I'm glad to see discussions like this that are looking beyond the election about how we can move forward to increase transparency, working to hopefully regain some of the public's trust. An open question is whether we as a nation can keep pressure on the officials to get changes made. Difficult to do in the best of circumstances and even more so in the current state of polarization and divisiveness.
The bitter irony is that we have a seated president that promised such things, but only stood to do the opposite. We simply can not trust the vast majority of our political body to do what they say, promise and in turn we elect them to do.
We are probably less than a couple decades away from a 1984-like dystopian future, or a very large scale block of civil unrest and domestic warfare. The increasing separation of classes combined with the duplicitous nature of politics and corporatism in the U.S. (let alone through the world) can not be strained much further without one of those results taking hold.
We still have the revolution-via-vote of rejecting the 2 major parties and casting in with the upstarts, even if they won't get in this time. It doesn't need to come down to unrest and violence. Rep vs Dem is a false dichotomy; it just has current momentum (which happens to be falling fast).
What compounds this problem is that nobody cares about anything regarding this until they're locked up themselves. And even then, since it's just one changed mind, it's hard to move the incredibly strong tide of the government.
How can we get the populous to care, but more than just a 30 second "oh that's not good" then resuming with their normal life?
I'm trying to figure out a way to address your comment in a constructive way. Does "wait at least 8" imply doing nothing now? That's how I read your comment, so please correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think there's a quick and easy solution. Everything's not going to be changed overnight--even if we all agreed on what the final state should look like. I'd like to think we can figure out ways to move forward in the direction we generally want to go, knowing that it'll take a while to get there.
I do think only waiting is going to make things worse, harder to change as time goes by and the current situation becomes even more entrenched.
There are multiple projects here, too. One is to increase transparency. Another is to identify common goals that have support across the divides we currently see. I'm sure there are others. Identifying common goals and building support is something I don't think we need to wait for.
I apologize if I've put words in your mouth. Please correct me if I have.
another open question: can we as a nation completely repudiate our government? they're long past acting for our benefit, and actively conspire to keep us stupid and afraid.
I believe Texas had some clause in joining the federal government that allows them to bail. I would suspect other states could leave the union if push turns to shove and momentum grows in that direction.
However, everybody has wanted and continues to want to have their fingers in the federal pie, and that makes it much harder to pull away given how much everybody is now dependent on and intertwined with them.
But there is 1 interesting precedent being set: Legalization of marijuana. It is still federally illegal to use/possess/sell it, but states have rejected that and set their own standards. I don't think they can stop the feds doing raids within their borders, though, so it's not a total repudiation.
