this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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The right: We have a right to defend ourselves
The left: Naaaaaah, the government will surely protect you instead!
This is a strawman.
@PizzaMan @MasterObee The idea of right & left politics is also a straw man. A very well maintained one that keeps everyone thinking ‘they’ will destroy us and only ‘we’ can save us. It is self perpetuating by pushing us further apart ideologically. It requires us to identify with one side or the other, eventually entrenching us so deep we cannot see any common ground without huge effort.
That's not really how a strawman fallacy works, because a strawman is a kind of argument, and the tribalism you're talking about is an action/concept. But I understand what you're getting at.
Do you have a solution in mind for the problem?
@PizzaMan Fair enough, pizza man, you are correct. Gaslighting is more appropriate I guess. As far as solutions go we need to acknowledge our inherent biases and strive to see the world from beyond our own experiences. There can never be a shortage of empathy or humility in a person or culture. Individualism (almost by definition) does not make for a great society.
I agree, however it seems that you have given a rather individualistic solution:
@PizzaMan Okay, okay… an individualistic solution for individualism… not great so: At all political levels; implement a maximum number of terms allowed to eliminate career politicians. And; Proportional representation which creates more minority governments (forcing people & parties to work together) and increase voter turnout (the health of a democracy is directly proportional to the percentage of citizens who vote)… more I’m sure, but this poop is only so long.
I can agree with that.
Do you mean to suggest we get rid of the electoral collage in favor of a popular vote? If so then I also agree.
How do you suggest we do this?
I respect the honestly lmao.
I have some ideas for the "more" part.
Lobbying (bribery) of any kind at any government level should be criminalized
Changing from the electoral collage to popular vote
RCV or approval voting to reduce the polarization/extremism of candidates and allow for 3rd parties to exist
Election spending reform - All candidates for a given position should equally share campaign money from a shared pool
Journalism reform - No journalism should be done for profit, and the penalty for lying (including lying by omission) to the public should be severe
@PizzaMan Countries that use a proportional representation system typically have a higher voter turnout than countries that do not. Seeing a group of people in the ruling body(ies) that actually represents the entire constituency brings more people to the table. Feeling that your vote actually matters is empowering. Empowered people care and participate.
Also agreed here.
@PizzaMan Proportional Representation would eliminate the electoral college. Though I am not too sure how it would work for the presidency. Here’s a site that explains it much better than I ever would. https://www.fairvote.ca/what-is-proportional-representation/.
@PizzaMan It seems like a blend of the RCV and approval systems, though there are a few variations on each. No one system is ideal for every time and space.
It seems we more or less agree on that point then.
@PizzaMan Journalism: I like severe consequences for lying, though a baseline for ‘truth’ would be difficult to determine collectively. A not for profit media seems more trustworthy than profit models, but even today, people do not trust state run media unless it fits their biases. Sorry for responding piecemeal to all your points. Getting dishes done and putting kids to bed while trying to have a beer is very distracting. Also sorry for formatting. Still learning mastodon.
Non profit != state run.
Non profit is simply a tax filing method in which your financial records are public, and any money that is made doesn't go to shareholders. It goes to maintaining the organization, no more.
No worries, all good.
Again no worries. And I'm actually not on mastodon, I'm on lemmy.world. But it is cool how the two services work together.
@PizzaMan Fuck lobbyists. I agree entirely; throw them all in the volcano. (I assume that’s what you meant by ‘criminalize’)
Yup, that's more or less what I mean.
@PizzaMan I absolutely love your spending reform idea. I have a feeling that many politicians would as well. Most of them hate hitting the phones to whine for more donations. Their overlords would not like the idea though. Elections are big business.
Their corp overlords wouldn't like it so it has no chance of ever happening unfortunately.