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What is your political affiliation? (US politics)

What is your political affiliation? (US politics)

  • Republican

    Votes: 452 25.0%

  • Democrat

    Votes: 670 37.1%

  • Independent Voter

    Votes: 502 27.8%

  • Non-voter / Objector

    Votes: 184 10.2%
  • Total voters
    1,808
Regardless. My apologies @Kristy

Perhaps I should have made my point while being less demeaning.
Sometimes on the internet it easy to forget there's real people with real feelings behind the screen.
 
Bit of a rant here, so TLDR:
Ranked choice voting would make the biggest step towards fixing our current state of political affairs and would likely bring about the end of the "two party system" that, statistically, the vast majority of Americans dislike (actual Democrats and Republicans only make up about 25-30% of the US population)

Tbh, the whole "first past the post" election style that has lead to the 2 party system we have is the biggest reason why American Politics is so FUBAR atm.

As it is, both Republicans and Democrats are largely disliked by the VAST majority of the US. So how do they keep getting elected? Fear. Progressives fear what will happen if the republicans take power, so they vote democrat, and the conservatives fear what will happen if democrats are elected, so they vote Republican. In the end, we're all voting for the one we think is the lesser of two evils.

As such, Democrats and Republicans alike don't have to put that much effort in to having strong policies, they just have to have policies that appeal to more people than the other guy.

How do we fix it?
Instant Runoff/ranked choice voting. You get to vote for any/all the candidates you like, and none of the ones you don't, in order of favorite to least favorite. Once all votes are in, the one with the least votes gets eliminated, and everyone who voted for them has their ballots shift to their second choice. Then they eliminate the new person with the lowest votes, and all of their votes go to the 2nd or 3rd pick, rinse repeat until there is one candidate who has the most votes.

This would all but eliminate attack ads (which I have yet to hear anyone say they like), because when you have more competition, it becomes more about running on your own solid platform rather than trying to shake your opponents. A single opponent is an easy target, but 6 or more opponents becomes much more difficult to slander, so rather than taking other candidates down in ads, they need to focus more on building themselves up.

It would also help curb gerrymandering, as when you're trying to get specific percentages of voters, it's significantly harder to lump demographics when there are 5/6/7/8 potential candidates the voters could be voting for.

It would break us of the headlock the two party system has us in and would incentivize disenfranchised voters to actually turn out and vote. As it is, we will never see a libertarian, a green party, or any other "3rd party" candidate win the election because people would rather use their one vote to vote for the 2nd worst option rather than the best option, because 2nd worst is still better than the worst.
 
If I had to pick one it'd be democrat but honestly I hate Democrats ? ?. Truly I'm a far left anarchist. Really into the work of people like Bakunin, marx, kropotkin, and Huey newton
 
Hmm I'd say I'm a Constitutionalist for the most part. But strangely enough I can respect & get behind the idea of a Monarchy/Dictatorship. The reason being is that the greatest & most flourishing empires in the history of the world were Monarchy's/Dictatorships. And yes I get that both of these ideologies contradict each other lol.
 
I'm just a regular "gettable" voter if my demands are met, but I'm sooo undecided! I sure wish one of our two viable parties would fight for my vote.
 
K_9River_rat said:
Where the fuck have you been?
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Dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Yes, I'm serious. Everybody done cheering? Too bad, you wasted the effort. It's painless (it was found by accident while looking for something totally unrelated) slow-moving (enough so that the fellow who's probably going to be doing the carving in a few weeks says I could safely go on a 2 year sabbatical to the depths of the Amazon, and it would be a 90% chance that when I got back, it wouldn't have changed enough to care about, other than shooting new pictures in the cat-scanner to be certain the edges are still where they think they are before going in for the surgery) and based on what they're telling me they found and what and where it is, I'm not likely going anywhere for a long time unless something VERY unexpected happens. 5 year survival rate on this type/location/tumor stage is above 98%. In a study involving 1847 patients diagnosed with it at the stage mine is, 1 died of it after refusing treatment for 11 years, and "death from all causes other than the cancer" five years after the study started was 113 - 43 of which went out as the result of crashing their car.
 
I voted Dem for the first 25 years of my voting life. Voted for Obama's first term and quickly saw we'd all been duped. Went independent for a couple of terms. Could not stand Trump and refused to vote for him, Same with Killery and Biden, all obvious frauds. I'm horrified by the current state our country and know for near certainty, something radical needs to change fast and hard. I personally believe you should not only be a citizen to vote, but you should have to serve a minimum tour of active duty to qualify, both males and females. You don't necessarily change you party when in the military, but it tends to shake delusions of Marxist utopias out of your head.
 
UR20Z said:
Dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Yes, I'm serious. Everybody done cheering? Too bad, you wasted the effort. It's painless (it was found by accident while looking for something totally unrelated) slow-moving (enough so that the fellow who's probably going to be doing the carving in a few weeks says I could safely go on a 2 year sabbatical to the depths of the Amazon, and it would be a 90% chance that when I got back, it wouldn't have changed enough to care about, other than shooting new pictures in the cat-scanner to be certain the edges are still where they think they are before going in for the surgery) and based on what they're telling me they found and what and where it is, I'm not likely going anywhere for a long time unless something VERY unexpected happens. 5 year survival rate on this type/location/tumor stage is above 98%. In a study involving 1847 patients diagnosed with it at the stage mine is, 1 died of it after refusing treatment for 11 years, and "death from all causes other than the cancer" five years after the study started was 113 - 43 of which went out as the result of crashing their car.
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Damn man, no cheering here...

You may be a rough old cuss, but you ain't as bad as you try to appear! lol

Sorry to hear that and my best wishes for you@
 
UR20Z said:
Dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Yes, I'm serious. Everybody done cheering? Too bad, you wasted the effort. It's painless (it was found by accident while looking for something totally unrelated) slow-moving (enough so that the fellow who's probably going to be doing the carving in a few weeks says I could safely go on a 2 year sabbatical to the depths of the Amazon, and it would be a 90% chance that when I got back, it wouldn't have changed enough to care about, other than shooting new pictures in the cat-scanner to be certain the edges are still where they think they are before going in for the surgery) and based on what they're telling me they found and what and where it is, I'm not likely going anywhere for a long time unless something VERY unexpected happens. 5 year survival rate on this type/location/tumor stage is above 98%. In a study involving 1847 patients diagnosed with it at the stage mine is, 1 died of it after refusing treatment for 11 years, and "death from all causes other than the cancer" five years after the study started was 113 - 43 of which went out as the result of crashing their car.
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Sorry to hear you're having to go through this but I'm glad it sounds like it shouldn't be a serious issue.
 
Mare Lover 1975 said:
Sorry to hear you're having to go through this but I'm glad it sounds like it shouldn't be a serious issue.
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Yeah, it was one of those "OH SHIT! Run in circles, scream and shout, walk right up so close to the edge of a full-blown mental meltdown that your toes are hanging over the edge, try to decide what kind of coffin you want" things for about a week, but... <shrug>

(the diagnosis got dropped on me as a phone call from the doc's PA, the content of which wasn't much beyond "Your cat scan results came back - bad news: Looks like you've got cancer. Suggest you schedule an appointment with a specialist at ###-####. Check your "MyChart" page for the details - Have a nice weekend!<click>" - at about 4:55 PM on a friday... I'm still trying to decide if I want to go to the effort to try to file a malpractice lawsuit - That's absolutely no fucking way to give somebody news like that...
 
Best place to go for a cancer treatment is MD Anderson in Texas. They may not need to cut you open. Radiation may fix you up.

How do I know? Wife had cancer, doc cut her open took some things out. Operation cost Medicare and Tricare for life $150,000.00. We drove 1400 miles to MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Docs said they could have fixed it with radiation only.

Our doc in Reno,Nv had her undergo 6 weeks of Chemo, followed by 3 radiation treatmens. Some things are not the same after cutting, Chemo and Radiation.
 
petshoplust said:
Best place to go for a cancer treatment is MD Anderson in Texas. They may not need to cut you open. Radiation may fix you up.

How do I know? Wife had cancer, doc cut her open took some things out. Operation cost Medicare and Tricare for life $150,000.00. We drove 1400 miles to MD Anderson in Houston, TX. Docs said they could have fixed it with radiation only.

Our doc in Reno,Nv had her undergo 6 weeks of Chemo, followed by 3 radiation treatmens. Some things are not the same after cutting, Chemo and Radiation.
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For this particular flavor, keyhole surgery and a cryoprobe are the favored treatment. No rads, no chemo, just give it (and a couple mm of surroundings, just to be sure) the world's worst case of frostbite, then take some pictures in a few months to make sure things went as planned.
Expectation is that once I've had my turn in the O.R., I should be back to my normal routine within 3 days, max, possibly only one or two if I'm careful and don't do something stupid like trying to shot-put hay bales or grain bags across the barn. Worst case post-op scenario is I do something stupid such as I just mentioned, and in the process, blow out a cauterized blood vesel and they have to go back in and clamp it/recauterize/otherwise deal with it.
 
UR20Z said:
Worst case post-op scenario is I do something stupid such as I just mentioned, and in the process, blow out a cauterized blood vesel and they have to go back in and clamp it/recauterize/otherwise deal with it.
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Yeah... don't DO that that then.
:unsure:
 
To be honest I would be best described as a conservative Libertarian. However there was no option for that choice. Why a libertarian? Well as a conservative Libertarian, if you decide you want to be a drunk or Addict, that is ok, with me. Just don't expect me to pay for anything you think you need. NO government handouts, no food, no housing, no anything. You drug/Alcohol use is your problem. not mine. You want to eat, then give up the drugs and get a job. Your family need food or housing. That is your problem alone. Nobody owes you anything. Sounds harsh to you? Not from my side. Keep taxes low. Self defense and military only. We need police, border patrol, fire department and that is just about all.
 
petshoplust said:
NO government handouts, no food, no housing, no anything. You drug/Alcohol use is your problem. not mine. You want to eat, then give up the drugs and get a job. Your family need food or housing. That is your problem alone. Nobody owes you anything. Sounds harsh to you? Not from my side. Keep taxes low. Self defense and military only. We need police, border patrol, fire department and that is just about all.
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I certainly understand your viewpoint, and the conversation about someone reaching into your wallet on someone else's behalf is another whole topic. I would only point out that anthropologically, humans are a deeply social species, with a long history of 'caring' for the sick or elderly or those that cannot contribute directly to 'the hunt or housemaking'. Elders have often been cared for as a repository of historical knowledge or tradition.

So.. I think there are social reasons to assist with care for certain folks.
But I guess now that we have Google... and Old folks homes... :unsure:

As least you mentioned fire service. Something many forget about 'as a thing'.
Roads, roads help.

But yes, the scope of government could be deeply reduced.
Perhaps even starting with the biggest consumer: Military/Dark Budgets
 
Ok you got me there. People who are mentally will be needed to be cared for, However for some elderly people who are sick, abuse the generosity of the government. Here is the scenario. Elderly owns a house and has some savings/investments. Family wants the inheritance, not the medical bills. Elderly COULD pay for it, bat family WANTS the inheritance. So Elderly person sells the house to a family member for a token amount. Elderly transfers investment/savings to a family member. Sick elderly is now indigent or poor. Family now turns the elderly person over to the government (tax payers) to care for their elderly family member. Think welfare and Medi-cal. So family keeps the inheritance and tax payers get screwed for the medical payments.

Lets look at another scam some do. Some people spend all their money when younger. Living the fast lane. Best of everything. Why save for your retirement years. Why plan for your golden years. Government (tax player) will care for you. So now you are 65 no savings for retirement, all spent in your younger years.

Me, I saved and did without some things to save enough money for my retirement. I planned well. I am now 71. Been retired 14 years. I hope to get 10 more years of life. I have had female dogs for the last 9 years.
 
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