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In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.

Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

Karxrida from Eureka, the Forbidden Land Since: May, 2012 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#338226: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:39:01 AM

Overhead my dad call Biden a corrupt puppet.

Projecting much?

Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#338227: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:40:55 AM

Actually I think I may have been conflating STV with Instant Runoff voting

Edited by Xopher001 on Nov 8th 2020 at 9:43:07 PM

Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#338228: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:42:54 AM

A "public option" is a way to transition from one system to the other that preserves the essential concept of choice. People will see a menu of health insurance options that includes a public plan that should end up being substantially cheaper. Then if someone wants to stand on ideology or pride and intentionally pick a more expensive plan with less benefits, they can do so.

Also, people who want better plans than Medicare allows (Medicare as-is doesn't provide a lot of frills - I'm on it, so I know) can pay for them.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#338229: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:43:15 AM

Canada uses the exact same electoral system as the US from a mechanics of voting perspective. You just need less money, have more coherent parties and have less influence of money generally. Same with the U.K.

I think I may have been conflating STV with Instant Runoff voting

If you have single representstive districts they’re the same thing. The distinction only kicks in if you’re using multi member districts.

Edited by Silasw on Nov 8th 2020 at 7:44:31 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#338230: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:45:02 AM

[up][up]In Europe every tax-paying resident is guaranteed public healthcare, but a lot of people also opt-in to buy insurance, since it tends to cover a little bit more

[up]Right, but some countries have a system where you vote for a Party and their platform, not a candidate. And seats are assigned to parties roughly proportional to their constituencies.

Edited by Xopher001 on Nov 8th 2020 at 9:47:43 PM

WillKeaton from Alberta, Canada Since: Jun, 2010
#338231: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:46:55 AM

Canada has 338 ridings, and in each riding the person with the most votes wins that riding and goes to the House of Commons, which is basically our House of Representatives. Second place gets nothing. Now, it is often said that we vote based on the party the candidate is part of, instead of voting based on that person's own merits.

Edited by WillKeaton on Nov 8th 2020 at 12:47:37 PM

nightwyrm_zero Since: Apr, 2010
#338232: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:53:14 AM

[up]Of course we do. The party discipline in Canada is much more strict. Individual M Ps (members of parliament) almost never vote against their party. There is almost no difference between voting for the MP and voting for the party/party leader. I don't even know the name of my riding's MP.

That being said, FPTP also creates problems for us since we have ~3 left parties. Vote splitting between the Libs, NDP and Greens are how we can have Con governments. If the left is united, we'd never have a Con government again.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#338233: Nov 8th 2020 at 11:56:12 AM

Yeah I’m a brit and I technically have private health insurance. Because my parents find it useful to have it to cover their dentist appointments and opticians appointments and it’s cheep enough that including me on it doesn’t cost them anything measurable

It doesn’t provide much, slightly under £100 a year for dental, slightly under £100 a year for optical, £150 a year for diagnose and £50 a year for a mix of other stuff. Costs about £150 a year and covers everything I need.

[up] The big thing is that you can be expelled from a party in Canada, you can’t in the US.

Edited by Silasw on Nov 8th 2020 at 7:57:03 PM

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Falrinn Since: Dec, 2014
#338234: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:01:23 PM

Single member districts aren't so bad if the lines are drawn by an explicitly non-partisan processes.

While obviously any organization is made up of people and people are never perfectly nonpartisan, simply having an office with an explicit obligation to appear nonpartisan, as I understand Canada does, goes a long way in cutting out the worst offenses.

In the US districts are drawn by the state governments who are often allowed to openly redistrict after a census for partisan advantage. This isn't true in every state as some do the right thing and have independent commissions (or allow the state courts to throw out excessively partisan maps), but it's true in enough states to really screw up representation.

Edited by Falrinn on Nov 8th 2020 at 12:04:41 PM

Makir Since: Feb, 2017
#338235: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:24:45 PM

By the way, about the whole "Bernie was too radical for the moderate Democrats!" I just have one thing to say: I am convinced McCarthyism is a major reason why the Far-Right has such staying power within America.

Xopher001 Since: Jul, 2012
#338236: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:30:59 PM

I've heard Biden called a radical several times

Draghinazzo (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
#338237: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:32:38 PM

The fact that a folksy and mild-mannered man old centrist man like Biden can be pegged as a radical socialist is a joke.

ScubaWolf from South Carolina Since: Feb, 2020
#338238: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:33:26 PM

I've always hated the idea that Bernie was "radical". Is it really so insane to want our country to take ideas to help people that work from other countries and implement them?

"In a move surprising absolutely no one"
KarkatTheDalek Not as angry as the name would suggest. from Somwhere in Time/Space Since: Mar, 2012 Relationship Status: You're a beautiful woman, probably
Not as angry as the name would suggest.
#338239: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:40:55 PM

I mean, I’d consider him radical in the sense that his idea are decidedly against the status quo - in that sense, being radical can be either good or bad.

Of course, Bernie’s popularity means that a lot of his ideas are finding mainstream acceptance, even if they have yet to be implemented.

Edited by KarkatTheDalek on Nov 8th 2020 at 3:41:07 PM

Oh God! Natural light!
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#338240: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:44:08 PM

They have also called Obama a Marxist and other nonsense.

These people are so far-right, everything left of Reagan is a Communist to them.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338241: Nov 8th 2020 at 12:44:50 PM

By the way, about the whole "Bernie was too radical for the moderate Democrats!" I just have one thing to say: I am convinced Mc Carthyism is a major reason why the Far-Right has such staying power within America.

McCarthy is basically Trump 1.0. He was a obnoxious memorable blowhard and liar as well as Stolen Valor scumbag who gets all the attention. It covers up that the war on socialism was waged by the HUAC [including Richard Nixon] and J. Edgar Hoover who used the FBI as his own personal Secret Police.

And then people pretend communism WASN'T actually the ideaology of multiple authoritarian dictatorship engaged in aggressive warfare and expansionism.

But yes, the GOP just lies about Bernie and wage a war on labor rights.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Nov 8th 2020 at 12:45:20 PM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Makir Since: Feb, 2017
#338242: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:15:10 PM

The Cold War was a messy staredown contest by two Imperialist superpowers who used their own ideology (""""Democracy""""" for America, and """"Communism"""" for the USSR) to justify their imperialism. I don't think even the staunchiest Leftist would defend the USSR in that scenario, unless they're just a Tankie.

Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#338243: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:17:48 PM

[up] You'd be surprised how many of these are actually still around.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#338244: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:20:45 PM

Oh, you would be shocked how many self-identified anarchists with a genuine belief in leftist ideals I've seen still come up with excuses for the Soviets. Or Mao even.

At least a few anarcho-communist friends of mutuals who wave around the black-and-red banners have proclaimed Xi Jinping the firebrand savior of the CCP who would scour it free of its neoliberal taint and return it to true leftism, at least until the Uyghur situation made them quiet down if not fully recant their support for him.

Loureed45 from The Green Chapel Since: Feb, 2017
#338245: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:21:25 PM
Thumped: This post was thumped by moderation to preserve the dignity of the author.
One angry houseplant
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#338246: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:22:35 PM

[up]

Nice sarcasm.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Loureed45 from The Green Chapel Since: Feb, 2017
#338248: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:25:26 PM

nuclear takes baby cool

One angry houseplant
fredhot16 Don't want to leave but cannot pretend from Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Too sexy for my shirt
Don't want to leave but cannot pretend
#338249: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:36:32 PM

Oh, boy.

Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.
SpookyMask Since: Jan, 2011
#338250: Nov 8th 2020 at 1:39:31 PM

I have no clue what they said that got thumped, but if they made account to troll post(assuming you are right about that being first post they made since I'm too lazy to check), then Tequila Sunset is really appropriate reference for that <_<


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