The General Political Thread

[Rutger Müller]

UBI is for NEETs that just want their NEETbux and it will implode the economy but hey free money! but Yang was argubly the best choice for the dems because he actually knows where he's at a majority of the time
 It might work in a heavily socialized government but definitely not the USA

Also Hawk man I think the point you’re missing on why Trump supporters would support Yang is that Yang talked about how he understood why people who don’t necessarily like Trump voted him anyways (disengagement from society and the economy, dissatisfaction with mainstream politicians) and Yang treated Trump supporters as legitimate voters with legitimate reasons for voting for him, which is not really popular among Democratic circles. Both of these things resonated with Trump supporters, even if they had policy differences with Yang. A lot of people vote for a persons character and political identity rather than strictly policy, and Yang’s character was much more appealing than any other Dem candidate

I voted for trump so I can watch the chimp out happen again which would in turn radicalize the working class white man towards right wing extremism. which would be wholesome 100 big chungus

[The Marksman]

I think Trump really shot himself in the foot, and not even anything recently, but just how he's behaved for the past four years in office. If he had been able to speak with any semblance of eloquence or tried to relate to people who weren't 100% in his camp he would have been targeted a lot less by the media and would have a considerably better image. And being the twitter president and making snide remarks all the time, while entertaining, was not a good long term strategy. If he had acted with a bit more grace I think he wins another term but the way things are now its not looking great for him.

And the Republican party is going to be fine. One thing that was definitely a factor in this election was the current state of things in the country right now. Regardless whether you think covid or the protests were the fault of Trump, when the country is in a bad shape it reflects on the president and people want change. This has been the case for a long time and it will be the reason why the Democrats aren't going to "take over" the country for years to come just because Trump's base is "dying out". Unless you have confidence that the Democratic party can lead the country perfectly from now until the end of time there will be another Republican. Likely one that utilizes a similar approach that Trump did in 2016. Whether or not all republican candidates will be considered "populists" from here on out we'll have to wait to see. 

[Kore]

https://twitter.com/ej11lizzie/status/1324218622751830019

[Fartknocker]

Why does having universal healthcare have any effect on the viability of UBI? The federal government is already very good at mailing cheques, it would be fairly simple to implement a nationwide UBI

Also Hawk man I think the point you’re missing on why Trump supporters would support Yang is that Yang talked about how he understood why people who don’t necessarily like Trump voted him anyways (disengagement from society and the economy, dissatisfaction with mainstream politicians) and Yang treated Trump supporters as legitimate voters with legitimate reasons for voting for him, which is not really popular among Democratic circles. Both of these things resonated with Trump supporters, even if they had policy differences with Yang. A lot of people vote for a persons character and political identity rather than strictly policy, and Yang’s character was much more appealing than any other Dem candidate

[Phil The Thril]

Why does having universal healthcare have any effect on the viability of UBI? The federal government is already very good at mailing cheques, it would be fairly simple to implement a nationwide UBI

Also Hawk man I think the point you’re missing on why Trump supporters would support Yang is that Yang talked about how he understood why people who don’t necessarily like Trump voted him anyways (disengagement from society and the economy, dissatisfaction with mainstream politicians) and Yang treated Trump supporters as legitimate voters with legitimate reasons for voting for him, which is not really popular among Democratic circles. Both of these things resonated with Trump supporters, even if they had policy differences with Yang. A lot of people vote for a persons character and political identity rather than strictly policy, and Yang’s character was much more appealing than any other Dem candidate

You totally misunderstood what Hawkince was saying about UBI and universal health care go back and reread his post. Also if you honestly think that UBI is as simple as government mailing checks then you have a child-like understanding of politics in the United States.

[Hawkince]

Why does having universal healthcare have any effect on the viability of UBI? The federal government is already very good at mailing cheques, it would be fairly simple to implement a nationwide UBI

Also Hawk man I think the point you’re missing on why Trump supporters would support Yang is that Yang talked about how he understood why people who don’t necessarily like Trump voted him anyways (disengagement from society and the economy, dissatisfaction with mainstream politicians) and Yang treated Trump supporters as legitimate voters with legitimate reasons for voting for him, which is not really popular among Democratic circles. Both of these things resonated with Trump supporters, even if they had policy differences with Yang. A lot of people vote for a persons character and political identity rather than strictly policy, and Yang’s character was much more appealing than any other Dem candidate

It's the implication that a nation without universal healthcare is a long ways away from implenting UBI. Federal Minimum wage hasn't been increased since 2007 and if increasing with inflation should be just over 9$ now. The idea that Biden is a candidate with little widespread appeal is also inherently false. The reason the DNC got behind him was because he was seen as a moderate and could appeal to broad sides of the spectrum. Also fartknocker had said he supported Yang through a combination of his identity and policy something I believe Biden shares alot more with him then Trump.

[Krastinov]

finally the furries get their vengeance

[sidney crosby]

yang campaigned primarily  on the freedom dividend/UBI + said he would endorse a candidate that also supported UBI. Not sure how you transition into trump who’s administration has delivered one stimulus check over 9 months of the pandemic. even uncle joe is too moderate to implement something like UBI

[Sgt.Winters]

I don't know if the DNC would even allow a candidate like Yang to ever become the frontrunner. They run boring, milquetoast neoliberals because that's precisely what most of the center-left want: a boring president that you don't have to worry about.

On the other hand, the imminent recession caused by COVID could be its best shot for years to come. The moratoriums for millions are about to end and food banks are getting longer lines every day. Something drastic needs to happen in order to avoid an even bigger disaster than it already is. It'll get shit on by some of the right for being "socialism" while the establishment continues to ignore every problem in the country in it while continuing to suck up to its donors, but I don't really see a better opportunity.

[Fartknocker]

I only meant to quote the bottom part of what Theodin said. You were asking how a Trump voter could flip to Yang. His response nailed it.

I also put more stock into the person than the policies. Trump was different than the normal boring politicians and he was entertaining and honest. I am big on business and the business appeal of Trump was initially what got me. Hillary was also fucking awful and I couldn’t stand her. So that didn’t help. Biden is just old and listening to him speak is fucking hard to sit through. Kamala Harris is like the opposite end of the spectrum. Trump was doing a fairly good job before the pandemic although him not knowing how to shut up and just say the right thing is always annoying. If there was a decent democratic candidate I’d have strongly considered voting Democrat.

[Hawkince]

I don't know if the DNC would even allow a candidate like Yang to ever become the frontrunner. They run boring, milquetoast neoliberals because that's precisely what most of the center-left want: a boring president that you don't have to worry about.

On the other hand, the imminent recession caused by COVID could be its best shot for years to come. The moratoriums for millions are about to end and food banks are getting longer lines every day. Something drastic needs to happen in order to avoid an even bigger disaster than it already is. It'll get shit on by some of the right for being "socialism" while the establishment continues to ignore every problem in the country in it while continuing to suck up to its donors, but I don't really see a better opportunity.

This is not true. Obama was a remarkably unknown state senator and came in at a time when he was given almost no shot. Hillary Clinton was a enormous favorite and Obama won people over with his message of hope and great change. Obama invigorated many people and ran 2 very successful campaigns. Regardless of what you think Obama did or didn't do for America you have to agree that he was by no means a "boring, milquetoast neoliberal" candidate because he was the complete opposite.

[Theodin]

Spoiler

Why does having universal healthcare have any effect on the viability of UBI? The federal government is already very good at mailing cheques, it would be fairly simple to implement a nationwide UBI

Also Hawk man I think the point you’re missing on why Trump supporters would support Yang is that Yang talked about how he understood why people who don’t necessarily like Trump voted him anyways (disengagement from society and the economy, dissatisfaction with mainstream politicians) and Yang treated Trump supporters as legitimate voters with legitimate reasons for voting for him, which is not really popular among Democratic circles. Both of these things resonated with Trump supporters, even if they had policy differences with Yang. A lot of people vote for a persons character and political identity rather than strictly policy, and Yang’s character was much more appealing than any other Dem candidate

You totally misunderstood what Hawkince was saying about UBI and universal health care go back and reread his post. Also if you honestly think that UBI is as simple as government mailing checks then you have a child-like understanding of politics in the United States.

[close]

the political climate and the policy are two different things ; UBI is, at its core, a very simple idea. but obviously the actual legislation would be complex, no doubt

It's the implication that a nation without universal healthcare is a long ways away from implenting UBI. Federal Minimum wage hasn't been increased since 2007 and if increasing with inflation should be just over 9$ now.

Yes, I agree, that is a strong implication - however, many dichotomies exist within the US government political system, so it wouldn't be that much of a surprise to see UBI with a private healthcare system

The idea that Biden is a candidate with little widespread appeal is also inherently false. The reason the DNC got behind him was because he was seen as a moderate and could appeal to broad sides of the spectrum.

I never said Biden didn't have widespread appeal among broad sections of society, this is obviously true, he just had a lot less appeal from Trump supporters comparatively

[JollyCanadian]

I got my stimulus few days after I applied. Feels nice

[Fartknocker]

I don't know if the DNC would even allow a candidate like Yang to ever become the frontrunner. They run boring, milquetoast neoliberals because that's precisely what most of the center-left want: a boring president that you don't have to worry about.

On the other hand, the imminent recession caused by COVID could be its best shot for years to come. The moratoriums for millions are about to end and food banks are getting longer lines every day. Something drastic needs to happen in order to avoid an even bigger disaster than it already is. It'll get shit on by some of the right for being "socialism" while the establishment continues to ignore every problem in the country in it while continuing to suck up to its donors, but I don't really see a better opportunity.

This is not true. Obama was a remarkably unknown state senator and came in at a time when he was given almost no shot. Hillary Clinton was a enormous favorite and Obama won people over with his message of hope and great change. Obama invigorated many people and ran 2 very successful campaigns. Regardless of what you think Obama did or didn't do for America you have to agree that he was by no means a "boring, milquetoast neoliberal" candidate because he was the complete opposite.

I agree.

Obama was a great "leader". As in, the man was very charismatic, funny, relatable, nice, well spoken, and was different than the norm. I like the guy a lot even though I disagree with some of his policies on healthcare and the economy. He will probably be the coolest president of our lifetimes tbh. And it is easy for me to see someone like that winning again.

[Glenn]

I don't know if the DNC would even allow a candidate like Yang to ever become the frontrunner. They run boring, milquetoast neoliberals because that's precisely what most of the center-left want: a boring president that you don't have to worry about.

On the other hand, the imminent recession caused by COVID could be its best shot for years to come. The moratoriums for millions are about to end and food banks are getting longer lines every day. Something drastic needs to happen in order to avoid an even bigger disaster than it already is. It'll get shit on by some of the right for being "socialism" while the establishment continues to ignore every problem in the country in it while continuing to suck up to its donors, but I don't really see a better opportunity.

This is not true. Obama was a remarkably unknown state senator and came in at a time when he was given almost no shot. Hillary Clinton was a enormous favorite and Obama won people over with his message of hope and great change. Obama invigorated many people and ran 2 very successful campaigns. Regardless of what you think Obama did or didn't do for America you have to agree that he was by no means a "boring, milquetoast neoliberal" candidate because he was the complete opposite.

I agree.

Obama was a great "leader". As in, the man was very charismatic, funny, relatable, nice, well spoken, and was different than the norm. I like the guy a lot even though I disagree with some of his policies on healthcare and the economy. He will probably be the coolest president of our lifetimes tbh. And it is easy for me to see someone like that winning again.

Obama is also a hall of fame corner specialist