Political Discussion


The past three months have been financially painful for many Americans -- but not for billionaires.

US billionaires have become $565 billion richer since March 18, according to a report published Thursday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank.

Total wealth for billionaires now stands at $3.5 trillion, up 19% from the low point near the beginning of the pandemic, the report said.

The acceleration of wealth for the richest Americans is being driven by the remarkable recovery of the stock market, which has skyrocketed in large part because of unprecedented action from the Federal Reserve.

"The stock market taking off — and decoupling from the real economy — is exacerbating inequality," said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco.


Surprise surprise. The pandemic further contributed to wage inequality.
 
People are incredibly stupid and followers. My first thought was those numbers didn't make sense, but a lot of people probably didn't read the whole thing much less question what they read.
Well, when social media memes become your news source can you really expect much? I've said it before, this administration, how it's handled both the pandemic and the protesting have, at least in my world, revealed a lot of peoples "true colors", and I'm talking family and friends as well. I have so many that just regurgitate memes on whatever platform they're on, no questioning it for accuracy, it just meets their narrative or is a knock against the "other" side in meme fashion. I pointed out to a FB friend/family that just about everything she posts has a Fact Check notification right below it and she got upset with ME for it.

You can't have a conversation with them to try and understand, it's always a knee jerk "Fake News" reaction.
 
SCIENCE.
terrifyingly accurate

In your view, what causes these upheavals?
Historically, the trouble has always come from people with power, and the number of those people who want the most power. There are too many political entrepreneurs who are all trying to get power, and they get frustrated, which is how revolutions start: when members of the elite try to overturn the political order to better suit themselves.
 
SCIENCE.

fbd.jpg
 
What are people’s thoughts on the NYT running the Cotton op-Ed? Frankly I’m livid about it and just got into a huge tiff with my father over it that ended with me texting “white moderates are the gateway to fascism” and him replying “shut up”.

 
What are people’s thoughts on the NYT running the Cotton op-Ed? Frankly I’m livid about it and just got into a huge tiff with my father over it that ended with me texting “white moderates are the gateway to fascism” and him replying “shut up”.

You think his op-ed was moderate?
 
What are people’s thoughts on the NYT running the Cotton op-Ed? Frankly I’m livid about it and just got into a huge tiff with my father over it that ended with me texting “white moderates are the gateway to fascism” and him replying “shut up”.

You think his op-ed was moderate?
@dhodo I think the “white Moderates” in reference maybe the NYT Editorial Board?

I think it’s complicated, I think giving Cotton this large of platform to spew this shit unchecked is not a good look but I also think that most have derided his Opinion piece as fascism as you would expect most New York Times readers would probably not be swayed and there is something to be said about providing elected officials a public forum to hang themselves with their own words. Lots of people thought Trump was a joke and covered his campaign as such until it was too late. My biggest takeaway is there is a lot of energy being expended on the left being pissed that Tom Cotton got into the NYT Opinions page when the bigger issue should be that this fascist got into the US Senate.
 
This from an Australian.......
View attachment 50388

So take a little comfort in knowing the rest of the world see's what a "Jerk" he is.
So, Trump has a couple of hotels in Scotland, basically so he can say he has golf courses in the home of golf (his mother was Scottish). This was how we greeted him.

Edit - as you can imagine, it uses full-on swearing, so bear that in mind...


 
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@dhodo I think the “white Moderates” in reference maybe the NYT Editorial Board?

I think it’s complicated, I think giving Cotton this large of platform to spew this shit unchecked is not a good look but I also think that most have derided his Opinion piece as fascism as you would expect most New York Times readers would probably not be swayed and there is something to be said about providing elected officials a public forum to hang themselves with their own words. Lots of people thought Trump was a joke and covered his campaign as such until it was too late. My biggest takeaway is there is a lot of energy being expended on the left being pissed that Tom Cotton got into the NYT Opinions page when the bigger issue should be that this fascist got into the US Senate.
Ah, that makes more sense.

I tend to agree with you. It is hard for me to get worked up about it, because I can't imagine anyone's opinion being changed because of it, but I don't trust myself to judge that really because I'm not swayed by a lot of things and I can't understand why a lot of people believe conspiracy theories and other horrible things either, but they still do.

I don't see what value was gained by just printing what he wrote in an editorial that couldn't have been handled better by reporting on what he has said and providing more context and commentary in a non-opinion piece, though. That seems more responsible to me.

I think all the conservatives that do nothing but call the NYtimes fake news who have come out of the woodwork to criticize all of the people who are upset about it are just blathering hypocrites though.

Definitely agree with your last point, but I'm not sure what difference it would have made, look at how long Steve King lasted.
 
Ah, that makes more sense.

I tend to agree with you. It is hard for me to get worked up about it, because I can't imagine anyone's opinion being changed because of it, but I don't trust myself to judge that really because I'm not swayed by a lot of things and I can't understand why a lot of people believe conspiracy theories and other horrible things either, but they still do.

I don't see what value was gained by just printing what he wrote in an editorial that couldn't have been handled better by reporting on what he has said and providing more context and commentary in a non-opinion piece, though. That seems more responsible to me.

I think all the conservatives that do nothing but call the NYtimes fake news who have come out of the woodwork to criticize all of the people who are upset about it are just blathering hypocrites though.

Definitely agree with your last point, but I'm not sure what difference it would have made, look at how long Steve King lasted.

My main issue with it, other than it’s a repeat of how they slowly convinced the American public that war with Iraq was justified, is that it’s an authoritarian op-Ed.

The leftist equivalent would be giving a column to a new age communist. And yet, they won’t even publish a Democratic Socialist viewpoint unless they are forced to cover Bernie Sanders.

The left is completely removed from the conversation by the “liberal” media in this country and they’ve brainwashed entire generations of people who consider themselves intellectual into an unwavering neoliberal mindset... but apparently it’s okay to publish fascists.

Meanwhile, unmarked vans are swooping up protestors, cops are trapping others in place so they can’t leave before curfew and a judge just ruled that protesters can be held indefinitely in jails that also happen to be Covid hotspots.

 




I can't remember who it was that was being interviewed, I think maybe the Buffalo Chief of Police, not sure, but whomever it was, when asked about the 57 who resigned said that they can stay resigned because if they have a problem with things now, they're not needed when more changes take place.
 
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They only resigned from emergency response team, they are still cops.

“The resigning 57 officers comprised the entire Buffalo police department (BDP) emergency response team. They will still be employed by BDP and be paid, but they will no longer work on the emergency response team.”
 

Edit: Darn Robot check. The article is about how as of 6/2, one third of Americans who files for unemployment benifits during this pandemic have yet to recieve a single check due to the backlog.
 
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