I have an admission to make. I have little or no knowledge of US politics, even less interest in all the machinations,
In the 18th century parts of the British Empire in North America broke away. The first 50 odd years were spent working out how to govern themselves and deal with the indigines and other colonies from Britain, Spain and France. As the European powers were distracted by the Napoleonic Wars and poor administration their colonies shrank or were sold off and the United States expanded west. Some of the new areas owned slaves, the others did not, and efforts to keep the two together ended in a civil war nad the abolition of slavery. By the end of the 19th century the colonies had evolved into Mexico, Canada and the USA and the European powers held little sway.
The 20th century saw the USA working out how to deal with the rest of the world, eventually rejecting isolationism in favour of engagement, with considerable successful, displacing dictatorships and imperial administrations with democracies, ending the 20th century as a global superpower.
It's politics is dominated by two parties, the democrats and the republicans. Historically the former is the party of organised labour and the latter the party of business, although their policies and constituencies have varied considerably over the decades.
( My train is arriving so I must stop hete)
Thank you for that resume - I was aware that two parties dominate and generally their politics.
I was on the support desk this weekend, and on Friday night I had to make a tough call as everybody had gone for the evening. Initial feedback is that I chose poorly and I am going to get an almighty bollocking tomorrow. I'm travelling down early to avoid tomorrow's weather and was stuck on a commuter train with the usual crowd of jeering drunks. To cope with the stress I did a brief explainer of the evolution of the USA. If you're really unlucky I'll do third party presidential candidates since Ww2 from Thurmond to Stein, with especially reference to Stockdale...
You are very kind but maybe I am not quite into that detail. Sorry about your travel woes
I'm not sure with the Conservatives but I think the results would have to be pretty dramatic to actually prompt a big change in Labour. Maybe it could cause small changes but I think Corbyn is incredibly safe in his position.
Much the same was said before the last election yet Corbyn still took Labour quite close, I don't believe it is as impossible as you think.
Interesting article tonight on Corbyn and Nationalisation where the present owners state that it would be outlawed under human rights law. No idea how likely but there we are
It's not outlawed, it's just if Labour in power effectively steal the companies by deciding the purchase price themselves, they'll loose in court. Hardly a surprise.
Thanks for that! Always appreciated. I wonder if that's simply an inevitable consequence of being in government? You may be well-triangulated, but if voters don't approve of your government they are going to go seeking other options.
Best of luck. One of the things I enjoyed about going self-employed is that if a client doesn't like me they can just dump me (and I just replace them with another one, so I don't really care) whereas when I had a boss, ...
I have an admission to make. I have little or no knowledge of US politics, even less interest in all the machinations,
In the 18th century parts of the British Empire in North America broke away. The first 50 odd years were spent working out how to govern themselves and deal with the indigines and other colonies from Britain, Spain and France. As the European powers were distracted by the Napoleonic Wars and poor administration their colonies shrank or were sold off and the United States expanded west. Some of the new areas owned slaves, the others did not, and efforts to keep the two together ended in a civil war nad the abolition of slavery. By the end of the 19th century the colonies had evolved into Mexico, Canada and the USA and the European powers held little sway.
The 20th century saw the USA working out how to deal with the rest of the world, eventually rejecting isolationism in favour of engagement, with considerable successful, displacing dictatorships and imperial administrations with democracies, ending the 20th century as a global superpower.
It's politics is dominated by two parties, the democrats and the republicans. Historically the former is the party of organised labour and the latter the party of business, although their policies and constituencies have varied considerably over the decades.
( My train is arriving so I must stop hete)
Thank you for that resume - I was aware that two parties dominate and generally their politics.
I was on the support desk this weekend, and on Friday night I had to make a tough call as everybody had gone for the evening. Initial feedback is that I chose poorly and I am going to get an almighty bollocking tomorrow. I'm travelling down early to avoid tomorrow's weather and was stuck on a commuter train with the usual crowd of jeering drunks. To cope with the stress I did a brief explainer of the evolution of the USA. If you're really unlucky I'll do third party presidential candidates since Ww2 from Thurmond to Stein, with especially reference to Stockdale...
Thanks for that! Always appreciated. I wonder if that's simply an inevitable consequence of being in government? You may be well-triangulated, but if voters don't approve of your government they are going to go seeking other options.
Clearly there is the traditional backlash against governments, especially as the legislative election in June 2017 was probably the peak of the Macron wave.
Recent tax raises on pensions and lower speed limits on rural roads are also quite unpopular.
Thanks for that! Always appreciated. I wonder if that's simply an inevitable consequence of being in government? You may be well-triangulated, but if voters don't approve of your government they are going to go seeking other options.
Clearly there is the traditional backlash against governments, especially as the legislative election in June 2017 was probably the peak of the Macron wave.
Recent tax raises on pensions and lower speed limits on rural roads are also quite unpopular.
The UK could do with lower speed limits on a lot of its country lanes. Don't know whether the French law change is sensible but I'd welcome one here!
Btw how is the Mayotte situation? The little I've heard of it sounds pretty crappy - like if the French government is not careful and things explode, we could start to see something serious ("crimes against humanity" level, even) playing out?
Thanks for that! Always appreciated. I wonder if that's simply an inevitable consequence of being in government? You may be well-triangulated, but if voters don't approve of your government they are going to go seeking other options.
Clearly there is the traditional backlash against governments, especially as the legislative election in June 2017 was probably the peak of the Macron wave.
Recent tax raises on pensions and lower speed limits on rural roads are also quite unpopular.
The UK could do with lower speed limits on a lot of its country lanes. Don't know whether the French law change is sensible but I'd welcome one here!
Btw how is the Mayotte situation? The little I've heard of it sounds pretty crappy - like if the French government is not careful and things explode, we could start to see something serious ("crimes against humanity" level, even) playing out?
The proposed change is to lower the default speed limit for all roads from 90 to 80 km/h. Sensible but very unpopular in areas where there are no motorways.
The Mayotte situation is very confused and has been bad for a long time now, due to the huge number of illegal immigrants from Comoros.
Thanks for that! Always appreciated. I wonder if that's simply an inevitable consequence of being in government? You may be well-triangulated, but if voters don't approve of your government they are going to go seeking other options.
Clearly there is the traditional backlash against governments, especially as the legislative election in June 2017 was probably the peak of the Macron wave.
Recent tax raises on pensions and lower speed limits on rural roads are also quite unpopular.
The UK could do with lower speed limits on a lot of its country lanes. Don't know whether the French law change is sensible but I'd welcome one here!
Btw how is the Mayotte situation? The little I've heard of it sounds pretty crappy - like if the French government is not careful and things explode, we could start to see something serious ("crimes against humanity" level, even) playing out?
The proposed change is to lower the default speed limit for all roads from 90 to 80 km/h. Sensible but very unpopular in areas where there are no motorways.
The Mayotte situation is very confused and has been bad for a long time now, due to the huge number of illegal immigrants from Comoros.
Thanks. Not just Britain to have its Jeremy Clarkson brigade!
The sheer numbers reported from Comoros, plus the fact that locals now seem to be "rounding up" illegal migrants, doesn't sound promising.
The problem with politics over the last two decades is the centrists have had it all their own way. Between Blair and Cameron there was no difference in effect. Cameron even proudly claimed to be heir to blair.
Under this centrism the lot of the majority of the people in this country has got worse it is time to shake the tree. I dont personally care who gets in next as long as its not a centrist whose idea seems to be carry on as before
Comments
Time to go
Have a restful night - Good night
Thanks for that! Always appreciated. I wonder if that's simply an inevitable consequence of being in government? You may be well-triangulated, but if voters don't approve of your government they are going to go seeking other options.
@Viewcode
Best of luck. One of the things I enjoyed about going self-employed is that if a client doesn't like me they can just dump me (and I just replace them with another one, so I don't really care) whereas when I had a boss, ...
Honestly, it's time you got a better job though.
Recent tax raises on pensions and lower speed limits on rural roads are also quite unpopular.
Btw how is the Mayotte situation? The little I've heard of it sounds pretty crappy - like if the French government is not careful and things explode, we could start to see something serious ("crimes against humanity" level, even) playing out?
@MyBurningEars: thank you
@Big_G_NorthWales: thank you
The proposed change is to lower the default speed limit for all roads from 90 to 80 km/h. Sensible but very unpopular in areas where there are no motorways.
The Mayotte situation is very confused and has been bad for a long time now, due to the huge number of illegal immigrants from Comoros.
The sheer numbers reported from Comoros, plus the fact that locals now seem to be "rounding up" illegal migrants, doesn't sound promising.
Under this centrism the lot of the majority of the people in this country has got worse it is time to shake the tree. I dont personally care who gets in next as long as its not a centrist whose idea seems to be carry on as before