Mac1958
Diamond Member
It's a hopeful thought that this is cyclical. I hope you're right.An excellent idea, thanks.This is just an exercise to provoke thought and hopefully untie some members here behind the idea that dictatorships are a really bad idea, what we can do to prevent that and what can be done to lower the tone of division between our political parties and citizens so we can get stuff done.
The worst part of this lousy situation is that we've done this to ourselves, we've chosen to act like this, we have put ourselves into this mess. No one forced us.
I think this is going to keep getting worse long before it gets any better, if ever. On one hand, I think our system has enough checks & balances to avoid a dictatorship, regardless of some of the silly hyperbole we're hearing. On the other hand, we've become so shallow and tribal that there's a long way still to fall.
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Great insight.
From the ground up at least meaning from us the citizens' view, polarizing issues come in so many forms. For me politics is all about protecting my family and improvements to the VA system. For someone else maybe it's an increase in neighborhood crime or rising healthcare costs. I think that's where pundits get us to divide but it's also very true we choose when and what to watch.
Isn't it awesome that no has one has forced us politically really--yet--in a dictatorship sense. Also agree it is likely to get worse but strangely we've barely pulled back from the brink of that abyss more times than anyone can could really name. Yeah the general culture really has shallowed and tribal is just the word to use for all the groups and subgroups we see emerging. But I think diversity has been a good thing in the past. Seems to me it can be somewhat all about how social and cultural groups present themselves and interact and also how the media sells them to each other.
Definitely lets hope that long fall never comes. It's very interesting to watch the political machine cycle under such a heavy load.
From my perspective (whatever the hell that is), it's like watching people wearing red mud wrestling with people wearing blue. The mud makes them all look the same.
Anyway, I hope you're right.
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