At this point, I suspect that comments like this one are part of an astroturfing campaign by the ruling class.
It’s the same bullshit as “we could stop climate change if only we bothered to bring cloth bags to the store instead of picking up a disposable plastic bag each time”.
“We” don’t have any power. And once you accept that, you can stop blaming yourself and your neighbors for the world you live in, and direct your anger where it belongs.
it's the opposite? the person you're replying to is exactly correct... the giant delusion that sustains this whole shitty thing is the public's disenchantment with politics; everything feels bad but no one seems to believe in "passing different laws" as the method of changing it so instead they just vent their frustrations in hopes that someone who already has power will by the goodness of their heart decide to do a better job. when in fact the lever fox fixing things, democracy, still (for the most part) exists, but almost nobody is coordinating to pull it.
causally I think this is because we all grew up watching government operate glacially and so nobody really believes there's an alternative... but I eagerly await the day that millennials realize they can just win every election and fix everything that sucks about their world by basically trying really hard and coordinating with each other.
Your optimism and faith in the power of the people is laudable, but I think you misread the comment (see my other replies in this thread).
The public's disenchantment with politics didn't appear out of nowhere: most of them have personally experienced voting for one thing and getting the same old.
And I'd disagree that democracy still exists [0], if it ever did. The most speaking example, among many [1], is the Gaza genocide: I've never in my life seen as much 'trying really hard and coordinating', the vast majority of the population of almost every country wants this to stop, and yet, 3 years in, it doesn't, and the split on this between the population and the ruling class (politicians, the rich, what have you) is stark and the position of the ruling class very much correlates with the outcomes.
yes, but their argument has nothing to do with that claim, and you are capable of holding it as hypothetically true for the purpose of understanding their point. After all their actual claim is not "it is a genocide and yet nothing happens" but rather "people think it is a genocide and yet nothing happens", so the accuracy of that claim is independent of any debate you want to have over what is or isn't a genocide. And if that still bothers you you are free to substitute any other similar claim in its place in order to engage with the actual point.
colingauvin · · focus · HN ↗
p-e-w · · focus · HN ↗
It’s the same bullshit as “we could stop climate change if only we bothered to bring cloth bags to the store instead of picking up a disposable plastic bag each time”.
“We” don’t have any power. And once you accept that, you can stop blaming yourself and your neighbors for the world you live in, and direct your anger where it belongs.
ajkjk · · focus · HN ↗
causally I think this is because we all grew up watching government operate glacially and so nobody really believes there's an alternative... but I eagerly await the day that millennials realize they can just win every election and fix everything that sucks about their world by basically trying really hard and coordinating with each other.
constantius · · focus · HN ↗
The public's disenchantment with politics didn't appear out of nowhere: most of them have personally experienced voting for one thing and getting the same old.
And I'd disagree that democracy still exists [0], if it ever did. The most speaking example, among many [1], is the Gaza genocide: I've never in my life seen as much 'trying really hard and coordinating', the vast majority of the population of almost every country wants this to stop, and yet, 3 years in, it doesn't, and the split on this between the population and the ruling class (politicians, the rich, what have you) is stark and the position of the ruling class very much correlates with the outcomes.
[0]: <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B" rel="nofollow">https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...
[1]: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/16/vilification-of-corbyn-in-broadcast-media-fuelled-election-defeat-andy-mcdonald" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/16/vilificatio...
frumplestlatz · · focus · HN ↗
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ajkjk · · focus · HN ↗
The conversation is not about that claim either.
frumplestlatz · · focus · HN ↗
As for the conversation, that claim, and others, are not as self-evident or universally held as was posited.
ajkjk · · focus · HN ↗