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This is called Politics and Why I Hate Everything. It is part two of a series detailing why I hate everything. The previous installment was about Finance and the nature of the stock market. This post in particular has much more relevance to those who live in the United States. This post will seem very partisan in my accusations, but I do not discuss policy at all. This is simply a reaction to the conduct and actions of those in the political framework today.
I just want to point out that a recent study showed that when people's perspectives are challenged or weakened or disproved by evidence, their surety in those perspectives are strengthened, not weakened.
Ideologues and Populists
There seem to be two kinds of officials today: those with an absolute worldview and those without a worldview at all (Sarah Palin). Because Sarah Palin has yet to be significant in US policy, I will only go as far as to say that her popularity is a symptom of a stupid and uninformed public.
As far as the Ideologues go, they are more interested in enacting their ideology than anything else. The tea party would rather default than raise taxes. It would rather uproot the foundations of the financial world than raise taxes (which are lower than they've been in a very long time, perhaps ever). (While the debt ceiling wouldn't cause immediate default, it would still shatter the financial world. Additionally, Tea Party members would remain stubborn if default was imminent.) Their identification with this ideology is more influential on their decisions than logic, popular opinion, or anything.
Conversely, Social Security benefits are increasing faster than inflation, and people live to collect 3-4 times longer than when it was created. However, some democrats refuse to alter it because it would be "un-liberal" of them.
It seems centrists no longer are able to get support from major political parties, and so government is converging around the extremes.
However, these people got elected somehow. Perhaps the public is getting what it asked for.
History is a Wheel
I am watching as politicians persecute Muslims (didn't we learn from our history with of Mexicans? Blacks? Women? Irish? Chinese?). We are supposedly the melting pot, the land of equality, and this blatant hypocrisy makes the world hurt us.
Poor whites (the "grassroots" Tea Party) are fighting in the corner of rich whites (large corporations). Kind of like in the Civil War, when the poor whites fought and died to protect the rich whites from a tax increase (slavery wasn't a huge issue until at halfway through the war). That was a lot more parallel than I thought! Woah!
The financial world is a playground for thieves, yet politicians continue to preach deregulation. The 2008 meltdown showed us, Enron showed us, Madoff showed us, (didn't the Great Depression involve elements of fraud? I'm don't know much on the subject) but for some reason, everyone wants to hand them the keys to the car and say, "don't steal it."
I Don't Know
As I write this, I realize more and more that I don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know how we got here, or why partisan politics have reached this deadlock today. However, I am losing faith that political leaders have the wisdom to govern this country effectively. Because I aspire to be a lawyer, it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade (as I would have to start over in China, lol). All the while, politicians are locked in penis measuring contests, and voters continue to surprise me with their dumbosity.
This was called Politics and Why I Hate Everything. The next installment will be called Status and Why I Hate Everything (it will revolve around my personal life and worldview).This was kind of longer than I wanted. As always, thanks for reading.
  
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enjoyable read, I agree w/ most of this, especially the politicians and their penis-measuring contests -.-
It's long past the point of being ridiculous 
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It's not even funny anymore. They really think that eventually they'll just 'figure out' how to repay the debt and everything will be fine. You'll repay 14.6 trillion dollars while being in deficit every year. Sure.
Can't wait to see it all come down.
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On August 12 2011 05:31 Steel wrote:
It's not even funny anymore. They really think that eventually they'll just 'figure out' how to repay the debt and everything will be fine. You'll repay 14.6 trillion dollars while being in deficit every year. Sure.
Can't wait to see it all come down.
glad to see the Canadians are so hopeful for our success. We were in a surplus only 8 years ago, by the way.
At any rate, its unlikely that it will "all come down" unless the economy stagnates. If the US economy returns to its superpower form, taxes are raised slightly, we fix entitlements, and dont enter any more wars, we will repay our debt pretty easily. Theres always a market for more bonds in China so there isnt exactly a rush to pay it off. Its a big "if" though.
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I just want to point out that a recent study showed that when people's perspectives are challenged or weakened or disproved by evidence, their surety in those perspectives are strengthened, not weakened.
I don't know if the study included this, but I think it depends largely on how you approach a person. If you 'challenge' or 'attack' his or her views or trying to make someone look like an idiot, you will most certainly get denial.
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'It seems centrists no longer are able to get support from major political parties, and so government is converging around the extremes.'
100% true and really depressing. The way religion has infiltrated the republican camp scares me much more, but many of the dem-backed entitlement programs are just not sustainable in their current state, and most people in that party will not touch it because it's political suicide. We need someone to seppuku that shit (among many other things)
the more ive read about the deficit negotiations, the more i become depressed
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Being only 17, I can't really say that I really care about politicians. I realize, however, that when I'm old and have nothing else to worry about, that I'll more than likely get involved in politics, whether it be as a supporter or something else. I just hate how cutthroat the world of politics is, and how everyone is vying to not only make themselves look good, but to also make the others look bad. I hate how people vote for someone because of their party alignment rather than the morals and political views of the individual. I hate watching TV during election seasons, because of all of the smear ads. I hate how people just bicker constantly over trivial matters, or fight things because it's from the other party.
I'm honestly glad that I'm not interested in politics.
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Hong Kong9154 Posts
On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism. The maintenance of US hegemony is a very cynical exercise. And yet, its maintenance is perhaps one of the more stabilizing factors in international global order in the current day.
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On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism.
Idealism? He doesn't have any ideals. He's a centrist.
Centrists are people who by definition don't have any ideals, or principles, or a hierarchy of values. Everything can be compromised, nothing is absolute, there is no morality or black and white.
I do have a very clear hierarchy of values, and so I very clearly support or oppose policies based upon what I consider of most value in life. That makes me an ideologue.
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On August 12 2011 06:32 jdseemoreglass wrote:Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism. Idealism? He doesn't have any ideals. He's a centrist. Centrists are people who by definition don't have any ideals, or principles, or a hierarchy of values. Everything can be compromised, nothing is absolute, there is no morality or black and white. I do have a very clear hierarchy of values, and so I very clearly support or oppose policies based upon what I consider of most value in life. That makes me an ideologue.
That criticism is unfair; I only use centrist as a word to distinguish myself from an extremist. An ideologue will extend his ideology far beyond practical means, just for the sake of his ideology. A good example of this is valuing financial conservatism higher than paying state obligations.
On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism.
What good is an American lawyer in China? I would not be much better off than any other prospective law student.
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Hong Kong9154 Posts
On August 12 2011 06:32 jdseemoreglass wrote:Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism. Idealism? He doesn't have any ideals. He's a centrist. Centrists are people who by definition don't have any ideals, or principles, or a hierarchy of values. Everything can be compromised, nothing is absolute, there is no morality or black and white. I do have a very clear hierarchy of values, and so I very clearly support or oppose policies based upon what I consider of most value in life. That makes me an ideologue.
Centrists have no ideals, principles, or values? Centrists don't make decisions about supporting or opposing policies based upon what they consider of most value in their lives? I doubt your description of OP's politics is accurate.
On August 12 2011 07:06 gods_basement wrote:Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism. What good is an American lawyer in China? I would not be much better off than any other prospective law student.
Unless there is a serious war or significant breakdown in human society, there will always be a legal system of some kind and a need for people with advanced knowledge of said system.
Right now, however, the legal job market is very over saturated. Hopefully you've examined your decision to go into law school and want to do so for reasons other than just wanting to be a lawyer or wanting to remain in school because of the poor economy.
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On August 12 2011 07:12 itsjustatank wrote:Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 06:32 jdseemoreglass wrote:On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism. Idealism? He doesn't have any ideals. He's a centrist. Centrists are people who by definition don't have any ideals, or principles, or a hierarchy of values. Everything can be compromised, nothing is absolute, there is no morality or black and white. I do have a very clear hierarchy of values, and so I very clearly support or oppose policies based upon what I consider of most value in life. That makes me an ideologue. Centrists have no ideals, principles, or values? Centrists don't make decisions about supporting or opposing policies based upon what they consider of most value in their lives? I doubt your description of OP's politics is accurate. Show nested quote +On August 12 2011 07:06 gods_basement wrote:On August 12 2011 06:27 itsjustatank wrote:On August 12 2011 05:20 gods_basement wrote:
it is very important that the US remains a world power, else my entire profession and career will become a useless trade
If you truly believe that, you will have to end up sacrificing a lot of your idealism. What good is an American lawyer in China? I would not be much better off than any other prospective law student. Unless there is a serious war or significant breakdown in human society, there will always be a legal system of some kind and a need for people with advanced knowledge of said system. Right now, however, the legal job market is very over saturated. Hopefully you've examined your decision to go into law school and want to do so for reasons other than just wanting to be a lawyer or wanting to remain in school because of the poor economy.
Why would someone go to law school for any reason besides "wanting to be a lawyer?"
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EPT
