Rant on the two party system. US democracy sucks.

I think most here agree the system is broken. Democracy is an illusion at this point. We get crappy choices propped up by money, lobbyists, and PR campaigns, and at the end citizens do not prosper.

As Americans we're commodities, not assets. We are 27th in education in the the world. Most of our social problems as well as economic reflect that.

Most of our taxes go to a military that RELIES on perpetuation of war, not victory or ending.

We need to empower our citizens, not steer them. A healthy democracy is a reflection of the citizens who Control it. We need to revamp and make accessible education if we want our country to survive let alone prosper.

That means teach the tools to find the answers, rather than one size fits all teaching of the "answers".

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
I think most here agree the system is broken. Democracy is an illusion at this point. We get crappy choices propped up by money, lobbyists, and PR campaigns, and at the end citizens do not prosper.

As Americans we're commodities, not assets. We are 27th in education in the the world. Most of our social problems as well as economic reflect that.

Most of our taxes go to a military that RELIES on perpetuation of war, not victory or ending.

We need to empower our citizens, not steer them. A healthy democracy is a reflection of the citizens who Control it. We need to revamp and make accessible education if we want our country to survive let alone prosper.

That means teach the tools to find the answers, rather than one size fits all teaching of the "answers".

Agreed. We need both universal access to a quality education, regardless of socio-economic status and location, as well as *real* education regarding non-whitewashed history, critical thinking, heavy research and evidence-based thinking, etc etc.

This was why I was an educator for a while. Left it, but now I'm starting to think about getting back into it.

Many solutions to societal problems are bandaids, or don't address the roots. Education for all is a evidence-based investment that addresses partly many of our societal problems, from lowering poverty to increasing economic growth to making the electorate more knowledgeable and agentic.

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

Thank you, and yes.

I don't mind it too much. Keeps things from getting too radical. I think after this year, politicians from both camps will be looking to appeal with a more centrist attitude for 2020. This is basically what happens when everything is too extreme, but thats ok because I prefer my side's extreme to the others

America has never been a Democracy, it is a Choose Your Own Description, Fascist Dictatorship, Tyrannical, Inverted-Totalitarian.

The same with 'Political parties" they were created to divide the people and fan the flames of Partisan Fighting, the Real Leaders don't have a Political Party.

People are afraid to realize and admit that this Country is no different than others who Murder their Citizens, Oppress the people, restrict knowledge and enlightenment.

Capitalism is oppressive and ineffective

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
I don't mind it too much. Keeps things from getting too radical. I think after this year, politicians from both camps will be looking to appeal with a more centrist attitude for 2020. This is basically what happens when everything is too extreme, but thats ok because I prefer my side's extreme to the others

I'm not sure about the getting too radical bit when both parties are so diametrically opposed to what might be considered the centre ground, each within their own parties.

it's not just the system that's broken, the voters deserve more blame than they get. This election proves they will go along with anything. it's beginning to really scare me. I've always accepted that the public is uninformed and "sheepish" (for lack of better word), but i don't think i realized the full extent until now. It's not enough to blame the system, we have to fix our culture.

a reply to: mahatche

I can appreciate that you are very concerned about the shape of things, but I feel it is unwise to cast too much blame on individuals in the voter base. You have to understand that in terms of the density and cost of propaganda, the United States tops vitrtually every country on the planet for spending on spinning the truth to fit agendas. No nation of which I am aware, spends the same amount of money or time doing it.

Sure, North Korea have a blanket of lies on their media outlets a mile thick, but they do not get paid to keep it in place, they just do it because otherwise they get shot to buggery and staked out for the crows to pick over. But American media organisations have to be bought, influence literally peddled.

So much airtime on the television, so many brainwashing mechanisms in the street, on the net, devoted to telling folk to keep hating their neighbours, keep living on the grid, and if possible, think less, talk more...

You have to understand that because common sense has always been a misnomer, there will always have been more people who get caught up by these things, than those who do not. It is for this reason that propagandists should be the first against the wall, because they know this is a weakness of the human mind, and exploit it for their own gain, and to the detriment of justice, freedom and liberty. These detriments have global consequences.

It's a bad situation, without any doubt at all, but to blame it on the affected, rather than the affectors is to make a nonsense of the thing in the first place.

a reply to: TrueBrit

To add to your point, should you be someone who is unaffected from the media and agenda of the system, you are deemed crazy in this society.