tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post8202619561738145724..comments2024-03-29T05:41:35.119-07:00Comments on Graphic Firing Table: A Modest ProposalFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-58876360182102829282010-09-29T19:42:40.747-07:002010-09-29T19:42:40.747-07:00Sure hope so. It's demoralizing to watch so m...Sure hope so. It's demoralizing to watch so many smart people - and even the GOP has smart people, they're just trapped in the shithouse-rat craziness their whackos have forced on the national party - do so poorly.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-3548243914449607452010-09-29T13:41:16.984-07:002010-09-29T13:41:16.984-07:00I don't think that people in the USA are much ...I don't think that people in the USA are much different than those in the other first world democracies.<br /><br />And yet, I would argue that the government of the USA has made poorer decisions than its "peer" states as far as the typical citizen is concerned.<br /><br />Certainly if you look at "quality of life" measurements like life expectancy, imprisonment, wealth, distribution of wealth, etc. the USA comes out behind the pack for the non-elite member of society.<br /><br />I personally think that this is because the American system has been captured by the elites. And the reason that it maintains its control is that America is running on beta version of representational democracy.<br /><br />The founding fathers had to make it up as they went along. The fact that they did so well is testament to the truly remarkable men they were, but they messed up on some of the details. Later democracies (essentially everyone else) got a chance to watch the Americans, learn, and tweak the system. <br /><br />Yes, the Constitution has been amended over time, but notice the rate of change over the centuries. You can't even get the equal rights amendment passed today. The existing two party system has become hopelessly arthritic.<br /><br />Now, simply hoping for Americans to become smarter won't cut it. <br />You will need to get a third party (and maybe fourth party) up and running, and into the mainstream.<br /><br />Luckily, we now have the internet.<br />People can organize themselves.<br />The Tea Party is an early example of this. More change will come.Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-4924410120413897612010-09-29T13:06:00.887-07:002010-09-29T13:06:00.887-07:00Ael: My thought was as I was writing this was not ...Ael: My thought was as I was writing this was not that we have been making bad decisions "lately". ISTM - and this is a purely personal observation - that we have been drifting for some time.<br /><br />I agree that a lot of that has to do with the way the political process has gone.<br /><br />But a lot of THAT has to do with the fact that We the People haven't made very good decisions. Things like footling around with land wars in Asia, ignoring our southern border/neighbors, and snoozing through the likelihood that we will have to come up with some alternative to the ICE within the next century aren't exactly rocket science. There are a hell of a lot of people, smarter and better known than I am, who have been saying this stuff or similar stuff for a long time.<br /><br />But the people we choose to rule will never come close to saying anything like it. And the final Jeopardy answer has to be because we've shown that if you tell us the cold truth we will not elect you or re-elect you. The GOP has already gone over that cliff; a Repub. can't even get nominated if he or she accepts ideas like paying taxes, cutting expenses (other than welfare and social programs), and coming up with alternatives to the random market approach to economics. But nobody else other than the real out-there Ralph Nader types, people without a hope of election, are willing to suggest these sort of simple possibilities...<br /><br />So I don't think it's so much a question of fixing the system...it's a question of fixing ourselves, of being willing to vote for people who will ask and require us to do the hard thinking and make the hard choices ourselves, rather than hoping that the Bad Stuff just goes away.<br /><br />Mind you, I don't have a lot of hope that will happen...FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-54733404142520434492010-09-29T11:15:00.891-07:002010-09-29T11:15:00.891-07:00Chief, you are complaining about the decisions the...Chief, you are complaining about the decisions the USA has made lately and suggesting better ones be made in the future.<br /><br />I agree that poor decisions are being made but the number and depth of the poor decisions suggests that it is the decision making process itself that is broken.<br /><br />If you can't fix the process, then everything else after that is broken. Looking at the other first world nations, I would suggest that you need to fix the corrupt political system.<br /><br />And the way to fix *that* is to fix the broken "justice" system where politicians get to use the law as a club to beat their political enemies.<br /><br />The problem, of course, is that the political/judicial system is the only thing that can change the political/judicial system. <br /><br />Clearly, those who run the current corrupt system will resist change.Aelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10788190394672505925noreply@blogger.com