Politics The Postal Service, Voting, and Covid

Im not disagreeing but it’s a representative republic that we have not a democracy. States are somewhat democratic. The federal government is not and was never intended to be. Thats why I believe there should be far less federal, executive power over states and states should have more power to govern independently. I know thats not a popular take.

 

I don't care much about what it was "intended to be". It was intended there be slavery. It was intended that women couldn't vote. It was intended that treaties with Native American tribes be lies. It was intended that Japanese American be interned in WWII.

there have been a lot of evil and backward intentions by this nation, right from the beginning

But fortunately, we have the capacity to evolve. That's the process that added the Bill of Rights and 17 other amendments....because the original intentions were inadequate

that's why I'm saying the Senate, and the electoral college are obsolete....it's because the nation has evolved well past the 18th century agrarian culture where the senate made sense. It makes no sense any more as constructed.

 

Ok so when I say that voting should evolve electronically, and that I think reform to the USPS over time would be good. You responded with its not relevant to an election in 10 weeks and mail in voting... So, just kinda giving you crap, but I was basically making the same argument that voting can and should eventually evolve, just like the senate should (though it wont).

 

I think my suggestion of smaller federal government and more power to the states actually gives the more ‘left-leaning’ folks what they want in a lot of ways though. If your state wants state wide health-care, ok you have it. If you’re upset that Alaska has a say in your healthcare, now they dont.
If your state wants college debt erased and all college to be free, ok then they can make their institutions do that.
If the federal government has far less power and influence over what individual states want then the electoral college and senate seats are far less important in terms of dictating laws to you, and to your state.
The entire thing seems to be fueled by wanting to use the federal government to dictate to all the states in the union how they should be ran.

 

I don't worry about their preference in religion but I do worry about their educational level. It shows they're not into thinking.

 

Not a matter of worrying about their religion as just an illustration of lack of diversity in those states.

 

depends on what you are talking about and no, health care sure isn't something each state can handle

but I think the flaw in that thinking is gigantic and we have the past 6 months as the template. We had "smaller federal government" in the battle against Covid....and it's been a fucking disaster. The feds absolutely needed to take the lead on this. We desperately needed national policies. The states, except for Hawaii, maybe, can't lock down their own borders and can't prevent the lunacy of a neighboring state from spreading across state lines

each state can't maintain their own version of the CDC, NIH, and FDA; or develop their own testing infrastructure, fund vaccine trials, and distribute the drug

the 'smaller government' catch-phrase makes for a good sound bite but applying the phrase to reality almost always fails and is much more complicated than assumed

but that's probably a side-rail discussion. Smaller federal government has to be preceded by a careful examination of capacities and needs. And the cutting has to be done by scalpel not by machete. People always rah-rah for smaller government, but that's mostly because they are thinking lower taxes. But if all that's happening is a transfer of duties to the states, taxes won't be lower. In fact they'll be higher because instead of one federal bureaucracy managing a responsibility, you now need 50 state bureaucracies.

bigger isn't always bad

 

Sure there are complexities and issues with all forms of government. Never claimed otherwise, but big government and federal authority has its own issues.

I like basically 100% disagree with just about everything covid related posted on s2 to the point thats a rather worthless discussion, not because I think its a conspiracy or whatever right wing crap is out there just because I think it went political in an instant and there is way more lies out there then facts. My answer sure as heck isnt let the federal government and politicians have more control of health and science though.

 

It's the ability to decipher the lies from the truth and in the case of covid we have the trump administration lying about it and you have the doctors and scientists telling the truth and giving the best advice. It really isn't that hard to see where the issue is. One only cares about the economy to boost his reelection chances and the others are saying what's actually best for the people.

 

Only the doctors and scientists we like though. We like Fauci when he says things that we like, when he says things we don't it's cause Trump made him do it. When a doctor or scientist says things we don't we immediately jump into ad hominem attacks against them, and claim we love science.
I'm not gonna get into this COVID stuff though, it is literally a waste of you and I's time. If you think doctors and scientists are always telling you what's best for the people, well I'd just disagree. I'm not saying all doctors or scientists are evil, or bad but people are generally selfish and looking for their own best interests.

It's an interesting somewhat ironic argument. People really pissed off that Trump wants to be a Dictator and has too much power and has abused it. Also let's give the Federal Government and the executive branch more power and responsibility, what could go wrong with that? Most people hate big forms of statism, including socialists when the state doesn't do what they want and imposes itself on them, but loves statism when the state does what they want and imposes itself on their political/ideological rivals.

 

So your answer is not to believe anyone? Ok, let me know how that works out for you.

 

My answer is to take all of it with a grain of salt and keep living my life to the best of my ability, with the knowledge I have while working every day to observe, hypothesize, question and test what I learn instead of take anyone at face value and sure there are some I trust more than others but that has worked well for me. I don't really want to talk about COVID though, that's why I haven't been involved in any of the COVID conversations in months.

So I think mail-in voting is appropriate, whatever gives more citizens access to voting the better IMO and I think what the postmaster/president is doing is crazy and whether one agrees or disagrees about major changes to the USPS the timing makes it an obvious attempt to try to get re-elected.

 

Sorting machines being removed in swing states, that makes sense for Trump, he doesn't want voter turnout in Pennsylvania, Michigan et al. But California and New York? No way he wins those states so why sabotage the mail service?

According to reports he is still steamed over losing popular vote by 3 million in 2016. New York and California accounted for 2 million of those votes. If he can suppress voter turnout in those two states, he'll still lose the states but has a better chance of popular vote win.

If he keeps the "wrong" people from voting.

Used to be absentee ballots were not partisan, but for Trump everything is always about him. Like wearing masks. Or absentee ballots. Result, about 81% of Democrats plan to vote by mail but only around 25% of Republicans. Trump can never win a free election, he has to at all costs stop people from voting.

 

So why exactly are they taking mailboxes away from my neighborhood? I still don’t get it.

 

At worst voter suppression, trying to eliminate the USPS or reform it to enhance private shipping companies, so that elites can profit more. At best and this is really where the whole thing seems so blatantly wrong, voter fraud ‘might’ be an issue, and the USPS needs reform because it loses quite a bit of money... Those two things even if they were a big deal, are not worth making it unsafe (especially to the more at risk groups for COVID and other diseases) and say those things are really big problems, there are better ways to fix it short term than tearing it all up.

 

Trump had been demanding increase in package rates after Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post. He's too stupid to realize it wouldn't hurt Amazon or Bezos, just customers.