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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 25, 2024

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I get it now, and sorry for missing your point initially - my big lesson from interacting on this forum is that I tend to respond to the thing I know how to talk about, instead of the thing actually under discussion. Working on it.

Maybe the political parties could have a more productive dialogue with different candidates - I don't think any campaign with Trump in the mix can host meaningful debates, especially after the disastrous 2016 Republican primaries; and I'm less than confident that Biden is still firing on all cylinders. There's surely still some debate left in the downballot races, but between gerrymandering and party infighting, this year is less about debating issues and more about who should even get to speak.

I've worried for a while that the private sector has been absorbing competence on both sides of the aisle, ever since tech took off in the late 80s and early 90s. I think the kind of people you'd want to see in political contests, who'd be willing and able to actively engage in debates about relevant current issues, are pursuing more lucrative and less risky careers making targeted advertising platforms or whatever. So even if we had different candidates today, I'm doubtful we'd get quality debates.

Do you think there's an opportunity for productive debate with the state of US politics in 2024? With Trump v Biden? Someone else (who?)? Any downballot races you could point to as examples of what you want?

Do you think there's an opportunity for productive debate with the state of US politics in 2024? With Trump v Biden? Someone else (who?)? Any downballot races you could point to as examples of what you want?

a productive debate, probably not. FWIW I thought Biden's state of the Union address was pretty good. He got a big block of time to speak, uninterrupted, with lots of eyes on him. He seemed very articulate and well-prepared. He just didn't really say anything of substance.

I thought the recent election in Argentina was interesting. I don't speak Spanish so I don't exactly know what was said, but it seemed like the new president, Javier Milei, was able to speak very frankly about how their country was facing serious problems and needed a massive change in their economic system in order to fix it. And it's not just lip service, he's pushed austerity and deregulation in a big way.