The politicians people deserve

[Skeptisk]

I don’t think there is a thread on George Santos.

For those that don’t know him, he was recently elected as a Republican to Congress.

After the election is seems that almost everything he said about himself was a lie. He pretended he had a degree for an Ivy League university (and played basketball for them!), worked for Goldman Sachs and his mother died during 9/11. Lies aimed at garnering Republican votes. Yet at the same time he said his grandparents died in the Holocaust (his family is catholic and from Brazil!) and that he is gay (despite divorcing his wife recently. Lies aimed at getting support from Democrats. Interestingly, because people in the US as so bipartisan and stuck in their own echo chambers nobody pointed out these contradictions- until after he was elected.

Despite his litany of lies the Republicans have not kicked him out and he has taken his seat (they are worried about losing their thin majority).

Of course he is a signed up Trumpist and took part in the Jan 6 insurrection (at least he claims he did!)

I think that the quality of our politicians has dropped drastically. Is that the fault of the politicians or the public for allowing it to happen?

[Eric Mc]

Maybe they didn't care.

[LukeBrown66]

There is only thing you can really do, and that is not vote.

Or actually protest, our current politicians are not really that they are puppets to big business and the owners or the world.

Look at the past, it can happen, Iraq, Egypt, even Syria nearly.

It has to happen from within, it cannot happen from external influence like Afghanistan, Vietnam or Iraq, and when it does happen like Egypt it has to be done quickly and with authority, or people will just stand about not knowing what to do.

The people can raise any power to the ground, ANY, they just need the will and a plan to know what to do with it

[Dingu]

The public. The majority don’t put any actual thought into who they vote for.

[biggbn]

The politicians we deserve? The world grows rapidly to resemble a destitute man's straight to video version of Dr. Strangelove with an ever increasing cast of believably unbelievable characters who we suffer daily because of because we, the people, elected them. Good god, this is global self harming. I cannot look my fellow humans in the eye lest THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE. Then I realise, I have never voted. Ye Gods. I AM RESPONSIBLE. This further impacts on my eye contact agenda. I may become a hermetically sealed hypocritical oracle of doom. Or. I may continue my slapdash journey through life, as if shooting the rapids in a barrel before tipping end over end over my personal Niagara in an unplanned but unavoidable headlong rush into the hereafter. Yup. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Paddles, who needs them.....

I am unlikely to pursue the hermit option, jeez, I love people way to much for that, OR, I could not bear to be the only companion to my thoughts, delete as appropriate. Currently cultivating my beard in order to disguise myself lest I recognise mysef further as the root of the problem. Best being an incognito middle aged bearded apathetic revolutionary than a self recognisable object of narcissistic inactivity. I sometimes look at my bearded self in the mirror when I first get up (NOT a good idea as I'm sure many have noticed) and think I have woken up the wrong man, so job done. Going for full Hemingway/Marx look, unfortunately I think it is more Wayne and Harpo than Ernest and Karl. Yours in incognito outrage, Gbn

[sunbeam alpine]

My first thought was "It's America, so who cares?".

I am, however, minded of the absolute shower who are currently failing to govern the UK in any meaningful way, so agree with the thread title - we get what we deserve...

[BOR]

We let people who are thick as st vote, so guess what happens?

There needs to be an IQ test before you get to vote, otherwise you fk it up for the rest of us.

[Wills2]

BOR said:

We let people who are thick as st vote, so guess what happens?

There needs to be an IQ test before you get to vote, otherwise you fk it up for the rest of us.

Yes but we'd never have had the roaring success that is Brexit.

Ah, I see your point.

[LukeBrown66]

So you think carrying on regardless with no Brexit would have made anything amazingly better?

Agreed the way it was done and handled was poor, but that was because the people who did it sodded off, the person who was left was not a Brexiteer so did not fight for it and what was left was a crap deal for everyone.

I am doubtful things would be so staggeringly rosy just because of that.

the world is in a mess primarily because of a virus, other things have not helped, agreed, but in our case we are doing well in some ways and not others.

if you think politicians really do make that difference, fine, I would disagree.

Nobody speaks for me, I am a single guy with no kids living in crap housing as all of it is designed for people who will eventually have families, nobody speaks for me hence my view that none of them are worth voting for, yes that is selfish, but I am not hurting anyone with that view so why not!

[rodericb]

BOR said:

We let people who are thick as st vote, so guess what happens?

There needs to be an IQ test before you get to vote, otherwise you fk it up for the rest of us.

Indeed. In the UK, older people are more likely to vote and more educated are more likely to vote, however younger people who are highly educated are less likely to vote. If you're representative of what I imagine the PH demographic is (older, educated) it's YOU who shouldn't be voting. If you fall into that group of young and highly educated then you can blame yourself for not voting

https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/57531/1/democraticaudit....

Edited by rodericb on Monday 23 January 05:49

[oyster]

I’m not sure you’ve got your demographics quite right.

I’d classify PHers (in the main) as smart rather than educated.

[JuanCarlosFandango]

Not sure about IQ as the deciding factor. I'd rather see the principle of no taxation without representation extended in the other direction to say no representation without a meaningful tax contribution.

Mind female suffrage has a bit to answer for too.

[deckster]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Not sure about IQ as the deciding factor. I'd rather see the principle of no taxation without representation extended in the other direction to say no representation without a meaningful tax contribution.

Mind female suffrage has a bit to answer for too.

So people can only vote if they're rich and preferably male?

Right. Gotcha.

[JuanCarlosFandango]

deckster said:

So people can only vote if they're rich and preferably male?

Right. Gotcha.

Allowing people to spend money they haven't earned or paid into seems like a bad idea.

For female suffrage I think it's more that the business of government was set up for more traditionally male concerns like defence, law and order and a stable currency. As countries extend the franchise to women they inevitably focus on healthcare and so forth and and find it hard to say no to spending money.

[Rivenink]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Not sure about IQ as the deciding factor. I'd rather see the principle of no taxation without representation extended in the other direction to say no representation without a meaningful tax contribution.

Mind female suffrage has a bit to answer for too.

Poe, is that you?