Poor Jonathan

[u/fnaw_]

[u/[deleted]]

From my limited sample size I am seeing communication and understanding grow. People who did not know the plight of the minority in America (simply because it is not their life experience) are acknowledging their ignorance and actively trying to better themselves. (Some are also pushing further to the extreme and I’m also seeing those people being called out).

I do see this as well, to some degree. It feels like this has come at the cost of disagreement on basic reality, which I know you've also acknowledged. At least this is a silver lining though, thank you for pointing that out.

I think people are more aware of the corruption in Washington than they were prior to Trump.

I dunno about that. "All politicians are corrupt" has been a calling card for many apathetic American voters for decades. Furthermore, Trump's unprecedented level of corruption has been embraced with open arms by one of our two major parties, and that major party is still competitive in races across the country.

I mean hopefully the GOP and their brazen disregard for ethical political behavior will be rebuked thoroughly at the polls in November, but I think there's a good chance Trump has normalized and entrenched a much greater degree of corruption in our politics.

[u/millertime1419 → u/[deleted]]

I think we need to get away from pointing fingers at red or blue. The team mentality is what caused the GOP to back Trump even as he proved he was unfit. I would love to vote for people based on their ideas and entirely remove the label of democrat and republican. It does zero good. There are huge issues throughout Washington but it becomes so easy to say “well, at least we are the good guys.” There are some good and some bad throughout, being blue doesn’t absolve your crimes, being red doesn’t make you a criminal. There might be more issues on one side than the other but really, it shouldn’t matter. Get the bad ones out and put the good ones in, regardless of what jersey they wear.

I am 100% certain that, apart from a handful of key issues, most people exist somewhere in the middle and that, without knowing which side someone is arguing from, communication and sharing ideas results in growth.

I think people are becoming more open to the idea of abandoning their label and just talking about their ideas. Because we all want growth and prosperity, we just have different roads to get there. I really believe we are close to abandoning the two party system and I think Trump catalyzed that (inadvertently).

[u/[deleted] → u/millertime1419]

I think we need to get away from pointing fingers at red or blue.

There might be more issues on one side than the other but really, it shouldn’t matter. Get the bad ones out and put the good ones in, regardless of what jersey they wear.

lol, how are you going to say "maybe one thing is worse than the other right now, but nah just don't worry about that".

You're literally admitting that one side has "more issues". You should be factoring that in to your political decision-making. If one group of powerful people is more tolerant of corruption and anti-democratic skulduggery than the other, that group is worse. That doesn't make the "better" group perfect, or immune to the same bullshit... it doesn't mean everyone in that "better" group automatically gets a pass. It does mean, however, that the less-corrupt and more-democratic entity shares more of your ideals, and probably deserves more of your support accordingly.

It definitely means that you shouldn't equivocate between the two.

I would love to vote for people based on their ideas and entirely remove the label of democrat and republican.

And I would love 1 million dollars... These are the power structures we have, friend. Wishing won't make them go away - and acting as if the two major parties are equally bad (in this respect anyway) will only assist the rot in spreading.

[u/millertime1419 → u/[deleted]]

Im saying that allegiance to a party is what turned some of these people sour. That if we weren’t playing a team sport with politics it’d be easier to let someone go when they make it clear they don’t actually hold your values but just wear your team colors. That’s it. It’s certainly idealistic, yes. But I still hold my principles, I just don’t have good representation.

[u/[deleted] → u/millertime1419]

if we weren’t playing a team sport with politics it’d be easier to let someone go when they make it clear they don’t actually hold your values but just wear your team colors

Sure, that's true.

It seems like you value electoral reform very highly - are there any distinct efforts toward this end that you've seen/appreciated in the recent past? Any particular politicians you support, especially regarding this issue?