I hate to agree with you, but I can't help it. I would just say that, it is all actually fixable, but it requires a (another) rebirth and revival of the national spirit. Unfortunately, that can only really come from the top. The Oligarchs (as is their wont) seem more inclined to control, loot, destroy, than to build, share, and repair. When the people that rule the nation hate the people they rule over, there will only be strife. Welcome to what I call the "Neo-Feudal Technocratic Dark Age".
The problem is that we lost civic virtue. Every society has elites, but when they turn against the good of the whole for personal gain, they begin exploiting their own in a sociopathic manner.
Wall Street experienced this. Wall Street was boring in the 50s. In the 70s and 80s it became exciting with "Greed is good" and Michael Milken and Mitt Romney and all that. They looted and pillaged like the pirates of old.
Washington might have been misguided at times in the past, but it became infused with the same loot today, loot forever mindset. People like Kissinger worked hand in hand with big business to leverage their power. Paul Manafort and friends represented foreign dictators to help them into the imperial show.
And it will all collapse. The greedy and the incompetent gain power and the rest of us pay.
Speaking of the loss of civic virtue...I blame the Clintons. Or maybe I should blame Ross Perot? I guess there's plenty of blame to go around. Maybe it was just the trajectory we were on all along. The so-called "arc of history". Bending toward injustice...
The Clintons are a symptom not a cause. I would point it back to JFK's assassination. I am not a huge JFK fan. In only got in due to Democrat ballot stuffing in multiple states.
But in spite of his many flaws he truly believed in the country and was not out to exploit it for personal gain.
But even that might be too late. The corruption grew and spread from the early Cold War and the Dulles brothers and their fellow travelers. The growth of the national security state comes from that. But even that is an outgrowth of FDR's policies creating the American empire. The Dulles brothers just turned it darker.
But even that might be too late. Woodrow Wilson's election might be the sign of the true end of the Republic. So much he did domestically was to further his fundamental transformation of America into a big government technocrat run state, which enabled the powerful to take control over the country.
Ok. Ok. Let's just blame the Democrat Party, then. Its only fair. As Michael Walsh pointed out. Its a criminal organization masquerading as a political party. Former mafioso Michael Franzese was asked one time (paraphrase): "Why are all mobsters Democrats?" His answer was basically that Democrats were more willing to be corrupt and accept bribes. It was easier for the mafia to get what they wanted from them if they were in power in the government, so they supported them politically. Tells you a lot right there. That and they won't even bother to denounce an attempted assassination of a Supreme Court Justice. I can't really understand why they command such unyielding loyalty from common citizens. How is Biden at 40% approval in the polls? Are they rigged, or is that really his base of committed, but delusional supporters? Tough to overcome when their side commands basically all of the major institutions of public life and the vast majority of attorneys.
I don't just blame to the Democrats, but they have been more corrupt over all. Republicans have long sold out to Big Business and allowed themselves to be pulled along into positions that they never should have adopted.
The organizing force of the Democratic Party is power, but most of the zombie Democratic voters think it is about helping the little guy versus the powerful. The mob were intertwined with the Democrats for most of the 20th century, but the corruption and power grabbing was much more than just that.
The organizing force of the Republicans is the country and patriotism. A lot of zombie Republican voters followed Pied Pipers on Fox News like Hannity in support of wars and Big Business as GOOD. It is almost as bad. Enabling business to corrupt the society was really bad.
Many politicians get into office with good intentions but most soon fall in line with grabbing money and power.
Too many people were sleeping through life while people like Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi ran the country into the ground for their personal profit and increased power.
I don't see true reform as possible, as even if another outsider gets in, they federal government will undermine him or her, even if it was someone competent on personnel unlike Trump.
Agreed. The Oligarchs are keen to find their adversaries and strangle them in the cradle. Amazing that DeSantis has made it this far. Will be interesting to see how they handle him. Probably just make something up. Or maybe catch him in a testimony misstatement, call it lie, and throw him in jail. With an early morning FBI raid for good measure. Crush your enemies!
I hate to agree with you, but I can't help it. I would just say that, it is all actually fixable, but it requires a (another) rebirth and revival of the national spirit. Unfortunately, that can only really come from the top. The Oligarchs (as is their wont) seem more inclined to control, loot, destroy, than to build, share, and repair. When the people that rule the nation hate the people they rule over, there will only be strife. Welcome to what I call the "Neo-Feudal Technocratic Dark Age".
The problem is that we lost civic virtue. Every society has elites, but when they turn against the good of the whole for personal gain, they begin exploiting their own in a sociopathic manner.
Wall Street experienced this. Wall Street was boring in the 50s. In the 70s and 80s it became exciting with "Greed is good" and Michael Milken and Mitt Romney and all that. They looted and pillaged like the pirates of old.
Washington might have been misguided at times in the past, but it became infused with the same loot today, loot forever mindset. People like Kissinger worked hand in hand with big business to leverage their power. Paul Manafort and friends represented foreign dictators to help them into the imperial show.
And it will all collapse. The greedy and the incompetent gain power and the rest of us pay.
Speaking of the loss of civic virtue...I blame the Clintons. Or maybe I should blame Ross Perot? I guess there's plenty of blame to go around. Maybe it was just the trajectory we were on all along. The so-called "arc of history". Bending toward injustice...
The Clintons are a symptom not a cause. I would point it back to JFK's assassination. I am not a huge JFK fan. In only got in due to Democrat ballot stuffing in multiple states.
But in spite of his many flaws he truly believed in the country and was not out to exploit it for personal gain.
But even that might be too late. The corruption grew and spread from the early Cold War and the Dulles brothers and their fellow travelers. The growth of the national security state comes from that. But even that is an outgrowth of FDR's policies creating the American empire. The Dulles brothers just turned it darker.
But even that might be too late. Woodrow Wilson's election might be the sign of the true end of the Republic. So much he did domestically was to further his fundamental transformation of America into a big government technocrat run state, which enabled the powerful to take control over the country.
Ok. Ok. Let's just blame the Democrat Party, then. Its only fair. As Michael Walsh pointed out. Its a criminal organization masquerading as a political party. Former mafioso Michael Franzese was asked one time (paraphrase): "Why are all mobsters Democrats?" His answer was basically that Democrats were more willing to be corrupt and accept bribes. It was easier for the mafia to get what they wanted from them if they were in power in the government, so they supported them politically. Tells you a lot right there. That and they won't even bother to denounce an attempted assassination of a Supreme Court Justice. I can't really understand why they command such unyielding loyalty from common citizens. How is Biden at 40% approval in the polls? Are they rigged, or is that really his base of committed, but delusional supporters? Tough to overcome when their side commands basically all of the major institutions of public life and the vast majority of attorneys.
I don't just blame to the Democrats, but they have been more corrupt over all. Republicans have long sold out to Big Business and allowed themselves to be pulled along into positions that they never should have adopted.
The organizing force of the Democratic Party is power, but most of the zombie Democratic voters think it is about helping the little guy versus the powerful. The mob were intertwined with the Democrats for most of the 20th century, but the corruption and power grabbing was much more than just that.
The organizing force of the Republicans is the country and patriotism. A lot of zombie Republican voters followed Pied Pipers on Fox News like Hannity in support of wars and Big Business as GOOD. It is almost as bad. Enabling business to corrupt the society was really bad.
Many politicians get into office with good intentions but most soon fall in line with grabbing money and power.
Too many people were sleeping through life while people like Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi ran the country into the ground for their personal profit and increased power.
I don't see true reform as possible, as even if another outsider gets in, they federal government will undermine him or her, even if it was someone competent on personnel unlike Trump.
Agreed. The Oligarchs are keen to find their adversaries and strangle them in the cradle. Amazing that DeSantis has made it this far. Will be interesting to see how they handle him. Probably just make something up. Or maybe catch him in a testimony misstatement, call it lie, and throw him in jail. With an early morning FBI raid for good measure. Crush your enemies!