has it ever occurred to you that not all events in the USA are instigated by the political parties?
Aidan,
We know, the riots & looting for example are instigated by hordes of racists exploiting the deplorable act of a racist from the other side.

.

Dear Aidan,

.

You wrote :

« The biggest difference is that the USA has the rule of law, whereas the Chinese judiciary ignore China's laws and instead enforce the will of their leaders »
.

A nation of 1,440 million people spread across a territory about the same size as the US (with a population of 331 million) would probably be impossible to govern if it were to enforce strict respect of individual human rights. The same applies to India, the world’s second-largest nation, with its population of 1,380 million people.

Both countries have authoritarian governments, and both apply the death penalty.

India, nevertheless, has the advantage of having inherited the British democratic political system. Its common law judicial system has a history dating back to the 1860s. It also has a corps of law professionals trained in British universities.

The US and UK democratic political and legal systems are pretty much the same for all intents and purposes – both have integrated self-control mechanisms (“checks and balances”) – except in one important domain : the nomination of supreme court judges. In the US it is highly political. In the UK it is not (formal procedure for constitution of an ad hoc “selection commission”).

In the US, the nine-member Supreme Court is the third branch of the federal government and its decisions have a profound impact on American society. It is often the final word on highly contentious laws, disputes between state and federal governments, and final appeals to stay executions.

Under Article 2 of the constitution, the president has the power to nominate judges. There is no clear explanation as to how or why this came about.

Candidates must be approved by the senate. They do not have to meet any qualifications and serve lifetime terms - a contentious topic for many. That is why replacing a judge is one of the most consequential decisions of the president.

It’s not surprising that every nomination is a highly politicised affair.

Trump’s nominations of notoriously conservative judges will have a major lasting effect on future American law.

.

.

Dear Chris Lewis,

.

You wrote :

« Really, china still has 600 million earning less than $US5.50 per day. Many Chinese are hardly booming, while the a.. lickers in the CCP party on »
.

Yes, it’s pretty shocking, Chris. I remember watching from the window in the apartment where I was staying in Beijing, bare-footed Chinese labourers erecting a high-rise building, climbing up bamboo scaffolding that they mounted like Lego as they progressed from floor to floor. They worked day and night under spotlights, relaying each other, sleeping and eating on the site until it was finished. They were poor peasants from the provinces who migrated to Beijing to find work and send their meagre pay back to their families. I guess the ones I saw were the lucky ones.

In the US, the official poverty rate was 12.3%, based on the Census Bureau’s 2017 estimates. That year, an estimated 39.7 million Americans lived in poverty according to the official measure. But according to a supplemental poverty measure, the rate was 13.9%.

The official measure is based on data from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The survey is sent to U.S. households, so the poverty estimates do not include those who are homeless. The sample also excludes military personnel who do not live with at least one civilian adult, as well as incarcerated adults.

According to the Census Bureau, 18.5 million people reported deep poverty, which means a household income below 50 percent of their 2017 poverty threshold. These individuals represented an estimated 5.7 percent of all Americans and 46.7 percent of those in poverty.

Trajically, World-wide poverty rates are expected to rise by 1.9% to 3% due to the coronavirus pandemic according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) :

http://www.ifpri.org/blog/how-much-will-global-poverty-increase-because-covid-19

And just as you observe for the Chinese, many Americans are hardly booming, while, today, despite the worst stock market crash since the 2008 financial crisis, the 20 richest Americans are still worth nearly $1 trillion combined :

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2020/04/07/the-20-richest-american-billionaires-2020/#33eaeb1a1aeb

.

Your claim that I promote racism is nonsense.
Paul1405,
Is it really ?

Banjo, I agree.

on my visit to New York, I spoke to some locals who told me just how hard it is for them to get ahead.

I feel very sorry for low skilled workers in the US.

We are so lucky to be in Australia in so many ways, but times are also tougher for a growing minority here.

However, I still have faith in liberal democracy as the political system most capable in terms of potential to get the economic-social policy mix right.

I hope that make sense, and explains my perspective (and sometimes contradictions).

COVID-19 and race riots are about the only thing that might've cost Trump the election, and what do we get?

When you find out that pallets of bricks were delivered on the streets into many cities and towns prior to the uprising you'll realise this was planned.
I remember watching a video of hundreds of US military vehicles headed by rail into Chicago 2 months ago, when they should've been going the other way.

Wait for the second wave in September or October, prior to the election.
All this designed to look random when planned, and all designed to put Trump under the pump and make him look inept, which he is but democrats had no chance of winning previously prior to Covid-19 and race riots.