Some call it defeatist. I call it observable fact. Gathering from some of what I've read here, and other places, I suspect a fair number are on the same page as myself. I can't speak for all, and I'm not trying to convince anyone else to adopt similarly, but I can at least explain my position.

You may disagree. I may be wrong. You may think my attitude hurts your/our cause. But the evidence, especially at the national level, over many decades, tends to support my view being correct and I stand by it. This might make you sad, destroy hope, but denying reality does no good, just as much as your claim that my "defeatist" view does no good. So we're both stuck in this quandary of, "what to do?" The next sad thing, is there is overwhelming evidence that there is nothing to do; I see it as over and done, merely left to play out its fullest extent.

Government and mega-corporations are one and same...and a select few, OWN IT ALL and work to further THEIR interests/power -- not mine, not yours, not the general population.

I think it is delusional to think, when evidence for several decades shows, that the game rules, game board and game pieces, and the only public info/insight/communication for the game, are all controlled by the wealthy and elite few, that somehow the majority that has been getting exploited and shafted as pawns in the game-play, can somehow shift the game in their favor; I don't see this ever happening. I now choose to accept this as fact, others hold out hope. Neither of us can be certain, but again, my review of the evidence more closely ascertains the conclusion I have drawn.

By this point, so much of the system has fully insulated, fortified and rendered itself impervious, through laws/legal precedent, regulations, administrative rules and violent enforcement. We already have idiot propaganda pouring from the dominant media, and a Ministry of Truth already being constructed by google, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, et al. (corporate behemoths, tied at the hip with the U.S. State apparatus, curating reality for their captive audience) at this very minute, to remove any doubt that the only acceptable reality is what your owners permit you. Usurpation will never happen, unless the entire system and ownership of the system, is annihilated. That somehow, an elected trickle of "good ones" will someday "shift the balance," is, I think, naive. We've seen this repeatedly. Nearly everybody knows this. Our 'representatives' have enjoyed an approval rate in the low double and single digit ratio for years, constantly teetering back/forth party majorities. That 3% 'confidence' number posted here the other day. Remember? We've already figured out it doesn't matter who gets elected. While most polls are skewed and misleading, I think that particular one is likely accurate...and for a reason -- in your face, you are worthless, and there is nothing you can do about it, no matter how you vote and who is in power. "They" want you to know this fact.

By the time these hypothetical "good ones" make it to the show as a player, they will have been properly vetted by the system...same as always. Because the rules, procedures and protocol to make it that far, ensure this. And yet again, once "your guy/gal" obtains office, I can almost guarantee that the people will be shocked to find, that what they were told on the campaign trail, "said all the right things," turned out to be false, the new team is no different than the old teams, and the former trajectory of this nation, continues unabated, on the exact same path as before -- war, austerity, money flowing from poor to rich, widening disparity, mass incarceration, police state, mass propaganda, corporate lording/looting, a duped public.

Of course, there will be reasons, justifications, rationales..."the other team blocking...needs more time...next term will be different...compromises...building support/coalition...[insert bullshit reasons here]" The latter phrase actually comes from my 15 year old son. He uses that frequently (wonder where he got it from? LOL), and well, so often fits what I've seen/heard in weak debates, find it fits quite well here.

When the "New Awesome For the People" candidates finally "makes it," into the show, I am confident, that in short order, the disappointment in their elected officials will soon follow. Because that has always occurred. Every time.

Clinton was deemed awesome at the outset as an opposite to the 'evil' Reagan, and accelerated the same Reagan devastation; more mass incarceration, more bombing foreign lands, legalized Wall St./corporate casino that ultimately ended with the 2008 collapse, exoneration of the criminal perpetrators, with the poor holding the bag and tab for the destruction (under the later Obama). Obama was deemed awesome, an opposite to the 'evil' Bush, and accelerated the same Bush devastation; more mass incarceration, legalized war crimes, insurance scams and soaring profits sanctified and mandated by law, and a "return to rule of law" meant that the Executive "King" points-a-finger equals death by decree, no trial by peer, no habeas corpus, a citizen has no rights...Hope and Change, indeed.

Trump actually serves as another example. Look at places like zerohedge, where there are many conservatives, libertarian and even Bernie/Stein supporters, that knew with certainty that Hillary would continue wreaking military havoc, draining the lifeblood from the U.S. populace and economy, killing innocents, so took a chance that Trump, being a "political outsider/wildcard" but had stated the military "adventurism" would come to an end, pulled the lever for him for solely that reason; they thought there was an outside chance, that despite being a huckster, even a sliver of hope he was telling the truth about that caused many to cross their fingers that he meant it. Perhaps he did, perhaps he didn't, but when Trump said U.S. bailing from Syria, immediately followed a convenient "chemical attack...the children!" and we bombed them. A year later, Trump decrees another Syria retreat, and another logic-defying move by Assad -- gas-bombing citizens, and yet again, we bomb Syria for this evidence-free atrocity. A review of that site now, you will find many angry posts about the betrayal of Trump's promise to end Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, killing of innocents. The U.S. President does not actually play with agency in the game, the game-lords move the pieces as desired, and the President is one of those pieces.

But, there are also the inevitable "true believers," of their savior, that still chant the ritualistic litany, "the other team blocking...needs more time...next term will be different...compromises...building support/coalition...4d chess....[insert bullshit reasons here]"

Though Sanders seemed on the "side of the people," judging by the capitulation and move to support the Dem party, I suspect similar to Trump, if he had won Presidency, the Imperialism would reign, regardless, and similar to Obama, the promised "change," would quickly have flipped to "reforms" that are run through the gauntlet of "experts" in insurance, finance, and voila, the ensuing education/medical legislation would launch share prices on Wall St., profits would soar, and more money funnels from taxpayer to corporate owners. Sure, this is conjecture, but again, how does this always play out? How many times does it have to happen, before resigning to fact? No matter the player, no matter the Red/Blue/someday Progressive team, at that stage of the game, you don't get a say, President doesn't get a say. Then, no matter the flak about a decision, many people will perform mental gymnastics to reconcile the flip-flop of their chosen savior. And realistically, what can you do about it? Oh, vote differently next time. That'll teach 'em to do it how we want...while they subsequently go on post-presidential tours, raking in a half million $ per speech, writing best-seller books, vacationing on yachts, laundering millions with their new "charitable" foundations.

Defeatist, or observable fact? But..."we must do something...otherwise, nothing will change." I posit nothing will change, no matter what you do, or don't do, short of physically wresting control of the money and power that controls the entire game; cut the head off the serpent, throw both severed pieces in a wood chipper, then set fire to the debris. Good luck with that. The good guys with guns, MRAPS, and riot gear will certainly help. But not in the way one would expect from the "serve the public" motto. Does anyone need further evidence of this, from our recent history? How many reminders does one actually need that these people don't serve you, don't care about you, and none of your elections and votes will make a difference in what they do, and they hold all the violent power to defend their position against you? That Congressional approval poll shows most everyone knows...that Princeton study shows it. The actions directly contradicting popular opinion show this.

Badgering me will be as ineffective as me badgering you. Nay, I contend that I see quite clearly. How do we reconcile views? I don't know, and offer no solution because I just don't see one. But just because you have some ideas, that I still contend are futile, does not mean either of us should remain quiet. Frankly, though it's unpopular and many will argue untenable, I think a critical facet of any solution requires us, and "opposites" such like the zerohedge folks, and really ANY AND ALL that sees the corruption and devastation, need to band together, despite all other differences in economic conservative/liberal (I mean the classic terms here...not the distorted, new-age labels) and somehow level the .gov beast. But, at the same time, I can't contribute anything, as I'm sure most others are in the same predicament. I've gotta work, feed the family, and turn the slave hamster wheel for 55 hours a week, so can't contribute...much like everyone else (I'm sure that is just a sad coincidence that none of us have the time or resources for actually DOING anything EFFECTIVE). I'm not going to forgo my second job/income source, I'm not going to devote spare time for it, because I've got no spare time, no spare money, no spare anything, and I'm sure that goes for most everyone else; we are mostly impotent.

So, why am I here? Because the reality (as I observe it) is depressing, and becomes even more so when I recognize that, "everyone" does seem to know what I described is true, yet in the next breath, regurgitates what "everyone" also "knows" as "truth"...namely: "democracy...vote the right representatives...write your Congress...make your voice heard...[insert bullshit here]." ???? When, in the last 50 years, has that worked? I am here, because I see my reality, I see what I consider a fallacy of the latter approach that is so prevalent among so many people, and rather than go insane, found a small group of people that see it similarly to how I see it, and I suppose I find that reassuring, even if I mostly just read -- I am not alone, and I am not insane for seeing what appears to be invisible to everyone else I know. Plus, there may be some magic bullet that gets presented by someone, but I'm not holding my breath for that one.

For what it's worth, yeah, I occasionally submit a mail-in vote. But all I succeeded in achieving this last presidential election, was idiotically fall for a delusional, lunatic-fringe, know-nothing, quack (i.e. Stein) and thus, my alternative vote helped the Russians succeed in getting Trump elected. You can read about it online.

I am open to suggestion and ideas, but to date, I have yet to see anything that I would consider even remotely capable of altering/diverting the U.S. governmental system toward any sort of true justice for whom it is intended -- namely the lowly, majority citizens. Thus, I will not bother exerting any effort beyond what I do, because I still have to run the treadmill of my life, with higher prices, no wage increase in 15 years, work two sources of income, feed my family, pay my ever-rising income/property taxes, and think of the joy that I am unable to afford any of my kids' sky-high college tuition that is pending as my oldest, a 17 year old, will soon wish to embark. But I really don't know for sure, don't have any answers, and will grant that maybe something you've thought up might work; just because I can't see it, doesn't really mean much of anything. How would I know the vulnerabilities of a beast I hardly know anything about in the first place?

Besides that, I'm a useless ally in this fight. I will not forgo what little I have left. I won't quit my second source of income to free up time for petitioning or picketing, or ??? that requires time, because as mentioned, it subtracts money from my wallet and I barely squeak by as it is. I won't risk protesting, only to be beaten to a pulp, where I'm now saddled with debilitating wounds, debilitating medical debt, and debilitating legal debt, to fight the charges that will be invariably be levied, and I ultimately rot in a jail cell or recuperate in a bed, losing my jobs in the process; or killed off by some pumped-up, all-too-eager, "defender of freedom," that swoops in to, "restore order," a la Dakota/OWS style. Though I would add that you can scream and protest all you want...they don't care, they aren't accountable, why would they even care? They will most certainly "send a message" to the miscreants though, but they're not scared...that's just for kicks.

But hey, at least my freedoms and the environment are being defended with U.S. bombs, depleted uranium, jet/tanker fuel, and troops spread all over, killing all over the globe, so at least my forfeited money is being put to good use, (and Blitzer reminded us, JOBS!) and I'm thankful for that, right?