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A comment on Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are?.

Re:Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are? by fre3k on Thursday December 21, 2017 @11:03AM (#15979762)
We do, but what are we gonna do about it? We don't really have any ability to effect these kinds of changes as a common man. Our opinions have literally 0 effect on the legislative process. Our country is bought and paid for by corporate interests. Multiple studies have shown that our opinions count for nothing, and that lobbyists control legislation and policy.

We have now descended into the hyper-atomization of the individual as a series of micro-collectives, for whom we must fight among ourselves against others with different series of collectives. We now care not for whether our lives are good, merely that we see the other having a bad time.

Mourn for us, and learn from us - do not follow in our footsteps.

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Re:Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are? by krapp on Thursday December 21, 2017 @11:06AM (#15979799)
>Multiple studies have shown that our opinions count for nothing, and that lobbyists control legislation and policy.

And yet Donald Trump was basically memed into office.

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Re:Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are? by fre3k on Thursday December 21, 2017 @11:07AM (#15979810)
And? Like 2/5 of the people that voted for him regret it because he isn't doing what they thought he would. He campaigned for the common man, and is now fucking him over hardcore.

I think this only provides evidence for my point.

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Re:Why Don’t Americans Understand How Poor Their Lives Are? by krapp on Thursday December 21, 2017 @11:31AM (#15980152)
Trump's election provides a counterexample to the claim that the opinions of voters count for nothing, otherwise we'd be looking at Hillary Clinton's second term or first after Mitt Romney.

Many of the promises Trump made were absurd, irrational and couldn't reasonably be delivered on, and Trump himself was the easiest candidate to read in recent American political history. Voters being unwilling to exercise their power judiciously isn't the same as them having no real power to exercise.

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