so·ci·o·path /ˈsōsēōˌpaTH/ -noun -a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience.
au·thor·i·tar·i·an /əˌTHôrəˈterēən/ -adjective -favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
So lets check it out.
It feels like what you think the Democratic party is, and what they actually are, are two completely different animals. They constantly cater to the whims of the Republicans, to the detriment of their own plans.
We're dealing with the modern Democratic party, so I'm just going to reference the actual legislation pushed and passed by House Dems. Since they have control they most likely pass things through faster along their agenda lines. Sorting by most recent. I keep scrolling, but almost nothing seems at least on the surface level, authoritarian, or sociopathic.
H.R.8472 Impact Aid Coronavirus Relief Act (obvious)
H.R.8337 Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act (appropriations to federal agencies and extends expiring programs that address health care)
H.R.8276 To authorize the President to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to Alwyn C. Cashe for acts of valor during Operation Iraqi Freedom. (obvious)
H.R.8247 Veterans COMPACT Act of 2020 (certain improvements relating to Department of Veterans Affairs)
H.R.8225 Fight Notario Fraud Act of 2020 (prohibit certain types of fraud in the provision of immigration services)
H.R.8162 21st Century Community Learning Centers Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020 (bill allows eligible entities that are awarded program subgrants for community learning centers to use these subgrants)
H.R.8134 Consumer Product Safety Inspection Enhancement Act (This bill modifies the screening procedures for consumer products moving through ports of entry)
H.R.8128 Consumer Safety Technology Act (This bill requires various agencies to explore the use of emerging technologies in the context of consumer products and safety)
H.R.8124 Criminal Judicial Administration Act of 2020 (amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for transportation and subsistence for criminal justice defendants, and for other purposes)
H.R.8089 Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act (DHS may collect a fee to provide premium processing of an application for any immigration benefit that DHS considers appropriate)
H.R.8015 Delivering for America Act (This bill prohibits the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from making changes to operations or levels of service from those that were in effect on January 1, 2020)
H.R.7909 Ensuring Children and Child Care Workers Are Safe Act of 2020 (This bill provides federal support to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in child care provider settings)
H.R.7718 Protecting the Health and Wellness of Babies and Pregnant Women in Custody Act (To address the health needs of incarcerated women related to pregnancy and childbirth)
H.R.7617 Defense, Commerce, Justice, Science, ETC ETC ETC Apropriations Act, 2021 (This bill provides FY2021 appropriations to the Department of Defense for military activities.)
H.R.7608 State, Foreign Operations, Agriculture, ETC ETC ETC Appropriations Act, 2021 (This bill provides FY2021 appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs)
We'll go with +.5/+0 because I'm sure theres some bad bills in there. Though sifting through every single one would take literal days.
I know this, and you know this. They will never BAN fossil fuels. The only way to do this would be to chip away at the necessity of fossil fuels until they no longer matter. Won't we think of the billionaire oil magnates though? No. Fuck them. We can set their employees up on a training pathway to move them into the new sector as the old one diminishes. The only people in the country damn almost the planet denying the necessity of this are the Republicans. We have to make changes and stop ravaging the Earth. We can do this little by little phasing in new tech and phasing out old tech. The Green New Deal is a compromise. It adheres to the absurdity of keeping Capitalism in its current state where we just consume product until the clock in the sky runs out.
Nothing about this is authoritarian and definitely not sociopathic. Forcing humans to deal with the countless inevitable impacts of climate change out of pure greed is authoritarian, and sociopathic.
+0/+0
Recommended by every non grifter doctor on the planet. Authoritarian? Maybe falls into that category, but necessary none the less. Definitely not sociopathic.
+1/+0
Obamacare is only in its shitty state because Republicans. This is super common knowledge. It was a compromise to meet at some kind of goofy middle ground of a fully capital driven system and one that actually helps people, so naturally its going to suck ass because you can't do the latter with the former. So we have it rather than doing what needed to be done to actually help people. Obamacare is instead proof that Democrats are simultaneously not Authoritarian as they could have sent something through in Obama's first two years that wasn't a compromise, and very clearly because of the topic not sociopathic. (though I'd argue giving into the demands of sociopaths is close enough) If we can give this dead horse steroids, maybe it will actually be able to win a race. Hopefully Republicans don't just go beat its legs with canes while no one is looking.
+0/+0
Ban the sell of new assault rifles. Require people to register or sell them back. Stricter background checks. Some other shit. This is probably unnecessary as assault weapons aren't the primary weapon of choice, just the most potentially dangerous when it is used.
I almost couldn't really care about most pro gun arguments anymore because its very clear that no one actually gives a shit about tyrannical government when its right in front of our faces.
I'll give it a +1/+0 because sure its authoritarian, but its not sociopathic as the goal is very clearly to reduce harm. I don't know what the fix it, but there has to be one. And I'll do you a solid and sign up for the SRA soon.
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-harris-order-gun-control/fact-check-kamala-harriss-proposed-executive-order-on-gun-control-misrepresented-idUSKBN25G1GZOn April 22, 2019 Harris stated that, if elected President, she would give lawmakers in Congress 100 days to pass “reasonable gun safety laws,” during a CNN Town Hall in Manchester, New Hampshire ( here ). “If they fail to do it,” Harris continued, “then I will take executive action.”
If using executive orders is strictly authoritarian then we have about 13956 problems we need to address.
~Article Two of the United States Constitution gives the president broad executive and enforcement authority to use his or her discretion to determine how to enforce the law or to otherwise manage the resources and staff of the
~executive branch. The ability to make such orders is also based on express or implied Acts of Congress that delegate to the president some degree of discretionary power (delegated legislation).[2]
~Like both legislative statutes and regulations promulgated by government agencies, executive orders are subject to judicial review and may be overturned if the orders lack support by statute or the Constitution.
+0.5/+0 because they could be, but thats why they are subject to review.
Some kind of reform needs to be done to depoliticize it. I'm not sure what. But we cannot have the top court in the country ruled by one of the active political parties. There either needs to be some kind of measure of control for a tie breaker to exist. The current and foreseeable SCOTUS does not have this. Also there is currently no proof that they even could pack the courts if they wanted to. As well as the potential fallout of doing so. Which is why they specifically haven't taken a stance on this. Is it authoritarian to make sure the voices of people are as equally represented as we can make them? Thats up to you, my vote is no. Is it sociopathic? The word doesn't even belong on this one.
I'll give it a +0.5/+0 because theres no way to block bias on this issue.
Yes. This is part of benefiting from living in a society. You pay taxes. The more you take from society. The more you give back. Our parents taught us lessons like this when we were children. You have free agency to move around to somewhere with the "best" taxes.
I'm not sure how the tax plans work with a VP, but here is joes.
Tax plan by his team is outlined with "He won’t ask a single person making under $400,000 per year to pay a penny more in taxes, and will in fact enact more than one-dozen middle class tax cuts".
We have proven that trickle down economics does not work. I don't understand why its even still an argument.
+0/+0
Overall 4/8 and 0(+1*)/8. Kind of authoritarian, but more so just trying to get some shit done. Not really sociopathic at all. *I'm giving it +1 because they cater to Republicans.
Most of the authoritarian facets, are not the necessarily the government, its the majority of us rational people telling the ones with their fingers in their ears to get off their ass. Congress men and women are representatives of the majority of the people in their districts. The Dems suck, but they're currently the best we have for any kind of advocacy for the Americans and the earth 5+ years from now.
You should do one on Trump/Republicans. It would be interesting what your takes on are authoritarian/sociopathic regarding him/them.
This shit is all totally subjective and seeped with my personal bias and morals. I'd like to see where yours lay.