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McCarthy is Speaker, on the 15th round. Democracy works.
Now the fun begins.
Now the fun begins.
Begins?! This has already been the best season of C-Span ever!McCarthy is Speaker, on the 15th round. Democracy works.
Now the fun begins.
It certainly sets an interesting tone for the next two years lol.Begins?! This has already been the best season of C-Span ever!
The primaries and 2024 elections are going to be fun. Both parties have deep divisions - the Democrats are infested with The Squad and cronies and the GOP has its Trumpians and what a friend of mine calls Neandercons.McCarthy is Speaker, on the 15th round. Democracy works.
Now the fun begins.
I must admit that my earlier post is much more hope than real analysis. I stopped following US politics (seriously) a few years ago - before Trump, actually - because I thought it was all going sideways with Obama vs McCain. (I thought both were estimable men but I also thought both were tools in a "war" I didn't really understand or want to think about too much.
I'm thinking that politics, all over the world, including in Canada, Europe, China, Russia and America, is much more polarized and much nastier than it was even 25 years ago - the Bush vs Gore and Harper vs Martin and Blair vs Hague were all friendly contests between gentlemen arguing policy compared to what's going on today.
The world is more dangerous in 2023 than it's been since 1950 and we have descended into a political system that resembles school-yard "gang" fights in that same era.
Yes, certainly, but this "swing" - since 2000ish, has been wilder than most; and I think I'm pretty well read into parliamentary history back to at least the 13th century.Is this a natural evolution, or circular movement do you think ? We swing from balance to imbalance and back over time?
Yes, certainly, but this "swing" - since 2000ish, has been wilder than most; and I think I'm pretty well read into parliamentary history back to at least the 13th century.
One of the retired Majors from my old regiment gave me interesting perspective on things during a discussion one day. He asked me when I thought the first world war had ended. I gave the standard answer. He replied that there were some historians who said it really ended when the Berlin wall came down. When I thought about what he said, it made sense. One conflict lead to another to another.Yes, certainly, but this "swing" - since 2000ish, has been wilder than most; and I think I'm pretty well read into parliamentary history back to at least the 13th century.
You can trace the current state of the world to the events of the Teutoburg Forest if you really wanted to.One of the retired Majors from my old regiment gave me interesting perspective on things during a discussion one day. He asked me when I thought the first world war had ended. I gave the standard answer. He replied that there were some historians who said it really ended when the Berlin wall came down. When I thought about what he said, it made sense. One conflict lead to another to another.
So looking at the bigger picture here, like all of western societies, what are we missing? The vicious divide between right and left? Is it a modern Rome is collapsing?
That's one fairly popular theory. Kennedy and Glubb and others argue that such things are "natural," but I'm not so sure. There is, I think, an argument that the Roman and Spanish and British empires could all have lasted much, much longer had a few "smart" decisions been taken at key moments - hand Britain, for example, NOT signed the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904.One of the retired Majors from my old regiment gave me interesting perspective on things during a discussion one day. He asked me when I thought the first world war had ended. I gave the standard answer. He replied that there were some historians who said it really ended when the Berlin wall came down. When I thought about what he said, it made sense. One conflict lead to another to another.
So looking at the bigger picture here, like all of western societies, what are we missing? The vicious divide between right and left? Is it a modern Rome is collapsing?
That's one fairly popular theory. Kennedy and Glubb and others argue that such things are "natural," but I'm not so sure. There is, I think, an argument that the Roman and Spanish and British empires could all have lasted much, much longer had a few "smart" decisions been taken at key moments - hand Britain, for example, NOT signed the Entente Cordiale with France in 1904.
Jerry Pournelle used to refer to the Seventy Years War.One of the retired Majors from my old regiment gave me interesting perspective on things during a discussion one day. He asked me when I thought the first world war had ended. I gave the standard answer. He replied that there were some historians who said it really ended when the Berlin wall came down. When I thought about what he said, it made sense. One conflict lead to another to another.
I don’t think the divide is actually bigger.The divide is there, and getting bigger. Most here know where I stand on the problem. Not much sense rehashing that. While US politics is a big picture deal, it is not the biggest picture. There's a widespread breakdown in democracy around the world, at the moment. I think people have to look a the direction most western leaders and, the society they are trying to create for us, appear to be leaning. Not the people, but the leadership and the road they're taking us down.
Who is John Locke?
Agreed, but that disproportionate amount of play can amplify the differences and end up making the extremes at either end of the political spectrum larger in reaction to what they perceive as a growing extremism on the other side (even if it doesn't really exist in the way it is being portrayed).I don’t think the divide is actually bigger.
I think the perception of divide is larger, but not actually the real divide.
Our society tends to highlight certain aspects that make small things seem larger than they really are.
The problem with the instantaneous internet news is the squeaky wheel can look much larger than it really is, and gets a disproportionate amount of play.
I'm sure that's right, the divide, I suspect, is like this:I don’t think the divide is actually bigger.
I think the perception of divide is larger, but not actually the real divide.
Our society tends to highlight certain aspects that make small things seem larger than they really are.
The problem with the instantaneous internet news is the squeaky wheel can look much larger than it really is, and gets a disproportionate amount of play.
Challenge acceptedI'm sure that's right, the divide, I suspect, is like this:
Loud, aggressive left (i.e. The Squad) ... ... ... ... disengaged but HUGE moderate middle ... ... ... ... Loud, aggressive right (i.e. the Trumpians)
The middle wants back in, I think (hope) but they will not join either of the noisemakers. The task, for moderate (less extreme) political leaders is tosilenceweaken the loud extremes and provide voices which are more acceptable to the middle, resulting in this:
Loud, aggressive left (i.e. The Squad) ... ... ... ... ... ... disengaged but HUGE moderate middle ... ... ... ... ... ... Loud, aggressive right (i.e. the Trumpians)