The US needs a whole party of "corruption liquidators"
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I can even make this enticing to the Neo-liberals: I know that "moderate democrats" are upset at how "extreme" their voters have become.
If some of them thought ya'll could really clean this up that'd take a lot of air out of the extremity.
But... I am realizing that I think these are the same people who don't see the point of doing government if they can't be "a little corrupt" so this will never work.
Viva la revolution. I'm all in.
Because, if you can't deliver "good government" and making the rule of law function on rich people like IDK... one time in ten at least?
Well then we just need to find the most "extreme" person we can and hope that will do something.
I'm so damn fed up.
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I can even make this enticing to the Neo-liberals: I know that "moderate democrats" are upset at how "extreme" their voters have become.
If some of them thought ya'll could really clean this up that'd take a lot of air out of the extremity.
But... I am realizing that I think these are the same people who don't see the point of doing government if they can't be "a little corrupt" so this will never work.
Viva la revolution. I'm all in.
@futurebird I wish more people understood that getting campaign donations through a Super PAC isn't any less corrupt than someone handing you an envelope full of cash under a table
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@futurebird I wish more people understood that getting campaign donations through a Super PAC isn't any less corrupt than someone handing you an envelope full of cash under a table
You are totally right.
And I also think trading stocks is corrupt if you are in congress.
Period.
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The US needs a whole party of "corruption liquidators"
What we have are the Democrats and like... maybe six of them are up for the task? Maybe?
Maybe more. I do not know every democrat.
But, if part of what you are going to do is clean up the corruption it would be wise to let everyone who is "a little corrupt" in that old "tolerable" way quietly leave right now.
One thing I believe (without evidence because I don't think anyone tried it) is that broken windows policing can actually work if the first step is to aggressively clean up all corruption within the precinct first.
This includes "small" things like flashing police lights to run a red instead of waiting for the green while not actively dealing with an emergency.
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One thing I believe (without evidence because I don't think anyone tried it) is that broken windows policing can actually work if the first step is to aggressively clean up all corruption within the precinct first.
This includes "small" things like flashing police lights to run a red instead of waiting for the green while not actively dealing with an emergency.
"broken windows" has never been used to describe doing that, but rather to sell the idea.
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The US needs a whole party of "corruption liquidators"
What we have are the Democrats and like... maybe six of them are up for the task? Maybe?
Maybe more. I do not know every democrat.
But, if part of what you are going to do is clean up the corruption it would be wise to let everyone who is "a little corrupt" in that old "tolerable" way quietly leave right now.
@futurebird a handful of democrats and a handful of republicans
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Because, if you can't deliver "good government" and making the rule of law function on rich people like IDK... one time in ten at least?
Well then we just need to find the most "extreme" person we can and hope that will do something.
I'm so damn fed up.
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@futurebird a handful of democrats and a handful of republicans
Yeah like two?
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Because, if you can't deliver "good government" and making the rule of law function on rich people like IDK... one time in ten at least?
Well then we just need to find the most "extreme" person we can and hope that will do something.
I'm so damn fed up.
@futurebird "good government" isn't enough for the current moment, we're in the middle of a regime shift (for reasons that weren't caused by politics) and since the present is literally untenable someone needs to articulate a future people want
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Yeah like two?
@futurebird there were like five but yeah I think there are only two left
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"broken windows" has never been used to describe doing that, but rather to sell the idea.
Oh yeah definitely. It's always "oh we'll call it a focus on quality of life issues so we can harass people for small stuff specifically in poorer neighborhoods".
But it's loosely based on some sound theories around how people will follow the examples in their environment.
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Oh yeah definitely. It's always "oh we'll call it a focus on quality of life issues so we can harass people for small stuff specifically in poorer neighborhoods".
But it's loosely based on some sound theories around how people will follow the examples in their environment.
Theories that ironically explain why police departments are so bad, their acceptance of petty corruption and power trips opens the door for larger and larger examples
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The US needs a whole party of "corruption liquidators"
What we have are the Democrats and like... maybe six of them are up for the task? Maybe?
Maybe more. I do not know every democrat.
But, if part of what you are going to do is clean up the corruption it would be wise to let everyone who is "a little corrupt" in that old "tolerable" way quietly leave right now.
@futurebird could there be any remedy in a Texas-style law suit which allows private citizens to file civil suits against people in other states whom they suspect of corrupting a political process or civil office?
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I can even make this enticing to the Neo-liberals: I know that "moderate democrats" are upset at how "extreme" their voters have become.
If some of them thought ya'll could really clean this up that'd take a lot of air out of the extremity.
But... I am realizing that I think these are the same people who don't see the point of doing government if they can't be "a little corrupt" so this will never work.
Viva la revolution. I'm all in.
I used to be the most moderate of moderate voters. Bog standard in every conceivable dimension. My policy preferences were all painted in a thick coat of beige. If you looked up "median voter" in the dictionary, you would find my picture.
The last decade of Trump and the failed attempts to hold him accountable and bar him from political power radicalized me.
None of the powerful institutions that make moderate or neo-lib politics work can do any good without exhaustive efforts towards accountability and reform.
Want to engage in military adventurism abroad? Well, you can't engage in meaningful military interventions with a military whose sole combat experience is occupying itself to crush dissent and killing unarmed civilians in boats in the Caribbean, whose naval fleets are filled with stupid Trump-class battleships, whose allies have all been alienated, and whose leadership and personnel have been purged of women, minorities, trans, and anyone other than politically reliable sycophants.
Want to restore law and order to crack down on serious crime? Sorry, can't do that once Trump has hollowed out DOJ and left our federal law enforcement officers without any skills except rounding up harmless dark skinned people for sport.
Want to restore America's standing in the global economy with pro-business policies? Sorry, can't do that if the rest of the world doesn't trust us enough to invest in our companies or buy their products.
And you can't safely rebuild those institutions until you're sure they can't be used against ourselves. Otherwise we're just one election away from all of this nightmare happening again, driven by a combination of remorseless extremists, a bored, disengaged, and disenfranchised electorate, and structural flaws in our democracy.
Even for moderates and neo-libs, you cannot achieve your goals without accountability and reform. Without accountability and reform, all of those institutions are just loaded guns left loose in a room full of toddlers.
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Because, if you can't deliver "good government" and making the rule of law function on rich people like IDK... one time in ten at least?
Well then we just need to find the most "extreme" person we can and hope that will do something.
I'm so damn fed up.
@futurebird in most of the important Senate votes in 2021 and 2022, it was 48 anti-corruption dems+indepents, out of 50 total, including the independents. The 2 exceptions were Manchild and Sinema. That's effectively 96% anti-corruption cooperation for dem+independ senators. But since the other 50 seats in the senate were held by the GOP, 96% cooperation wasn't enough. It only took 1 ringer to ruin everything, and in most votes there were 2. That's how 96% good becomes ineffective.
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The US needs a whole party of "corruption liquidators"
What we have are the Democrats and like... maybe six of them are up for the task? Maybe?
Maybe more. I do not know every democrat.
But, if part of what you are going to do is clean up the corruption it would be wise to let everyone who is "a little corrupt" in that old "tolerable" way quietly leave right now.
@futurebird absolutely. there is no path to justice that doesn't involve getting all these evil fucks out of power, regardless of partisan affiliation.
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The US needs a whole party of "corruption liquidators"
What we have are the Democrats and like... maybe six of them are up for the task? Maybe?
Maybe more. I do not know every democrat.
But, if part of what you are going to do is clean up the corruption it would be wise to let everyone who is "a little corrupt" in that old "tolerable" way quietly leave right now.
@futurebird I'm sorry, NONE of them are up to the task. Trust a democrat, and you'll get knifed in the back every time.
Trust a Republican, and you'll get knifed in the throat every time.
That's the only difference.
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I used to be the most moderate of moderate voters. Bog standard in every conceivable dimension. My policy preferences were all painted in a thick coat of beige. If you looked up "median voter" in the dictionary, you would find my picture.
The last decade of Trump and the failed attempts to hold him accountable and bar him from political power radicalized me.
None of the powerful institutions that make moderate or neo-lib politics work can do any good without exhaustive efforts towards accountability and reform.
Want to engage in military adventurism abroad? Well, you can't engage in meaningful military interventions with a military whose sole combat experience is occupying itself to crush dissent and killing unarmed civilians in boats in the Caribbean, whose naval fleets are filled with stupid Trump-class battleships, whose allies have all been alienated, and whose leadership and personnel have been purged of women, minorities, trans, and anyone other than politically reliable sycophants.
Want to restore law and order to crack down on serious crime? Sorry, can't do that once Trump has hollowed out DOJ and left our federal law enforcement officers without any skills except rounding up harmless dark skinned people for sport.
Want to restore America's standing in the global economy with pro-business policies? Sorry, can't do that if the rest of the world doesn't trust us enough to invest in our companies or buy their products.
And you can't safely rebuild those institutions until you're sure they can't be used against ourselves. Otherwise we're just one election away from all of this nightmare happening again, driven by a combination of remorseless extremists, a bored, disengaged, and disenfranchised electorate, and structural flaws in our democracy.
Even for moderates and neo-libs, you cannot achieve your goals without accountability and reform. Without accountability and reform, all of those institutions are just loaded guns left loose in a room full of toddlers.
And then watching the SAME pattern play out in multiple countries at once, over generations, tells me it's a STRATEGY, this is the playbook. The only major difference between neoconservatives and neoliberals is that one is aggressive and the other is passive aggressive. The agenda is the same, but only one will smile sweetly and use Non-Violent Communication as they're getting it done.
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