Comments by "Tony Wilson" (@tonywilson4713) on "Has US politics poisoned the UK? With Jon Stewart | Armando Iannucci | The New Statesman" video.

I'm Australian but went to college in America (U. Illinois) so I know both Wisconsin and Missouri. I used to have plenty of interesting discussions with friends on the US Constitution. I did engineering but a bunch of them we pre-law. My policy sci was mostly studying Orwell (AF & 1984) in high school. So I used to argue that any country or society could fall into a totalitarian nightmare because that was Orwell's warning - "Look after your country or it can turn into a nightmare." Their main argument (and they studied this stuff) was that it was impossible in America because the US Constitution was specifically written to prevent it through its system of "Checks & Balances" One thing that we never discussed because it was inconceivable was what would happen if somebody corrupted that system of checks & balances so that they could start undermining other parts of the US System. Look at what a small group of billionaires have done funding Mitch McConnell's corruption of the Senate. They now have a completely corporatized SCOTUS making judgements that suit what they want. My friends used to explain to me that SCOTUS would protect the Constitution from abuse. and that SCOTUS was impossible to corrupt because the Senate would provide the checks & balances. The House could pass new laws but the Senate would check what they wrote and make sure it was balanced. The president would make the necessary executive decisions if and when needed and the Senate would reign him in if he went to far. If you think I have misread what my college friends told me 30+ years ago (it was the late 80s) then tell me what they got wrong. A bunch of them are now lawyers and I can't wait to eventually make it to a Homecoming and ask them about this stuff and hear what they have to say now.
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I think you 100% right. I'm an Australian who went to college in America (late 80s) an watched what has happened. I also worked in Canada for a few months back in pate 2017. We also get the British NHS explained out here. We have a dual system where we have both public and private systems running in parallel with a reasonable amount of overlap. It works for us I know that Britain and Canada have similar private systems running in parallel but I think they are smaller than our private sector (as a percentage of the overall). We have had people push for a fully privatised system in the past. None of of our politicians dare try now because we all look at America and tell them to FK-OFF. Its a sure fire way to lose an election and it can end a political career quicker than any sex scandal. The problem America has and I have said almost an identical thing on 2 other videos today on completely different subjects is that our public discussions these days get hijacked by tribalized clowns who just want to scream at everything. These tribalized clowns come in all sorts of colors depending on the subject. They all believe they are 101% right and they need to save the human race from the rest of us. I'm an engineer and I can tell you with assurity that if the tribalized clowns would just STFU and go away then we can get out of the energy crisis in a way that is both cost effective and doesn't kill the planet. It won't be quick and will take some time but its doable. We just can't get heard and that's just so typical at the moment.
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@laniefeleski7288 Gerrymandering has been practiced all over the world in various forms Here in Australia we used to joke that in Queensland sheep and bulldozers had more voting rights than people. In Western Australia its dump trucks, bulldozers and diggers with voting rights. In Tasmania its salmon that vote. While in South Australia tuna vote. In parts of Victoria and News South Wales, sheep, cows, dogs and tractors can vote but they aren't allowed to run for office YET. Meanwhile back in the motherland of Britain its worked like this for centuries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6mJw50OdZ4
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@laniefeleski7288 I'd agree with that. The GOP is way worse than the Democrats and particularly the new Trumpian GOP. BUT THEN the problem with the Democrats is they have the attitude "We aren't as bad, therefore we are good." The problem is they FAIL at leadership & governance as well and that's my point. NOBODY SHOULD ACCEPT BAD GOVERNANCE OF THEIR SOCIETY. And just claiming that one party isn't as bad does NOT equate to good governance. I actually put a hypothetical to a bunch of friends of mine a couple of years ago here in Australia. And yes we have the same problem with our establishment parties its just not as toxic. YET I have 5 fav topics - Economy, Industry, Health Care, Education and Environment. I use those 5 because I know that reasonably smart people will agree that: People want an economy that's stable and industries that provide decent careers at every level. People want to know that they will get cared for if they get sick. People want to know their children will get a decent education so they can have a good life. People want an clean environment where they can breath the air, drink the water and eat the food. So I asked these friends what would happen if a new party started and had those 5 things as their core and had clear simple answers on how all 5 could be done or at least made better? One word was common - annihilate. Either that new party would annihilate the establishment parties OR through nefarious means the establishment would annihilate that new party through the media they own or control.
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@laniefeleski7288 yeah I sort of hear a bit about the erosion of the "checks & balances" but I don't see it as a top level item. Its almost like there are people who get it, but don't want to face it or face up to how hard its going be to fix. How does you fix a problem like the current state of the US Senate? Here in Australia we have a huge problem that I have only recently become aware off in our Judiciary. Our judges in our upper courts can simply seal their judgements and other than the decision. Its ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to get an answer on how or why the judgement was made. How dose any country fix these sorts of entrenched issues where people have built these fortresses? Every country has 1 or more of these entrenched bureaucratic monstrosities with almost no way to reform or fix them.
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