Well this is actually the root of the problem. USians not caring about politics until they are personally affected. Of course you didnt have to think about Obama, because he was only slaughtering brown people in foreign countries and not on your doorstep.
Compulsory voting does weed out the crazies because most people are a bit in the middle. The crazies are always a vocal minority who get most of the attention.
But the key thing about Australians is that the majority of us can recognise the shitfuckery and say “yeah nah” .
Plus we also don’t have a First Past The Post voting system (we have ranked choice voting and transferable votes) which minimises the amount of idiots who get in. But we also do have Queensland so some get in anyway (it’s our Florida).
I should also say we don’t have compulsory voting. We have compulsory “showing up”. You can do whatever you want to your ballot once you’ve turned up and had your name crossed off the voting role. Some draw cocks or purposely spoil their ballot paper. But most will actually vote properly.
You can compare anything to anything like what is that even supposed to mean? Thats just as nonsensical as saying you cant compare apples and oranges. They are/were both US presidents they are some of the most comparable people in the world. I even pointed out one of their differences saying Obama was only (mostly actually) slaughtering people outside of the US. Obama is a war criminal by any reasonable definition. Is he better than Trump? Yes. Is he a lying murderous piece of shit? Also yes. One thing that is worse about Obama than Trump though, is that Obama was pretending to be a good guy while Trump is just open about being a piece of shit. That made it harder to politically organize against Obamas policies. Obama also actually got a Nobel Peace Prize and people just went with it like it was a totally normal thing to happen. Like obviously Trump is way more horrible than Obama but why would that make them incomparable?
Well this is actually the root of the problem. USians not caring about politics until they are personally affected. Of course you didnt have to think about Obama, because he was only slaughtering brown people in foreign countries and not on your doorstep.
As an Australian, and our compulsory voting, the thought of not voting is crazy to me.
This does mean it’s made exceptionally easy for us to vote, and care. It’s the antithesis of the US way where voter suppression is the goal.
A lot of Americans can’t imagine compulsory voting.
I can understand the concern - if you think of some of the idiots you know and think about forcing them to vote, it seems like a bad plan.
Ofc the reality is, all the normal people you know also vote, which creates a kind of inertia in the centre.
Compulsory voting does weed out the crazies because most people are a bit in the middle. The crazies are always a vocal minority who get most of the attention.
Wonder if that inspired Murdoch to be an asshole in the US
Nah I think he simply owned all the media in Australia already so started looking elsewhere.
“owns”
But the key thing about Australians is that the majority of us can recognise the shitfuckery and say “yeah nah” .
Plus we also don’t have a First Past The Post voting system (we have ranked choice voting and transferable votes) which minimises the amount of idiots who get in. But we also do have Queensland so some get in anyway (it’s our Florida).
I should also say we don’t have compulsory voting. We have compulsory “showing up”. You can do whatever you want to your ballot once you’ve turned up and had your name crossed off the voting role. Some draw cocks or purposely spoil their ballot paper. But most will actually vote properly.
Im aware that Obama is worthy of criticism, but it feels disingenuous to compare him to Trump? They’re polar opposites.
You can compare anything to anything like what is that even supposed to mean? Thats just as nonsensical as saying you cant compare apples and oranges. They are/were both US presidents they are some of the most comparable people in the world. I even pointed out one of their differences saying Obama was only (mostly actually) slaughtering people outside of the US. Obama is a war criminal by any reasonable definition. Is he better than Trump? Yes. Is he a lying murderous piece of shit? Also yes. One thing that is worse about Obama than Trump though, is that Obama was pretending to be a good guy while Trump is just open about being a piece of shit. That made it harder to politically organize against Obamas policies. Obama also actually got a Nobel Peace Prize and people just went with it like it was a totally normal thing to happen. Like obviously Trump is way more horrible than Obama but why would that make them incomparable?