@Michael: I respect your disgust with yahoos who don't bother to know anything, or to ponder globally the implications of what they do know, but I suggest this may all have to do with the pasting of a restricted (although historically advanced, for its time) democratic polity onto a structure that prevents the yahoos, and everybody else, from actually being part of a democratic SOCIETY (not just a democratic POLITY, even if it were more democratic than it is), which is actually run, in all the important ways, by private wealth (somewhat dispersed among those few who can afford to own influential amounts of stock). This includes the relatively 'open' media, which is obviously seriously distorted (how could one expect otherwise?) by reliance (through advertising, etc.) on private wealth that is largely consolidated elsewhere in the society, and by all the systematic propaganda of the nationalism and legal structures that protect the wealth and its possessors. In such a situation, it's not entirely stupid to remain stupid concerning the details of the process and the events that it leads to (e.g., wars over petroleum, etc.), because your influence is smothered by those who really have it. Then shit goes bad and indoctrinated yahoos find scapegoats for what they can't understand, and candidates in the narrow political system pop up and promise CHANGE! (in my experience, all presidential candidates over the past century or so use the word a lot) - which simply means a 'minor' shift within the overall structure - yet such 'minor' shifts can indeed become major when they can be promoted by the MASSIVE military, economic and cultural power of this particular national government.
Trump supports this arrangement; so did Hilary. But now that the people have spoken - or perhaps have merely inarticulately gasped and shouted - we're supposed to remember that we're all free, and are spreading freedom everywhere, thanks to our (our?) tremendous, democratically-approved control of globally (or wouldbe globally)-hegemonic institutions. But of course it has to be America First, even though, in common with everybody else, most Americans themselves are not exactly first (or even second).
Not a new situation in history, but now it's one within an environment of advanced technology that presents tremendous dangers - though a comparison might be made with 1914. And we all know how that ended...
CHANGE - yeah, that's a thought. maybe Trump & co. will GIVE it to us...
Hmm - maybe I've drunk too much coffee.


China hands out happy city awards, Kunming sad
发布者Social cooperation is also hard-wired into the individuals of an innately social species such as ourselves, without which the individuals of our species would not have survived to pass on any genes..Rouseau's 'noble savage' never existed, both he and Hobbes were wrong.
China hands out happy city awards, Kunming sad
发布者Subjective reports of happiness mean something, but I'm not sure what.
Kunming smells part II: The good, the bad and the ugly
发布者You get used to it all after awhile, as most of Kunming's 7 million inhabitants surely have.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
发布者@nnoble: don't follow - who or what is rotting? I can think of various candidates, but I'm not sure which one you're talking about.
Government sues parents to get kids back to school
发布者There are economic issues concerning education in China for very poor communities, which obviously need a bigger share of the economic pie than they are getting. Yet China's 'socialist market economy' is increasing the overall level of economic resources within China.
What's wrong with this picture?