I've made plenty of posts about inflation over the last 2 years including arguing with people in 2021 who said it high inflation was "impossible" or would magically work itself out in a couple months. I already know the causes of inflation and don't need to repeat them all. I'm not going to stop criticizing the ways the government made it worse.
bok bok bok bok
why do I suddenly long for some tangy wing sauce.
Whatever. I've talked about how the Ukraine invasion and COVID played a role in inflation plenty of times so I don't need to repeat it. I also think the ARP contributed in 2021 and that inflation will remain somewhat high for a couple years with declining trade and labor shortages even though everyone thinks it's going to fall back down to 2%.
The 100,000+ who died in pointless wars might disagree with your 3rd grade level assessment of US history.
If the president is too far from the middle or grossly incompetent it leads to problems. LBJ was incompetent. Carter was incompetent. Bush Jr. was incompetent. Obama was too far from the middle.
You are a moron.
Says the guy who agrees with Lizzo on everything...
Every moron on earth is much much brighter than you.
1) Unfortunately, applies to pretty much any topic.
2) The good news for teachers is that I think that Trumpism demonstrates that teachers have it REALLY hard in shaping certain minds into any thing resembling properly-thinking humans.
Imagine the most dishonest, disgusting, utterly transparent American public official of all time. You watch him for years. And you STILL believe what he says. And you STILL disbelieve criticism of him. And you'd STILL like him to be in power again.
If way too many modern Americans can't get over that infinitesimal hump of critical thinking, imagine your chances of teaching them to think with any sophistication or nuance whatsoever? An impossible task. But hey, the job security and pension are generally pretty good.
this is something I've thought about for years....that from I dunno 1945-2016 it didn't really matter who was president. Not really. US politics were played within the 40 yard lines. So civics, critical thinking etc weren't all that important. Whether you voted or not wasn't a big deal. Any major party candidate was genuinely making normal decisions. The major parties kept the crazies small and on the margins. Whoever was elected would be...ok.
But then we elected trump and suddenly American politics were played on the entire football field. It matters who is president now. Our democracy depends on who is president. So all this garbage civics education and lack of humanities in college MEANS something now.
The electorate has to be able to see trump for what he is - an authoritarian huckster criminal who has thrown the entire nation under the bus to help him get richer and stay out of jail. If we can't see that then we will lose our democracy.
Critical thinking is suddenly life or death important to the American experiment.
I think that I agree with the many who have suggested that there is no answer but the defeat of Rs. I don't see any reason to believe that we're going to educate or otherwise persuade ourselves out of at least partial Trumpism anytime in the foreseeable future. I assume that 99+% of those who can wake up have already woken up. No juice left to squeeze.
We just need as few towing-the-party-line Rs in office as possible. And succeed or fail, you live with the uncomfortable truth that 35-45% of your country is OK with authoritarianism and a number of other disgusting concepts (and people).
this is something I've thought about for years....that from I dunno 1945-2016 it didn't really matter who was president. Not really. US politics were played within the 40 yard lines. So civics, critical thinking etc weren't all that important. Whether you voted or not wasn't a big deal. Any major party candidate was genuinely making normal decisions. The major parties kept the crazies small and on the margins. Whoever was elected would be...ok.
But then we elected trump and suddenly American politics were played on the entire football field. It matters who is president now. Our democracy depends on who is president. So all this garbage civics education and lack of humanities in college MEANS something now.
The electorate has to be able to see trump for what he is - an authoritarian huckster criminal who has thrown the entire nation under the bus to help him get richer and stay out of jail. If we can't see that then we will lose our democracy.
Critical thinking is suddenly life or death important to the American experiment.
I am somewhat in agreement with this. However, I am a bit skeptical of the notion that lack of humanities and/or too much STEM education is a significant driver of the problem.
1) From what I have seen, folks who are steeped in STEM are far better critical thinkers than those steeped in humanities.
2) Men seem to be walking away from higher education in general - possibly part of the problem. To my mind, more likely to be a significant factor than any reduced emphasis in humanities.
3) As someone whose job requires me to recruit the best in the world in certain STEM fields I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find anyone in the US who can compete with the talent I am finding in Europe, China and (yes) Russia. This does not suggest an overemphasis on STEM education in the US.
4) Perhaps the problem has been with us all along but it simply did not matter when the game was played between the 40 yard lines. Perhaps trying to find the recent developments within education that are leading us to a dangerous place is a fool's errand since there are no such recent developments of any real importance.
The inflation was about 14.6% when Jimmy Carter was president. We might be headed towards that. President faced the same pandemic problems that Biden has faced and inflation while he was guiding our country was about 1.7%. Let me say that again - 1.7%. Your groceries when Trump was president were much, much cheaper.
Oooh fun game. I’ll play!
Number of people who died of covid when Obama was president: 0
number of people who died of Covid when trump was president: Maybe 500,000.
Your death toll from covid was much lower when Obama was president.
My favorite response is always to say that I never had [running injury] when trump was president
this is something I've thought about for years....that from I dunno 1945-2016 it didn't really matter who was president. Not really. US politics were played within the 40 yard lines. So civics, critical thinking etc weren't all that important. Whether you voted or not wasn't a big deal. Any major party candidate was genuinely making normal decisions. The major parties kept the crazies small and on the margins. Whoever was elected would be...ok.
But then we elected trump and suddenly American politics were played on the entire football field. It matters who is president now. Our democracy depends on who is president. So all this garbage civics education and lack of humanities in college MEANS something now.
The electorate has to be able to see trump for what he is - an authoritarian huckster criminal who has thrown the entire nation under the bus to help him get richer and stay out of jail. If we can't see that then we will lose our democracy.
Critical thinking is suddenly life or death important to the American experiment.
I think that I agree with the many who have suggested that there is no answer but the defeat of Rs. I don't see any reason to believe that we're going to educate or otherwise persuade ourselves out of at least partial Trumpism anytime in the foreseeable future. I assume that 99+% of those who can wake up have already woken up. No juice left to squeeze.
We just need as few towing-the-party-line Rs in office as possible. And succeed or fail, you live with the uncomfortable truth that 35-45% of your country is OK with authoritarianism and a number of other disgusting concepts (and people).
Weird that a stolen valor "conservative" want leftists to win elections...
this is something I've thought about for years....that from I dunno 1945-2016 it didn't really matter who was president. Not really. US politics were played within the 40 yard lines. So civics, critical thinking etc weren't all that important. Whether you voted or not wasn't a big deal. Any major party candidate was genuinely making normal decisions. The major parties kept the crazies small and on the margins. Whoever was elected would be...ok.
But then we elected trump and suddenly American politics were played on the entire football field. It matters who is president now. Our democracy depends on who is president. So all this garbage civics education and lack of humanities in college MEANS something now.
The electorate has to be able to see trump for what he is - an authoritarian huckster criminal who has thrown the entire nation under the bus to help him get richer and stay out of jail. If we can't see that then we will lose our democracy.
Critical thinking is suddenly life or death important to the American experiment.
I am somewhat in agreement with this. However, I am a bit skeptical of the notion that lack of humanities and/or too much STEM education is a significant driver of the problem.
1) From what I have seen, folks who are steeped in STEM are far better critical thinkers than those steeped in humanities.
2) Men seem to be walking away from higher education in general - possibly part of the problem. To my mind, more likely to be a significant factor than any reduced emphasis in humanities.
3) As someone whose job requires me to recruit the best in the world in certain STEM fields I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find anyone in the US who can compete with the talent I am finding in Europe, China and (yes) Russia. This does not suggest an overemphasis on STEM education in the US.
4) Perhaps the problem has been with us all along but it simply did not matter when the game was played between the 40 yard lines. Perhaps trying to find the recent developments within education that are leading us to a dangerous place is a fool's errand since there are no such recent developments of any real importance.
First of all, there's more than just 'humanities' or 'stem.' Business, communications and other pre-professional degrees are very very popular and require little broad knowledge.
I think one thing that is hurting us is lack knowing anything about history. That can be a benefit to america...we aren't caught in historical loops like europe can be - we look more to what can be... new. But that's when it didn't matter who was president. Now the fact americans know zero about history is very dangerous. They have fallen into the populist authoritarian trap without knowing any better. If they knew the parellels they are following they might not follow them.
And knowing something about history is not that important to STEM or business or pre-professional degrees. Critical thinking is just one part of the problem.
this is something I've thought about for years....that from I dunno 1945-2016 it didn't really matter who was president. Not really. US politics were played within the 40 yard lines. So civics, critical thinking etc weren't all that important. Whether you voted or not wasn't a big deal. Any major party candidate was genuinely making normal decisions. The major parties kept the crazies small and on the margins. Whoever was elected would be...ok.
But then we elected trump and suddenly American politics were played on the entire football field. It matters who is president now. Our democracy depends on who is president. So all this garbage civics education and lack of humanities in college MEANS something now.
The electorate has to be able to see trump for what he is - an authoritarian huckster criminal who has thrown the entire nation under the bus to help him get richer and stay out of jail. If we can't see that then we will lose our democracy.
Critical thinking is suddenly life or death important to the American experiment.
I am somewhat in agreement with this. However, I am a bit skeptical of the notion that lack of humanities and/or too much STEM education is a significant driver of the problem.
1) From what I have seen, folks who are steeped in STEM are far better critical thinkers than those steeped in humanities.
2) Men seem to be walking away from higher education in general - possibly part of the problem. To my mind, more likely to be a significant factor than any reduced emphasis in humanities.
3) As someone whose job requires me to recruit the best in the world in certain STEM fields I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find anyone in the US who can compete with the talent I am finding in Europe, China and (yes) Russia. This does not suggest an overemphasis on STEM education in the US.
4) Perhaps the problem has been with us all along but it simply did not matter when the game was played between the 40 yard lines. Perhaps trying to find the recent developments within education that are leading us to a dangerous place is a fool's errand since there are no such recent developments of any real importance.
A bit of Googling could probably enlighten (but not at the moment!), but it would be interesting to know more about the demographics of Trumpers. I presume that it skews towards non-college educated, but I don't know how much. Would also be interesting to see if there's an obvious skew in type of major for the college-educated Trumpers.
What I do know is that PLENTY of both well-educated and not well-educated folks who you wouldn't THINK would fall for the BS and cultism HAVE fallen for the BS and cultism. They display both fine critical thinking skills and human decency in most or all other areas of their life.....and yet......
Not sure if "inexplicable" is a bit too strong to describe it....but it's damn close.
I am somewhat in agreement with this. However, I am a bit skeptical of the notion that lack of humanities and/or too much STEM education is a significant driver of the problem.
1) From what I have seen, folks who are steeped in STEM are far better critical thinkers than those steeped in humanities.
2) Men seem to be walking away from higher education in general - possibly part of the problem. To my mind, more likely to be a significant factor than any reduced emphasis in humanities.
3) As someone whose job requires me to recruit the best in the world in certain STEM fields I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find anyone in the US who can compete with the talent I am finding in Europe, China and (yes) Russia. This does not suggest an overemphasis on STEM education in the US.
4) Perhaps the problem has been with us all along but it simply did not matter when the game was played between the 40 yard lines. Perhaps trying to find the recent developments within education that are leading us to a dangerous place is a fool's errand since there are no such recent developments of any real importance.
A bit of Googling could probably enlighten (but not at the moment!), but it would be interesting to know more about the demographics of Trumpers. I presume that it skews towards non-college educated, but I don't know how much. Would also be interesting to see if there's an obvious skew in type of major for the college-educated Trumpers.
What I do know is that PLENTY of both well-educated and not well-educated folks who you wouldn't THINK would fall for the BS and cultism HAVE fallen for the BS and cultism. They display both fine critical thinking skills and human decency in most or all other areas of their life.....and yet......
Not sure if "inexplicable" is a bit too strong to describe it....but it's damn close.
People think differently. Even some smart people can think gay people shouldn’t be able to get married which seems like it should be some sort of brain disease to me.
I am somewhat in agreement with this. However, I am a bit skeptical of the notion that lack of humanities and/or too much STEM education is a significant driver of the problem.
1) From what I have seen, folks who are steeped in STEM are far better critical thinkers than those steeped in humanities.
2) Men seem to be walking away from higher education in general - possibly part of the problem. To my mind, more likely to be a significant factor than any reduced emphasis in humanities.
3) As someone whose job requires me to recruit the best in the world in certain STEM fields I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find anyone in the US who can compete with the talent I am finding in Europe, China and (yes) Russia. This does not suggest an overemphasis on STEM education in the US.
4) Perhaps the problem has been with us all along but it simply did not matter when the game was played between the 40 yard lines. Perhaps trying to find the recent developments within education that are leading us to a dangerous place is a fool's errand since there are no such recent developments of any real importance.
First of all, there's more than just 'humanities' or 'stem.' Business, communications and other pre-professional degrees are very very popular and require little broad knowledge.
I think one thing that is hurting us is lack knowing anything about history. That can be a benefit to america...we aren't caught in historical loops like europe can be - we look more to what can be... new. But that's when it didn't matter who was president. Now the fact americans know zero about history is very dangerous. They have fallen into the populist authoritarian trap without knowing any better. If they knew the parellels they are following they might not follow them.
And knowing something about history is not that important to STEM or business or pre-professional degrees. Critical thinking is just one part of the problem.
We have loads of humanities majors (and a relative lack of engineers) in the US. The idea that we're lacking seems like a faulty premise.
I am somewhat in agreement with this. However, I am a bit skeptical of the notion that lack of humanities and/or too much STEM education is a significant driver of the problem.
1) From what I have seen, folks who are steeped in STEM are far better critical thinkers than those steeped in humanities.
2) Men seem to be walking away from higher education in general - possibly part of the problem. To my mind, more likely to be a significant factor than any reduced emphasis in humanities.
3) As someone whose job requires me to recruit the best in the world in certain STEM fields I can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find anyone in the US who can compete with the talent I am finding in Europe, China and (yes) Russia. This does not suggest an overemphasis on STEM education in the US.
4) Perhaps the problem has been with us all along but it simply did not matter when the game was played between the 40 yard lines. Perhaps trying to find the recent developments within education that are leading us to a dangerous place is a fool's errand since there are no such recent developments of any real importance.
First of all, there's more than just 'humanities' or 'stem.' Business, communications and other pre-professional degrees are very very popular and require little broad knowledge.
I think one thing that is hurting us is lack knowing anything about history. That can be a benefit to america...we aren't caught in historical loops like europe can be - we look more to what can be... new. But that's when it didn't matter who was president. Now the fact americans know zero about history is very dangerous. They have fallen into the populist authoritarian trap without knowing any better. If they knew the parellels they are following they might not follow them.
And knowing something about history is not that important to STEM or business or pre-professional degrees. Critical thinking is just one part of the problem.
On the one hand, one could be optimistic that a good liberal arts education could do well to positively influence a big chunk of those "in the middle" (and I'm fairly supportive of a liberal arts education in general). But for those clearly in the heart of Trumpism, I think that other factors easily overwhelm what a good education can influence.
I know that this might sound excessively anecdote-y, but I imagine all of the red hat wearing Trumpers who can tell you ALL about the Revolutionary War, and perhaps the founding, and the Civil War, and WWII, and the Cold War, and.... Yet, not only be blind to, but freakin' SUPPORTIVE of authoritarianism when it comes to their door. And I know, folks will say, "That's information, not education." Well, it's always a combination of both. And many of these folks you would, if being fair, consider pretty knowledgeable about U.S. and/or world history. And it apparently means nothing.
The tribe, the membership, the hating others, the insecurity, the dissatisfaction with their own lives, etc., MORE than makes up for their education, however good.
A bit of Googling could probably enlighten (but not at the moment!), but it would be interesting to know more about the demographics of Trumpers. I presume that it skews towards non-college educated, but I don't know how much. Would also be interesting to see if there's an obvious skew in type of major for the college-educated Trumpers.
What I do know is that PLENTY of both well-educated and not well-educated folks who you wouldn't THINK would fall for the BS and cultism HAVE fallen for the BS and cultism. They display both fine critical thinking skills and human decency in most or all other areas of their life.....and yet......
Not sure if "inexplicable" is a bit too strong to describe it....but it's damn close.
People think differently. Even some smart people can think gay people shouldn’t be able to get married which seems like it should be some sort of brain disease to me.
on the gay marriage thing - this is a bit of a tangent but made me stop and think so I'm repeating it.
many mainstream americans won't vote for Democrats because Dems seem to be forcing us all to change values so quickly and they are so condemning and judgmental if we don't go along with it.
One such mainstream American pushed back on gay marriage, wondering why he was considered a monster for having the same position on gay marriage Barack Obama had just 8 years ago.
First of all, there's more than just 'humanities' or 'stem.' Business, communications and other pre-professional degrees are very very popular and require little broad knowledge.
I think one thing that is hurting us is lack knowing anything about history. That can be a benefit to america...we aren't caught in historical loops like europe can be - we look more to what can be... new. But that's when it didn't matter who was president. Now the fact americans know zero about history is very dangerous. They have fallen into the populist authoritarian trap without knowing any better. If they knew the parellels they are following they might not follow them.
And knowing something about history is not that important to STEM or business or pre-professional degrees. Critical thinking is just one part of the problem.
Agreed on the first sentence. But not so sure about the rest.
Yes, knowing nothing about history is probably not a good thing. But do you really think that the typical Trumpette never heard of Hitler? It seems to me that something else is going on.
What is your picture of the prototypical Trumpette? I know that there are others, but to me the core is the 60 year-old and 70 year-old white guy. These are folks who got their education in the 1970s - I think well before any perceived gutting of humanities curricula.
Not saying that our education system could not be/should not be improved but I just don't see that as a primary driver here. I am thinking more along the lines of nonequals' "inexplicable".
Perhaps folks like Toffler and Fromm are a bit closer to the mark.
First of all, there's more than just 'humanities' or 'stem.' Business, communications and other pre-professional degrees are very very popular and require little broad knowledge.
I think one thing that is hurting us is lack knowing anything about history. That can be a benefit to america...we aren't caught in historical loops like europe can be - we look more to what can be... new. But that's when it didn't matter who was president. Now the fact americans know zero about history is very dangerous. They have fallen into the populist authoritarian trap without knowing any better. If they knew the parellels they are following they might not follow them.
And knowing something about history is not that important to STEM or business or pre-professional degrees. Critical thinking is just one part of the problem.
We have loads of humanities majors (and a relative lack of engineers) in the US. The idea that we're lacking seems like a faulty premise.
eh not so many.
a minority of americans get college degrees in the first place, and then the subdivision of those who get humanities degrees is very small. 4% of graduates by this measure.
And the pool of new humanities grads is shrinking very fast.
Fewer than one in 10 college graduates obtained humanities degrees in 2020, down 25 percent since 2012. That’s using a broad definition of humanities that includes “communications,” a popular major that now makes up more than a quarter of all humanities graduates. If you prefer a narrower, historical definition of humanities — restricted to English, history, philosophy and foreign languages and literature — only 4 percent of college graduates in 2020 majored in one of these disciplines. “These humanities fields are down to unprecedented levels,” said Rob Townsend, director of humanities, arts and culture programs at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. “It’s worrisome.”
Rob Townsend of the American Academy speaks about the puzzling decline of more than 30 percent in English and history majors, citing the latest Humanities Indicators report on The State of the Humanities 2021: Workforce & Bey...
I think that I agree with the many who have suggested that there is no answer but the defeat of Rs. I don't see any reason to believe that we're going to educate or otherwise persuade ourselves out of at least partial Trumpism anytime in the foreseeable future. I assume that 99+% of those who can wake up have already woken up. No juice left to squeeze.
We just need as few towing-the-party-line Rs in office as possible. And succeed or fail, you live with the uncomfortable truth that 35-45% of your country is OK with authoritarianism and a number of other disgusting concepts (and people).
Weird that a stolen valor "conservative" want leftists to win elections...
Yeah, I'll already break my rule for an utter as**** like you. What the f*** do you know about my service? Nothing. Where I went, what I did, what I wear on my chest? Nothing.
You're the f***** as**** who regularly likes to use your cutesy little expressions like, "Little man."
How little of a man are you who baselessly impugns the service of Americans to try to score points on a message board?
Oh, that's right, the same one who calls for the execution of federal law enforcement officials And thinks the election was stolen. And hears Trump ask for 11,000 votes and pretends he didn't.
You know all of the really nasty things actual adults have said about you on this thread? They're 100% accurate. The fact that you're apparently thick-skinned and a glutton for punishment doesn't change any of that.
People think differently. Even some smart people can think gay people shouldn’t be able to get married which seems like it should be some sort of brain disease to me.
on the gay marriage thing - this is a bit of a tangent but made me stop and think so I'm repeating it.
many mainstream americans won't vote for Democrats because Dems seem to be forcing us all to change values so quickly and they are so condemning and judgmental if we don't go along with it.
One such mainstream American pushed back on gay marriage, wondering why he was considered a monster for having the same position on gay marriage Barack Obama had just 8 years ago.
Which is...true.
First off, Obama’s official stance is not what he actually thinks. He said no to the gays to get elected and then it was decided in the courts under his purview. Abraham Lincoln did the same thing slavery.
My post was sort of apologizing for these people I think have a brain disease. They think differently than me. They are smart and they genuinely think differently than me. It’s certainly presumptuous that I think I know best, but no one in the 21st century is pro slavery so I’m not worried about it.
First of all, there's more than just 'humanities' or 'stem.' Business, communications and other pre-professional degrees are very very popular and require little broad knowledge.
I think one thing that is hurting us is lack knowing anything about history. That can be a benefit to america...we aren't caught in historical loops like europe can be - we look more to what can be... new. But that's when it didn't matter who was president. Now the fact americans know zero about history is very dangerous. They have fallen into the populist authoritarian trap without knowing any better. If they knew the parellels they are following they might not follow them.
And knowing something about history is not that important to STEM or business or pre-professional degrees. Critical thinking is just one part of the problem.
Agreed on the first sentence. But not so sure about the rest.
Yes, knowing nothing about history is probably not a good thing. But do you really think that the typical Trumpette never heard of Hitler? It seems to me that something else is going on.
What is your picture of the prototypical Trumpette? I know that there are others, but to me the core is the 60 year-old and 70 year-old white guy. These are folks who got their education in the 1970s - I think well before any perceived gutting of humanities curricula.
Not saying that our education system could not be/should not be improved but I just don't see that as a primary driver here. I am thinking more along the lines of nonequals' "inexplicable".
Perhaps folks like Toffler and Fromm are a bit closer to the mark.
I think of a typical trumper as a 40 something white guy who owns an F150, an AR15 and affects the look of a special forces soldier in Afghanistan circa 2006. No college. and those guys are the ones who will join the paramilitary groups when it comes to that.
But sure, the 60-80 year old angry white guy is a classic too. And the female celebrity worshippers fit in there too.
They aren't big fans of the humanities, any of them.
And part of my point is that Americans have *never* known much about history. It used not to matter because the parties filtered out the radicals. But now it matters that guys think Hitler was a leftist and we fought against communism in WW2.
I think of a typical trumper as a 40 something white guy who owns an F150, an AR15 and affects the look of a special forces soldier in Afghanistan circa 2006. No college. and those guys are the ones who will join the paramilitary groups when it comes to that.
But sure, the 60-80 year old angry white guy is a classic too. And the female celebrity worshippers fit in there too.
They aren't big fans of the humanities, any of them.
And part of my point is that Americans have *never* known much about history. It used not to matter because the parties filtered out the radicals. But now it matters that guys think Hitler was a leftist and we fought against communism in WW2.
Here is my short take:
When a group of people feel like they are being left behind/left out/losing power and influence they become angry and prone to believe pretty much anything that will justify their anger or, better yet, help them get back at those who made them angry.
Weird that a stolen valor "conservative" want leftists to win elections...
Yeah, I'll already break my rule for an utter as**** like you. What the f*** do you know about my service? Nothing. Where I went, what I did, what I wear on my chest? Nothing.
You're the f***** as**** who regularly likes to use your cutesy little expressions like, "Little man."
How little of a man are you who baselessly impugns the service of Americans to try to score points on a message board?
Oh, that's right, the same one who calls for the execution of federal law enforcement officials And thinks the election was stolen. And hears Trump ask for 11,000 votes and pretends he didn't.
You know all of the really nasty things actual adults have said about you on this thread? They're 100% accurate. The fact that you're apparently thick-skinned and a glutton for punishment doesn't change any of that.
You said you were in the Navy in the 80s on an aircraft carrier that was decommissioned before the Gulf War.
So I know you were a peace time sailor who never saw any action.
You routinely bring up your service as if it matters. I'm simply pointing out that the average Uber driver endures more hardship than you did.
