Today Good Day or Bad Day?
Hmmm... and my TV is always on. I feel naked now.
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π( ο½’'Ξ')πγγγπ
Newspeakπ
It is common in the video game industry and in film and television for vocabulary to be reduced to make things understandable to the populace by replacing it with acceptable language.
(The populace being mobilized to understand, even if they don't understand.π)
The world of 1984 is now a common sight on Earth.
It's a side street, so you don't have to read it.
[NSFW]
For example, if the people don't like you, it is easier to make the people who do like you into citizens than to make the people who don't like you disappear.
I feel that this is rather common on a global scale. And I'll put it in terms that sound good... foreign trainees, wonderful days in providing low-wage labor... and then where they fumbled quickly to respond... they insist on subsidies for employment to help refugees from overseas and welfare if they lose their jobs. Even when there is an excess surplus of labor in their own country, they do not turn over labor to a generation that is critical of the regime.
Well, there are even countries that are rumored to deprive people who do not work of their right to have a say in their lives by calling them slaves and taking away their money, and welfare for their own citizens is rumored to be passed on later than for people from other countries.
There are places on earth where young people commit petty crimes in an attempt to get protection in prison, or even to get revenge on society, and there are places where young people commit the most suicides in the world in developed countries.
πI removed that link at the end of the video that I assumed was embedded with the publicity of the ruling party of a certain country, so I removed that link.π
It was a video of Orwell's last interview.γI dread the times when they make comedies out of originals like that.
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As someone who lives in Europe, this may affect the outlook of USA again. Many years ago, I was worried because Trump was a total joke on the internet where people were making fun of his takes. That hasn't change and will not change for sure, but without a doubt a lot will change and will affect the rest of the world in a way or another for the next 4 years. What I pray and hope is that economically US is going to get out of financial rut bit by bit. I'm only wishing ya'll the best whether you support or not Trump.
As someone who is Christian, I hope the 2 attempted murders really set him straight and lead the country in the right direction. I feel bad that there were just those two options to pick from. Not much choices, but hey, someone's gotta win.
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I think this is my favorite comment from this whole discussion. π
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First of all, please forgive if i mispell something, english is not my main language.
I agree with what has been said, I'm European, not much into USA politics, but i really hope that he can do something about the healthcare. In here, most of the medical procedures (not aesthetical, but surgeries and urgent medical assistance for example) are almost free and i'm very concerned about what most of people have to go through in case they need assistance, been watching some stories and my heart shatters... Wish you all the best!
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And the food. People need to be given healthy food. They deserve it like the rest of us. I hope it pans out for them. Maybe not with Trump but starts with him and the next decades America becomes great again.
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He wont do anything to improve the affordability of healthcare, in fact it is him that got in the way of Obama care and made it much worse although Obama care was almost there. He made a bunch of empty promises to make it better now and before, but nothing will come out of it. It just fishes for people's votes who don't know anything and they fell for it. He said the same thing his last term and prices were at an all time high. Prices actually became lower with certain practitioners during Biden's presidency which is interesting but now it's gonna maintain or spike, I don't see it going lower. Trump talks about business but he has 7 bankruptcies.
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Not wanting to talk any politics in the comments
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The unrealistic part of that film is that they were somehow still alive, the rest I can see happening if everything goes wrong.
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I dunno, the fact that Camacho was (actually) charismatic was the only part that they whiffed.
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I'm having a shitty day myself but that's completely unrelated to the elections in the US since I'm not from there, I just woke up feeling like crap (I suspect a mild heatstroke) and then life decided to throw a few unexpected complications my way to spice things up.
That said, ooh boy you guys got it rough, but you had to choose between two bad options so it's not like things could go right anyway. Been there, done that, last year my country had to choose between two terrible options while the country itself was catching fire (figuratively, not actually on fire, cos these days you have to clarify this) so I feel your pain.
My condolences to the minorities they're planning to use as escape goats, specially trans people, stay strong.
And OP, did you really think a thread like this wasn't going to get political? Big ask right there.
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I know not everyone believes the same as I do, but I have hope not in who sits in the oval office. My hope is in God who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, and who gives food to the hungry. This is a hope that cannot be taken away no matter what trials and suffering may come.
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. So it will be with Trump. So it will also be with Harris, Stein, and Oliver. All confidence should be cast before the Lord who rules and reigns over all things.
(In case it matters to you, I did not vote for Trump.)
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(Can't tell if bait, but it looks so moist and delicious... just a nibble?)
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I was a poll worker for the first time this year and, despite the workers at the precinct being of different and various parties, we got along very well indeed. No hard feelings. No rancor nor snipping at each other. Courtesy to all. We wanted the voters we were serving to be able to vote as they saw fit. We had a good time swapping life stories, keeping each other awake in slow times and having each other's backs during rushes, trading jokes, helping people, following the Golden Rule, and generally being good neighbors to each other. At the end of the day some of us poll workers hugged poll workers from the other party and thanked each other for the good, interesting and enjoyable time. I would like to think I made some genuine friends from all over the political spectrum.
it was also really interesting to see the voting system at work from this side.
Some of the voters-- senior citizens all the way down to the younger folks--who showed up to vote were a lot of fun and very interesting to chat with. I was blessed to see some people whom I hadn't seen in a while. Political opinions and preferences were left at the door and inside the voting booth.
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I volunteered once and it was pretty much a good atmosphere. Rules forbid to show affiliations or preference for a candidate and nobody asked, which I guess helped keep things smooth.
Every time I vote, I bake cookies to take to the volunteers at my voting place. It's a long day and underappreciated work so thank you for your service.
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both American presidents would have the same outcome for EU economy, but only one of them is meme material, that's all i need to know.
Am i surprised? a bit, not because he is seen as a massive clown and a big joke, and then thereΒ΄s the criminal charges.
but because of the televised circus that was his campaign. its hard as an outsider not to smile when you see this cult like mentality, and conspiracy theories. Most countries would count him as a joke candidate
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There were 2 presidents in modern US history who were not warmongers: Jimmy Carter and Donald Trump.
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Also Putin and Orban are legendary peacemaking peacekeepers of the world (and warm friends too)
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Democracy dies when you have an illiterate, apathetic citizenry. The vast majority of Americans show complete stunning lack of media literacy, critical thinking and empathy, whichever "team" you voted for. I'm not even sure they know how they're system of government works or how laws are passed.To those of you who did know what the stakes are and understand why a president can't make everything better with a wave of his hands, and understood what the assignment was. My heart goes out to you. To those of you who didn't vote for whatever reason you can think of or your silly both sides are the same rhetoric, in a a bid to have some moral superiority you are part of the problem. You weren't paying attention and when things get worse, which they will, you are just as much to blame as everyone who voted for him.
There were two choices, you may not like either of the two of choices but one has stated that he wants to suspend your constitution and go after his political rivals and having concepts of a plan, and the other was offering tax breaks and incentives to first time home buyers, expanding medicaid to help take care of ailing elderly parents, and protecting a woman's right to choose. One side is talking about de-naturalizing citizens and getting rid of birth right citizenship, some people around him are talking about getting rid of a woman's right to vote. Luckily some of those things are harder to do than others, but they are talking about deporting millions of people, and if you think that they're going to do this in a competent manner once again you haven't been paying attention. One side is talking about strengthening unions so you have more collective bargaining, the other side is talking about getting rid of overtime. Both sides are not the same.
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To those of you who did know what the stakes are and understand why a president can't make everything better with a wave of his hands, and understood what the assignment was
They weren't voting only for president. It looks like whole political board turned red, including supreme court :) Democracy worked and now the other side can show what they can do. As for pople who didn't vote? I don't blame them. You had basically 2 bad options to choose.
People indeed don't understand complex things. But they saw how their life changed during last 4 years and decided to vote against it. And it's a no brainer for somebody from europe. I heard some of plans that Camala had. We already tested that in europe 50 years ago. As a result we had empty shelves in our shops and if you wanted to buy quality food - you had to get it illegally on black market.
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What plans? Be specific. Actually let me help you, so you can pick which policy was tested in Europe 50 years ago, because you sound like someone who doesn't really understand problems and just want simple solutions to complex problems which is probably why things aren't getting better anywhere. So you need to be able to verbalize which policy is so detrimental to the American people.
Kamala's policies:
Harris has said her day-one priority would be trying to reduce food and housing costs for working families. She promises to ban price-gouging on groceries, help first-time home buyers, increase housing supply and raise the minimum wage.
Harris wants to raise taxes on big businesses and Americans making $400,000 a year. But she has also unveiled a number of measures that would ease the tax burden on families, including an expansion of child tax credits. She has broken with Biden over capital gains tax, supporting a more moderate rise from 23.6% to 28% compared with his 44.6%.
Harris has made abortion rights central to her campaign, and she continues to advocate for legislation that would enshrine reproductive rights nationwide.
Harris has criticized Trumpβs sweeping plan to impose tariffs on imports, calling it a national tax on working families which will cost each household $4,000 a year. She is expected to have a more targeted approach to taxing imports, maintaining the tariffs the Biden-Harris administration introduced on some Chinese imports like electric vehicles.
Harris, as vice-president, helped pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which has funnelled hundreds of billions of dollars to renewable energy, and electric vehicle tax credit and rebate programs.
Harris has called for the decriminalization of marijuana for recreational use. She says too many people have been sent to prison for possession and points to disproportionate arrest numbers for black and Latino men.
As opposed to Trump's plan or concept of a plan:
Read Project 2025
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Read Project 2025
This is not Trump's plan. Some point's are the same but there is a lot of things that anybody with the working brain would introduce. But yeah - use it to scare leftist kids so they will eat their brocoli and drink their glass of soy milk.
ban price-gouging
Aka price control.
help first-time home buyers, increase housing supply
Oh, and how would she do that? It costs money. Print more?
Inflation Reduction Act, which has funnelled hundreds of billions of dollars to renewable energy, and electric vehicle tax credit and rebate programs.
Reducing inflation by investing in expensive energy? Sounds like a good plan. Or you want to do it by printing more money?
Printing money led us to use actuall coins instead of metal pads while building stuff. Because coins were worth less than metal that they were made from xD Also if was funny to earn milions of PLN... and buy bread for 10 000 PLN or more.
You try to describe it as something fresh and great, but for me it's good old planned economy. We had it during commusitic period and it choked our country almost to death.
enshrine reproductive rights
You like to play with words, don't you? What about the right to not being killed? Usually personal rights ends when they violate rights of another person.
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No need to print money. You just make billionaires such as Elon and Trump actually pay their taxes like everyone else has to. Problem solved.
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actually pay their taxes
Because they are not paying? Idk. Show me that's the case.
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You don't know? It was widely reported around the globe. Where were you?
I'll humor you though. Here is one of what are probably thousands of stories and reports on the topic. Feel free to look around more.
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Nice. You do realise that he puts a lot of money in real estate? And that stuff can be deducted from income for almost 40 years? I see what you are trying to imply - but to see if he is avoiding taxes you should have data from more than 5 years.
But hey - it sure looks nice at first sight.
I'm not saying that you are wrong though. People hate taxes no matter how much they earn. And if somebody knows a way - they will use it to avoid as many taxes as possible.
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It is true that people hate taxes.
The way I see it, the more you financially benefit from our system, the more you should also be obligated to put back into the system. Rather than playing the game of deductions and false valuations.
Instead of auditing people who can't afford to pay taxes, we need to be auditing the people who can afford it the most.
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we need to be auditing the people who can afford it the most
That's true. If you catch somebody who defrauded 100 $ - costs of investigation might be higher than gain. On the other hand if somebody avoided thousands or milion of $ - it makes sense.
That being said I'm not a fan of taxing rich people more. For somebody wealthy it's quite easy to change country and pay lower taxes elsewhere.
And that's what trump actually tries to adress by implementing tariffs and reducing taxes for companies that manufacture stuff on US soil.
On the other hand you had Kamala that said that she wants to support small buisnesses... but also that she wants to raise their tax from 21 to 28% xD
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Yeah, and you have Trump that convinced a lot of people that tariffs aren't actually paid by the consumer. Among other things. And the fallout from that misinformation has already begun as companies are cutting bonuses and raises to stock up on materials before those tariffs go into effect.
Not that I in any way believe that even a quarter of what Harris proposed would become a reality, but her plan was definitely better than what we're about to see.
What we did definitely also see though are some manufacturers/distributors raise prices before the election to affect the outcome. Things like eggs. And that strategy was effective since most people don't have the inclination or desire to look at the broader scope of things.
In a perfect world though, we'd scrap both parties and start over with something that hasn't failed us time and time again. We'd definitely put an end to legalized bribery and the donor class.
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Trump that convinced a lot of people that tariffs aren't actually paid by the consumer
On the other hand rising taxes are also paid by consumers xD
raise prices before the election
They were raising food prices for last 4 years xD What a devoted Trup supporters they must be :)
we'd scrap both parties and start over with something that hasn't failed us time and time again. We'd definitely put an end to legalized bribery and the donor class
Amen. What I don't get about US is this clear divide of political scene. Whey there are only democrats and conservatives? What about people who want to be tolerant, but also don't like to have economy made by marksists? Right now if you want to improve economy - you also have to vote against abotrion. And if you voted for various rights for minorities, you also voted for police state that executes squirrels. This is insanity xD
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Prices actually went down. It was really only once campaigning started back up that the prices also went back up. Where I live at least. But I expect it's the same in most places in the States.
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Tariffs are only a net negative for the consumer when you have a majority of your everyday items imported. Most people don't realize that for the first hundred years or so the US government was entirely funded by tariffs on imports, there was no income tax on citizens. That initially started in the 1860s as a way to help fund the civil war, but wasn't officially made law until 1913 when politicians realized people weren't complaining about it too much. Then the corruption started and over the decades politicians did what politicians do and took bribes to make policies and legislation that was better for people who profited from imports, because they could just raise income tax to compensate for the lost revenue from tariffs. That's all still going on today, except now it's called "lobbying" instead of "bribery" so it sounds better to the average person and isn't technically illegal like it would be if we called it what it actually is.
That continued until we are where we are now where US based companies make more money by outsourcing production to countries like China and Mexico because of high taxes on companies having production facilities here. There are little to no tariffs on imports so it's very profitable, while other countries have very high tariffs on most of our exports and there isn't a very big foreign market for most US made goods. Case in point, try to buy a US made automobile anywhere that isn't the US, Canada, or Mexico.
What tariffs do is give domestic goods a market advantage over imports, but when domestic production is taxed so much it's not worth it to produce anything locally, yes, it will cause a short term jump in prices for everyday goods while companies go back to making them here. But that only works when you simultaneously lower taxes on companies that produce goods domestically otherwise it's still not worth it to make stuff here.
Anyone who is under 40 probably won't remember when anything made in china was half or less the price of a comparable product made in the US, instead of almost the same price or even the only option like it is now. People bought it anyway because even though it was cheap junk it was very affordable due to no tariffs, and that served to further incentivize companies to take their production out of the US. Before that started happening imports were luxury goods and them being more expensive because of tariffs was not an issue, it was only when everyday essentials started being mostly imported that tariffs raising prices became an issue.
When you oppressively "tax the wealthy" and US based companies raise prices on their goods and services to compensate the consumer pays higher prices across the board, and then when those companies outsource their manufacturing to an overseas location like china because it's too expensive to do business in the US you lose jobs and the economy tanks. This is what happened to cities like Detroit and Flint, all the industry closed up shop because it became prohibitively expensive to operate in the US, then there were no jobs and people fell into a spiral of poverty. The companies that didn't straight up go out of business and could afford to move production overseas did so, and became little more than administrative and accounting offices for imported goods with a very small number of employees compared to when they operated manufacturing and distribution facilities with thousands of employees.
But I don't see how anyone can expect the younger generations to know any of this since it is not taught in public schools or universities. Public schools and universities that are funded by or receive grants from a government that has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo so dirty politicians of all stripes can continue to profit off a corrupt system while we pay the price.
I 1000% agree about scrapping the two party system. Political parties are simultaneously crutches and clubs, if every candidate had to run on their own policies and messages instead of "I'm D vote for me because the other guy is bad and does bad things" or "I'm R vote for me because the other guy is bad and does bad things" there would be no more low-information straight party zombie voting. No more people going to polling places and just darkening that one D or R on a ballot and acting like they accomplished something great even though they don't actually have a clue what is going on. People would have no choice but to be more informed and do their own research on candidates to figure out which individual one(s) will best serve their interests rather than hitching themselves to a party and just going with whatever they are told to do. Without political parties the big donors would be largely irrelevant because trying to support one candidate out of possibly dozens is not nearly as effective as supporting one of two parties. No more primaries giving us garbage candidates because one or both parties decide who they want to be the candidate regardless of who actually has more support from us.
Also 1000% agreed that lobbying needs to be done away with, as I mentioned earlier it is literally legalized bribery just with a different name so they can technically get away with it.
I would also say political ads of any kind should be banned. Let people get their information from an official government website that lists each candidate's policy positions and what they plan to do in office without all the personal attacks and accusations. Look up an issue that is important to you and see the position of each candidate on that particular issue. Look up a candidate and see their platform in detail.
Stuff like that would be ideal, but I guess we just have to wait and see what we get out of this election since we have the closest thing to an anti-establishment president as we're likely to ever see elected, and oh boy is the political establishment not happy about it.
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A lot of what you said is sensible. However, a large part of the domestic workforce is about to be exported, and a large percentage of what we buy is imported.
But the thing that really stood out was when you opined that a billionaire was anti-establishment. That part was comical. He is only anti-people who don't do what he wants, that aren't white, and so on. He is 100% part of the establishment. The establishment being less than 4000 people who control 99% of the global wealth and decide policy via things like the legalized bribery we both hate. Tax cuts for the rich, more taxes for the poor. That's how this next administration rolls.
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The only reason illegal immigrants represent as much of our workforce as they do is companies can pay 10 or more of them for what they would have to pay a US citizen. I covered why so much of our daily goods are imports, companies are taxed so much it's not profitable to produce those goods domestically so they outsource their production overseas to places like china where the workers are paid slave wages, and in some cases are literal slaves. Remember the Uyghurs? Why is it that ethnic cleansing and enslavement that has been going on for over 10 years gets no coverage from the corporate media? Because those slaves are being used to produce the chinese imports that we buy every day.
By anti-establishment I mean the political establishment. 100% he is doing what he is doing because of his own interests, it just happens to be the case that overall his interests align with a majority of the average population. More money in your pocket, less taxes (taxes were lowered across the board, not just on the super wealthy), less government regulation, no illegal immigrants being underpaid to do jobs over our own people. When you lower taxes on domestic innovators and producers combined with tariffs on imports it is no longer profitable for companies to keep their production overseas and they will bring it back domestically, then there are more jobs and a stronger economy. Yes, it is true that there would be higher prices in the short term if those tariffs go into effect immediately but in his first term he set the tariffs to go into effect in 2018, giving them plenty of time to bring their manufacturing back to the US. One can only hope he handles it the same way this time.
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This world is doomed, humans have no humanity left and I can't stand to live on this planet anymore.
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Even if it was, it shouldn't be.
Also I don't think we'll recover from these years, and I'm not talking about just the US elections, it's everywhere in the world and it's getting worse and worse everyday.
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Oh another decisive topic that surely won't lead to crazy comments =)
Trump didn't win, Kamala and her team lost after having a huge lead when she announced her presidential run. The day they started campaigning with the daughter of a warmonger responsible for millions of deaths. The day they announced that they would build the Trump wall and deport undocumented immigrants. The day they said they would not enforce an arms embargo on Israel despite numerous US laws for the same. The day her brother in law, the high level executive from Uber told her to stop making 'anti-corporate' campaign promises like stopping price-gouging. And the day they denied a Palestinian woman speaker from speaking at the democratic conference and then continued to not even listen to their arab constituents a single time. Even Hillary ran better. Keep being the diet Republicans and this is what you get.
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^ This is factual. ^
Her campaign started out great, but then she forgot about the actual people who would be voting.
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The good: I have a lot more hope for the economy now compared to kamala's "I'll tax unrealized gains" plan.
The bad: Any woman that gets pregnant is in trouble. Also concerned about trumps comments on police immunity.
The so-so: illegal immigrants are in for a rough time.
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The bad: Any woman that gets pregnant is in trouble.
I don't see that as a problem if she wants to have a child.
My wife was scared of being pregnant for more than 10 years. The moment she got pregnant, she found out that this whole fear was but nonsense and that having a baby was the most beautiful thing that had ever happened to her. Women are capable of doing amazing things, and she understands how valuable her role is.
Most women who expect a baby or have had a baby will never ever consider undergoing abortion even at an early stage because they value the child. I often hear this coming from single women who don't understand the feeling.
Despite the hardship a child brings to the world most parents I spoke with said it's a blessing. I am finally seeing that too.
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Unless there is a problem with the pregnancy, and not intervening will result in the slow, agonising death of the mother, in which case the medical staff are legally prohibited from intervening and will be charged with severe penalties if they do so.
Which has happened, and they aren't addressing.
Or if the pregnancy was the result of a rape / incest, and the pregnancy itself is having a severe (re?)traumatising effect on the regular, or if the mother is too young to safely give birth, and then has to find the funds to safely relocate and house themselves in a state that are able to assist without, once again, utterly destroying the medical staffs lives thanks to the legal issues that Trump gloats about having created, and which his ilk have gleeflully sloganised in his election victory as "Your body OUR choice".
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Unless there is a problem with the pregnancy, and not intervening will result in the slow, agonising death of the mother, in which case the medical staff are legally prohibited from intervening and will be charged with severe penalties if they do so.
Which has happened, and they aren't addressing.
In such a case I am okay with doctors intervening in saving a life. Now sure, there's situations where the mother risks dying during delivery. I think that should remain the decision of the mother if she wishes to undergo such a procedure to save her life, save the child's life, or both. Right?
Or if the pregnancy was the result of a rape / incest, and the pregnancy itself is having a severe (re?)traumatising effect on the regular, or if the mother is too young to safely give birth, and then has to find the funds to safely relocate and house themselves in a state that are able to assist without, once again, utterly destroying the medical staffs lives thanks to the legal issues that Trump gloats about having created, and which his ilk have gleeflully sloganised in his election victory as "Your body OUR choice".
In case of rape or incest, it should be some form of exception. Usually, the father should be punished and the mother aided in such a situation. Terminating a life of an unwanted child is sad and difficult, not to mention it's murder. I think situations like this should be dealt case by case and not entirely conclude that the situation is black or white as both Trump and Kamala decided.
I personally am pro-life and at any stage during pregnancy, I consider abortion murder. I can't see it any other way after seeing my own baby 11 weeks in the womb, leaping and sucking its own thumb. It's such a beautiful thing to see. I would still think that my wife has the right to decide how she delivers the child, cesarian or natural. Would she decide to abort the baby, that would be a complicated thing to do because I can see how invested she is in having the child, now that she is pregnant. I want the child just as much, but I want my wife to be safe too. I get why women's emphasis on this matter, but the situation is not as complicated most of the time. I pray that all pregnant women who undergo difficult times manage to undergo their delivery successfully and safely.
I never heard of anybody dying because of pregnancy personally. I hope I never will.
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And therein is the problem. Thats not what the law is, and the twat back in power is someone who not only caused that, but proudly crows about the fact he did it. Hence one of the factors in the outrage that he got back in.
As for never hearing of fatality from pregnancy, best not to google into the testimonies / opposition to his dissolving of Roe vs Wade. Not an easy listen, and will be an ongoing issue unless a higher body intervenes.
Not going to touch the claim of abortion being 'murder' because thats a whole deep barrel that is... well, more than likely going to be a severe disagreement that neither of us will budge on. One that I appreciate may be immovable right now, because any loving parent naturally has a deep and abiding protective instinct and an emotional bond, and to see beyond that is essentially asking a parent to sidestep their own parental empathy, to imagine a situation in which their own familial connection is not strong and positive. A kind of empathy trap that not everyone can easily step outside of. And also why I won't go into what details I've heard.
The example that most sticks out in my mind is of the emotional Dead Island trailer. For most it was impactful and made them curious about the game, but I heard that a good number of new parents couldn't sit through it because it was like a horrible gutpunch, too personal, even though clearly fictional, etc. So uh, yeah, I won't get into that with you, and will instead sidestep it myself and say congrats? Heh. But also noting that just because someone can't see beyond their own experience (no matter how justifiably emotionally involved that is!), it isn't a very compelling reason to vote in a manner that doesn't align with what other people desperately need the option of having, IMO. Then again, we're past that point now, and I'm not a U.S citizen myself, and my own country has its own terrible choices / laws / policies to deal with...
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Overall, it's a very hard topic to just make up your mind that this or that is the right answer. I respect both sides of the story, but where I would stand is possibly different than someone who risks their own life. At the end of the day in such situations is in my opinion best that both parties from the family decide. I'd never want to see anything bad happen to my wife because of a child, but neither would I like to lose my child. I'm 33 now, so I can still do another one later, but it's more about my wife and her age that has reached the threshold.
I think why a lot of people voted against Kamala was not the freedom to do what you want to your own body, but the buffoonery online over other topics. Freedom of speech also left the room despite being a democratic country. A change like this was anticipated and we can see this in UK too. More and more people are turning nationalists.
You live in UK right? I do too. Although originally I am not from there. I do appreciate your side of the story. I like when things can be discussed civilized without hating or spilling venom on each other. Thank you for the kind wishes. It means a lot!
I hope to see you again in discussions.
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"The good: I have a lot more hope for the economy now compared to kamala's "I'll tax unrealized gains" plan."
As far as I know, Kamala's plan to tax unrealized gains would never have applied to any normal citizen, only the extremely rich corporations, who probably use certain loopholes to get tax extensions and use that money as investments to get even richer while paying the regular employee nothing like they always did. So her plan was actually a good thing, but republican media twisted her words and made it seem like regular people would have been affected by this. Basically, the people got played again, like when they made Bernie Sanders to be the most evil socialist and made it seem the end of the world was coming, people knowing fully well down deep that it would be impossible to do so even as the president. All Bernie wanted to do was reduce the gap between the ultra rich and the ultra poor. Honorable if you look at it properly, he never said they should make the same amount of money tho, but people fell for it. TLDR: Everyone got played like they always do.
Now I got a question for you regarding your statement. Are you familiar with Trump's plans to introduce tariffs? The thing is this can never affect just things bought from China, it will affect things bought from Europe, which will affect the prices there, and prices here of course, and even what is manufactured here, is mostly manufactured with stuff imported from foreign countries, so even then there'd be tariffs and raised prices. This is imo exponentially worse than whatever Kamala proposed. But honestly I think the big boys are gonna tell trump to sit down and chill. I highly doubt he's gonna have any power to do this, because not only do we as consumers lose, businesses lose because we just wont buy as much. Huge loss for republicans I think, I'm excited for it tho.
Source
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For my job the Tariffs are actually very important, as I work in the automotive industry and my company has been increasingly shipping labor overseas (not just China). Without the tariffs I'd probably be out of a job within 6-12 months at the rate things were going. Parts will be more expensive, but it will also force my company to keep production within the country.
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Interesting, but don't you believe raising tariffs higher would both make customers want to shop less and therefore cost the company profits overall? I mean people's wages wont go up proportionally to match. We can say part of production would be in the country if we make the part in the USA, but if prices rise because of tariffs due to imported materials to make such goods, then we haven't improved our system and we are actually putting the people in a worse position than they were. Understandably this would create a job for your sector, at least temporarily, at the cost of everyone else paying a 10% or 20% increase per good for instance. This kind of gain can only be temporary, because then people will see the things they get as more valuable and make them last longer, rather than spend again to get more. Not sure if I'm misunderstanding this. I mean eventually someone after trump is going to have to come and relax the tariffs after they've done their damage.
I also feel like since 2020 the economy is already struggling with every company trying to min max everything from profits to scheduling so I can't imagine people shopping less being a good thing, considering other things like 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, that number slowly increasing, unaffordable housing(prices which would rise due to tariffs), hurting renters too, and companies like Tesla which import all their lithium from outside their country, making a $33k tesla now cost $36.3k at 10% or $40k at 20%. Now Tesla is on it's way to build it's own lithium refinery in Texas, but how many companies that can't do that will that shut down in the US, and how much pollution will this trend of build a factory make too and do we want that here when we've criticized China for theirs?
I mean we'll see what happens, and his claim was that he'll do it, but I honestly have doubts those in higher powers will let it happen. I do see he claimed to wage war on the LGBTQ+ people so I guess he'll probably follow through with that.
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Yea, consumers and businesses would both be in trouble from tariffs so long as consumer spending power remains stagnant or decreases. Thankfully the proposed removal of taxes for overtime, tips, and social security would give consumers a lot more spending power that should to some degree counteract the tariffs negative effects. Of course that's only a solution for those that such taxes affect in the first place, and only if he can get those tax reforms passed.
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Tariffs on imports are only an issue when you don't produce those same goods domestically, which for a lot of things the US no longer does and relies on imports. If you don't produce things that people use every day and almost entirely import them then yes, prices will go up across the board if you put tariffs on those everyday goods. Not producing those everyday goods domestically is the problem, not tariffs.
The real issue is WHY the US has moved so much of it's manufacturing overseas. It's because companies with domestic operations are taxed to such a degree that it is more profitable to build new factories in countries like china or mexico, hire chinese or mexican workers for 10% or less of what they would have to pay US workers, and import those goods. Or in the case of some parts of china, use slave labor.
Tariffs put pressure on those companies to bring their production back to the US and stop supporting human rights violations in china, combine that with tax breaks for companies that produce their goods in the US and it is once again more profitable to produce their goods domestically rather than overseas and import them. This also leads to a stronger economy overall because more people are employed.
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Where is the neutral choice? Outcome is not surprising. Not even a bit.
What is surprising how brainwashed both sides have become to hate the other side and consider the other winning somehow an end to the world.
Left and right have been in pendulum since forever. Both sides still have only millionares interests at hearth. Their own pockets not yours. So unless you have literal dictator destroying democracy (and no, republicans winning doesnt make democracy dead) then you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
As a European I will just say I dislike Trump. I dont think he is good at diplomacy and I worry his shenanigans could only make relations with Russia more tense. On the other hand Biden was so obviously not fit to run (or be president even now) and putting Kamala as his replacement was an obvious landslide to them. Cant democrats choose one normal candidate to represent them? Someone who isnt completely detached from reality and can hold a press conference without calling someone garbage or laughing like mentally deranged lunatic? This is the same reason dems lost last time. Clinton against Trump? Was not surprising last time either. And this has nothing to do with patriarchy or whatever. Democrats are simply unable to choose good representative for them.
And this is not even looking at their policies or standings. If your candidate cant even look good when you put Trump against them - reevaluate how you approach politics. Last elections I was convinced Biden was not mentally fit to be president, but he was more likable then Trump (again, nothing to do with policies) hence he could actually win if he pairs himself with policies people would prefer.
And again just to reiterate - this is democracy. When majority voices their approval, that is what people want. No one has stolen anything from you. Remember that you are not the center of the universe, your opinions are not that represents majority and your feelings will not and should not affect outcome in such situations. So your feelings should also not be affected by an outcome of an election.
I actually doubt Trump will change much. But his win has to be a wakeup call that policies dems have in place are not flying with the people anymore. The meltdowns of trump winning are just sad and pathetic, and just shows how brainwashed the people are. He seriously had two assassination attempts at him. That tells more about opposition then him (Also this is the moment I knew he will win. The assassination attempts literally increased his approval rating)
And not to be all negative - https://9gag.com/gag/a2vWNZp?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=post_share
For better or worse, he is a walking meme goldmine. So 4 years of sick memes incoming. And hopefully good politics.
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In all this "lets not talk politics. yet we do and still waiting on it to get closed down again." this is actually one of the only smart and sensible answers.
A majority isn't even left or right but wants a middle, but most politics in countries don't give you that, most just want what's best for their wallet and they will vote with their wallet and joins the side what gives them the best even if they disagree with other points.
In the USA groceries, insurances and something else i forgot has increased by 100% total under Biden, yet not their paycheck.
And i can't say anything about other countries, but here grocery prices are also going through the roof.
And with Trump with his import/export fees there will be a possibility those in the EU might see more price increases.
Trump and Putin are buddy buddy so i don't see why that would result to tensions and even Trump is not even that stupid to start a WW3, he didn't start anything in his first period (and yes he was blocked by the senate etc but still), so yeah the whole world is going to end is such a stupid and dumb thing.
https://youtu.be/9vN6-1Zeg2w?t=71 Or basically half the country hates the other half, in a way if only we could split countries in half and whatever you political favor is you move to either side.
Anyway just shut this down, we obviously still can't talk politics, because people's feelings "getting hurt".
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A majority isn't even left or right but wants a middle
Exactly. I do not sympathize with either left or right. I would like to have a normal central political party which would address both left wing and right wing political topics without going overboard with them.
Somehow left wingers and right wingers both completely butcher issues at hand - environment, racism, immigration, LGBT, traditional values, religion. All are important, but in the neverending fight to get control over government (and eventually of economy) they are ready to polarize people for these topics just to ensure they have their flock that will vote for them no matter what. In the end neither of the groups get what they want or need. Trump, Clinton, Biden, Harris.. all of them are playing people to get benefit for themselves.
Unfortunately many people do not see how they are being brainwashed by their political party. I know its a running gag that you never discuss politics or religion, but IMO its a sign of an intelligent person who can take opposing views and discuss them without getting crazy. I mean of course I have some stronger opinions as well. They will not influence me in talking about them with people though. I might not continue discussion if I feel Idont get any constructive objections, but wishing the other side to die and crying is just ... wierd.
In this situation it looks like people are sick of liberal policies and democratic party cant put up a sympathetic candidate. In that combination there is no surprise Trump won. Same as I am not surprised liberal political parties are seeing backlash also in Europe. I did vote for liberals last election in my country. I wont do again. But I agree, unfortunately people are polarized too much to have such a discussion open without it turning into flamewar. And its the fault of both sides. Will Trump butcher the term? Who knows. We will see in 4 years. If democrats want to win, put up a good candidate, actually address what people want. Are republicans populists? Maybe. Are they evil? No less then democrats. Both sides are rich, both sides lobby their personal interests and both sides are radical to extent.
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Yeah, it's utterly ridiculous how many people are ready to disown their own family and friends just for having a differing political opinion. Lots of people want to pretend it's only leftists that do this, but there are plenty on the far right who are doing the same thing.
But even better than a single party would be no political parties and each individual candidate runs on their own message. This would eliminate brain dead straight party voting and people would have to do their own research on candidates to figure out which one out of the dozen or so best represents their values. If political ads were banned and we instead had an official election website where each candidate could list their message and stance on issues, then big money donors and superpacs would be 100% irrelevant.
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There have been other choices but the democrat party shut them down.
Bernie Sanders ran in 2016, but the democrat establishment decided they wanted hillary instead and cheated him out of the primary. He left the democrat party and became an independent.
2020 we had Tulsi Gabbard, but again the democrat establishment didn't like that, they started calling her a "russian asset" during the primary and she lost support. She left the democrat party and became an independent.
This election we had RFK Jr, but again the democrat establishment decided they didn't like that so they ran him out of the party and became an independent.
And when biden dropped out of the running after the first debate, instead of having another primary like they were actually required to do, the democrat establishment said "harris is your new candidate, you will take her and like it." The same harris that was the first one to drop out when she ran in the 2020 primary because she got zero support.
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Original Title: Election Current Thoughts
Original Description: Not wanting to talk any politics in the comments. Just wanting a general poll vote to gauge everyone here about the current situation. To keep positive, why not put a funny meme or pet picture below or something lol.
First off, I want to apologize to everyone for making this discussion. I did a poor job at naming it and writing the description for it. I made this discussion while I was at work the day of election to try to bring some positivity and hopefulness about it all by making a poll and asking for memes to be posted below. Looking back at it, the title and description I wrote sounded like baiting, I didn't intend for that at all. It was meant to be a funny and not political, but I did a poor job with that. I'm sorry.
I've never been one for any form of drama or negativity online or IRL, and never meant to cause any. I probably caused quite a few blacklistings and maybe some user reports from this discussion, and I should've done better handling this thread. I apologize, I'll do better next time and I hope the best for all of you.
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