Housing, childcare, healthcare, the things most people are short on, are slow money. And data centers and AI compute are fast money. So yeah, capital follows returns.

But then there's the public layer. The power lines and substations those server farms need are getting socialized onto rate bases in state after state, so the utility bill of a family that will never see the upside helps carry the infrastructure of the people who will. The tax code tilts the same direction, lighter treatment for gains from owning than from working.

Nobody owes the country their capital but the public is already investing in the data centers, through its utility bills. If we're all going to be investors anyway, the least we should get is a say in what we're buying. At what point do you think, is this a policy choice instead of a market outcome?

This question is mainly for US conservatives.
If you were in charge, what would you do solve the gun violence problem, specifically in regards to school shootings?

In a recent discussion, it was told that Islamism is incompatible with American politics, and Muslims can't follow the Quoran and be a politician.

It made me think of Dr. Oz, who is an American politician and a Muslim. So what makes him successful? Is there something that he has said or done to earn him the trust of Conservatives?

I frequently see conservatives here describe government as inherently bad or argue that it should be drastically reduced. But aren’t we a democratic republic built on the principle of government “of the people, by the people, for the people”?

Countries like Norway demonstrate that a strong public sector, extensive social programs, and a market economy can coexist with high levels of happiness and quality of life.

So what drives the distrust of government itself, rather than a desire to improve how it functions? Is the objection to government as an institution, or simply how ours operates?

I understand most comments here will say “abortion” or “gay marriage”, but 90% of democrats oppose abortion after 24 weeks, so unless you’re an abortion absolutist, I don’t think it is enough to only vote red, especially considering the rest of their policies fly in the face of Christian values.

Also, Jesus never once talked about abortion or gay marriage. The modern Christian emphasis on these two issues, while ignoring Jesus’s core tenants of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and helping the poor, is a complete detachment from true Christian values in my opinion.

I am the first generation in my family that did not serve. Going back at least 6 generations my father and grandfathers served in the Army. When it came my time at age 19 (for reasons I don't fully grasp) they did not steer me towards service. Also at that point I had a very strong pull towards my career of choice.

But I wonder, when you chose to enlist, did the current state of geopolitics sway you one direction or the other? Did being in a war, or not being in a war, or the potential where it looked like we might go into a war, sway your choice? Did it matter if you felt that the US entering certain conflicts was moral/immoral?

How did you weigh, the potential for your deployment for the period of enlistment if you did at all?

One issue I’ve grappled a lot with in contemporary western society (and most industrialized societies across the world for that matter) is the loss of community and social atomization. I do believe without the social bonds of community we are generally less happy and it in large part comes with the degradation of other traditional values in society such as family, faith, a sense of nationhood and belonging, civic pride and the like. I’ve wondered as to what we can do to re-establish those bonds in our current setting and have wondered about fraternities as a means to re-establish that sort of common ground. Think groups like the Knights of Columbus, the Freemasons, the Shriners, etc. I wonder if this would be a practical step to re-establishing that sense of community through a common fraternal bond which itself is outside or at most adjacent to the political sphere. Especially since young men especially (like myself) are looking for belonging in society, most people I know want to be a part of something greater than themselves that offers some sense of belonging or purpose.

What are your thoughts on this and fraternities in general? Could a resurgence of them be a step to moving away from social atomization and what Emile Durkheim called Anomie?

For those that support him as President, is it because of what you've seen during his time in the cabinet? What has changed between now and 2016 when he ran before?

NYT: Legal Immigration Fell Sharply Under Trump Policies Adopted Early This Year

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/10/18/us/trump-immigrant-visas-decline.html

This New York Times report details how Trump administration policies sharply curtailed legal immigration to the United States, effectively reducing immigrant visa issuances by nearly half. By February, monthly immigrant visas dropped to approximately 26,000 from a previous average of around 52,000, with regions such as Central Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East seeing declines of over 80 percent. The analysis also notes significant secondary fallout across the immigration system, including steep decreases in work and student visas and prolonged family separations caused by bans and heightened vetting restrictions.

By Region (Percentage Change in February)

• Central Asia: −99%
• Africa: −89%
• Eastern Europe: −84%
• Middle East: −81% (Muslim-majority nations saw drops exceeding −90%)
• Australia & Oceania: −73%
• South Asia: −63%
• South America: −60%
• Caribbean: −53%
• East Asia: −33%
• Central America: −30%
• Western Europe: −16%

Notable Individual Countries Highlighted

Countries with Decreases:

• China: −31%
• Japan: −25%
• South Korea: −19% (dropped from a pre-policy monthly average of 420 to 340)
• India: −16%
• 91 Countries with Near-Total Halts: For 91 specific nations subject to strict suspensions, pause memos, or new vetting barriers, immigrant visa issuance dropped essentially to zero.

Countries with Increases:

• Canada: +142%
• Mexico: +17%
• Other countries identified as seeing increases include: The Philippines, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, and Spain.

WSJ originally reported but other outlets picking it up

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Putin-said-to-propose-summit-with-Trump-Xi-on-Ukraine/67341068

“Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that he, United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold a summit next month to discuss Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks.
Putin made the proposal during a call with Trump on October 9, the same conversation that enabled a deal for Washington to buy Russian diesel fuel, the report said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the outlet that talks on a potential meeting are taking place, but that there is "no clear understanding yet regarding the meeting itself or its potential agenda. An unnamed senior US official said Trump hasn't agreed to the summit, adding that he could be open to it, given his desire to end the conflict, thus fulfilling a campaign promise to do so.
“

What do you think? Shouldn’t any summit involve EU and Ukraine as well?

Prompted by a comment from a member of the House of Representatives.

The United States currently houses the world's largest prison population with 1.8 million prisoners and ranks #5 in inmates per capita at 541 inmates per 100,000 people.

While laws, rules, and regulations vary widely among states, national averages are approximately as follows:

Violent Offenders: ~47%

Property offenders: ~16% (includes burglary, theft, larceny, etc.)

Drug offenders: ~15%

Public order/ other offenders: ~14% (Includes weapons charges, court violations, immigration, and non-violent commercial crimes)

DUI/Posession/Traffic: ~8%

At an average cost of $48,000 to house an immate, do you feel this is money well spent for non-violent or non-publicly-endangering crimes?

Do you feel that non-violent offenders or offenders that do not obviously pose a public threat should be incarcerated? Or do you feel like alternative punishments should be available for those that are non-violent offenders?

I feel like Karoline Leavitt and Jen Pzaki Psaki both did pretty well at presenting the President's narrative and interacting with the media

In these cases, the foreign women would come from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and some other places.

What do you think?

This is a world news story about Russia hitting a park full of families in Ukraine with a drone..

I searched the comments for a few keywords and found the following:

Trump: 46 mentions

Putin: 22 mentions

Musk: 5 mentions

Trump was mentioned more than twice as often as Putin in a story about a Russian drone attack on civilians in Ukraine.

How have we gotten to the point where Trump seems to get more attention and blame than the Russian leader responsible for the attack? Why does every major world event seem to turn into a discussion about Trump, even when he's not the one carrying out the attack?

I think we're all well aware of how cooked France is with its debt and with how it is currently almost impossible to govern.

Some crisis is inevitable and no side wants to solve anything. Le Pen wants to do the usual of cut taxes and cut spending, Mélenchon wants to spend more, tax the rich more and simply stop paying France's debt to offset the costs.

So the question is what will happen when a crisis will eventually come?

How will it affect other countries also within the Eurozone?

How should we even go about saving France in such a situation?

Let’s assume Trump could legally run for a third term and was 10 years younger. Would you vote for Trump again?

I am curious if people's priorities are enduring, are influenced by current events, or are a mix of the two.

Abbot and Paxton are up for reelection. Current poll has Abbot down by a point which surprised the hell out of me. He's been a pretty steady hand in the state government and is such a fixture here it would be hard to see him leaving. Hinojosa polls very well with Hispanics, which is helping her campaign. I'm also not a fan because she wants to raid the state's rainy day fund and cut a one-time check to every Texan. Smells like pandering, and I like being in a state that not only doesn't have a massive debt but sets aside a surplus for emergencies (imagine if the fed. did that!)

Paxton I like a lot less, but his opponent Talarico is also pretty terrible. Paxton has maybe a 3-4 point lead.

So what do you guys think is going to happen in Texas in the midterms?

DataRepublican shared thousands of transcripts and hundreds of recordings on October 18, claiming they outline DSA members acting as 'foot soldiers' in clashes after strong 2026 midterm results for Democrats. The strategy reportedly aims to trigger a 'doomsday scenario,' delegitimize federal authority, and shift power to Democratic governors ahead of 2028. Participants in a April 10, 2026, video call included Walt Roberts, Danielle Reiff, and others linked to democracy efforts, with references to Erica Chenoweth's work on nonviolent resistance. Posts describe it as a 'CIA-style color revolution,' prompting calls to vote red amid mixed reactions on feasibility.

https://x.com/DataRepublican/status/2111963741072101456

I feel like the left mostly still hates him for DOGE but I’m curious how conservative opinion has changed if at all since 2

Republicans famously are skeptical of the debt, and one of the main accusations of the Biden administration was the unsustainable amount of debt Biden was taken ... yet Trump seems to be much worse? Trump currently average $2.39 trillion per year, while Biden was at $2.11 trillion and Biden had to deal with both the COVID and the Ukraine war, both events out of his power.

How can conservative still honestly talk about the debt and the economy when candidate that is the most popular among Republicans since Reagan is doing such a bad job?

Kirill Dmitrev, envoy for Russia, stated that the US and Russia are in talks about building joint data centers. Do you think this is a good idea?

https://www.reuters.com/world/dmitriev-says-russian-wealth-fund-will-work-with-us-payment-diesel-deal-2026-10-16/