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from the no-one's-leaving-until-we-have-unanimous-agreement dept.
The rise of populism has rattled the global political establishment. Brexit came as a shock, as did the victory of Donald Trump. Much head-scratching has resulted as leaders seek to work out why large chunks of their electorates are so cross.
...
The answer seems pretty simple. Populism is the result of economic failure. The 10 years since the financial crisis have shown that the system of economic governance which has held sway for the past four decades is broken. Some call this approach neoliberalism. Perhaps a better description would be unpopulism.Unpopulism meant tilting the balance of power in the workplace in favour of management and treating people like wage slaves. Unpopulism was rigged to ensure that the fruits of growth went to the few not to the many. Unpopulism decreed that those responsible for the global financial crisis got away with it while those who were innocent bore the brunt of austerity.
2017 Davos says: The 99% should just try harder.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @01:30PM (12 children)
The supposed 'elite' in both the USA and the UK are so utterly out of touch with the working folk of those same countries that the one cannot even understand what the other is saying.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 29 2017, @05:29PM (11 children)
The supposed 'elite' in both the USA and the UK are so utterly out of touch with the working folk of those same countries that the one cannot even understand what the other is saying.
For example, a lot of propaganda mileage has come from recent Democratic presidential candidates trying to explain fly-over country to San Francisco (Obama's bitter clinger" [huffingtonpost.com] speech and Clinton's "deplorables" [time.com] speech were both to San Francisco audiences). Just think about it. They're trying to explain opponents with different beliefs and get it so terribly wrong in such a tactless way.
And then there's the matter of the grotesque incompetence commonplace in government. For example, the US government burned $400 billion on a terrible jet fighter. While that's great news for any would-be adversary, it's not so great for the people relying on the protection of those planes. That's more than $1000 per resident. So what happens as a result of this? Business as usual.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @06:54PM (5 children)
They don't want to acknowledge, in many cases seem quite incapable of comprehending, in fact, that they do have opponents with legitimately different beliefs, not just on minor issues but core values. They're still trying to pretend the Russians elected Trump, in conjunction with some enormous white nationalist movement that doesn't exist; rather than face the fact that the candidate they ran was so horrifically tainted half the country would have voted for a farm animal over her if they were the only choices.
"For example, the US government burned $400 billion on a terrible jet fighter. While that's great news for any would-be adversary, it's not so great for the people relying on the protection of those planes."
Our military and foreign policy have long ago quit having anything to do with anything other than internal politics. What's important is not what the plane will or will not do, or what other options there might or might not have been. As long as this thing is spreading enough money around in enough congressional districts it's golden.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:38PM (4 children)
You are factually incorrect, the people were duped through propaganda to hate Hillary more than was reasonable and still she won the popular vote. I didn't vote for her and she was a terrible candidate, but you are going too far in your assertions. I'll go the opposite way and say that if people knew what Trump's presidency would be like, even the first few months, then Hillary would have 100% won the election. It wasn't about core values it was about money, Trump won on anti-immigration and bringing jobs back to the US. The other pieces are minor and not quite as fundamentally different as you'd like to believe.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:51PM (2 children)
Trump won first and foremost by being perceived as the only viable alternative to the ultimate establishment boss - Clinton. He won by campaigning hard and energizing his base at the same time the Democrats were congratulating themselves on their certain victory. He won by promising to drain the swamp - I doubt very much he'll be able to pull that off, but people believed he would at least try and that's why they made it to the polls for him.
Hillary will never drain the swamp. She's the momma 'gator, the boss at the end of the swamp.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:56PM (1 child)
Trump is a buffoon. But he promised to kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That's why I voted for him. He did in fact kill the TPP once elected, which is the actual first time a candidate I voted for actually did what he promised to do. All the other stuff he's done so far is a clusterfuck, but the TPP is so huge that so far it's still worth the price of admission.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday March 29 2017, @10:10PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 30 2017, @12:00AM
You are factually incorrect, the people were duped through propaganda to hate Hillary more than was reasonable and still she won the popular vote. I didn't vote for her and she was a terrible candidate, but you are going too far in your assertions.
Where was the facts in that section? Asserting someone was "duped"? You need evidence to make it a fact. And what level of hatred is reasonable for Clinton? And how does any of the above contradict Arik's post, even if it is true?
I'll go the opposite way and say that if people knew what Trump's presidency would be like, even the first few months, then Hillary would have 100% won the election.
You have to be joking. He had such a tough campaign slog in the first place because people thought his presidency would be even worse than it's been. Let us keep in mind that for the past year or so - once he became a threat to Clinton, he's been compared with Hitler. Well, it doesn't look to me like Trump is on track to eliminate the US Republic in a year's time. But I suppose by that he's just failing to meet expectations, eh?
It wasn't about core values it was about money, Trump won on anti-immigration and bringing jobs back to the US.
Which doesn't sound like money to me.
The other pieces are minor and not quite as fundamentally different as you'd like to believe.
Unless of course, you're wrong in your baseless assertion.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @07:48PM (3 children)
Yup, Clinton is a stooge who tried to resort to emotional appeals by pumping up hatred, too bad for her she sucks so bad at it and has the charisma of vegetable.
Of course you can't see in the mirror Khallow, notice that you have bought into the same shit shoved at you from the other side of the isle. You often apply generalities and blame individuals for the shitty politics of the Democratic party.
Can we come together to fix our government? Reduce meddling in our individual lives / freedoms yet protect us from the inhumane corporate practices and wasteful pork projects?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 30 2017, @02:33AM (2 children)
Of course you can't see in the mirror Khallow, notice that you have bought into the same shit shoved at you from the other side of the isle.
Yet another imaginary appeal to self-awareness. I wonder if you're the same AC that has been peddling that line for the last few months.
You often apply generalities and blame individuals for the shitty politics of the Democratic party.
Like blaming all blacks for crimes committed by blacks? If you think about it, I'm sure you'll find my approach superior.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 30 2017, @02:45AM (1 child)
I wonder if you're the same AC that has been peddling that line for the last few months.
The obvious rebuttal is that I am not that same AC, I am the one in the mirror. Fucking mirrors, khallow! How do they work?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday March 30 2017, @04:41AM
The obvious rebuttal is that I am not that same AC, I am the one in the mirror. Fucking mirrors, khallow! How do they work?
So there's two ACs with that patter? Marvelous.
I notice you didn't get my point. The previous AC post was so clueless it conflated opposites. Blaming individuals for their faults is far different than blaming some broad group for those faults. It most certainly is not "applying generalities".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 29 2017, @09:27PM
At least our top dog negotiated a $600M discount on $1.6T bill. Atta boy, sickem.
Protection... ha ha ha! This is the guy who would dump 25M Americans off health insurance to save less than 1/4 of the cost of those war planes. For their protection... lol