General News Thread

[LegalLoliLover]

1. Taiwan says hi. Hong Kong says hi. Mongolia says hi. Xinjiang says hi. India technically would say hi, but they're just that good at defending themselves, rather than China not wanting to.
2. CCP Virus. Are you telling me that China hasn't tried to silence critics outside of the country? https://www.npr.org/2020/04/14/82856...silence-his-wi https://rsf.org/en/news/coronavirus-...china-silenced https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/w...crackdown.html
3. Whatever Russia is doing, China is doing and more. Russia is doing it the discreet way, while China is being both discreet and direct. https://www.newsweek.com/why-downpla...pinion-1534701 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN25V2NY https://www.cato.org/publications/co...nts-trump-lose
I will admit that actual Russian interference does have a reverse Boy Who Cried Wolf effect, given that now people are quick to dismiss actual information that would paint Biden in a bad light, as "Russian interference".

[asterism42]

Really? Like China is bad, but at least their not currently trying to annex a neighbouting nation.

The Tibetans would beg to differ

[Twelveseal]

There's a reason the Dalai Lama lives in exile in India rather than in Tibet. Also, the fact that the CCP demands the right to choose his next Reincarnation.

Kind of like they get to pick their own Cardinals...

[Mattias]

Shit I did forget about Tibet.

[Twelveseal]

Don't get me wrong here, Russia and China are both shit. See also Iran, who's also been busted messing around with the US elections.

Unfortunately, we're at a point now where this is normal, and is frankly pretty much unpreventable in totality without implementing China-level censorship and media control or completely restructuring how news and journalism operate into something other than a for-profit or donation-driven model and stripping control over elections from the states and instead centralizing it under federal control. And then actually having competent, non-corrupt officials run and protect the process.

So yeah, at this point, we might as well not worry about it. It ain't gonna get fixed.

[Dullahan]

if you would need totalitarian measures to make your 'democracy' work as it should, then you should consider whether that word is an appropriate description of the system that you in fact have.

[Twelveseal]

Agreed.

[rxrx]

At least have some measures that can prevent the abuse of power, and maybe teach people not to vote on whim but with their head?

Not possible of course, since the winning party would want to keep things as they are.

[LegalLoliLover]

There's a reason the Dalai Lama lives in exile in India rather than in Tibet. Also, the fact that the CCP demands the right to choose his next Reincarnation.

Kind of like they get to pick their own Cardinals...

Imagine filing a reincarnation form, like tax returns. Actually, you don't need to imagine:

Don't get me wrong here, Russia and China are both shit. See also Iran, who's also been busted messing around with the US elections.

Unfortunately, we're at a point now where this is normal, and is frankly pretty much unpreventable in totality without implementing China-level censorship and media control or completely restructuring how news and journalism operate into something other than a for-profit or donation-driven model and stripping control over elections from the states and instead centralizing it under federal control. And then actually having competent, non-corrupt officials run and protect the process.

So yeah, at this point, we might as well not worry about it. It ain't gonna get fixed.

I'd rather have less censorship for any context. In other words, better to have rumors and hearsay mixed in with the truth, rather than shut it all down to replace it with a mainstream-approved "truth", which is usually all lies, as shown in China.

[Twelveseal]

I didn't say put under government control as far as media goes. See the "restructuring" portion above. It's also why I didn't make an alternative suggestion there. I'm not sure what the answer to the problem is, since the "problem" is widespread corruption allowed to linger without an effective measure to punish it. This applies to the government, private business, entertainment and media, and religious institutions. It's all been allowed to intersect and interfere with one another to varying degrees, exploiting these connections to leverage advantage and influence that have slowly reduced the actual ability of our political system to function.

[rxrx]

I didn't say put under government control as far as media goes. See the "restructuring" portion above. It's also why I didn't make an alternative suggestion there. I'm not sure what the answer to the problem is, since the "problem" is widespread corruption allowed to linger without an effective measure to punish it. This applies to the government, private business, entertainment and media, and religious institutions. It's all been allowed to intersect and interfere with one another to varying degrees, exploiting these connections to leverage advantage and influence that have slowly reduced the actual ability of our political system to function.

Plenty of work have to be done to do any restructuring since the interests group will do their hardest to prevent change to the status quo. So brainwashing people in spending thoughtlessly despite the real dangers of it and polluting their mind with the dangers of policies like universal healthcare is of utmost importance. Heck, even dealing with racial issues is a no in some places since playing racial policies are one of the best ways to get votes.

Close to mission impossible, but something that has to be done unless people are okay with being walked over.

[asterism42]

[LegalLoliLover]

Plenty of work have to be done to do any restructuring since the interests group will do their hardest to prevent change to the status quo. So brainwashing people in spending thoughtlessly despite the real dangers of it and polluting their mind with the dangers of policies like universal healthcare is of utmost importance. Heck, even dealing with racial issues is a no in some places since playing racial policies are one of the best ways to get votes.

Close to mission impossible, but something that has to be done unless people are okay with being walked over.

At least, we have elections.

[forumghost]

At least, we have elections.

Elections aren't worth anything when you're choices are between Kang and Kodos.

[Twelveseal]

I voted for Kodos!

[Mattias]

At least, we have elections.

I don't know, the whole electoral college thing you guys have is super open to corruption and ignoring the will of the people. It's pretty much an oligarchy that hasn't realized it yet.

[Twelveseal]

Basically. I mean, there's barely any meaningful ability to select candidates. You either need the backing of a major party or be stupid rich in order to effectively campaign for local office, let alone federal ones. We have a rather obvious ruling class. Trump is a prime example; inherited wealth who openly claimed in the 2016 campaign that he couldn't be bought because he "was one of the people who bought politicians."

[LegalLoliLover]

I don't know, the whole electoral college thing you guys have is super open to corruption and ignoring the will of the people. It's pretty much an oligarchy that hasn't realized it yet.

Look. I live in RI, but I wouldn't want a pure democracy, given the tyranny of the masses. A representative republic is a good enough compromise, at least when compared to the extremes on both sides.

[Twelveseal]

Mmmmyeaaaaah... I've seen enough idiots in all walks of life to know that some people have no business governing others. That said, if you're competent but corrupt, you also have no business serving the public good. Because you won't.

[Mattias]

Is it really? Why not just abolish the presidency? Why bother having a figurehead who may or may not have the ability to set policy?