2020 US Election (Part One)

[Kaitzilla]

Yeah she admitted to the campaign staffer but not to the congressional aid. Sorry, I worded that exceedingly poorly. It's the latter that is potentially a legal/ethics problem.

The CEO of McDonald's just got axed for a consensual relationship with an employee.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/business/mcdonalds-ceo-fired-steve-easterbrook.html

I wonder if in the future such a relationship would be ok?
Our ethics are relaxing again like the 60s.

I have to admit the world would be better off without us

There are millions of planets out there without human life on them, and I promise they are all lame.
Just look at Venus. Boring.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I have to admit the world would be better off without us

That greatly depends on how you define "better"... hookers and coke are awesome ... and don't forget videogames None of that would be possible without "us".

 

[innonimatu]

The CEO of McDonald's just got axed for a consensual relationship with an employee.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/business/mcdonalds-ceo-fired-steve-easterbrook.html

I wonder if in the future such a relationship would be ok?
Our ethics are relaxing again like the 60s.

I strongly suspect that was just an excuse for the board getting rid of him.

More serious "board coups" were done elsewhere, as in the case of Renault-Nissan by the japanese. These things happen, where what was before "normal, accepted behavior" suddenly becomes oh so" scandalous" and even illegal when it is useful. Politics within organizations has much in common with "normal" politics...

And there is nothing wrong with that it itself, in fact it would be better if it were acknowledged that decisions on the oared level are more political than economic. That would make it also more widely accepted that these corporate boards ought to be submitted to more political control, rather than let them hide behind allegedly economic (technocratic) excuse for their decisions.

 

[rah]

Even though this is the 2020 election thread, if you live in the US, please check to see if your state is having an election today. And if so, please vote.

 

[Imaus]

Mexico's new pacifist President may as well be handing off 2020 to Trump; since Trump could easily jump in and send troops across the border to mow down the Cartels. The release of Guzman Lopez and the Mormon Massacre already don't paint a good picture 'down there' and the US populace may demand intervention.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I'm skeptical that the governments want the cartels "mowed down" anyway. Organized crime does just that... keeps crime organized. Remove that organization and the power vacuum is quickly filled with even more lawlessness, just more chaotic, more violent, and more bloody.

That... and the bribes... can't disrupt those sweet, sweet bribes...

The best thing our government can do is allow people fleeing those countries to come in and start a new life here. Of course our current administration is hell bent on doing the opposite.

 

[Narz]

The best thing our govt can do in that regard is decriminalize drugs

 

[Arakhor]

Why would anyone in Mexico want the US to just send in troops to attack their citizens? Isn't that a small-scale invasion?

 

[Socrates99]

I'm skeptical that the governments want the cartels "mowed down" anyway. Organized crime does just that... keeps crime organized. Remove that organization and the power vacuum is quickly filled with even more lawlessness, just more chaotic, more violent, and more bloody.

That... and the bribes... can't disrupt those sweet, sweet bribes...

The best thing our government can do is allow people fleeing those countries to come in and start a new life here. Of course our current administration is hell bent on doing the opposite.

Best thing our government could do would be to legalize and/or decriminalize the drugs that provide the cartels with revenue. Then at bare minimum institute universal background checks and waiting periods on weapons sales.

The cartels outgunned the Mexican authorities because they're wealthy enough and have the connections necessary to smuggle in US manufactured weapons.

 

[Kyriakos]

Something obviously must be done against the cartels in Mexico. I agree with Socrates that at least some legal changes re the not so hard drugs might help, but failing that an armed conflict may be the only solution. If you get to the point where entire areas are run by cartels you can't realistically hope for the better, and no amount of low scale/disorganized crime will be as bad as having organized groups of thugs and drug barons.

 

[Lexicus]

So, in case there weren't already enough reasons to oppose Joe Biden's Presidential bid,

The Intercept reported last month that Amit Jani, Biden’s director of outreach to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (a broad category), is a passionate Modi backer. And he’s working for a candidate who, as vice president, was ardently in favor of closer US ties with Modi’s India: “Our goal is to become India’s best friend,” Biden said in 2015.

 

[Kyriakos]

So, in case there weren't already enough reasons to oppose Joe Biden's Presidential bid,

I am curious as to why you focus so much on indian politics as of late
I confess to not knowing anything about indian politics, other than the endless state of cold (and at times not so cold) war between India and Pakistan.

 

[Sommerswerd]

The best thing our govt can do in that regard is decriminalize drugs

Best thing our government could do would be to legalize and/or decriminalize the drugs that provide the cartels with revenue.

That's everyone's go-to, but it isn't just about drugs. There are powerful, violent cartels there involved in the Avocado trade, and other legal goods as well. Drugs just get all the attention because the stateside sellers and end-users can be more easily demonized than the retailers and end-users of avocados for example.

 

[AmazonQueen]

I am curious as to why you focus so much on indian politics as of late
I confess to not knowing anything about indian politics, other than the endless state of cold (and at times not so cold) war between India and Pakistan.

Modi, the current President, is a Hindu nationalist busily rewriting history, discriminating against Muslims and Untouchables, and was Chief Minister of Gujarat when the 2002 Riots occurred, which are generally considered to have been state sponsored ethnic cleansing.

 

[Kyriakos]

^Does India have a large muslim population by now, though? I mean don't they have almost a billion hindus? Meaning that - as much as it may suck - if one group is 99,9% of the population, you can't realistically expect plurality.
The Untouchable caste is obviously something they have for centuries, and yes, it is so terrible that it led to mass exodus of those people a number of times. Afaik it is theorized that the 'roma' people may be one such wave of exodus.

 

[AmazonQueen]

^Does India have a large muslim population by now, though? I mean don't they have almost a billion hindus? Meaning that - as much as it may such - if one group is 99,9% of the population, you can't realistically expect plurality.

14% Muslim, 2nd largest religion in India, and heavily concentrated in northern India.

 

[Kyriakos]

14% Muslim, 2nd largest religion in India, and heavily concentrated in northern India.

Wow. How did that happen? Wasn't the plan to divide the area along religious lines?

 

[Lexicus]

That's everyone's go-to, but it isn't just about drugs. There are powerful, violent cartels there involved in the Avocado trade, and other legal goods as well. Drugs just get all the attention because the stateside sellers and end-users can be more easily demonized than the retailers and end-users of avocados for example.

I agree- if it's "about" anything, it's about the general weakness of states in the global south, about the destruction of Mexican peasant agriculture thanks to free trade, and the US "security assistance" which actually only funnels money and military hardware into the hands of the cartels.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Wow. How did that happen? Wasn't the plan to divide the area along religious lines?

Pesky people living on the wrong sides of lines. Also Kashmir had a Hindu Prince who decided he'd rather be Indian than Pakistani and his people weren't given a choice.

 

[Takhisis]

^Does India have a large muslim population by now, though? I mean don't they have almost a billion hindus? Meaning that - as much as it may suck - if one group is 99,9% of the population, you can't realistically expect plurality.
The Untouchable caste is obviously something they have for centuries, and yes, it is so terrible that it led to mass exodus of those people a number of times. Afaik it is theorized that the 'roma' people may be one such wave of exodus.

Guess what the word ‘atsinganos’ means…