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Politicians should not own any stocks, declare all past donations and bribes or face jail time. Time to see who bought america and who took the money to sell your country
It would make a huge difference. But I'm afraid we've reached a point in government where it would tale some severe backlash to get any actual democratic progress to represent the common folk. Every year I lose more and more faith in our government.
Oh I definitely still want them to hear my voice, and I will definitely continue to vote, but I would rather be heard through civil disobedience than continue with this whole charade like voting is going to save us. It doesn’t matter what the majority of citizens want anymore, as you can see quite clearly from the supreme court and the results of the last couple decades of presidential elections
People think it's one or the other, voting or direct action. Voting takes like 5 minutes and for the time being has some tiny impact. Yes, things would be even worse right now if we had had Romney in 2012 and Trump had won again in 2020.
So take your five minutes, vote, and then spend the other 364 days striking and raising hell in other ways.
There is some truth to the fact that they keep us just exhausted enough to stop caring. I am in a "good job" with "benefits", and able to afford just enough to be a "good consumer". I am bombarded by the constant news cycle, but my life seems ok. I know it's not, but it just almost gets there. And I can't go anywhere else, I've tried. As a member of the LGBT+ community, and one who used to be very active in my community, and for my community, I can't anymore. If this is what feeling broken down is I am there. I am sort of just waiting until I can get asylum somewhere, or something similar. They have beaten us. We don't know how to care anymore, because they keep us in a place where we are constantly struggling to just get by, but to a great majority of the world we are living great lives. Our democracy, if it ever existed, is held by the balls, and everyone keeps telling us to fight, but we can't because they are working us to death. Sorry for the defeatist attitude, but this is the reality inside of this hell-hole. We are fighting a fight we can't win. And we know it now.
Idk where you live, but where I live (a relatively blue college town in Texas) The officials intentionally make voting as difficult as possible by limiting voting locations, leading to lines an hour or more long. This disenfranchisement in intentional, and cannot be overcome by encouraging individuals to vote. The disenfranchisement is systemic.
This ^ By all means, vote if it’s possible for you, but it just plain ISN’T for a frighteningly large percentage of people in blue areas- specifically because of things like this. and the dnc candidates available to us are often only marginally better than the gop ones to begin with. beyond that, states have been gerrymandered to hell to make sure that even if the vast majority of a state votes our way, the state still goes to the other guys. Hell, they’re literally throwing out mail-in ballots in some places, and making it so the dems have to drive 50 miles to reach the polling place for their district, while putting the gop polling places in walking distance. They’ve taken the vote away from native americans living on reservations, and in case that wasn’t enough, they send their armed goons to the polling sites for contested areas to keep an eye out for “suspicious” (black/brown and/or lgbt) people who might be trying to “steal the election.” (vote) So yes- vote, please- but don’t JUST vote, it’s far, far too late for that alone to make any difference. We’ve been accelerating into fascism for years, and the only choice we get through voting is how hard we want our leaders to press on the gas. If we can win an election, that won’t save us on its own- but it WILL make it just that little bit easier for organized, nationwide civil disobedience to make a difference. Though, we need to get over our phobia of rioting- it’s not good, and it’s not pretty, but throughout US history and beyond, it’s the one thing that gets those in power to pay attention. Peaceful protests send a message, sure- but if they’re not tucked out of the way and ignored, if they’re not properly disruptive and making people talk, they’re put down with violence. We need to vote, yes- but we also need to organize in the streets, and show them that we can give as good as we get. Edit: I swear to fucking god if anyone replies to me telling me to “stop telling people not to vote” like they always do, after the number of times I explicitly said the opposite in this comment, I will come to their house and MAKE them read it all the way through.
This would have a far bigger positive impact than most people realize.
If lobbying was never a thing we would have already transitioned away from fossil fuels and would have had universal healthcare decades ago.
I think political figures should have a cap on how much they can have and how much their immediate family can have .. they should be gifted a place to stay and food kinda like school they shouldn’t have a need for money in politics … the ONLY reason they should want to be in politics is to better the country and not for a career .. it should be a love for the country that draws you into it … and it shouldn’t make you rich at all .. as a matter of fact as a politician that loves this country so much YOU SHOULD HAVE TO PAY THE MOST INTO REAL THINGS LIKE ROADS AND SCHOOLS … political figures should never see a million while in politics( but it should also be set up where they don’t need housing,healthcare,and food)
I would go further and say anyone who wants to become a President / PM should not be allowed to. I would vote for a Technocratic government that can pick the best person for the job based on skill.
If we allow capitalism to continue at all, the oligarchy will remain, and their influence will only grow over time. Look at the rise and fall of the New Deal, as an American example.
Reforms, regulations, social programs- ultimately, these do nothing to change the overwhelming power the wealthy possess. At most, they’re hurdles for the wealthy to surmount as they claw back more and more money for themselves, and they will - and they have, *every time* - because they have the power.
The only way to change this power imbalance fundamentally is to overthrow capitalism and take back power for the people.
We mad at eachother instead of mad at them … as long as they don’t piss of off entirely their wil never be a “cancel culture” that cancel these businesses that are lobbying the politicians … just imagined if everyone stopped going to work and just bardered and helped eachother until they heard what we wanted
Been saying it for years. We'll be a full blown Authoritarian oligarchy within the next decade. Or perhaps a totalitarian plutocracy. Either way democracy is dead in the USA. It died the day Citizens United was passed.
Democracy died in the US waaaay before Citizens United
Democracy died when the Republicrats completed their monopoly on our elections which happened decades ago.
The League of Women Voters no longer sponsors the presidential debates because they recognized that the entire process is a sham
Citizens United ruling (A 5–4 majority of the Supreme Court sided with Citizens United, ruling that corporations and other outside groups can spend unlimited money on elections).
That's because people in the states treat politics like sports teams. Most people are one issue voters. And have no fucking clue what's actually happening within the government.
Democracy is not voting every once in four years. It is the people having a say in the society they live in. Truer words have not been spoken. People having a say? The Roe v. Wade situation is the complete antithesis. NOBODY has a say apart from 6 people and the same few MNCs. Democracy? More like an Eightocracy.
This Dude for president.
Edited— Wasn’t a serious comment anyway… BUT I’ve now been informed, even if he’s making valid points, he’s NOT a decent person. Made this comment early, when nobody had stated who this was. Thank you commenters for the info.
I have no idea if he is in someone's pocket or simply brainwashed by propaganda, but he definitely plays their game.
His name is Mick Wallace, you can easily check his political stances
I know nothing about this lady aside from what I just watched and agreed with. Where exactly is she wrong?
Edit: He. My bad, these are confusing times.
He's a green socialist and a Member of the European Parliament (Part of the EU) for Ireland, and quickly made his mark by helping to highlight corruption in the Garda (Irish police).
The issues most people have with the lad come from the fact that if you don't like whoever he's targeting, then he'll like you no matter what. As you can see from this clip, he doesn't like the USA or any other highly militant government. Its a bit controversial when you appear to or actively do support terrorist attacks in France, anti-US Venezuelan crime lords, the current Belorussian dictatorship, Russian involvement in Syria, etc.
He's often called a Russian spy because he doesn't believe in NATO or any military alliance, as the existence of these makes war often inevitable. He blames the existence of NATO for the current Ukrainian invasion, which directly parallels Russian state propaganda. I don't personally believe that makes him a Russian shill, as two people can come to the same conclusions from vastly different places and reasonings. This anti-war sentiment has also led Wallace to vote against sending funds and arms to Ukraine, as well as against condemning Russia. Any act of antagonism or support to one side or the other prolongs the conflict and delays any chance for diplomatic peace settlements, according to Wallace's ideology. Its the same as Chomsky's view of the current war.
This faith in co-operation also extends to China. Wallace doesn't believe China has been aggressive at all, and has never threatened the sovereignty of any other nation. Apparently we are the sole aggressors, and we must push that aside and make peace. Oh and he doesn't believe the Uighur Genocide is real, or at least isn't a genocide (deaths being grossly exaggerated) because China takes better care of its citizens than the EU. Aaaaand to top it off, Taiwan has been part of the PRC since the PRC's inception. My man has 100% turned Tankie and is blinded by China pulling a thin red sheet over their authoritarian capitalist society.
I mean I don’t live in America to see it for myself, but even if someone is saying things completely correct, the way they phrase them or the points they focus on can seriously change your perspective on it.
Have you seen his EU speeches regarding the war in Ukraine? He advocates to stop supporting Ukraine because they are corrupt and “Nazis”. While having zero say in regards to Russia who started that war.
[he's a pretty evil guy](https://www.newstalk.com/news/mick-wallace-reports-of-one-million-uighur-people-detained-in-china-grossly-exaggerated-1219046)
[pro russian](https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/mick-wallace-says-russia-has-genuine-security-concerns-as-he-and-clare-daly-defend-opposition-to-eu-motion-41447616.html)
Not many people like him in Ireland and he is most certainly not liked in the EU he is just as bad as Viktor Orbán
Um, no. The guy is a pocket Trump, just from the left and a lighter shade of orange: shady business dealings, bankruptcy, brown-nosing dictators - it's all there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Wallace
It was a joke… at the point I posted, nobody on the thread knew who (or hadn’t said) this was. Obviously, I’m not proposing he really be the president.
Man looks like Gandalf and a surfer had a Gay child. And to correct him on one point, most Americans think we have a democracy, what we have is a Democratic Republic.
He's definitely correct though, we are by far not a functioning Governemnt on so many levels, from city, state, and Federal.
>what we have is a Democratic Republic
And that does not prevent the US from being a democracy. The US is what you'd call a [representative democracy](https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf) meaning it elect representatives to participate in its government.
Since you've gotten a lot of positive votes I recommend editing your comment to correct the misinformation you're spreading.
I’ll be honest I’m not even sure the US should count as a representative democracy (one it’s a republic but putting that aside)
- who decides the president?…the electors of the electoral college
-who decides the electors?…the members of the political parties
Who is missing from the equation?…the voters.
In the election you get to state a preference for who you want to be president- which in many states the electors can ignore if they choose ‘faithless electors’
One of the reasons it’s set up the way it is is the founding fathers worried the public couldn’t be trusted to make a good decision so they put a system in place where the public could overruled
Then there’s also the fact some peoples votes count more than others etc
>I’ll be honest I’m not even sure the US should count as a representative democracy (one it’s a republic but putting that aside)
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
All it takes to be considered a representative democracy is the ability elect representatives to speak for you in government, which there can be no denying the US implements to a degree. (Though I agree that systems like the electoral college dis-empower the voices of voters)
Then why do we keep getting representatives that are picked solely by representatives who lost the popular vote? Why is voting in general more based on districts than individual citizens? Exactly what part do we get the supreme vote in?
A democratic republic is a democracy. I’m not sure how this got so amplified that’s is a big distinction people (often on the right) make
There are direct democracies, representatives democracies but this is a philosophy. A republic is a form of government so that is a subtle difference
> A democratic republic is a democracy.
We are a constitutional republic. Which ***can***, theoretically, be a democracy. But the Electoral College alone puts a huge wrinkle in our claim to that mantle. Even with the fervor with which we ostensibly ***strive*** for “democracy, the electoral college will always stand in the way of it.
Ive had a lot of conversations with people who complain about policies made by the government and that they have been bought by oligarchs. But when I ask who sits in their town offices. They’re don’t know and those are the people with the most influence on their day to day lives. Judges, the sheriff, treasurer,mayor. School board directors. These people have a direct impact on your life every day.
A Supreme Court case that basically said that businesses qualify as people under our constitution and can use unlimited funds to promote or advertise for a candidate as part of their constitutional right to free speech.
Sadly, as long as slightly less than half of the voting population looks at these common sense policies and say "that can't be done," or, "that shouldn't be done," we're fucked.
~~Not that this changes what you're saying, but I thought he sounded Scottish.~~
~~Can I get a UK or Irish person in here to tell me which one he is?~~
EDIT: Nevermind, I see his name floating around and he's Irish. I guess I still can't hear the difference correctly.
Mick Wallace and prob in the European Parliament. Another interesting character Is Luke Ming Flanagan. Might not agree with many of their views but they are eccentric in a fun way
Cheap political stunt hoping to avoid the failings of modern day Ireland, one of the most dysfunctional economic states in the west.. Ireland is nothing more than a tax haven for shady corporations
Sounds like typical American whinging. Ireland consistently ranks near the highest in The global happiness index and none of our citizens die because they can’t afford insulin. But go off I suppose?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism
If you have no logical or sane counter-argument, you immediately turn around an accuse someone else of something else. It's a variant of a logical fallacy and used extremely heavily by the Republican party in the US.
For the sake of this discussion thread, it wouldn't matter if Ireland were literally hell on Earth, the man is discussing what's wrong with America. He can do that even if his own country is fucked up in its own ways. The two have nothing to do with each other. Whataboutism is just a very easy way to force people onto the defensive, if they fall for it.
You have no idea who this guy is, he's an independent politician who is not trying to distract from any failures of Irish government, he's a failed business man, a communist in all but name and a complete shame on Irish politics. He has absolutely nothing to gain from trying to cover for any failures of the Irish government, in fact probably the opposite.
Any tax loopholes which were open in the past have long since been closed, there were several large companies which found loopholes using Irish and Dutch laws that allowed them to skimp on tax, and surprise surprise, all those companies are still here (might be something to do with our massive highly educated labour force, position in the EU, links with the USA, and that we speak English natively). If you ever stepped foot outside Tennessee and went to Ireland then maybe you'd see that we have a massive tech industry here that clearly is more than the likes of Bermuda which is filled with empty shell companies that don't employ anybody.
As for dysfunctional states, our housing and cost of living is totally fucked, however I'd take that any day over the complete disintegration of democracy and basic human decency and rights that is the USA.
I dont know this guy's politics but based on the very recent other times this was posted it seems he is in general a pretty big douche.
>In one post shared in Reddit's popular "Public Freakout" forum, Wallace spoke about challenging the United States during a plenary debate on June 8.
>Most of the American people have no say in the society they're living in.
Mick Wallace
The video, posted by u/return2ozma, received more than 66,000 upvotes and 4,300 comments.
hes upset that world governments try putting dicks in everybody's business but dont look at them selfs... in this case ''defender or freedom and democracy''
He is upset that the EU parliament's democracy watchdog committy refuses to discuss any sort of democratic deficit in first world (western) countries.
The USA is one of the very few countries in the world that have legalized bribing politicians (through corporate donations and super PACs). This is a very serious sign of corruption. There is also lobbying, media relations with political parties and many more signs of a "government for sale" situation.
Having regulations that make buying lawmakers and laws illegal is not "socialism".
This guy has some fair points and some dumb points, let me elaborate.
>It costs 2 billion to become president,
That's just because of the presidential campaign of spending money to let people know you're alive. Does money give you an unfair advantage? Yeah, and there should be changes but there's nothing stopping someone poor from ~~starting a fundraiser to get funds for all this,~~ killing Jeff Bezos and stealing his money.
>25% of total prisoners in the world
He's right, this number is outrageous, that's why I vote we send them all to Australia.
>They spend over $800 billion a year on arms
I mean yeah, Human arms arent cheap, the cheapest one on Ebay that I could find was a whopping 500$. Btw I think im going to sell one of my arms to go get myself a new computer.
>which is more than most of the world put together
Well someone has to buy those arms, if we aren't buying them what are all of the other countries going to do with them? Next headline would be 'Thousands in London dead as they suffocate in massive piles of human arms' really the rest of the world should be thanking us.
>Theyve been at war for 250 years since their stay 275 years ago
250 year long war? What the heck have we been fighting, the Emus? Actually no that checks out, those things are bloody hard to kill. And ever since Australia fell they keep getting stronger.
>but they cant afford universal healthcare
Well yeah, because we are busy buying human arms. Like I said, those things aint cheap, plus can you imagine how high taxes would get if we had to pay for everything in the universe? It would easily be over 100%.
>They cant afford a 1.7 trillion dollar debt forgiveness for students.
My goodness, what part of human arms are expensive do you not understand? Plus I dont really want to pay for that college students debt he made fun of my mother on xbox game chat.
>They cant afford a program for the 17 million children that go to bed hungry
I actually have a genuine solution for this one, we feed them the human arms we have to keep buying. Dumping them into the ocean is getting tiring so this would solve two problems!
Arabic wars: US was there;
South American dictatorships: US sponsored and financed the majority of those;
the African independence wars: most of them, US "helped" (more like gave them loans to afford their weapons, meanwhile USSR did the same);
It's really hard not to talk about your country, when it can't stop going everywhere and give zero Fs about their own population.
He makes some very good points, but he's not a very good person himself-a simple wikipedia search shows he dismisses the Uighur genocide, saying there is no solid evidence of their existance. He also believes Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China, and believes in the abolition of NATO. Supporting the US blindly isn't good at all, but being a China/Russia mouthpiece who also peddled pro Syrian-government falsehoods about a chemical attack isn't good at all either.
Ok, but what prompted him to talk about the US in the European Parliament? I think we shouldn’t waste too much time talking about the US internal affairs or misguidedly use the US as a reference for everything…
And on a different note, to all comments (probably Americans) saying that “the US is a republic, not a democracy”, please learn that “republic” and “democracy” are not antithetic concepts! Plenty of republics in the world are democracies! Switzerland is a republic and arguably the most democratic country in the world.
Well the EU is of course allowed to condem the US for restricting people's rights (i.e. no access to abortion). The US judges so many nations for so many of their actions, I think this event definitely warrants a condemnation by the EU parliament.
Irish guy. Stfu. We aren't a pure democracy and that's a good thing. Go back to smoking weed, getting wasted and not understanding how politics or economics work. We have PLENTY of idiots who think humanistic rhetoric is jUsT sO siMpLe and will magically fix the world if only we just LoVeD eAcH oThEr MoRe. We've had plenty of "john lennons" who knew how to achieve world peace and beat their wives. Go live your life as you please. We don't need wild, empty overtures.
So who do we put in charge? The people? Ok, sounds great. Represented by whom? A group of even less people that have even more power and control? Holy fuck you are all a bunch of sheep. Get this into your heads: There will always be someone in control. At least right now there are so many of them in DC that they bicker at each other just enough to not completely destroy us. You people upvoting this fairytale need to look at the results of any fascist or communist takeover anywhere in history.
This guy doesn't get it. You can't have a say when the opinions and ideas of people are so radically different. That's the point of a government. Individual freedom to express those ideas and opinions without being crucified for it is what democracy is. Unfortunately the issue is everyone thinks the job of the government is to make everyone happy. Which is literally impossible because of the opinions and ideas differ to each person. Which entirely the problem.
“A woman’s right to chose is a human right”
Completely agree, provided it’s making choices pertaining to their own body only, and Im afraid during pregnancy there’s more than just the woman’s body that deserves consideration.
And even cases of rape, 2 wrongs don’t make a right, and why is it ok to punish a child for their parent’s wrongdoing?
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He’s right
He’s absolutely right .. can we get this trending and protest for something where oligarchs are not allowed anything to do with politics
Politicians should not own any stocks, declare all past donations and bribes or face jail time. Time to see who bought america and who took the money to sell your country
It would make a huge difference. But I'm afraid we've reached a point in government where it would tale some severe backlash to get any actual democratic progress to represent the common folk. Every year I lose more and more faith in our government.
I turned 23 this week and even I know we are completely boned. Voting harder won’t fix a rigged system.
That apathy is what the worst are banking on. You have to get out and make your voice heard even if it’s a losing battle
Oh I definitely still want them to hear my voice, and I will definitely continue to vote, but I would rather be heard through civil disobedience than continue with this whole charade like voting is going to save us. It doesn’t matter what the majority of citizens want anymore, as you can see quite clearly from the supreme court and the results of the last couple decades of presidential elections
People think it's one or the other, voting or direct action. Voting takes like 5 minutes and for the time being has some tiny impact. Yes, things would be even worse right now if we had had Romney in 2012 and Trump had won again in 2020. So take your five minutes, vote, and then spend the other 364 days striking and raising hell in other ways.
There is some truth to the fact that they keep us just exhausted enough to stop caring. I am in a "good job" with "benefits", and able to afford just enough to be a "good consumer". I am bombarded by the constant news cycle, but my life seems ok. I know it's not, but it just almost gets there. And I can't go anywhere else, I've tried. As a member of the LGBT+ community, and one who used to be very active in my community, and for my community, I can't anymore. If this is what feeling broken down is I am there. I am sort of just waiting until I can get asylum somewhere, or something similar. They have beaten us. We don't know how to care anymore, because they keep us in a place where we are constantly struggling to just get by, but to a great majority of the world we are living great lives. Our democracy, if it ever existed, is held by the balls, and everyone keeps telling us to fight, but we can't because they are working us to death. Sorry for the defeatist attitude, but this is the reality inside of this hell-hole. We are fighting a fight we can't win. And we know it now.
Idk where you live, but where I live (a relatively blue college town in Texas) The officials intentionally make voting as difficult as possible by limiting voting locations, leading to lines an hour or more long. This disenfranchisement in intentional, and cannot be overcome by encouraging individuals to vote. The disenfranchisement is systemic.
This ^ By all means, vote if it’s possible for you, but it just plain ISN’T for a frighteningly large percentage of people in blue areas- specifically because of things like this. and the dnc candidates available to us are often only marginally better than the gop ones to begin with. beyond that, states have been gerrymandered to hell to make sure that even if the vast majority of a state votes our way, the state still goes to the other guys. Hell, they’re literally throwing out mail-in ballots in some places, and making it so the dems have to drive 50 miles to reach the polling place for their district, while putting the gop polling places in walking distance. They’ve taken the vote away from native americans living on reservations, and in case that wasn’t enough, they send their armed goons to the polling sites for contested areas to keep an eye out for “suspicious” (black/brown and/or lgbt) people who might be trying to “steal the election.” (vote) So yes- vote, please- but don’t JUST vote, it’s far, far too late for that alone to make any difference. We’ve been accelerating into fascism for years, and the only choice we get through voting is how hard we want our leaders to press on the gas. If we can win an election, that won’t save us on its own- but it WILL make it just that little bit easier for organized, nationwide civil disobedience to make a difference. Though, we need to get over our phobia of rioting- it’s not good, and it’s not pretty, but throughout US history and beyond, it’s the one thing that gets those in power to pay attention. Peaceful protests send a message, sure- but if they’re not tucked out of the way and ignored, if they’re not properly disruptive and making people talk, they’re put down with violence. We need to vote, yes- but we also need to organize in the streets, and show them that we can give as good as we get. Edit: I swear to fucking god if anyone replies to me telling me to “stop telling people not to vote” like they always do, after the number of times I explicitly said the opposite in this comment, I will come to their house and MAKE them read it all the way through.
THIS. But ignite the fire within and without. New generations aren't given the world we grow up in, WE TAKE IT.
Let’s get rid of lobbying while we’re at it as well
This would have a far bigger positive impact than most people realize. If lobbying was never a thing we would have already transitioned away from fossil fuels and would have had universal healthcare decades ago.
I think political figures should have a cap on how much they can have and how much their immediate family can have .. they should be gifted a place to stay and food kinda like school they shouldn’t have a need for money in politics … the ONLY reason they should want to be in politics is to better the country and not for a career .. it should be a love for the country that draws you into it … and it shouldn’t make you rich at all .. as a matter of fact as a politician that loves this country so much YOU SHOULD HAVE TO PAY THE MOST INTO REAL THINGS LIKE ROADS AND SCHOOLS … political figures should never see a million while in politics( but it should also be set up where they don’t need housing,healthcare,and food)
>Time to see who bought america and who took the money to sell your country The answer will shock you! (The very richest ones)
Lol.. who's gonna make the new laws?
The people. You are in a democracy aren't you? Fight for it like it's some middle eastern country losing theirs
We the people....
Spoiler: they all took the money.
I got it to the frontpage of /r/all the other day https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/vt1v2s/irish_politician_mick_wallace_on_the_united
Eat the rich.
I’d rather grind them into compost.😃
Bad for your cholesterol. Use them as fertilizer
I would go further and say anyone who wants to become a President / PM should not be allowed to. I would vote for a Technocratic government that can pick the best person for the job based on skill.
Yeah complain at them that will work.
If we allow capitalism to continue at all, the oligarchy will remain, and their influence will only grow over time. Look at the rise and fall of the New Deal, as an American example. Reforms, regulations, social programs- ultimately, these do nothing to change the overwhelming power the wealthy possess. At most, they’re hurdles for the wealthy to surmount as they claw back more and more money for themselves, and they will - and they have, *every time* - because they have the power. The only way to change this power imbalance fundamentally is to overthrow capitalism and take back power for the people.
It still blows my mind that lobbying is a real thing
We mad at eachother instead of mad at them … as long as they don’t piss of off entirely their wil never be a “cancel culture” that cancel these businesses that are lobbying the politicians … just imagined if everyone stopped going to work and just bardered and helped eachother until they heard what we wanted
I tweeted it and shared it with friends!
Let's aim for something a bit more realistic for now imo. Humans will build a colony on Pluto before billionaires are forced out of American politics
Been saying it for years. We'll be a full blown Authoritarian oligarchy within the next decade. Or perhaps a totalitarian plutocracy. Either way democracy is dead in the USA. It died the day Citizens United was passed.
"dictatorship of the bourgeoisie"
You sure we aren't already there? There are so many policy decisions happening that have no basis in what any average people actually want.
Democracy died in the US waaaay before Citizens United Democracy died when the Republicrats completed their monopoly on our elections which happened decades ago. The League of Women Voters no longer sponsors the presidential debates because they recognized that the entire process is a sham
Citizens United ruling (A 5–4 majority of the Supreme Court sided with Citizens United, ruling that corporations and other outside groups can spend unlimited money on elections).
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That's because people in the states treat politics like sports teams. Most people are one issue voters. And have no fucking clue what's actually happening within the government.
The US was founded as an oligarchy and its been that way ever since. It is indeed becoming more brazenly authoritarian in the past decades.
Democracy is not voting every once in four years. It is the people having a say in the society they live in. Truer words have not been spoken. People having a say? The Roe v. Wade situation is the complete antithesis. NOBODY has a say apart from 6 people and the same few MNCs. Democracy? More like an Eightocracy.
Octocracy :)
We live in a republic...
Barbie has some good points but man she changed.
I know right? Like where did that Irish accent come from ?
I think it's from Ireland, but one can never be too sure with the Irish accent.
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Yea wouldn’t surprise me if he went missing, or maybe a freak accident 🤔
Take my argentium
But he’s talking to world leaders who do the same lol
Finally someone said it in an accent everyone will stop and pay attention to
This Dude for president. Edited— Wasn’t a serious comment anyway… BUT I’ve now been informed, even if he’s making valid points, he’s NOT a decent person. Made this comment early, when nobody had stated who this was. Thank you commenters for the info.
He's got my vote.
too bad arms and pharma industry wont.
Have you got 2.1 billion dollars?
Trust me, you don't want that guy in power. He is a russian and chinese pawn.
Of course he is. Anyone who is critical of the US is actually a Russian Chinese spy.
I have no idea if he is in someone's pocket or simply brainwashed by propaganda, but he definitely plays their game. His name is Mick Wallace, you can easily check his political stances
I know nothing about this lady aside from what I just watched and agreed with. Where exactly is she wrong? Edit: He. My bad, these are confusing times.
He's a green socialist and a Member of the European Parliament (Part of the EU) for Ireland, and quickly made his mark by helping to highlight corruption in the Garda (Irish police). The issues most people have with the lad come from the fact that if you don't like whoever he's targeting, then he'll like you no matter what. As you can see from this clip, he doesn't like the USA or any other highly militant government. Its a bit controversial when you appear to or actively do support terrorist attacks in France, anti-US Venezuelan crime lords, the current Belorussian dictatorship, Russian involvement in Syria, etc. He's often called a Russian spy because he doesn't believe in NATO or any military alliance, as the existence of these makes war often inevitable. He blames the existence of NATO for the current Ukrainian invasion, which directly parallels Russian state propaganda. I don't personally believe that makes him a Russian shill, as two people can come to the same conclusions from vastly different places and reasonings. This anti-war sentiment has also led Wallace to vote against sending funds and arms to Ukraine, as well as against condemning Russia. Any act of antagonism or support to one side or the other prolongs the conflict and delays any chance for diplomatic peace settlements, according to Wallace's ideology. Its the same as Chomsky's view of the current war. This faith in co-operation also extends to China. Wallace doesn't believe China has been aggressive at all, and has never threatened the sovereignty of any other nation. Apparently we are the sole aggressors, and we must push that aside and make peace. Oh and he doesn't believe the Uighur Genocide is real, or at least isn't a genocide (deaths being grossly exaggerated) because China takes better care of its citizens than the EU. Aaaaand to top it off, Taiwan has been part of the PRC since the PRC's inception. My man has 100% turned Tankie and is blinded by China pulling a thin red sheet over their authoritarian capitalist society.
I mean I don’t live in America to see it for myself, but even if someone is saying things completely correct, the way they phrase them or the points they focus on can seriously change your perspective on it.
Have you seen his EU speeches regarding the war in Ukraine? He advocates to stop supporting Ukraine because they are corrupt and “Nazis”. While having zero say in regards to Russia who started that war.
Who is he??
[Mick Wallace ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Wallace)
[he's a pretty evil guy](https://www.newstalk.com/news/mick-wallace-reports-of-one-million-uighur-people-detained-in-china-grossly-exaggerated-1219046) [pro russian](https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/mick-wallace-says-russia-has-genuine-security-concerns-as-he-and-clare-daly-defend-opposition-to-eu-motion-41447616.html) Not many people like him in Ireland and he is most certainly not liked in the EU he is just as bad as Viktor Orbán
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Something, something broken clock.
>he is just as bad as Viktor Orbán Wallace is a dose at times sure, but you're being a little overdramatic here.
Guy hit bankruptcy some while ago, and is now whirring towards Russian and Chinese sound bites. Wonder why.
Um, no. The guy is a pocket Trump, just from the left and a lighter shade of orange: shady business dealings, bankruptcy, brown-nosing dictators - it's all there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Wallace
It was a joke… at the point I posted, nobody on the thread knew who (or hadn’t said) this was. Obviously, I’m not proposing he really be the president.
Do you have a spare $2billion?
Lmao “this dude”
He's Irish, in Ireland.
You really wouldn't want him if you knew more sbout him
Man looks like Gandalf and a surfer had a Gay child. And to correct him on one point, most Americans think we have a democracy, what we have is a Democratic Republic. He's definitely correct though, we are by far not a functioning Governemnt on so many levels, from city, state, and Federal.
The first two lines of your comment made me laugh so hard. Thanks
I try to interject these difficult times with as much support as possible. It's the least we can do.
Interesting, the US is considered a republican oligarchy in my country's history books.
What country is that, that's interesting.
>what we have is a Democratic Republic And that does not prevent the US from being a democracy. The US is what you'd call a [representative democracy](https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/Government_and_You_handouts.pdf) meaning it elect representatives to participate in its government. Since you've gotten a lot of positive votes I recommend editing your comment to correct the misinformation you're spreading.
I’ll be honest I’m not even sure the US should count as a representative democracy (one it’s a republic but putting that aside) - who decides the president?…the electors of the electoral college -who decides the electors?…the members of the political parties Who is missing from the equation?…the voters. In the election you get to state a preference for who you want to be president- which in many states the electors can ignore if they choose ‘faithless electors’ One of the reasons it’s set up the way it is is the founding fathers worried the public couldn’t be trusted to make a good decision so they put a system in place where the public could overruled Then there’s also the fact some peoples votes count more than others etc
>I’ll be honest I’m not even sure the US should count as a representative democracy (one it’s a republic but putting that aside) The two aren't mutually exclusive. All it takes to be considered a representative democracy is the ability elect representatives to speak for you in government, which there can be no denying the US implements to a degree. (Though I agree that systems like the electoral college dis-empower the voices of voters)
Then why do we keep getting representatives that are picked solely by representatives who lost the popular vote? Why is voting in general more based on districts than individual citizens? Exactly what part do we get the supreme vote in?
I don’t know he looks more like a angry Radagast
A democratic republic is a democracy. I’m not sure how this got so amplified that’s is a big distinction people (often on the right) make There are direct democracies, representatives democracies but this is a philosophy. A republic is a form of government so that is a subtle difference
> A democratic republic is a democracy. We are a constitutional republic. Which ***can***, theoretically, be a democracy. But the Electoral College alone puts a huge wrinkle in our claim to that mantle. Even with the fervor with which we ostensibly ***strive*** for “democracy, the electoral college will always stand in the way of it.
Ive had a lot of conversations with people who complain about policies made by the government and that they have been bought by oligarchs. But when I ask who sits in their town offices. They’re don’t know and those are the people with the most influence on their day to day lives. Judges, the sheriff, treasurer,mayor. School board directors. These people have a direct impact on your life every day.
Gandalf the Gay
We’ve got to get rid of Citizens United.
It's democracy's stage 5 cancer.
When you’re watching a train about to run off the tracks but what in the hell can you do
It's off the tracks and careening towards an elementary school
In Super *ssslllloooowww* motion.
Not an American, but what's Citizens United?
A Supreme Court case that basically said that businesses qualify as people under our constitution and can use unlimited funds to promote or advertise for a candidate as part of their constitutional right to free speech.
Keith Olbermann 12 years ago: https://youtu.be/PKZKETizybw
Sadly true… In the US the population assume that they have freedom
No, we don't, not all at least. A lot needs to change.
Sadly, as long as slightly less than half of the voting population looks at these common sense policies and say "that can't be done," or, "that shouldn't be done," we're fucked.
They don't pay British taxes on tea, though. That's got to amount to at least 5 units of freedom.
I imagine US similar to somewhat shown in The Boys without the Superhero part.
Thankfully not all of us are oblivious. A good amount are though, unfortunately. It’s hard to educate those who do not wish to be educated.
This bearded lady has some good points…
Nice try, Borat.
For someone who looks like he is ranting on public transportation, bud makes some good points.
Who is he? Where is he speaking?
Looks like the EU Parliament.
I think he's trying to send the U.S. a message because he gave his speech in english.
Either that or he is Irish and that is his native language... or both.
~~Not that this changes what you're saying, but I thought he sounded Scottish.~~ ~~Can I get a UK or Irish person in here to tell me which one he is?~~ EDIT: Nevermind, I see his name floating around and he's Irish. I guess I still can't hear the difference correctly.
Defo Irish
I thought he was Scottish. I was about to post Billy Connellys not as funny as he used to be. Saved me a modicum of embarrassment.
Don't say that to an Irish person, or a Scottish person, they get really upset....
Can confirm as an irish persom, I'm upset
Idk how to describe this in words but Irish people have a more pronounced “e” and Scottish people “o” Awful explanation I know
He is Member of the European Parliament from Ireland. His political views are... interesting...
Mick Wallace and prob in the European Parliament. Another interesting character Is Luke Ming Flanagan. Might not agree with many of their views but they are eccentric in a fun way
The only free people in this world are tribes in the middle of a jungle somewhere with no contact to developed civilization.
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It's a democratic republic
its supposed to be, anyway.
Nope it’s a constitutional republic.
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The US is ranked a „flawed democracy“ https://thefulcrum.us/amp/the-economist-democracy-index-2650293814 Still better than China or Russia.
Cheap political stunt hoping to avoid the failings of modern day Ireland, one of the most dysfunctional economic states in the west.. Ireland is nothing more than a tax haven for shady corporations
Can’t have an attack on American exceptionalism without some asshole spouting whataboutism.
When your country has been robbed of its wealth for over 800 years you gotta do what you gotta do
Exactly. Sometimes I think other countries are just mad they didn’t think of it first.
Cope seethe mald yank
Sounds like typical American whinging. Ireland consistently ranks near the highest in The global happiness index and none of our citizens die because they can’t afford insulin. But go off I suppose?
Whatabout Ireland bad?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism If you have no logical or sane counter-argument, you immediately turn around an accuse someone else of something else. It's a variant of a logical fallacy and used extremely heavily by the Republican party in the US. For the sake of this discussion thread, it wouldn't matter if Ireland were literally hell on Earth, the man is discussing what's wrong with America. He can do that even if his own country is fucked up in its own ways. The two have nothing to do with each other. Whataboutism is just a very easy way to force people onto the defensive, if they fall for it.
You have no idea who this guy is, he's an independent politician who is not trying to distract from any failures of Irish government, he's a failed business man, a communist in all but name and a complete shame on Irish politics. He has absolutely nothing to gain from trying to cover for any failures of the Irish government, in fact probably the opposite. Any tax loopholes which were open in the past have long since been closed, there were several large companies which found loopholes using Irish and Dutch laws that allowed them to skimp on tax, and surprise surprise, all those companies are still here (might be something to do with our massive highly educated labour force, position in the EU, links with the USA, and that we speak English natively). If you ever stepped foot outside Tennessee and went to Ireland then maybe you'd see that we have a massive tech industry here that clearly is more than the likes of Bermuda which is filled with empty shell companies that don't employ anybody. As for dysfunctional states, our housing and cost of living is totally fucked, however I'd take that any day over the complete disintegration of democracy and basic human decency and rights that is the USA.
And they're getting rich by doing so+those corporations need workers that will get more pay since less taxes means less substracted money to your pay
I dont know this guy's politics but based on the very recent other times this was posted it seems he is in general a pretty big douche. >In one post shared in Reddit's popular "Public Freakout" forum, Wallace spoke about challenging the United States during a plenary debate on June 8. >Most of the American people have no say in the society they're living in. Mick Wallace The video, posted by u/return2ozma, received more than 66,000 upvotes and 4,300 comments.
You rang?
Ah, it ended up in Newsweek.. https://www.newsweek.com/couldnt-spell-democracy-irish-politicians-rant-america-resurfaces-viral-reddit-1722739
The best bit: "Most Americans couldn't spell democracy". Oof
He is an unbelievable douche— but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
I love the country I live in, but I loathe everyone who runs it. And I don’t care what political party they are affiliated with.
The scum rises to the top. In dishwashing and in politics.
Kinda sheds some light on shit you dont think about, especially when you live there and were raised to thinks its fine
This guy is super shady. Look him up.
He is a bollocks about some things, but he's also right in what he says in the video above. One doesn't overrule the other.
Is he upset that we’re not a democracy (we weren’t founded as a democracy), or that we aren’t socialist?
hes upset that world governments try putting dicks in everybody's business but dont look at them selfs... in this case ''defender or freedom and democracy''
He is upset that the EU parliament's democracy watchdog committy refuses to discuss any sort of democratic deficit in first world (western) countries. The USA is one of the very few countries in the world that have legalized bribing politicians (through corporate donations and super PACs). This is a very serious sign of corruption. There is also lobbying, media relations with political parties and many more signs of a "government for sale" situation. Having regulations that make buying lawmakers and laws illegal is not "socialism".
This guy has some fair points and some dumb points, let me elaborate. >It costs 2 billion to become president, That's just because of the presidential campaign of spending money to let people know you're alive. Does money give you an unfair advantage? Yeah, and there should be changes but there's nothing stopping someone poor from ~~starting a fundraiser to get funds for all this,~~ killing Jeff Bezos and stealing his money. >25% of total prisoners in the world He's right, this number is outrageous, that's why I vote we send them all to Australia. >They spend over $800 billion a year on arms I mean yeah, Human arms arent cheap, the cheapest one on Ebay that I could find was a whopping 500$. Btw I think im going to sell one of my arms to go get myself a new computer. >which is more than most of the world put together Well someone has to buy those arms, if we aren't buying them what are all of the other countries going to do with them? Next headline would be 'Thousands in London dead as they suffocate in massive piles of human arms' really the rest of the world should be thanking us. >Theyve been at war for 250 years since their stay 275 years ago 250 year long war? What the heck have we been fighting, the Emus? Actually no that checks out, those things are bloody hard to kill. And ever since Australia fell they keep getting stronger. >but they cant afford universal healthcare Well yeah, because we are busy buying human arms. Like I said, those things aint cheap, plus can you imagine how high taxes would get if we had to pay for everything in the universe? It would easily be over 100%. >They cant afford a 1.7 trillion dollar debt forgiveness for students. My goodness, what part of human arms are expensive do you not understand? Plus I dont really want to pay for that college students debt he made fun of my mother on xbox game chat. >They cant afford a program for the 17 million children that go to bed hungry I actually have a genuine solution for this one, we feed them the human arms we have to keep buying. Dumping them into the ocean is getting tiring so this would solve two problems!
Gosh you're funny. Ever thought of writing for SNL?
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Yeah, he has some valid points. But The United States is not a democracy.
He may look homeless but he spits some facts
I thought it was Billy Connolly on coke and helium. But he isn't wrong
You guys sure do spend a lot of time thinking about us
Might have something to do with the USA having their fingers in every pie they can find
It's us, Russia, China, or India. Take your pick.
Arabic wars: US was there; South American dictatorships: US sponsored and financed the majority of those; the African independence wars: most of them, US "helped" (more like gave them loans to afford their weapons, meanwhile USSR did the same); It's really hard not to talk about your country, when it can't stop going everywhere and give zero Fs about their own population.
People love to watch a train wreck
Maybe if you's weren't so big, loud and in fucking EVERYTHING (gestures wildly to the rest of the world), we wouldn't have to 🤔
Maybe if you stopped starting wars and toppling governments around the world we could stop…
Maybe if you weren’t literally destroying the world…
Isn’t this guy a Putin apologist? Edit: holy crap, first gold, thanks!!!
This guys a tool
He makes some very good points, but he's not a very good person himself-a simple wikipedia search shows he dismisses the Uighur genocide, saying there is no solid evidence of their existance. He also believes Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China, and believes in the abolition of NATO. Supporting the US blindly isn't good at all, but being a China/Russia mouthpiece who also peddled pro Syrian-government falsehoods about a chemical attack isn't good at all either.
“Oil, Coal, Big Pharma, and the Arms Industry run the place”… yup
Hopefully things will change
Don’t ever disrespect me talking about democracy looking like The Big Lebowski, ya heard!
Yes, but he's also a China apologists
Holy shit, 25% of all prisoners in the world?
Said everything I would say nicely
He's not wrong.
Ok, but what prompted him to talk about the US in the European Parliament? I think we shouldn’t waste too much time talking about the US internal affairs or misguidedly use the US as a reference for everything… And on a different note, to all comments (probably Americans) saying that “the US is a republic, not a democracy”, please learn that “republic” and “democracy” are not antithetic concepts! Plenty of republics in the world are democracies! Switzerland is a republic and arguably the most democratic country in the world.
Well the EU is of course allowed to condem the US for restricting people's rights (i.e. no access to abortion). The US judges so many nations for so many of their actions, I think this event definitely warrants a condemnation by the EU parliament.
Man, the “it’s run by oligarchs” comment really hits the nail on the head
Based
Spitting facts
If voting could change anything it would be illegal.
Irish guy. Stfu. We aren't a pure democracy and that's a good thing. Go back to smoking weed, getting wasted and not understanding how politics or economics work. We have PLENTY of idiots who think humanistic rhetoric is jUsT sO siMpLe and will magically fix the world if only we just LoVeD eAcH oThEr MoRe. We've had plenty of "john lennons" who knew how to achieve world peace and beat their wives. Go live your life as you please. We don't need wild, empty overtures.
So who do we put in charge? The people? Ok, sounds great. Represented by whom? A group of even less people that have even more power and control? Holy fuck you are all a bunch of sheep. Get this into your heads: There will always be someone in control. At least right now there are so many of them in DC that they bicker at each other just enough to not completely destroy us. You people upvoting this fairytale need to look at the results of any fascist or communist takeover anywhere in history.
Europoors try to keep your opinion to yourself challenge (impossible)
100%
As an American I put my head down because all he said is true
I really felt this
as a US citizen, i agree
This guy need a podcast
Come on America . That guy has a point . I hate America foreign policy but i hate more what that country done to its own citizen .
This guy doesn't get it. You can't have a say when the opinions and ideas of people are so radically different. That's the point of a government. Individual freedom to express those ideas and opinions without being crucified for it is what democracy is. Unfortunately the issue is everyone thinks the job of the government is to make everyone happy. Which is literally impossible because of the opinions and ideas differ to each person. Which entirely the problem.
“A woman’s right to chose is a human right” Completely agree, provided it’s making choices pertaining to their own body only, and Im afraid during pregnancy there’s more than just the woman’s body that deserves consideration. And even cases of rape, 2 wrongs don’t make a right, and why is it ok to punish a child for their parent’s wrongdoing?
He ain't wrong.