Trump - Clown Genius

[Slevin]

And there is the fallacy cmonkey. Not voting DOES make a difference to their individual rights. Not understanding that is perhaps caused by people being too lazy to figure that out.

Or, in my case, I understand that no matter who the president is (due to their inconsistency between talk and action) the impact on my rights is likely a stochastic forcing function and that trying to predict who will take what action is a suckers game since there is no/little accountability and no/little disincentive for making poor decisions.

[OldPro]

Self-justification of a decision/choice is always easy to do Slevin. It doesn't mean that justification will stand up to scrutiny however.

What I understand is that if I do NOT vote, then I have given away whatever little bit of influence I have over those who run the country. The person/s I vote for may not keep all their promises or I may not agree with their position on every single issue but at least I have TRIED to influence where my world is going.

[enigmaT120]

Come on OldPro, don't you think complaining about stuff on the internet is enough?

[Carlos]

Do you remember Perot buying airtime and explaining what he wanted to do on his whiteboard? (it must be on youtube) I want to see that kind of thing again.

I remember Perot and his whiteboard.

Incidentally I am watching the Ken Burns documentary on the Roosevelts (TR, FDR and Elenor). I'd fogotten about TR's Bull Moose party competing against the Republicans. TR was such an interesting figure, likeable in so many ways but with some serious flaws (like us all)....

[jacob]

Polling numbers are fun! Number of people who support bombing Agrabah:

Trump: 41% support, 9% opposed
R: 30% support, 13% opposed
D: 19% support, 36% opposed

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/ ... 121715.pdf

If you never heard of Agrabah, click on the link. I would be extremely interested in seeing a similar survey from other countries.

[Ego]

If you never heard of Agrabah, click on the link.

I did not know where Agrabah was located.

[Dragline]

We have to prevent attack from the Jafar missiles from Agrabah that are filled with red mercury.

[OldPro]

What I am wondering is what you are all going to do when Trump gets elected President. Everyone seems to be ignoring that word 'genius' in JamesR's post title. Whatever you think of Trump, the guy really does know how to do what he does.

I had to laugh at his comment about McCain being a war hero because he was captured. 'I like people who don't get captured' was his follow-up. If you don't think that got some people thinking, 'yeah, McCain was a loser if he got captured', you don't understand how people think. If anyone missed it, he makes the comment on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k1ajHAeXMU

I'm thinking it may be time to start thinking survivalist bomb shelters instead of tiny houses and investments.

[Toska2]

I don't care. That's why we have a balance of powers. Maybe he will be the swift kick that congress needs to get their act together. (Or make it a better monkey show)

Old Pro, help me quantify how much influence I have on the system voting for myself. Is that equal to the amount of effort it would take to vote being homeless?

PS. I am voting for Trump. Can't buy this kind of entertainment.

[Dragline]

First, the departments of Homeland Security and Education will be combined into a new agency called "Homeland Education." Then there will be a trillion dollar effort to remove the nefarious cult of Al Gebra (with a name like that, its got to be terrorists) from our midst, which has already infiltrated our schools and is poisoning the minds of millions of our young.

[jennypenny]

The fact that the term "Homeland Education" doesn't make me flinch tells you how far we've come (fallen?). Can you imagine going back to high school (early 80's) and trying to explain the Department of Homeland Security to our younger selves??


re:voting
A person's individual vote might not count for much wrt who gets elected. OTOH, your participation matters. All political candidates cater to senior citizens because they vote in large numbers. It surprises me that Millennials haven't figured out yet that they are potentially the biggest player in the political arena. All they need to do is vote consistently and in large numbers, and politicians would be forced to cater to them too.

[GandK]

re:voting

I initially parsed this as "revolting."

And it did not appear out of place in this conversation.

[OldPro]

Toska2, it isn't about how much influence YOUR vote has on the system if you vote. It isn't likely that your vote will be THE deciding vote in an election. It is as jennypenny says, about participation.

If you decide to vote, it is likely that will involve other factors. For example, you may talk to others and they may decide to vote. You may influence a group of peers to vote, etc. As jennypenny says, millennials could and should waken up to the fact that they now have the opportunity to really make their voices heard. In 2016, the Millennials will for the FIRST time, physically outnumber the Boomers. The difference is that a higher percentage of Boomers vote than the percentage of Millenials who have voted so far. So it is almost certain that the Boomers will have a bigger impact on any election still than the Millenials will.

I don't know if you belong to the Millenial generation or not Toska2, but you do belong to various groups, we all do. You belong to the ERE group for example. Even participating in this conversation may influence others. The question is, how are you influencing others, whether intentionally or not, if you don't vote?

And conversely, if you are a Boomer as I am, you may decide you better start voting if you don't want to see the Millenials start dominating elections.

[Chad]

The fact that the term "Homeland Education" doesn't make me flinch tells you how far we've come (fallen?). Can you imagine going back to high school (early 80's) and trying to explain the Department of Homeland Security to our younger selves??

It still gives me the creeps when I hear it. It sounds like it should be part of The Man in the High Castle.

[Chad]

Maybe the politicians should be catering to the Millennials, but just don't know it yet. The politicians/party leaders are more of a lagging indicator than a predicting one. This election maybe when they realize it.

[GandK]

Maybe the politicians should be catering to the Millennials, but just don't know it yet. The politicians/party leaders are more of a lagging indicator than a predicting one. This election maybe when they realize it.

I agree with this.

Are any of you other Xers glad that the Boomers' clout is going before us, especially on senior-friendly issues? No one will ever cater to us, so I'm glad that there's a huge generation in front of us to smooth the way on what will matter to us in a decade. Best case scenario: right about the time we need something, the kinks should be all worked out of the solution that the Boomers implemented for themselves. Of course, society's focus will have moved on by then because the North American public has a shorter attention span than a goldfish. But I think we will still benefit from their herd behavior.

[jacob]

The fact that the term "Homeland Education" doesn't make me flinch tells you how far we've come (fallen?). Can you imagine going back to high school (early 80's) and trying to explain the Department of Homeland Security to our younger selves??

I recall my history lessons in the 80s spending a lot of time on the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s and the various institutions that were created along the way some of which rose to great power. Similarly, news media discussed the various surveillance states in Eastern Europe and their methods.

It's definitely possible to explain to a 5th grader what "The Ministry of State Security" is, what is does, and what it's capable off if it falls into the wrong hands so to speak.

Likely because of that any institutional combination of the words Schutz, Sicherheit, Abteilung, Vaterland, Staat, ... causes an allergic reaction.

It's much harder to develop enough self-reflection to recognize the beam in one's own eye, especially when its construction can be eminently justified by personal circumstances. This seems to be an inherent flaw with humanity. We build these institutions with wide popular support and typically in some reactive manner while completely failing to realize that we're recreating history.

PS: Of course it's easy to realize what just happened in hindsight and it's much harder to see it as it's being developed. This is also why I recommend advanced investors read old newspapers instead of market history.

[Chad]

Are any of you other Xers glad that the Boomers' clout is going before us, especially on senior-friendly issues? No one will ever cater to us, so I'm glad that there's a huge generation in front of us to smooth the way on what will matter to us in a decade. Best case scenario: right about the time we need something, the kinks should be all worked out of the solution that the Boomers implemented for themselves. Of course, society's focus will have moved on by then because the North American public has a shorter attention span than a goldfish. But I think we will still benefit from their herd behavior.

Interesting. I have thought about the Boomers in the exact opposite manner. Take social security for instance.* It's the Boomers mass (and the other older generations) that has kept us from fixing it earlier and cheaper. They are pushing off the fix so they never have to give up any social security benefits. Of course, this means Gen X and everyone following will have to pay more (later age, less benefits, less inflation adjustments, etc.).

*I realize we may not necessarily need it, but I guarantee we will have loved ones that will.

[jennypenny]

@jacob--We were taught about those things, and that they happened over there. My HS years were during the days of Reagan, Repo Man, and the Hunt for Red October. The idea that something as insidious as DHS could happen here in less than 25 years (and while we were still a democracy/republic) would have been hard to fathom. Back then, DHS would have sounded like something out of the USSR.

[Ego]

Are any of you other Xers glad that the Boomers' clout is going before us, especially on senior-friendly issues? No one will ever cater to us, so I'm glad that there's a huge generation in front of us to smooth the way on what will matter to us in a decade.

Interesting. I have thought about the Boomers in the exact opposite manner.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do both. Our Boomer-aged public sector workers retire with the pensions of kings while younger workers get a 401k style plan. On the other hand the boomers are constantly pushing for new treatments to be covered by medicare. I wonder if a Millennial backlash will occur or if they will simply accept it as reality.