docAvid

I mean, incorrect documentation is clearly bad, so...

No. I do not have a birth certificate, I lost it several years ago and haven't obtained a replacement. More importantly, this is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Voter fraud is almost entirely non-existent. As I recall, the only instances of voter fraud that were uncovered in the massive amount of litigation after the 2020 election, were a tiny number of Trump voters, encouraged by his lies about how easy it was, and found out by his insincere attempts to prove Democrats were doing it. The risk of imprisonment is sky high, the payoff of one vote is rock bottom. But you know what does actually influence elections? Voter suppression. Trump wasn't legitimately elected. It's very clear from the statistics that if everybody who had a legal right to vote, had been able to vote, and have their vote counted, he would have lost, by a lot. And this measure is just designed to suppress more votes.

I don't think it's clear, given the known massive voter suppression, and the likelihood of machine tampering, that we actually did elect him, but you're still right. The people have to hold him to account, because nobody else will.

So the people who made the Democrats suck are mad that the Democrats suck. Cool.

Private ownership of capital altogether, but yeah.

Facebook is capitalist spyware and a social engineering tool. You have to remember that capitalism is not a normal power relationship, even though they have been working tirelessly to make the world believe they are -- capitalism is at the bleeding edge of techno-fascist authoritarianism.

OK you get the idea, and I'm not trying to defend China, but they're just one of many powers - most private - that are using tools like this. I'd favor legislation to break them all up, to say any social network over a certain size has to federate, to say no one company or government can own more than one social network, lots of possibilities I would favor, but cherry-picking TikTok seems like Congress is working for Zuck. Taking out one of the big players just consolidates the incredibly dangerous power of the others.

And truthfully, in my time scrolling TikTok, I've generally found the content to be a lot less manipulative, more liberal, and more democratic-leaning than on capitalist social networks, so if the CCP is actively using it for social engineering, they're doing a terrible job of it.

My only quibble is that I think the top marginal rate should go back at least to the 94% it was in 1944, not just 70%. In fact, I'm not sure there is any reason the top marginal rate shouldn't just be permanently set to 100%, with the only variable being how high that margin is.

Where's your degree from, Hillsdale? I can't imagine it would be any serious school.

• If you had a legitimate degree, you probably would be able to make a coherent argument, instead of announcing that you have a degree, like it's a magic talisman, to always make you right.
• If you had a legitimate degree, you would probably know that there are people with more education than yourself who are socialists, and not believe that having a degree in economics necessarily makes one pro-capitalist.
• If you had a legitimate degree, you would almost certainly have had at least one or two socialist professors on your way to that degree.
• If you had a legitimate degree, you probably would have learned more intellectual discipline than to call anybody who doesn't agree with private capital a "tankie".
• If you had a legitimate degree, you probably wouldn't be so unwise as to assume you were the only one. This thinking shows a really sheltered life, like somebody who has never even been to a university, or encountered new ideas. It connects back to the "magic talisman" view I mentioned above.

Sure, language is complex, and it isn't broadly wrong to refer to the US as a "capitalist country", as capitalism is certainly the dominant economic power, here, but that's intentionally dodging the point. You were the one speaking in absolutes, saying "But socialism is a stupid inefficient system, so it's a non starter." That statement alone indicates a complete lack of understanding of what socialism is, an understanding rooted in absolute systems, which in turn heavily implies a lack of understanding of what capitalism is. What do you think these words actually mean? Come on, show me what that Hillsdale degree was worth.

Undecided voters aren't influenced by anything as far out as the primaries. There are, however, a large block of angry voters who are tired of holding their noses in the general election, who will absolutely be influenced, badly, by people telling them that now they aren't even allowed to vote their conscience in the primary.

Did you know that the US does not have a capitalist system? In fact, it's silly to think of "capitalism" and "socialism" as systems at all. They aren't. They are broad systemic feature sets. You've probably heard the phrase "mixed economy". That's actually what nearly every nation has, a mixed economy, meaning that we have socialist, as well as capitalist, elements. In fact, without socialist elements, the capitalist elements of our economy would have self-destructed a long time ago. You clearly have no idea what capitalism or socialism even are. That's fine, most people don't, it's pretty much the norm, but now that it's been pointed out to you, you have a choice: learn, and grow, or be a stubborn fool. Hopefully you choose well.

It's also just a ridiculous proposition. So much media tells us this is possible, but no, it's not, not even if you find a virgin jungle. Professional survivalists who train and study for it still wouldn't be able to actually live a full life - at some point you're vulture food without society. We're cooperative, tribal animals. That's our strength, and we've built economic systems designed to take that strength from us.

Capitalism depends on the threat of homelessness to function. UBI can definitely ameliorate the problems of capitalism, but capitalists will constantly fight it. UBI is also a great idea within socialist economies, where there would be no force against it. We should be doing both - eliminate capitalism and provide UBI.