volkris @volkris@qoto.org
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
@CaroltheCrone I don't want Jordan to be Speaker, but nobody's asking me.
The Democrats voted to boot McCarthy, siding with the GOP extremists to set Jordan up for Speaker.
I wish they hadn't done that, but here we are.
Vote accordingly.
Who's bitching about democracy?
Democracy is what it is, for better or worse.
No sense bitching about it, but we do need to recognize it.
@jackiegardina
@selzero I don't much care what's good or bad for a political party.
But we need to be clear about how government is set up if we're going to hold politicians accountable for doing their jobs.
Republicans are just as at fault when they campaign on federalizing state issues.
I mean, that's democracy for you.
Yes, sometimes the people believe and/or want bad things.
That's the downside to democracy. Respecting the will of the people is great except for, you know, the people.
It's important to recognize that sometimes democracy gives bad results.
Give a bunch of racists a vote and you're going to get racist outcomes. Yay democracy.
Well no.
208 Democrats voted to boot McCarthy and shut down the house because they figured they could win political points with their base from the chaos.
It had nothing to do with marginally working with Democrats, and Democrats will likely end up with even less power from the episode.
@tess you're not a person but an idea?
@jackiegardina but these representatives weren't doing anything to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power. That isn't at issue here.
Anyway, the point is that we should recognize that the reps were acting against democracy. Again, whether for the best or for the worse, we should at least recognize that as we judge them.
But there isn't a lack of a paid path to our attention here.
Anyone is free to pay to post to Fediverse, and without an algorithm to counter content that we're not interested in, the content will pop up on our instances.
It's more that our attention isn't worth the hassle, so far.
This platform is simply too insignificant to be worth it, for better or worse.
@selzero Those are state issues, though.
Wrong government.
@itwasntme223 well, it's the whole House struggling here, not just the GOP.
It's important not to overlook the votes of the other two hundred members.
If not for them the election of speaker would be easy.
The Speaker of the House doesn't get to decide whether to certify votes.
That's not how presidential elections work.
The Constitution directs that representatives represent.
These people didn't represent.
Thus they acted *against* the Constitution that they swore an oath to.
You may like the stance that they took, but let's be honest about their turning their backs on their jobs as representatives, turning their backs on democracy.
@jackiegardina so they put their own personal stands ahead of democracy.
Respect what you want.
But let's be clear that they threw democracy under the bus as they went on their crusade, even if you personally backed the crusade.
@oblomov hi. welcome to social media.
Just a whole lot of people wasting time typing into their screens.
Weeee, let's waste more!
@natural20 I'd say the force is so central to Star Wars that issues with how it's handled in the story loom really large.
The force is no minor side detail, so the writers really needed to nail how they addressed it. I'd say like so many other issues, Ahsoka botched how its writers handled the force.
@jackiegardina except that Democratic members have shown that they'd rather shut the House down than work with moderate GOP members to elect a moderate.
So no, Democratic cooperation seems off the table.
Yes, I find that distasteful, but that's who we elected.
If your comment had nothing to do with the rules then it misses that this whole moment has everything to do with the rules.
Everything about this situation centers around the rules of the House. The entire reason they need to vote is because the rules demand it.
If you're overlooking the rules of the House when making your stance then you're ignoring the core issue of what's happening.
@jackiegardina
@mathaetaes yes, big difference.
If the politician isn't actually going to help then it doesn't really matter whether we vote for them.
It has little to do with the hungry child. It's really about the ineffective politician.
I think the most pressing and fundamental problem of the day is that people lack a practically effective means of sorting out questions of fact in the larger world. We can hardly begin to discuss ways of addressing reality if we can't agree what reality even is, after all.
The institutions that have served this role in the past have dropped the ball, so the next best solution is talking to each other, particularly to those who disagree, to sort out conflicting claims.
Unfortunately, far too many actively oppose this, leaving all opposing claims untested. It's very regressive.
So that's my hobby, striving to understanding the arguments of all sides at least because it's interesting to see how mythologies are formed but also because maybe through that process we can all have our beliefs tested.
But if nothing else, social media platforms like this are chances to vent frustrations that on so many issues both sides are obviously wrong ;)
Joined Dec 2022
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