2024 US Presidential Elections Megathread

[Admiral Yi]

I went to wikipedia because the distinction you are making seems fuzzy and confusing.  The wikipedia definition also seems contradictory, but I'll try to tease out what is being said. 

Use by one person neither prevents access by other people, nor does it reduce availability to others.

To me law enforcement can very much be used up and availability reduced, at least when bounded by time.  Police officers are not able to teleport instantly from place to place, and can only perform so many actions within a given timeframe.  That's the definition of being limited and potentially preventing access for others.  It certainly seems less able to scale than education, which can leverage technology to educate an unlimited number of people at minimal extra cost.

If the argument is that law enforcement can't be used up because more police can always be hired, more teachers can also be hired.  I'm not seeing the distinction.

Public goods include knowledge,[4] official statistics, national security, common languages,[5] law enforcement, broadcast radio,[6] flood control systems, aids to navigation, and street lighting.

So I guess you are distinguishing between knowledge and education, where I would argue knowledge without its propagation isn't really a good.

You're right, there are times, civil unrest being the most obvious example, when the police will be stretched too thin to respond to all ongoing crimes.  That is the logic of looting.  The pure public good of police is in their deterrence of crime.  A carjacker will evaluate their chances of success differently in areas with police and areas without.  And of course law enforcement remains a public good in non crisis times.

Similarly education does have aspects that are closer to a public good.  A gigantic freshman lecture class could just be taped and put on the internet.  Anyone who wants to access the information could watch the tape.  Khan Academy is a public good.  But there are aspects of education that make it a private good, the parts that require personalized attention.  Answering questions, grading tests, etc.

[OttoVonBismarck]

The whole middle class thing is just a difference in word usage. Brits use middle class to mean a specific thing--basically what we would call the "professional class" in America, doctors, lawyers, certain types of businessmen etc. In America middle class is a much broader term that largely means "anyone who works for a living and who is neither destitute poor nor genuinely rich."

In America the term "working class" has less resonance / meaning, and is not exclusively with the term "middle class", in Britain the working class and middle class are distinctly different classes, whilst in the U.S. probably more than 50% of middle class people also identify as working class if they even think of that term at all.

[DGuller]

Democracy being the top issue in the exit polls is a good thing for the good guys.  Right?  Right?  Right?
 Please agree...

[Admiral Yi]

Democracy being the top issue in the exit polls is a good thing for the good guys.  Right?  Right?  Right?
 Please agree...

Massive

[Barrister]

Democracy being the top issue in the exit polls is a good thing for the good guys.  Right?  Right?  Right?
 Please agree...

Yes.

Top issues for Trump would be immigration / economy.

[The Minsky Moment]

I'd worry if the top issues were sharks, eating wild geese, and the late, great Hannibal Lecter.

[Sheilbh]

Yes.

Top issues for Trump would be immigration / economy.

Yeah democracy/abortion v economy/immigration:

[Barrister]

Yes.

Top issues for Trump would be immigration / economy.

Yeah democracy/abortion v economy/immigration:

Heh - it's like I knew what I was talking about!

[The Minsky Moment]

FWIW immigration is a top 3 issue for me.

And I'm not voting Trump . . .

[Habbaku]

I am optimistic that the vast majority of the "State of Democracy" folks are for Harris, while not all of "The Economy" folks are for Trump.

[Gups]

I'd worry if the top issues were sharks, eating wild geese, and the late, great Hannibal Lecter.

Arnold Palmer's giant cock doesn't swing for you?

[The Minsky Moment]

I am optimistic that the vast majority of the "State of Democracy" folks are for Harris, while not all of "The Economy" folks are for Trump.

It's kind of nutty that Trumpy people complain about inflation when:
1) every time Trump's numbers went up, the Trump trade would dump bonds and bid up the dollar on the assumption that his policies will be inflationary
2) He is a notorious monetary policy dove and is far more likely to put in a lax Fed governor.

[The Minsky Moment]

Arnold Palmer's giant cock doesn't swing for you?

Arnold Palmer's dick is a unifying national institution that transcends mere partisan politics.

[Josquius]

I suspect the "the economy!" stuff is majority "we can't be having a woman /coloured /whatever president but still have enough respectability that we  need an excuse..."

[Barrister]

FWIW immigration is a top 3 issue for me.

And I'm not voting Trump . . .

I mean you can make that argument about all the issues.

"State of democracy" - you could be a Trump voter who is convinced Trump's 2020 win was stolen.

"economy" - you think the economy is great under Biden and you want the good times to continue.

"abortion" - you're so glad Roe v Wade was overturned and want to reward Trump.


Yet I still think Sheilbh had the right analysis - democracy/abortion are likely Harris voters, economy/immigration are likely Trump voters.  Because the question wasn't "top three", it was "most important".