American Politics Discussion Thread

[MJW (ya that one)]

Arbery guys lost even though they will about this same with Rittenhouse. This happened because the defense was able to attack Grosskreutz. So Rittenhouse's original lawyers deserve some of the money (2 million $ bail) because the publicity forced them to put Grosskreutz on the stand and buy his story which costed them the case.

[Bobchillingworth]

I think the West is a doomed society for various reasons, but to avoid getting into a massive rant from a soapbox I'll just bring up North Korea vs. South Korea's birthrates. NK is a shithole with a 1.9 birthrate and SK is a super-wealthy capitalist paradise with a 1.06 birthrate.... so NK has a fairly stable future existence, while the South Koreans are in a geometrical decay disappearing from history. Ultimately I blame this kind of thing on wealth, not on a specific ideology, but I don't think individual freedom helps to ameliorate decadence.

Low birthrates may or may not be an issue for South Korea (I'm unsure as to what extent processes like automation will mitigate negative consequences), but I wouldn't argue that high birthrates are inherently positive. For example, Nigeria has a very high birthrate (something like 5.0), with Lagos predicated to become the largest metropolitan area on Earth in the next few decades, but it seems highly unlikely that the combination of their corrupt, illiberal government and an enormous, impoverished population will bring any sort of stability.

Additionally, countries can make up for population shortfalls via immigration, where I'd happily argue pluralistic, multiethnic, and multicultural nations have an advantage, provided they proactively assimilate newcomers.

Well religion and language are hard to change, they are more fundamental and enduring than culture or ideology.

You think? It's not uncommon for people to forget even their native tongues if out of practice for a long period, and people fall out of practice with their faiths and/or convert fairly regularly, as any number of evangelical religions are well aware. Culture doesn't seem to me like it'd be much more or less difficult to change than one's religious practice, to say nothing of how easily the lines blur between the two. "Ideology" is an expansive category which can encompass a vast range of sentiments.

Do you also think genetic distances and clusters are a social construct? The racial categories are a social construct, but they are useful and accurate to the underlying reality.

Of course not, but ethnicity is a much more precise and accurate term for describing and defining large groups with common heredity. Who constitutes members of a different race is nebulous, changes by place and era, and is subject to redefinition based on political calculations. Ex: are Italians, Armenians, Arabs, Poles, and/or any of the various Turkic peoples "White"? Depends on who you ask, and when.

Why would you cite EVERY existent multiethnic nation with a representative form of government??? Surely there are plenty with too much ethnic disruption to be cited as favourable examples?

I also specified liberal values, but regardless, though it seems an obvious point to me, that those nations continue to exist and match or outperform other national models in most significant metrics would seem to argue in their favor, or at least be sufficient to clear the rather low bar for success you set for them.

[T-hawk]

Regardless of the current situation, "Australia under basically endless house arrest" is not a reasonable description of the past 2 years.

You're correct. It's not house arrest, now it's literally concentration camps.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-12/s.../100694038

Literally imprisoned in a hotel for two weeks for existing in the wrong place in public.

[darrelljs]

literally concentration camps.

Literally imprisoned in a hotel for two weeks

You use the word literally, concentration camps, and/or hotel very differently than I do .

Poking fun at your hyperbole aside, it's ridiculous to force someone to go from their home to a hotel to quarantine.

Darrell

[superdeath]

literally concentration camps.

Literally imprisoned in a hotel for two weeks

You use the word literally, concentration camps, and/or hotel very differently than I do .

Poking fun at your hyperbole aside, it's ridiculous to force someone to go from their home to a hotel to quarantine.

Darrell

id riot. Tell them to make me.

[Charriu]

Last time I checked people could not leave a concentration camp after two weeks.

[mackoti]

Last time I checked people could not leave a concentration camp after two weeks.

First you agree 2 weeks, after that whats 4 weeks, after is not that bad..And after the one which are against this are anarchists and deserve to stay in concentration camps.

[Charriu]

I can only say visit some of the memorial sites in Europe like Ausschwitz, Dachau or Belzec. Afterwards you won't start using the term concentration camps so lightly.

[Jowy]

Regardless of the current situation, "Australia under basically endless house arrest" is not a reasonable description of the past 2 years.

You're correct.  It's not house arrest, now it's literally concentration camps.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-12/s.../100694038

Literally imprisoned in a hotel for two weeks for existing in the wrong place in public.

[Amicalola]

Sounds like the South Australian government did a piss-poor job of communication. I feel sorry for the guy.

Comparing this to concentration camps is either insulting or concerning, depending on how much you believe it. Surely you should know better than that?