re: Should we copy the Japanese school lunch program? (Yes, obviously we should)

If there is one thing I learned from this thread it's that as long as we have cultural diversity, which will be always in this country, we should never attempt to improve upon anything ever. We should let the status quo continue on and then blame our lack of cohesive culture on every outcome that we don't like.

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If there is one thing I learned from this thread it's that as long as we have cultural diversity, which will be always in this country, we should never attempt to improve upon anything ever. We should let the status quo continue on and then blame our lack of cohesive culture on every outcome that we don't like.

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I hope you didn't get that from my posts here.

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Ever see the school lunches served in Italy. Look better than any Italian restaurant in BR

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"But we can't do that in America because some minorities live here" - some of the idiots in this thread

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I'm saying Populism is a far wider encompassing construct. Obama and Trump are each arguably "populists" in their own right. Tossing their emphases in the same bucket is nonsensical.

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I don't think you've listened to a thing I've said.

Absolutely Obama and Trump are both populists.

That's the whole point of this discussion.

And identifying both as such is extremely relevant, because both have very relevant things in common as populists.

Such as the fact that neither one is concerned about violating foundational principles such as the Constitution or separation of powers/checks and balances. Both are happy to do so whenever it suits their agendas, the only question for them in those cases is whether they can figure out a way to accomplish it.

Neither look to any foundational principles when crafting or advancing policy.

Historical conservative principles have basically revolved around maximizing personal freedom and responsibility and free market with minimal intervention. Liberalism has changed somewhat over time, but in modernity (in my lifetime) it has revolved around supporting government intervention to engineer more equality of outcomes, tax and spend economics, and prioritizing the rights of minorities over rights of the majority.

(And as I type that out, it occurs to me that actually Obama adheres far more consistently to his party's core values than Trump, the difference is that modern liberal core values are inherently populist whereas conservative values are not.)

Under Trump the government is buying into private businesses—which is definitionally socialist—enacting protectionist mechanisms to interfere with the free market, and now talking about centrally planning the economy of certain industries, which is right out of Cuba and the former U.S.S.R.

He's also dangling things like "No tax on tips" in front of the "Little Guy" to buy votes in a way that I have only ever seen Democrats do previously.

Again, if what you're looking for is an admission that the right isn't as far down that road yet as the left (which is certainly what it sounds like you're arguing again), I offered that concession a while back, and will offer it again now.

But only with the caveat that it should be admitted on your part that the right is catching up. "Conservatives" now talk like Jimmy Carter 70s era southern Democrats did when I was growing up. Populism is inherently collectivist and will always resolve toward that direction.

Will the Republican Party ever champion men dressed like women or graphic gay porn in schools?

Probably not. (Then again, I never though we'd see it embrace blatantly socialist mechanisms either.)

Will it embrace unions, the government helping out "The Little Guy," making the rich "pay their fair share," isolationist foreign policy (and cutting the military budget as a result), massive government intervention in health care, in fact, massive government intervention in just about anything that comes to mind that they don't like?

If you read this board, you know that that has already started with the Republican base.

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Typical LWNJ short-sightedness and low understanding of the real world numbers and cultural differences. Only the grossly ignorant Left imagine such a program could be effectively copy-pasted, zero understanding of the vast numerical difference, logistical hurdles, and the simple fact that Japanese culture lends itself to this almost exclusively. Laughable but oh so typical of you OP.

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If you would take a break from being mentally retarded you'll note that I acknowledged this would not be an easy transition and would likely take multiple generations.

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If there is one thing I learned from this thread it's that as long as we have cultural diversity, which will be always in this country, we should never attempt to improve upon anything ever. We should let the status quo continue on and then blame our lack of cohesive culture on every outcome that we don't like.

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If there's one thing I have learned it's that anybody who wants to maintain the status quo is a retarded ape, except powerman, who can invoke, "Well, we're already doing this...I guess we have to keep doing it," whenever he feels like it, and it's legit when he does it.

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Italy also is significantly more socialist than the US (universal welfare, universal medicine, etc.) and their taxes are a lot higher to pay for it.

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FWIW, cost per student in Italy is about 75% that of the US.
Randi Weingarten & Co ensure we do not get bang for the buck here.

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FWIW, cost per student in Italy is about 75% that of the US.

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Yes, because the US spends the most on education in the world.

We're getting a bargain, aren't we?

I know. Let's spend even more!

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If someone could solve THAT, we'd knock out 85% of the issue. The fact is, we won't. After all, pointing out the contributions of nuclear families is racist, misogynist, and multiple other "ist's".

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Primarily, valuing families and prioritizing child rearing isn’t very capital-ist, which is why our society doesn’t do it. Who gets rich with off good, educated kids?