How can we stop the sliding into civil war?

[Truthseeker]

How to address conflict that feels like looming civil war?
On an individual level, I look for common ground with
my political & religious opposites. I convey the sense
that I & my ilk aren't threatening....& that we can even
be seen as reasonable. And I can see them as being
reasonable. Quell the fear & anger.

I have seen how you have defused situations here with humor. I appreciate that about you.

 

[Truthseeker]

I'm hoping for space aliens so we can have world unity, not simply on the state level.

At least that is in the right direction.

 

[Truthseeker]

One thing to watch out for is how state elections go. While I don't think there would be any outright secession, I imagine it's possible that one or more state governments could "go rogue," so to speak. There are already some signs of that happening, and state governments do wield a great deal of power, even if it may be eclipsed by federal power - but even that is not limitless.

In the video, she cited the example of the civil war in America. When Abraham Lincoln was elected that was the spark that started the whole thing. The Southern slave holders felt they were losing their power completely so they revolted.

 

[Truthseeker]

It's time for Republicans and Democrats to go out like the Whigs and Federalist parties from days gone by and establish a more centrist minded political party that can effectively compromise within the boundaries of the constitution and bill of rights. .

Do you really think that is possible? In this time of polarization?

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

How to address conflict that feels like looming civil war?
On an individual level, I look for common ground with
my political & religious opposites. I convey the sense
that I & my ilk aren't threatening....& that we can even
be seen as reasonable. And I can see them as being
reasonable. Quell the fear & anger.

But the fear and anger are exactly what a lot of agitators are trying to stir up. Find an enemy that we can all be frightened of together. These days, that appears to be the tiny numbers of people who aren't quite comfortable with their assigned gender, or who prefer to love others of the wrong gender. I mean, is that terrifying or what?

 

[Truthseeker]

Meanwhile, the liberal democracies of the west slip into post-capitalist feudal oligarchy. I don't generally like posting videos to make a point, but this one is fairly short...

It's true that the wealth gap has been growing over the pandemic, in my opinion. This makes the situation more unstable worldwide, not just in the US where I live, in my opinion. Also the climate change conference in Glasgow was disappointing in it's outcome, though not surprising.

I hope to avoid being partisan in the sense of partisan politics.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Do you really think that is possible? In this time of polarization?

Not really imo. I think the system is intentionally well rigged now where any third party is essentially barred by its design.


Why don't third parties succeed in US? Maybe it’s the law.

It may really take a civil war in order to unseat such an entrenched setup if it keeps going in the direction as a two party tyranny.

 

[Revoltingest]

But the fear and anger are exactly what a lot of agitators are trying to stir up. Find an enemy that we can all be frightened of together. These days, that appears to be the tiny numbers of people who aren't quite comfortable with their assigned gender, or who prefer to love others of the wrong gender. I mean, is that terrifying or what?

I like being a peaceful & mirthful influence.
Sometimes it seems to work.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I never heard of Thomas Sewoll before. Like Clarence Thomas he is a black conservative.

They are only aligned on a few conservative economic issues and don't move in the same circles or share many opinions necessarily. I do not know what Thomas Sowell's opinion is about the pro life pro choice controversy, but it may not be the same as Judge Thomas'. Were their occupations reversed, Thomas Sowell would probably vote *very* differently than Judge Thomas in many legal areas and possibly on pro choice questions or 2nd amendment questions, and Judge Thomas would have some *very* different opinions (if he were a Stanford professor) about History, Economics and Social Theory. I have never heard Thomas Sowell's opinions about many of the issues that the Judge has given opinions on. The judge is considered a constitutionalist -- which is someone who feels that the US Constitution should be interpreted according to the meaning it originally had even though the language and culture have changed, so he believes that any change must be made through amendments and not by court decisions. This has broad implications in politics but not in historical lectures. I don't know that Thomas Sowell has ever given an opinion about that. Maybe he has.

It is also interesting he wrote "The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late". This book investigates the phenomenon of late-talking children, frequently misdiagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. I was aware that Einstein talked late in his childhood. So did I. The reason I find this interesting is that I was diagnosed with autism late in my life, and my son is autistic and never has talked. The rest I will not talk about because I don't want to be contentious. I hadn't heard of Jordan Peterson before either. I looked him up, too. It is alarming to me that he denies climate change.

I don't know whether he (Peterson) denies climate change or what, but its not his area of expertise anyway. His strength is in encouraging personal responsibility. He's not really a conservative from the point of view of an American. He's more old school liberal.

Another very famous youtube psychologist is Dr. Todd Grande who does interesting analysis of various famous people. He will do a brief history of a subject and discuss them on youtube. I haven't seen his critique of Jordan Peterson, but he critiques just about everyone. For example he has a video pondering whether Michael Jackson is likely guilty or not based upon psychological factors.

 

[Truthseeker]

They are only aligned on a few conservative economic issues and don't move in the same circles or share many opinions necessarily. I do not know what Thomas Sowell's opinion is about the pro life pro choice controversy, but it may not be the same as Judge Thomas'. Were their occupations reversed, Thomas Sowell would probably vote *very* differently than Judge Thomas in many legal areas and possibly on pro choice questions or 2nd amendment questions, and Judge Thomas would have some *very* different opinions (if he were a Stanford professor) about History, Economics and Social Theory. I have never heard Thomas Sowell's opinions about many of the issues that the Judge has given opinions on. The judge is considered a constitutionalist -- which is someone who feels that the US Constitution should be interpreted according to the meaning it originally had even though the language and culture have changed, so he believes that any change must be made through amendments and not by court decisions. This has broad implications in politics but not in historical lectures. I don't know that Thomas Sowell has ever given an opinion about that. Maybe he has.

Excuse for this excursion into irrelevance to this discussion. I profess a lot ignorance about this. I only know what I read about Thomas Sowell on Wikipedia, and of that I skimmed. I don't approve of his stance on the minimum wage. In effect it is zero when you have a minimum wage, according to him. He claims a minimum wage disproportionally affect racial or ethnic groups in the negative. He sounds like a tool of the rich to me, at least as presented in Wikipedia. The following makes him look like a hypocrite among other things:

Thomas Sowell - Wikipedia

During the Republican primary of the 2016 presidential election, Sowell criticized Donald Trump, questioning whether Trump had "any principles at all, other than promoting Donald Trump?"[57] Two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Sowell urged voters to vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton. In 2018, when asked on his thoughts of Trump's presidency, Sowell replied, "I think he's better than the previous president."[58]

In interviews in 2019, Sowell defended Trump against charges of racism.

The defending against racism is particularly bad, in my opinion.

I don't know whether he (Peterson) denies climate change or what, but its not his area of expertise anyway.

On Wikipedia, that's what it says. I trust Wikipedia, maybe you don't. If that's not his expertise, he has no business saying things like that. I also skimmed him on Wikipedia. Again excuse me for this excursion of irrelevance. When I see a person or other things mentioned I google them or it routinely.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Excuse for this excursion into irrelevance to this discussion. I profess a lot ignorance about this. I only know what I read about Thomas Sowell on Wikipedia, and of that I skimmed. I don't approve of his stance on the minimum wage. In effect it is zero when you have a minimum wage, according to him. He claims a minimum wage disproportionally affect racial or ethnic groups in the negative. He sounds like a tool of the rich to me, at least as presented in Wikipedia. The following makes him look like a hypocrite among other things:

Thomas Sowell - Wikipedia

During the Republican primary of the 2016 presidential election, Sowell criticized Donald Trump, questioning whether Trump had "any principles at all, other than promoting Donald Trump?"[57] Two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, Sowell urged voters to vote for Trump over Hillary Clinton. In 2018, when asked on his thoughts of Trump's presidency, Sowell replied, "I think he's better than the previous president."[58]

In interviews in 2019, Sowell defended Trump against charges of racism.

The defending against racism is particularly bad, in my opinion.

On Wikipedia, that's what it says. I trust Wikipedia, maybe you don't. If that's not his expertise, he has no business saying things like that. I also skimmed him on Wikipedia. Again excuse me for this excursion of irrelevance. When I see a person or other things mentioned I google them or it routinely.

Possibly this is explained by Sowell's background growing up in N. Carolina. In those days it was not a great place to be black, so no doubt in his day being a minority the minimum wage probably seemed to be holding him back. Perhaps he sees it from the point of view of his that childhood, but then again he is an academic and responsible to uphold his views with reason. Hopefully he supports his views with more than personal experience. I don't know why or how or in what circumstance he defends Doctor President Trump against charges of racism or whether he defends Trump on all fronts. Probably as an academic he'll defend anyone against specific accusations but not against all accusations. Anyone could indeed be in someone's pocket, so I don't know what to say about that. I think its just speculation at this point, however his youtube channel gets a lot of views. Perhaps he gets a reasonable fountain from that. I'd say...I don't know. He's an academic, so let the academics defend him. I have no way of addressing it.

 

[Truthseeker]

Sorry, I may have been misleading. Here is whole quote on the minimum wage. I feel the need to be honest and fair:

Sowell opposes the imposition of minimum wages by governments, arguing in his book Basic Economics that "Unfortunately, the real minimum wage is always zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they either lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force."[42] He goes further to argue that minimum wages disproportionately affect "members of racial or ethnic minority groups" that have been discriminated against. He asserts that "Before federal minimum wage laws were instituted in the 1930s, the black unemployment rate was slightly lower than the white unemployment rate in 1930. But then followed the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) of 1933 and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 – all of which imposed government-mandated minimum wages, either on a particular sector or more broadly... By 1954, black unemployment rates were double those of whites and have continued to be at that level or higher. Those particularly hard hit by the resulting unemployment have been black teenage males."[

Earlier in the Wikipedia article:

Sowell has said that he was a Marxist "during the decade of my 20s"; accordingly, one of his earliest professional publications was a sympathetic examination of Marxist thought vs. Marxist–Leninist practice.[13] However, his experience working as a federal government intern during the summer of 1960 caused him to begin to question Marxian economics theory in favor of free market economics. During his work, Sowell discovered an association between the rise of mandated minimum wages for workers in the sugar industry of Puerto Rico and the rise of unemployment in that industry. After the Department of Labor refused to give him the necessary records he needed to complete his work, Sowell concluded that the government employees who administered the minimum wage law cared more about their own jobs than the plight of the poor—eventually leading him away from seeing government as the solution but rather the problem.

He presents some data to back this up. I don't know what to think. Being able to live on how low the minimum wage is another matter. Is the rate of unemployment caused by minimum wage really more of a hardship than not being able to live on the low wages the person gets without the minimum wage? I have my doubts. But my saying he is a tool of the rich is too harsh. I have to give a benefit of the doubt.