Why are many people so partisan?

[OneMoreFarang]

We all have our preferences and there is nothing wrong with that.

But it seems many people, in this forum and elsewhere, see their own side only as good and the others only as bad.

 

Trump hired Musk to make the US government more efficient.

I would have though everybody should be delighted by such a move. Or is there anybody out there who does not think the US and many other governments waste too much money?

 

If the DEMs would have created such a department, I guess many DEM voters would be delighted. But now, it seems many DEMs and the DEM media don't like this at all.

Why is it so difficult to agree that a good idea is a good idea, even if the others came up with this idea?

One can argue if Musk has some conflicts of interests. But that doesn't change the fact that it would be great to save lots of tax-payers money. 

 

The above is just one example. It seems to apply to many supporters of many political parties all over the world.

[KhunLA]

Myself, family, friends & peers aren't & never were really partisan.  Probably because everyone I know, realize, they, politicians are all the same.  Little if any difference in Dems and Rep in USA.

 

This century, the politicians seemed to out do themselves, with war mongering, no control of inflation or healthcare cost.  ACA really killed affordable healthcare.

 

Bush & Obama, war mongering, and defense contractor reaping profits.

Obama's ACA disaster for most, making healthcare silly expensive

Biden's inflation, while oil & big pharm, having billion $$$ windfall profits.

 

They all suck, and did nothing but enrich themselves and their backers.  Whether bankers, brokers, big oil, big pharma, defense contractors, and now Black Rock types and hedge funds, buying & controlling everything.

 

USA food supply full of chemicals, killing people, and big pharma selling pills to manage their bad health.   Politicians allowing and endorsing it all.

 

How can anyone be partisan with any of those.  You really can't fix stupid.

[pattayasan]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Myself, family, friends & peers aren't & never were really partisan.  Probably because everyone I know, realize, they, politicians are all the same.  Little if any difference in Dems and Rep in USA.

 

This century, the politicians seemed to out do themselves, with war mongering, no control of inflation or healthcare cost.  ACA really killed affordable healthcare.

 

Bush & Obama, war mongering, and defense contractor reaping profits.

Obama's ACA disaster for most, making healthcare silly expensive

Biden's inflation, while oil & big pharm, having billion $$$ windfall profits.

 

They all suck, and did nothing but enrich themselves and their backers.  Whether bankers, brokers, big oil, big pharma, defense contractors, and now Black Rock types and hedge funds, buying & controlling everything.

 

USA food supply full of chemicals, killing people, and big pharma selling pills to manage their bad health.   Politicians allowing and endorsing it all.

 

How can anyone be partisan with any of those.  You really can't fix stupid.

 

Neither Bush nor Obama predicated their campaign on racism. This is the single reason the world is now more polarized.

[TheAppletons]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Myself, family, friends & peers aren't & never were really partisan.  Probably because everyone I know, realize, they, politicians are all the same.  Little if any difference in Dems and Rep in USA.

 

This century, the politicians seemed to out do themselves, with war mongering, no control of inflation or healthcare cost.  ACA really killed affordable healthcare.

 

Bush & Obama, war mongering, and defense contractor reaping profits.

Obama's ACA disaster for most, making healthcare silly expensive

Biden's inflation, while oil & big pharm, having billion $$$ windfall profits.

 

They all suck, and did nothing but enrich themselves and their backers.  Whether bankers, brokers, big oil, big pharma, defense contractors, and now Black Rock types and hedge funds, buying & controlling everything.

 

USA food supply full of chemicals, killing people, and big pharma selling pills to manage their bad health.   Politicians allowing and endorsing it all.

 

How can anyone be partisan with any of those.  You really can't fix stupid.

 

  Sharp post.  

 

  Regarding the OP, while I'm all for "government efficiency", I sincerely doubt the way to make that happen is by creating a new government department - with more bureaucrats - to create "efficiency."  

[pattayasan]

4 minutes ago, TheAppletons said:

 

  Sharp post.  

 

  Regarding the OP, while I'm all for "government efficiency", I sincerely doubt the way to make that happen is by creating a new government department - with more bureaucrats - to create "efficiency."  

 

This department won't be a government department. It is a misnomer designed purely so they could use the symbol of Musk's DOGE crytpo scam coin. It is an "advisory body" You can bet it works just like the Heritage Foundation. Just "advising" the president.

[mdr224]

I wasnt into politics until this year where i realized the country needed my vote. The west is too liberal and thus to prevent the world from going extinct, i voted for trump

[Yagoda]

I am a Trump supporter because the Left, which is in the end a violent, rascist, antisemitic and anti human ideology has become too powerful, and whither goest the Left, also goest hate, violence and death.

 

The ideology must be eradicated.

[soalbundy]

49 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

We all have our preferences and there is nothing wrong with that.

But it seems many people, in this forum and elsewhere, see their own side only as good and the others only as bad.

 

Trump hired Musk to make the US government more efficient.

I would have though everybody should be delighted by such a move. Or is there anybody out there who does not think the US and many other governments waste too much money?

 

If the DEMs would have created such a department, I guess many DEM voters would be delighted. But now, it seems many DEMs and the DEM media don't like this at all.

Why is it so difficult to agree that a good idea is a good idea, even if the others came up with this idea?

One can argue if Musk has some conflicts of interests. But that doesn't change the fact that it would be great to save lots of tax-payers money. 

 

The above is just one example. It seems to apply to many supporters of many political parties all over the world.

While I agree with your sentiments I am alarmed that Musk has so much power, he is already the worlds richest man and consequently has huge seductive power upon government and industry and this power is now elevated with a government position and direct access to a president that doesn't seem to have any moral values. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Musk and Trump are basically untouchable and all powerful, what does that do to two already damage psyches? Government waste is a world wide problem but some seemingly redundant departments are 'pesky' counterweights against an all to powerful administration, it is now easy to remove them.

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, TheAppletons said:

 

  Sharp post.  

 

  Regarding the OP, while I'm all for "government efficiency", I sincerely doubt the way to make that happen is by creating a new government department - with more bureaucrats - to create "efficiency."  

Elon Musk is not exactly a bureaucrat.

I am not a fan of that guy, but he certainly has some good idea. And he knows how to control cost. There is a reason why he does space exploration much cheaper than the NASA.

Will he be able to make the government more efficient? I don't know. But I like the idea that he will try. Let's see what will happen.

 

[mogandave]

3 hours ago, pattayasan said:

 

Neither Bush nor Obama predicated their campaign on racism. This is the single reason the world is now more polarized.

Obama ran on uniting, but served as a divider. 

 

Just look at race relations before and after Obama. 

 

 

[mogandave]

3 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Elon Musk is not exactly a bureaucrat.

I am not a fan of that guy, but he certainly has some good idea. And he knows how to control cost. There is a reason why he does space exploration much cheaper than the NASA.

Will he be able to make the government more efficient? I don't know. But I like the idea that he will try. Let's see what will happen.

 

You ask why politics is so divided, yet you call everyone that supports Trump stupid. 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, mogandave said:

You ask why politics is so divided, yet you call everyone that supports Trump stupid. 

 

Not everybody, only the stupid, 😉

And even while I dislike Trump, he and the GOP have some good ideas. And some bad ideas.

Same as the DEMs, some good idea and some bad ideas.

The point from this task is that we can dislike Trump and/or Harris and still see that some of their politics and not so bad.

[mogandave]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

Not everybody, only the stupid, 😉

And even while I dislike Trump, he and the GOP have some good ideas. And some bad ideas.

Same as the DEMs, some good idea and some bad ideas.

The point from this task is that we can dislike Trump and/or Harris and still see that some of their politics and not so bad.

What do you think are the GOP’s bad ideas? 

 

You’ve called me stupid. 

[AlexRich]

The question that we should ask is Elon Musk a benevolent philanthropic person, or is he simply someone who is seeking to advance his own interests?
 

Anyone being honest with themself knows the answer is the latter. Actions have consequences. Many Trump voters will suffer as programmes that benefit them get pulled. Some obese guy with a MAGA baseball cap is going to wake up soon and discover the cost of insulin meds are now going to send him into bankruptcy. 

 

 

 

[mogandave]

10 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

The question that we should ask is Elon Musk a benevolent philanthropic person, or is he simply someone who is seeking to advance his own interests?

What do you think Musk’s own interests are?

10 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

Anyone being honest with themself knows the answer is the latter. Actions have consequences. Many Trump voters will suffer as programmes that benefit them get pulled. Some obese guy with a MAGA baseball cap is going to wake up soon and discover the cost of insulin meds are now going to send him into bankruptcy. 

 

What programs that benefit working Americans do you see getting pulled? 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

9 hours ago, mogandave said:

What do you think are the GOP’s bad ideas? 

 

You’ve called me stupid. 

Having a narcissist serial liar convicted criminal as their leader is a very bad idea.

Or do you think that is smart?

[OneMoreFarang]

9 hours ago, AlexRich said:

The question that we should ask is Elon Musk a benevolent philanthropic person, or is he simply someone who is seeking to advance his own interests?

Who really understands Elon Musk.

Who was ever in the situation to be the richest man on earth and know how that feels?

I have some ideas about that guy. But do I understand him? No. And I am pretty sure I am not alone.

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, AlexRich said:

Anyone being honest with themself knows the answer is the latter. Actions have consequences. Many Trump voters will suffer as programmes that benefit them get pulled. Some obese guy with a MAGA baseball cap is going to wake up soon and discover the cost of insulin meds are now going to send him into bankruptcy.

Didn't I read insulin meds are already 10x the price in the USA than anywhere else in the world? 

[Yagoda]

13 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

Not everybody, only the stupid, 😉

And even while I dislike Trump, he and the GOP have some good ideas. And some bad ideas.

Same as the DEMs, some good idea and some bad ideas.

The point from this task is that we can dislike Trump and/or Harris and still see that some of their politics and not so bad.

You are a Leftist anti American so I consider the source. But to answer your question, Leftism is a mental illness with a philosophy that mandates hate and violence. Thats why decent folks oppose it, vociferously, because the alternative is laying in a ditch.

[EVENKEEL]

21 hours ago, pattayasan said:

 

Neither Bush nor Obama predicated their campaign on racism. This is the single reason the world is now more polarized.

Obama took care of business regarding the border. Biden opened up the US to illegals from around the world. DEI is another culprit.

[Wrwest]

On 11/14/2024 at 9:11 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

We all have our preferences and there is nothing wrong with that.

But it seems many people, in this forum and elsewhere, see their own side only as good and the others only as bad.

 

Trump hired Musk to make the US government more efficient.

I would have though everybody should be delighted by such a move. Or is there anybody out there who does not think the US and many other governments waste too much money?

 

If the DEMs would have created such a department, I guess many DEM voters would be delighted. But now, it seems many DEMs and the DEM media don't like this at all.

Why is it so difficult to agree that a good idea is a good idea, even if the others came up with this idea?

One can argue if Musk has some conflicts of interests. But that doesn't change the fact that it would be great to save lots of tax-payers money. 

 

The above is just one example. It seems to apply to many supporters of many political parties all over the world.

Agree. I favor continuous review of laws/regulation to see if the original need is still present, if they need to be modified or done away with entirely. I am thinking the fear is, on the basis of Trump's and Project 2015 rhetoric, that this will be done whole to make an unthinking point of disrupting the status quo. Same as I understand the justified frustration/anger within the working middle class but ... the attack on the US Capitol? A bridge too far ...

[1FinickyOne]

On 11/14/2024 at 9:11 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

We all have our preferences and there is nothing wrong with that.

But it seems many people, in this forum and elsewhere, see their own side only as good and the others only as bad.

 

Trump hired Musk to make the US government more efficient.

I would have though everybody should be delighted by such a move. Or is there anybody out there who does not think the US and many other governments waste too much money?

 

If the DEMs would have created such a department, I guess many DEM voters would be delighted. But now, it seems many DEMs and the DEM media don't like this at all.

Why is it so difficult to agree that a good idea is a good idea, even if the others came up with this idea?

One can argue if Musk has some conflicts of interests. But that doesn't change the fact that it would be great to save lots of tax-payers money. 

 

The above is just one example. It seems to apply to many supporters of many political parties all over the world.

You are badly missing the point - it is not that people don't agree that there is wasted money - - but who they put in charge of doing the job... 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

You are badly missing the point - it is not that people don't agree that there is wasted money - - but who they put in charge of doing the job... 

 

I would hope you are right. But in the few articles which I read not even one had something like: In principle that is a good idea, but it should be done by someone else.

 

I think we all could live a lot happier together if we would try to agree on what we can agree and then look at the details. Only because one detail is not so good does not mean the whole idea is bad.

[bkk_mike]

15 hours ago, mogandave said:

What do you think are the GOP’s bad ideas? 

 

You’ve called me stupid. 

Look at the suggestion of RFK for health secretary.

Here's an anti-vaxxer with a death count behind him.

[frank83628]

2 minutes ago, bkk_mike said:

Look at the suggestion of RFK for health secretary.

Here's an anti-vaxxer with a death count behind him.

of course he is

[OneMoreFarang]

16 minutes ago, bkk_mike said:

Look at the suggestion of RFK for health secretary.

Here's an anti-vaxxer with a death count behind him.

At least RFK didn't suggest people should drink bleach - at least as far as I know.

[Srikcir]

On 11/14/2024 at 9:11 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Trump hired Musk to make the US government more efficient.

Trump was POTUS for four years. What did he accomplish on identifying and eliminating government waste?

President Donald Trump had been violating the Constitution since January 20, 2017.

He violated the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses and failed to divest from his businesses.

He enriched Ivanka who had patents pending in China approved by Xi regime and Jaraed Kushner's private equity equity fund received Wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the millions and possibly billions of millions of dollars while a senior advisor to Trump.

[OneMoreFarang]

12 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

Trump was POTUS for four years. What did he accomplish on identifying and eliminating government waste?

President Donald Trump had been violating the Constitution since January 20, 2017.

He violated the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses and failed to divest from his businesses.

He enriched Ivanka who had patents pending in China approved by Xi regime and Jaraed Kushner's private equity equity fund received Wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the millions and possibly billions of millions of dollars while a senior advisor to Trump.

Ok, maybe you are right, I don't know all the details.

But do you think the idea to make the government more efficient and cut cost is a good idea - even if they come from Trump and Musk?

[cardinalblue]

Trump has named no competent individuals for his cabinet…Maybe Rubio would be the only one who has experience, education and skills for the position 

 

trump is so paranoid to select experts like he did and get burned in his first term. His answer this time is to select politician loyalists only which will carry out his orders w/o thought  or critical thinking…that’s the definition of a dictator who surrounds himself with those who drank the kool aid

 

Name one person who meets the qualifications of that position vs I can name 5 other republicans or conservatives who are much more qualified for that position but poses a threat to Trump b/c they have their own ideas/vision/management style

 

and Musk off to a good start, names 2 people to fill one position…the definition of gov efficiency?

 

just remember, Trump added more to the national deficit in his term than any other president ever…the cost of mass deportation and tariffs replacing income tax will drive up inflation, cost of living and further add to the deficit exponentially 

 

if trump was smart, he would focus on reducing inflation and cost of living in his first year…

 

Biden deported 150,000 in 2023 more than trump did in any of his 4 years..why didn’t he do more? It’s not how many are deported but who is deported and how many are getting in…sounds great to deport one million a year but projected at more than one billion $ dollars? he has said nothing about how he is going to keep out back fill…much more important than deporting people who are not breaking laws and a vital part of the work force…I don’t see MAGA folks picking artichokes in CA Central Valley any time soon….

 

extremism left or right will not work in any sustainable fashion…the upcoming mid election in 2 years will be the response…it always is 

Edited November 15 by cardinalblue

[Lacessit]

With Musk, I think the main concern is he will throw out the baby with the bathwater.

 

IMO people in charge of reducing government waste could do worse than read Robert Townsend's business classic "Up the Organization".