Donald Trump

[Earl Aelfheah]

Front runnder for nomination to the Republican leadership! WTF! I thought that with George 'Dubbya', we'd hit the bottom of the barrel, but Trump - seriously? What the hell is wrong with conservatives in America?

[Jeremy]

Love what he had to say about John McCain. "I prefer soldiers who don't get captured". What a moron!!

[Louisa]

I quite like Donald Trump to look at. Not so keen on his politics. Love a mop of hair though. A kind of Boris supersize version.

Louisa.

[Otta]

SURELY he would get slaughtered in an election, wouldn't he???

[Louisa]

The right in the U.S. is in serious decline (outside of the rural elderly base). This could be the first time the Democrats secure the White House for a third term.

Louisa.

[Earl Aelfheah]

You would hope so, but they did vote in Bush, and he is (bizarrely) very popular.

[Otta]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33814280

[Earl Aelfheah]

World in danger

[nashoi]

I wouldn't get too concerned.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trumps-six-stages-of-doom/

[Blah Blah]

Donald Trump would be a disaster. This is the guy who regularly makes comments like 'all Mexicans are criminals'. The democrats would have a field day digging up every Trump faux pas. Even his kids have had to rein him in recently because some of his comments have been bad for business. Could be the easiest win for the Democrats in ages.

As for Bush, we all remember Florida! He spent more time on the golf course than in the White House until 9/11 gave him something he thought it worthwhile to turn up and do. Bush was perhaps the peak of the religious right but that has waned with the Sarah Palin Tea Party brigade.

[JohnL]

?I don?t think you heard me,? to one of his rivals who is hard of hearing

Another rival ?He buys and sells politicians of all stripes,? Trump "I bought you too"

[????]

Western Electorates are fed up with sounbite politicians and at the same time unwilling to accept the realities of 21st Century economics/demograhics...so you get idiots of varying degrees storming up popularity polls

That lot in Greece actually elected in Greece an utter disaster for Greece

NF revival in France

Tea Party madness and now this in US

Dare I say it...even someone well meaning idiot like Corybn in the UK*

*lights touchpaper and walks away

[Blah Blah]

lol ????.

If we are talking about the US, you don't even get a sniff of congress unless you are a multi-millionaire and most senators are beholden to ruthless oligarchs like the Koch brothers. People are fed up multinationals buying power and legislation that favours them over everyone else but don't I think understand how that can be changed.

Where I agree with you though is in that any real challenge to that can't get a look in because the system is so watertight and self preserving. So you get rich nutters instead, who promise the earth without really understanding the practicalities of government in the global free market system we currently opearate under.

In America, the 400 richest people own more than half the country's wealth. That is out of a population of 350 million! It's not good. There are tented comminities on the outskirts of LA whilst all those homes reposessed under the sub-prime collapse still lie empty and are falling into disrepair. So there is much to criticise about unfettered global free market capitalism, and much that could be done to improve distribution of income, opportunity etc without harming the already amassed wealth of people like the Koch brothers, and without moving too far away from the global marketplace. But it will take a global change of attitude.

Having that debate might be where Corbyn may be useful. Are some of his ideas outdated? Of course they are, but at the moment there is no-one in the main parties standing up for fairness, the low waged, the disabled, the unemployed. There is nobody challenging low productivity, trade deficits and no-one is taking a long term view. Corbyn I think will ask questions about all of those things. And I think he will listen to the advice and ideas of others party members. I just have an instinct that we may all be suprised.

And just to add this. People often talk about deficit and debt but fail to understand why we are in that situation. It comes down to simple economics. We have 64.1 million people in this country, but only 30.54 million people work, many of them on wages so low they have to be subsidised. 10.4 million are over 65. And 9 million are not looking for work at all, due to ill health, disability or other reasons. Unemployment figures always make me laugh because real unemployment is much higher and without welfare there would be revolution, or mass riot for sure. Of those who work, the highest paid 10% (those in the 40% bracket and higher) pay 53% of all income tax. Any person can see the problem there. We need better wages for the 90% and we need way more people in work. Osbourne is in la la land if he thinks he can balance the books without doing anything to change those things. Both labour and the conservatives are in huge denial on the real issues of the economy and are conning us by blaming each other.

[DaveR]

"We need better wages for the 90% and we need way more people in work."

What will Jeremy Corbyn do to assist with that?

[Blah Blah]

I really don't know Dave. I think all politicians are in denial over that one. But he might point it out enough that it comes to the fore of public consciousness (I am speculating there of course) so that people stop blaming the rich, or the poor, or just about anyone but government themselves.

[Earl Aelfheah]

I think the biggest issue we have is wealth distribution. It's getting to the point were you've almost got a majority divested from society. Relative wealth matters. Having the vast majority of resources concentrated in the hands of a tiny minority is ridiculous. Despite our training we have to start forming some sort of counter narrative. That's were Corbyn may come in.

[JohnL]

rahrahrah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think the biggest issue we have is wealth

> distribution. It's getting to the point were

> you've almost got a majority divested from

> society. Relative wealth matters. Having the vast

> majority of resources concentrated in the hands of

> a tiny minority is ridiculous. Despite our

> training we have to start forming some sort of

> counter narrative. That's were Corbyn may come in.

To be honest Boris has noticed that :)

Don't know what Boris would do.

[Blah Blah]

It's going to be a hard one to fix whilst those with money can buy legislation. On one level something has to be done about lobbying and the bribes that go with it. That would be a start. Things can also be done under current legislation like min wage and tax to improve things - I think all would agree that there's little fairness there.

And let's look at our fractional reserve banking system. I refuse to accept there's no better process for a monetary based economy. The people that tell us things like 'Greed is good for everyone' are the people who do best from what we have at present. Deregulation may have led to us all having TVs and cars, but it has also led to accelerating inequality, decelerating mobility and quality of life, with the majority essentially enslaved to expanding the wealth of the few.

And if we don't change anything, it will get worse. Efforts by government tend to be to get us back to where we were, when where we were is a massive part of the problem.