3w ago

A lot of Americans are Googling 'what is oligarchy?' after Biden's farewell speech

gizmodo.com A Lot of Americans Are Googling 'What Is Oligarchy?' After Biden's Farewell Speech

The outgoing president warned of the growing dominance of a small, monied elite.

Summary

In his farewell speech, President Joe Biden warned of a growing "oligarchy" in the U.S., where extreme wealth and power threaten democracy.

Comparing modern elites to 19th-century robber barons, he called for reforms to hold the wealthy accountable, as done in the past.

Biden also criticized a "tech-industrial complex" concentrating power and spreading disinformation, weakening democracy.

His remarks sparked a surge in Google searches for "oligarchy."

The speech comes amid rising concerns about policies favoring billionaires, like Trump’s tax cuts and potential cuts to social safety programs.

United States | News & Politics @midwest.social

ByteOnBikes @slrpnk.net

3w ago

A Lot of Americans Are Googling 'What Is Oligarchy?' After Biden's Farewell Speech

gizmodo.com /a-lot-of-americans-are-googling-what-is-oligarchy-after-bidens-farewell-speech-2000551371

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I think we have definitive proof that the American public, in general, are idiots.
- We had that in November
  
  Twice in November.
- Want definitive proof?
  There are 244m eligible voters in the United States.
  77m voted for Trump. Idiots.
  2.6m voted 3rd party. Idiots.
  90m didn't vote. Idiots.
  90+77+2.6 = 169.6
  That means 170m of 244m eligible voters are braindead stupid. That's 69.7%. So we essentially have a 70% failure rate amongst eligible voters for maintaining our democracy.
  Yeah, Americans, in general, are STUUUUUUUUUPID.
  Yeah, we're in a declining nation and it's probably not going to get better anytime soon.
  
  Username checks out along with the math.
  
  I don't think your math quite works out. Voters who voted third party or didn't vote and live in solidly blue states had no bearing on Trump's election.
  
  If you don't vote or vote 3rd party in a presidential election, you are an idiot whether you end up being responsible for the outcome or not.
  If you don't exercise your right to vote, especially in an election like this, you are an idiot.
  If you vote 3rd party when a 3rd party has absolutely no shot at winning, you are an idiot.
  It doesn't matter whether you live in a blue state or not. If for no other reason than contributing to the popular vote.
  In 2016 we could at least say Trump lost the popular vote. Before this election Republicans had only won the popular vote once since 1988 and not since Bush Jr. The more the will of the people clearly gets ignored and the loser of the popular vote becomes president anyway, the more pissed off Americans are going to get about that, and the more support we get from Americans to pressure our representatives to fix this shit electoral process.
  Not to mention these idiots could live in a state that's blue but not solidly blue and that state could possibly flip red because they assumed blue was safe in their state. Do you think non-voters and 3rd party presidential voters are smart enough to keep an eye on that kind of thing?
  Being in a solidly blue or red state does not absolve non-voters and 3rd party voters from being idiots.
  
  Not to mention these idiots could live in a state that’s blue but not solidly blue and that state could possibly flip red because they assumed blue was safe in their state.
  That's why I used the word "solidly."
  Do you think non-voters and 3rd party presidential voters are smart enough to keep an eye on that kind of thing?
  Some of them? Sure. Maybe not all of them. But it doesn't matter for purposes of this discussion. I was just making the claim that your math was including some voters that had no possible effect on Trump getting elected. And I still think that's the case whether or not a number of people in purple states decided not to vote because Harris didn't really speak to the economic realities they face everyday. Now we're just quibbling over how wrong your math is.
  To your broader point about the popular vote: I agree that people not voting or voting 3rd party impacts the popular vote, and the popular vote is indeed often used as a proxy for a national mandate. But Trump didn't even break 50% on the popular vote—hardly a Reagan-style sweeping mandate despite initial reports to the contrary. So in this particular election, your point doesn't even come into play. You're calling people idiots for how they voted because of a theoretical outcome that didn't occur.
  Yes, voting in the U.S. is basically harm reduction. But what's the point of voting to reduce harm if it doesn't actually have much chance of doing that in your state? To be clear, I'm not advocating not voting. I'm advocating giving people a little grace if, via their vote, they didn't materially contribute to the rise of fascism or whatever. In fact, you could say that someone voting third party in a solidly blue state has just as much impact on the election as someone voting blue in a solidly red one. It's just numbers.
  
  That’s why I used the word “solidly.”
  Cool. That still doesn't absolve them from being idiots for not voting or voting for a candidate that literally, as in literally, cannot win.
  your math was including some voters that had no possible effect on Trump getting elected.
  I didn't say they did. I said they were idiots. My math was calculating how many idiots there are in America to determine how fucked we are. And I stand by my math.
  But Trump didn’t even break 50% on the popular vote
  But he still won the popular vote. The first Republican to do so in 20 years. Which alters the discussion about the will of the people not wanting Republican leadership. And non-voters and 3rd party voters helped to make that happen.
  You’re calling people idiots for how they voted because of a theoretical outcome that didn’t occur.
  Lol. No I'm not. I'm calling non-voters idiots for not exercising their right to vote, which people throughout history have killed and died for. I'm calling 3rd party presidential voters idiots for voting for a candidate that LITERALLY CANNOT WIN. Those are both decidedly idiotic things to do. And again, my math is calculating how many idiots are in America, using this election as a litmus test. And I'm stating those idiots affected the popular vote, which they did. And I'm stating that, for all they knew when they made their idiotic decision, they were making the difference between who won.
  I’m advocating giving people a little grace if, via their vote, they didn’t materially contribute to the rise of fascism or whatever.
  Your logic is like saying "well, the boy threw the kitchen knife at his sister, but it didn't end up eviscerating her, so let's just drop the subject and let the boy off scott free". Again, they went into the election, making their stupid decisions, not knowing if they were going to make that difference or not. That is some idiot shit.
  
  I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here. We're not even on the same page in terms of first principles. A voter voting blue in a red state is voting for a candidate who literally cannot win, and by your logic they'd be an idiot too. It just doesn't make any sense to me. People should be able to vote how they want—especially if their vote isn't likely to sway the election.
  
  You might be downvoted but you're absolutely correct.
- I actually consider this really positive on a few fronts.
  Firstly, people are trying to learn. That's great.
  Oligarchy is not a common word if your English level isn't great and that's true for lots of people. Even if you read books a decent amount it's not something I think you'd come across frequently.
  Also, for folks who don't know what an oligarchy is, for them to find out they're possibly living in one may change their world view.
  I'm sure there are more.
  
  That's a very... generous interpretation, but I'll "allow it", because it gives me some hope.
  
  Gotta keep that hope up!
  
  Honestly, I am one of those idiots. I had to look up oligarchy myself, although I looked it up because it was being thrown around a bit on Lemmy, not because Biden said it.
  
  I do not consider you an idiot one bit for what it's worth. I definitely did not know that word for a significant portion of my life.
  It's not something that appears in books or something you come across in school.
  
  Right? I've known the word for a long time but I was definitely well into adulthood and definitely looked it up. It's a "college word" y'all people have to look up simple words all the time.
- At least they're trying to learn.
- We knew that since Dexter Manly went to college illiterate

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