posner4_Spencer PlattGetty Images_maga rally

美国大选真正的意义是什么

Oct 14, 2020 Eric Posner

芝加哥—下月举行的美国大选无关政策，甚至无关总统唐纳德·特朗普。大选关乎美国的宪法制度。这并不是说大选可能终结宪法体制。尽管特朗普有独裁情结而且崇拜像俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京那样的独裁者，但即使他再度当选，要想成为独裁者也不太可能。美国所面临的真正问题关乎国家政府在美国生活中的作用。

特朗普主义不过是一系列民粹主义浪潮中最新的一次，这样的浪潮由民众对华盛顿不负责任、自私自利的政治精英的愤怒所催生。事实上，早在华盛顿建市之前，类似的故事就已经发生过。美国独立战争的对象是伦敦遥远、自私自利的精英阶层，随后很快就爆发了有关国家政府权力的重大纷争。

批评者认为拟议中的新宪法将创造国家执政精英，从而，对来之不易的殖民地国家主权起到破坏作用。尽管宪法拥护者最终占据了上风，但事实证明，批评者们颇有先见之明。几乎同时，民粹主义运动就开始挑战所谓的精英执政。杰菲逊民主于1800年推翻了邦联精英，而后，杰克逊民主又于1829年推翻了杰斐逊精英。

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Rajiv Chopra Oct 19, 2020

Big questions: how long does it take for populist leaders to flame out? What is the damage they do to the economy/social fabric/environment in the meanwhile? Given the rise of populist, right-wing leaders across the world, this topic is wider than just the USA. Some people fear a third world war, possibly sparked by China. Is this a possibility, like World War II was sparked by Hitler?
- Benson Tan Oct 20, 2020
  
  The world war is more likely to be started by religious world leaders, who believe they have a mission to this world. In this sense, I see Modi the hindusist to have the highest probability to start the new world war. Chinese government is secular and atheist and their main objective is to improve the economy.
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David Lentz Oct 19, 2020

People tend to paint this situation with a broad brush. I have wondered how anyone would have the time to attend a trump rally. And when pictures are shown the attendees are either obese or frail anorexics. Apparently Americans are now exposed to as many as 1000 toxic chemicals in the environment food and water. These affect the metabolism and glandular systems. So the irrationality might even be due to toxicology affects on the brain. Some argue that lead pipes led to the fall of Rome.
Also it is in the news about young people having fertility issues
It would be ironic if Trumpism was due to people being poisoned by Americans lack of environmental controls
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Eboo Versi Oct 18, 2020

By definition, prominent political leaders are elites so such reference is trite. That said, the ruling classes (Republicans and Democrats) of the last 30-40 years have been responsible for the milieu that has allowed the rise of Trump. He did not create it but was merely was an opportunist who capitalized on it. It is imperative that moving forward we develop a greater sense of social responsibility and drop the "I'm alright Jack" attitude, otherwise we are looking at the grim prospect of social unrest and worse.
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Eboo Versi Oct 18, 2020

Campaigning is not the same as governing, that is the fundamental problem with our electoral system which becomes easily susceptible to populist rhetoric. As Jefferson opined if the electorate is not educated, democracy will fail, we are now watching the veracity of his words.
- Michael Harrington Oct 25, 2020
  
  I would agree there are a lot of problems associated with election campaigning and finance that influence political incentives, but an educated voting public has never been a necessary condition for democracy. If that was so, American democracy would have failed in its infancy. What is necessary is for people to vote sincerely according to their narrow local interests; extremes cancel out. The only real threat to democracy is systemic bias or control over information. All dictators know this.
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edgyinchina Oct 18, 2020

If indeed the author of this piece is correct, and I'm not saying he is, or isn't... Particularly with all this history of 'populist conflict', wouldn't it sound prudent to discuss a 'no-fault divorce' ? ?
Think about it. If you have continuing conflict within a household between man and wife, doesn't that usually end up in a divorce? I don't know what the statistic is, but I was sure it was north of 50%... So why NOT a divorce? Peaceful, no-fault, non-violent, split up the property divorce ? You keep the people and property and the tax revenue from YOUR state, and I'll keep the same from MY STATE... And like the children in a divorce, the people can decide to STAY or LEAVE...
- Han Ghee Chia Oct 19, 2020
  
  In a couple's divorce, the party that suffers a lingering impact is the kid. Yet the party that has the least say in a divorce is also the kid. In a political "divorce", that "kid" is the non-ruling class citizen.
  - Jim Edge Oct 21, 2020
    
    Not necessarily so... The 'kid' in a divorce case of man and wife is too young to choose, and has no means of their own to make informed decisions... In this case, the 'kid' has (or can be provided) the means and also has an equal opportunity to 'move' to more satisfactory confines... I'm talking about peaceful, non-violent divorce.... Or we could just hold a 'Brexit Style' referendum ...
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edgyinchina Oct 18, 2020

Highly question this authors assertion: 'the populism of the 1960s collapsed with the end of Jim Crow...'
Jim Crow is now, and always has been 'alive and well' and NOT just throughout the Southern states....
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John Kornblum Oct 18, 2020

Once again, populism is limited to right wing populist. The late 1960’s were an age of destructive populism from the left. But since it was a movement of student elites, it was not categorized as populism.
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Keith Roberts Oct 18, 2020

This paragraph sounds like very questionable history. Where do you get this idea?
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Mirek Fatyga Oct 17, 2020

this is a long version of an old saying: "history does not repeat ,but she does rhyme". History does rhyme, because History is a story of interaction between objective reality of prevailing physical conditions at any given time and human nature. Of the two, the human nature is the element that is most unchanging and unyielding. Another way of saying this: generational amnesia. Every time a human civilization undergoes a trauma of self-inflicted horror, the next 2-3 generations become immunized to the same horror through direct memory of those who experienced it. They are still able to affect their children, perhaps even grandchildren. Eventually though the memory fades, and the old bag of tricks becomes available to the sociopaths. It is different this time, says the newest tabula rasa generation that believes that history books are just too boring to read, never mind comprehend the meaning of.

The objective reality of the early XXI-st Century is the pressure on western civilization exerted by rapid population growth of the XXth Century. Rising populations in the "developing world" put pressure on scarce resources, and present the world with a bolus of people who will work for food. Automation of menial tasks is another element of physical reality that is new. All of this means that the old way of economic growth in the developed world, through steady growth of consumption, becomes difficult, perhaps impossible to maintain. The society needs to adapt to these circumstances. Another element of physical reality is ubiquitous presence of nuclear weapons, and ever more destructive weapons in general, which makes the oldest trick of reset by war an increasingly dangerous and unproductive proposition.

History does rhyme but every time she rhymes the outcome is not assured, more so today than ever before, largely because of the awesome power of nukes. It is ok to note why the history is rhyming again, but a deadly trap to be blase about it and say 'this too shall pass". It shall, but we may not like what is on the other side of that pass or, in other words, the arch of history may be bending towards justice, but it does take a detour through Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin ... . Putin and Trump are not in the same league, but they have so much more at their disposal ...
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Bernhard Kopp Oct 17, 2020

If Trump gets reelected he will move forward on the path of neo-fascist " total power" as explained to him by his chief ideologue William Barr.
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Elizabeth Pula Oct 16, 2020

RE:Ronald Reagan once said: "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." Was he right?

No, he was not right. The statement distorts and further glamorizes all misconceptions of any generalized conceptual expression as to any understanding of "government". Government is NOT the problem. There is and has been extensive distortion of any understanding and defining of the word "government".

The sentence is essentially an effective tool to allow anyone and everyone to continue to fight over their separate pre-conceptions, and mis-conceprtions of the word government.

Ronald Reagan's statement did not resolve any aspect of any understanding, or misunderstandings of the word government.

As an American Citizen, in 2020, I am writing as directly, simply, and clearly as I know how to at this time, to note that Ronald Reagan had no right as the leader of the Nation to make that statement in public. He also had no business to make that statement in public. He should NOT have made that statement in public to the citizens of the Nation, and effectively all cognizant beings on this planet.
- Victor Morris Oct 17, 2020
  
  Except if the Government top law enforcement goes crooked, then Reagan was right!
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j. von Hettlingen Oct 15, 2020

Eric Posner says the upcoming election is not just about Trump’s competence and moral fitness for a second term. It is about “America’s constitutional system,” which has evoked entrenched suspicion about the federal government, making populism a recurring feature of American politics throughout its history. Trump took advantage of authoritarian appeals to rally his base and win in 2016. Since then, he has been busily keeping his voters attentive and engaged, eroding democratic norms in the process.
The author says the election would unlikely end that system. “While Trump has an authoritarian temperament and admires dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin, he is unlikely to become an autocrat even if he is re-elected. The real question that America faces concerns the role of the national government in the life of the country.” Ronald Reagan once said: "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." Was he right?
The appeal of populism lies within its “simple and powerful” message: “If things go badly, the blame lies with the government and the elites who run it. While American populists have attacked state governments, the federal government has always been their primary target because of its remoteness. People may trust local politicians and their own representative or senator. But other than the president and congressional leaders, federal officials are largely faceless.”
According to the author, “Trumpism is just the latest in a series of populist waves born of anger toward what people see as unaccountable, self-interested political elites in Washington.” History is littered with rebellious movements from the early days of the Independence to the modern America. Although populists “loathe the elites,” they “cannot rule without putting their own elites in power.” Trump had promised his anti-establishment supporters to “drain the swamp,” only paying lip service to it.
Critics maintain Democrats had also been responsible for the rise of Trumpism. Democrats had occupied the White House for 16 of the 24 years before Trump’s election, and in that time scored some important victories for working families: the Affordable Care Act, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit and the Family and Medical Leave Act, etc. But they did nothing to change the vicious cycle of wealth and power that had rigged the economy to the detriment of the working class.
In 2016 Trump decried politicians and financiers who had betrayed Americans, galvanising millions of blue-collar voters living in communities that never recovered from the tidal wave of factory closings. He promised to bring back jobs, revive manufacturing and get tough on trade and immigration. He lashed out at Clinton and Obama for chasing after free trade agreements without providing millions of workers who consequently lost their jobs as a result of globalisation.
The author says, “Trumpian populism should be divorced from Trump, who has ridden a political wave that he neither initiated nor controls. Its main source is anger at the advance of cultural liberalism, economic stagnation, and inequality – all of which have been blamed, with more or less justice, on national elites and the institutions they dominate.”
In fact the most powerful force in American politics today continues to be anti-establishment fury at a rigged system. Bernie Sanders is also highly critical of the establishment and hugely popular among progressive voters. In this regard, there is no longer a left or right, nor a moderate centre. Resentment against the elites knows no political divide.
What makes populism “dangerous” is that “it rests on an uncompromisingly hostile attitude toward established political institutions and the professional politicians on whom we ultimately have no choice but to depend, whatever their imperfections…. in hindsight, populism can seem irrational even if it has done good by bringing legitimate grievances to the attention of government and the public.” However Trump’s toxic rhetoric and “attacks on institutions and norms, culminating in his refusal to guarantee a peaceful transition of power, are veering toward nihilism.”
In the face of the upcoming election, it remains to be seen "whether the twenty-first-century populist wave that brought Trump to power has exhausted itself. It is possible that the pandemic has reminded people of the virtues of expertise and professionalism in government."
Yet sadly, too many Americans, brainwashed by the right-wing media and political opportunists, have "invested themselves fully in opposing" the unelected bureaucrats of the “deep state”. There is fear that Trumpism "could live on without its namesake, perhaps led by a new tribune – threatening more years of chaos and division." This would ultimately bring down the Republican party. Indeed, "only a truly decisive defeat for both Trump and the Republicans can prevent that from happening." We outsiders, can only hope that common sense prevails. Or else Trump's re-election would only usher in the beginning of the end of the America the world knows.
- Victor Morris Oct 17, 2020
  
  So you would prefer Biden who we know used his position in the Ukrain to "fire the prosecutor". Whose sons lap top the FBI has (and never acted on to investigate its contents) and the fact that Hunter Bidens 2 business partners have been convicted of crimes. While Trump may seem unpolished (whatever that means?) He (as Reagan said) was a victim of Govenment and that was a big problem for him and the Country. One can only hope Trump gets re-elected and brings those who conspired against his campaign to justice so never again will the Country be subjected to this type of corrupt Government actions.
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justsome guy Oct 15, 2020

re: the term populism, I think that there is a difference between the left-populism (of someone like Bernie Sanders) and the right-populism of Trumpism.
The things that they want to change are very different.
I think that .001% repression of LEFT economic populism, is precisely what has led to the rise of authoritarian, xenophobic, RIGHT authoritarianism. Seems to me that has happened many times, in many countries, because as conditions lead to Left-populism, the "rulers" always reject it (since they always benefit & thus want to keep the status quo), which is exactly what leads to right-populism & fascism. Which is generally supported, or at least not suppressed by the elites ... until it is too late.
- Michael Public Oct 16, 2020
  
  A key insight. What is at work here is not left-right politics but top-bottom politics. If the ruling class (and their lapdog economists) were a little bit more eager to listen to the hoi-polloi and their often real needs, there would be no need for electing a bulldozer like Trump to try and ram their concerns through a tone deaf establishment. Of course, Trump did nothing to help them in the end, and sold out to the ruling class with inter alia, tax cuts on the rich.
  - Victor Morris Oct 17, 2020
    
    Im not sure where you live, i'm typical American middle class and my taxes went down last year and my income did go up.
    - Michael Public Oct 18, 2020
      
      Well, taxes are a complicated thing - anecdotal evidence about your own final tax is not useful because many things besides legislation can affect the final result.
      
      Maybe start with this analysis.
      https://www.policygenius.com/taxes/who-benefited-most-from-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act/
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jose oscategui Oct 15, 2020

Sure, there are several events of populism. However, the "anger" and protests during this decade have a common thread in that they are for or against racism and xenophobia. I believe there is a strong link between those beliefs and some cultural facts of US history:

i)the white segment has appropriated the name of "americans", they supposedly are the true Americans. The rest are Afrikan Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans....but there in not one European American or Anglo-Saxon American. The Mexicans...turn to be "latinos", therefore almost italians...

ii) they have been successful in changing the language and geography. They have created the idea that there exist The Americas. Of course, they mean by that North, Center and South America....and, America: the USA.
However, if that were valid it should exist also the Europes and the Asias, and the Afrikas, etc. because in all the continents there is North, South, etc.
The Chauvinism present in these people would be different is they would recognize that they too did come from somewhere else ..... particularly, Europe.
- Michael Harrington Oct 18, 2020
  
  This is a bit of a mischaracterization of history. Modern America (the USA to be more accurate) is Eurocentric but the insistence on hyphenated identities comes from minority groups, not the dominant Anglo-Saxon first settlers. WASP prejudices denied new ethnic groups like Irish, Italians, Jews, and Asians the "American" label. (American is just shorthand for citizen of the United States, which is a mouthful. Central and South Americans are Americans too. Even Canadians!)
  
  Today, most US citizens would prefer to do away with hyphenated identities in favor of a unified "American" identity that is multicultural but historically rooted in Western "European" culture. The fact that the country was settled by white Europeans is just historical and most of the challenges of assimilation are rooted in cultural antipathy towards newcomers before they assimilate. But a unified national identity IS a dominant cultural identity and should not be seen to denigrate new cultural influences. Unfortunately, large multicultural democracies don't really fare that well because there's power in self-segregation these days.
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- Michael Public Oct 16, 2020
  
  I am not saying this blatant Euro-centric racism is not real but it is not the cause, rather the symptom. The cause is the economic hollowing out of central America - to automation, to China, to Mexico - often by household name corporations and with full support of Washington. When your city, friends and family all got fudged in the bunny because production jobs left town and no 'knowledge worker' jobs ever arrived - you too would flail at anything and everything - including other races.
  
  As an aside: I live in South Africa as a white person experience ever increasing racism against whites. It is written into the laws, the national budget, it pours forth from every black politicians mouth, and from every official's interactions, you have no chance of finding a job in government or a blue chip company if you are white, you can even get beaten to a pulp for walking in the street for being white (as happened to my elderly father). Regrettably, racists come in all colours - but the common thread is they are usually uneducated about the World and they usually have something to gain from the racism.
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Russell Brown Oct 15, 2020

I agree that there is some historical precedent for Trump's attraction, but his does not seem related to that of Andrew Jackson or Huey Long. I would classify him as an accident, enabled by new forms of communication, though he may have incidentally capitalized on anti-elitism. The strongest element in his appeal is his unabashed preference for whiteness and male dominance, two features of both populism and elitism.
- Michael Public Oct 16, 2020
  
  This flies in the face of fact that many voters who supported Trump previously supported Obama. Obama never delivered on his promises to them so they are trying a new angle to get their concerns heard.
  - Russell Brown Oct 16, 2020
    
    I hope, as I said, that Trump's popularity in certain parts of the country was an accident.
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Michael Harrington Oct 15, 2020

I am unconcerned with Trump's bluster. He uses such tactics to gauge the public mood through the feedback he gets. If it angers the media or his political opposition, it works for him. There is a tell for when he actually means to follow through on something and that's when he explicitly promises he will get something done. Even then he reserves the right to backtrack with excuses but, in that, he's probably less inclined than most politicians. Trump is very good at reading mass psychology, which is why he is POTUS.
- Paul Akhurst Oct 18, 2020
  
  You can fool some of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of people all of the time. If Trump were such a good reader of mass psychology he would have changed track long ago but he is really just a one trick pony short on tricks.
  
  The American voter would do well to remember the maxim ‘fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me’.
  - Michael Harrington Oct 18, 2020
    
    This may very well describe Trump (one-trick pony) but the problem is that "you can't fool all the people all the time" also describes the reason he was elected. Voters got tired of being fooled by the Bush-Clinton leadership (of which Obama was just an extension) that rewarded the elites at the expense of the middle-class and thus voted for Trump to disrupt "politics as usual." Trump did not put the US on this particular political glide path, his predecessors and the political establishment did.
    
    Even if one dislikes the path Trump has taken us, one has to give credit to his ability to outmaneuver his political opponents, one-trick pony or not. He outplayed both parties. This wasn't purely an accident, nor was it some nefarious conspiracy theory. If Mr. Posner's view is accurate, the Democrats' response with Biden/Harris is about the weakest one could imagine (or maybe on a par with Sanders), even if it somehow works.
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Michael Harrington Oct 15, 2020

Everything makes perfect sense until we get to the last two paragraphs. Is Trumpian populism just a pejorative for democratic populism? If the problem is voter discontent with government and cultural elites, then Trump's defeat for the status quo ante merely amplifies that discontent. I doubt very much that the mishandling of the pandemic will be attributed to a lack of expertise more than the limits of that expertise. It is inevitable that politicians and medical experts will mismanage a pandemic (anyone who doubts this should review Kahnemann and Tversky's research studies).

This is the glaring contradiction in Mr. Posner's argument. What is needed is for US politics to go beyond Trump, not back to politics as usual. We truly need a cultural reset that I would blame on what might be called casino capitalism and crapshoot politics. Yes, it's a multi-millionaire's game.
- Michael Public Oct 16, 2020
  
  "What is needed is for US politics to go beyond Trump, not back to politics as usual."
  This is spot on but is almost impossible to achieve - because the elites have the skill to do this but cannot be trusted to deliver for the public rather than self-enrich, while the populists can be trusted to be aligned to the public's wants but the have no ability to deliver anything except chaos. Only a few free-thinking individuals can see the middle way through, but they are like 1% of the vote - and probably 0.01% of the vote in swing states. It is Scylla and Charybdis caused by a bad system.
  - Michael Harrington Oct 17, 2020
    
    Perhaps from the ashes. But I think the "impossibility" is viewing the problem through a narrow lens. The beauty of democracy is realized when there is a thriving middle class, because the rich can too easily game the system and the poor have no power. The growth of the middle class is related to the distribution of productive capital. When that was improved land across the great Midwest, the middle class exploded and set the nation on a virtuous growth cycle. But when that productive capital began to concentrate with centripetal finance, the middle class got hollowed out. Finance capital and information are the new gold rush and if large swaths of the population don't participate, democracy will have a rough road. We need another Homestead Act applied to finance and information data.
    - Victor Morris Oct 17, 2020
      
      You forgot to mention the Lefts policy of encouraging undocumented voters, not requiring the Census to verify if the person counted was in fact a Citizen, and not requiring voters to show proof of identity to vote. You need that for security to fly on a plane! So if the author really cared about the middle class having a chance he'd understand the Trump appeal.
      - Michael Harrington Oct 18, 2020
        
        I didn't forget, it was just off my point. The tactics and failures of leftist elitism are apparent, I just find it odd that some want to blame these failures on Trump. He's merely the beneficiary.
        
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Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020

Get out and VOTE! That needs to be the slogan across the US!. It was practically impossible to find the early voting polling place where I went to vote. Of course I thought it was all a well orchestrated conspiracy move. Right down to no signs except on the filthy window of the actual impossibly located facility, with construction workers, and all kinds of real physical barriers and taped off construction activity. AND to top it off, not a solitary link on GOOGLE MAPS to indicate ANY local polling sites, dates and times in the WHOLE state of OHIO. Now, if that is proof of just what GOOGLE is really all about, I don't need any more confirmation at the real street level in a real lousy state of real affairs at the ground level of the real every where, like especially now in the US.

If even the state election commission, and the state governor does NOT have the common sense to verify and witness that the most basic infrastructure for information to ALLOW ACCESS TO VOTE is REAL, then do I really need to say anymore?
- Michael Harrington Oct 15, 2020
  
  Do you believe there is some systemic partisan bias in the voting system? I would assume there are just random failures with small pockets of nefarious corruption. The random failures mostly cancel out, though corruption could affect a congressional race or two.
  
  It's also highly improbable that one can game the EC system because the best strategy across states is only revealed in 20-20 hindsight. GOTV may just mean the same result with higher voter participation. I'm always curious how people who want to GOTV somehow assume that those new voters are going to vote the way they hope. Didn't Trump GOTV in 2016?
  - Elizabeth Pula Oct 16, 2020
    
    Unfortunately, with review of the percentages of who voted, there were no significant increase in vote count to reflect a higher level of voter participation nationally. Participation levels do not reflect a higher level of participation to improve engagement, if the vote count really even reflects any level of participation at the mass citizenry level at all as really engaged members and citizens of the republic/nation/democracy etc. What level of real engagement exists in the US for citizen participation in self-rule on any real levels of community engagement?
    
    My view is that there is today essentially none. Sure people can vent, or express opinions in writing or by demonstrating, but what level of any positive change actually occurs? Sure, now, since many demonstrations have created real destruction on-the-streets, are any of the results positive?Nothing, no effective change is accomplished, other than some costs incurred for transportation and food expenses to various gathering places. Certain products are sold as campaign memorabilia etc. The only real change is the amount of money that is distributed through the money that is exchanged for advertising on media outlets, and to support the campaign process prior to election dates. Those financial transactions are essentially transactions of money for focused advertising sales that accomplishes what in the real society? What effective change, positive or negative actually occurs?
    
    What do media sales really accomplish? What are the real results of media sales?
    - Michael Harrington Oct 17, 2020
      
      Okay, but what is a viable solution to the fact that citizens have a negligible effect on political outcomes? I think part of the problem is focusing on the large national scale of politics. It seems to me that self-government comes from the bottom up, not top-down, so we should reverse the mission creep of the federal government and devolve most power downward to states, counties, and municipalities. I think that was the original intent of Jeffersonian democracy.
      
      Some argue that the size and complexity of the nation's affairs now require a strong central authority to coordinate and direct policy. I would argue the exact opposite - hierarchical governance has become unworkable with such a large and complex system. Complex systems are best managed through decentralization of control and rules of coordination. It's how the Internet cloud of decentralized PCs replaced the IBM warehouse computer. Coordination of policy becomes the constant challenge. Devolving power away from the central authority also reduces the incentives that attract all that money that flows into D.C. and corrupts the process of democracy.
      
      As far as I can see, this all has little to do with voting for national leaders. They basically need a great overarching narrative and a hands-off policy. If we got those kinds of candidates people might not bother to vote at all because of contentment. The neoclassical economist argues voting is irrational, though I think that analysis is missing some crucial psychological factors.
      - Elizabeth Pula Dec 6, 2020
        
        RE:"The neoclassical economist argues voting is irrational, though I think that analysis is missing some crucial psychological factors."
        
        You are also right on with that sentence. Neoclassical economists did not initially have the awareness to debate any crucial psychological factors. The psychological factors are just beginning to be acknowledged within a general scope of awareness and perception within economics as a "study".
        
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      - Elizabeth Pula Dec 6, 2020
        
        I think you are right on! Local level engagement needs to be improved to allow local decision making, with results that can be determined and evaluated within reasonable time frames for the local participants. I have noticed that that was starting to occur in a few cities in the US, based on the "Accountability Reports" that had been accessible to the public through 2016. There were local "ACTION PLANS", and then a review of the results of the action plans. That "project planning" approach was eliminated by the the TRUMP administration, based on just my anecdotal personal reviews. Project planning needs to be implemented for effective local community engagement and RESULTS with accountability levels of corporate entities that are employing the local populations. The Jeffersonian theoretics from wayback included the systemic approach, the logic and the engagement by real people, because the societies were still functioning as REAL-TIME scenarios. The scale of complexity was different due to less complexity, and real time engagement at the local levels. Presently, the first comers that are presuming their personal control of the internet are destroying active democratic engagement
        for personal empires based on personal greed, and corporate theft.
        
        It's important to remember that degrees of "enslavement" were tolerated. However, not to the degree that is tolerated and supported by Sharia law of the present islamic global infrastructures. Unfortunately, moral standards are lapsing exponentially due to corruption within all still functional production systems.
        
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- Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020
  
  But, But, But.
  Just have to add this bit.
  And that is without any reconsideration of the actual terrible real negative documentary accountability of my vote from the 2016 election tally, and confirmation process. The software process accountability was NOT aligned with the local precinct confirmation process which took the Election Board months to reconcile to my satisfaction. And of course that never really happens ever.
  God only knows what level of non-accountability factors will escalate during this 2020 election, especially with the TRAMP maneuvers that can be the totally expected norm to also play out forever after.
  If the Saudi investment MNE's, that own significant venture fund shares in the most significant US software applications, are involved, expect the UNK. With the investors from Russia and China thrown in for good measure, the next global IT shutdown could very well be the next Armegeddon.
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Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020

RE:"It is about America’s constitutional system."

IT sure is!! and don't forget about the most basic understanding of the "right to vote" and all the other nuances about all rights, especially the one that I have just noted.

Now to get into a rather circumventive approach, I really have to hand over the super narrative from some bits of porridge to you. Down to the last drop from the white lightening spoonful of the facts according to Blain:
https://morningporridge.com/the-morning-porridge/f/blain’s-morning-porridge-14th-oct-2020-beware-the-net

Jolly good Brit!
- Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020
  
  BUT, BUT, BUT,.
  
  per the BIS:https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm
  
  "In September, the unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage point to 7.9 percent,
  and the number of unemployed persons fell by 1.0 million to 12.6 million."
  
  The unemployment rate, daily, weekly, monthly is one thing. The CUMULATIVE PERSISTENT NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED is a whole other thing.
  
  That tally per the BIS is now 12.6 million. AND, that does NOT include a whole lot of people on the PUA, the ones no longer looking for work. etc. etc. etc. which is close to over 30 million.
  
  The US population is at 331 million. Workforce participation is below 60%.
  
  Tallies that I have presented here are minimal conservative tallie, to keep this brief as brief as possible. It does NOT take much to present a most basic impartial conservative view with a maximum concern level. The effectively unemployed is effectively well over a cumulative figure of at least 10% with minimal subsistence options as State coffers and Federal Tax revenues are conservatively speaking and writing, most definitely NOT GOOD to support increasingly depressive forces affecting all economic systems of production, and services, whether entrepreneurial or state "generated" of the overwhelming majority of US citizens, like 98%. The US internal economy is over 80% services generated only.
  
  Overall comparison of US GDP is irrelevant to the US population at this time. Only internal dynamics affecting the US population should be considered as relevant. I interject as also quite DIRE.
  - Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020
    
    RE: cumulative statistics on longterm unemployed in US.
    
    One of the best websites is: https://www.dashofinsight.com/weighing-the-week-ahead-risky-business-or-business-as-usual/
    
    Scroll down on the August 29th article to the "Ole Prof's" chart NUMBER 4.
    Admittedly that chart was posted on Aug, 29. However, that cumulative figure as to it's current status can be best confirmed from the Oxford/Haverlitics data. My "gut-level" reactive, and most immediately in- and non-conclusive interim response is that I doubt very much of much significant statistical change based on any further accessible, and published, overall relevant, and essentially conclusive statistical charts as further
    published by the Oxford Economics/Haver Analytics, over most probably at least the next 2 years.
    
    Just remember that any "conclusive" response changes by the millesecond globally in the new normal, totally abnormal planetary response mechanisms that are just repeating transmitted coding, which is just numbers, that don't really mean anything for real human beings experientially living at any one moment in time. Like in other words going about their every day lives, which are activities, which some times more and more intermittently can include business activities that may also include transactional activities that include exchanging media, that can be exchanged for good and bad interim and long term results, that do have a tendency to affect all activities everywhere, even activities no one can see right now at any point or at any time.
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stephan Edwards Oct 14, 2020

I find something absolutely hilarious in the author apparently honestly believing the millionaire Professional Politicians of EITHER party are on the side of anyone but the big donors. Most of them have been in Washington so long they couldn't find their home states on a map. I have no love for the Republican Party and don't vote for them but can we stop with the Democratic party is led by living saints routine it's pitiful.
Nancy Pelosi Millionaire, Joe Biden Millionaire, Chuck Schumer Millionaire, Diane Feinstein Millionaire, Maxine Waters Millionaire, all on their Politicians salaries Good investment's I suppose. But do you honestly believe they are on the working man's side? Why would anyone believe that? I'm no populist I didn't vote for Trump and won't vote at all this year. But anyone who believes the professional Political Class in this country is on any side but that of the wealthy? Needs 72 hours of observation at a reputable Psychiatric Facility.
- Robert Wolff Oct 15, 2020
  
  I am declaring a 20-day moratorium on critical thinking and also considering/being influenced by the attitudes/opinions of other.
  
  We are only Human, and subject to the emotion of the hour, in our impulsive decisions, which is why Trump hates early voting (rationally pondered) and wants US all to vote on Nov 3 based on what he says on Nov 2.
  
  We Americans need to think longer term about our situation, not just base our votes on the political statements of a 'Reality Star' on the day of the formal election (and vote accordingly).
  
  Vote Early, and vote your individual conscience!
  
  For the next 20 days we should meditate on the meaning of our own individual lives, then vote IAW with our own personal conclusions, otherwise Democracy is nothing more than a fantasy of the past and a rejection of rationalist philosophers who believe Truth Matters and that human civilization is a continuum best suited for us living together into the future.
  
  Vote with the above in mind, in accordance with your own conscience and personal interests, and nobody else's. Unless you do this, Democracy as of this date and time will be defunct as a viable political theory.
  
  Vote for the future of America and the future of the life of current and future Americans!
  - Michael Harrington Oct 18, 2020
    
    Of course, democracy depends on voters voting their particular interests based on local, not global, information. The only true threat is systemic bias being imposed on global information that is intended to overpower that local information. In other words, "believe what we tell you rather than what you see with your own eyes." This is the Orwellian (Soviet, Maoist) nightmare scenario, right? Systemic bias, which appears to be mostly anti-Trump these days, is a considerable threat to the workings of democracy. Trump should be defeated at the ballot box, not in the media arena. But if one hates Trump, this particular appeal to political reason falls on deaf ears.
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  - Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020
    
    I might be able to agree to your moratorium, I will at least try. In the mean time, I will definitely consider viewing David Attenborough's A Life on Our Planet on NETFLIX, at least another time. The man deserves a special Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime's communicative efforts to and for the continued existence of the Planet Earth, as a living planet. That would be a fantastically totally unreal commendation for some guy not knowing what he was doing while he was doing IT!
    - Victor Morris Oct 17, 2020
      
      But when the President gets 2 nominations for the Noble Peace Prize for actually having signed agreement between Israel and 2 neighbors, the Liberal Press ignores it, tell me how that is acceptable?
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  - Michael Public Oct 15, 2020
    
    "I am declaring a 20-day moratorium on critical thinking"
    You made my day.
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  - Elizabeth Pula Oct 15, 2020
    
    I squeezed in my BUT, BUT critical comments before your moratorium I hope!
    Scroll up to them!
    - Robert Wolff Oct 15, 2020
      
      You just barely managed to slip in under the wire.
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  - stephan Edwards Oct 15, 2020
    
    Democracy in most of the developed world went defunct along time ago.
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Peter Maxwell Oct 14, 2020

nihilism? I don't understand its meaning in this context..
- Michael Public Oct 15, 2020
  
  I also squinted at the use of the word. Trump doesn't want nothing - he wants a big, beautiful wall.
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Oct 14, 2020

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眼光 Canadian / China Oct 14, 2020

The person with the most money is going to win the USA election. The richest people in USA are poltical people and Hollywood and sports people . Money can buy you anything in USA even an election . Very hipicratical society .
- Michael Public Oct 15, 2020
  
  Jeff Bezos? He is not even running.
  - Victor Morris Oct 17, 2020
    
    Actually he is part of social media, i,e Alexa who gathers data for his company that they sell for influince peddaling in Politics. Why would he want to be President when he can influence the out come of an election from the comfort of his mansion. Trump the warrior is the middle classes only hope for fairness in Washington.
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  - 眼光 Canadian / China Oct 16, 2020
    
    Who cares money wins in USA .
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