Wish I could post more. Can only check these forums in my free time from the public terminal. Sorry for not posting much guys. Got a moment of downtime.
You guys ever wonder if this is Sean Spencer in his free time?
Once I had an American friend tell me that the news I saw on Television was not the news she saw. Turns out that not all the same media outlets cross their country and a lot of them are banned from certain sections. America is pretty segregated. If Arch lives in an area were conservative media only exists there is a good chance he isn't getting all the protests, anger, and hatred for Trump. On conservative channels I have been told his SuperPak is asking for money again, even, to "defeat the enemy". I think that was posted in this thread or the other.
I'll check in again asap. Can't wait for my weekend so I can comment properly.
It is true, the echo chamber is real. I look to my democrat friends and I see them running circles around in some bleeding-heart liberal themed Facebook group. I look to my republican friends and I see them running circles around in some guns, god and country Facebook group. None of them consume news media from traditional outlets and every source they have is completely partisan. Both are toxic, both are wrong and both hate each other for the things each of them are wrong about.
I try to come at things from a trinity of perspectives:
- Cosmic: We are all little insignificant beings on a tiny marble in a hum-drum part of a typical looking galaxy.
- Humanist: We all come from dirt and are equal. The cooperation and support of humanity is integral to the progress of civilization.
- Scientific: A society without facts and progression of knowledge will not continue to be a society for long. Conclusions must be empirically defensible and with results that are repeatable in practice.
However, it can be difficult to keep these. Anger and fear can infect my mind but I do my best to come back to senses. Now, this isn't to say I'm right and others are wrong but I hope it helps people who disagree with me see that I'm trying to come from a position that I feel is good and just.
This is why I try not to label all conservatives as bad or liberals as good...because it isn't true. I know republicans who really think their choices will lead to a great and prosperous country for all. I'll tell you, these friends are quite embarrassed, right now, wishing their party hadn't been hijacked. I know liberals who believe that people who don't share their worldview are unworthy of equal treatment. Their embarrassment will come, too.
In the USA we've been trained not to think of public policy cooperatively across political leanings. There are enough wedges to build a car that keeps good and separated from making any compromises. In the last few years, those wedges have become everything anyone talks about anymore. Therefore, echo chambers form because hearing the opposing position on a wedge is sure to trigger everyone.
As for the wall, my objective opinion is that it does not solve the problem of illegal immigration. Most illegal immigration comes in on the back of visas. If you want a draconian measure to stop illegal immigration, you'll make a much larger dent if you restrict the visa program. Of course, that is hugely unpopular but at least it would address the problem Trump and the GOP claim is running rampant. Second, immigration being a "problem" is questionable in itself. In a country where all of its prosperity and growth is a direct result of immigration it seems strange that it would be a problem. Perhaps the issue is that it is too difficult to immigrate to the USA. If the legal methods for immigration were more efficient, then all the people seeking opportunity and the American dream can come share it while criminals can be dealt with more forcefully at the border.
Anyway...I've rambled enough
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The Electoral College has been in place since the founding of the US. It is an important instrument to protect the smaller(in population) states from being completely irrelevant in the elections. And its not like the big states doesn't have a huge impact anyway. F.ex, South Dakota has 3 electoral votes, while California has 55. There really isn't anything to complain about.
What I find more of an issue is immigration and how easy these new citizen get to vote. IMO a person should have a 4 generation family lineage in a country before being allowed to vote. This to prevent the country suddenly taking a sharp turn politically because of the influx of mass immigration. It just makes more sense that a person whose family has built up the country, with blood sweat and tears, get to decide the direction the country takes, not some fresh immigrant with absolutely no historical connection to the country.
Why should the effort of people who are not me decide whether I have the right to vote? That's like saying Spanish people whose ancestry enslaved my family should be paying me reparations.
The government of THE PEOPLE should represent THE PEOPLE who reside within it and pay its stinkin taxes. NO EXCEPTIONS
EDIT: and to add, when I look at the "landed gentry" of whites who have been here for generations I see some of the least informed and most apathetic people. Now, I know that is generalizing, but it is counter to the ridiculousness of the above. In fact, it is these people that I find to be most susceptible to foreign influencers. They never had to fight for the American dream...to do the hard work to create an opportunity for more hard work. They have forgotten over the generations, what it means to make something from nothing...the epitome of being American.
EDIT2: another thing, what you suggest literally amounts to taxation without representation. You cannot collect taxes from someone if you do not give them the right to vote.
