Polls: Society & Politics

I saw an article discussing the Great washout of the tech job market. Once an industry that presidents, billionaires, and other prominent people boasted as the pathway to success is no longer.

It speaks volumes when tech majors are struggling more than art history majors. I have come to wonder, has the software engineer the new aspiring "artist" or musician? You know those career paths that are highly unrealistic where people laugh when you tell them? Like "yeah, I want to be the next studio artist for Disney" or some shit like that.

Meanwhile, the middle class is being pulverized and destroyed. Once the beacon of prosperity of the "American Dream" is becoming less and less likely to obtain, especially for younger generations.

I grew up in a typical upper-middle-class family. The two-story family home in a mostly-white subdivision neighborhood with the community pool, attending top-notch schools, and riding in the family SUV. The baseball team, boy scouts, and my regular doctors visits became a common routine as a child. We were able to eat out at modest places after church. The pantry full of food. You know what I mean.

It seems this lifestyle will never be obtainable in my lifetime. My grandparents were wealthy, my parents were strong upper class, my generation is struggling to even afford an apartment or trailer. It is like kicking a can down a road, getting more and more beat up.

https://statehood.dc.gov/page/why-statehood-dc

Taxation without representation:

D. C. residents pay some of the highest federal taxes per capita in the U. S. However, they have no voting representation in Congress, meaning they have no say in how those tax dollars are spent. This directly contradicts the principle of "no taxation without representation".

Lack of voting representation:

D. C. has a larger population than Wyoming and Vermont, yet those states have full representation in Congress while D. C. does not. The city's delegate to Congress can participate in debates but cannot vote on bills.

Unequal treatment:

D. C. residents fulfill all obligations of U. S. citizenship, including military service, yet are denied the fundamental right to participate in their own governance through voting in Congress.

Racial justice:

D. C. is majority-Black and has historically faced systemic inequalities. Statehood is seen by many as a matter of racial justice and equality.

Home rule limitations:

While the Home Rule Act granted D. C. some autonomy, Congress still retains the power to override local laws. Statehood would provide D. C. with full self-governance.

Historical precedent:

D. C. residents have been seeking statehood since 1801.

In summary, granting D. C. statehood would address the fundamental injustice of taxation without representation, ensure equal rights for its residents, and allow the city to have a voice in the decisions that affect it.

That seems to be what it is worth in Brazil. A transwoman Erika Hilton won an election by a wide margin and was billed by media as Brazil's most voted for woman.

A feminist Isabella Cepa (an XX by birth) made the snarky comment that it was a pity the most voted for woman couldn't be a woman rather than a man. Erika filed charges and Brazil's supreme court found it fell under racism laws as social racism With other snarly comments Isabell has made it could total 25 years. Fortunately the EU has given refugee status to her but for security reasons the country she is in isn't being disclosed.

Trump is also in trouble with Erika because Erika was issued a US visa with the gender of male.

What do you think?

To be clear he has significant authority but not exclusive authority here; Congress shares & can alter his authority.

Which of these seems worse:

1,038,000 abortions were performed in the United States in 2024. Every one of these resulted in the death of an unborn child.

As of late 2024, the number of deaths in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict on October 7, 2023, has surpassed 70,000, with some estimates suggesting even higher figures.

Talking about the US constitution at the moment, but it's probably general for any constitution that can lawfully be amended.

"Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been proposed by the United States Congress and sent to the states for ratification since the Constitution was put into operation on March 4, 1789. Twenty-seven of those, having been ratified by the requisite number of states, are part of the Constitution. The first ten amendments were adopted and ratified simultaneously and are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments."

The 18th Amendment is the only one to have been repealed (by the 21st Amendment).

I have a huge disdain for leftists, liberals, democrats, or whatever they are now. They seem to favor and obsess over radical social engineering, identity politics, and want to demonize or ostracize those who don't fall into their their woke nonsense. They are the type that cause you to lose your job or livelihood just because you used the wrong "pronoun". They are the ones who push for Critical Race Theory (CRT), DEI, and including schoolchildren in their wacko beliefs. They want to fund genital mutilation for kids and let illegal aliens roam freely without consequences. They want you to pay for abortions. They want you to foot the bill for migrants. Then, they want to throw the book at you if you are too persistent with women, claiming it is "harrassment" or "stalking" for staring more than a few seconds. These are crazy and rabid people who hate Christians and Jews but will roll out the red carpet for Muslims and anyone who isn't white.

Then you have the hard-core right, who loves police officers but shits on their firefighters and EMS personnel (at least here in my state). Fire and EMS is often treated second-class, is not considered much in legislation, and is disregarded in many situations. My state is one of only 10 that doesn't have enhanced penalties for assaulting a firefighter or EMT, but the recent "Back the Blue" Act enhanced these penalties for assaulting a cop, leaving out firefighters and EMTs with this legislation. 42 percent of fire departments in my state are classified by the state Fire Marshal's office as either "At-Risk" or "Distressed". There are no incentives for volunteers. There is no appeal process for sanctions against EMS personnel licenses, which can stem from a single complaint. My state also experiences an issue with hospital closures and infrastructure issues due to a large influx of new residents from out-of-state and lack of funding. The attitude of a lot of Republicans, sadly, is that if it doesn't affect them in the current mome