107
submitted 1 day ago by girlfreddy@lemmy.ca to c/news@lemmy.world

Just how useful is a forecast in a knife-edge election like this one, anyway? Even the insight that it could go either way is useful, Silver argues. “One potential advantage of having a forecast that says … it’s 50/50, is that people should be making their contingency plans, like, right away. It doesn’t mean you need [to stockpile] ammo and peanut butter” – that giggle again – “but it means, you know: what’s your strategy to protect American institutions in the event of a Trump second term? Or, in 2028 [or] 2032, a Trump-like Republican who maybe is more effective than Trump? If I were a liberal donor, for example, I would want to begin funding now … to protect institutions in that eventuality, instead of giving another $100,000 to Kamala Harris, who has more money than she needs.”

And while he fears a Trump win – “There were a lot of guardrails in place last time that prevented complete and utter disaster, but those guardrails have been weakened, right?” – he warns against painting it as an existential threat to democracy, at least as a political strategy. “The notion of basically holding voters hostage in that sense is very unappealing … Biden was like: ‘OK, sure, I may be running for president until I’m 86 and can barely form a complete sentence, but if you don’t vote for me, the country gets it’ – that’s a very unappealing message to swing voters … whereas Harris brings more joyfulness and is obviously a very talented woman”. He worries, though, that she has “retained too many of the Biden people who thought it was a good idea to keep running [him]. I guess she kind of had to.”

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Suavevillain@lemmy.world 10 points 5 hours ago

You can't escape America's influence and policy no matter where you go.

[-] Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works 18 points 13 hours ago

Contingency plans. Yeah. Sure. I don't think there are any that most of us can make. There aren't any countries I could move to that would be any better I don't think. I'm too old, I don't have degrees, my only job qualifications aren't particularly in demand because the training for them is fast, and the only family connection to citizenship elsewhere I had is insufficient because it's too many generations removed from me.

I suspect the cast majority of people who would be even worse off than me under another Trump/Republican administration are in just as bad if not worse a position.

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

As a green card holder I do have the option of going "home" - except I own a house, have a wife, friends, a job, a car, a phone - all with payments still left on them (especially the wife waka waka waka) - obviously I'll leave if I'm literally in danger, but if I'm not and it's just that I don't like the president and it negatively affects geopolitics somewhat, on a personal level, leaving the country would be disastrous for me.

[-] argarath@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago

I know this is a bit away from the subject, but how difficult was it to get your green card? I have a boyfriend in the USA and we're planning to move in together in the near-ish future but I'm anxious about the process of getting a green card

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 hours ago

H1B hire from a ways back. If you can get it in under 6 years, you're really ahead of the curve. Anticipate lawyer fees and some delay, as a pro who knows the process and a long wait were definitely part of our experience.

[-] argarath@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

Thank you! I read that it takes time and is full of layer stuff, but I just didn't know how true the things I've read up were (I've read one person say it took them 7 months from getting married to getting their green card just as an example of how those websites all you their guides for getting a green card)

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago

Fiance visa took about 10-11 months for entry to the country, then converting it to a 2 year green card took roughly 7 months, then when I renewed it they changed it to a 10-year one.

I think it's different with every type of visa though.

[-] BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one 2 points 4 hours ago

At least go and buy a gun, so when we inevitably hunt for billionaires to cannibalize together, you can at least contribute something, for fuck sake.

[-] fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc 28 points 16 hours ago

LOL.

"Guy on book tour says something clickable!"

Who cares.

[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 12 points 15 hours ago

That's for the people who have the means.

[-] Phegan@lemmy.world 19 points 17 hours ago
[-] rusticus@lemm.ee 14 points 16 hours ago

Protege of Peter Thiel. Let that sink in.

[-] paddirn@lemmy.world 94 points 1 day ago

That somebody like Trump has a chance in hell of winning the election again is kind of proof enough that this country is already lost.

[-] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 47 points 22 hours ago

Friendly reminder for my trans bros and sisters, please get your passport squared away and start hoarding HRT in case shit hits the fan.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 9 points 12 hours ago

Come to California. We'll fight for you.

[-] BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one 2 points 4 hours ago

Unless if you're homeless, you can go fuck yourself if you're unhoused.

[-] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 2 points 49 minutes ago

California spends more on its homeless than any other state. It's a huge part of our annual budget.

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 13 hours ago

Im not taking the risk, I have to leave this country :c

[-] Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 6 hours ago

Where are you going to go? It seems difficult to relocate to another country without dual citizenship

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone -1 points 6 hours ago

Tbh a country that in many ways is significantly worse, but they have free healthcare and a government too unstable to ban anything (also they have "right of return"). That country is Israel, I wish I had another option yet sadly it's my only option.

[-] argarath@lemmy.world 4 points 5 hours ago

Israel is a much worse place for trans people, with a conservative government that is much more empowered than the USA and much more connected to religions that wasn't too annihilate trans people and queer people, who's going through their fascist faze and have been openly harassing minorities within their land and outside too. Don't go to Israel. If you want some time to get your things ready to leave for a country like Norway or Holland, California is much much better than pretty much any other state in the USA, you might not even need to leave the US by just staying in California tbh, but if you really want to leave the Nordic countries have been doing really well. France is being attacked by fascists RN but the people are fighting back fiercely and minimizing all the real damage, they are another good option. Switzerland seems to be another good option, but I don't know much about it, but I do have a gay friend that is moving there to live with his boyfriend and he is leaving the USA, so it seems like a good option too

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

I don't exactly have the time now for EU citizenship

[-] argarath@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

That's why I suggested going to California first, there you can have enough time to get yourself a citizenship for a country that is actually better for you

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

I can't afford to live in California, heck I can bearly afford to live where I currently live (New York)

[-] argarath@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

California is a huge state, there are cheaper areas to live in, and new York isn't in that much of a risk of suddenly prosecuting queer people, even in a trump government. California is safer, yes, but New York isn't the boonies of Florida or Texas. If you don't mind, what are you afraid of in new york that you think you'll be safer in Israel of all places?

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 hours ago

Trump using the executive branch to ban HRT

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 5 hours ago

Can you come to Canada as a refugee from a regime that will oppress you[1]? We have a separate track for that and it's (supposed to be, if you believe the rabid babbling from our hillbilly kings) much easier and faster.

  1. yeah, either one.
[-] harmsy@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

That seems like an "Out of the frying pan and into the fire" type of situation.

[-] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

Pretty much, better then the alternative of dying tho (not by much)

[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 51 points 1 day ago

Nate Silver isn't worth listening to.

That being said, I have my contingency plans laid out.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 79 points 1 day ago

There's also this:

instead of giving another $100,000 to Kamala Harris, who has more money than she needs.

Nate Silver knows how elections work. He knows there is no such thing as more money than you need in a presidential campaign. That's an astoundingly dishonest thing to say from someone like him.

[-] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 39 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'll never trust that degenerate grifter anyways. When I heard he was so cocksure of his stats knowledge that he ~~lost~~ spent 10k a day on gambling, that's all I needed to never listen to him again.

At the end of the day, his prognostications are a very expensive coin flip.

Edit: see the strikethrough above.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

I didn't hear the gambling thing about him but at this point, I'm not surprised.

[-] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah he's got a new book out which is very Tim Ferris adjacent talking about "professional risk takers" and how they risk it all to win big in their fields. Of course he talks about crypto and AI. He's a stooge.

His books blurb:

These professional risk-takers—poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true believers and blue-chip art collectors—can teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the twenty-first century. By immersing himself in the worlds of Doyle Brunson, Peter Thiel, Sam Bankman-Fried, Sam Altman, and many others, Silver offers insight into a range of issues that affect us all, from the frontiers of finance to the future of AI.

I don't have blue sky, but thought this thread was illustrative of the book: https://bsky.app/profile/davekarpf.bsky.social/post/3kzwvdiolld2a

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago

Oh god, it's like a curated "people you should never listen to" list.

[-] Boozilla@lemmy.world 10 points 23 hours ago

On top of all this interesting and problematic stuff about Silver himself, I think polls are very unreliable here in the post-truth world. Playing spreadsheet games with multiple polls might be marginally better. But IMO the whole thing suffers from GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). People lie to pollsters for myriad reasons. And that's just the small population of people they can even get a response from.

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 5 points 16 hours ago

Also a lot of people just dont do polls, I have been practically spammed by polsters for the last few months via text and I shall continue to ignore them.

[-] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 27 points 1 day ago

Silver is using poll numbers from before the debate. It's not worthless, but it's outdated information.

But I want Democrats feeling the pressure and vote like Democracy depends on it, so I'm happy if he keeps fluffing that pillow.

[-] Webster@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

His model actually accounts for whether polls were taken before or after an event, and raises and lowers their impact and error margin based on that. Right up to the debate, his model was giving Kamala a <30% chance and it's only the inclusion of new polls since the debate that have moved her to 50%.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago

I'm glad I'm a dual citizen, but I'm not sure how easily I'll get my wife over to the UK.

[-] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

This is exactly my situation. My kids and I could move over there easily and in an instant, legally. But I'm not sure what the process is for my wife.

Also, there's more to moving to another country than just the legality (and that aspect alone is insurmountable for many unsuspecting people). You're talking about leaving/moving/selling all your belongings, vehicle(s), possibly also a home. And going through the whole process of getting a new job, new schools, cultural shock for kids. And transferring money over, setting up be accounts, etc. And dealing with starting from scratch with credit scores and such. And all that would involve moving back to a country that has its own pretty profound struggles right now. It's a massive headache. But it's something we are definitely considering.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

I know, it's a really big problem. But my daughter is queer, so if Trump wins, she and I are getting out before Trump takes office. We'll just have to figure out the rest after that. Thankfully, I have friends and family over there who would be able to help.

[-] EABOD25@lemm.ee 17 points 1 day ago

My prediction is that if Trump does win, there will be a civil war within the next 4-10 years. Each side will get backing from separate national groups. Except middle eastern countries (with the exceptional of Israel). They'll probably just sit back and watch the US burn. And staying in that state-of-mind, that would have the potential to spark WWIII.

[-] cmbabul@lemmy.world 7 points 17 hours ago

My fear is there will be some form of civil war either way, but it will be much much worse if he wins

[-] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 9 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Except middle eastern countries (with the exceptional of Israel). They'll probably just sit back and watch the US burn.

~~Hope they're cool having an awful lot less money then, the US is one of the main powers propping up the oil industry out there. We stop buying and the market collapses. It's not like Russia is going to step in to buy the surplus, and I doubt China would want to even if they probably can afford it.~~

Edit: Wow, I am completely wrong as evidenced by people below, I admit I did not look this up before speaking about it. That's my mistake.

[-] logi@lemmy.world 7 points 16 hours ago
[-] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 4 points 15 hours ago

Wow, okay, fair enough. Edited the prior comment to reflect this. Thanks for teaching me something I should have looked up first.

[-] EABOD25@lemm.ee 4 points 22 hours ago

All they have to do is sit and wait. The Middle East still produce around 50% of the world's oil. If those countries have proven anything, it's that they're smart and resilient. Someone somewhere is going to want what they have and they could sell it for whatever cost they see fit. All they would have to do is keep their heads down and wait

[-] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago

Oh they'll keep producing just fine. But when demand suddenly drops to half or less of what it was, they're going to run into trouble, and fast. America imports an absolutely ludicrous amount of oil for many purposes. If the country collapses, that supply/demand chain dries up.

Realistically, all the American Mega-Barons that are doing all this oil business will just set up shop in another country. Africa, maybe - plenty of open space and not much regulation out there. But that will take time and investment, time that existing oil supply barons may not have.

They'd probably survive, but I have a hard time seeing all of the Middle East just quietly watching America burn down when we account for probably a solid half of their budget sheets in their most profitable sector.

[-] rusticus@lemm.ee 5 points 16 hours ago

America is now a net exporter and made more domestic fossil fuels last year than anytime in history.

this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2024
107 points (86.4% liked)

News

22903 readers
4794 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS