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What the american people want has almost no bearing on what the elites who control the american empire decide to do.
No major policy has matched public opinion since the end of the civil rights era. In gender, ethnicity and wealth, our representatives are not representative of us either.
It's naive to think we live in a democracy.
What the people want isn’t always right either. Case in point: Trump.
Democracies work if the society invests in educating the voting public. This government does the opposite because they know smart = more likely left leaning.
I don't think it's correct to say the people want trump. Only ~30% of US adults voted for him.
The way they got our population to elect Trump is a motherfucking case study in democracy sabotage. The KGB manuals for destabilizing nations from 50 years ago describe how to amplify and boost the most extreme stories on both sides of every issue until the population tunes out and stops caring or paying attention.
I'm not saying it was just Russia that did this here, but that it's a known and easy to accomplish tactic, aided by forces like Elon Musk who bought one of the largest media platforms, then outsourced the propaganda grinding to countries like India where the modest income they receive from shares and likes is enough to live on. That was deliberate, that was on purpose.
The news media outlets from MSNBC, to CNN to FOX to every other fringe corporate news organization are owned by and paid for by the same people who benefit from you thinking your side is winning and their side is losing. Either you become a frothing team-member or you get burned out and stop believing anything you read. Either result is a win to the oligarchy.
Sorry, since when has it been relevant what the people want?
"The people?" Not in a long time. But what "those people" want? About 75 years
It's also not true in a relevant way. In the abstract, on its own, sure. If a presidential candidate argued for less military spending during an election campaign they would be painted as weak , and trying to weaken American increasingly dangerous world. Probably conspiracy theories about them being a foreign agent. And they would either lose outright or at least pay a significant political price.
People still point at Carter for putting on a sweater and suggesting people turn down their thermostat.
Maybe it was not said in public that he was a pussy, but I assure you that a whole lot of people said it in private.
Same sort of thing goes for being "manly" about bombing brown people in foreign lands and spending lots of money on it.
You need your jackboots with the environment is fucked and your people cant eat to keep them in line.
I do not want an aircraft carrier. I do not want dead palestinian kids. I do not care about our tactical interest in the middle-east nor do I feel threatened by fucking countries like motherfucking Venezuela.
I want healthcare to take care of people I care about who need medicine.
That's it, that's ALL i am asking of my country in return for the massive amount of money I pour into the country from my paychecks.
And you know what? I guarantee if you said this to about 90% of conservatives who voted for Trump without contention or condemnation of any characters or storylines, they would agree with you. This is why the media empire is trying to pry us apart with social/cultural war.
There's a lot of things the American People don't want.
The American People could stop this phenomenon if they stopped voting for people who vote for the increases, and yet here we are.
There are two options. One wants a bigger military and the other doesn’t want to look weak so they also want a bigger military.
Don’t forget that the whole thing is a massive make-work project that would crash the economy if it stopped growing.
I like how when average Dem types talk about "blue no matter who" they get shouted down, rightly, because of course Dems also increase the military budget and serve moneyed interests first. But then when they lose elections because they're cheap and uninspiring, right wing maniacs do it even harder, and it's then totally valid to hate on Americans. Only question to me is, how to fit all that on democracy's toe tag.
Bold of you to assume that most of America even has a choice that wouldn't approve this.
Spoiling your ballot is still a choice that makes a statement and sends a message without giving a vote to anyone, for what it's worth.
As an American: Hahah-hah, ha-hahaaa!
As a rational person: Sorry the US is a shit show. I learned a few years ago that roughly 40% of us are functionally illiterate. I think that stands to imply a greater percentage than that are incapable of rational thought without being told.
Hey! How about you all vote for president, then what I'll do is I'll collect 1000 votes and average out the result, then I promise to actually vote the way you 10 million voted!
Let's call this an electoral college! I'll be your representative elector okay coolio!
Go ahead vote for anyone! I'll vote for the winner! I promise!
The American military does not (and has rarely ever) given a single shit about what the American people want. At best they view themselves as protectors looking over a subservient people they don't like. At worst? Well, innocents end up dead
The people and the politicians do not agree here.
Americans want that until it's the plant near their county that manufactures fighter jets that suffers the cutback, or the huge base near their home on which half the town depends, or his cousin who couldn't afford university otherwise, the one who gets fired.
The problem is that the bulk of American public spending is there; if it's cut, it would have to be replaced with other productive public spending, or the country's economy will collapse and that second part is much more difficult.