US Politics the 2025 trump presidency thread

[alasdairm]

Are you implying I’ve got rich parents or something lol

no. how could i possibly know anything about your parents?

Most millionaire are self made and im almost three quarters of the way there as of today

i'm sure you've worked hard to get there. good for you.

my point was that saying "being poor is a choice" assumes that everyone starts from the same baseline of a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, opportunity, security, and support.

in reality, poverty is often the result of complex, systemic forces: generational wealth gaps; unequal access to education; racial and gender discrimination; medical debt; underpaid labor; housing insecurity; and countless other barriers. barriers that can be outside the individual’s control.

to claim poverty is a choice dismisses the lived experience of those born into hardship or navigating crises with limited or no safety nets. it’s a view more easily held by those insulated from these struggles, whose lives haven’t required them to fight daily for stability, dignity, or a path forward.

i'm not saying you are one of those people but that is the view.

choice implies options. and many people just never get any.

that's what i mean when i say grounded in privilege.

alasdair

 

[Voxide]

no. how could i possibly know anything about your parents?




i'm sure you've worked hard to get there. good for you.

my point was that saying "being poor is a choice" assumes that everyone starts from the same baseline of a number of factors which include, but are not limited to, opportunity, security, and support.

in reality, poverty is often the result of complex, systemic forces: generational wealth gaps; unequal access to education; racial and gender discrimination; medical debt; underpaid labor; housing insecurity; and countless other barriers. barriers that can be outside the individual’s control.

to claim poverty is a choice dismisses the lived experience of those born into hardship or navigating crises with limited or no safety nets. it’s a view more easily held by those insulated from these struggles, whose lives haven’t required them to fight daily for stability, dignity, or a path forward.

i'm not saying you are one of those people but that is the view.

choice implies options. and many people just never get any.

that's what i mean when i say grounded in privilege.

alasdair

We do however, all have the same 24 hours in a day and free will to make things happen.

How come some people manage to beat all these talking points and still succeed? Because they wanted to

And yeah I get you mean now, at first privilege just made it sound like it’s all just luck. Circumstances definitely make it harder sure and it’s not an even playing field; but at what point do we hold people accountable for their poor choices?

 

[alasdairm]

at what point do we hold people accountable for their poor choices?

in what sense are they not being held accountable for their choices? many are living in misery.

the american dream is great but it it's self reinforcing and it can't possibly work for everybody. it only works if huge numbers of people who believe they'll be the one to succeed, don't.

alasdair

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Frankly, AOC is the person I am most inspired by.

She also represents the major issues with the Democratic Party though. You couldn’t pay me enough to vote for her. Her circle of friends in the House are the same, cannot stand them.

Some people compare her to people like Bernie Sanders but Bernie is a much less culture centered politician. His values regarding cultural hot buttons are measured and reserved and he’s mostly focused on economic reform. It’s a shame he’s so old now.

 

[tryptakid]

She also represents the major issues with the Democratic Party though. You couldn’t pay me enough to vote for her. Her circle of friends in the House are the same, cannot stand them.

Some people compare her to people like Bernie Sanders but Bernie is a much less culture centered politician. His values regarding cultural hot buttons are measured and reserved and he’s mostly focused on economic reform. It’s a shame he’s so old now.

She represents a largely educated, progressive, and female part of the liberal body politik. She stands for millennials, women, immigrants, and the educated class. She has values and issues that she stands for, and she's radical when necessary. All told, she is someone who i trust to speak truth to power in a rotten establishment. She's charismatic, hot, funny and smart, and she's also real.

 

[Fire&Water]

 

[someguyontheinternet]

We do however, all have the same 24 hours in a day and free will to make things happen.

How come some people manage to beat all these talking points and still succeed? Because they wanted to

And yeah I get you mean now, at first privilege just made it sound like it’s all just luck. Circumstances definitely make it harder sure and it’s not an even playing field; but at what point do we hold people accountable for their poor choices?

circumstances are driven by luck, or do you think a person can control the circumstances?

the circumstances include where they were born, their family's education status, nutritional status, what education is available to the person, the community

do you expect every person can open an HVAC business? does every person invest in the stock market?

if its choice is it possible for every single person to become rich?

how about a child born to a family where the father was hit by a bus, the mother gets cancer and leaves debt and 3 other children that need to be taken care of and raised. does this person have the same chances? how many people out there are in situations like that?

how does one provide for every child so that they have the upbringing, resources, and guidance to have the time to think and be creative rather than just chasing the next meal?

 

[Cream Gravy?]

She's charismatic, hot, funny and smart, and she's also real.

Very debatable. Certainly not into bug eyed women myself, but to to each their own.

 

[tryptakid]

Very debatable. Certainly not into bug eyed women myself, but to to each their own.

Totally fair. Still - her attractiveness is something that while I may find an added bonus, is actually less relevant to why I think she's a great choice as a progressive leader in the US. She's put in the work through her campaigning, media presence, and connection within her constituency. She's gone on tour with Bernie, which demonstrates a connection with his generation's activism and Gen Z/Millennial activism. She's also in support of democratic socialist positions - something that I am firmly a supporter of. As someone who works in health care and human services - I see how much the privatization of basic social needs (education/health/law enforcement) contributes to more inhuman models of operation that focus on profits, specialized interests, and not on public benefit. I see the market as a partner with the state, rather than as a competitor, and I believe that AOC represents a voting bloc that seeks to unite these two things in a manner that has popular benefit vs. exploitable individual benefit.

 

[4DQSAR]

Obviously, being British I don't know as much about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as BLers based in the US.

But my impression has always been that although the US doesn't have a system simpler to 'His Majesties Opposition' i.e. a role where the second largest political grouping is given a role to be critical of the government, it does seem like she is trying to put together something of the kind.

I come from a family of journalists and it's axiomatic that if you want answers, ask the opposition.

She is young so I can foresee her choosing her moment very carefully. I'm also told that Adam Shiff (have I got the right one?) has a large power base, what with Calafornia representing about 25% of the US budget.

I've not read of the two working together but there is certain to be a backlash given that the current US president seems to confuse him saying something and it actually being the case. That total disconnect is, I suggest, a feature rather than a bug but it's going to provide a HUGE quantity of ammunition.

Helen Lewis noted that signing a presidential order doesn't mean something happens. Years later in a courtroom, then SOME of those things might happen.

But I suppose it depends on how comfortable US citizens are with someone who doesn't appear to recognize the US constitution.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

Schiff and AOC. There's a ticket. They're both bug-eyed (and she is hot).

Belle points out the obvious again.



"“This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” Leavitt said. “The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump,"

The assessment was "alleged", but it was top secret and leaked?

 

[someguyontheinternet]

Very debatable. Certainly not into bug eyed women myself, but to to each their own.

who chooses leaders based on sexiness?

why did trump win? Mitch McConnell?

literally most representatives?

discussing the attractiveness of women candidates seems like an incredibly misogynistic distraction.

are her policies just too bulletproof that people need to make comments on her appearance? its rather disgusting, I see it pretty often

 

[Cream Gravy?]

discussing the attractiveness of women candidates seems like an incredibly misogynistic distraction.

are her policies just too bulletproof that people need to make comments on her appearance? its rather disgusting, I see it pretty often

I’m not the one who suggested she was hot in the first place, simply expressing my disagreement with his statement regarding her (in its totality, to include her aesthetic). I dislike her for a lot more reasons than her appearance.

 

[Voxide]

Straight nails on a chalkboard you got more patience than I do being able to listen to that

 

[alasdairm]

i think the substance is rather more important than the style...

alasdair

 

[Cream Gravy?]

i think the substance is rather more important than the style...

alasdair

I do too, but I simply don’t like her. It’s like how I feel about Jared Leto. Is he a good actor? Yes. But I cannot stand the guy nor his weird cult. His substance is lacking, just like her (AOC).

 

[alasdairm]

i think you can disagree vehemently with aoc's policies but still recognise that she has substance.

what do you mean when you say she lacks substance?

when i think of substance, in this context, i think of traits like the ability to articulate a position clearly (regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with the position), comfort with complexity and nuance and consistency of position.

alasdair

 

[jasperkent]

Great discussion that includes advice for Democrats (& maybe some Republicans?) for getting out of this nightmarish mess:



PS-- Around 48 minutes in, there's some very illuminating information about how AI is affecting the entry-level job market.

Yoots, pay attention!

 

[notsmokeymcpot42088]

lI still want evidence of this automatic one sided racism that is happening to white south Africans. Not like it is hard to nail a racist policy of his down -- but I feel like skin color is the ONLY DEPENDANT VARIABLE here?

To anyone that argues there are no racist policies or that trump is not racist please address this.

What happened to him only rounding up the worst of the worst? Now he shaking down home depots; KILLING A CANADIAN CITIZEN, Grabbing people born in America.

Remember how he was gunna save the economy --- Well that ain't going so well. Eggs expensive, stocks bad! I've made money on betting on his incompetence but that is basically betting against the dollar --- I do not see the world continuing to use the US dollar as the yard stick for much longer if we keep behaving like this. (Take a look at what makes the US dollar hold worth real quick, it ain't a gold standard.)

He wasn't going to touch SS Medicaid or Medicare --- How did that go?.

Our allies THOROUGHLY ALIENATED especially our border countries --- Our enemies UNITED MORESO THAN I HAVE EVER SEEN. ( Look at Iran )

HERE IS MY REAL QUESTION: IF YOU ARE STILL ON BOARD WITH THIS ADMINISTRATION PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE HAPPENING?? (I am dying to know what benefits are being reaped and by who?)

 

[notsmokeymcpot42088]

We do however, all have the same 24 hours in a day and free will to make things happen.

How come some people manage to beat all these talking points and still succeed? Because they wanted to

And yeah I get you mean now, at first privilege just made it sound like it’s all just luck. Circumstances definitely make it harder sure and it’s not an even playing field; but at what point do we hold people accountable for their poor choices?

Poverty is not a choice. Systemic Poverty is more apparent than systemic racism even!

"We all have the same 24 hours in a day and free will to make things happen" --- But we weren't all born with equal resources and connections to get things done. Surely you agree that 1 hour of Donald Trump's Time has a higher opportunity cost than 1 hour of your time. You both have an hour and free will why can't you accomplish as much? (Forget titles)

"How come some people manage to beat all these talking points and still succeed? ---- Because there are exceptions to every rule. Are you arguing it is equally difficult for say a black kid from Harlem and Donald Trump to achieve success? Surely not.

"Most Millionaires are Self made" -- Source?

"Bro, one of the admins even updates the rules now to say you can’t promote “snitching” (reporting illegals to ICE) all because of me" You? tried to report someone on this site to ICE - You Snitching? "Choose your next words carefully Persian" lol