Comment by formerly_proven

It's almost funny that small code reviews are preferred in software engineering (https://google.github.io/eng-practices/review/developer/smal...), but in Congress we have these stupid "big beautiful bill(s)" that are sometimes thousand pages long, and sometimes only released hours before a formal vote. Almost like these bills are intended to fool constituents, cripple opponents' plans, and created just in the hope that they get passed and signed into law without anyone looking carefully.

Back during the communist vs capitalism and free market era

Politicians were patriotic like you hope them now to be, they were worried about the rise of communism and were extremely attentive and focused and unified to making sure capitalism and free market works for the masses, that everyday westerners are enriched and have better social and health outcomes than their communist counterparts.

It did succeed to the point that Boris Yeltsin after dissolution of USSR was dumbfounded by just looking at american grocery stores that are affordable for public in comparison to the Empty shelves back at home [0]

However after the end of cold war they gave up on bipartisan, or helping society as “one nation” in almost every major western democracy. They filed every major new infrastructure build with red tape, red tape, bureaucratic nightmare. They made the economy as a pingpong ball to intentionally sabotage it for the incoming rival presidency/prime ministers, while benefiting themselves with unsustainable debt. They gave up all public infrastructure like highspeed rail, cheap transportation like Greyhound Buses across american cities, cheap housing, good housing.They gutted our manufacturing and industries, outsourced all our jobs with no better ones for those without jobs to replace them.

Now everything’s going to shit, and they wonder why people are starting to vote in populists and authoritarians, they were sold a great and good ideal of men and women, parliamentarians working together united to deliver the public with better outcomes for everyone in a democracy. Yet now they see them busy with personal enrichment, ideological wars, petty infighting, inaction on key issues.

And then they wonder why people are voting in and then tolerating objectively authoritarian dictators sometimes evil sometimes good who promise to steamroll changes as a monarch/dictator, just in hopes that they just ignore the democratic chaos and finally deliver the public something (even though often they also just personally enrich themselves or make the problems worse) we lost our prosperity, authoritarians promised us prosperity if we give away our freedoms now most of us are going to lose both at current trajectory. All because of petty infighting and laziness and lack of patriotism among politicians.

European and American society will need another cold war of ideologies with them on one side to actually defend and work for common citizens again, they wont do it until then, they’ll only do the bareminimum while continuing their petty fights and lectures as “leaders”.

[0](https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/13/how-a-russians-grocery-...)

Maybe? This isn't a direct connection and I'm not sure a voter from that state would care unless it was legislation that DIRECTLY benefitted them, maybe their state, or at best the country overall.

Even when a massive security funding bill was put forth the years after 9/11 to provide additional funding to NY, US ports, and other national security areas they had to pad the bill with funding to protect areas that wouldn't likely be targeted just to get support.

https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/report/the-specte... (Yes it's insane that I'm linking to these horrible people)

That means even with a bill that is vital to US security, could be wrapped in patriotism, and at a time when NYers had sympathy from the rest of the country representatives were still selfish as fuck.

But they can play games, drag their feet, get more concessions, and then pass it anyway with no repercussions.

Sadly, that is entirely serious.

Arguably, that's the whole of politics: why should I give you something if you don't give me something?

The people involved are, generally, not deep thinkers, aren't aren't thinking much beyond their direct short-term advantage. The system selects against that.

Yes, check the reply for the comment above yours for an example where you'd think everyone would unite but still needed pork.

It's even worse if you're a Republican. If a bill comes up for one specific item that would increase government spending but not in your state what are you going to tell local Republican voters?