This is out of control

[Monster]

I'm hoping this is a topic that we can all agree about. Not just liberals, but the conservatives on here, too.

The presidential election is messed up - the primaries being the worst part. We've been talking about Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton for almost a year now, guessing about how they would be the eventual nominees. And now that most, if not all, candidates have declared, the news cycle has gone crazy. I don't need to hear about Hillary eating a burrito or see Trump doing dozens of different interviews in front of escalators. What is that about, by the way?

Something needs to change. TV exposure needs to start being limited to make money less of an issue. Trump is probably about 70% of the political coverage at the moment. Considering there are 20+ candidates combined, that's way too much to be considered fair. Debates need to be ran by independent moderators on national TV (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC) and they need to be later in the process, right before the primaries. There is absolutely no reason for us to have a year of mudslinging, grand tours of the country, hundreds of meaningless polls, hundreds of millions of dollars of wasted money, etc. Just give them a platform to tell us their message and lay out some ideas for the country. The rest is all static.

Speaking of primaries, we need to go to a system where all 50 states vote in primaries on the same day. Scrap the current system completely. States like Iowa and New Hampshire have far too much power in deciding the nominees - or at least the early favorites. You turn on any political show on TV and they're talking about a New Hampshire or Iowa poll like it's some sign from God. This is 'Murica. We can do better. I hope.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Capitalism and democracy are forces in conflict if political power can be bought. It's a fundamental problem and money in politics should be one of the most regulated things.

 

[biggunsbob]

I agree with you M. This is awful and we just spend way to much money on elections..

 

[turok]

The squeakiest wheels get the grease.

One of our local TV network's news programs often reports about Teh Donald, and had also announced Trump's visiting Birch Run for one of his campaign stops for two days straight. giving the location and ticket prices. Not a peep out of them about any of the other candidates so far.

 

[jwlcosu]

The natural order of things is toward chaos. Get used to it.

 

[tigermud]

All in all its still to early for me to get focused on the election haven't paid much attention to any debates or main stream pundit yap..hopefully by this time next year bush & shill won't be anywhere near the top of the polls...happy to see growing support to go after shillary

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/12/inside-the-beltway-most-back-criminal-probe-of-hil/

 

[Spartanmack]

Capitalism and democracy are forces in conflict if political power can be bought. It's a fundamental problem and money in politics should be one of the most regulated things.

I don't agree that capitalism and democracy are in conflict. If political power can be bought, you get neither capitalism or democracy.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I don't agree that capitalism and democracy are in conflict. If political power can be bought, you get neither capitalism or democracy.

I'm not sure if that's disagreement or just different wording. Democracy is a system that aims to give everyone equal political power. Capitalism is driven by unequal wealth. If wealth can be substituted for political power, there is a conflict in the goal of distributing one equally and the other unequally.

 

[Michchamp]

I'm not sure if that's disagreement or just different wording. Democracy is a system that aims to give everyone equal political power. Capitalism is driven by unequal wealth. If wealth can be substituted for political power, there is a conflict in the goal of distributing one equally and the other unequally.

capitalism isn't driven by unequal wealth, that's merely a consequence of it/ Capitalism is driven by blind greed... the accumulation of money and power for the sake of accumulation.

I think here a democracy that has very strict and enforced rules to ensure all voices are heard, and money can't translate into influence can still function in a capitalist economic system. Unfortunately our democracy doesn't really have any of those things.

 

[Gulo Blue]

capitalism isn't driven by unequal wealth

It absolutely is. It's not some unintended consequence, it's the thing that motivates the efficient decisions (or the invisible hand) when it's working properly.

 

[Gulo Blue]

That doesn't say anything about how unequal. How unequal things are fluctuates and you can get away from capitalism functioning as it should when things are too unequal (which is the situation we are in.)

 

[Michchamp]

It absolutely is. It's not some unintended consequence, it's the thing that motivates the efficient decisions (or the invisible hand) when it's working properly.

I know what you're saying, but I disagree that it's not simple greed.

put a pile of money in front of the Walton family and the Koch brothers... they're all going to rush to grab it. they're not going to first evaluate whether or not there was enough of a wealth inequality to justify the action.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I know what you're saying, but I disagree that it's not simple greed.

put a pile of money in front of the Walton family and the Koch brothers... they're all going to rush to grab it. they're not going to first evaluate whether or not there was enough of a wealth inequality to justify the action.

Sure it's greed. You can call it positive things on a small scale, and when it gets to be of a certain scale you call it greed, but either way, it's the unequal distribution of wealth, wealth distributed by a free market system to participants though an evolutionary "survival of those who survive", that drives capitalism. I guess I don't understand what distinction you are making.

 

[Spartanmack]

capitalism isn't driven by unequal wealth, that's merely a consequence of it/ Capitalism is driven by blind greed... the accumulation of money and power for the sake of accumulation.

I think here a democracy that has very strict and enforced rules to ensure all voices are heard, and money can't translate into influence can still function in a capitalist economic system. Unfortunately our democracy doesn't really have any of those things.

Capitalism is a social and economic system based on individual rights, private ownership of capital and competition. Greed is a human personality trait that corrupts all political, social and economic systems - especially coercive systems like socialism and communism.

 

[Spartanmack]

It absolutely is. It's not some unintended consequence, it's the thing that motivates the efficient decisions (or the invisible hand) when it's working properly.

The invisible hand metaphor was used to describe the unintended social benefits (efficient allocation of resources throughout an economy) of individuals acting rationally.

 

[Michchamp]

Capitalism is a social and economic system based on individual rights, private ownership of capital and competition. Greed is a human personality trait that corrupts all political, social and economic systems - especially coercive systems like socialism and communism.

I knew you'd take issue with that definition.

The driving force is greed though... for sure any concern for "individual rights" and "competition" parts go out the window once there is money to be made.

 

[byco42]

I knew you'd take issue with that definition.

The driving force is greed though... for sure any concern for "individual rights" and "competition" parts go out the window once there is money to be made.

when there is also money and wealth to be confiscated.

 

[Spartanmack]

I knew you'd take issue with that definition.

The driving force is greed though... for sure any concern for "individual rights" and "competition" parts go out the window once there is money to be made.

I take issue with that definition because it's completely incorrect. And greed is no more the driving behind capitalism than it is any other social or political system.

 

[byco42]

I take issue with that definition because it's completely incorrect. And greed is no more the driving behind capitalism than it is any other social or political system.

Hold on: Stalin was not greedy. Everyone knows this. Neither are the Castro brothers. They are/were all about seeing to the common good.

And Chavez? A real philanthropist.

 

[tinselwolverine]

put a pile of money in front of the Walton family and the Koch brothers... they're all going to rush to grab it.

This is actually a really cool concept for a reality/game show...put really rich families in front of piles of money and show them rushing to grab it and fighting over it.

VH1 could put it on between Naked Dating and Twinning.