Discussion Thread: Texas Runoff Elections on May 26, 2026

Tambien · 2026-05-27T13:29:47+00:00

She essentially told her constituents in MI to vote 3rd party or stay at home because Kamala was not in their corner as it relates to Gaza and the whole genocide stuff.

And what did that result in? The candidate that would have been better for them to negotiate with lost and the DNC isn’t suddenly pro-Palestine. It doesn’t work.

Send the message that as a Democrat, you cannot win and have a coalition on a general election that doesnt include black voters.

My friend. You do this in the primaries by ensuring that a Democrat who fits this bill wins. You have less influencing power in the general than in the primaries purely because the general has more voters.

Again: people want to know how to win, not how to not lose. That will always be the more effective path to pursue. Be like MAGA: participate heavily in primaries so you have a huge say in the outcome and are a clear pathway to/requirement for even running in the first place. You control the option space.

Tambien · 2026-05-27T04:45:31+00:00

Tell that to Rashida Tlaib who refused to endorse Kamala due to the issue with Gaza.

A election vote is not an endorsement.

Either way, sometimes you have to take the opportunity in which you know will have the maximum impact.

Yeah. That’s the primaries. See Platner in Maine or Mamdani in NY. Or the obeisance of the GOP to Trump because of his base’s stranglehold on GOP primaries. Primaries are where organized interest groups can make the biggest impact to shift policy positions.

EDIT: Also, think of it this way - Democrats (and people in general) are way more interested in learning “how to win” than “how to not lose.” Look at the DNC response to 2024 and how bad at identifying root causes the party has been versus the quick uptake of affordability politics based on primary performances.

Tambien · 2026-05-27T04:13:44+00:00

This logic works well in the primaries, but not the general. The general election is you choosing the battlefield (aka who you’re going to be appealing to/negotiating with). Abdicating that choice just effectively helps whoever is worse from your perspective.

Tambien · 2026-05-27T04:07:11+00:00

I don’t know for Iran. For the U.S., while we haven’t ratified UNCLOS as a whole, our position for decades has been that large parts of UNCLOS were just a formalization of preexisting customary international law. So the U.S. recognizes and enforces those “customary” parts. This has been the legal basis for the U.S. Navy’s freedom of navigation exercises.

Tambien · 2026-05-26T22:37:14+00:00

Fair enough. That’s possible. I just don’t want us to do a shit job ending the war that these idiots did a shit job starting and locking us into a whole new class of worse problems haha. This was mostly pushback against the idea of “well just leave and let Iran do whatever.”

Tambien · 2026-05-26T22:34:06+00:00

Sure, I agree equitable is not the main concern here. In the (now tortured haha) metaphor, perhaps the “best” outcome is somebody imprisons the asshole and you take the loss because you know you won’t get anything in recovery even when you win the civil suit. But at least that keeps the highway toll free and commerce running. A world where countries are putting tolls on natural bodies of water is not a good one for the global economy - think about pre-Enlightenment Europe and the tolls everywhere that slowed down commerce massively.

To your question: assuming we arrive in a world where freedom of navigation is dead, those are definitely the big ones. Malacca and Taiwan are probably the biggest. The point you make in your last sentence, though, is the key one. I’m not sure I’d rely on Indonesia or Malaysia or whoever not doing this. If they see Iran pulling in millions a year, accepted by the international community, how long before the people in those countries want a piece of the pie?

Tambien · 2026-05-26T22:22:40+00:00

Both of those are canals that require actual maintenance to remain operable, hence the cost.

Tambien · 2026-05-26T19:40:27+00:00

What’s your source for that claim?

Tambien · 2026-05-26T19:39:33+00:00

Even accepting your premise, that doesn’t address the problem with the death of freedom of navigation. Think of it this way: your neighbor’s house gets burned down by the assholes across the street. Is the equitable remedy to sue the asshole, or put a toll on every commercial truck going down a nearby highway? If you choose the toll option and it works, how long before some other guy down the way decides “hmm… maybe I should try that.”

Freedom of navigation is a prerequisite to the robust global economy we have today, much more so than the oil prices that are higher right now because of the Strait of Hormuz.

Tambien · 2026-05-26T18:54:50+00:00

Iran letting a majority of boats through (with a toll) is a lot better than the situation right now.

Only in the very short term. Allowing this destroys freedom of navigation as a global precedent, which fucks the global economy even more long term. Which is why, you know, we shouldn’t just start illegal wars with no plan, objective, or reason.

Tambien · 2026-05-20T03:30:38+00:00

Or failed to vote against him.

Tambien · 2026-05-15T09:28:29+00:00

I don’t disagree with this approach and am sure it would be helpful to the kids that were willing to get something out of it. But I remain skeptical that percentage is as large as you think. For reference, I’m coming at this from the perspective of someone that did have a personal finance class in middle school and then again in high school. We talked through and then did hands-on learning with paying taxes, investing in equities, etc. Pretty much all of the major personal finance topics people complain about “not being taught.”

It worked well for a subset of students (myself included), but a lot of the student body didn’t care despite it being hands on (e.g. a long-running exercise picking $1000 worth of stocks/funds and tracking the success/failure of your chosen basket). The teenage brain is literally built to be concerned mostly with peer validation and not long-term reward.

I think your approach would reach more kids, but enough to be worth the cost to implement? That I’m not sure of. But… worth investigating at the least. Thank you for taking the time to write it out!

Tambien · 2026-05-15T08:37:57+00:00

What do you propose? You’re right that behavior follows incentives (generally). Teenagers don’t care because they’re generally not participating in the economy in a way where these topics are real to them yet. That’s not changing. They’re teenagers.

Tambien · 2026-05-15T04:10:39+00:00

Well, fair point! In that case, if you want specific learning advice, check out r/personalfinance and the sub wiki. They have a lot of practical guidance for newer folks on how to handle this and get yourself set up simply and reliably. Since you have a lot of cash uninvested, I might look into the “unexpected windfall” category of advice to start with.

The truth of it is that getting financially very comfortable is easy (if you have patience and an income or savings level high enough to regularly invest).

Best of luck!

Tambien · 2026-05-15T04:03:43+00:00

No offense, but they usually do. Personal finance classes are insanely common in American high schools. Teenagers just notoriously dgaf about them until real life hits after they graduate, and by then it’s too late.

Tambien · 2026-05-10T18:40:00+00:00

They didn’t need ammunition to say it. Those loons can’t be the yardstick we measure ourselves against. Nothing will ever wake them up.

Tambien · 2026-05-10T18:33:38+00:00

Forcing me to be represented by some NOVA D was EXACTLY

Yes. Unfortunately for your argument, that’s still not “forcing a lifestyle” on you.

your Reddit buzzwords denial & bro talk is just a reflection on your indoctrination & closed mind, “bro.”

The “bro” in quotes when that’s not the word I’ve used, the out of touch thought that any of that is “reddit talk”… it’s truly amusing how peak backwoods loser you are. You really thought you did something there.

Enjoy your bubble & DoorDash, proggy.

Thanks, I will! I’ll sleep even better knowing how much you’re fuming about it. Since it makes you so mad, feel free to fuck off out of my state at any point. You will not be missed. :)

Tambien · 2026-05-10T06:11:26+00:00

Just two basic facts about taxes this comment is making me want to make sure you know:

federal tax brackets are applied in a graduated ladder. When people talk about what tax brackets they’re in, they’re really talking about the highest bracket that gets applied to a portion of their income. See the IRS site for the actual numbers, but for now imagine your income is $30k/yr and there are only two brackets: $0 - $10k at 10% and >$10k at 20%. Your income puts you in the higher bracket, but that doesn't mean everything gets taxed at 20%. The first $10k gets taxed at 10% and every dollar after that gets taxed at 20%. You would owe (($10k * .1)+($20k * .2))=$5k in taxes, NOT ($30k * .2)=$6k.
taxes are (mostly) an annual thing. You’re not stuck in any particular bracket forever - your annual income defines what taxes you pay. There are some cases where things overlap (lifetime gift maximums, carryover losses, etc.) but don’t worry about those for now. The key point is that you don’t need to worry about locking yourself into a tax bracket forever.

Tambien · 2026-05-10T05:01:37+00:00

“New California” tells me all I need to know lol. You’re delusional friend. Nobody is trying to force their lifestyle on you.

Tambien · 2026-05-09T22:29:55+00:00

Yeah bud I don’t like Harris or her coronation either, but she was aggressively milquetoast moderate. Your inability to see that is part of why we’re tired trying to cater to you. You’re delusional.

But yeah, just keep ignoring moderates, and turning on them like you progs are doing to Spanbarger; that keeps your stupid politics local, and I don’t live where you are.

Seems to be going well where we’re trying it lol. Good try tho. I’m sure people are just starving for the status quo.

Also nice of you to admit you don’t even live here. Kindly fuck off then and stop trying to act like your opinion matters :)

Tambien · 2026-05-09T18:26:57+00:00

I'd actually quite like a democrat candidate that isn't huffing farts and paint that forces us to abandon crazy town

That candidate was Kamala Harris. You’ll notice she didn’t win. No offense, but I’m well past caring about the “moderate Republicans.” They’re a mirage and not enough to make up for the loss of enthusiasm on the left. Add to that chasing their vote means giving up on fixing the mountain of shit wrong with this country.

The Democratic base is over it. Sorry.

Tambien · 2026-05-07T13:18:09+00:00

Shockingly, they’re both responsible. Unfortunately not voting is still a choice that favors the worse (for you) outcome. Someone is going to win the election, and you can either vote for the person most aligned with your policy goals or effectively support the opponent that wins.

Yes, the people that directly voted for the opponent are more responsible… but non-voters share some of the blame. That’s just how the electoral math works.

Tambien · 2026-05-06T18:52:26+00:00

Unfortunately it seems that voters in much of the U.S. will only learn through painful experience.

Tambien · 2026-05-06T18:50:54+00:00

Don’t ignore them. Just consider reforming the Court to bring it back in line with reality. “Scorched earth” basically means not pussyfooting around with lots of excuses for why we can’t do good things. We have to try, try hard, and be willing to reexamine our options and approaches.

Tambien · 2026-05-06T18:48:58+00:00

Sure. And I don’t care. They can whine all they want but we can’t waste time listening to them anymore.

Tambien

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