Good times in America

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   Eastwardposted 5 years ago

   As bad as times seem, they are likely to get much worse. Chauncy Devega explains:
   
   Empires fall a little bit at a time and then all at once. Over the last two decades, America has proven itself to be well along on that journey. The coronavirus pandemic has simply pushed our nation further along that downward spiral.
   
   Ultimately, the pandemic has further exposed and exacerbated — for those still somehow in denial about the decades-long reality of America as a decaying empire — deep political, social, economic, cultural and other societal problems.
   
   https://www.salon.com/2020/04/28/pulitz … ming-next/

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      Credence2posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Eastward, the link was one to a very powerful article. Thank you for providing it. So, now Rome burns, while NERO fiddles around.
      
      The person interviewed expressed the opinion that I have always held that Joe Biden is just a more palatable version of the SOS. Trump is just an unsightly chancre on an otherwise diseased body. Just removing the chancre is not enough, the entire body must be healed and then the chancre will disappear.
      
      The real candidates that "get it" and are serious about turning us around were quickly squelched by Wall Street and Corporate apparatchiks. But, as I have seen in the recent caucuses and primaries, we are not ready to acknowledge the need for more fundamental change, or are fearful as to where such change would take us.
      
      The system is corrupt at its very foundation, and those that continue to stand to gain and are responsible for perpetuating it are just as determined to keep the true nature of that well hidden from "the masses".
      
      I do not want to see America reach this state. We have been through crises before in our history and have weathered the storm. But today, we do not have leadership at the Executive of the caliber of say an Abraham Lincoln or FDR. The oligarchy that takes over is as ruthless as it is calloused. And we are in trouble.

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         MizBejabbersposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         So, Credence, what do you propose? Socialism from the younger generation or more corporate greed from the Republicans? Maybe this country needs to fall and start over again, but if we can't agree right now on a solution, I shudder to think of what will happen if we do have to reform.
         Lincoln wasn't the hero history portrays. His Emancipation Proclamation left the four border Union states, Missouri, Kentucky, Delaware and Maryland free to keep their slaves (how convenient for his buddies!). He also wanted to send the former slaves back to Africa. It took Congress to pass the 13th Amendment to free them, and the 14th Amendment made them U.S. citizens. But historians don't want you to know that.
         https://www.history.com/topics/black-hi … -amendment

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            Credence2posted 5 years agoin reply to this

            MizB
            
            I start by proposing that the reins be tightened on the influence of money peddlers in Washington, end the revolving door . Warren and Sanders started by cracking down on lobbyists for example. Yes, less corporate greed from the Republicans as I think this is already a socialist state in many ways, just that that "Socialism" benefits the few and not the many. Curbing the abuses of capitalism is not socialism, while the GOP paints it as though it is.
            
            I am aware that Lincoln was no angel, he was not an abolitionist, but was anti-slavery. I did not expect a level of thinking about race that was not common for people at that time, but he was in fact uncommon. He actually invited Frederick Douglass, noted black orator, to confer with him at the White House regarding the Slavery issue. That was a first from any American president, and while relative to today's standards and even the perspective of Douglass at the time, Lincoln was tardy, but he was still well ahead of most in his wisdom and governance.
            
            Lincoln's issue focused on secession. The border states did not secede from the union and Lincoln left them alone. He believed that Blacks and Whites living in the same nation with equal rights was incompatible, not necessarily a cruel idea in itself, from a man living in mid-nineteenth century America.
            
            Lincoln did not live to see the Enactment of the 13-15th Amendments, but knowing the sort of man Lincoln was he would not have abided with the deaths of so many in the war without addressing the main tenets of the war's causes. With the concept of "malice toward none and charity for all" in his 1865 Inaugural address, he pointed toward a generally lenient return of rebel states to the union, but one that would fairly address concerns of the new freedmen, and other blacks who fought in the war. That, no one received from Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor.
            
            Like, I said earlier, in the current political and economic climate, we are in trouble.

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               wildernessposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               "Yes, less corporate greed from the Republicans as I think this is already a socialist state in many ways, just that that "Socialism" benefits the few and not the many."
               
               Given that half the country receives support forcibly taken from the other half, while paying nothing towards the needs of the nation, how do you support that only a "few" benefit from our brand of socialism?

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               1. 61

                  Randy Godwinposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Some in Idaho apparently like it, Dan. Idaho gets more federal assistance than 3/4 of the states. DOH!
                  
                  https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/pol … 94881.html

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                     Credence2posted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     Sounds like "Socialism" to me, Randy.....

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                        Randy Godwinposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                        Couldn't be....Dan wouldn't live there if it was!

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                  Credence2posted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Do you really believe America is a Socialist country, Wilderness?
                  
                  A country where big banks are bailed out to tune of billions and the fat cats and Amazon for example have the tax code rigged so they pay little of nothing.
                  
                  Well, your idea of socialism and mine are ripped forever asunder. So, we both have complaints about the tax code as it stands, however America is well in the Capitalist column.

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                  Eastwardposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  I read that as a reference to corporate socialism (some good examples in this article). I believe in strong social safety nets for citizens, but corporate socialism in its current form is repulsive:
                  
                  https://thinkbynumbers.org/government-s … l-welfare/

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      2. 67

         Eastwardposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         You are most welcome, Credence. Thanks for the lucid comments. Authors and historians have written for the past decade or more about the USA showing idicia of the fall of Rome, but that image seems to come more into focus as time goes on.
         
         Trump and Biden are two grotesque faces of the same political coin. Both are far right-wing by international standards, laughable yet frightening because of the parasitic war machine that has grown to monstrous proportions while feeding on the lifeblood of the American citizens.
         
         The US is humored like a burly and unruly drunk at the corner of the bar, who brandishes a pistol, shoving it in the faces of the patrons and barkeeps. We do not have international respect. Even in SE Asia, with their modest resources, they find pride in how many categories they can exceed "the wealthiest nation on the planet" in, as it continues its singular focus--the facilitation of the transfer of wealth and power to the elites.
         
         Thus, as you said, any candidates that do not serve this purpose will find themselves the enemy of both parties, Wall Street, and all the forces that align with them. Without overwhelming support of the people, who are fearful of change and uncertainty, a change from the top-down is nearly impossible.
         
         Denial is a powerful thing in itself and I am confident that, at least on a subconscious level, most people see the corruption bubbling out of every crevice. Fear causes them to grasp the easy answers the narrative provides, just to buy another moment of faux peace.
         
         I don't want to see America in this state either. I don't think there are many who do. I have to try and remember America as the land I played on as a child, rather than the perverse oligarchy that has taken over. Government is not America. The people are. I hope we can weather the storm and become the leaders necessary to take the country back from the criminals who have seized it.

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      CHRIS57posted 5 years agoin reply to this

      A couple of days ago i read a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen to our youngest grandson. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emper … ew_Clothes
      
      In the fairy tale we have two weavers who sell invisible clothes to the vain emperor.
      
      In the context of this discussion: Isn´t the emperor the people (in a true democracy)? And aren´t the weavers the leaders of the people who are successful in make belief? One weaver has a colour for his cloth called "Make America great again", the other weaver promotes a cloth called "Globalisation and Neoliberalism".
      
      Both weavers play a trick. In the fairy tale it is: Only the really smart people can see the beauty of the clothes. All others are dumb and see the emperor naked.
      
      The trick is called American exceptionalism. Both weavers/leaders base their cloth on this trick. But it only works in a fairy tale. In reality there is no substance or not much left.
      
      May be, only the innocent kid (someone from the outside) is dumb enough to see, what the emperors clothes really are.

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         Eastwardposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         An interesting tale to compare the state of America to, Chris. I would agree that in a true democracy, people should be the emperor. And right now, the "dumb" outsiders around the world do see the truth about the robes of American exceptionalism. As we approach the general election, both weavers are hard at work to sell us on their fine robes.
         
         The author of the article I posted cited Chris Hedges. In his view, the only election we have upcoming in November is choosing who will head the corporate state. He also calls our current form of democracy a failed democracy without hesitation. I'll post an interview where he expands upon these notions in this thread.

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      Eastwardposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Since the author of the article, Chauncy Devega, cited the work of Chris Hedges, I'll include a relevant interview here. In the interview with act.tv, Mr. Hedges discusses the upcoming election. He holds that we only have one choice, the choice of who will run the corporate state. What is our line of defense? He says it is long-term sustained civil disobedience. The whole interview is good, but if you want to get to the "meat", start about 25 minutes in:
      
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XnLHTi … KtRkxlxRjw

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         GA Andersonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I watched your link Eastward—from minute 25 on, and I see the basis for many of your ideas.
         
         I was unfamiliar with Mr. Hedges, and I can agree with many of his points, especially the one about the election choices, but I cannot agree with the unreality of his advocacy.
         
         GA

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            Eastwardposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I appreciate you taking time to watch, GA. As far as unreality of his advocacy, I may agree or disagree depending on the specifics. It does seem likely that long-term sustained civil disobedience is one of the few, if not the last line of defense before the corporate state evolves into a neo-feudalist state. Pulling it off successfully would push the limits of American ingenuity.
            
            If watching the pandemic response is any indication, we could count on the government and corporations aligning to pressure people into submission. Rent, mortgage, and work strikes are easy enough, until people start to get hungry. While there are solutions to this in rural areas, urban areas would get much more complicated. Even if networks of rural farmers wanted to provide food to urban strikers, the logistics would be complicated with militarized police, if not the actual military, blocking roads, searching vehicles, etc.

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