(no subject)

[timelets]

Politics in a democracy is a combination of zero-sum and cooperative games (per Yglesias via rsokolov);
-- elections is a zero-sum game (win-lose);
-- policy is a cooperative game (win-win).

Currently, zero-sum games dominate American politics despite the times of economic prosperity. Why?

- in the absence of wars, politicians learned to frame basic socioeconomic issues as zero-sum games, e.g.
-- immigrants vs citizens ("НАШИ бедные. их именно мигранты опускают уже ниже некуда.");
-- trade disputes;
-- green energy vs fossil fuels ("wind turbines cause cancer.");
-- single-payer "socialist" vs employer-sponsored "capitalist" healthcare;
-- "elites vs the people";
-- urban vs rural.

Reality TV and social media stimulate zero-sum game framing:
-- always winners and losers;
-- trolling and ego maintenance;
-- direct appeal to emotions, e.g. measure engagement and likes;
-- no need to get anything done.

Major critical issues ignored by zero-sum framing:
-- the death of industrial employment;
-- budget deficits;
-- infrastructure deficiencies;
-- urban density and housing costs;
-- asset inequality;
-- aging (Medicare/Social Security);
-- military overspending.

Comments

[timelets]

Would you bet $1,000 that the US will start a transition to a single-payer system within the next 5 years?

[peristaltor]

I don't bet large sums on anything, especially things this turbulent. It could happen, but then I said the same damned thing back in the '90s, and that was killed dead as well.

Interesting times.