In addendum to my last post, we have reason to believe the founding fathers of this country did intend to favor older voters: https://freakonomics.com/2011/08/john-adams-said-it-first/ Older than Winston Churchill, there is some speculation John Adams was among the first to say something like the following: “If a person is not a liberal when he is twenty, he has no heart; if he is not a conservative when he is forty, he has no head.’ Apparently, Thomas Jefferson echoed some variation of this. As for me, i would prefer an electoral system which puts a thumb in favor of older voters. Probably, the older, wiser voters are within the Republican party these days. The Democrats generally go after the young mind-set, the young, impressionable, and those who wish to remain young at heart, somehow, if only through appearances. This explains why more Democrats are in favor of tearing down the institution of the electoral college, in favor of unfiltered democracy (less representative, more direct). This would weight more young people, and weight less older people. We could call this age gerrymandering. It also explains why more Democrats are now in favor of migratory gerrymandering through open borders, buying the allegiance of the new, young crowds with various handouts and welfares paid for by the older, more established, more tax-paying, more heavily vested populace.
On the other hand. BTW, Fascism is an Left wing ideology. https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/09/bidens_semifascist_america.html Biden's Semi-Fascist America By Jeffrey Folks We live in an Orwellian world in which words have lost their exact meanings, or in the case of President Biden, any meaning at all. Last Thursday at a fundraising event in Maryland, Biden said the "extreme MAGA philosophy" is "like semi-fascism." He added that if the GOP wins in the November elections, they will be "wiping out choice, across the board." It's not clear what "extreme MAGA" meant (was he saying that all MAGA philosophy is extreme, or is there some especially extreme MAGA philosophy?) or what sort of "choice" he was referring to. It's common to hear the word "fascist" thrown around, especially by those on the left, with little concern for its actual meaning. This outworn usage is so ambiguous that it's little more than hitting the "dislike" button on Facebook. In this illiterate usage, "fascism" means nothing more than "you bad, me good," and that seems to be the level of a lot of Biden's thinking. But Biden's remark should remind us of one troubling fact — one that is quite the opposite of what he intended. It is not that the MAGA philosophy is "semi-fascist," but that Biden's own progressive philosophy is, and that it has a long history of connections with European fascism and authoritarianism. The origins of progressive thought lie in European political philosophy going back to German chancellor Otto von Bismarck and continuing through Italian fascist Benito Mussolini and German Nazi Adolf Hitler. In America, Mussolini was much admired by FDR and, in the case of German political philosophy in general, by Woodrow Wilson, a product of the German university model of research and a founder of American progressivism. In Wilson's case, he "had carefully studied the administrative practices of not just France and England but a small nation like Prussia and praised the ruler Frederick the Great who regarded himself as the chief servant of the people and his office as a public trust." Bismarck in turn greatly admired American president Abraham Lincoln, a lifelong proponent of the American System, an early version of progressivism traceable back to Alexander Hamilton that called for consolidation of power in the federal government and for larger expenditures on public works and social welfare. From Hamilton to Lincoln to Bismarck, Mussolini, Lenin, and Hitler, and on to Wilson, FDR, LBJ, Obama, and Biden — the progressive vision is one of a Perfect Society engineered by an all-powerful and centrally planned State. There are several characteristics shared by all fascist states. It is not just control of the economy, but also control of the minds of citizens to the extent that a majority either support the State unquestioningly or are rendered incapable of opposing it. In any case, no opposition is permitted, and the effort to stamp out the opposition begins in schools and continues in the workplace, media, and even religious institutions. Under fascism, the individual is exposed to an endless bombardment of lies, all of it devoted to solidifying the power of the State. Eventually, individuals lose the ability to conceive of a democratic alternative. Cult leaders play an important role in this destruction of freedom. In place of critical thinking, individuals find that they can evaluate the State only on its own terms and with the information it provides. The crucial fact that freedom of thought no longer exists — and would not be permitted if it did — is beyond the understanding of ordinary citizens. What remains is the State's promise to feed and house citizens at a minimal level in return for uncritical support. The State even expects gratitude for this degrading system of dependence — a system that is celebrated on any number of May Days and commemorative holidays, and attendance is obligatory. Eventually, even the suspicion of opposition is enough to earn that midnight knock on the door. For President Trump, the strongest opponent of fascism in our time, that knock came on August 8, 2022. The FBI was once highly respected, but now, after its involvement in Russia-gate and the Mar-a-Lago raid, the agency seems to be an instrument of partisan politics. And the sort of power the FBI wields is typical of State agencies under fascism. One of Hitler's first actions after he became chancellor was to weaponize governmental agencies, and create new ones, so as to control the media, schools, and the polling place (which of course were never legitimate after his initial success, and even then, he won only 37.4% of the vote at the height of his popularity in 1932). But Hitler moved swiftly to establish power: within three months of taking office, he established Dachau, at first for the purpose of liquidating political opponents. In Biden's case, in little over one year, he has passed an astounding $7 trillion in spending on top of a normal $5 trillion in annual budgeting, and this spending solidifies his political power and that of his party since much of it goes into the pockets of his political base. The totalitarian state possesses unlimited means of persecuting all who oppose its power. That, I believe, is the point of hiring 87,000 new IRS agents, many of them licensed to carry firearms, as are agents of the EPA, Fish and Wildlife, and other federal agencies. Yet these 87,000 will probably never audit Hunter Biden or the Clintons — they will focus on small business–owners who tend to vote for conservatives. In reality, we face a simple choice: an all-powerful State exercising total control over its citizens or a democratic capitalist system with limited State powers as intended by our Founders. President Trump earned the permanent hatred of the left because he had begun to limit State powers, and the left is determined not to see him run again in 2024. That was the point of the Mar-a-Lago raid — the sort of midnight raid so common in fascist societies as to go unnoticed. It is frightening when an administration carries out midnight raids on the home of a former president and future candidate for the presidency and when a sitting president starts accusing the opposition of "semi-fascism." These actions are truly assaults on democracy, and they must not be allowed to stand. Conservatives need to speak up against Biden's attacks on democracy and to vote for conservative candidates in November.
You need to get off whatever you're on... Will do you good, I promise. I will dispense with addressing your under 18 right to vote, but instead focus on the purpose of voting. One person, one vote isn't so much about the next elected officials as it is about setting a direction for the country, its defense, its economy, its society. We the People create our destiny, as opposed to an individual backed up by a small group of supporters. Like a ship, it's impossible to change our course quickly and elections serve to nudge our direction. That's by design and it can be frustrating at times, particularly for those who don't like the chosen path forward. Be it nationalist christians trying to establish a US theocracy or liberals imposing their views on conservatives, the way forward is froth with disagreements that too often are left for the courts to decide instead of our political representatives whose job is to represent us in the greater decision making process that defines our lives and those of future generations. The impact of Supreme Court decisions on the lives of Americans is far too strong in my opinion because it subverts the will of the majority, and the political process is now so weak that no decision can be made without legal challenges by special interest groups. By leaving tough decisions to unelected judges we diminish the role of politicians and, by association, the role of electors. America's federal framework is the most difficult to navigate of all political systems. We struggle between state rights and federal goals. Sometimes the Right talks secession, sometimes the Left does. We expect our state values to apply to all in the federation but refuse those that don't meet those of our states. We love to project our nation's power to the world but we're incapable of uniting over much of anything anymore. Is the United States no more? Let's contemplate that one for a minute...
What is your point? The US has evolved. Is it better today than 200 years ago? Regardless, i think you confirm my basic premise that we are in hell, and politics, along with so many laws, amounts to gnashing of teeth, the perpetual arguing over how to negotiate the depths of hell. I write about hell in the religion forum. But politics is a lot like religion where priest-craft and state-craft meet on common ground. I'm a little suspicious of the amount of influence judges have. Yes, some are unelected, but those that are appointed derive from politicians who are elected. Having gotten an A in Business Law in college, i have some respect for the legal opinions that have come down as verdicts from judges over the years. They tended to make sense. But that was business law. The Dred Scott case seems to have been about business, but alas, it was more about politics. That decision was eventually rectified, albeit not without some bloodshed. Likewise, the Roe v Wade decision has been politics, and is only just now being rectified, hopefully without any more bloodshed. Alas, its quite possible that no matter how the law is sliced and diced in the political grinding machine, we may still end up in hell. I don't blame anybody though if they think that by grinding away at politics for another thousand years, we might arrive at some greater ideal, with some semblance of peace. There is some literature out that that suggests just that...sources that delve into the future. Politics can be a maze that we get lost in. At best we can strive for consistency. It was the struggle for consistency, that all men were created equal, that helped the nation rise up from the legal establishment of slavery. That same struggle for consistency is what will drive the enfranchisement of under 18 people through their parents, putting a thumb on the political weight of families. If you believe that it's families that makes a nation strong and worthwhile, you would support that. Consistency is basically the opposite of hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance. Instead of a conservative party, there should be a consistentive party. Staying consistent with this premise, for example, is why i would politically disagree with singling out any group for either special treatment blessing, or special treatment cursing. Using this as a guiding principle, you can understand why giving some students loan forgiveness is just political pandering. Instead, to be consistent, allow all students to pass through a bankruptcy process, making it consistent with every other business process in the nation, instead of the exceptional special treatment student loans have been receiving insofar as they are about the only kind of loan that cannot ever be relieved through bankruptcy. People take politics far too seriously for their mental health. A person on a spiritual path has less and less reason to pay attention to politics, as it becomes clear that one's welfare depends less and less on circumstances of state, and more on the knowledge of, and guidance from the True Self. That path always leads out of, and away from any world where politics seems necessary. At some point, a world in need of politics, and it's gnashing of teeth, will be long forgotten.
Think about it then, if you're mind is so danged free. The state control of corporations is just one step away from state ownership and control of the means of production. That's communism. Communism is far left. Fascism is one step back from the left toward the center. Fascism is a facet of socialism, as the state gradually collectivizes corporations for it's own agenda. Why do you think fascism is inherently capitalist, which is much more on the right? Fascism is the loss of capitalistic autonomy. Arguably, the United States is already socialist, just a few short steps away from total governmental control of corporations, which is communism. And arguably, the Democrats are trending increasingly authoritarian as they drift more and more socialistic. Arguably, the path toward communism opens up a much wider door of opportunity for authoritarian dictators to step through...than does a path toward more equal opportunity (rather than equal outcome).
There is much I disagree with in your long posts but have no time now to address each point. I'll be back!
I came to learn something about right wingers and now Trump supporters years ago, they are TV news watchers. Like 24/7. They’re not readers, they’re constantly absorbing what talking heads tell them. And of course they’re absorbing Fox News and now the newer channels like Newsmax and OAN, and even newer video streaming talking heads. They can’t process other people don’t absorb what’s on tv like they do. They’re in disbelief you don’t watch cable news even though as I have tried to explain to them these news channels only get like half a million to 5 million viewers in a country of 350 million people. They think you watch tv the way they do.
The electoral college, like most of our flaws, came about because of slavery. When we founded our democracy the country was as divided as it is today, north and south. The south was at a population disadvantage. So the electoral college is based on the number of representatives and Senators in college, affording for low population states and slave states to have an unfair advantage. The whole thing needs to be reworked.