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Michael Fewster's avatar

I think the answer is simple. The USA is unique in the western world in not having a a two party system divided on left/righjt wing lines. The USA has succesfully made socialistic policies non acceptable. There is no non capitalistic alernative to offer a counter balance in which each keeps the other in check. This leaves the working classes in the USA as easy prey for populists, racists and conspiracy theory mongers. They have nowhere else to go.

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Kerry Truchero's avatar

When the Dems were seduced by the corporatists and bankers we slid into this mess. Bernie might have saved us, or not, but it would have been worth the fight.

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Cathie's avatar

I like many of Bernie's ideas. Too bad that he didn't win the primary and also that Al Gore was aced out of the Presidency by the Supreme Court. The most logical reason that we didn't get either one of them, or Hillary either, was because of all the dark money that the Supreme Court allowed into elections from the Citizens United decision. The Supreme Court is doing as much damage to this nation as the R's in Congress. Joe is doing a great job, considering who he has to work with.

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Denise Donaldson's avatar

The reason we didn't get Bernie is that the DNC torpedoed him.

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Cathie's avatar

I believe the DNC had their delegates loaded with special electors. These people were not elected in the primaries. Pretty sure it was those delegates that torpedoed Bernie. I also believe the DNC has changed this part of the system going forward. Were those special delegates enticed or chosen so that Bernie could not win? Don't know.

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Denise Donaldson's avatar

Nobody could know, but I'd bet heavily that they were chosen specifically so that Bernie couldn't win.

But the DNC was working against him long before the convention, according to my reading.

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Citizen J's avatar

Seduced and bought are two different things.

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Citizen J's avatar

I blame Hillary the bane of the Democratic Party . If she ever buys the nomination again we will get another trumpet 🎺 or a worse spawn of satan.

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Denise Donaldson's avatar

Agree completely, Kerry.

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Maureen's avatar

Furthermore, in countries with 2 party parliamentary systems, third parties can hold the balance of power when there is minority government or multiple parties can form a coalition government; in either case, the smaller parties can force the dominant party to consider the needs of their constituents.

In the US system, all a third party can do is siphon off votes from one or both of the dominant parties.

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Laurie Blair's avatar

Michael Fewster ; Our media have few stories showing how the rich already have a form of socialism ; They get most of the wealth that is produced while workers barely keep a roof over their heads, have to go without health care, and generally struggle more and more every day.

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M Tree's avatar

Laurie Blair, shout it out! Thank you! That needs to be on billboards across America.

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phelpsmediation's avatar

Not any form of socialism. Socialism is a planned economy not giving money to people. We have corporate welfare and a corporate tax rebate system.

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Roger Stanton's avatar

Down here in Australia we do have a left / right situation but the left are being seduced into thinking that being a Lite version of the Right will work. It doesn't !!!!!!!!! The Right are now quite weak but let no one run around with the idea that they've gone away. They haven't and never will !!! They are just re-grouping for the next assault

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Cathie's avatar

The R's are great at re-defining the meaning of words to make them into the opposite of their original meaning. Like "entitlement" to mean "leaching off the state" instead of it's real meaning of "a payment out of a system into which you and your employer(s) contributed in order to guarantee a decent retirement, or in case of disability which disables you from working for a living." There are more caveats than I have listed, but hopefully you get the picture. Also, "deep state" which is the imaginary bugaboo which did not allow drumpf and his ilk to make the kinds of "progress" he would have liked or which he and they had no intention of trying to cure any of the current things that were/are wrong in this nation. That means anything from plague to economic disparity to crumbling infrastructure.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Correct.

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