What common features would there need to be in order for it to work in the US? Seems that being patriarchal, traditionalist, conformist and capitalist would suffice.

It’s been that way for a lot longer than that.

It’s not just the men, it’s the social rituals and expectations that accompany marriage, dating, sex, etc. People internalize those unwritten rules, even when they intellectually know it’s bullshit. It’s the path of least resistance.

Anyway, it’s their choice: some men, all men, whatever. From your (or my) point of view as a man, some women just won’t want to get with you, and they’re not obligated to explain why. That’s autonomy, and whining about it doesn’t change the fact that they don’t have to tell you their reasons. It’s ultimately none of your business. They can opt in if and when they choose, and if they choose not to, get over it.

Nobody should be forced into relationships and customs that don’t suit them. It’s up to them to decide if the downsides are excessive or a price worth paying.

Read Lysistrata and good luck to you.

When the system becomes too odious, non-participation is one way of dealing with it.

In this situation, the Democrats are irrelevant. They’re too bought into the rotten system to meaningfully change it.

Removal of compromised officials is a typical move following a revolution. It would be entirely reasonable as well as necessary to remove every single official appointed by Trump or his successors, and to bar them from public office for life.

The billionaire class won.

They haven’t won until we’ve all surrendered or are all dead. Are you taking orders, or are you taking over? Those will be our only choices.

it’ll take many consecutive terms with full control of Congress to fix the damage, assuming it can be fixed at all

Assuming non-revolutionary means are used. If the Constitution is thrown out the window during this period of darkness, we are not going to be in a situation where incremental reform is called for. It’s going to be a phase shift.

A better example might be the collapse of communism in Russia and the former USSR. The system just got increasingly rotten until it crumbled from within. And despite the self-serving lies, Reagan had nothing to do with it. It was all down to the people in those countries who had finally had enough.

Franco’s a worst case, and there are still lingering problems in Spain due to the compromises made in order to restore democracy.

But they also seldom last long until they’re overthrown.

Governments, even totalitarian ones, have been overthrown by popular movements.

Price-gouging had a lot to do with it too.

We don’t need a liberal party. We need a party that serves the interests of people, not corporations and oligarchs.

The Democrats won’t win until and unless they grow a spine. This is not a situation where genteel institutionalists are needed: we need people with principles, discipline, drive and focus, who won’t stop fighting until the corruption is completely rooted out.

Did the struggling half all vote for Trump? It appears that the breakdown was more split along ethnic, gender and religious lines, and far less economic ones.

How the fuck are people not voting.

Massive voter suppression, and propaganda.

There will be an election, but Trump will decide who’s eligible in the even-more-controlled opposition.

Harm reduction is the only workable strategy in a democracy, even a flawed one like the US.

But no, it’s the same old shitty double standard: Democrats have to be perfect, but “that’s just Trump being Trump.” So in our distaste for catching the flu, we how have chosen to give ourselves a case of ass cancer.

How much did voter purges and other voter-suppression measures contribute to the lower turnout?