• Decompose@programming.dev
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    11 months ago

    “Uncorrupt government”

    This is as delusional as anyone can get.

    A wise man said it all once: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

    • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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      11 months ago

      That is why we throw them out every couple of years and choose someone different.

      I do the same with my underpants.

      • Decompose@programming.dev
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        11 months ago

        Right… you do understand that most politicians in western countries are career politicians that have been there for decades, right?

        A good example is Biden himself. He’s been there in politics for like 50 years. It’s a geriatric club at this point it’s become a common joke.

        Same delusion as the poster of the meme. People believe in the same ideals that created the problem without looking at what it has become. Not everything that sounds good is good. Life is more complex than the simple model that simple people keep believing in. People will always find a way to abuse a system for their own benefit. That’s the result of “power corrupts”.

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          11 months ago

          I don’t care about your US politics. It is a shitshow no matter how you look at it, with your undemocratic gerrymandering and 2 party oligarchy.

          With voting it is at least possible to change the government. The same can not be said about corporations.

      • TheFogan@programming.dev
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        11 months ago

        would be nice, but doesn’t seem to really happen, (incumbancy advantage). Also the bigger problem that isn’t solved by voting them out or even term limits. Access to money is important to win an election. Same people have money, those people pick candidates that are loyal and see to it that they win. When one old corrupt politician dies we’ll get a new one pushed by the corporate media.

      • okiloki@feddit.de
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        11 months ago

        So you bought then back in June 1933 and didn’t have the heart to throw them out?

    • bouh@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Oh so pragmatism would have that we abandon any hope at equality and we should accept to be slaves for the rich?

      • Decompose@programming.dev
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        11 months ago

        I don’t get why the only solution is to trust others to take care of you. I have some bad news: No one gives a crap about you. The sooner you realize this the better. You should be responsible and learn more on how to manage your assets, investments, money, etc. In my opinion, this idea that we have to keep trusting the elite to run our lives is ridiculous. People should be more responsible and manage their money in an independent way.

        I like cryptocurrency for this, because I have full control on my money and no government will be able to rehypothecate my money for whatever risky nonsense they’re doing. But you don’t have to be like me or like cryptocurrency. All you have to do is start thinking of a solution that works for you. You can start saving now, diversify in the world economy, and take risks that are appropriate to you, and prepare for your retirement. No need to act as if you have zero power when there are enough tools to give you power over your own money.

        I’m the kind of guy that takes all my matters into my own hands, because I trust no one. I even run my email server, my cloud, my VPNs, my everything. I don’t need anyone, company or government, and I have calculated risks in all my endeavour. I can migrate whenever I want. I believe everyone in the world should strive towards that. But we’re living in a centralized world where google alone can just block almost everyone’s life. I’m not in that club.

        • regalia@literature.cafe
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          11 months ago

          I don’t get why the only solution is to trust others to take care of you.

          Society is built around people “taking care” of you in different ways. Like being a doctor, a teacher, an employer, the police, etc.

          That’s why we grew out of being caveman, because we’re built to be cooperative with each other in our DNA. If we didn’t, we’d either be small tribes or individuals and probably die out really fast. It’s because we need others to rely on or we’d literally be extinct.

          • Decompose@programming.dev
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            11 months ago

            I don’t think you understand what trust means. There’s almost zero trust with doctors, teachers, etc. You don’t trust doctors out of the blue, but you build an informed decision from the reviews of such a doctor by seeing if they’re good at what they do. This hunky dory delusion that everyone trusts everyone is not real. The doctor, teacher, etc, will be punished if they misbehave and that’s what the free market is about. Keeping them in line as a kind of incentive to behave well.

            On the other hand, what you guys want to do is hand all your wealth and power to elites that don’t give two craps about you, have zero consequences in the case they mess up, and have zero incentive to do the right thing (as opposed to make it look like they’re doing the right thing), and then expect them to not steal your hard earned money, and then cry about it when they do it. Well, guess what? I don’t trust the fed has my best interest when they printed 80% of the US dollar money supply over the last 3 years. Why should I store my wealth in USD? Now you go ahead and trust them and do that, and keep complaining on lemmy that the rich are getting richer (NOT because of the printing) when someone tries to talk sense into you. I guess everyone will pay for their decisions after all.

            • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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              11 months ago

              Doctors are doctors because they passed their doctorate.

              Someone more knowledgeable than you set the minimum bar of skill they require to practice their craft.

              You don’t get to make trust based decisions on doctors because you don’t know what a good doctor looks like. You lack the knowledge to do so. Unless you are yourself a doctor.

              I have even less trust in corporations than the government.

              If you let those, they would bring slavery back if they could. Since that improves their bottom line.

              • Decompose@programming.dev
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                11 months ago

                Dude everything you said is wrong… doctors don’t have doctorates… PhDs do. Also you didn’t invalidate my point, which is that trust isn’t blind. You sound like a teenager. When you grow up you’ll understand what accountability means and how governments have none.

                • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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                  11 months ago

                  So not only do you have no idea what you are talking about, you also fall back to ad hominem fallacies because you are unable to debunk the stuff I said.

                  Your knowledge is lacking, so your opinion on who you can trust is worthless.

                  You sound like a science-denying anti-vaxxer.

                • SCB@lemmy.world
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                  11 months ago

                  An MD is literally a doctorate

                  In general, there are three categories of doctorate degrees that apply to the health professions: the professional doctorate, the clinical doctorate, and the research doctorate. In the science-based professional doctorate, the M.D. and D.O are the most well known.

        • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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          11 months ago

          “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

          ~Carl Sagan

          You will always have people taking care of you, from the clothes you wear to the things you eat. There is no escape.

          Not even by living on your own are you not using other peoples knowledge or products.

          • Decompose@programming.dev
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            11 months ago

            What kind of logic is that? You’re confusing “taking care of you” with “making trades”. My life doesn’t depend on one person making clothes for me. I can switch them whenever I want, unlike your monopoly government, or Google for that matter.

    • PerCarita@discuss.tchncs.de
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      11 months ago

      I’ve seen this sentiment being repeated in the replies, yet this also applies to private companies that are run by absolutely powerful people. It’s true that Lord Acton wrote this about the monarchy, but some execs in multinational corporations today are just as powerful as old-timey monarchs.

      • Decompose@programming.dev
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        11 months ago

        I don’t disagree with you. My contention is that the assumption of “uncorrupt power” is just naive and short term, at best.

    • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      11 months ago

      A leftie who tells you the government can be “uncorrupt” deserves all the laughter you can aim at them.

      • SteveXVII@pawb.social
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        11 months ago

        Uncorrupt is impossible, maybe it is better to advocate for low levrls of corruption. Less corruption --> less damage.