Back to Basics
When your team looses a big one what happens?
Right after Coach reams you a new one, you go back to basics. Laps. Weight training. Drills. Don't want to see any blasted jump shots till you learn how to dribble. Learn how to field, stop sitting on your asses waiting for the clean up man to hit a homer. And so on.
It took us about 70 years since WWII to get where we are now, so fixing what needs fixed is going to take longer than one election cycle. The only group so far that seems to understand that is DSA.
Who is the enemy? First, who is not the enemy?
The enemy is not the US Constitution, although I can think of several amendments, starting with the Pres. having one 6 year term, and maybe doesn't get to appoint his own successor.
Democracy itself is not the enemy, although we all know it can be corrupted.
The enemy is out of control finance capitalism and the entrenched oligarchs who profit from it and the war machine that serves them.
Don't get me wrong, I am no anti-militaristic pacifist who believes that if we just play nice so will everyone else. I am all for a strong defense, backed up with a mandatory national service program for EVERY adult--two years for everyone, ideally between HS and college.
So the task at hand is not to jettison or rewrite the constitution, which served this nation well until creation of the Federal Reserve and Pres. Wilson schemed us into WWI so he could play Peacemaker to the World. Nor is it to abandon democratic elections, supposing for the sake of argument that those still exist. Whatever system gets put in place; the oligarchs and their servants will find a way to subvert it.
The task of our time is to take down Finance Capitalism itself. How that can be done, that is what we need to be discussing.
Comments
No.
A national service would just create more low paid cannon fodder to throw away because we can't afford to care for them after they're maimed.
Make your own children serve.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
National Service should place the children of the rich
on the front lines in any of our "peacekeeping" activities, especially the children of congress critters. Let them feel the pain along with the rest of us.
This action of course is insufficient to correct all that ails us, but it would give the warhawks pause, assuming they had children about whom they were concerned, before any further petrodollar inspired grabs or other forms of resource raping.
First,
you show me under what circumstances one would able to be deferred.
Then I'll show you how many ways wealthy children will be deemed unserviceable due to medical or a national security reasons to name but a few.
After all, would a child of the president have to serve?
Not going to happen. Therefore not all people of a certain age will be treated equally.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Please allow me to have my Unicorn-and-Rainbow dreams
I couldn't resist.
No shit. This is a real advertisement. And it works (for me).
[video:https://youtu.be/YbYWhdLO43Q]
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
I want that unicorn
At least, it's not full of shit.
If we don't take the responsibility of taking out the
evil system, the rest of the world will march in and do it for us. I don't think I like them odds.
Mary Bennett
Can we write our own Marshall Plan?
Past history of nations that waited for other countries to march in and repair their problems has had mixed results, all with a period of extreme discomfort before economic rebuilding...
The knack for economic rebuilding seems to have diminished since the 1940's & 1950's...
I'd prefer that we skipped the process and fixed ourselves...
We don't seem to have that ability right now though...
We are having this spell of nationalistic pride...
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."
~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,
A couple of ideas and demands come immediately to mind.
Where to start:
1. Nationalize the Federal Reserve. A national bank, state banks and the ability to keep savings in the PO, like other countries do.
2. Close overseas bases, on a schedule and redeploy our military at home for homeland defense, among other tasks.
3. Transaction tax on WS transactions.
I do think that as conditions become grimmer, people are losing that delusion that "I might get to be millionaire too someday".
Mary Bennett
pride
Pride.... of the flavor which goeth before a fall .....
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Brings to mind the incessant call by left wingers to implement
a financial transaction tax on Wall street. I've been against that because most of those financial transactions are nothing but schemes and scams to generate profit without production, i.e., financial capitalism. So one way to start to stop it is to be realistic in what needs to be done which is to end financial capitalism, not feed it.
But it raises a TON
of "tax $$" to pay for things like Social Security, Medicare, Food Stamps, yada yada. We can kill Capitalism later. There's really no hurry compared to the need to continue to financially support the FDR Safety Net. 25¢ per WS transaction goes a Long Way toward financially supporting the Safety Net for the 99% by the 1%. You just know that will frost their balls.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.