Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12793
Reasons that I did NOT vote for the previous president... Note, these are my opinions based on my own observations. And these observations were not all gleaned from so-called 'fake' news stations. I read a lot and daily watched many, many news shows, both domestic and foreign.. I heard from his lips so many, many distortions of facts and outright lies that when called on them, he claimed that "I didn't say that" or "I was mis-quoted", etc.
In my opinion, he was a man without honor whose only thought was to promote himself above ALL else... He was "the best", the "most popular" "admired by everybody", that "everybody knows that" and "everybody supports him" or "thinks he is the best", "everybody knows I'm right, ask any one" And yet, when asked to produce these 'EVERYBody's, he couldn't... That his rallies attract "more that any other president in history". Everything he did, was the biggest, the most supported, the greatest ad nauseum!!! EVERYTHING was ME! ME! ME!... The Covid was a Democratic lie, invented to make HIM personally look bad by the Democratic Party... right... A worldwide PANDEMIC created by the Democratic Party!... That ALL of the elections where HE LOST, regardless of the other Republican candidates voted in, when it came to him, votes were falsified in Biden's favor. Yet in nearly ALL of his attempts to overturn the results in courts of law were dismissed as being 'without merit' even by Judges that he, himself had appointed!!!
And his actions after the election results were in, He refused to concede, He spouted to the very end that the election was 'Stolen from him", that "he won by a landslide" and his attempts to pressure his own Vice-President to overturn the electoral college to overturn the vote in his favor (which Pence could NOT legally do) and pressure on other officials in different States to "FIND" votes, to "Change their findings in his favor" In my opinion, the man became even more mentally deranged in the end. Him and his cronies egging on and supporting the Jan 6 Rally people to fight to the end, to change the vote of the people! He cared about nothing else but himself...
SORRY!,,I got carried away, just thinking about the previous president... At any rate, these are some of the reasons why I was against him being re-elected...
It raises my blood pressure just thinking about him, so I am not going to say any more on the subject. He is gone and that is that... Take care and BE SAFE!
quote:Originally posted by saviour2012 What you said Arren makes sense.
However regarding policies Democratic policies are definitely quite radical.
However their execution is much better as well as they are infact a more humane party right now.
Authoratative govt is extremely bad. And this is a threat that all the democratic system faces. But as you said in Europe and infact all over the first world nations there is a leftist movement which is not something one should shrug off. You can only realize the issue after your freedom has been stolen. This is true for a huge number of Asian and South American countries. If you don't see the problem with more authoratative govt then you don't understand freedom.
The most contagious point being
1. Equality of outcome
2. High taxation on Rich people or Taxation on excess profit
3. Diversity/Inclusion programs
The style should be completely opposite
1. Equality of opportunity
2. Strict competition law/ Strict monopoly law/ Strict oversight
3. No discrimination based on Race/Color/Religion
As these 3 are much more difficult thus Democratic Party always proposes top 3 which is a authoratative style of achieving something. If you don't believe me read the latest few important bills they wanted to pass.
I disagree. The Democratic party is very much not radical. The reason I mentioned Europe is that by European standards, they're barely a left-wing party, and even the Democrats with the most ambitious ideas are basically what would be the mainstream left in Europe.
I also disagree with the idea that there is a recent "leftist movement" in Europe. If you look at the big political stories of the past many years, you'll surely find that the right has become harsher and more willing to propose and enact discriminatory policies. New right-wing parties, like the Republican party under Trump, have tried to break down democratic systems and tear up structures designed to protect human rights, the environment, etc - and in some countries they have succeeded. It's their authoritarian and discriminatory policies/actions that concern me most, especially since recently right-wing parties are usually the ones running governments. Some left-wing parties in Europe have moved further to the left in recent years, but this is only moving back to their fundamental positions after becoming more centrist/right-wing in the 90s.
Also, it sounds like your main issue with the Republicans is a lack of empathy. In that case, why do you see policies aimed at improving the lives of less fortunate people as authoritarian? I'll reply to each of your numbered points now.
1: I don't see where this is coming from. Equality of opportunity is central to the policies of parties like the Democrats. They seek to achieve this by improving the basic living standards for people from groups that have suffered discrimination or other hardship. This is not about equality of outcome, but if outcomes are extremely unequal, that's a sign that there is not really equality of opportunity.
2: I see no reason that these two can't go together. Actually, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "strict oversight", but I can see this being more authoritarian than having clear rules on taxation. If you seek empathy and improvement of everybody's lives, then people who have little to give should not be expected to pay the same rate of tax as the ultra-wealthy.
3: If people are not taught about discrimination and increasing diversity (which is connected with opportunity, as mentioned in point 1), then how do you expect discrimination to be reduced? This seems to be based in the idea that once you say "there is no discrimination anymore" then it becomes true, but the fact is that long-term discrimination affects people's basic living standards, opportunities and expectations in life. At the same time, people who have not suffered the same discrimination may be unable to understand how their behaviour perpetuates existing problems, unless they make an effort to learn.
And finally I'm not sure what recent bills you're referring to. Do you mean Biden's executive orders? If so, I would agree that executive orders aren't my favourite way to do things, but this is more of an issue with the American political system. One problem is that the president has too much power to dictate things, as we've seen constantly over the past four years. Another problem is that the parties are now so polarised and have very little incentive to cooperate with their opponents, and this means that when urgent action is needed, executive orders are unfortunately the most practical choice. When it comes to very pressing matters like tackling COVID and trying to quickly undo some of the damage that Trump's anti-democratic actions caused, they can't afford to take it slowly.
Arren definitely there is a fascist/populist movement all over the world not just in first world countries. So I didn't explicitly mentioned it. That definitely is bad but if people are evil you can't do anything.
I was referring to the bills proposed by AOC, Nancy pelosi bla bla. Not really crucial to this discussion.
I never said Democratic party is radical but their policies are.
For example they openly said they wanted to break facebook and Amazon.
I 100% agree with the sentiment but that is not how it is said or done in a system where rule of law exist. China can say that infact it already did for Ant finance and Alibaba group very recently.
In a place of rule of law, you create specific rules for this.
However back to the main points
1. Making sure most people have same opportunity is extremely difficult I don't see any policies that ensures this. Apart from giving people money of course. Giving people money doesn't work. I have seen this very closely as my father worked on similar topics.
2. The reason is then you are discriminating against hard work and success. The incentive structure of a capitalist society is if you work hard and smart you can succeed. You have to make sure the level playing field is even as a govt. That you must do with absolute authority otherwise people will be dissatisfied as they are in the USA. Taxing the rich is just a plain stupid concept that will make any country go haywire. This has been tried in many countries famine was the thing that was ensured.
3. This is definitely a chicken and egg problem. The way I see it is continuously teach people about systemic racism and discrimination. So that everyone is aware. Have more transparency regarding hiring process. But only take people who are qualified to do the job rather than of a certain color race or religion. However if there is a qualified person take regardless of those status.
__________________ Watch everything but only take the good things from it
Ask, think and learn. Because the more we know the more we grow.
Watching the wrong to happen is the same as commiting the wrong.
If it looks like things are forcing you to be creative, Then be creative.
its a uniquely Miyazaki film, one only he could make and its uniqueness places it beyond being easily critiqued.[About Porco Rosso] taken from a quote of Saddletank and Orphic Okapi
You say that in some cases strict regulation is possible, so why shouldn't this extend to regulating industries that have too much power? Many countries have regulations on banks, and failing to regulate them well enough results in reckless moneymaking practices. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the financial crisis of 2008.
Other than that, you even specifically mentioned anti-monopoly laws as something good. There's definitely an argument that Amazon and Facebook, the two you picked, very nearly have monopolies in their fields. Should this be allowed? Should the possibility of fixing the problems caused by their dominance not be open for discussion?
I don't really get this "rule of law" argument. Obviously the solutions to these problems comes through enacting laws. Nobody is going to send the army in to Amazon headquarters to assassinate Jeff Bezos.
Anyway...
1: There is more to equality of opportunity than just having money, but it helps. If you don't need to worry about whether you can afford to feed yourself, it's easier for you to choose the kind of work you like, instead of going with what you can get as fast as possible - jobs that often don't pay very well. As it is, people who start out lucky have the freedom to take risks, because if they succeed, they'll be even wealthier, and if they don't, they'll still be fine. Ensuring that people have a better basic level of income is a good way to help increase equality of opportunity, and as many countries have extensive welfare systems, this is clearly not a very radical suggestion.
2: Hard work and success often have nothing to do with it, and as I explained in point 1, the people with a luckier situation in the first place have greater luxury to take risks and become even wealthier. The incentive structure of capitalist society tells people hard work pays off, but really this makes people work their fingers to the bone just to survive, and have poor quality of life because all they can do is work, work, work, and for most people it never really does result in success. There IS no level playing field, especially if you don't allow the kinds of policies that would improve the chances for groups that face discrimination or poverty. Besides, this structure also insists on competition, where people constantly have to try and do better than those around them - why would this create satisfaction? And finally, taxing the rich is a very common concept, used to varying degrees in northern and western Europe, and historically in the USA. I don't remember the last time these places suffered from famine.
3: So you recognise that these are real problems. Then what is actually the issue with policies like inclusion programmes? You said it's bad, but I don't really see why you're saying that.
One more thing I want to come back to is the idea of freedom. You said earlier that the "leftist movement" of mainstream social democratic political parties is attempting to take away freedom from the people. But what this really depends on is the kind of "freedom" you value. Is it more important to have the freedom to discriminate, to take advantage of your employees, to make more money than anyone should ever have, to keep the wealth your predecessors lied and cheated to gain? Or is it more important to have the freedom to make your own choices in life without fear that you'll be plunged into poverty? I know which matters more to me.
__________________
01.23.2021, 05:39 AM
husky51
The Old Guy
Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12793
All my life, I struggled to make ends meet, both when I was single and also when married qith children... I struggled, but I wasn't afraid to work in order to have enough for my kids to be fed and clothed. And partily because of the Agent Orange that I was exposed to during the Vietnam conflict (I win't call it a 'war', because it wasn't... The powers that be allowed us to take objectives, but having achieved these objectives, w backed out and later on, had to fight to retake them again...
(sorry, I digress, I don't want to get on that subject again)
Anyway, because of my exposure to AO and other injuries suffered as a result of my being over there, plus the Social Security that I earned by my working for a wage all my life, I am ow sitting rather comfortably... Example: My office chair broke and I ordered another one... $150.. My car broke last month and I got it repaired... $1,000+... my point is, through my work in the military and as a civilian, I can afford these expenses without worrying about whether I have a roof over my head or enough to eat... I have also been able to help my grown children if I find that they need it... And yet, I am put down by these family members because I didn't (and still don't) believe in their political God, trump... Don't believe that he didn't or does, give a damn about them at all... As far as he was concerned, everything was ME! ME! ME!...
He wanted to be a KING!
Nonetheless, I will still do what I can for them, if and when they need it, if I am able...
According to them, I am a 'leftist'??? and am working to take away their rights to do as they please without regard to others... I am not understanding just what in the hell they want!!!..
No mas! I am done...
I still love them, despite what they believe...
-----------------------------------
H/L: one good thing happened to me this morning: I got a call from one of my medical people asking me if I was interested in a Covid19 vaccination? I accepted as I had been trying for the last two weeks to get an appt. Turned out that I was one of hundreds of us old fogies (lol) there to get poked...
H/L2:
For a drought suffering area with lots of fires, we are having a good rain today, not downpouring, but a good, steady off and on and a forecast for more of the same for the next two weeks or so... YAY!
__________________
01.23.2021, 08:54 PM
husky51
The Old Guy
Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12793
Sorry you've been having such difficulty dealing with your family, husky. I hope they'll see sense eventually. Glad to hear you'll be getting the vaccine soon though!
__________________
01.24.2021, 07:32 AM
husky51
The Old Guy
Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12793
Thanks, arren... frustrating, but what can one do when it's family,lol In my case, just love'm and hope for the best...
-------------------------------------
HH/L:
Assembled my new office chair and am now sitting comfortably before my laptop
YAYNESS!
__________________
Post last edited by husky51 on 01.24.2021, 01:14 PM.
one point that i disagree regarding some of the left leaning agenda is that things need to be done to a specific group of people.
I as a person do not want discrimination i think this is the key of generating us vs them mentality which creates division.
The other thing i am against is trying to go for unrealistic goals where many realistic goals are achievable
Rules by nature are self-righteous. So i do not think imposing arbitrary rules can actually better human living condition.
So i think it is better to leave the economy to itself and try to curb corruption. Trying to change economic structure always caused devastation. The same goes for trying to punish the Rich. We can see examples in French Revolution and in recent times Zimbabwe and now South Africa.
And FYI i am not at all against wealth tax, in fact in my religion there is a wealth tax. Which is quite big 2.5% of your total wealth every year. The bar is relatively low thus i have been giving this after i passed this bar. However as you can see it is equal for all not like for one it is 1% and for another it is 35%. which is discrimination against hardwork and success. If you do that your economy will tank 100%
And there is nothing more important than economy in any society. Just look at venejuela at some point in time they were needed to eat rotten meat in order to survive as their economy tanked.(i dont want to argue about why it happened as it is outside the scope)
__________________ Watch everything but only take the good things from it
Ask, think and learn. Because the more we know the more we grow.
Watching the wrong to happen is the same as commiting the wrong.
If it looks like things are forcing you to be creative, Then be creative.
its a uniquely Miyazaki film, one only he could make and its uniqueness places it beyond being easily critiqued.[About Porco Rosso] taken from a quote of Saddletank and Orphic Okapi
Post last edited by saviour2012 on 01.27.2021, 06:18 AM.
Why I said regulation doesn't work on economy. Democrat rule everything here.
__________________ Watch everything but only take the good things from it
Ask, think and learn. Because the more we know the more we grow.
Watching the wrong to happen is the same as commiting the wrong.
If it looks like things are forcing you to be creative, Then be creative.
its a uniquely Miyazaki film, one only he could make and its uniqueness places it beyond being easily critiqued.[About Porco Rosso] taken from a quote of Saddletank and Orphic Okapi
01.27.2021, 06:54 AM
Kazegami
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 08.19.07
Location: a world of pure imagination
Posts: 7025
HL: I passed the test for a light novel translation company last week, interview coming up on Friday. I want this position really badly. I'm hoping that, having passed their translation test, I've got the difficult part over with and the interview will be more of a formality.
LL: the two main reasons I'm looking for a new job. Firstly, the current one's really starting to grind me down. I haven't had a day off since New Year, and the pay is horrible. Secondly, I got the news a couple of weeks back that I won't be going to Japan until autumn at the earliest, so I've got a few more months ahead of me. I'm not spending them stressed and constantly busy while earning peanuts.
I know this new company's much more reputable, I've heard good things from people who work there, so fingers crossed they like me and I'll be in a better position soon.
Congrats on passing the translation test! The new opportunity sounds exciting. I know what you mean about the poor pay/other conditions of a lot of translation work. :/ I haven't had much that was particularly bad, but I've heard stuff.
__________________
02.21.2021, 05:31 PM
husky51
The Old Guy
Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12793
Congratulations on your test and the very best of wishes about tour interview...
=======================
Second congratulations this weekend... My oldest Grandson in KSA is now engaged.
__________________
02.21.2021, 10:03 PM
Kazegami
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 08.19.07
Location: a world of pure imagination
Posts: 7025
Oh, congrats to your grandson, Husky! That's lovely news.
HHHL: I got the job!! And it was the nicest interview I've ever had, wow... I kind of want the transcript so I can frame it. :') The interviewer was so kind about what I'd written for the translation test. Huge confidence boost.
Registration Date: 08.19.07
Location: a world of pure imagination
Posts: 7025
Thanks so much, guys! I'm feeling so much better about the months ahead now. Really looking forward to getting started.
quote:Originally posted by Saddletank *sends bucketloads of love and hugs to Kaz*
That's such great news. Where are you now BTW? Which country? And doing what?
I'm still at home in Scotland. I was supposed to be leaving for Japan in April last year, but... well, you know. That job is still waiting for me, which is great, but it's going to be autumn at the very earliest before I make it out there. I started working as a freelance manga translator in... May? June? last year. It was fun at first, but I became aware after a little while that the company I'm with... really isn't a good one. Rock-bottom pay, poor practices, no time off. But I'm moving onto a much more reputable one now. I haven't even started yet, but it's clear that the conditions are going to be worlds better. I'll be doing light novel translation, potentially working on manga too.
Post last edited by Kazegami on 02.28.2021, 12:52 PM.
02.28.2021, 12:52 PM
Saddletank
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069
Interesting stuff. I assume manga translation means working for an American company? I don't know of any British-based manga translation companies. I take it you are translating from Japanese to English?
"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)
02.28.2021, 02:08 PM
Kazegami
Miyazaki's Best Friend
Registration Date: 08.19.07
Location: a world of pure imagination
Posts: 7025
My current company's Japan-based, the new one will be US-based. I'm not sure I know of any British companies in that line of business either, come to think of it. More's the pity, having to translate into American English all the time makes me a little sad. But yes, Japanese to English. I wouldn't be confident enough in my Japanese to translate anything more complicated than emails into it. Certainly nothing creative. Ideally, you always want people translating into their native tongue.
01.21.2021, 05:33 PM
