User Banned (permanent): trolling, history of similar and severe infractions
I've been thinking about how can someone like Trump get elected and I think we all need to be honest with ourselves. The people who voted for him are desperate and felt like they have no other choice. They see their jobs going overseas, factories closing down. They see their communities filled with homelessness, and destroyed by drug addiction and suicide. They've lost faith in the country, in the "system".
I know some will say, "well they are just racists and we can solve all these problems with medicare for all and tax the wealthy etc", but look at Europe who already have all those things, and yet they also elected awful alt-right leaders. They also see things like immigration and refugees as a detriment to their society and not a positive. I think people tend to feel this way when they are desperate and are trying to protect whatever they feel they still have left (national "identity", etc). The trend of anti-immigration feelings didn't really rise until recently. Also look at Mexico, another great "democratic" government which is imploding and on the brink of collapse. Or look at the Philippines, where the people are so desperate they elected an authoritarian monster like Duterte because they think they have no other way to solve their drug problems.
I know that I haven't thought this through completely and my thoughts aren't totally coherent, but I still think there is an argument here that the election of all these extremist, authoritarian leaders around the world is a sign that western democracy is failing its citizens. Contrast this with much more authoritarian countries like China, where problems like drugs and homelessness are non-existent, a booming economy (despite Trump's attempts to kill it), and the people aren't desperate. Sure the trade-off is they don't enjoy as much "freedoms" as we do, but their government certainly isn't "failing" their people like ours is. And it's even arguable at this point what type of governments are less "corrupt", democracies or authoritarian states.
Anyway sorry for sounding so negative and maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But I see the proof before my eyes and can no longer deny the reality: there is something really, really wrong with the current way "democracies" work around the world.
I know some will say, "well they are just racists and we can solve all these problems with medicare for all and tax the wealthy etc", but look at Europe who already have all those things, and yet they also elected awful alt-right leaders. They also see things like immigration and refugees as a detriment to their society and not a positive. I think people tend to feel this way when they are desperate and are trying to protect whatever they feel they still have left (national "identity", etc). The trend of anti-immigration feelings didn't really rise until recently. Also look at Mexico, another great "democratic" government which is imploding and on the brink of collapse. Or look at the Philippines, where the people are so desperate they elected an authoritarian monster like Duterte because they think they have no other way to solve their drug problems.
I know that I haven't thought this through completely and my thoughts aren't totally coherent, but I still think there is an argument here that the election of all these extremist, authoritarian leaders around the world is a sign that western democracy is failing its citizens. Contrast this with much more authoritarian countries like China, where problems like drugs and homelessness are non-existent, a booming economy (despite Trump's attempts to kill it), and the people aren't desperate. Sure the trade-off is they don't enjoy as much "freedoms" as we do, but their government certainly isn't "failing" their people like ours is. And it's even arguable at this point what type of governments are less "corrupt", democracies or authoritarian states.
Anyway sorry for sounding so negative and maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. But I see the proof before my eyes and can no longer deny the reality: there is something really, really wrong with the current way "democracies" work around the world.
