Is cynicism about politics greater in W PA? (Paint, Penn: how much, income)

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by squarian

Hmm...maybe so. But that just makes me wonder if attitudes would be different here if the U.S. had evolved a genuine Labor (Labour?) or democratic socialist party.

If I understand you correctly to be referring to the fate of Pittsburgh's industrial working class, that is.

Yeah I was referring to Pittsburgh's industrial working class and the attitudes that they have carried from one generation to the next. It is interesting to wonder what would happen to the history of Pittsburgh and other city's if we did have an actual Labor party.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Paint It Pink

I think Pittsburghers are just bitter. I know I am.

I am bitter over pretty much all politicians. Just too many lies. That privatization of the liquor stores is such a great example. Corbett used privatization of liquor stores as an aid to get elected. I was hopeful, so I guess I still have hope sometimes when a double tongue speaks.
Talk about a flat out lie. Then the Allegheny reassessment. So many say Corbett is grandstanding with his opposition. I want to believe he would help in some way, so people's taxes can't go sky high overnight, but he won't. He probably is just grandstanding.

I think being pessimistic in our region is from experience and history. I am not impressed with how things are run. The last political position that I felt was run well was when Murphy was mayor. I felt his heart was really in it and he worked hard to get people to invest here. Other than that, wow! Hard to think of anyone I liked.

So when I see the topic, I just feel we are very justified in our feelings. Constant lies.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I think it's pretty straight forward, other American cities haven't been as screwed by politicians as the Rust Belt cities have.

I think the recent economic track of the Rust Belt may well contribute to some feelings of bitterness and pessimism among locals who lived through the worst of those times, but I think it is giving politicians in other areas too much credit to suggest they served their constituents better. Really, they just got lucky--the global economic trends that hammered the Rust Belt simply didn't put them to the same tests.

That's not to say people wouldn't think that way regardless of the underlying merits of the thought, although I'd have to be persuaded first there really was more bitterness about politicians here than most places in the U.S. (keeping in mind we live in an era where, say, Congress barely gets double-digit approval ratings).

[Tinare]

I have relatives and friends that live all over the country. I do not see any less cynicism on their parts than anyone here. Real Clear Politics has the average approval rating for Congress at 12.4. I don't think the pollsters are polling Western PA exclusively and I don't think that is indicative of a healthy attitude towards politics or government in the country in general.

[Caladium]

OK guilty secret time.... I'm a little bummed Santorum dropped out before we got a chance to see the drubbing he would have gotten in SW PA.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by Caladium

OK guilty secret time.... I'm a little bummed Santorum dropped out before we got a chance to see the drubbing he would have gotten in SW PA.

Would have rather seen him lose PA, yeah. Maybe that would take him out of the running in the future. Smart move to drop out before being embarrassed like that.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by squarian

I agree, partly for the reasons you give (the straight-ticket people aren't going to bother to carefully work through the whole ballot) and partly because I suspect voter apathy and/or cynicism have deeper causes and require more through-going changes.



Small quibble with both ends of that. Denmark, for instance, is a one of the most stable countries in the world, having experienced no significant (or even noteworthy) internal disorder or political crises since the early 16th c. Protestant Reformation. If a twop-party system is the key to stability, this history is hard to explain, because Denmark has eight parliamentary parties at the moment, four of which trace their origins back at least a century.

Meanwhile, the U.S. hasn't been all that stable: of all the countries you'd consider stable, how many in the last two centuries of their existence have had a brutal civil war which caused the deaths of one in fifty of its inhabitants?

The US is very stable as far as new countries go (not really fair to directly compare us to age-old Denmark) and while some parliamentary democracies have been able to work well through coalitions, many others have come close to falling at the seams (Italy, Argentina, et al). If you do a jstor search, you'll find a lot of scholarly articles make and back up this assertion with empirical evidence.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Caladium

OK guilty secret time.... I'm a little bummed Santorum dropped out before we got a chance to see the drubbing he would have gotten in SW PA.

Im pretty sure that's exactly why he got out - had little to no hope of getting the required delegates & 100% needed a win in PA to be remotely viable. They must have looked at the polls, saw a probable loss in PA which would have been not only the nail in his presidential nominee coffin but embarrassing and solidifying him as a loser - by dropping out prior to all that he can still claim it was because of a lack of adequate money and his sick child rather then being soundly defeated in his own state. Now he can continue making lots of $ speaking, writing, and with commentary as the underdog that almost made it but couldn't overcome the Romney spending machine rather then the guy who got trounced again in his own state.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Caladium

OK guilty secret time.... I'm a little bummed Santorum dropped out before we got a chance to see the drubbing he would have gotten in SW PA.

At least historians will record that it was his anticipation of that drubbing which ended this campaign (that's two you owe us, nation).

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

At least historians will record that it was his anticipation of that drubbing which ended this campaign (that's two you owe us, nation).

I hope so... but I suspect any historians that bother to mention Santorum's campaign will miss out on the real truth and instead conclude he dropped out to support the obvious winner and because his child was sick.

Hmmm.... maybe I belong in SW PA... getting pretty cynical, ain't I?