Unemployment’s at 3.5%.
When it’s in the double digits, you’ll see more of it.
The part that says he got a settlement from the NFL.
First you said he had lost his career, now you say he is a successful businessman.
The line of reasoning seems to be that we should expect more political violence because Kaepernick lost his career and is successful and got a setttlement from the NFL and a bunch of awards. That doesn’t make sense. What makes sense is what I said - this is not a serious reason to expect political violence.
:shrugs:
Maybe it was the Illuminati, and we should blame them for the political violence we don’t see.
Conspiracy theories don’t need evidence and can’t be debated. They’re faith-based.
We can’t determine who is to blame for the killings, because witnesses won’t come forward. One would think that if Black Lives Matter, witnesses would be interested in solving the murder of black lives. But they don’t seem to be. No protests, no demands for justice. Go figure.
I hear complaints about the blue wall of silence when it comes to the police, and it is always seen as a bad thing. Which it is, when an injustice has been committed. The murder of these protesters seems also to me to be unjust. The wall of silence from witnesses is, IMO, also a bad thing.
Actually two metrics, but let’s not quibble.
If you don’t think unemployment and poverty say anything about quality of life, well, good luck with that.
Regards,
Shodan
I suspect that an ageing population has something to do with it. Possibly falling testosterone levels also as well as lower blood lead levels. All these would help explain in particular why there is less political violence than 50 years ago. More specifically there is no issue like Vietnam where young men were forced to fight in a war they didn’t want.
…cite that they settled because “they don’t want to hire somebody who causes viewership to drop”?
It is entirely possible to both loose your career and be a successful businessman. He lost his career. That is undeniable.
That isn’t what I said.
Of course it doesn’t.
Can you remember the reason why Kaepernick took a knee? Does the phrase “Black Lives Matter” mean anything to you?
Or maybe its the systematic oppression of black people in America.
There is no conspiracy theory.
Blaming black people. Again. Go figure. Exactly as I predicted.
Who is it do you think has kept these deaths in the public consciousness? It isn’t the police. The murders happened in 2014 and 2016. We know about these deaths and we are don’t forget about these deaths because of black activism. If you have missed the “demands for justice” then you really haven’t been paying attention to the story.
What witnesses?
Were there actually witnesses? Doesn’t the conclusion “there is a wall of silence” come from an assumption with no evidence?
You would agree with me that the poverty trend started under President Obama, and are a result of the policies introduced by his administration?
And here’s a metric for you: 85% of black voters back any 2020 Democrat over Trump. Your metrics mean jack-shit to the black community. I’ll trust them over you on their assessment of whether or not Trump has made their lives better.
That’s already been cited. Viewership dropped because of the protests he started, nobody hired him, the NFL settled.
OK, let’s play that game. Cite that the people involved killed themselves, overdosed, and got murdered, because of “the systematic oppression of black people in America”. Especially the Palestinian.
Demands for justice coupled with a refusal to actually cooperate with the police and solve the murders aren’t demands that can be taken seriously.
No, it doesn’t.
Gee - black voters in the US are heavily Democratic in 2019 just like they have been for the last forty years. Stop the presses.
Regards,
Shodan
…no it hasn’t.
Are you claiming the NFL colluded to keep Kaepernick out of the game because “viewership dropped”? Because the NFL vehemently denied that. If they were correct in your opinion to do so, then why did they settle?
Here are 16. Let me know if you need any more.
Who isn’t cooperating with the police, the people who are demanding justice? The people who are demanding justice were all witnesses? I"m a witness?
Talk about conspiracy theories.
Then who are these witnesses that haven’t come forward? Why do you insist that a person that got shot and then set fire to in a car would be a crime that had to be witnessed?
Why do you think that is? Don’t you think that their lives have improved under Trump? Why is it do you think that they wouldn’t vote for the person who allegedly improved their “quality of life?” Maybe those metrics you posted don’t actually mean as much as you tried to imply that they did?
Not sure what the side discussion has to do with more or less political violence in the US, but:
One of the arguments I see often on this board is that many Republican voters, especially blue collar types, are ‘voting against their interests’. It’s a theme the runs though many discussions. Generally, the reason for this is that, while it might be true that the other political side does give them more benefits in some vertical category or categories, they have a single issue or cluster of issues that negates that, in their mind, which has them voting for the party they vote for despite this.
So, it’s very possible that what Shodan said is true (i.e. standards of living have improved for minorities, and unemployment has gone down to historic low points) and either the people in question don’t couple that with the Republicans (i.e. they don’t feel that it was because of Trump and the Republicans that it happened…which, frankly, if it is even true I’d go with) or there are other issues that they care about more and cause them to vote for Democrats over Republicans, despite this.
The choice is simple:
- Side with the racists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and all around bigoted assholes who dislike, mistrust and/or hate you and yours for reasons you don’t fully understand.
OR - The Democrats
The question isn’t why 85% of black folks vote Democrat, it’s what the fuck is wrong with the other 15%?
Ignorance and apathy… Both parties are right-winged, and they both promise things that can’t be delivered. You can’t legislate kindness and understanding, so they’ll keep promising it.
Going back to the thread question, which I see it as being why not more organized armed political violence in the US today(*) — most of the RW/Identity would-be “patriot fighters” I read or hear from tend to frame their willingness to take up arms along the lines of the “SHTF” event when they can’t count on the authorities to keep order, or when the authorities “turn tyrannical” (= come for THEIR guns). Not about actively going out to seek and remove undesirables. And of course they are not actually organized.
Otherwise as mentioned, both on left and right most are as of now aware that anyone taking the initiative on a serious uprising would be taken down quickly, and the majority does not see as of now the situation demanding violence (and has a lot to lose in an upheaval).
(* let’s not forget the old-school Klan, our oldest domestic terrorist group, and the Weathermen, Macheteros/FALN, Omega-7, etc. in the not too distant past)
…its not a position that I hold. Its not a theme that runs through any discussion that I have had here. Is that a position that you hold?
Do you believe that black voters are ‘voting against their interests’ when they don’t vote for Trump?
The poverty metric wasn’t a measure of “standard of living”. Its a measure of whether or not a “family’s total income is less than the family’s threshold”. The distinction is important. You can both “have a job” and “technically not be below the poverty line” and your life could still be completely and utterly shite.
If their lives are shite right now then they would associate that with Trump & Co.
If you accept that black people have agency and that they wouldn’t “vote against their own interests” then this would be the obvious answer.
It’s not exactly isolated kooks though. There are online communities that influence these guys, and it’s gone international (such as the Christchurch killer in NZ). They put manifestos online that echo what they read from the Norway killer and Dylan Roof. I think the internet has de-isolated some of these people, and they aid and comfort from boards like 8chan and 4chan.
In terms of just the US, it seems like a surge recently: There was Charlottesville. There was the left-wing Shooter at the Republican baseball practice. There was the racist in El Paso, and some others similar to him. There was the guy in Florida who tried to send bombs to Democrats that he hated. There was the Coast Guard guy in Maryland who was preparing to do the same thing.
Then, we have Antifa vs The Proud Boys. I don’t think anyone is getting killed in these skirmishes, but lots of intimidation and fists being thrown.
Maybe it’s reported on more than the old days. But it seems like there has been a surge in political violence in the US since Trump joined the political scene.
The left has their share of violent pieces of shit. I agree. But it seems like the right (lately) has more of them. And when a right-winger goes crazy, seems more likely to result in death.
Violence occurs when there is a grievance and when the perpetrators of violence believe that there’s no political means of resolving it.
Right wing violence is usually fueled by racism and the belief that the country is becoming less defined by the traditional WASP standards. Even when the economy is statistically stable, the perceived loss of power and status among white males relative to everyone else leads to violent outcomes.
You would see more left wing violence if plutocracy leads to outcomes so disparate that they see a future of endless corruption and inequality.
Maybe because people get it off their chest posting here in the Straight Dope? Just kidding.
It is not just a question of violent political protest, but of protest in general. And there is surprisingly little of it, especially when compared to the 1960s. What’s up, it’s now a land of wimps? I dunno. Especially because I don’t live there.
But one prerequisite for political unrest is starvation, or something close to it. The middle class being sucked dry is not quite in the same league, losing a house is not quite the same as starving on the streets. The welfare system prevents impoverishment from becoming unbearable, but only just. Things may yet change.
And there was no Internet in the Sixties, no mobile phones. So how did people spread their ideas and arrange to meet up for demos? And why is there so little actual protest these days? It’s all virtual.
It may have been mentioned before, but it bears mentioning that an ever-increasing amount of us (Americans) are just afraid. Afraid to get involved, afraid to lose their job, afraid to stand up and say something or do something (instead feeling like you’re always doing the right thing by being a spectator calling 911),afraid to be inconvenienced (and along with this, also to be seen as FAT out in public, take your shirt off, etc, afraid to answer the door, to go outside, afraid, afraid, afraid.
This is not me. But it feels like I know and am friends with more and more of these hyper internet-connected, fat, amazing people that are shut-ins today than…well, ever.
That’s just one thing. Ultimately, we’re fucking lazy and spoiled by conveniences, don’t want to be inconvenienced, assume someone else will do something and then we’ll all be bystanders at our nation’s pyre. That IS me.