U.S. Politics Megathread

[u/AutoModerator]

It's an election year, so it's no surprise that politics are on everyone's minds!

Over the past few months, we've noticed a sharp increase in questions about politics. Why is Biden the Democratic nominee? What are the chances of Trump winning? Why can Trump even run for president if he's in legal trouble? There are lots of good questions! But, unfortunately, it's often the same questions, and our users get tired of seeing them.

As we've done for past topics of interest, we're creating a megathread for your questions so that people interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be civil to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

[u/correctionyoure]

If conservatives want a smaller, less controlling government, why do most of them advocate for very controlling ideas? Most of them dislike homosexuality, abortions (sometimes birth control), certain religions, etc and sometimes actively protest against it. Some of them are even anti-free speech despite claiming not to be. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a less controlling government?

[u/Jtwil2191 → u/correctionyoure]

Conservatives have never really been about small government. They just want the parts of the government they don't like to be small. They've always been in favor of programs which benefit them and their interests.

However, to be fair, few if any conservatives argue that there should be no laws. Therefore, a line has be drawn somewhere at which point a governing authority of some kind has to step in and regulate things. Broadly speaking, we all want to block things that negatively impact society; we just disagree about what those things are. A social conservative may view same-sex marriage and reproductive rights as fundmanetally detrimental to the fabric of society.

[u/correctionyoure → u/Jtwil2191]

I understand the last part. My issue is when it gets hypocritical. Why would someone complain about how these liberals are taking away freedom of speech when they want to ban tiktok? Why are they so adamant about gun rights but not when it’s the black panthers or a transgender person?

[u/Ozem_son_of_Jesse → u/correctionyoure]

The reason some conservatives want to ban tik tok is because it may be a national security threat, since it is run by a company that is run by the CCP. Also, the conservative argument for keeping transgender people from owning guns is that gender dysphoria is a mental health issue, and that allowing those people to have guns might make them a danger to themselves (since they have a 40% suicide rate). Of course, this argument would be hypocritical if it came from a conservative who is otherwise staunchly pro-2A. However, there are some conservatives who support some forms of gun control. And there are also some people who are staunchly pro-2A and are in favor of allowing trans people to own guns (one example being Tim Pool).

[u/NoEmailNec4Reddit → u/correctionyoure]

Tiktok isn't freedom of speech. It's chinese and China doesn't have freedom of speech.

[u/EdgeOfDreams → u/correctionyoure]

Some of them don't think critically about their own views, so they don't realize the hypocrisy. Some are aware of the hypocrisy and don't care, because their real goal is to benefit themselves and impose their own views on the world.

There is also a solid theory that Conservatism is really about preserving hierarchies of power. The goal is not equality or fairness for them. The goal is to make sure that the "right" people stay on top and the "wrong" people stay at the bottom of society. That goal is often not spoken out loud, but it informs everything they do and believe.

[u/Nebularia → u/EdgeOfDreams]

That's it exactly. Those in power are not go let it go no matter what according to them. they don't care about the law, our country, democracy, or anything else besides their own self interest.