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Paul Buchheit reports via AlterNet
While Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou are vilified for revealing vital information about spying and bombing and torture, a man who conspired with Goldman Sachs to make billions of dollars on the planned failure of subprime mortgages was honored by New York University for his "Outstanding Contributions to Society".
This is one example of the distorted thinking leading to the demise of a once-vibrant American society. There are other signs of decay:
- A House Bill Would View Corporate Crimes as "Honest Mistakes"
- Almost 2/3 of American Families Couldn't Afford a Single Pill of a Life-Saving Drug
- Violent Crime Down; Prison Population Doubles
- One in Four Americans Suffer Mental Illness; Mental Health Facilities Cut by 90 Percent
- The Unpaid Taxes of 500 Companies Could Pay for a Job for Every Unemployed American ...for two years ...at the nation's median salary of $36,000 ...for all 8 million unemployed.
Citizens for Tax Justice reports that Fortune 500 companies are holding over $2 trillion in profits offshore to avoid taxes that would amount to over $600 billion. Our society desperately needs infrastructure repair, but 8 million potential jobs are being held hostage beyond our borders.
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by isostatic on Tuesday December 08 2015, @02:55PM
Heck, a reasonable person might even conclude that these ills aren't exclusively the province of government activities, but also include a measure of judgement against society as a whole.
I'd go as far as argue it's exclusively a measure of judgement against society. Societies get the governments they deserve.
However, if this descends into the predictable and tired false binaries of "Conservative vs. Liberal" (or Republican/Democrat, etc.), it will be disappointing.
Inevitable, gotta keep the plebs fighting each other otherwise they might realise the truth
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @02:58PM
OP here, glad you see things my way--the "Meta way."
Now I guess we'll see if anyone else does. :)
(Score: 5, Informative) by ikanreed on Tuesday December 08 2015, @03:17PM
That's some nice just world fallacy there. The majority of voters in 2014 voted for democratic representatives and senators, and we still ended up with a republican dominated house and senate because of old, irrelevant constitutional compromises coupled with systemic abuse of the districting system.
We sometimes eat the ass end of whatever 35-45% of the country thinks is tolerable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 08 2015, @06:20PM
"old, irrelevant constitutional compromises"
Seems relevant to me. Even current. Topical, in fact.
The real question is the degree to which the result relates to the intended compromises. For instance, the founding fathers knew damn well that when you count votes, populations with few votes would be railroaded with tiresome monotony. This is why states have two senators each (and it's funny that the senate is so close to well balanced, on average). The legendary filibuster-proof majority isn't at all a given.
If you don't like the districting scheme, by all means change it. Multiple states already have, and require either bipartisan or nonpartisan agreement on districting. But that's the House for you. And yeah, the current republican-dominated House of Representatives is at least partly a creature of the prior, widely loathed democrat-dominated House of Representatives. So obviously a particular electoral outcome isn't predestined. The pendulum can, and does swing.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Tuesday December 08 2015, @06:29PM
Oh, yes, I'm sure the state legislature of my state that made the most unbalanced districts in the nation, while simultaneously cutting voting rights is interested in my petition for reforming that process.
I'm noise-making because it's among the biggest issues of the era and the apathy people have towards it compared to relatively minor things means all I can do is agitate.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Tuesday December 08 2015, @07:04PM
Dammit! I had a finger-check on the moderation - please excuse me!
Mas cerveza por favor.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday December 08 2015, @07:41PM
All fixed. No worries.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 1) by redneckmother on Tuesday December 08 2015, @08:44PM
Muchas gracias!
I HATE it when I do that :).
Mas cerveza por favor.