Michael Hardner

I believe in the vibecession more than GDP readouts.

Some good strategies in that post. What did they carve out in the past? Apple products. Perhaps coffee most recently? It seems that price hikes on middle class consumer items, and also oil, are a trigger.

Wokeness is literally a magical curse that can be blamed for everything.

1. I am not sure but I wouldn't argue against your point here either. I think any culture war issue splits down the middle 50/50 as you say. 2. I think it's called 'resistance', yes. But to define what is 'natural' is a tough go. I just tried to think of some cultural things that are 'natural' vs 'unnatural' but with every one, I came up with counter arguments that disproved the example. Murder ? Natural ? It took collectives to create common law to forbid it. So there's an example we could discuss and change sides on over and over again. I find the so-called dawn of civilization from 10000 BCE to, say, 3000 BCE intriguing because these are the people who set up large/mass societies with no template. In a way, anything they invented, any social convention, is not 'natural' but only an adaptive response to people collecting in large groups. So if people adopt a cultural practice, what are the dominant forces that cause the practice to be adopted, possibly tolerated, or rejected ? Maybe some example of failed social trends would suffice. I'm thinking out loud, or in writing here.... not arguing. There's only opinion to be put out on a lot of this stuff.

As such, I don't know what you mean by "natural progression". I'm not disagreeing but... was birth control a "natural progression" ? Baptizing the savages ? Cultural forces might actually proceed independent of politics. For example, is there any suggestion that left-wing vs right-wing young people are having children at significantly different rates ? Not an oppositional discussion, I am asking in order to explore ideas so put away your semantic weapons all you who care to chat with me

A "culture fix" including, we assume, everyone rejecting Drag Queen shows or somesuch, isn't going to happen on its own. People are free to pursue their life goals, and given the culture of convenience, consumerism, hedonism, or - more generously - self actualization... having kids is not a life goal. I had children late in life, and saw my personal time, disposal income, and general sanity plunge. However, I knew this would happen and so I'm not surprised. Nostalgia for "old values" and such isn't going to change anything.

I have been bringing this up for years and people disputed it until recently. I think almost every country has a declining birthrate. And people are now talking about it so it has arrived as an issue.

Anti-corporate leftists sometimes think that they are conservative.

Well he didn't inherit the same kind of economy as last time. People want more disposable income. If he can do that, people will approve.

These facts don't lie. For some people, it just means that they have to ignore it. If you look for facts to support your position rather than forming your opinion based on facts... You may be a tribal minion.

1. Ok. 2. Ok. 3. Ok, you don't have to answer of course.

1. Well I just had no response. Isn't that ok? If I had a major take or disagreement with your perspective I would say so. I don't understand why this is a sticking point. I don't expect you to comment on everything that I say. 2. Why do I detect hostility in this response? I sure didn't intend any.

I didn't skip them, I read them and had nothing to add. I want to know how you will know that economic policies are working. What metrics define success or failure?

No crying. I was entertained, for free, for about five months. Mahomes is the GOAT, how can I cry over greatness?

I'm not arguing, I'm asking you how you think about this. If you don't want to respond that's fair. Not every discussion is oppositional.

I will let you define it. I'm probably not going to challenge it. I'll probably just look at what you are thinking I live in Toronto. Refills are $4. Everything sucks

Some objective metric to compare against, so we can tell if the general welfare is improving or not. I get vindication everyday, and I never get triumph. I feel like I've been ripped off.

And what about those of us who have never felt triumph?

You've touched on something. International organizations don't just include the UN, WHO and UNESCO What forces us to honor patents from foreign powers that are trying to tax us for their intellectual property? I think a 5-year patent expiry is more than fair for all medications from US owned Pharma companies. We can start with Merck, Pfizer, Johnson and Jonathan, Bristol-Myers squibb... MAGA folks don't like these anyway because they forced vaccines on the public, and saved their lives... It would be pretty simple to buy Copycats from offshore pill factories. There's your international agreements.

The database may need an enema https://repolitics.com/forums/search/?&q="you people"&author=Michael Hardner&search_and_or=or&start_after=year

When did I use it?

I don't like arguing that the culture war was anything other than a political football. It seems like some are conceding that it's a thing of the past, a battle won. Okay. Well then let's move on.... Are those billionaires going to help us now? How can we actually measure that things are getting better? Inflation rates? How about the GINI index?

Nobody thinks that the term ' you people ' is a pejorative. You could use it to talk about Canadians, CBC executives, anyone. The point was that it was widely inferred that he was talking about new Canadians.

I measure effectiveness against what was promised. One of the criticisms of trump is he makes Grand promises, such as to end the war in Russia within 24 hours.

1. Your question is valid. Let me double check... from the Wiki article I cited "There are an estimated half million illegal entries into the United States each year" 2. Also valid - the number cited might go down 3. Also valid, the number of arrests could go up 4. Well Biden's administration didn't even try to deport so-called "low level" offenders so it already is