Re:Sen. Manchin demands complete US ban on Bitcoin
by jerf on Thursday February 27, 2014 @08:27AM
(#7311963)
"However, this is not totally in sync with how those sides are presented to the public, or the international public in any case."
The difference is that I look to actions, not words. There's no evidence based on actions that US liberals have a problem with strong police powers; they talk about how bad it is, but monotonically increase the powers, then use them. Conservatives in the US may occasionally grumble about gay people, but they take no action whatsoever to do anything about it, except in very small jurisdictions. The press plays these issues up because it helps the narrative, but they are not a significant force. There is absolutely 0 chance of any sort of "anti-gay" legislation passing through any element of our government right now, and this will most certainly include whoever is elected in a few years.
Since US liberalism controls the US media, and broadly speaking fairly leftist elements control the international media as well, you do not tend to get a straight view of what conservatives are and are up to. Mind you, I'm not saying you're going to like them if you really knew, but it's a very distorted view that you get. In particular, the media carefully seals away anything like a reasonable argument for their positions, and makes sure to play up only dumb ones. For that matter, it is true that it is also a distorted view of US liberalism that you get; you get a lot of the high rhetoric reported, but good luck hearing about their actual actions. (Seriously; watch the news. How much of it is dedicated to politicians just spewing their lines, and how much of it is dedicated to an in-depth report of what's actually happening in the field where the policies are being implemented? You may be shocked.)
Anyhow, yes, I am reporter on the field with my own slant, but one advantage of not really fitting onto the left/right Republican/Democrat axis is that I get a bit of a clearer view from not having a strong allegiance to either side and psychologically needing to defend "my team". US "Liberalism" and "Conservatism" have shifted a lot from the core meaning of the term. (Indeed, there's a thing called a "Classical Liberal", if you look it up, and that puts you firmly on the US Conservative side. Should have used that example earlier.)
The difference is that I look to actions, not words. There's no evidence based on actions that US liberals have a problem with strong police powers; they talk about how bad it is, but monotonically increase the powers, then use them. Conservatives in the US may occasionally grumble about gay people, but they take no action whatsoever to do anything about it, except in very small jurisdictions. The press plays these issues up because it helps the narrative, but they are not a significant force. There is absolutely 0 chance of any sort of "anti-gay" legislation passing through any element of our government right now, and this will most certainly include whoever is elected in a few years.
Since US liberalism controls the US media, and broadly speaking fairly leftist elements control the international media as well, you do not tend to get a straight view of what conservatives are and are up to. Mind you, I'm not saying you're going to like them if you really knew, but it's a very distorted view that you get. In particular, the media carefully seals away anything like a reasonable argument for their positions, and makes sure to play up only dumb ones. For that matter, it is true that it is also a distorted view of US liberalism that you get; you get a lot of the high rhetoric reported, but good luck hearing about their actual actions. (Seriously; watch the news. How much of it is dedicated to politicians just spewing their lines, and how much of it is dedicated to an in-depth report of what's actually happening in the field where the policies are being implemented? You may be shocked.)
Anyhow, yes, I am reporter on the field with my own slant, but one advantage of not really fitting onto the left/right Republican/Democrat axis is that I get a bit of a clearer view from not having a strong allegiance to either side and psychologically needing to defend "my team". US "Liberalism" and "Conservatism" have shifted a lot from the core meaning of the term. (Indeed, there's a thing called a "Classical Liberal", if you look it up, and that puts you firmly on the US Conservative side. Should have used that example earlier.)