General Politics Thread

[Empty Glass]

Originally Posted by Eltu

Policies are one thing, and these things can be debated and logically discussed, but a much darker side of the last events in my eyes, is the values that are being more and more common lately. One one hand, over the last years there's been an increase in more over-the-top, sometimes hypocritical liberal views - which I admit are occasionally destructive - but as a response to this, there has emerged a shocking amount of the very opposite. In the name of opposing "political correctness", people have seemingly forgotten actual respect and human decency.

The video Eternal Enigma posted is a good example of this - he's making some point which, while I don't agree with, are still worth of discussion, but he is also showing a huge lack of respect in how he's communicating. It's not really matter of 'cursing' etc, that's always been pretty benign - but a good example is where he brings up the professor who allowed his students to skip an exam due to being upset about the Trump win, and then proceeded to spend a few minutes ranting about how they were all a bunch of "****ing crybabies". Is this really necessary? Does opposing political correctness mean it's okay to actively and knowingly insult people for the sake of self-gratification or provocation? People have a right to be upset, to be concerned, to be emotionally affected by something. Yes, people can take this too far, but never should it be a reason to intentionally cause grief, harm or sadness to other human beings. The level of disrespectful views, language and reasoning that has blossomed in the wake of Trump's campaign (among other things - in many ways Trump is not the cause but rather a manifestation of this) is hugely saddening to me. A simple visit to alt-right media sites or Reddit's The_Donald subreddit shows insulting language, respectless comments and just a lack of compassion that's fairly stunning.

And I'm not criticizing the views here - it's perfectly fine to be fed up with political correctness, or liberal viewpoints, or anything else of that matter! But the hateful ways these counter-viewpoints are expressed are so unnecessary and destructive.

I don't want to generalize too much of course, and hardly everyone who's supporting Donald Trump is a hateful person, far from it. But Trump himself does still personify this mentality to its very core, where opposing viewpoints are met with provocation, insults, and a general lack of respect. I can gladly discuss Trump's policies and ideas of how to run a country, but I strongly feel a president should be a decent human being, and I strongly feel Trump is not. This in itself does not invalidate his ideas, but it does make me saddened to see him win the election. Perhaps the most important quality of a president is being able to govern well, but I really wish there would also be room for human compassion.

Thank you!

[Disco Scratch]

If my posts have contributed any negativity or disruption please delete them and I apologize for not thinking before posting that video. I'm not a hateful person. My very first vote for anyone ever was for Donald Trump. Why? To make America great again. If he messes up I'll simply admit I made a mistake.

Edit - I cleaned the thread up the best I can without destroying continuity. Again I apologize and I will cause no further disruptions.

[Eltu]

Oh, I don't think there was any disruption or negativity, not in the sense that it was coming directly from you in either case.

Myself, I'm merely expressing my personal views in these matters, and you're obviously welcome to feel differently - my above comments on the video you posted reflected how I personally feel in the matter, but wasn't to say you shouldn't have posted it. This is after all the debate subforum and exchanging different points of view can be done in a healthy manner

[Marvellous Chester]

The US election was a choice between two bloody dreadful candidates, something comparable to choosing which eye you'd like a nail hammered through, and no doubt just as painful.

Donald Trump is clearly flawed, to put it politely. As far as I can see, his few good ideas involve rounding up and throwing out all the illegal immigrants, investing in and improving the infrastructure of the United States, and seeking to strengthen ties with Putin (where Hillary would have preferred war).

Beyond that, it's difficult to justify putting out the bunting. For the US anyway.

On a strictly selfish level though, I am, in hindsight, pleased that Trump won. Now that the UK has voted to leave the EU, we are going to need new friends and Donald Trump has made it quite clear he approves of our decision. This, I hope, will make us natural allies. A good relationship with Donald Trump's United States will surely help us from our new, more isolated position in the world.

The environment and climate are well and truly buggered though, a great pity, as I am rather fond of both. Still, that's humans for you.

[Disco Scratch]

Would you like to have an idea of where you stand politically? Go take the Political Compass Test to see, but keep in mind that the test is basic and anything like this should be taken with a grain of salt. An individuals political views can be complex and in some cases seem contradictory. Without the test I consider myself a centered slightly left leaning moderate. I'm against abortion because I'm for pregnancy prevention. I believe in a creator of the universe, but I don't believe religion should be in schools (mainly because the belief in God and following a religion are separate things in my mind). I'm for marriage equality, but I believe children benefit more if they're in a home with a mother and father. I often align with conservative views and Republican policy.

Here are my results.



Here's how my results compare to well known people throughout history.



The vertical axis represents social views and the horizontal axis represents economic view.

[Na'vi a Kepekmì]

I made the test and I'm very close to Gandhi. lol
I'm leaning on the left libertarian side. I don't think I share many conservative views.

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

i just want the gov't to stay the hell out of my life...period. as long as i obey the civil laws and pay my taxes, why can't they just live and let live?!

i don't want over-educated latte slurpers dictating policy and decisions for me. my life is my life, get the hell out of it.

what does that make me, in the political scheme of things?

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by Ja'k Dawsiin

i just want the gov't to stay the hell out of my life...period. as long as i obey the civil laws and pay my taxes, why can't they just live and let live?!

i don't want over-educated latte slurpers dictating policy and decisions for me. my life is my life, get the hell out of it.

what does that make me, in the political scheme of things?

To me you seem to be a right leaning solid libertarian. On the chart you would most likely be between the center and Friedman except further down closer to libertarian, but you could always take the test to see where you end up.

https://www.politicalcompass.org/test

[Marvellous Chester]

According to that test, I'm not far off a modern-day Stalin XD

Crikey, I didn't think my answers were THAT bad.

[Disco Scratch]

Originally Posted by The Silver Stag

According to that test, I'm not far off a modern-day Stalin XD

Crikey, I didn't think my answers were THAT bad.

Oh my, an authoritative 'rule with an iron fist' sort of chap, eh? This test can certainly be surprising to some. That's why when you get into arguments over the internet or even when listening to politicians it seems like everyone is constantly changing their position. They say they identify one way, but their beliefs and views seem to suggest something different. The questions themselves aren't that bad, but they show a pattern in your personality based on your choices.

[Marvellous Chester]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

Oh my, an authoritative 'rule with an iron fist' sort of chap, eh?

So it would seem, got to keep the plebs in line.

No, but really, I suppose many of my answers were driven by my desire to get what is best for my country as a single entity, perhaps sometimes at the cost of the happiness of the population.

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

Originally Posted by Eternal Enigma

To me you seem to be a right leaning solid libertarian. On the chart you would most likely be between the center and Friedman except further down closer to libertarian, but you could always take the test to see where you end up.

https://www.politicalcompass.org/test

i took the test and it says i'm a left-leaning Libertarian

a lot of the questions were pretty damn spot on, and i only hesitation on three questions, but i did answer those three truthfully in my present age and maturity/financial bracket. they probably were different answers just a few short years ago. the Avatar Experience has changed several of my beliefs tbh, and the older i get, the less i care about certain things.

[Dr. Na'vi]

I'm relatively close to Gandhi but not as left.
It's a good overall test, some questions need to be more specific though.

[Marvellous Chester]

Originally Posted by Dr. Na'vi

It's a good overall test, some questions need to be more specific though.

That's what I thought too. There were a few questions that were a bit ambiguous or too broad to answer properly. I think most people have political or moral views that only extend to a certain point or apply in particular situations, and that detail gets lost in the quiz.

But a test that takes all that in to account would be ridiculously hard to create I suppose, and the results near impossible to calculate.

[Dr. Na'vi]

Originally Posted by Marvellous Chester

But a test that takes all that in to account would be ridiculously hard to create I suppose, and the results near impossible to calculate.

Yeah, I want a test where I can also specify how strong the effects of certain answers are weighted in the calculation
Haven't seen something like this so far...