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[Fuchsdh]

I feel like a lot of these topics are overly simplistic, but this AirBnB one takes the cake. No shit, you don't have legal protections. It's inherently riskier from a legal standpoint. But bringing up carbon monoxide scaremongering when far more people are in danger of it at hotels?

It makes complete sense to crack down on people essentially using AirBnB to rent out homes, since they are functioning as a hotel in that case versus renting out a room for a week or two here and there and thus should be subject to the same rules as the other hotels follow. But it's kind of ironic that a series that spends so much time talking about how industries control and brainwash people never once mentions the fact that the biggest proponents of destroying AirBnB are the hospitality industry and the government that wants their money, and why it might be worth examining their goals and motivations.

Pulling five horror stories up from more than 60 million guest trips is intellectual dishonesty unless you are comparing apples to apples with issues at hotels.

 

[clav]

Clips offer a partial explanation as opposed to the full show, so I'm curious to see what the rest of his argument is.

 

[SaganIsGOAT]

My cats are idiots. They can't even catch the stupid mouse toy thing if I dangle it high enough

My GF's cat was a super chill dork like yours. Neutered, shots and everything. One day while he was out he got into a cat fight. He came back missing a toe. He became 9 toe Joe and it cost her over a $1000 dollars. Don't assume animals will behave how you think they will lol

 

[explodet]

The

Spoiler

"Alfonso Explica Todo"

segment of the Immigration episode was great, although it made me dizzy after a while.

As for the AirBNB thing, I can see that one being a sticky subject.
He should do that "Adam Ruins 'Adam Ruins Everything'" episode.

 

[J-Tier]

I love this guy, most of the episodes I love.

The only one I thought was weak was the renting is better than owning a home sketch.

I love the glasses one, made me realize how bullshit the glasses business is (plus I love the role reversal).

 

[Parshias7]

The only one I thought was weak was the renting is better than owning a home sketch.

Was this expanded in the actual episode? Because I watched the youtube clip and it wasn't convincing.

"You still have to pay rent, only now its a mortgage and you're paying the bank!"

Sure, but the idea of buying vs. renting is that you can structure your mortgage and your down payment in a way that you're paying less in monthly mortgage payments than you would in rent. There are tons of calculators available online for you to see if it would be worthwhile to buy instead of rent. Plus if you own the property you may be able to benefit from your home/area increasing in value over time.

Buying isn't always better than renting, and renting isn't always better than buying. The short clip on youtube didn't really have a good argument.

 

[Pulka]

The

Spoiler

"Alfonso Explica Todo"

segment of the Immigration episode was great, although it made me dizzy after a while.

As for the AirBNB thing, I can see that one being a sticky subject.
He should do that "Adam Ruins 'Adam Ruins Everything'" episode.

They already kind off did in the reality TV episode.

 

[morningbus]

The buying/renting episode hasn't aired yet.

I imagine the takeaway is going to be that renting makes more sense for a lot more people and not that no one should own homes.

 

[clav]

I love this guy, most of the episodes I love.

The only one I thought was weak was the renting is better than owning a home sketch.

I love the glasses one, made me realize how bullshit the glasses business is (plus I love the role reversal).

The renting/airbnb/

Spoiler

electric car?

episode hasn't aired yet.

 

[mugurumakensei]

The buying/renting episode hasn't aired yet.

I imagine the takeaway is going to be that renting makes more sense for a lot more people and not that no one should own homes.

if you plan to live in an area for fewer than 10-15 years, you probably shouldn't buy.

if you don't want to deal with maintenance, you probably shouldn't buy.

if area home value is already high, you probably shouldn't buy.

90% of people are going to be in one of those three groups, they shouldn't buy.

if they are in group 3, they are almost certainly not going to profit when they sell the house unless they plan to rent the house out for a substantial portion of time.

 

[explodet]

They already kind off did in the reality TV episode.

This would be something different; Adam once said in an interview he'd like to also do an episode where he looks back at older episodes and sees what he got wrong, and what he could have argued better for or against.

But that might not be for a while.

 

[NewFresh]

As it happens I was thinking about this the other day and I think that it's even worse than that, it actually turns around cumulative interest. An S&P500 fund will generate 7% interest on average. A mortgage typically - current conditions excepted - has a rate higher than that. Meaning that you're literally losing money on a mortgage versus just saving more and putting it in an index fund. Because the cumulative interest on that would still be more than the change in price of your house, unless you're living in Vancouver.
Is this correct thinking or am I completely missing something?

Haven't watched the episode yet, but I think you are missing he part where you have to live somewhere?

 

[Kor of Memory]

I enjoyed the first few video I watched, but when I came across a topic I actually am educated about, I saw straight through it.

Namely the car dealership one. There was a lot of half-truths and full on lies in those 3 minutes, which leads me to question his other segments pretty heavily.

Source: I worked as an IT Director for a chain of Dealerships that had 12 buildings/lots and sold 20 different manufacturer models.

There are a lot of rules and policies that actually come straight down from the manufacturer itself. In fact, we acquired a license to sell Volvo's because the one Volvo dealer in town had customer satisfaction scores that were below 80%. So it's not impossible to shut them down if they suck.

Now, the whole you can't open a store too close to another store, well that's just more Manufacturer's policy. They don't want stores competing with each other, so they simply wont approve you to sell if you are too close to another store (population taken into account).

Finally, a lot of brand new cars are sold at MSRP nowadays, because most dealership make their money off used sales and financing plans.

What the video doesn't show is that if there are no dealerships, then there are no proper certified garages to work on your vehicle. Because the profits from the Service and parts department are peanuts compared to the rest of the business.

I could go on if anyone is interested, but I think you guys get the idea.

Edit: The nepotism thing is spot on, though.

 

[kavanf1]

*snip*

Completely agree, I've said this before with respect to stuff he's talked about that I'm knowledgeable about - it was easy to spot the stuff that was stretched truth or even wrong. Consequently it made me wonder how much I could rely on the videos where claims are made that I don't have any real knowledge of.

The upshot is that while it's a good source of entertainment, I find any claims to it being factually authoritative to be slightly dubious. That it's better than a lot of the misleading shite out there doesn't necessarily mean it's entirely reliable itself.

 

[Fuchsdh]

if you plan to live in an area for fewer than 10-15 years, you probably shouldn't buy.

if you don't want to deal with maintenance, you probably shouldn't buy.

if area home value is already high, you probably shouldn't buy.

90% of people are going to be in one of those three groups, they shouldn't buy.

if they are in group 3, they are almost certainly not going to profit when they sell the house unless they plan to rent the house out for a substantial portion of time.

But this ignores the fact that for some people the "investment" isn't monetary. There are plenty of benefits to homeownership, such as the fact that I don't have jackasses playing music at all hours from downstairs keeping me up, that I can enjoy my yard and porch without gaggles of people blocking my egress or dog shit everywhere. This sort of stuff is intangible and not quantifiable—stuff that matters to me might not to other people—but most people aren't out looking to flip houses either, or move halfway across the world for a job anyhow.

I also can't help but feel a lot of this "buying a home is stupid!" stuff is just down to pure old-fashioned adaptive preference formation. People my age can't afford to buy a house, so they say they "never really wanted a house anyway".

 

[Keasar]

I enjoyed the first few video I watched, but when I came across a topic I actually am educated about, I saw straight through it.

Namely the car dealership one. There was a lot of half-truths and full on lies in those 3 minutes, which leads me to question his other segments pretty heavily.

Good! He actually encourages that and want you to check his listed sources for faults that he and his research team does.

 

[J-Tier]

The renting/airbnb/

Spoiler

electric car?

episode hasn't aired yet.

I see. I don't have cable TV, since I only use Netflix and other streaming services.

I meant the YouTube clip. Maybe they go into further detail in the episode.

 

[Heshinsi]

He also talked about Baseball. Hockey is the same way. My point is, he didn't uncover/Ruin anything. We know sports are unpredictable, that's why people like them. If the #1 seed always won, nobody would give a shit about the playoffs.

As an avid football (not the American version) fan, what he said made perfect sense to me. You play an entire season worth of games, and in the end a handful of games dictate who the best team that season was. The football method of having the team with the most points earning the league trophy, and then having a number of separate events to hand out other cups, is the best system in my opinion. The best team that season wins the biggest domestic trophy, and then you have other knockout tournaments to give other teams a chance for some silverware (and of course the chances of witnessing a giant slaying is welcome lol).

 

[clav]

I see. I don't have cable TV, since I only use Netflix and other streaming services.

You can buy a whole season. Google Play offers the cheapest passes.

His episodes are up on season passes for you cord cutters out there:

Amazon Video
Google Play
iTunes
Microsoft Store

 

[Icyflamez96]

The Real Truth About Financial Aid

Why'd they disable comments and like bar though? Didn't watch it yet.

 

[Austriacus]

Its weird to see people here just dismissing what he is saying as if he is doing "imo" segments.

He is encouraging all of you to look at the sources he is providing and refute that. Saying "oh but my experience shows otherwise" to what he is saying and not debating the sources he provides seems kinda dumb.

 

[Keasar]

That was a great episode. Been hearing a lot from my mother that I should buy a apartment but I am now really reconsidering that, probably should check the sources about buying vs. renting.

I recommend watching the full episode regarding the AirBnB business, it was a much longer part regarding them than what was in that clip. Not just that there is a lack of safety protocol but also the systemic racism (since you have to show a photo of yourself to those renting out AirBnB, you have a 16% lower chance of getting a AirBnB place if you're black or have a black sounding name) or the fact that AirBnB is supporting illegal hotel activities where people rent apartments and then rent them out for a higher price to tourists, driving the renting price up of areas and forcing people out of neighborhoods in bigger cities. And they do nothing to try and support it, even going so far as to purging data about illegal practices from their clientele from their records in order to appear clean when investigated.

Also, absolutely lovely to hear him bring up one of the problems of homelessness, the actual lack of houses to call homes. It doesn't help if you make people sober from drugs or give them training for jobs when employers require you in most cases to actually first of all have a home to live in, something you're trying to fix by getting a job in the first place! After 8 years of being dead, George Carlin is still in the right. Change the name to Houselessness.

Was this expanded in the actual episode? Because I watched the youtube clip and it wasn't convincing.

"You still have to pay rent, only now its a mortgage and you're paying the bank!"

Sure, but the idea of buying vs. renting is that you can structure your mortgage and your down payment in a way that you're paying less in monthly mortgage payments than you would in rent. There are tons of calculators available online for you to see if it would be worthwhile to buy instead of rent. Plus if you own the property you may be able to benefit from your home/area increasing in value over time.

Buying isn't always better than renting, and renting isn't always better than buying. The short clip on youtube didn't really have a good argument.

He does. He goes into examples of how actual financial experts and not real estate agents say you should diversify your investments into different areas instead of chugging everything you got into one so that in-case one of those markets fail, you don't loose everything. Most non-rich people can only invest into one thing and that is usually a house, but if the housing market crashes (and it does), all that investment is lost. He also brings up that financial experts looking at the house value trend over the past decades instead of just past years have concluded that there isn't a steady growth of value, it's actually completely stagnant, houses never rise in value, they stay essentially the exact same over time. Not to mention the hidden costs of owning a house like insurance, repairs etc. that eliminates any "potential" profit you could have made from buying a house. In short, it is financially viable for people who plan to stay long term and have a good source of income.

For everyone else, it is better to rent.

 

[firehawk12]

I assume these episodes were filmed after a long break and they couldn't get that actress from the first batch of episodes? They even reference her, but it's like suddenly the character just decided not to bother her any more.

 

[Already Torn]

I assume these episodes were filmed after a long break and they couldn't get that actress from the first batch of episodes? They even reference her, but it's like suddenly the character just decided not to bother her any more.

The one who was in an episode three weeks ago?

 

[morningbus]

I assume these episodes were filmed after a long break and they couldn't get that actress from the first batch of episodes? They even reference her, but it's like suddenly the character just decided not to bother her any more.

Do you mean the one they killed last season?

 

[Already Torn]

Do you mean the one they killed last season?

Her death was noncanon, she's shown up in most of the episodes this season.

 

[diehard]

I kinda think this show is starting to rely a little bit too much on opinion pieces or editorials than flat out fact. Like im not saying what they are saying is wrong.. but lately it just seems to be either more disputable or even obvious (home ownership isnt right for everyone).

I fear they will have to keep moving that direction to make more episodes.

 

[NewFresh]

That was a great episode. Been hearing a lot from my mother that I should buy a apartment but I am now really reconsidering that, probably should check the sources about buying vs. renting.

I recommend watching the full episode regarding the AirBnB business, it was a much longer part regarding them than what was in that clip. Not just that there is a lack of safety protocol but also the systemic racism (since you have to show a photo of yourself to those renting out AirBnB, you have a 16% lower chance of getting a AirBnB place if you're black or have a black sounding name) or the fact that AirBnB is supporting illegal hotel activities where people rent apartments and then rent them out for a higher price to tourists, driving the renting price up of areas and forcing people out of neighborhoods in bigger cities. And they do nothing to try and support it, even going so far as to purging data about illegal practices from their clientele from their records in order to appear clean when investigated.

Also, absolutely lovely to hear him bring up one of the problems of homelessness, the actual lack of houses to call homes. It doesn't help if you make people sober from drugs or give them training for jobs when employers require you in most cases to actually first of all have a home to live in, something you're trying to fix by getting a job in the first place! After 8 years of being dead, George Carlin is still in the right. Change the name to Houselessness.


He does. He goes into examples of how actual financial experts and not real estate agents say you should diversify your investments into different areas instead of chugging everything you got into one so that in-case one of those markets fail, you don't loose everything. Most non-rich people can only invest into one thing and that is usually a house, but if the housing market crashes (and it does), all that investment is lost. He also brings up that financial experts looking at the house value trend over the past decades instead of just past years have concluded that there isn't a steady growth of value, it's actually completely stagnant, houses never rise in value, they stay essentially the exact same over time. Not to mention the hidden costs of owning a house like insurance, repairs etc. that eliminates any "potential" profit you could have made from buying a house. In short, it is financially viable for people who plan to stay long term and have a good source of income.

For everyone else, it is better to rent.

I think this is the takeaway most people should get from this. For me an my wife, we made a very financial based decision to buy a house and stop renting, but we didn't make the move just trying to chase that American dream.

Also, there really needs to be an increase in affordable renting options. There has been a consistent shift in ever increasing rental prices. It's an ever gentrifying area, so rent just continues to rise to the point that it's unattainable or costing you >50% of your income.

 

[Fuchsdh]

That was a great episode. Been hearing a lot from my mother that I should buy a apartment but I am now really reconsidering that, probably should check the sources about buying vs. renting.

I recommend watching the full episode regarding the AirBnB business, it was a much longer part regarding them than what was in that clip. Not just that there is a lack of safety protocol but also the systemic racism (since you have to show a photo of yourself to those renting out AirBnB, you have a 16% lower chance of getting a AirBnB place if you're black or have a black sounding name) or the fact that AirBnB is supporting illegal hotel activities where people rent apartments and then rent them out for a higher price to tourists, driving the renting price up of areas and forcing people out of neighborhoods in bigger cities. And they do nothing to try and support it, even going so far as to purging data about illegal practices from their clientele from their records in order to appear clean when investigated.

Also, absolutely lovely to hear him bring up one of the problems of homelessness, the actual lack of houses to call homes. It doesn't help if you make people sober from drugs or give them training for jobs when employers require you in most cases to actually first of all have a home to live in, something you're trying to fix by getting a job in the first place! After 8 years of being dead, George Carlin is still in the right. Change the name to Houselessness.


He does. He goes into examples of how actual financial experts and not real estate agents say you should diversify your investments into different areas instead of chugging everything you got into one so that in-case one of those markets fail, you don't loose everything. Most non-rich people can only invest into one thing and that is usually a house, but if the housing market crashes (and it does), all that investment is lost. He also brings up that financial experts looking at the house value trend over the past decades instead of just past years have concluded that there isn't a steady growth of value, it's actually completely stagnant, houses never rise in value, they stay essentially the exact same over time. Not to mention the hidden costs of owning a house like insurance, repairs etc. that eliminates any "potential" profit you could have made from buying a house. In short, it is financially viable for people who plan to stay long term and have a good source of income.

For everyone else, it is better to rent.

But again, this is arguing that home-buying is a pure investment decision, and for most people it's not. Some people (most people?) just want to have something they own and control, somewhere where they don't have trashy neighbors blasting music from the floor underneath them, where they have room for projects or a studio or a family, and maybe have something to give their kids when they're gone. Those factors make buying a hell of a lot more appealing than renting forever, especially since at some point I'm never going to be wanting to move across country and follow up on that mythical Hawaiian job opportunity. Obviously there has to be financial considerations—can I afford the kind of house I want in the neighborhood I want—but it's not about investments in the way they portray.

(Also, doesn't matter what they say about averages across the country, if I buy a home in NoVA or DC or Brooklyn and it's not in a flood zone for climate change, it will appreciate in value dramatically. Arguing otherwise is asinine given the historical trends that show no sign of stopping.)

Finally, the matter of escalating rents isn't really discussed enough. Sure, home prices have been increasing so fast in a lot of markets it's no longer affordable, but you get to lock in the prices you're paying. There's no real control on rents, given that cities are unwilling or unable to stop illegal acts by landlords (if my landlord feels confident enough to literally put a "we can illegally evict you, and you can't sue us for that" clause in their contract, I'm inclined to believe the city isn't putting real pressure on them) so you're leaving yourself to be shackled to a market that is going to displace you at some point in all likelihood.

 

[NewFresh]

But again, this is arguing that home-buying is a pure investment decision, and for most people it's not. Some people (most people?) just want to have something they own and control, somewhere where they don't have trashy neighbors blasting music from the floor underneath them, where they have room for projects or a studio or a family, and maybe have something to give their kids when they're gone. Those factors make buying a hell of a lot more appealing than renting forever, especially since at some point I'm never going to be wanting to move across country and follow up on that mythical Hawaiian job opportunity. Obviously there has to be financial considerations—can I afford the kind of house I want in the neighborhood I want—but it's not about investments in the way they portray.

(Also, doesn't matter what they say about averages across the country, if I buy a home in NoVA or DC or Brooklyn and it's not in a flood zone for climate change, it will appreciate in value dramatically. Arguing otherwise is asinine given the historical trends that show no sign of stopping.)

Finally, the matter of escalating rents isn't really discussed enough. Sure, home prices have been increasing so fast in a lot of markets it's no longer affordable, but you get to lock in the prices you're paying. There's no real control on rents, given that cities are unwilling or unable to stop illegal acts by landlords (if my landlord feels confident enough to literally put a "we can illegally evict you, and you can't sue us for that" clause in their contract, I'm inclined to believe the city isn't putting real pressure on them) so you're leaving yourself to be shackled to a market that is going to displace you at some point in all likelihood.

I do really wish he would have touched on ever increasing rent prices besides one comment near the end. I have friends who have had to move further and further out of the city because they can no longer afford their rent. Once lower income areas become trendy, prices skyrocket, and people get displaced.

 

[morningbus]

Her death was noncanon, she's shown up in most of the episodes this season.

Her?

I don't remember her being shown alive since her character's death. They even go out of their way to have her picture in places, as if she's still dead.

 

[clav]

That character is dead. She's indirectly referenced in the background in season 2 (wedding friends picture).

This week's episode made an argument why you should consider renting over buying. Unless you're prepared to settle down and stay an area for at least a decade, then renting may make more sense. A lot of people hop around jobs these days because that's how usually people obtain wage promotions. People no longer dedicate 20 to 30 years at a company any more.

As for the AirBNB argument, Adam admits they provide a good service, but it does have problems. Full segment here: Why Your Airbnb May Be ILLEGAL

The Homeless solution is interesting although it's only indirectly addressing why there are so many homeless (expensive houses + high rents). A lot of bitter homeowners don't like the solution. I like how he dispels the bootstraps myth for these unfortunate people.

 

[Regulus Tera]

The 2016 election special is airing today and the previews they've put online look amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL5aWcD7tc0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkrNlDINXs0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FnrhNx9z0

The one about female presidents is on point.

 

[Dai101]

Just watched the special. This needs to be viewed by everyone.

 

[zulux21]

all that investment is lost. He also brings up that financial experts looking at the house value trend over the past decades instead of just past years have concluded that there isn't a steady growth of value, it's actually completely stagnant, houses never rise in value, they stay essentially the exact same over time.

overall that is true, but not true for everywhere.

I don't have a house right now because I couldn't afford it (as I want to pay at least 25% of the cost up front and need to get rid of some more student loans still) but the housing market near me is nearly a sure bet right now.

it's a small town (just a bit over 10k people live there) with a billion dollar business rapidly growing (and has only been there for around a decade). aka not the normal market at all lol.

the end result is housing value has been going up rapidly and should continue to for at least the next 5 years (it will bust a bit at some point, but unless the company goes under i can't see the prices going back down to where they were). I am hoping that I can get a house near there for my wife to live close to work before prices get too crazy, even if I can't, I still might pull the trigger as we at this point plan on retiring here, and the company is very stable.

plus rent is basically going up 10% per year, so it would be nice to just have a flat rate to plan out over the next 10 years.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

Just got into season one. Really liking it.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Finally got around to watching the election special. While I get the stuff about polarization, it makes me feel uneasy that it's presented almost as if Congress is unable to compromise because people are unable to reach out to the other side. I don't think that's quite how it works.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

it makes me feel uneasy that it's presented almost as if Congress is unable to compromise because people are unable to reach out to the other side. I don't think that's quite how it works.

That's been increasingly more how it works the further we get into the modern era.

You only need to look at Obama's presidency as well as the Supreme Court fiasco to see that.

 

[Loxley]

Finally got around to watching the election special. While I get the stuff about polarization, it makes me feel uneasy that it's presented almost as if Congress is unable to compromise because people are unable to reach out to the other side. I don't think that's quite how it works.

I mean, Republicans have gone on record saying that if they were to even think about approaching the Obama administration (or democrats in general) for compromise they would have been seen as making the Republican party look weak by their lunatic constituency and could risk losing their seats in Congress come election season. It's why they've been such obstructionists during Obama's tenure.

Hell John Boehner was pressured out of his role as House Speaker because he was seen as being "too weak" because he actually worked with Obama on occasion instead cock-clocking him at every turn. It's also why nobody wanted the job after Boehner left and Paul Ryan ended up begrudgingly accepting it.

 

[JHoNNy1OoO]

I mean, Republicans have gone on record saying that if they were to even think about approaching the Obama administration (or democrats in general) for compromise they would have been seen as making the Republican party look weak by their lunatic constituency and could risk losing their seats in Congress come election season. It's why they've been such obstructionists during Obama's tenure.

Hell John Boehner was pressured out of his role as House Speaker because he was seen as being "too weak" because he actually worked with Obama on occasion instead cock-clocking him at every turn. It's also why nobody wanted the job after Boehner left and Paul Ryan ended up begrudgingly accepting it.

Well that has more to do with gerrymandering and the primary process. Republicans are afraid of losing their seat to more extreme Republicans. That's the really crazy shit.

 

[clav]

Just saw the election episode.

Absolutely agreed with everything he said especially the conclusion.

Much of GAF (and nearly everyone) suffers from that syndrome.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I haven't seen the election episode yet, but there are two major reasons why bipartisanship has declined that people don't talk about enough.

1) Realignment of parties around ideology; 50 years ago, both parties had substantial ideological overlap, creating incentives for those people in the middle to work with those other reps who had similar ideological positions but differing party labels. Now, with the two party labels entirely disjoint (i.e. every Republican is more conservative than every Democrat), there's little such common ground. Note that this is not polarization (i.e. legislators getting more extreme) but rather sorting (i.e. conservatives becoming Republicans; liberals becoming democrats; or alternatively, liberal districts learning to elect Democrats and conservative districts learning to elect Republicans).

2) The earmark ban. Pork was one way of securing minority party support for legislative objectives. You don't like my plan to fund a cancer center, but you want a bridge in your district. You don't like my loosening of tobacco regulations, but you want autism treatment and I'll support that. This kind of vote trading and logrolling is one of the ways we kept everyone satisfied enough to want to work together.

There are other reasons of course (the Hastert rule; anti-government starve the beast intransigence; aggressive lobbying efforts and the escalating money arms race; overall rancor; partisan and even abusive media) but those two are big ones that don't get talked about enough.

 

[kavanf1]

1) Realignment of parties around ideology; 50 years ago, both parties had substantial ideological overlap, creating incentives for those people in the middle to work with those other reps who had similar ideological positions but differing party labels. Now, with the two party labels entirely disjoint (i.e. every Republican is more conservative than every Democrat), there's little such common ground. Note that this is not polarization (i.e. legislators getting more extreme) but rather sorting (i.e. conservatives becoming Republicans; liberals becoming democrats; or alternatively, liberal districts learning to elect Democrats and conservative districts learning to elect Republicans).

Interestingly in the UK the concerns have gone in the opposite direction - despite what you read on GAF, in the real world both major parties are just right of centre with little between them. Corbyn wants to lurch Labour way back to the left, but nobody wants that because they have experienced how disastrous that has been for the country in the past. So these days the majority of the discussion is around which party is very slightly to the left or right of centre. IMO this leads to a lot of conflict over how to vote, as both parties can often have very similar approaches - in marked contrast to the US system, where there are major tangible differences between the parties. It's hard to know what the "right" system is.

Spoiler

I expect this will annoy many gaffers who believe the Tories are to blame for everything, but with UK politics I don't agree with anyone who holds up one party as the beacon of what's right and the other as wanting to destroy anyone who gets in their way. It's easier to do that with US politics, as it's so polarised.

 

[Jorok Goldblade]

The Sinister Reason Weed is Illegal

 

[explodet]

The Sinister Reason Weed is Illegal

That was a total buzzkill, dude.

I liked the ending, though!

 

[lazygecko]

Even the entire reason the term marijuana caught on in the US as opposed to the more universal term cannabis was in order to attach a xenophobic stigma to it by associating it with Mexico.

 

[Regulus Tera]

The Sinister Reason Weed is Illegal

Was that whiteface during the 1930s sketch?

Also, yeah. Worst of all, America's war on drugs has only helped foster criminal cartels monopolising the black market it has created while causing wars in countries that produce the product.

That's been increasingly more how it works the further we get into the modern era.

You only need to look at Obama's presidency as well as the Supreme Court fiasco to see that.

I mean, Republicans have gone on record saying that if they were to even think about approaching the Obama administration (or democrats in general) for compromise they would have been seen as making the Republican party look weak by their lunatic constituency and could risk losing their seats in Congress come election season. It's why they've been such obstructionists during Obama's tenure.

Hell John Boehner was pressured out of his role as House Speaker because he was seen as being "too weak" because he actually worked with Obama on occasion instead cock-clocking him at every turn. It's also why nobody wanted the job after Boehner left and Paul Ryan ended up begrudgingly accepting it.

I came to this conclusion after last Tuesday. I guess I was too naïve.

 

[Jorok Goldblade]

Was that whiteface during the 1930s sketch?

To make it look like black and white.

 

[NewGame]

The Sinister Reason Weed is Illegal

Marijuana makes alcohol look like a blight on society.

 

[mantidor]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but is the link between lung cancer and smoking related to any kind of smoking including marihuana? The issue is the excessive CO2 you breath in from what I remember reading.