Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
- Terrapin Station
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
I'm not of the opinion that some politicians are much better than others, really. I'm not a fan of either Republicans or Democrats in the U.S. In my view, for my interests, there's not that much difference between them. Both parties are a mess. And even alternate parties that have much traction are a mess, too. To have any viability they need to approach the norms of Democrats & Republicans, but that's not the direction to pursue in my opinion. Neither party is going to significantly fix anything that needs fixing. But that's because of the dispositions, views and concerns of the populace they're serving.
Aside from that, the quibbling about personal behavior/personal transgressions--how much tax someone paid, the "grabbing vaginas" stuff, etc. is part of what annoys me. That stuff isn't very important on my view. What we need is someone who'll make major changes that make most citizens' daily lives better, because it has some major practical impact on how citizens do and can choose to live and be comfortable. But most folks, no matter their political identity, aren't amenable to making any sorts of big lifestyle changes. People tend to be resistant to too much change, even if it would make their lives much better once they got used to it. So they quibble about stupid, moralizing $h|t that makes no practical difference for anyone's lives.
Hence why I don't pay much attention to daily politics.
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
But, having said all that, do you vote in elections like the one coming up? On the subject of not being a fan of either side, I it seems to me most people would agree with you. The "don't get me started on those bozos in Washington..." is a common refrain. But a lot of those people still vote. They vote for the candidate/side that they dislike slightly less than the other candidate/side. Do you do that?Terrapin Station wrote:...Hence why I don't pay much attention to daily politics.
- Sy Borg
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
I take your point that the narratives are simplistic and focus on ephemera. Still, if I own a company, there is no way I'd hire a CEO who is a serious tax avoider, who had stolen from his own foundation, who tells constant obvious lies and is known to abuse and exploit women.Terrapin Station wrote: ↑October 31st, 2020, 10:17 amAside from that, the quibbling about personal behavior/personal transgressions--how much tax someone paid, the "grabbing vaginas" stuff, etc.
I would not entrust the wellbeing of a company to such a man, let alone millions of people.
Trump's releasing huge amounts of previously protected lands for commercialisation provided a short-term boost of the economy and creates jobs for which he has been praised. (More shallow commentary). The environmental damage won't be Trump's problem when the "low hanging fruit" is used up in a few years' time and dust storms increase due to tree removal.
- Terrapin Station
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
Yeah, definitely I vote, although for president, I usually vote for either the Libertarian or Green candidate--which never ends up counting for much, since neither party has a chance in Hell of winning. However, in this current election, I thought it was important enough to get rid of Trump that I voted for Biden.Steve3007 wrote: ↑November 1st, 2020, 2:02 pmBut, having said all that, do you vote in elections like the one coming up? On the subject of not being a fan of either side, I it seems to me most people would agree with you. The "don't get me started on those bozos in Washington..." is a common refrain. But a lot of those people still vote. They vote for the candidate/side that they dislike slightly less than the other candidate/side. Do you do that?Terrapin Station wrote:...Hence why I don't pay much attention to daily politics.
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
I guess that highlights one of the funny things about having to vote for a whole "package" - a party or candidate with a whole package of policies, only some of which we might agree with. I presume there are many ways in which the Libertarian and Green parties could be seen as fundamentally disagreeing with each other. I would have thought a classic Libertarian would tend to see many Green party policies as unwarranted government interference because environmental issues generally tend to need government action, nationally and internationally. But you've characterized yourself recently as having a mixture of Libertarian and Socialist views so I suppose that issue doesn't necessarily arise for you.Terrapin Station wrote:Yeah, definitely I vote, although for president, I usually vote for either the Libertarian or Green candidate--which never ends up counting for much, since neither party has a chance in Hell of winning.
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
Of course, you could say that about almost all votes including those that are cast for one of the two most popular candidates/parties. In the US, people who don't live in swing states might wonder why they bother voting, just as people who live in the UK might wonder the same thing if they live in "safe seat" constituencies. But we can then take that to its conclusion that the only vote which counts is the one that tips the balance. In the 2000 US presidential election we might speculate that the only votes that counted were the 500 that tipped the balance in Florida....which never ends up counting for much...
- Terrapin Station
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Re: Section 230 - REPEAL IT?
Yeah, basically I'm a minarchist libertarian on social/cultural mores (basically I'm in favor of letting people do whatever the f--- they want to do consensually), but a(n idiosyncratic sort of) socialist on economics. I'm not pro-capitalism. I'd prefer a very different sort of economic structure that has never been tried before, where we'd not even base it on money in any traditional sense. And I'm of the view that no one should be without food, shelter, health care, employment, education, transportation, and even leisure options if they want those things. Re "how we'd pay for it"--we wouldn't, because the economy wouldn't be based on money in any traditional sense. Instead, we'd simply manage resources (in a manner that's socialist/cooperative) to do the things we need to do, and we'd reward people (via access to scarcer resources) for doing more (via hard work and/or ingenuity) to make sure that everyone has access to all the stuff they want access to. It would be an economy based on cooperation/helping other people, but it would have competition still built into it, as the people who do the most to help others would be rewarded with the most scarce resources. The competition would be based on making other people's lives better (per those persons' own assessments re what they desire/prefer).Steve3007 wrote: ↑November 3rd, 2020, 8:10 amI guess that highlights one of the funny things about having to vote for a whole "package" - a party or candidate with a whole package of policies, only some of which we might agree with. I presume there are many ways in which the Libertarian and Green parties could be seen as fundamentally disagreeing with each other. I would have thought a classic Libertarian would tend to see many Green party policies as unwarranted government interference because environmental issues generally tend to need government action, nationally and internationally. But you've characterized yourself recently as having a mixture of Libertarian and Socialist views so I suppose that issue doesn't necessarily arise for you.Terrapin Station wrote:Yeah, definitely I vote, although for president, I usually vote for either the Libertarian or Green candidate--which never ends up counting for much, since neither party has a chance in Hell of winning.
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