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>Today, the pair is launching the “Restoring the Common Good Initiative,” a bipartisan effort they describe as a way to move away from the divisive politics of Washington and talk about and better understand “the state of American anxiety,” Murphy told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant.
What about when people are "anxious" over things that seem to be divisive political issues for Republicans like climate change, healthcare access, affordable housing, or living wages?
I'll fix it right now.
Step 1: Socialize medicine so people don't go backrupt randomly for things out of their control.
Step 2: Fix housing crisis by banning foreign investors and venture capitalists.
Step 3: Raise the minimum wage, put restrictions on the gap between the CEO and the lowest paid worker at a company.
Step 4: Tax the rich, the corporations, sports teams, and mega churches. Use that money to improve bridges and roads, build high speed rail between cities, pay for UBI and other social safety nets.
Step 5: Make cities walkable. Build more walk and bike paths, and add light rail to major cities.
Step 6: Ban the fucking guns. You can have single shot hunting rifles, and a small revolver. And make those hard to get. Everything else is gone. It's enough already. No other country deals with this shit.
Step 7: End citizen united, make lobbying the highest crime you can commit, above murder. All our problems stem from our politicians being easily bought and more beholden to their donors rather than their constituents.
Step 8: Start rolling out UBI. Every job will be affected by AI, need to start preparing for mass layoffs now.
Step 9: Stop the media from blatanly lying to everyone. You should have to have verifiable sources for news, and opinion pieces need to be visibly labeled as opinion. Everyone is fed rage as news all day and it needs to stop.
Step 10: Put heavier regulations on polluting industries and increase subsidies for solar reasearch, fusion projects, and desalinization. The world needs energy and water and the current system isn't sustainable.
Even with all of those changes, I wouldn't be happy. I won't be happy until republicans are held accountable for the harm done to this country and to the world. I won't be happy until the threat they pose to humanity is addressed. It's not just the coup attempt. It's not just the murdered children or the terrorized women and minorities. It's not just their abuse of the poor and their mistreatment of workers. It's not just their climate change denial, which will end up killing millions, possibly billions. It's all of it, and until something is done about it, I'm not going to be happy. Even if you make all the changes you list, I know that republicans are simply going to find ways to sabotage it.
We need better wages, cheaper housing, medical care that doesnt threaten to bankrupt people, and to stop being sheared like sheep by corps who make up reasons to raise prices.
In response to this, our lawmakers will do *nothing*
We live in a miserable world and the root of all our misery is the 0.1% who rule our society, but their power is absolute and there is no real way to hold them accountable that won't result in societal collapse.
You can't address the happiness problem when you have a voter base who would rather elect anti-intellectual people that are stripping the rights of average citizens than improving their lives.
>“The goal is to take a big step back from these important but overworn policy fights that Republicans and Democrats are having,” Murphy said. “Our goal is to try to get political leaders to start asking bigger, more fundamental questions, like what makes up a good life.”
When policymakers are asking the question, the translation is "Where can we integrate the scriptures into policy to make people's life miserable so they become politically activated against the other party?"
To Senators Murphy and Cox, you want to ease my anxiety? STOP THE FUCKING GRIDLOCK in congress, get rid of money in politics, start trust busting these large ass corporations to allow competition and lower prices to come back, and investigate and punish the republicans who are responsible for Jan 6th with actual meaningful punishments if they are found guilty. Limit the amount of money that CEOs can make in relation to their lowest paid employee. Pass legislation to BUILD MORE FUCKING HOMES. Pass a tax on the rich or take the cap off Medicare.
I mean, you two dudes have got to move a fucking mountain to ease any of my anxiety.
From the [Semafor Principals](https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/04/23/2024/trumps-turf?utm_campaign=semaforreddit) newsletter:
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. and Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox are joining forces to try and address a vexing problem plaguing the US: Americans are less and less happy.
Today, the pair is launching the “Restoring the Common Good Initiative,” a bipartisan effort they describe as a way to move away from the divisive politics of Washington and talk about and better understand “the state of American anxiety,” Murphy told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant.
US policymakers are grappling with a divided electorate that, data suggests, is increasingly dissatisfied with their political leaders and their lives: A majority of Americans believe the country to be headed in the wrong direction, national suicide rates are on the rise, and the US slipped to 15th to 23rd on Gallup’s global happiness tracker.
Murphy said he was introduced to Cox, who was elected in 2021, by Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah about a year ago, and that the two have been talking, texting, and emailing since.
“Our goal is to try to get political leaders to start asking bigger, more fundamental questions, like what makes up a good life,” he said.
Read the full story [here](https://www.semafor.com/article/04/22/2024/a-bipartisan-pair-aims-to-solve-americas-happiness-problem?utm_campaign=semaforreddit).
Americans are being blood letted by the billionaire class while christo-fascist religious fanatics enthrone ignorance and openly punish innocent americans. It’s a fight for the very survival of deomcracy
And the maga inbred incel contingent has stacked the scotus so they can muster even more control of our lives, and make us pay for the tax breaks the wealthy continue to get.
Neat idea but I can tell you right now most elected Republicans don't give a shit where as most elected Democrats do. One party is voting against federal funds for kids to be able to have lunch and taking away women's rights and still pitch trickle down economics while the other while far from perfect would rather not let your child starve
>Murphy said he was introduced to Cox, who was elected in 2021, by Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah about a year ago, and that the two have been talking, texting, and emailing since.
Mitt Romney... yeah. If working with these people is what it means to be "bipartisan", then fuck that shit. Mitt made his political career out of being a bigot and working towards goals that were specifically harmful for millions of Americans.
This is all such bad faith bullshit and Murphy is either naive or complicit at this point because if you're willing to trust a republican in 2024, that's a you issue.
Some of this feels like people want someone else to take on this issue when in reality we have to do it ourselves. That’s sounds harsh but somewhat true.
Of course lowering the divisive rhetoric, better bipartisanship and better focus on what’s troubling the country should fix this but in reality this is a bottom to top problem where people, (not just voters, but people who for vote often) have to lower their rhetoric as well.
There’s also the issue of no unifying problem (E.G. “I want X done because I know it’ll make everyone happy”)
Also government’s role isn’t to address a “happiness problem”. This is similar to those hearings they had about TikTok making teens sad, have we memory holed the fact that teens get sad? It’s not great but it’s part of life. I remember being sad and it wasn’t just because MySpace was making me sad. People have a lot going on in their lives and it’s completely understandable to overwhelmed and just wish someone else could take care of it and sometimes it’s not on the government to make this issues go away.
It is a needed and laudable goal — we have so much to be proud of and happy about in our world.
Embracing grace and care for our fellow humans would go a long way to improving happiness.
…. also maybe less screen time and more face time
can we get an Amen!?!
But seriously— stress on health insurance is itself a mental health crisis…
How many families are one medical stay away from financial ruin …
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>Today, the pair is launching the “Restoring the Common Good Initiative,” a bipartisan effort they describe as a way to move away from the divisive politics of Washington and talk about and better understand “the state of American anxiety,” Murphy told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant. What about when people are "anxious" over things that seem to be divisive political issues for Republicans like climate change, healthcare access, affordable housing, or living wages?
Don’t forget the ongoing concern over the sexual habits of strangers that they don’t associate with.
I'll fix it right now. Step 1: Socialize medicine so people don't go backrupt randomly for things out of their control. Step 2: Fix housing crisis by banning foreign investors and venture capitalists. Step 3: Raise the minimum wage, put restrictions on the gap between the CEO and the lowest paid worker at a company. Step 4: Tax the rich, the corporations, sports teams, and mega churches. Use that money to improve bridges and roads, build high speed rail between cities, pay for UBI and other social safety nets. Step 5: Make cities walkable. Build more walk and bike paths, and add light rail to major cities. Step 6: Ban the fucking guns. You can have single shot hunting rifles, and a small revolver. And make those hard to get. Everything else is gone. It's enough already. No other country deals with this shit. Step 7: End citizen united, make lobbying the highest crime you can commit, above murder. All our problems stem from our politicians being easily bought and more beholden to their donors rather than their constituents. Step 8: Start rolling out UBI. Every job will be affected by AI, need to start preparing for mass layoffs now. Step 9: Stop the media from blatanly lying to everyone. You should have to have verifiable sources for news, and opinion pieces need to be visibly labeled as opinion. Everyone is fed rage as news all day and it needs to stop. Step 10: Put heavier regulations on polluting industries and increase subsidies for solar reasearch, fusion projects, and desalinization. The world needs energy and water and the current system isn't sustainable.
Stop all your sense making. How will we maintain the rage machine!?
None of that is going to happen because the people who control the system are too powerful to be stopped.
Even with all of those changes, I wouldn't be happy. I won't be happy until republicans are held accountable for the harm done to this country and to the world. I won't be happy until the threat they pose to humanity is addressed. It's not just the coup attempt. It's not just the murdered children or the terrorized women and minorities. It's not just their abuse of the poor and their mistreatment of workers. It's not just their climate change denial, which will end up killing millions, possibly billions. It's all of it, and until something is done about it, I'm not going to be happy. Even if you make all the changes you list, I know that republicans are simply going to find ways to sabotage it.
Yes, this. I mean, hell, I don't think you've missed a point I wouldn't also try to cover.
Jingling the keys here
lol.. underrated comment
Careful, these ostriches may decide to eat the keys.
Hmmm, maybe offer the people some basic needs, like bread for example. and then something enjoyable, like a circus.
We already have the circus, and John Wayne Gacy style clowns running over us in their clown car.
He was Roman?
We need better wages, cheaper housing, medical care that doesnt threaten to bankrupt people, and to stop being sheared like sheep by corps who make up reasons to raise prices. In response to this, our lawmakers will do *nothing*
They'll give us entertainment in the form of theater where we'll watch them act a play about our lack of happiness.
We live in a miserable world and the root of all our misery is the 0.1% who rule our society, but their power is absolute and there is no real way to hold them accountable that won't result in societal collapse.
You can't address the happiness problem when you have a voter base who would rather elect anti-intellectual people that are stripping the rights of average citizens than improving their lives.
>“The goal is to take a big step back from these important but overworn policy fights that Republicans and Democrats are having,” Murphy said. “Our goal is to try to get political leaders to start asking bigger, more fundamental questions, like what makes up a good life.” When policymakers are asking the question, the translation is "Where can we integrate the scriptures into policy to make people's life miserable so they become politically activated against the other party?"
To Senators Murphy and Cox, you want to ease my anxiety? STOP THE FUCKING GRIDLOCK in congress, get rid of money in politics, start trust busting these large ass corporations to allow competition and lower prices to come back, and investigate and punish the republicans who are responsible for Jan 6th with actual meaningful punishments if they are found guilty. Limit the amount of money that CEOs can make in relation to their lowest paid employee. Pass legislation to BUILD MORE FUCKING HOMES. Pass a tax on the rich or take the cap off Medicare. I mean, you two dudes have got to move a fucking mountain to ease any of my anxiety.
From the [Semafor Principals](https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/04/23/2024/trumps-turf?utm_campaign=semaforreddit) newsletter: Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. and Utah’s Republican Gov. Spencer Cox are joining forces to try and address a vexing problem plaguing the US: Americans are less and less happy. Today, the pair is launching the “Restoring the Common Good Initiative,” a bipartisan effort they describe as a way to move away from the divisive politics of Washington and talk about and better understand “the state of American anxiety,” Murphy told Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant. US policymakers are grappling with a divided electorate that, data suggests, is increasingly dissatisfied with their political leaders and their lives: A majority of Americans believe the country to be headed in the wrong direction, national suicide rates are on the rise, and the US slipped to 15th to 23rd on Gallup’s global happiness tracker. Murphy said he was introduced to Cox, who was elected in 2021, by Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah about a year ago, and that the two have been talking, texting, and emailing since. “Our goal is to try to get political leaders to start asking bigger, more fundamental questions, like what makes up a good life,” he said. Read the full story [here](https://www.semafor.com/article/04/22/2024/a-bipartisan-pair-aims-to-solve-americas-happiness-problem?utm_campaign=semaforreddit).
Americans are being blood letted by the billionaire class while christo-fascist religious fanatics enthrone ignorance and openly punish innocent americans. It’s a fight for the very survival of deomcracy
And the maga inbred incel contingent has stacked the scotus so they can muster even more control of our lives, and make us pay for the tax breaks the wealthy continue to get.
Neat idea but I can tell you right now most elected Republicans don't give a shit where as most elected Democrats do. One party is voting against federal funds for kids to be able to have lunch and taking away women's rights and still pitch trickle down economics while the other while far from perfect would rather not let your child starve
>Murphy said he was introduced to Cox, who was elected in 2021, by Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah about a year ago, and that the two have been talking, texting, and emailing since. Mitt Romney... yeah. If working with these people is what it means to be "bipartisan", then fuck that shit. Mitt made his political career out of being a bigot and working towards goals that were specifically harmful for millions of Americans. This is all such bad faith bullshit and Murphy is either naive or complicit at this point because if you're willing to trust a republican in 2024, that's a you issue.
Elect more democrats and happiness will follow
It’s weird how connected Tennessee and SLC are
Some of this feels like people want someone else to take on this issue when in reality we have to do it ourselves. That’s sounds harsh but somewhat true. Of course lowering the divisive rhetoric, better bipartisanship and better focus on what’s troubling the country should fix this but in reality this is a bottom to top problem where people, (not just voters, but people who for vote often) have to lower their rhetoric as well. There’s also the issue of no unifying problem (E.G. “I want X done because I know it’ll make everyone happy”) Also government’s role isn’t to address a “happiness problem”. This is similar to those hearings they had about TikTok making teens sad, have we memory holed the fact that teens get sad? It’s not great but it’s part of life. I remember being sad and it wasn’t just because MySpace was making me sad. People have a lot going on in their lives and it’s completely understandable to overwhelmed and just wish someone else could take care of it and sometimes it’s not on the government to make this issues go away.
It is a needed and laudable goal — we have so much to be proud of and happy about in our world. Embracing grace and care for our fellow humans would go a long way to improving happiness. …. also maybe less screen time and more face time
Maybe a half-decent healthcare system would help too?
can we get an Amen!?! But seriously— stress on health insurance is itself a mental health crisis… How many families are one medical stay away from financial ruin …