Michael Hardner

A Libertarian I know left the movement during the pandemic because he felt that they had moved to a place where they wanted to REMOVE choice, i.e. ban masks vaccines. Penn Gilette the same

Ok, but maybe that means they've assimilated

But to what end ? What are people thinking, that this will be a path to the mythical 20th century prosperity ? I feel that they know something is slipping away, so Harris and Clinton's warnings of "stick with status quo" effectively didn't land with them.

Except for the RFK domain, though.

It's weird to think about a Republican government coming in hard with health regulations, but given RFK's past as a Democrat and his stance on such things it's not surprising either. If it tastes better I will eat it. The fries are kind of mealy today anyway but the kids love 'em.

This link says he got 594,592 votes or .4% https://www.google.com/search?cs=0&q=Robert+Kennedy&si=ACC90nzx_D3_zUKRnpAjmO0UBLNxnt7EyN4YYdru6U3bxLI-L_sFZSo4fyQGcH9lz7ZzNSpvY0dAkCMwblfHS3501zty0HGv4NgN8YImf6akzeXRWLIB0Vs%3D&biw=1309&bih=707&dpr=1.1

It was surprising, but... margin of error... 19/20 times. All that. The Des Moines paper has been noted for its accuracy, especially on Republicans, and that shouldn't change. Nobody believed that Trump absolutely would lose Iowa. What will be interesting with China is that the last trade war resulted in promises that China didn't keep. WIll he take them to task ? And - let's be honest. The economy wasn't good for working people. If the plan is to actually bring things back onshore, then the economy won't be good for working people for at least 10 years either... It would take at least that long to tool back up again I would guess...

Agreed. Yes, there is now a blank slate to make real change. Let's see how it unfolds...

Congratulations to the USA on making a clear and strong choice, with a peaceful election and, in all likelihood, a peaceful transition! We're going to have lots to talk about for the next four years, so excelsior!

We need to celebrate, though, the peaceful election in the USA.

1. Ok. I'll take that as a denial. 2. All lies. You didn't answer the question, so your assertions that I run away is classic projection. Hae a nice (non trans) day. Stay out of the changerooms...

Don't be mad at me for asking a question. WHY did the transgender issue disappear from the election zeitgeist ? Do you know ?

1. LOL - I was responding to THIS from you " your posting on this subject in general is to pretend there is no transgenderism issue to oppose. " 2. I don't care. You are free to get upset. You are free to get VERY VERY upset ! 3. I simply don't understand you. DeSantis is back in the grave with the other vampires, presumably muttering about woke trans whatever. I haven't heard Trump say "trans" in weeks now. The issue is dead, because normal people care. But I'm sorry trans people bother you so. I don't know... maybe stay inside ? Just trying to help.

I didn't say that. "Transgenderism", presumably meaning the right to be a trans person, is opposed by many. But it seems like it's not the issue of the scale that it was in Spring 2023. It's not a competition. Just two people having a conversation. All I can find out about the other person is what their values are, and how they process facts to make their decisions on issues. Maybe you can explain what people opposing transgendering isn't happening means...

1. Absolutely they were. 2. "only people opposed to transgenderism that isn't happening. " <- what does THAT mean ?

No, people were pushing for it and against it. But nobody is pushing against it anymore. My assumption is that the reasons are political, not moral. Gay Marriage did not become 'ok' morally for those against it, but they stopped talking about it.

Well, yes, except this issue was going to destroy America in the late 1990s. If it's such a huge moral threat why don't people bring it up anymore ? Or are you saying only the far right cares about this today ? If so, I guess I agree but ... what happened ?

And as with gay marriage, when it didn't work politically it disappeared off the radar.

1. It's much worse under a bad economy. An extreme example is Nazi Germany, with Germans tolerating Jews for a long time until the economy tanked after WW1. People quietly griped about multiculturalism but nationalism in Canada always becomes a bigger issue during economic downturns. 2. I think I stated already that those are different things. 3. I think you said this already too. It's HORSESH1T. You might be identifying symptos, but not a root cause. Check your assumptions. And even though I explain it to you again and again, you come back at me and accuse me of a personal failing. You don't assume you might be wrong, and you don't look at what I'm saying: you say "MH is wrong because he's blinded by progressivism". It's insulting and arrogant on your part. 4. I stopped reading this paragraph at "at". It's another insult, and I don't need it. I don't accuse you of being a racist who argues because ... whatever etc. etc... I want to find out what's really happening in the world, and what your analysis of the facts are. That's why I'm discussing with you. 5. Didn't I already post the definitions ? If not go google it. They're different things. It doesn't matter anyway. If we can't agree on that part, then let's move on. 6. Ok except your analogy is bad because climate change doesn't cause water pollution and vice versa. We have already seen that when the economy is good Canada is perfectly able to support multiculturalism. Other countries, like France, probably less so but still gave up nationalistic models when the EU showed them the way to prosperity. 7. See #6. You can't separate discussion of two things when they're closely linked. 8. Well, there are these things called trade-offs. Do you think Mulroney, Chretien, Marti, Harper and now Trudeau expected NO job losses through immigration and trade policy ? Of course not. They traded off jobs in some sectors for jobs in others, the idea being that overall the deal would help the economy. 9. Schisms ? Sure to some degree. Instability ? As in... mass demonstrations, riots, falling governments, insurrections ? No. The biggest insurrections we've had in the last 50 years were from Quebec Separatist Terrorists and a bunch of Anti-Vax Truckers. So I wouldn't say instability. 10. Yes, you are right that I should be careful not to overstate my case here. My framing is in Canada, and that doesn't apply to Ireland/N. Ireland, Israel/Palestine and longstanding ethnic conflicts. Point tken. 11. I think everybody on earth is going this way. You can't deny that this is a cross-cultural thing. Japan is way ahead of us. And they don't have immigration, so it's going to be lights-out in Japan at some point. I read that the population will decline by 50% by 2100.

You have it backwards.

In Canada we have a culture of accepting monopoly and oligopoly, and complaining about it incessantly. Nothing catalyzes improvement like FEAR. Let the managers and service providers know they're on notice. Provide Canadians with management tools so they can monitor how things are going in terms of delivery, services times AND costs. Then fire the managers if nothing improves. Simple. Harper actually created an amazing central resource for Canadians to review/discuss healthcare. I was posting about it on here for many years, on threads where I received the "Canadian shrug" of no response. 9-1-1 response times in Toronto are over ten minutes, I read. The only excuse is that people put up with it.

Decreasing prosperity is a problem, but Sonia increasing prosperity. The West always thinks about its wealth disparity, and remembers revolutionary forces. The Romans had Bread and Circuses, we have dental care.

It's getting so good that I don't even have to click the links to laugh

Wow. You really do think that you're smarter than them. And a breakdancing analogy to boot...

It seems to me that you think you're smarter than acclaimed economists. The weird thing is that people resent Democrats for EXACTLY that sort of arrogance. The smartest economists I have listed to are very careful about what they say and try not to overstate things. 😂