Welcome to the General Discussion thread. If you have a topic that doesn't warrant its own thread, post it here. Have a free form discussion going that no longer fits in the original thread? It may be moved here to give it a place to wander. Also, general chit chat is welcome!

Great! I just hope the chat doesn't become a battlefield for people trying to prove other poster's opinions are worthless and we have a peaceful exchange of ideas. How 'bout that boy!

@browser, would you like to share a bit about yourself and your politics ITT? A lot of us know each other very well over years, but we don't know you!

Sure. My politics are independent. I've voted in 12 presidential elections (not 12 times in one presidential election); 6 times for the republican and 6 times for the democrat (intermixed, not 6 of one then 6 of the other). Strangely, recent events have brought to the forefront topics that I had some experience in but never thought I would use again, esp in routine conversations. The first is when covid hit, and suddenly people are talking about virus spread and vaccines, something I left behind long ago when I earned my bachelors degree in Bacteriology and Public Health. Who knew the day would come when everyone could master those subjects by reading a website chat group for 30 mnutes?

But after college I attended the US Army Airborne and Ranger Schools, and decided jumping out of airplanes and shooting at things was more fun than looking through a microscope. Being indecisive, it took me 22 years to decide not to make it a career. I have a special interest in studying influence operations, as I commanded a PSYOP Battalion and was the Deputy Commander of the PSYOP Group. So I find it fascinating how openly mis and disinformation operations are utilized today, and the amount of media coverage there is. I've planned and conducted influence operations around the world, but those were times when stuff like that just wasn't talked about much. So I know propaganda when I see it, because I used to make it. That's surprisingly useful in today's political world (and even as a forum mod).

After the Army I did a variety of things, including running a repo company, (it's satisfying helping people get back on their feet); being the COO of a software company; and lastly being a poker dealer.

Like most military officers of my time, I was pretty apolitical. In many ways it didn't really matter which party was in control, as both parties had people along the spectrum that tended to balance things out. But today is a very different situation. None of us who took the oath to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, back then could ever imagine an actual domestic threat. No one even considered it a possibility. Man has that changed.

So I think we will all face some defining moments for our government and our society in the near future. The sides are moving farther and farther apart, and the traditional guardrails are breaking down. I think having a place on this website to be able to thoroughly examine and discuss these issues is valuable. That's why I decided to get involved with this forum. I hope it can function as a place where people from both sides can get out of their info bubbles for a time and be exposed to what and why the other side thinks.

In a nice way, of course.

So there it is. More about me than anyone cares to know.

Thanks for sharing your background with us.

I look forward to you modding this forum.

Very cool, mang

Share more on the psyops stuff lol luckbox sup

Welcome aboard. 6 R 6 D over the last 12 I assume. My guess is

Carter
Reagan
Reagan
Bush
Bush
Clinton
Bush
Bush
Obama
Obama
Clinton
Biden

Curious to see other people's guesses so maybe hold off for a couple days before telling us?

U probably mean 1 bush twice clinton

No he probably doesn't mean that.

Bush, Sr. x 2 (1 W 1 L)

Bush, Jr. x 2

seems okay

True

I'd be curious about your definition of populism or why you think it's bad that they be enabled (as opposed to say elitists) , but perhaps for a more appropriate thread

It's' really hard to critique an identity politics POV without it being taken as an attack against that identity. White nationalist identity politics is very good at using this to fuel their grievance culture and invent fake problems like reverse racism.

Populist is an emotional form of political discourse. If chez perceives himself as some sort of rationalist who wants to appear logical and above the fray, it would not be surprising if he saw populism as contrary to how he wants politics to be done.

I agree. But that's because Identity Politics itself is often toxic.

You are, of course, correct. . But you don't seem to understand that the Left has versions of that as well. That you call reverse racism "a fake problem" is very telling in your narrative.

I'm not sure what isn't an "emotional form" of political discourse. "Save the whales" is largely an appeal to emotion. "Free Education for All" is largely an appeal to emotion. "Get government off our backs" is largely an appeal to emotion.

I'm not going to pretend that I don't perceive one side as my enemy and that I act accordingly. The most toxic thing in political discourse today is a both sides attitude that refuses to understand that one side relies much more heavily on lies and made-up facts that can be objectively disproven and aren't just differences of opinion. Fair modding of the forum will treat both sides asymmetrically because both sides act asymmetrically.

I might not directly label someone as a racist but I will point out that complaining about reverse racism is a red flag that strongly correlates to being a racist.

I'm pretty much a democratic socialist and I'm very much in the fray.

Rationality is not the enemy. Nor do I oppose emotion. Personally I'm very emotional about injustice, inequality etc. That's a large part of why I'm a democratic socialist.

Populism is exploiting emotion to gain power while offering no reasonable political anlaysis or solutions. Trump is a populist. MAGA was populism. In the UK 'take back control' was populism. It is empty, it is vacuous and it for the benefit of the exploiters.

Populism is neither left-wing nor right-wing and appeals to people who aren't capable of more sophisticated thought than being point at an elite group and being told to hate them. It would not be a bad thing if the rhetoric of criticizing the 1% had tried to develop the same level of fervor of the MAGA movement, if we had Occupy Wall Street storming the New York Stock Exchange instead of an army of idiots invading the Capitol.

Of course that would be a bad thing!

Is this an accurate take on your point-of-view: " Violence perpetrated by an angry mob is fine as long as I agree with the politics of the angry mob?"

Same here. Except, I think the Democrat Party is far more dangerous right now than the Republican Party. (And I can't stand either party at this point.)

I'd be more symapthetic to it but we actually need to focus the emotion into aiming at rational policies and implementation

Unless we have given up on the democracy part.

Maybe I should adopt BDHarrison's philosophy and advocate for the storming of abortion clinics.

I'm giving it serious thought.

So, thanks BDHarrison!

Violence is acceptable as a last resort for a just cause. January 6 was not a just cause, was not even close to being a just cause. I'm not sure if standard government action is still a viable course for reining in corporations and capitalism.

The center-left in the US doesn't have the numbers to overcome gerrymandering and the disproportionality of the Senate. Stirring up emotions far more strongly than has so far been done may be the best path towards gaining majorities large enough to actually accomplish something over the objections of the Manchins and Sinemas of the world.