Yes exactly. People use the “it’s a wasted vote” excuse for this 100% of the time. If both of the main options are garbage, there ARE other options. Especially now when the two main options are either Trump or Biden. In particular, I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Libertarian Jo Jorgensen. I would recommend everyone researching her and her positions. Also, how cool would it be to have a president we can nickname “JoJo”??
that's not what defending the police means. we're not asking to just take away their money and nothing else. we want to take away the funding that has been used to militarize the police and put that money into social programs that actually lower the crime rate. a majority of crimes happen because of economic reasons and police having more expensive guns and tanks isn't going to prevent crimes being committed because someone can not make enough money to meet their basic needs. If you want to actually lower the crime rate you put money into programs that help people escape poverty and homelessness so crime isn't something they have to turn to. second is that we simply put way to much responsibility on the police that they are not prepared to handle. say for example there's a mentally ill person causing a public disturbance. the way to solve that should be to send people that are actually trained mental health workers and not a bunch of cops with guns.
I think most people are under the assumption that movement just wants to lower policeman/woman salary as a punishmment or something and let them keep the tanks.
I should have clarified at the bottom that my post was aimed at those that took "defund the police" literally as well as the term itself. I think a more appropriate term would be "reform the police" or something along those lines. Also, I'm not saying reforming the police will solve poverty or wipe out crime, only "hitting them in their pockets" is a silly idea. Getting rid of poverty and crime are very complex ideals that require complex solutions that people in positions of power aren't interested in. We need societal reform that stretches from schools to hospitals to law enforcement. I should have been a bit more clear about that.
Although massive disagreements exist between white and black Americans, the vast majority of white Americans acknowledge racism in the justice system,
Well-said. I voted for Gary Johnson in the last election and I did not feel as though I had wasted my vote.
This. Precisely this.
Also all of this. And your bigger point was spot-on as well. We would absolutely have better law enforcement if there was any outstanding appeal to the job at all. If you took all the money budgeted for militaristic bullshit, and put it towards real training, reform and education, the results would be spectacular. But we need real leadership and smarter people than us on top of the ladder to do it.
I've never seen a party fight against something as hard as I've seen the Democrats fight against putting Bernie Sanders on the ticket, in spite of his being overwhelmingly popular and having a decades-long consistently progressive record. It highlights with the brightest of lights how both the parties are capable of trashing the will of the people just to preserve the status quo and keep their rich benefactors from having to pay their taxes.
About democrats fighting Bernie... yep. Both times they cucked the shit out of him when if they were smart they would have realized he was their only realistic shot at beating Trump. I think everyone knew Hillary and Biden would be the candidates because they're the favorites of the people in control of the Democrat party. Super delegates are fucking sketch as hell.
It's the same problem in politics as it is in gaming: the big money ruins everything.
People always say stuff like that, but it makes me curious where they actually land on policy opinions. Political parties spend a ton of money to make the "other side" out to be as unlikable as possible, so I guess it makes sense that most politicians come off as unlikable.
I like her positions on the environment, trade & immigration, and criminal justice reform. Pretty much all the rest of her positions I'm opposed to. I believe her kind of fiscal policies would create a very Have and Have Not kind of society.
Different doors to the same slaughter house...looking forward to that american election season
If trump wins:
If biden wins:
looking forward to that american election season
If trump wins:
If biden wins:
Yeah dude thats the thing though, you would think the Democrats would want Bernie over Trump at the very least, I'm not saying that I wouldn't or would have voted for Bernie as I was 17 in the 2016 election and couldn't vote, didn't really follow anything. However, in both elections people were fired up to vote for Bernie. Like actual supports, excited, and very solid in their beliefs. Biden doesn't have that, no Democrat is like "fuck yes Joe Biden is the dream candidate!" They more so just don't want Trump to have another 4 years. If Bernie would have been nominated, I feel like they would have his enthusiastic supporters along with never Trumpers and would have a very real shot at winning. I feel like a lot of Democrats are so disenfranchised with Biden and the establishment as a whole, that there is a group of them that may not even vote. There are a lot of Bernie supporters that are Bernie supporters more so than Democrats, even exclusively. Bernie was their way of not simply voting for the lesser of two evils which is what everyone in this thread memed, but for a lot of people, they saw that as a real thing, and it almost was a real thing. I think they played themselves again because Trump has rabid supporters as well as old school Republicans who simply wouldn't vote for a Democrat. I'm not taking sides or talking about who SHOULD win, I could give less of a fuck about any of your guys' political opinions, and you guys are all the same with me so I try not to go there. But in all seriousness if I had to make a bet....
I definitely don't wanna get into this current political foray conversation but that's what I mean. Even if I wouldn't personally vote for McCain I could at least say he had a level of decorum and human decency to him that made me respect people who supported him and his candidacy.
Yes sir. Absolutely classless. Maybe there is a reason the first president didn't want political parties.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
The Justice Dept. under Obama did an extremely thorough investigation on law enforcement, in a few major cities. If you're interested in this topic, I suggest reading the reports, as they break everything down into a lot of different contributing factors without oversimplifying.
Institutional racism isn't some Democratic talking-point; it's American history. Take your pick and check out any of these, or better yet, read several of them:
To each their own. But for me personally, I will 100% vote for a Libertarian when the other two choices are Biden or Trump.
I'm not from the U.S but even in my country I'd die for a candidate that actually cares about individual liberties, different from the ones who pretend to care about specific ones just to bait people into supporting them.
I have seen the reports, but I have also seen black conservatives like Larry Elder and Candace Owens provide opposing evidence, which is all they seem to do on YouTube. LOL.
Nobody is denying historical racism by institutions. The debate is how much, if any, institutional racism persists in today's America. Federal, state, and local laws prohibit discrimination in the public and private sector. Speaking of the private sector, certain corporations have taken political positions after George Floyd's death. For example, Amazon has supported Black Lives Matter, which angered many conservatives. Jeff Bozos allegedly even stated that he is "happy to lose customers" if they are upset about the company's support for Black Lives Matter.
Black people are by no means a monolith, but Candace Owens and other black conservatives don't even pretend to speak for the vast majority of us. She and other black right-wingers are nothing more than mere tokens of the Republican Party - they reflect a very minor viewpoint of how black people feel on many issues.
Some surveys have shown that African-Americans are one of the most socially conservative groups in America, even more conservative than the average white. If Republicans cared to reach out to black communities, I have no doubt they would acquire more votes. Democrats, on the other hand, are actively campaigning in black communities, as they should. Unfortunately, self-serving democratic politicians have falsely convinced many African-Americans that racism is the cause of all problems in America. They have taken the black vote for granted, and when they sense they may not get the vote, they lash back with racially-charged comments such as "you ain't block unless you vote for me."
I believe you, but you are, again, referring to historical racism, which no sensible person is denying. For example, redlining has been illegal for more than 50 years.
I am interested in the articles and the facts. However, I am not interested is playing identity politics and connecting single every issue to racial injustice. I judge people individually and by the content of their character. While black people have unquestionably suffered more hardships than any group throughout the history of America, any black person is as good as any white, Asian, Latino, or Native-American person. If blacks are given the opportunity to succeed, they can with hard work and perseverance, as seen with many, many successful African-Americans, including the 44th president of the United States.