American Politics 4.0 - Orangeyou Glad He’s Back?

[Fuzz]

[activeStick]

The funny thing is, if people in America indeed rise up and legitimately try to fight back, I can't see it being much of a fight at all. I recall seeing polls which have shown that over half of those in the military are not supportive of the Democrats and support the Republican side and Trump and the same goes with those in the various police forces across the country. It just won't be a fair fight.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by activeStick

The funny thing is, if people in America indeed rise up and legitimately try to fight back, I can't see it being much of a fight at all. I recall seeing polls which have shown that over half of those in the military are not supportive of the Democrats and support the Republican side and Trump and the same goes with those in the various police forces across the country. It just won't be a fair fight.

Even if the military was an even split between Democrats and Republicans, most would still just support the president because that is that they are trained to do.

Although rising up and fighting back with violence would likely resemble something more like the Irish Troubles and not a conventional uprising where the military can even do much. It would be a lot of terrorism, cyber warfare, strike and flight tactics.

[Harry Lime]

Originally Posted by Slava

What indicates the market is in meltdown? The stock markets at all time highs? Low inflation? Rate cuts likely coming next month? Unemployment isn’t soaring and honestly, things seem pretty good for the US at this point.

The stock markets indicate how the richest in the country are doing, not the rise or lowering of the standard of living. Unless you believe in trickle down economics.

A crash could mean panicked closures, and that could effect the masses directly, but otherwise 100 points = 1 lavish Eyes Wide Shut ball.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The stock markets indicate how the richest in the country are doing, not the rise or lowering of the standard of living. Unless you believe in trickle down economics.

A crash could mean panicked closures, and that could effect the masses directly, but otherwise 100 points = 1 lavish Eyes Wide Shut ball.

Yeah aside from 401(k)s I think only 15-20% hold stocks in the US, everyday Americans just want lower prices.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The stock markets indicate how the richest in the country are doing, not the rise or lowering of the standard of living. Unless you believe in trickle down economics.

A crash could mean panicked closures, and that could effect the masses directly, but otherwise 100 points = 1 lavish Eyes Wide Shut ball.

It's funny to me how many people take the stock market as some kind of standard of living indicator. It just means that there is demand for the stock right now. A lot of people are having less faith in the dollar and are moving their money into stocks (and things like gold and real estate), so the demand compared to supply is high right now, which could lead to an overvalued stock market. Some companies are also profiting more because of higher prices, which isn't great for the consumers.

There is especially high demand for tech related stock because companies like that are less affected by tariffs, so you see a lot of those companies capitalizing on that and skewing the market. There might be a bit of irony in the fact that a lot of those companies are also employing fewer and fewer people as AI advances, but hey, at least the CEOs will be making money. The stock market also doesn't tell you how small companies that aren't publicly traded are doing.

The number of poor people who support Trump, many of whom probably don't have the luxury of getting heavily invested in the market themselves, praising it as some kind of win for them is hilarious. It's mainly a win for the wealthy.

Like you said, unless you believe in trickle down economics, which is BS. The only time trickle down economics work is once the rich start losing money, then they make sure everyone feels it. Otherwise the money mostly just funnels upward.

[Yamer]

Originally Posted by activeStick

The funny thing is, if people in America indeed rise up and legitimately try to fight back, I can't see it being much of a fight at all. I recall seeing polls which have shown that over half of those in the military are not supportive of the Democrats and support the Republican side and Trump and the same goes with those in the various police forces across the country. It just won't be a fair fight.

I mentioned it earlier, but it's hyper-concerning just how many of these under trained meatheads immediately went all in on the Gestapo tactics with as much glee and discriminatory violence as they have.

Originally, I had this naive fantasy of law enforcement and military leaders resisting the fascist orders, but it turns out the majority of them love this s### and can't wait to beat and deport the next American citizen because they're brown, have an accent, or are Democrat.

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

It's funny to me how many people take the stock market as some kind of standard of living indicator. It just means that there is demand for the stock right now. A lot of people are having less faith in the dollar and are moving their money into stocks (and things like gold and real estate), so the demand compared to supply is high right now, which could lead to an overvalued stock market. Some companies are also profiting more because of higher prices, which isn't great for the consumers.

There is especially high demand for tech related stock because companies like that are less affected by tariffs, so you see a lot of those companies capitalizing on that and skewing the market. There might be a bit of irony in the fact that a lot of those companies are also employing fewer and fewer people as AI advances, but hey, at least the CEOs will be making money. The stock market also doesn't tell you how small companies that aren't publicly traded are doing.

The number of poor people who support Trump, many of whom probably don't have the luxury of getting heavily invested in the market themselves, praising it as some kind of win for them is hilarious. It's mainly a win for the wealthy.

Like you said, unless you believe in trickle down economics, which is BS. The only time trickle down economics work is once the rich start losing money, then they make sure everyone feels it. Otherwise the money mostly just funnels upward.

Im curious to hear more about the economic theories you follow or believe.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by Slava

What indicates the market is in meltdown? The stock markets at all time highs? Low inflation? Rate cuts likely coming next month? Unemployment isn’t soaring and honestly, things seem pretty good for the US at this point.

There are a few warning signs that have been going on for a while:

-~2% GDP growth over the last 4 quarters while running federal deficits of over 6% of GDP; basically the government is funding growth through debt which can only continue for so long before there are knock on effects.

-median real wages are more or less flat over the last 5-6 years, up only 2.5% compared to pre-pandemic. Even Canada has seen higher real wage growth, at nearly 4% over the same time period.

And I'm not sure why you're talking like rate cuts are a good sign economically. They rarely precipitate strong growth, as there has has only been 1 instance in the last 60 years where a drop of more than 1% from the peak rate wasn't followed by a recession very soon after.

Stock markets being at all-time highs doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot for the broader economy. For one, it's basically always at all-time highs before a downturn. And secondly, the US economic system is set up to funnel money to the wealthy. So everything they do is to benefit asset holders in the short term. And if that requires loading up on debt and enacting austerity measures for regular people, that's what they'll do even if it can have disastrous long-term consequences.

[missdpuck]

Another executive order. He can establish and try to normalize this now, but all he really has to do is get away with enacting this on Election Day next year. We are so screwed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/u...e=articleShare