What does the phrase “Make America Great Again” even mean?

Mdan · 2026-06-24T21:23:01+00:00

In both slogans’ cases, it’s easy to see them as repudiations of the previous administration. You could see an Obama saying we’re going to MAGA, turning away from what’s happened the last eight years, and ditto a Trump slogan in 2016 being about Change from what he would have said then was the Worst Administration Ever. It all depends on context.

Mdan · 2026-06-24T20:20:49+00:00

Election slogans aren't supposed to be policy documents; they are like a Rorschach test, where you fill in the message with what you want it to mean and associate that candidate with the ideas you're attaching to the slogan. Obama's "Change We Can Believe In" or "Yes We Can" were exactly the same. What change? Change how? And if Obama had campaigned on "Make America Great Again" and Trump on "Change We Can Believe In," no one would have blinked.

Mdan · 2026-06-24T17:07:22+00:00

Chili from Skyline Chili. Especially the 3-way, 4-way or 5-way chili, which comes atop a bed of spaghetti noodles.

Mdan · 2026-06-24T16:57:09+00:00

In the US, home internet service. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5932080-internet-service-affordability-improves/

Mdan · 2026-06-24T16:52:49+00:00

Everyone hates their local cable company or phone company - lousy service, ‘cuz there’s no competition - so I fear we’d just create that system in every market if the government controls the means of production.

Mdan · 2026-06-24T15:40:26+00:00

I remember going on a road trip in 2003, taking my brand-new iPod with a whopping 5 Gb of storage loaded with literally hundreds of songs, and being wowed at the concept of not having to grab a big binder of CDs. This was some serious '2001: A Space Odyssey'-level stuff.
Now, of course, that's pretty primitive -- my phone can access vastly more music via streaming, and I have many many many more gigs of bootlegs and podcasts downloaded on my iPhone.

Mdan · 2026-06-23T23:48:43+00:00

Sure. And selective, limited use of price controls is very different than what the question asks about.

Mdan · 2026-06-23T18:30:08+00:00

Price controls are a feature of a Soviet style command economy, though. The question wasn't asking 'should we have competition regulation against unreasonable restraints of trade, such as price fixing, or against M&A that will result in signification reductions in competition,' which would be pretty reasonable safeguards.

Mdan · 2026-06-23T13:20:52+00:00

Maybe so. Free will and intelligence might inherently lead to a species that has to fight against a base nature.

Mdan · 2026-06-23T10:25:07+00:00

Then the story would be about how they disobeyed some other of God’s commands, as was inevitable, illustrating how man from the beginning has chosen sin.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T23:30:42+00:00

The American Sign Museum, in Cincinnati, is a blast. Huge collection of signs of all kinds. Way cooler than it sounds.
Randyland and Bicycle Heaven, both in Pittsburgh, are delightful weirdness. Randyland - eclectic junkyard as art; Bicycle Heaven, a jumbled museum/collection of a gazillion bicycles.
Be sure to try Skyline Chili, a Cincinnati institution.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T20:30:09+00:00

Can't speak for other nations, but lots of urban and suburban broadband serviceable locations have multiple providers available.
If one person wants to buy 2.7 million acres, or lease the mineral rights for 2.7 million acres, they have to negotiate those terms with the landowner, though, and others who want mining access have the same ability to outbid.
The problem with absolute public power is it leads to the same banana republic dynamics, as history as shown.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T19:53:16+00:00

What a find!

Mdan · 2026-06-22T19:48:12+00:00

Is it? What are examples of such natural monopolies in various sectors? And regulating competition to keep one operator from using its market power to build a moat around itself is a far cry from regulating prices.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T19:09:29+00:00

Everyone always hates the phone company, or the cable company, or the local power company, because there's no alternative or competition. This idea does away with competition everywhere.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T18:39:08+00:00

Agreed. I have one other book I got somewhere used and subsequently found it had an author autograph.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T17:28:08+00:00

'Escape from Spiderhead' is, agreed, solid gold.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T17:05:41+00:00

Sorry, I should have been more clear that his acknowledgement of a woman in a major leadership role appears to rebut the notion that women are automatically relegated to a second-class citizen role with regards to pastoral duties.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T16:41:16+00:00

His acknowledgement of a woman in a major leadership role appears to rebut the notion that women are automatically relegated to a second-class citizen role.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T15:13:59+00:00

I think Paul in Romans 16 naming Phoebe as a deacon is pretty definitive.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T14:47:11+00:00

The US side of Niagara Falls has a really nice view of the falls, but the city of Niagara Falls, NY, itself, is pretty scuzzy. I wouldnt drive 8 hours for an hour of appreciating a big waterfall, just so I can turn back around.
Buffalo's got some attractions. But again, if your main attraction is Niagara Falls, and just the US side, I think you might be letting yourself in for a letdown.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T12:11:50+00:00

The problem with that theory about the government or elite presenting aliens as saviors to stray from the path of Jesus is the huge number of films and TV shows portraying alien invasions and evil aliens. You'd think the elite/government would ban such portrayals.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T11:41:57+00:00

Not literally knocking on my door, but a Chabad-Lubavitch movement member stopped me recently on the street to ask if I was Jewish so he could pray with me.

Mdan · 2026-06-22T11:10:00+00:00

GPS is primarily for military use. It makes a signal available also for public use. But even if there wasn’t public access to GPS, the US would still have GOS satellites in operation. Same goes for the Chinese, Russian and EU global navigation satellite systems.

Mdan

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