That didn't last long. I guess the problem wasn't Trump. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82JquNv0lqE
@michaelfolkson I fail to see the utility of this type of hyper-partisan reporting. It starts with the headline: "Portland Police Clash with Protesters as Joe Biden Signs First Executive Orders"
These two things have nothing to do with each other, other than "team blue has rioters, team blue has a president".
The situation in Portland is complicated. It can't be adequately described as something "caused by" Trump or "(not) fixed by Biden". Such rhetoric just adds fuel to the fire.
@sjors I've seen too much BS commentary heralding a new dawn now that the fascist has been deposed. I guess I'm fatigued with the stupidity.
@sjors Tbf I thought the honeymoon would be longer than a day
@michaelfolkson @sjors What honeymoon? I think most people are just thoroughly dissociated with the puppetshow. There is no honeymoon if you never supported Biden.
@michaelfolkson @sjors If I endorse you does that mean you have to endorse me?
@michaelfolkson @sjors What if you think the system is inherently and thoroughly corrupt, and there's no hope fixing things through it? You don't need to be a Communist to have that world view. At least "the right" had Trump as a symbol of anti-establishment politics, and he was clearly anti-BLM. What does "the left" have? Bernie Sanders was cucked two times in a row.
@kekcoin @michaelfolkson @sjors Worse, there's a fundamental structural problem: tech has greatly reduced demand for unskilled labor, and even many forms of skilled labor. Many of the people in antifa just don't have the aptitude at the right things to have a place in modern economies. The world doesn't need anywhere near as many fine arts grads as are being produced, and many fine arts grads will never learn in-demand STEM skills.
@kekcoin @michaelfolkson @sjors But there is an important difference: those workers much more often had the aptitude to retrain in other industries that were in demand. Or could be made in demand by bringing back outsourced jobs.
A modern day coal miner probably has the mechanical aptitude to work in a factory maintaining equipment. Bringing jobs back from China would do that. A liberal arts grad often doesn't.
@kekcoin @michaelfolkson @sjors Being a fine arts grads I've seen this first hand... Lots of people out there who are incapable of thinking logically at the level required to hold an in demand STEM job. Many of those people are more than capable of doing other types of work. But the world just doesn't have that much demand for artists.
@pete @kekcoin @michaelfolkson @sjors This is the fault of the universities. Improperly preparing young adults for the workplace, saddling them down with debt and indoctrinating them in certain beliefs. De-fund the universities and in 5 years the problem will start to dissipate.
@Clashicly @pete @michaelfolkson @sjors No, that's ass-backwards. Educate people without saddling them down with debt. The education system needs an overhaul, it doesn't need to be dismantled.
@Clashicly @kekcoin @michaelfolkson @sjors Better universities won't make this problem go away. Some people got useless degrees when they could have gotten useful training. But for many, the options were a useless degree, or none at all.
@pete @kekcoin @michaelfolkson @sjors College degrees are watered down now. It has no value unless coupled with a major that leads to jobs in specific sectors like technology or 3-4 summers of relevant internships in other disciplines. Poor parental guidance as well. Parents need to stop pushing kids into Lawyer and Doctor path and then let them backtrace into a worthless liberal arts major. Massive shortfall in skilled vocational labor. Parents should steer kids towards vocational again.
@theitaliandude @Clashicly @pete @kekcoin @michaelfolkson so many claims at the same time 🙂
Here's one data point I'd be curious about: how many "antifa" aligned rioters are there? It's not a single group, but perhaps one can tally the number of folks who self identify as something akin to Antifa AND are willing to commit violence against property OR people.
And then: how many of those are poor? How many without opportunities? I'd be reluctant to just assume an answer.
@pete @michaelfolkson @sjors Let's not pretend that's a partisan issue either - MAGA rhetoric was greatly about revitalizing obsolete industries and bringing back jobs that way.