[sympil]

Having the only two options being: really bad or less bad, leads to long term problems. Clearly the system needs an overhaul. The DNC wants only small, incremental changes and wants to keep the status quo in place. Trump is a lying piece of shit but the Democratic party is dead to me. They remind me of Cicero trying desperately to keep the Roman Republic alive when it was clearly already dead.

[taylodl]

Are you familiar with Duverger's Law? The "system" doesn't require an overhaul, but how we vote, does.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law

[sympil]

In my opinion the system needs an overhaul. The number of Representatives hasn’t been updated in over 100 years. It is absurd that North Dakota has slightly less federal power than California. The rules of the Senate need to be overhauled and so does our entire representative system. The system set forth by the Constitution is outdated and no longer works.

[taylodl]

Short of revolution, I see no viable path forward for a complete overhaul of the American government. While a Constitutional Convention is a theoretical option, replicating such a process today is exceedingly unlikely. The last Constitutional Convention in 1787 was a unique historical moment.

[throwup238]

So do you want Cicero or to speed run to the crisis of the third century?

[sympil]

The speed run is here. Nothing will stop it. There is no status quo ante that we can realistically go back to.

[taylodl]

You're forgetting why the Roman Empire succeeded. It ended a period of tumult and so brought great prosperity. The people were for it. What's happening in the US today is not that. Things are getting more tumultuous and the prosperity for the majority is being reduced. It's much harder to get, and maintain, people's support for that.

People supporting Trump did so believing their economic situation would improve. Their economic situation is worsening, and we've only just begun. The Roman Empire went in the opposite direction when it first started and so enjoyed the support of the people.

To say "nothing will stop it" is premature.

[sympil]

You are forgetting why it ended, it seems. You appear to me to be Cicero clinging to the way things were and not realizing they’ve changed.

[taylodl]

My point is that Trump is no Julius Caesar. Caesar loved Rome and was a brilliant military general, statesman, and orator. Trump, on the other hand, appears to prioritize his own interests and lacks Caesar's positive traits. The Roman Empire, despite its eventual collapse, managed to thrive for over two centuries due to its strong leadership, military prowess, and effective governance. In contrast, the American Empire seems destined for failure before it can even get off the launchpad - maybe that's what you meant when you said we were going straight to collapse?