Originally Posted by HappySnatch

People vote when there is a line, a red line and blue line. No matter how good or how poor the candidate, it really doesn't matter what candidate each party pushes. Much like celebrities, politicians are polished up, marketed correctly, sold like a product and we eat that shit up.

I don't know where you get the idea that we'll suddenly wake up and have a smarter voting population. This nation has been growing dumber each year as evidenced in global education rankings. The backbone of our society lies in celebrity crazed fans, a beauty/sex/fame obsessed society with corresponding moral values and declining academic power.

I've been living in India for about 3 months and can tell you these people have a society based on respect, strong education system, they are extremely ambitious and have a much stronger work ethic than Americans.

Beyond cultural differences, these are facts as to why we're fucked:

-can't cut interest rates anymore to stimulate economy

-most jobs since the recovery have been in the retail and food sectors. Hiring people at fast food restaurants do not output.

-With all of the layoffs in the public sector, the private sector has to create a large net job creation number to even put a dent into the unemployment rate.

-The majority of new capital is invested in BRIC countries and emerging markets where the real growth is. Jobs are created there, not here where growth is sub 2%.

-our government is broke and our only solution is to deficit finance and print money. This will cause inflation that will destroy the middle/poor class more than it already has.

-crime will increase, even more so if unemployment extensions are not granted.

-Charts show that national home prices are still on a downtrend. The majority of those citizens

-According to Wilbur Ross, the new jobs bill Obama proposed will cost around $230,000 tax dollars in order to create a single $50,000 job for 1 year.

-Too much political turmoil and bickering in between the parties to get any cost effective solution passed.

-Increasing barriers to entry for many small businesses. There are too many patents, laws and restrictions that gives incentive for a small business owner to open shop in the US. Recently I heard a US Citizen starting a business in China, because it would take him 4 months, not 2 years as in the US.

-Taxes. Raising taxes on the rich will just piss them off enough to move their funds overseas and incorporate in European Tax Havens. Most of the extra disposable income created from lowering taxes would just be pocketed and saved.

There are many more reasons. Even if you put the smartest person in the world in the President's seat, they couldn't fix the problems we have. It's not because that person couldn't figure out the solution, but because of entire system. It's rigged.