alt Hacker NewsI agree that they are not equally bad, and- Democrats since Carter have bowed to influence from neoliberal capitalists, and capitalism is is a "boom-bust-quit" cycle, which I see as narrow-minded and selfish. Clinton got away with undoing the 1933 Glass-Stiegel Act (separating stock market and banking? financial regulation to reduce boom-bust amplitude, anyway) in 1999 by selling a "third way" that was really just watered-down Reaganomics (neoliberal capitalism, following the Heritage Foundation's Mandate for Leadership). Neither Obama nor Biden did enough to prevent oligrarchy, eithe, though under Biden the value of future lives was increased a bit. All the Republican presidents have done more harm, though. I'm really disheartened by this trend, and one little upside is that I'm bonding & bridging with local people, because it gives me a sense of meaning and efficacy. HN is my only social media outlet, and I only dip my toes in now and then.
Yup, this is fair. But I'd also guess that deregulation of news media in the 80s(?), turning it into entertainment, tipped the scales in favor of news media that promoted fear/disgust, which, in turn, gave the GOP a massive advantage. The GOP progressively cornered the market on paranoiac lunacy probably after the Civil Rights act, Goldwater's defeat, and Vietnam. A boring journalistic environment, with legally enforceable objectivity, would have been good for the left. What we had instead -- an environment that rewards sensationalism and outrage, appealing to the amygdala -- was good for the right.
> under Biden the value of future lives was increased a bit
Could you explain this?