Originally Posted by The Batlord

Well electing Bernie would have been a step in the right direction. Medicare 4 all and increased taxes on the wealthy should have been a no brainer for non-stupid people.

Originally Posted by Psy-Fi

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

Of course I look at US politics from a rather ill-informed distance; I haven't experienced its consequences on a daily basis my entire life. So Batlord is entitled to some passion on the subject, though I was surprised at how vociferously he attacked an idea that I didn't think was particularly controversial: that the future is as yet unwritten, and could bring with it change for the better. Not "will bring", which would be over-optimistic, but "could bring", allowing for a possibility that Batlord seems determined to deny in advance.

There may be many terrible things in store for the US; evictions, unemployment, hunger are all set to rise. But I will stand by what I said: when the going gets tough, that can often be a catalyst for change for the better. To my mind, the recent election result could be read as an example of that, with its unprecedented voter turnout, an unprecedented popular-vote majority for Dems, first female black VP, etc.

As for Batlord's analysis of the legislature, I felt myself out of my depth on that, though I can see that if the GOP retains the Senate, there's going to be a lot of unproductive deadlock. But again, those Georgia run-offs haven't been decided yet. Depending on the results on Jan 5, either Batlord should prepare for a tsunami of unrestrained optimism from me, or I will steel myself for a corrosive "told you so" post from him. But that is also one of my points; that the future could go either way.