National Politics Thread

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odurandina said:
i have snowflake whisperers in my family. It's horrible to see a sibling raise kids, and offer no discipline or teach them personal responsiblity – knowing what the outcome will be. Then 10 years later seeing the child abuse play out as feared.

The problem with liberalism, is that it's gone completely off the rails, not only to rewarding bad behavior, but to slam those that attempt to discuse the damage the bad behavior is doing to our society. Again, i'm a hypocrite here. i don't have answers.
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The problem with conservatism is that it rewards bad behavior such as sexual assault (grabbing women by the genitals), racial harassment (alt-right movement), xenophobia (immigration ban), intolerance against other religion (specifically to Muslims and to some extent Jews), and etc. (women's right, racial stereotyping). When liberals attempt to rectify this, they are label as "snowflakes" or being too PC but the reality of this is, while you may feel uncomfortable about being PC, those who are affected by the above bad behaviors have to deal with this uncomfortable feeling every day of their lives. If you can't even deal with being uncomfortable just talking about being PC, then perhaps you and your thin skin are the real 'snowflakes'. Talk about being fragile.

odurandina said:
If i were a flailing, sensitive snowflake fully invested in the 'victim class,' or too cowardly to make the effort of self discipline to better myself – why wouldn't i see the huge appeal in voting for the politicians who promise me the most free shit, create victims over the slightest pretense, and make it into an massive 'industry' ?? Why wouldn't i vote for the politician most willing to rip off the taxpayer, fill the offices with likeminded friends, bankrupt the country – and call it social justice??
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Oh you mean like the flailing, sensitive snowflake fully invested in the 'victim class' such as the blue collar rural workers of the rust belt? The ones constantly complaining that the government forgot about them during the election and voted for Trump? Make no mistake, these people are no different than the minorities and marginalized people that are constantly being painted with a broad brush as being "lazy" and playing the "victim" by the conservative right except for the fact the former are white and thus are "hard working Americans." These are the same people who refuse to learn new skills that could help them find a new jobs. In the end, they voted for a president that may not "rip off the taxpayer" but rip off the people directly by giving tax breaks to the elite and wealthy and funneling all the money to the top.

odurandina said:
i'd be very tempted. Y'ever try to get through the day without a good rationalization? Hell, yeah, i'd want to vote for the faith healers and social 'forgivers' to the galactically lazy. They might even send me to a 'get more free shit' seminar.... If i'm really clever, i'd just fill in that i'm Native American on my application and get even more free, endless everything; straight to getting my Ph.D. Dammit, i might eventually even become a member of the Harvard faculty.... hailed a great warrior for social justice.... and one day, even become a US Senator.
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Well don't you worry. You don't need to be qualified, heck, even be well-educated to be president in the US. Just look at Trump and his cabinet choices. You just have to kiss-ass more than the next person up.

odurandina said:
*random incoherent and slightly xenophobic rambling*
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Ok good for you.
 
I've been wondering what the Trump administrations views will be on urban development and planning (if any). It seems someone like Trump, given his background, would be very interested in making it easier to build across the country. A nationalized zoning code could be interesting.

This might be the wrong thread.
 
meddlepal said:
A nationalized zoning code could be interesting.
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I'll take a hard pass on that. There is no good that could come from having congress set the zoning regulations for every municipality across the country. Only pain.
 
meddlepal said:
I've been wondering what the Trump administrations views will be on urban development and planning (if any). It seems someone like Trump, given his background, would be very interested in making it easier to build across the country. A nationalized zoning code could be interesting.

This might be the wrong thread.
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I think he's made references to major investment in transit infrastructure- particularly in urban areas. He's talked about "fixing our crumbling infrastructure." It's one of the few promises he's made that I hope he can follow through on. His complete disregard for due government process might actually expedite some projects that have been delayed for years (he's actually referenced delays that infrastructure projects often face). I loathe the guy, and I worry that some of the corners he'll cut in the process (bye, bye EPA reviews) might not be good at all, but I do hope he can follow through on some of what he's preaching.

However, like most of what he's promised to do, he really hasn't offered much substance or detail. It's a lot of talk, so we'll see. His infrastructure plan is here: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/an-americas-infrastructure-first-plan .

It's funny, when you listen to him talk about transit infrastructure and his plans, he suggests P3s (public private partnerships) with debts to be repaid by tolls and fees levied on the users of these projects. For large-scale urban projects that will probably be OK. Especially highways. It would be interesting to see how that is manifested in rail and other public transit projects as rarely do fares recoup the cost of construction/maintenance hence why most must be subsidized. Frankly, the P3 and fees/tolls approach probably won't be feasible in most rural areas as the fees/tolls simply won't be enough to pay for the cost of a major project due to lack of volume (or high cost/both). Rural America won Trump the election and they'll probably be left out in the cold on many of his projects.

Of course, we hear P3 suggested all the time and mostly it's a pipe dream. So I'm not holding my breath.

*edit*
As an aside, development in the U.S. has been regulated to death. It hurts to walk through some of the neater, new urban spaces in Europe and Asia knowing that we can't replicate that type of development here. Obviously accessibility is important, as is the ability for emergency vehicles, service and delivery vehicles, etc. to access buildings/spaces. However, I'd like to see a little less rigidity allowing for more density, narrower streets, ease setback requirements, etc.
 
If anyone is looking for me, I'll be out back building my fallout shelter.

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Although I tend to identify as center-left in my political ideology, I don't believe I'm beholden to that ideology when I pick a leader. There are many conservative politicians that I would follow, based on the fact that they understand the function (or lack thereof) of government and they wish to run. At the end of the day, I'd rather have a competent libertarian running things over an incompetent democratic socialist, even if I'm not fond of their views.

That being said, why has the GOP become the party of the ill-informed? Both parties have their ridiculous extremes - but at least with the Dem's extreme (overly educated, whiny post college kids), being educated is still seen as favorable. I look up to people who are smarter than me because in some ways I wish I had their intelligence, but I find that many conservatives see them almost a threat. Am I generalizing too much?
 
Although I tend to identify as center-left in my political ideology, I don't believe I'm beholden to that ideology when I pick a leader. There are many conservative politicians that I would follow, based on the fact that they understand the function (or lack thereof) of government and they wish to run. At the end of the day, I'd rather have a competent libertarian running things over an incompetent democratic socialist, even if I'm not fond of their views.

That being said, why has the GOP become the party of the ill-informed? Both parties have their ridiculous extremes - but at least with the Dem's extreme (overly educated, whiny post college kids), being educated is still seen as favorable. I look up to people who are smarter than me because in some ways I wish I had their intelligence, but I find that many conservatives see them almost a threat. When I see some of you guys writing intelligently about architecture, I do whatever I can to try to understand (even though I don't much of the time). It seems that some of our friends in the right wing tend to take a "know-it-all" mentality, even when they know little or nothing.

Am I generalizing too much?
 
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Honestly I think you're describing populism more than you're describing conservatism. Most GOP candidates before trump did better with college educated folks. I also think that Dems tend to be more open minded (not all of them are). Therefore they are more open to new ideas. Also the GOP tends to be older, I think it's much harder to change the opinion of an old person.
 
True, but the Democrats can also be populist as well. They just have a different ideology as to how to uplift people who struggle financially. These views tend to resonate among non-white and/or urban people. What has happened (and this to me shows a subconscious racial bias in our society) is when we think of "working" people or the "working class", everyone gets an image of a hard working white man down on his luck because his steel mill moved to China. But we also need to recognize the working non white poor of the big cities of the north and the rural areas of the south. And many of the problems they face have been going on long before NAFTA entered our vocabulary.
 
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Fyi our nuke labs do more than design bombs. Our technology in nuclear propulsion is more unique and valuable than our bombs. It's a hard technology to advance because changes must be incremental, trying anything too experimental risks a radiological disaster.

Also, yes many "populist" movements have targeted the intelligent and well educated. See: Cambodia.
 
What Statler posted earlier about Rick Perry not being prepared to do the job is perfect example of a major problem we have in the US. I don't know if it can be blamed on our education, culture or whatever, but there seems to be this prevailing attitude that because someone is good at one thing, they'll automatically be good at another. Somehow we're a nation with the biggest delusions of grandeur or any place on the planet!

I'm sure Rick Perry knows a lot about governing and oil, but what makes him prepared enough to make decisions about our nuclear stockpile?

I'm sure Rex Tillerson does business in many countries, but does that mean he knows anything about diplomacy?

I'm sure Betsy Devos knows a lot about something, and she's very rich, but does she understand the intricacies of educational policy?

I'm not saying these people aren't capable of learning their jobs, but the learning curve is just too fucking steep. I'd rather have people who already know about the department they plan to head so they're starting at 3rd base, instead of these clowns who are barely in the fucking on-deck circle.
 
Jouhou said:
Fyi our nuke labs do more than design bombs. Our technology in nuclear propulsion is more unique and valuable than our bombs. It's a hard technology to advance because changes must be incremental, trying anything too experimental risks a radiological disaster.

Also, yes many "populist" movements have targeted the intelligent and well educated. See: Cambodia.
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Good point about the killing fields. Sorry to deviate from the main subject, but I visited the killing fields in 2010. They even converted schools into torture camps. Fucking chilling.
 
Nuclear power, propulsion and other non-military uses of nuclear is perhaps the ultimate example of ill-informed populism thwarting progress. Yes, there are risks with nuclear. But the upside is massive for society - and if you let the smart people actually make progress, they will reduce the risks down to almost nothing.

A great example - MIT's floating offshore nuclear reactor. Designed to be positioned in the ocean 8 miles or so from major cities around the coastline. The reactor itself operates totally submerged in the ocean. The risk to society is almost zero, even in the case of an (unlikely) total meltdown:
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/nuclear/offshoring-nuclear-plants

Imagine that - totally clean power for all our major coastal cities with near-zero nuclear risk?

IF stuff like this were actually pushed by policymakers, given real funding, etc....we might just make some progress.

It kills me that things like this are thwarted for dumb political reasons (e.g., congresspeople from oil-rich states drum up nuclear fear in their constituents to make sure their oil revenue stream isn't affected)...it's not technical ingenuity that's holding us back, it's politics
 
bigpicture7 said:
Nuclear power, propulsion and other non-military uses of nuclear is perhaps the ultimate example of ill-informed populism thwarting progress. Yes, there are risks with nuclear. But the upside is massive for society - and if you let the smart people actually make progress, they will reduce the risks down to almost nothing.

A great example - MIT's floating offshore nuclear reactor. Designed to be positioned in the ocean 8 miles or so from major cities around the coastline. The reactor itself operates totally submerged in the ocean. The risk to society is almost zero, even in the case of an (unlikely) total meltdown:
https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/nuclear/offshoring-nuclear-plants

Imagine that - totally clean power for all our major coastal cities with near-zero nuclear risk?

IF stuff like this were actually pushed by policymakers, given real funding, etc....we might just make some progress.

It kills me that things like this are thwarted for dumb political reasons (e.g., congresspeople from oil-rich states drum up nuclear fear in their constituents to make sure their oil revenue stream isn't affected)...it's not technical ingenuity that's holding us back, it's politics
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Well let's not downplay the risks too much. Shielding is much better these days than it used to be but many of the people I know who've spent their career near reactors have a tendency to have gotten thyroid cancer, among other cancers.
 
Jouhou said:
Well let's not downplay the risks too much. Shielding is much better these days than it used to be but many of the people I know who've spent their career near reactors have a tendency to have gotten thyroid cancer, among other cancers.
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Understood; but from a relative standpoint a reactor in the ocean is far safer than one on land. I did not mean to downplay risks to crew/maintainers...so when I was referring to near-zero risk, I meant with regard to the on-land population the reactor is serving. Clearly the design needs to minimize crew risk too.

I meant this example more generally - letting experts do great things can advance society, and I am disturbed by this recent trend of science-denial/anti-intellectualism.
 
bigpicture7 said:
Understood; but from a relative standpoint a reactor in the ocean is far safer than one on land. I did not mean to downplay risks to crew/maintainers...so when I was referring to near-zero risk, I meant with regard to the on-land population the reactor is serving. Clearly the design needs to minimize crew risk too.

I meant this example more generally - letting experts do great things can advance society, and I am disturbed by this recent trend of science-denial/anti-intellectualism.
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That indeed. I personally think nuclear power combined with clean renewables is the energy mix we should aim for in the future.

As for the killing fields, I don't think I could go. That piece of history I find pretty haunting, especially when one of my best friends had escaped Cambodia during that time when she was a little girl.

But rereading the history and analysis, I've realized I can draw more parallels than I thought with what's going on here right now. Trump is no Pol Pot, but his supporters echo sentiments seen amongst the Khmer rouge.
 
Alibaba founder Jack Ma has a brutal theory of how America went wrong over the past 30 years


This is a great comment
At the same time, the US spent a lot of money on foreign conflicts. "In the past 30 years, America had 13 wars spending $2 trillion ... no matter how good your strategy is you're supposed to spend money on your own people," Ma said. "The money goes to Wall Street. Then what happened? Year 2008 wiped out $19.2 trillion in US income ... What if the money was spent on the Midwest of the United States?"
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https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/alibaba-founder-jack-ma-brutal-135400213.html
 
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