Conspiracists and Skeptics: (in your opinion) What is Wrong with the World Today?

AluminumTheory

Senior Member.
Last month we discovered that according to the Political Compass that we are more alike than we are different as we have similar views in regards to what the government should be doing. Perhaps as a way to get to understand each other's opinions and perspective I figured that we could share our concerns amongst each other. This may even become useful in our efforts to develop a Conspiracy Compass.

I'm nobody here and I don't make the rules, but I want to lay out some suggestions to keep some kind of organization and coherency for future readers.


1. Avoid debating.
We are going hear some strong opinions voiced here, and so to avoid devolving this thread into a bashing contest I ask that we refrain from challenging another's views. If you want more details on someone's view, then politely ask that person to clarify.

2. Stick to the main issues.
So this thread doesn't become a bazillion pages long, let's try to keep our lists of problems and solutions down to about 3 or so (each).

3. Detail your problems and solutions as much as possible.
Don't just repeat bumper sticker slogans or vague statements like "bring back liberty". Explain what you want to see happen and what you think is the best way to make it so.

4. Try to be polite as possible.
Again to avoid rambling, try to express your views without sounding too condescending, or mean spirited etc.
 
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Lobbying/Conflicts of Interest/Money in Politics:

It's not much of a secret to anyone who pays attention to political affairs. Far too many of our elected officials are representing their corporate donors more so than they represent the people who voted for them. It's to the point that it is virtually impossible for even the most well meaning individual to raise enough money without corporate donations because funds are simply not attainable though private donations alone. This in turn forces politicians to do the bidding of multi-national corporations and their lobbyists because it is the only way to keep their office. This creates massive conflicts of interests as the best interests of the public is usually not the best interests of big money.

Gerrymandering:


Another huge problem is that politicians have devised a way to artificially shift the balance of power in their favor. This is something that both parties are guilty of. Redrawing districts to ensure a one sided majority means that the incumbent is not in danger of losing his seat to the opposing party, rather a more extreme individual from the same party. This of course creates the obstructionism that we see in our congress today. This makes compromising dangerous because the national opinion is irrelevant if the voters in that person's congressional district disagree. I think this is why congressional approval is at an all time low and this is why there is such great disparity between public opinion and the actions of those who they vote for.


Uneducated/Uninformed/Misinformed Public:

I feel that there is a sense of irony that we live in the information age, yet we are probably the least informed generation of adults. I encounter alot of people who are absolutely clueless in regards to public affairs. High School graduates who don't know who the vice president is, nor anything about the constitution or history. And even more disturbing are people who are proud of their ignorance. I remember a friend of mine who didn't know who Niel Armstrong was when he passed away. And to make matters worse, we have a media who are largely complacent about real issues and seem to focus more on divisive issues to drive up ratings. The Zimmerman Trial was about stand your ground before it was about race, but you can't have an intelligent discussion in sound bytes so we're going to talk about racism instead.
Alternative media is just as bad in it's own way because they're in the business of telling people what they want to hear. Some people want to hear that climate change is B.S. so they find a news source that tells them just that. The business of journalism should be to report the facts regardless of what people really want to hear. I find it often exceedingly difficult to get to the bottom of any subject in an endless sea of disinformation. It is most definitely a chore to stay informed and it really should not be that way.




The only solution that I can come up with is to encourage activism and inform people as truthfully as you possibly can. If people are informed and involved, they would pay more attention to what our elected officials are doing and vote honest people in to make a difference. Obama has taught me that change is not coming from the top because it can only start at the bottom. Along with gerrymandering, another common problem is that alot of incumbents in local elections go unopposed, and hence not much to keep them in check. You can have a much greater effect in your community by voting for the right people and making sure that they are held accountable for their actions. If we were more active in deciding our local elections, we just might have better choices when it comes to the national elections.
We could also overturn citizens united and implement regulations at the state level to ensure districts are being represented by location and prohibit gerrymandering.
 
Oh I thought it was a debunkers versus sceptics things at first.


imo - Hiding information, actions and abuses in the name of national security. Secrecy.
That is the biggest threat to democracy.
And the lack of accountability for anyone in power.
Did anyone in the administration face any legal ramifications for lying about the evidence of Iraq's WMD, or the bombing of Cambodia? Nixon got 'forgiven' for Watergate. Bush and Rumsfeld and Cheney face no consequences for their dubious actions.


The CIA, FBI, or any government entity can basically act in contempt of the people and simply classify or destroy evidence of it's own evil even when directly ordered to account for it's own actions by members of congress.* The head of the NSA has been proven a liar - why isn't he facing charges? Why do people continue to get away things under the guise of national security? It's the biggest ugliest obvious hypocrisy in anything that calls itself a democracy.
If massive abuses take place, they can hide that because it would be an issue of national security if people actually knew what evil was done in their name.
Why wasn't Helms held accountable when he ordered evidence of MKULTRA destroyed when ordered to release it by congress - why wasn't he tried for treason? It's acting with total impunity, and there can be no justice in such a state.
It's not democracy.
Sorry, just a rant. Obviously the solution would be if this sort of thing was not tolerated to any degree.

*correction - he pre-emptively ordered the documents destroyed in the wake of Watergate, a couple of years before the inquiry.
 
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