Some people have intimacy issues, so they lose attraction to anyone with increasing familiarity, while some others are just attracted to novelty regardless of how perfect their partner is.

Looking at the example of other nations that have deposed their monarchies, you’re right. It’s essentially a whole bunch of ceremony and tradition, which Parliament could vote to end and seize their property at any moment if they’d like.

The Democratic Party leadership is too full of “limousine liberals” who spend most of their time fundraising from very rich individuals and companies that despise unions, so it shouldn’t surprise many that the party has become far more interested in social issues than labor issues—but then the very same could be said…

It’s a rather inane idiomatic phrase. Americans commonly say “I could care less” to mean “I couldn’t care less.” I tend to go with the latter precisely because of the former’s contradictory literal meaning.

Honestly, Michigan has been so thoroughly neglected by everyone over the past three decades that it doesn’t really matter what you think—Democrats have only proven to be lukewarm allies over the decades.

Rich: At this point, I’m not sure how to handle stuff that’s solely invested in heteronormative whiteness anymore. It has to be really fucking phenomenal to really grab me.

White people can’t win in any discussion about race.

This being Michigan, a lot of these insurance companies don’t serve the state because its so expensive. Last I checked, Progressive doesn’t operate there for that reason.

That’s funny you mention that, because I’ve happened to live in both places. When I left Michigan eight years ago, I was paying about US$1200/year. In Toronto, I pay around CA$1600/year.

Ah cool...thanks for the clarification! :)

The “church tax” is apparently rooted in old, pre-Christian Germanic customs, so it’s pretty normal amongst German-speaking countries and Scandinavia. Ultimately, though, it’s optional, at least in Germany; you can formally declare yourself a non-believer and not pay the tax, although these churches may then refuse…

Very much agreed!

The Democratic Party desperately needs to seek out and nurture rising talent. The party leadership is old—very old. While I can name a number of high-profile younger politicians within the GOP—Paul Ryan being a prominent example—it’s much harder for me to name anyone off the top of my head with the Democrats. That…

You’re entirely correct. This is also, incidentally, why it’s truly difficult to depict the events of American history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries—these attitudes were shockingly mainstream. Nazi Germany even claimed to have borrowed from American enthusiasm for eugenics in the creation of its own…

I’m not so cynical as to believe that “nothing” can be done to combat populism. In fact, I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface. What has deflated populist movements in the past is when “mainstream” politics adapt to address the core grievances at the root of the problem. It doesn’t mean accepting the…

Part of the issue is that there’s not really a tradition of interventionism in the American left anymore. In Truman’s time, the roles were almost exactly reversed, but then with 1968 and the rise of the anti-war movement, those pro-military Democrats became Republicans in the 1980s, giving birth to “neoconservatism.”…

You don’t understand, because you are a reasonably well-adjusted individual. If you want to go down the rabbit hole, read up on “abnormal psychology.” There are whole subtypes of personality disorders that explain why people act and do what they do, and, of course, not all of these people are inherently bad. Quite…

This was the very first thing that came to my mind!

It’s fair to say that America (and the world, for that matter) is in transition, and I would also say that the Internet has an awful lot to do with that, just as the printing press led to gigantic changes in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages.

Playing “Republican-lite” is a strategy they’ve done before to limited success, so I sure as hell hope they don’t think it’ll work again. It’s the height of condescension to think that the only reason Middle America isn’t voting Democratic is that they aren’t “racist enough,” and I think people will see straight…