnings about what's ahead: traffic jams, car crashes, police radars. I couldn't care less where it was developped, though in my book Israel is a strong recommendation, or who bought and owns it (Google buys and owns lots of applications, that's what big companies do). As for "concerns about individuals tracked" sounds like conspiracy theory to me.

Do you have a problem with Israel or with Google?

[Florestan]

     That's too bad. It's a good way to learn. I examine philosophers who pontificate about other philosophers and point out how little has come of it, just like you did.

     One way to learn is to put ideas you encounter into your own language. You should do that, if philosophy interests you. If it no longer does, that's OK, too. I'm not discouraged, in part because the history of nonsense is not nonsense, it's history.

My interest in philosophy dwindled greatly over the years, not least because as time went by I had less and less interest in, and time for, trying to make head or tail of abstruse ideas expressed in a convoluted verbiage (not all philosophers are like that, though). Besides, in order to properly understand what Kant or Hegel thought, for instance, one has to be aware of all the history of philosophy prior to them, starting with Plato --- and this is an endeavour which at this time of my life I gladly leave to professionals.

The only branch I am still keenly interested in is political philosophy.

[71 dB]

I think 71dB is right on most of the time.

I hope so. 

The one area I think he is a little off on is his perception of the wealth in this country.  Most of the wealthy are pretty decent and liberal in their politics.  Of course there are conservatives like the Koch Brothers.  All one has to do is check out the Patriotic Millionaires website.  One of our senators from Virginia, Mark Warner, is a Democrat and he is the wealthiest member of the Senate.

Yeah, I suppose I have not made this clear. I don't think the wealthy in general are bad people. I believe about half of millionaires and billionaires in the US think their taxes should be raised to finance better public schools etc. Bad people exist, but it's the system that is "evil." It takes just a few Koch brothers to do a lot of bad. Also, being a Democrat doesn't mean you are a good guy. Does Mark Warner support single payer healthcare for example or does he take money from healthcare industry? The wealthy benefit so much from the rigged system...

[71 dB]

I think the wealthy tend to think of themselves as enlightened and cosmopolitan.  They probably find homophobia and vulgar racism distasteful.  On the other hand, they tend to be anti-union, often rabidly so, and usually opposed to more generous social services like universal healthcare.  I'm sure Ivanka Trump thinks of herself as an enlightened and forward-thinking woman.

You are correct. The wealthy are often socially liberal but economically conservative. Oftentimes for them nothing hinges from the social stuff while they benefit tremendously from how the economy is rigged for them. Sometimes the wealthy are also socially conservative. The former support the Dems and the latter support the Reps. For regular people there's progressives within the Dems or third parties, but unfortunately a lot of regular people have been "programmed" by the corporate media to vote against their own good, whether it's Reps. or corporate Dems.

[71 dB]

I checked out the Patriotic Millionaire Website and it appears most the them support unions and universal healthcare.

Sounds like my type of millionaires! 

[71 dB]

I've been using it for three years now. My experience is that it's a mostly reliable GPS application which also offers real-time warnings about what's ahead: traffic jams, car crashes, police radars. I couldn't care less where it was developped, though in my book Israel is a strong recommendation, or who bought and owns it (Google buys and owns lots of applications, that's what big companies do). As for "concerns about individuals tracked" sounds like conspiracy theory to me.

Do you have a problem with Israel or with Google?

I listed those facts as neutral. I didn't say they are good or bad. I haven't used Waze so how am I suppose to evaluate it myself? I don't have an opinion of it myself. In general I use maps very little. I don't have a car, so I don't use navigators. I don't use even a smartphone! I am a very oldfashioned guy in this sense. That's why I had not heard about Waze.

I don't have a problem with Israel as a nation or the people. I have a problem with their right-wing government and the way they thread Palestinians. The only concern I have with Google is the fact that kind of tech giants can have too much power in our lives.