Latest Pew Study finds Republican party shifting fast to religious radicalism

[Skybird]

The rift between science and religion wins in importance to define the frontlines along which Democrats and Republicans define themselves.

http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/p...man-evolution/

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...w-its-changed/

It seems to me that the Republicans lose members of moderate views and scientific education, and replace them with evangelicals and Christian radicals who take the Bible literally. These may be attracted by the Tea Party. The newcomers add to the Republican pool of white radical Protestants, making it the ideological harbor of those who feel threatened by the growing influence foreign ethnicities have in inner politics. The traditional concept of the so-called WASP no longer is the dominating group in America, and since quite some time already, and for the Republicans, who traditionally attracted these and had their voter basis recruited amongst these, this is a threat to their own competitiveness against the Democrats, who gain voters due to their increasingly unhidden socialist agenda that promises candy falling from heaven, and their higher attractiveness for non-white immigrants.

The deep rifts between both political dominant groups in America seem to be set for not going away soon. It seems that instead the trenches get dug deeper and deeper. And the conflict science versus religion becomes an increasingly important battlefield on which especially the Republicans define themselves. And the more they lose, the more radical they become.

[gi_dan2987]

Originally Posted by Skybird

The rift between science and religion wins in importance to define the frontlines along which Democrats and Republicans define themselves.

http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/p...man-evolution/

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank...w-its-changed/

It seems to me that the Republicans lose members of moderate views and scientific education, and replace them with evangelicals and Christian radicals who take the Bible literally. These may be attracted by the Tea Party. The newcomers add to the Republican pool of white radical Protestants, making it the ideological harbor of those who feel threatened by the growing influence foreign ethnicities have in inner politics. The traditional concept of the so-called WASP no longer is the dominating group in America, and since quite some time already, and for the Republicans, who traditionally attracted these and had their voter basis recruited amongst these, this is a threat to their own competitiveness against the Democrats, who gain voters due to their increasingly unhidden socialist agenda that promises candy falling from heaven, and their higher attractiveness for non-white immigrants.

The deep rifts between both political dominant groups in America seem to be set for not going away soon. It seems that instead the trenches get dug deeper and deeper. And the conflict science versus religion becomes an increasingly important battlefield on which especially the Republicans define themselves. And the more they lose, the more radical they become.

That's because both parties have actually united and turned the US into a nation that is actively operating as a fascist oligarchy. The republic was doomed in 1913 with the signing of the Federal Reserve Act, which turned money from value to debt, and forced people to give up all their gold and silver in exchange for worthless paper fiat currency. This took all the real bargaining power from the people, and put it in the hands of few, wealthy bankers.

The whole two-party system only serves to keep the people of this nation divided on every issue possible, be it race, religion, color, creed, or otherwise. A nation divided cannot stand, and especially cannot stand against its tyrannical government!

This whole system was designed by the elites to undermine the integrity of the American culture and system, and turn it into a bit of a cyborg controlled by the big money players, most notably known as the Federal Reserve.

The big corporates, the politicians, and the Fed are all intertwined in this system. They all work together to continuously steal from the people, all the while keeping them distracted with things like political debates, the illusion of voting, and of course, the Kardashians. The Kardashians are undoubtedly the MOST important thing in our society today, and "to hell with the loss of our personal freedoms!" Is usually the attitude that is displayed by modern Americans.

As a 4th generation German-American, I can say that a similar thing is happening in Deutschland isn't it?

Grüße aus den USA!

Anmerkung: Meine mutti's familie stammt aus Nordhein-Westfalen

Woher kommen Sie?

[Betonov]

Not much different with a multiparty system.
They just form 2 blocks that resemble a 2 party system

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by gi_dan2987

That's because both parties have actually united and turned the US into a nation that is actively operating as a fascist oligarchy. The republic was doomed in 1913 with the signing of the Federal Reserve Act, which turned money from value to debt, and forced people to give up all their gold and silver in exchange for worthless paper fiat currency. This took all the real bargaining power from the people, and put it in the hands of few, wealthy bankers.

The whole two-party system only serves to keep the people of this nation divided on every issue possible, be it race, religion, color, creed, or otherwise. A nation divided cannot stand, and especially cannot stand against its tyrannical government!

This whole system was designed by the elites to undermine the integrity of the American culture and system, and turn it into a bit of a cyborg controlled by the big money players, most notably known as the Federal Reserve.

The big corporates, the politicians, and the Fed are all intertwined in this system. They all work together to continuously steal from the people, all the while keeping them distracted with things like political debates, the illusion of voting, and of course, the Kardashians. The Kardashians are undoubtedly the MOST important thing in our society today, and "to hell with the loss of our personal freedoms!" Is usually the attitude that is displayed by modern Americans.

As a 4th generation German-American, I can say that a similar thing is happening in Deutschland isn't it?

Grüße aus den USA!

Anmerkung: Meine mutti's familie stammt aus Nordhein-Westfalen

Woher kommen Sie?

I agree that we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve and need some more 3rd parties. Problem is with that last one they won't win anything until people stop thinking that voting for one is a "wasted vote".

[gi_dan2987]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

I agree that we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve and need some more 3rd parties. Problem is with that last one they won't win anything until people stop thinking that voting for one is a "wasted vote".

With our system the way it is, if everybody showed up to vote, or nobody showed up, either one of the two monkey's running for office will still get in. The rub is that you HAVE to vote for one of the two, and it's been proven that a "write in" will result in a default vote for one or the other.

Now there are millions of people in this country that could do a better job than the current cabinet, but even if they have the money, they're not even allowed to run if they don't first join one of the two corrupt parties!

I'm sorry that we disagree, but I'm going to have to stick with voting being an illusion. It may never have always been this way, and there may have been a time when each vote counted, but that was a time when a representative actually took care of their constituents. They didn't just campaign for the job, then sit around and not follow through while collecting a paycheck off the public trough!

I feel we are somewhere between the "writing, voting, and protesting isn't working anymore" and "Well now how do we solve these issues?" But the issue with that is people don't care enough to want to try. They're too busy working too much, dealing with stress at home, watching TV, or drugged up on every pharmaceutical known to man.

[Platapus]

I would also like to see members of the Senate and the House become state employees instead of federal employees. That way each state would have considerable influence over "their" representative.

[Admiral Halsey]

Originally Posted by gi_dan2987

I'm sorry that we disagree

Don't be sorry about having a different viewpoint. Having a different viewpoint then someone is a part of life. The trick is to be courteous when you talk to someone who has a different viewpoint then your own.

[August]

I question the accuracy of the poll. No way can less than 2000 people accurately represent the opinions of nearly 300 million.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Admiral Halsey

I agree that we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve and need some more 3rd parties. Problem is with that last one they won't win anything until people stop thinking that voting for one is a "wasted vote".

One easily implemented solution is to move our federal elections from a plurality system to a majority system.

I have been doing some research and I can not find any US law/regulation that mandates that elections be based on a plurality outcome instead of a majority. The only exception is the counting of the votes of the electoral college by the Vice President.

If we could start electing our congressional representatives on a majority schema, then third party votes would not be "wasted". Unfortunately, in our plurality schema, they are wasted. Especially if the voter is put in a position of voting against a candidate instead of voting for a candidate.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by gi_dan2987

... doomed in 1913 with the signing of the Federal Reserve Act, which turned money from value to debt, and forced people to give up all their gold and silver in exchange for worthless paper fiat currency. This took all the real bargaining power from the people, and put it in the hands of few, wealthy bankers.

Amen to that .. as soon as money loses its real worth and becomes debt, it will grow by itself, the real problem then being compounded interest.

Grüße aus den USA!
Anmerkung: Meine mutti's familie stammt aus Nordhein-Westfalen
Woher kommen Sie?

Grüße aus Deutschland, meine Familie stammt aus Berlin und Detmold, ich selbst aus Lower-Saxony

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by gi_dan2987

As a 4th generation German-American, I can say that a similar thing is happening in Deutschland isn't it?

Grüße aus den USA!

Anmerkung: Meine mutti's familie stammt aus Nordhein-Westfalen

Woher kommen Sie?

Could it be that you are me? I agree with pretty much of what you said.

I was born in Detmold, but have crisscrossed across Germany at all four compass directions meanwhile. Münster 14 years, Berlin ten years, ten in Osnabrück, and Lübeck five years have been my longest stays in one place, with Lübeck being liked most as a place. Berlin was my teen years, so it is a hate-love, I dislike the city, but it is a known place, even if disliked, and by age those years (and the very much liked school I was at) nevertheless where the best years in my life, roughly my second decade. But at no costs I would go back to Berlin today. Divided Cold War Berlin was so much better. Must sound strange, but many Berliners who lived back then, said and say so.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Could it be that you are me?

If you ask that you should get checked for multiple personality disorder.

[NeonSamurai]

Originally Posted by Skybird

And what do you call what the political paraiste do to the people? One could argue, that Bismarck introduced his social reforms (and effectively invented the social wellfare state) at a tiem when growing capitalism and the corresponding spread of wealth threatened the self-declared Fuhrer elites with a people that became increasingly free, liberal, and non_depending on politician's governing over them. Because they got lured back into obedience and submission to the state which nursed them and fed them. The same tactic as today.

That such a "freedom" can only be had at the price of Rousseau's reasoning, who wanted a total maximum of state and a total minimum of individualism, in essence declaring the state an absolute that replaced the individual freedom - that is something that many people today completely overlook, or ignore - or, if they have a heart beating strong for totalitarian collectivism, actively desire.

It's about power, Neon, and control. Not about ideals. Capitalism and free market is what emancipate people from their state masters' control and command. Non monopolised trade between free people, with no monopoles on prices or government control, robbery and power. Govenrment are unneeded parasites. Not more. There service is to suck your blood. And for that service they blackmail you for protection money. And when you pay it, they still hang on you, sucking. And send you into a war, maybe. Or a paper money currency that devalues your property. The property that you still are allowed to hold, and got not expropriated of.

Governments and politicians are as much needed and as useful as hemorrhoids in the anus. What is needed is a population educated in understand what the nature of real money is, and what economy is. With that knowledge, people can negotiate their bartering and trading, independently, freely, and self-responsibly. A nightmare for politicians. Their total uselessness and anti-social nature would immediately be so obvious for all to see . No more free ride. No more privileges for no merits. No more living by claiming to solve problems that one has caused oneself.

That's why Bismarck introduced the social wellfare legislation. Right at the time in history when Western people on a grand scale had the chance to become free from their self-.proclaimed leaders. What an unbelievable coincidence!

You cannot trust business to have the people in mind, I could list a hundred pages of examples of just how brutal and psychopathic bushiness is. Capitalism did nothing of what you are claiming, it did not liberate the individual, it enslaved them even more to the system than ever before in history. Almost everyone became a wage slave, bound and owned by the company and discarded without a second thought. Capitalism is the key thing that sparked Marxism in the first place, because of the sheer brutality of the system. It is also responsible for the massive shift in wealth over the last 100 years to the elite few. Capitalism makes its money by exploiting the people to the maximum extent it can.

Everything needs to be balanced out and a really functional society needs a bit of everything. When I speak of government, I speak of one that is accountable to the people, and acts in the best interest of the people and country. In a sense, I speak of what the founding fathers of the United States tried to form. But to do that politicians need to be incentiveised to work for the people. You need to outlaw business (The money people) having control of politicians or the government. That is where the corruption comes from.

Again I suggest the three videos I posted earlier. They may be a bit idealistic, and the big question would be how to get to what they are proposing, but I think the suggestions make a lot of sense.

[Skybird]

Sounds as if you are talking about the abuse of capitalism, stemming from monopolistic positions of actors who then indeed became powerful. All true. And even then - general wealth levels rose nevertheless, for the rich and for the poor. In the medieval, peasants and slave farmer were worse off, I would say. There is no romanticism to be found.

The problem is monopolism, and the huge size of community units and administration systems. They are too huge as if people would be able to avoid monopole holders by just evading into a neighbouring community, because the next community is not two or three villages away, but two or there nations, or continents.

Politicians want to get elected, they crave for powerful positions, and for that they promote gold and candy falling from heaven, and who has to pay for it? The money printer (debts, money devaluation), and the citizens they cheat (protection money, and more debts) . If you, as you did, claim they are the lesser evil than monopolists, than you trade anthrax for ebola.

Statelessness, a million small, minimalistic communities is the answer to make both evils smaller in size and bring them down to a scale where you can actually avoid them, battle them, control them. Only then local politicians cannot claim the power and control over nations and continents, only then monopolistic producers or power holders can be avoided by moving just some miles away into another city where they handle things differently. And that means cities, local regions must be independent form any central governance, to be free to do it like they want. If they all are part of the same nation and government, then nothing changes, and you have no chance to evade that government.

Governments must be small, not big, lacking power, not having a monopole on power. Due to politicians always necessarily turning any democratic regime into a socialistic tyranny and planned economy, you cannot put your trust in "democracy". It is doomed to fail, always. The mob demands, the politicians promise, both leads to unhealthy finances and dreamdancing economic policies, state wants more power, state plans more, regulation of markets, planned price fixing next, expropriation by currency devaluation, planned economy, et voila - there you are. Give it some time, it always will go this way, and it always has gone like this in every democratic Western country since WWI flushed monarchies away and replaced them with democratic republics. It always must lead to totalitarianism, because socialism is totalitarianism by essence and nature.

the suggestions of how state and society shall be - it is well meant, but totally disrespecting the grim realities. Those craving for power are not like that as if they will allow that. those having monopoles, will not give them up. Capitalism must be kept on a short line in that it can only be prevented from turning into monopolism if implemented in somewhat small community cells, the mere diversity of communities preventing the establishment of monopoles, because the more diversity there is, the more alternatives for the people to evade monopolists. Balancing it all, planning it all, that is all nice and well, but you fall for the classic trap of intellectuals in the west: to think that you can PLAN such things. You cannot, if there is one outstanding message from this set of ideas named Austrian economy, than this: you cannot plan human people, human acting, prices, market events, demand. The market, as if by miracle, does all this itself if you allow people meeting on it and participating freely in it. Those who have something of value, skills or items, will succeed in finding a partner with whom to barter. Those who have not, either adapt by learning and developing said skill or work to get items to trade (even money, that is: a normal trading good), and those who do not adapt and do have something valuable to contribute, will depend on working for others instead - and then again joining the market events, because by their employment they get items of values: currency quantities (=coins). Which are a traiding good.

Prevent monopoles, yes. But also prevenhjt polticians, and worse: prevent poltians gainign cintrol of the money and turning it into paper fiat money. That is the road to toal and complete disaster. Thes epolticians can only live when chnagign towards paper money and debt rising, and brainwashing people for socialist ideas so that they vote them. One should not allow these anti social parasites to unfold their destructive acitivities.

It's all around us. Right now. Forget what you believe to know. Open your eyes, and see. It's all laid before your eyes. Unhidden. Clear. Obvious. The ways we have chosen, are the ways into our doom. Doom that we have seen before in recent history, its been just 1-2 man-live that socialism and nationalism formed the unholy alliance after republicanism won WWI, and communism was a able to abuse the weak condition in Russia to enthrone itself and call itself the Soviet Union. Nobody prevent us to learn from this. We refuse to learn all by ourselves.

Stupid we are.

In capitalism (not to be mistaken with monopolism!), wealth must be distributed unequal, that keeps motivation, competition and creativity alive, and in general, everybody is better off. In socialism, all are equally poor, and no personal motivation survives.

the great role of Europe in history was made possible because its immense diversity (something that the totalitarian socialists of the EU totally ignore). that begins with the fruitful competition for talents in science arts and philosophy between cities and dukedoms in the German territories, and leads to the Italian city states. Add to this the competition between small villages and town communities who were separated by geographic obstacles like valleys and mountains. This was the mixture that did not completely prevent corruption and abuse, no. but it produced an overall raise in wealth and cultrual production and intellectual life of which almost everybody benefitted and that led to some of the cultural monuments that until today illustrate the greatness that once was there and that has led to the most advanced, profound, unique and precious achievements on behalf of human rights, freedom and dignity in the history of ALL mankind - no other global region ever pushed these qualities that we value so much to the levels our forefathers once had.

And we throw all that away? For a false religious stupid cult like socialism? Because that is what it is: a stupid religion, focussed not on the afterlife but the here and now and assuming paradise could be enforced by planning it, enforcing collective obedience to the plan, and planning economy and all that planning mania. How f#cked up is all this? Read a bit of Rousseau, and then you get a taste of how twisted and porked it all is, Rousseau is so very much alive these days, and that is a tragedy (no wonder he had mental issues and was paranoid, if I would have thought these things, I would have turned insane, too). The more the Judeo-Christian tradition ahs been pushed back, the more the spiritual vacuum has been filled by the left ideology, by Marx and Lenin and the like. Everybody knows that I am no friend of religious superstition and supremacism. But I know dam n well that people have an existential hunger for meaning, for a sense and reason in their lives, and religions address this hunger. they may play foul, but as long as the crowd does not become aware of that, it functions. How many more disasters are needed before the crowd realises that socialism and planned economy also is such a foul play? Historians count 100 millions minimum having been fallen victim to socialist regimes in the past one hundred years. Some more critical thinkers publish lists that calculate numbers three times as high. But we celebrate defenders of such bloodshed and barbarism like Che Guevara, and dance in the streets (during Vietnam) singing Ho-Ho-Ho-Tchi-Minh...? We must have a deep-rooting desire to destroy ourselves.

When will it finally be enough of this madness, and we sent career politicians and socialism to hell where they already are awaited?? Only religions maybe have caused more misery and suffering in man's history than this poisonous melange of actors and ideology. But at least they produced nice architecture and paintings and music, at times.

Don't trust monopolists. But do not trust politicians either. They are holders of the most powerful monopoly there is!

[Admiral Halsey]

Anyone else wish Teddy "Trust Buster" Roosevelt was in office?