As I finish this article, Congress is racing to pass legislation that will remove access to healthcare to millions of people, take food out of the mouths of hungry children and families, and add at least $3 trillion to the growing national debt (the reality is, it will be far more).
Excellent, if not depressing, analysis of the state of affairs. I despair for our future, brother. I am persuaded that the synergistic effect of a dysfunctional government , AI which will displace millions of jobs, global warming, burgeoning debt, and an utterly ignorant population, there are scant solutions to the dark storm clouds on the horizon. Your prescription for action is noble and of course correct; it is just that I doubt our capacity for action. Alas, as a 75 yr old agnostic, I turned inward to prayer and the Bible, exercise, and love of spouse as a personal solution. Keep up the great work brother..
What if we had a Public Interest (non-corporate captured or corporate endowed or corporate sponsored) rather than Private Interest News & Public Affairs broadcast resource?
I wonder if rates of political participation might nose up past the already besieged and under-water Debtor Nation....
Thanks, George. You are absolutely correct on all counts. The group that supports a small aristocracy controlling 90% of the wealth has been working toward this for a very long time. They came close in the late 19th century, but not near as close as they are today.
From the 1850's on they have chosen to restrict the education of "ordinary" working class citizens to as little as necessary to achieve a large number of people willingly servicing them at the least cost. In doing so they have taught outright lies.
The fact is there is not now, and never has been a "communist" government in any Nation on Planet Earth. Those who have called themselves 'communist' were merely authoritarian dictatorships. Anyone who has ever read Plato or Karl Marx is very aware of that. The hippy communes of the 1960's and 1970's are the closest we have come to a true commune in modern times - or maybe the kibbutzes of Israel.
What really angers me is the way Republicans and even some democrats have tried to equate communism with socialism. They aren't even close. Social Security, Medicare, Social Services, are all forms of Socialism. Bernie and Zohran are both correct in calling themselves Democratic Socialists. Anyone who care for others than their immediate relatives is a socialist. Food kitchens that feed the needy are socialists. It's called not being selfish or narcissistic.. The United States is too large a country both in size and population to have a full on socialist government, but from March 4, 1933 to January 20, 1981 we had a lot of the better parts of Socialism. BTW my initials are FEAR.
Thank you Fay. The propaganda machine is always ready for action to ridicule empathy, compassion, and community (unless community is being used to exclude and for othering).
It is why we view education (unfettered by politics) as a vital pillar of democracy.
One thing to add to the list of rising inequities is the change in average CEO pay. In the '50s, it was something like 30x the average worker pay. Now it's 300x or more. Of course, the three tech bros you list pull that average up quite a bit, raking in millions per hour. Makes that static minimum wage seem all the more unjust, seeing as how neither party has shown much interest in raising it.
Your call to action is an inspiration. But that same lack of interest in having a just minimum wage tells me the chance of getting a 120th Congress that would make even a modest attempt at that to-do list is pretty slim.
Unless, by some miracle, the electorate suddenly shows more interest, and intelligence, those 2026 elections (if they happen) have a fifty-fifty chance of producing the change we need in the makeup of the Congress.
I'd give better odds to the possibility (nay, eventuality) that one of these ICE encounters is going to end with a violent reaction on the part of a citizen or ICE thug, and it will snowball from there. The revolution, the one that seems to be an ever-more-likely scenario, will be upon us.
So very true James. I'm continuing to provide thinking behind a non-violent and sustainable shift, however, I agree -a lawless government unleashing racist extremists with license to kidnap and disappear people, while pushing millions beyond a point of economic despair is providing all of the elements needed to provoke an extreme and expected reaction.
I think fear is the (at least, one) foundation of fascism, when people call for a strong authority figure who tells them what to do, think, feel. A few years ago I read about a psychological study which showed that republicans are more prone to fear. And this inner insecurity results in projection: the Other becomes the Enemy. Can we hope that the DNC will adopt your excellent Call for Courage and Action? HaHa. Look at the establishment Dems' reaction to Mamdani's win.
Excellent, if not depressing, analysis of the state of affairs. I despair for our future, brother. I am persuaded that the synergistic effect of a dysfunctional government , AI which will displace millions of jobs, global warming, burgeoning debt, and an utterly ignorant population, there are scant solutions to the dark storm clouds on the horizon. Your prescription for action is noble and of course correct; it is just that I doubt our capacity for action. Alas, as a 75 yr old agnostic, I turned inward to prayer and the Bible, exercise, and love of spouse as a personal solution. Keep up the great work brother..
Thanks Allan. The 3 C’s of the apocalypse: climate, conflict, and concentration of wealth. I remain committed (or perhaps should be).
Great post. Comprehensive plan.
Thank you Malcolm.
Wow, George. This is going to take some time to study. Thank you for pulling it all together once again.
Thanks James. Aside from being prescriptive in the last part of the article, the length serves as a potential cure for insomnia.
What if we had a Public Interest (non-corporate captured or corporate endowed or corporate sponsored) rather than Private Interest News & Public Affairs broadcast resource?
I wonder if rates of political participation might nose up past the already besieged and under-water Debtor Nation....
Tio Mitchito
Mitch Ritter\Paradigm Sifters, Code Shifters, PsalmSong Chasers
Lay-Low Studios, Ore-Wa (Refuge of A-Tone-ment Seekers)
Media Discussion List\Looksee
Thanks, George. You are absolutely correct on all counts. The group that supports a small aristocracy controlling 90% of the wealth has been working toward this for a very long time. They came close in the late 19th century, but not near as close as they are today.
From the 1850's on they have chosen to restrict the education of "ordinary" working class citizens to as little as necessary to achieve a large number of people willingly servicing them at the least cost. In doing so they have taught outright lies.
The fact is there is not now, and never has been a "communist" government in any Nation on Planet Earth. Those who have called themselves 'communist' were merely authoritarian dictatorships. Anyone who has ever read Plato or Karl Marx is very aware of that. The hippy communes of the 1960's and 1970's are the closest we have come to a true commune in modern times - or maybe the kibbutzes of Israel.
What really angers me is the way Republicans and even some democrats have tried to equate communism with socialism. They aren't even close. Social Security, Medicare, Social Services, are all forms of Socialism. Bernie and Zohran are both correct in calling themselves Democratic Socialists. Anyone who care for others than their immediate relatives is a socialist. Food kitchens that feed the needy are socialists. It's called not being selfish or narcissistic.. The United States is too large a country both in size and population to have a full on socialist government, but from March 4, 1933 to January 20, 1981 we had a lot of the better parts of Socialism. BTW my initials are FEAR.
Thank you Fay. The propaganda machine is always ready for action to ridicule empathy, compassion, and community (unless community is being used to exclude and for othering).
It is why we view education (unfettered by politics) as a vital pillar of democracy.
One thing to add to the list of rising inequities is the change in average CEO pay. In the '50s, it was something like 30x the average worker pay. Now it's 300x or more. Of course, the three tech bros you list pull that average up quite a bit, raking in millions per hour. Makes that static minimum wage seem all the more unjust, seeing as how neither party has shown much interest in raising it.
Your call to action is an inspiration. But that same lack of interest in having a just minimum wage tells me the chance of getting a 120th Congress that would make even a modest attempt at that to-do list is pretty slim.
Unless, by some miracle, the electorate suddenly shows more interest, and intelligence, those 2026 elections (if they happen) have a fifty-fifty chance of producing the change we need in the makeup of the Congress.
I'd give better odds to the possibility (nay, eventuality) that one of these ICE encounters is going to end with a violent reaction on the part of a citizen or ICE thug, and it will snowball from there. The revolution, the one that seems to be an ever-more-likely scenario, will be upon us.
So very true James. I'm continuing to provide thinking behind a non-violent and sustainable shift, however, I agree -a lawless government unleashing racist extremists with license to kidnap and disappear people, while pushing millions beyond a point of economic despair is providing all of the elements needed to provoke an extreme and expected reaction.
I think fear is the (at least, one) foundation of fascism, when people call for a strong authority figure who tells them what to do, think, feel. A few years ago I read about a psychological study which showed that republicans are more prone to fear. And this inner insecurity results in projection: the Other becomes the Enemy. Can we hope that the DNC will adopt your excellent Call for Courage and Action? HaHa. Look at the establishment Dems' reaction to Mamdani's win.
Primary the establishment Dems.