"I had no choice" has already begun.

[Politruk]

Your doomsday rhetoric is somewhat disturbing. Therefore, I do not agree with everything you say or predict so fatalistically.

Marxism is too deterministic.

 

[dmallord]

Marxism is too deterministic.

What does that even mean?

Marxism may be deterministic, but my argument is not. I’m not saying collapse is inevitable—I'm saying it’s a possibility if we fail to act. The difference is that I believe in agency. Societies decline when people assume failure is predetermined and stop fighting for solutions. The question isn’t whether history is on rails—it’s whether we’re willing to steer it.

Not all Marx's were deterministic. Harpo wasn't too determined.

 

[Politruk]

What does that even mean?

That Marxists like Holy_Seduction try to fit current events into the framework of Marxist theory and think they can predict the future that way. It never works. All theories of historical determinism are fundamentally flawed.

 

[dmallord]

That Marxists like Holy_Seduction try to fit current events into the framework of Marxist theory and think they can predict the future that way. It never works. All theories of historical determinism are fundamentally flawed.

Kind of like how polls showed that Harris was neck and neck with Trump and expected to pull it off. That kind of prediction of the future...

How, so very wrong that came out. Didn't take a Marxist to see the daylight after the election did it?

How the hell to 'fix' that is got to happen within the next two years or we will face another 'Trump' at the helm.

 

[Politruk]

Kind of like how polls showed that Harris was neck and neck with Trump and expected to pull it off. That kind of prediction of the future...

How, so very wrong that came out. Didn't take a Marxist to see the daylight after the election did it?

How the hell to 'fix' that is got to happen within the next two years or we will face another 'Trump' at the helm.

I can confidently predict that the midterm elections will go against the Pubs, just because they almost always do go against the party that holds the White House. But what happens after that depends on what the Dems do with their Congressional majority.

 

[dmallord]

I can confidently predict that the midterm elections will go against the Pubs, just because they almost always do go against the party that holds the White House. But what happens after that depends on what the Dems do with their Congressional majority.

You just literally said Marxism can't predict the future! So here you are, a legal beagle of no particular noteworthiness gazing into your crystal ball, and you can predict that midterms will go against Republicans... because...?

Shit! Not even the pollsters are taking such bets, and no one in Las Vegas has been either after this past one.

But.... no! No! No butts! You can't have it both ways. Pick a lane, squire and stay in it.

I definitely believe you are a lawyer at this point! What's that truism about how do you know when a lawyer is lying? Ans: When his lips are moving! What does @BrightShinyGirl say about 'both-sides-isms?'

 

[Politruk]

You just literally said Marxism can't predict the future! So here you are, a legal beagle of no particular noteworthiness gazing into your crystal ball, and you can predict that midterms will go against Republicans... because...?

Because it's a repeating pattern in American history specifically. Not some general law of historical necessity.

 

[Holy_Seduction]

Assuming "The United States is passing from existence" is not going to help us adapt better.

Are you deliberately trying to be obtuse?

The question concerns political task.

‘ … humans aren’t dinosaurs …’

So consider yourself challenged to innovate and/or evolve a solitary, feasible political solution to any major crisis which could be practically implemented.

evidence that democracy is not a "dead letter."

I didn’t say it was. It was the constitution which I referenced as a dead letter.

‘insult, we can focus on rebuilding civic trust, strengthening democratic norms, and engaging in meaningful debate.’

This approaches our current milieu from the perspective that in the course of interaction, we’ve picked up a few bad habits. If we set these aside and [in some Pollyannaish way] believe in this glorious system and Party, we’ll get the needed ‘reset’ and return to ‘normal times’ just as we have in other times of existential crisis. We need reformers! We need activists! We need engaged citizens!

No. You don’t.

Needed is a response to class relations as the driver of all political policies and events.

Subjective thoughts and premises can always be put forward to feign as explanations or answers as to why things go as they do, and are as they are. We are a nation of self-absorbed, sophomoric solipsists.

 

[Holy_Seduction]

‘I definitely believe you are a lawyer at this point!’

Remember when the term, ‘paid troll’ hit the internet?

When last I checked, his guy [or gal] averaged 76.+ posts per day. And this is just one forum.

I’ll let others work out the conclusions.

 

[Holy_Seduction]

‘ .., actually be a progressive party for a change.’

As in a slightly less vile Democratic Party that actually applies a modicum of pressure to the GOP? With that reactionary rabble*?

‘… a not-great but not-terrible candidate when s/he is the only one who can stop a genuinely horrible one.’

Every Democrat currently gaslighting those who insufficiently backed Harris would, had she won, supported the Gaza genocide.

So we’re through. Not playing that game. No one is obliged to vote for murderers or terror.

Edit: * Clarification. While the closest antecedent is the “GOP,” and the GOP is a reactionary rabble, the intended reference was the Democratic Party.

 

[Holy_Seduction]

I can confidently predict that the midterm elections will go against the Pubs, just because they almost always do go against the party that holds the White House. But what happens after that depends on what the Dems do with their Congressional majority.

I feel substantially confident saying that at some point, the ‘but we can’t do anything’ Democrats will deny that claim and tell us how they opposed Elonald Trusk all along.

 

[YDB95]

Every Democrat currently gaslighting those who insufficiently backed Harris would, had she won, supported the Gaza genocide.

Wrong. I mean, I already knew the far left was just as prone to misinformation as the far right, but this...wow.

 

[Lazaran]

Wrong. I mean, I already knew the far left was just as prone to misinformation as the far right, but this...wow.

It’s what they have to tell themselves after effectively handing President Musk (and DonOld, etc) TOTAL CONTROL.

It’s the Democrats fault that Hamas attacked Israel and that the far left responded by handing President Musk (and DonOld,etc) TOTAL CONTROL.

 

[Politruk]

Needed is a response to class relations as the driver of all political policies and events.

Class relations are not the driver of all political policies and events. A Marxist analysis grossly oversimplifies the picture.

 

[Politruk]

It’s what they have to tell themselves after effectively handing President Musk (and DonOld, etc) TOTAL CONTROL.

It’s the Democrats fault that Hamas attacked Israel and that the far left responded by handing President Musk (and DonOld,etc) TOTAL CONTROL.

The far left in America is not powerful enough to hand nobody nuttin'.

More's the pity.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Oh my! Most Americans are happy with their choice.



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-approval-opinion-poll-2025-2-9/

 

[Fuzzy1975]

Oh my! Most Americans are happy with their choice.



https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-approval-opinion-poll-2025-2-9/

Trump kind of missed the boat on tariffs.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Trump kind of missed the boat on tariffs.

Public favors them on China. Not on Europe, Mexico, and Canada. Negotiations underway. Nobody wants a trade war. Illegal drugs, illegal aliens, and opening markets on the table.

 

[Politruk]

Public favors them on China. Not on Europe, Mexico, and Canada. Negotiations underway. Nobody wants a trade war. Illegal drugs, illegal aliens, and opening markets on the table.

If Trump tries to impose a 25% tariff on imports from China, he will find Wal-mart has an extraconstitutional but very real veto power.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

If Trump tries to impose a 25% tariff on imports from China, he will find Wal-mart has an extraconstitutional but very real veto power.

Nah.

 

[Politruk]

Nah.

Trump might think he's all-powerful as against Congress and the courts, but not even he can gainsay the business interests. Nothing will ever be done that threatens their short-term profits.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Trump might think he's all-powerful as against Congress and the courts, but not even he can gainsay the business interests. Nothing will ever be done that threatens their short-term profits.

What matters is what Americans think. Most Americans approve of our President in his first three weeks. Embrace the change.

 

[Politruk]

What matters is what Americans think. Most Americans approve of our President in his first three weeks. Embrace the change.

Not really.

Americans are deeply divided over Donald Trump’s plans and the way he is handling his job in the early weeks of his return to the presidency.

Overall, 47% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 51% say they disapprove. And most of these views are strongly held: 37% strongly approve of his performance, while 40% strongly disapprove.

Roughly a third (35%) say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, with 17% saying they support some of them. Nearly half of adults (47%) say they support only a few or none of his plans.

 

[BabyBoomer50s]

Not really.

Americans are deeply divided over Donald Trump’s plans and the way he is handling his job in the early weeks of his return to the presidency.

Overall, 47% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 51% say they disapprove. And most of these views are strongly held: 37% strongly approve of his performance, while 40% strongly disapprove.

Roughly a third (35%) say they support all or most of Trump’s policies and plans, with 17% saying they support some of them. Nearly half of adults (47%) say they support only a few or none of his plans.

Yeah, really. Americans matter. CBS poll out last night. Americans approve by solid majorities overall and on top issues.

 

[Fuzzy1975]

Public favors them on China. Not on Europe, Mexico, and Canada. Negotiations underway. Nobody wants a trade war. Illegal drugs, illegal aliens, and opening markets on the table.

Well best tell that to Trump, he just decided to enact tariffs again....fucking idiot that he is.