What does the US do with the other half?

Reality is splitting . Consider it an earthquake .

 

Yes Nancy has lots of money, is part of an elite, and is from the west coast. An elite is simply a group that has a much larger share of wealth, status, and /or power than the average person. As one of the peons, I have trouble relating to $24k fridges and multiple houses, or even understanding why anyone would want them. I also have trouble relating to the Donald's gold plated toilet. Bernie also has $250,000 and $500,000 in mortgage debt, which would make me very nervous, even with his net worth estimated at just under $2 million. That's pretty rich for a socialist, but peanuts in comparison with Trump's self-estimated (possibly way inflated) net worth of over $8 billion. Pelosi and her husband have a net worth of $120 million, much of which was earned before she entered politics. Mitch McConnell and his wife have a combined net worth ranging from $22 million to $54.56 million--quite a range!

Both Pelosi and Sanders would be considered part of the Power Elite, defined by sociologist C, Wright Mills in the fifties as someone who occupies a command position in one of the big three dominant institutions in the U.S.: federal government, the largest industrial corporations, and the military. Mill's theory was criticized for placing too much emphasis on position and not enough on actual involvement in exerting influence. Trump, Pelosi and Sanders, of course, are actively involved, but many in the position to exert influence don't. The Tea Party was bankrolled by the Koch brothers, the surviving Koch only recently repenting for his mischief. Breitbart and the Alt Right/Alt Lite were bankrolled by the Mercers. According to a study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, 57.7% of large CEOs consistently donated to Republicans. Only 18.6% donated to Democrats.Way more CEOs are Republicans than Democrats. Here's the proof. - CNN Sixty-three percent of individuals earning $200 thousand or more per year are Republicans, including most home builders, oil barons and defense contractors. According to the Gallup polls, of the wealthiest 1% of Americans, those earning over half a million or more per year, about one-third identify as Republicans and 26% identify as Democrats.U.S. "1%" Is More Republican, but Not More Conservative

When Republicans use the term "elite", they are usually referring to cultural elites or the intelligentsia. One of the most successful efforts of Republican propagandists has been to convince large numbers of working class Americans that the Democrats are the party of the establishment elite. Fat cat Republican corporate elites, skilled in manipulating consumers through advertising, used brilliant messaging to persuade ordinary Americans that "it’s the teachers, unions, environmental groups, professors and civil rights organizations that constitute the establishment whereas Koch and other industry-funded astroturf groups are the real gladiators fighting the status quo." How Did Democrats Become the Party of Elites? The elites who really run things are the corporate elites and multi-billionaires like Koch, the Mercers and Sheldon Adelson, who still control the Republican party. The Clintons (Bill born and raised in Arkansas) were perceived as personifying the coastal elite, cozying up to Wall Street executives and Hollywood celebrities. Hillary's nomination in 2016 drove workers into the arms of multi-billionaire grifter Donald Trump, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but talked and acted like the uneducated workers did. Hillary's unfortunate remarks about "deplorables" and closing West Virginia coal mines didn't help. But the President elect is Joe Biden, from Scranton , Pa.., net worth $900 k in 2014 (although now higher from book deals and speeches), and son of a used car salesman. Way above anything I'll ever achieve or aspire to, but small potatoes compared to Trump and his cronies.

I'll get to the guns later.

 

People who actually wanted to expose themselves to more aspects of life possibly thru a college education.
Which brings me to a question. Why are college educated people derided by non college educated people? Is it jealousy?

 

but why do they seem to be bitter, and insulting?

 

I think it's an ego defense mechanism--an unconscious psychological mechanism that people use to protect their sense of self worth. Specifically, it's a form of denial calledvariation of the "sour grapes", after Aesop's "Fox and the Grapes" fable: the tendency to deny the value of something one has not been able to obtain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exU37QliCEY&feature=emb_title If a person has no college education and somebody else does, the uneducated person decides college really doesn't have value anyhow. Otherwise, the uneducated person might feel inferior. Also, because educated people tend to think differently than the uneducated, it must be because education fills their minds with dangerous ideas. Jordan Peterson, himself a university professor and psychologist, tells them colleges and universities are full of "postmodernist cultural Marxists" out to indoctrinate our youth and turn them against America (or Canada, in his case). He's made a lot of money doing this.

 

Exactly my point, one side pretends to care and says the other side does not care and vice versa and there are those on BOTH sides who demonize the other side while defending their "team" who is also full of shit , and the bottom of the barrel of BOTH sides wants to force their side on the other side

 

Although there's truth in that, at present "one side" seems to have given itself in bondage to a total piece of shit, namely Trump. No President in history has deliberately inflicted so much damage on our country. With him in office, who needs demons! Not a shred of evidence of irregularities yet, but he's whipping up the base in an obvious effort to de-legitimize Biden and the election, and with them, the U.S. system of democracy. If he gets away with it, that sort of game will become SOP for "both sides" until this great republic of ours sinks under the weight of partisanship.

 

I refuse to like what you say because you are correct and it SUCKS

 

I'm technically still here if you're asking where did all the right wingers went. I say technically for two reasons:

1. I don't frequent this site as often. There's really not many threads that I have much expertise on the subject.

2. Over the past couple years, I find myself leaning more and more left when it comes social and economic issues. However I lean strongly right when it comes to gun rights and abortion.

 

I was talking mainly about the right wing trolls: Six-eyed Shaman, Once Burned, etc. You strike me as sincere.

 

Trump is new Confederacy. He will become a romanticized ideal of a "real" America that fought bravely before the system crushed it. Because he lost is sort of proves how evil the system is so he is all the more brave for standing up. I don't think the hats and flags are going anywhere. They may ditch the ones that say 2020 but his name will still be everywhere. I know people who kept their Bernie merch because they felt like there will never be another like him in America but they don't make it their personality like a Trumper.

He has become too much of Republican's identity. They will not accept anyone but him or his sons as president. I think there is a good chance Republicans get few or zero positions in coming elections because they are allowing Biden to win. Any candidate will have to have never criticized Trump and have his same attitude on being polite, PC, and educated on science which of course is ruined by liberal biases. I don't know if you can convince these people to go back to the ways things were. Trump gave them everything they ever wanted. Decades from now I think holiday dinners will still be awkward.

I had a German friend in school with a grandfather who enlisted for Hitler. As an old man he still thought Germany was doomed because they did not listen to him. Concentration camps are exaggerations and he felt no shame for protecting his country. It was very similar to how I hear Trump voters ignore his behaviors and swear he was the only one who could protect freedom,

 

1. Dems are coastal elitists unconcerned about the plight of working class Americans. I think the elitist part has already been covered, but I might say some more about the plight of working class Americans and the alleged lack of concern on the part of Democrats. I understand "working class Americans" to mean blue collar wage earners. The notion that the defection of working class voters to the Republicans began in 2016 is inaccurate. It actually began with LBJ's affirmative action programs in the sixties, and has been increasing rather steadily since the early 1990s. Free trade was Republican dogma since the Reagan administration. The alleged Democrat"lack of concern" refers to embrace of Neo-Liberal policies that were actually hatched by Republican and Libertarian Think Tanks, but signed on to by "New Democrat" Bill Clinton as part of the "Triangulation" strategy he and his Republican consultant Dick Morris put together-- beginning with NAFTA, passed with the help of the Republicans in Congress over the objection of Democrats. Ross Perot predicted a "great sucking sound of manufacturing jobs headed south of the border. In reality, this was greatly exaggerated, since U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico is relatively small. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42965.pdf Nevertheless, globalization, specifically trade with China, was blamed for the loss of American jobs, and the latest administration before Trump in which this trend took place was Obama's. In reality, even international trade contributed less than one-fifth to job losses in U.S. manufacturing, some communities and labor-intensive sectors relying on lower pay grades were particularly hard hit. Then there was environmentalism. EPA and many of the main environmental laws were creations of Republican Richard Nixon, but Ronald Reagan made them the but of ridicule. During the first 15 years following the implementation of the Clean Air Act, about half-million jobs shifted from communities with non-complying plants into neighboring counties where plants met the standards. How Do Environmental Regulations Affect the Economy? Experts Describe a Nuanced Picture This was a relatively small percentage of total manufacturing jobs lost, but made an easy target for demagogic politicians. The Trump Administration has reversed or is reversing over 100 environmental regulations. How Do Environmental Regulations Affect the Economy? Experts Describe a Nuanced Picture By presenting himself as champion of economic protectionism and enemy of environmental regulations, Trump was able to sell himself as the new hero of the American worker.

(I have more to say on this, but have to take off for awhile)

 

I will be able to answer those questions by 3rd Quarter of 2021

More people employed and corporate America making more profit means higher tax revenue for feral and state governments to pay for stuff

The state governments and governors of many states there now, both red and blue have been whittle down to just outright begging the public to follow Covid measures, that were always going to be ineffective, as the only tactic left to contain the spread

Biden will do a worse job with the economy of course, won't be able to beat Covid of course, unemployment rate will rise, US debt to China will skyrocket, and Biden will be caught nodding off during several important events

 

So what damage did he inflict on your country, give me the top 5 things quickly on point form, from most important to least important


Now, if you can't even do that convincingly then it's all fluff

 

Whenever I hear the "blame China" argument I go to Walmart, and watch the people going inside. The vast majority are your working class, i.e. blue collar worker. These people just don't get it.

 

fixed

Why would he do that? It's not like you are going to agree with him.

 

Walmart has more goods that are "made in the us" than target or any other retailer of that caliber, EVERY SINGLE target brand item is made in china

 

Obviously, you don't understand my point.