Open Thread - 23 Apr 2026 - Erosion of our Institutions?
Erosion of our Institutions?
Ron Placone wrote a recent piece about the erosion of many of the institutions we need and use. His title centers on the tsa and air travel (‘The Destruction of the TSA and Air Travel’), and his subtitle is ‘The Latest Fascist Casualty’. I think his article is pretty good, and goes into far more than just the TSA.
He writes:
One of the elements of fascism is the complete erosion of all institutions. Air travel is the latest one in the US. Donald Trump successfully sent in his nazi infantry to patrol airports and the situation keeps getting worse. This is all part of a more elaborate plan in Project 2025 to privatize the TSA. But, let’s start at the beginning, shall we? My claim is that this is just the latest casualty in a fascist coup, is that’s what’s happening? Are our institutions being eroded?
Definitely.
He goes very briefly into the state of food, clothing, housing, education, travel, art and culture, public health and public rail and services in America today.
I think he needs to add that the erosion of all institutions is most pertinent to some sections of society, not others. After all, the Nazis made Germany pretty good for some elements of society. So, in this country, the poor, immigrants, ‘others’, and so on are most affected, in Nazi Germany, the poor, gypsies, others (immigrants?), and the Jews were most affected. Basically, it’s always the ‘others’, whether defined by birth-place, religion, wealth, color, etc. Very human, isn’t it?
He finishes with:
The average American will have less of a right to an education than before, they will be more hungry, more desperate, they will be immobile, they will be easy to dominate. There’s a word for this. It’s called fascism. Anti-Fascism is designated as terrorist thought. This is not a drill. It is time to resist with all of the tools at our disposal. Strategically, via mutual aid, community engagement, striking, protests, creatively, and electorally. Pick a lane. You’ll likely occupy more than one.
If/When I have the time and energy I’ll pick a couple of lanes. Right now, it feels like during Reagan’s time, when I was just a young adult, except I don’t have the same amount of energy and the music isn’t as good!
Here's the open thread! What's up, whatcha doing? Reading? Thinking? Listening to? Remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Thursday!
Hope your day is going well! We had a fair amount of rain yesterday. So I guess I'll have to do some weed eating, because everything will have grown about 6 inches in a day
What's up with you?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Hey, good morning
.
.
You have brought up an important issue here.
Apparently crapification and fascist tendencies
seem to proceed hand-in-hand. Those of us old enough have recognized the general
downward trend of the quality of life, loss of purchasing power and failing moral ideals of
the systems we are operating within. The concept of public/private partnerships is a smoke
screen designed to give corporate profit increases while reducing government oversight.
Otherwise, it is a loverly springish day for a change. Hope you'all find some light in life.
Zionism is a social disease
It sure seems this way...
'Apparently crapification and fascist tendencies seem to proceed hand-in-hand'.
It's as if, if/when the powers-that-be have to pay attention to the people, those powers get going with fascism, and at the same time, everything turns into crap.
Hope you are enjoying your loverly day. Here, it is cloudy. But no rain. Maybe pruning should be done instead of weed eating...
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Fascism, as
described by Mussolini: "Fascism should rightly be called corporatism, as it is the merger of corporate and government power." That might not exactly match the Merriam-Webster definition, but it is right as rain, just the same. As is EL's signature quote from Roosevelt, of course. It's like pornography: fuck the definition, I know it when I see it.
Looked at in that light, fascism is simply the ultimate expression of capitalism, and perhaps its most likely endpoint. "Public/private partnership" is simply marketing language to apply soothing lipstick to that moldering pig. Enshitification, incompetence, universal ennui, desperation, eventual suicide of the useless eaters- all desirable traits and activities, from the viewpoint of the would-be world-owner.
Problem is that there are so many wannabe gods. Add to that the incessant use of fomenting division via “othering” as the primary mechanism for social control, and you have a real dog’s breakfast. Not a fan.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Fascism as the endpoint of Capitalism...
that seems to be pretty true. I mean, every system seems to 'evolve' until the rich are in control, whether they are Lord soandso or CEO blehbleh.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Jerry discovers history
Why Shandongers Don't Speak Japanese
Yes, Jerry, the May 4 movement, Chinese history 101.
Kim Kyu-sik the representative of the Korean nationalist movement and and Ho Chi Minh, were also ignored at Versailles, those lands remained in their colonial status. This letter, written by Nguyen ai Quac, later known as Ho Chi Minh, as a representative of "le Groupe des Patriotes Annamites" [the Group of Annamite Patriots], contains the enclosure "Revendications du Peuple Annamite" [Claims of the Annamite People]
I also was amused when Carl and Prof. Warwick Powell in a discussion yesterday, said that very few Americans know where Anhui Province is. The Little Chinese Everywhere producer Tan, who comes from Anhui, mentions it often in her extensive travels around Asia, particularly in China itself. I queried AI on this which said, it isn't published anywhere where Tan comes from. LOL.
My hometown, GUANGDE, Anhui Province! Perhaps the most ordinary city in China! S2, EP1
She began season 2 with a tour of Anhui. That video alone, (they are all in English), has over 450 thousand views. Somebody must be watching it. In the aggregate, her channel gets millions of views. What is the customary thing people ask when they meet someone? Where are you from? Where does your family come from? So she has mentioned publicly that she is from Anhui, quite a few times.
Thanks for the OT, Sima, we're having a severe drought here.
(edits to fix my grammar)
己所不欲，勿施于人。
Thanks for the videos!
I'm learning a lot from these, thank you!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
The U.S. Episcopal Church had a mission, St. Lioba’s, in Wuhu
a major city in Anhui.
https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/11424046
In 1942 Wuhu was occupied by Japanese imperial troops and the American missionaries interned.
https://www.nytimes.com/1942/01/03/archives/missionaries-interned-episco...
The same order of nuns, the Order of the Transfiguration, ran St. Andrew’s Priory school for girls in Honolulu — that’s how I happen to know about them.
https://anglicanhistory.org/women/evamary/09.html
Good morning...
I think along with fascism is the rise of incompetency. Meritocracy is a thing of the past in the US. The people who rise in the hierarchy must be compliant and incompetent. As a result the social fabric is unraveling at the behest of the banksters and oligarchs...as Ron suggests to insure control.
We've been dry are a due some rain next week. We need it.
Happy gardening and thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hope you get some rain!
We are behind on our average, but we did get some. Can really see the lack of water, and snow, here. Our winter lake/marsh is almost non-existent, completely dried up about 2 months earlier than normal. I hope it's not as bad for you!
I really wish we could have meritocracy back! *sigh* Oh well, have a good weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning, sima!
Thursday is my New Friday since I cut my office hours/days to 4 day work weeks. It is just wonderful!
I am also checking out my case files to see which cases are dangling so that I can bring them to a close. I started at A, am currently at G, and am happy to find that any final orders left are those that opposing parties are obligated to prepare and file. Winding down the work is very hard work.
Well, my goal is to get to L. A lofty goal, wouldn't you say?
Thanks for the OT, chica!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
L? GO for it!!!
Maybe even K (heh). A 4 day work week sounds good, and Thursday as Friday is great. Winding down work was pretty hard for me too, and I surely didn't stick to working as long as you have. Life moves on though, doesn't it?
Hope L was easy to achieve
Have a great weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Most perceptive of Mr. Placone. Fascisms many apologists
complain that the term is overused and misused and all that and surely would object to linking it to the crapification of everything, but the link is solid when one presumes an underlayer of so-called "capitalist ideology".
Mussolini said that fascism was the merger or identity of government and corporate interests. In his parlance, corporates were not the same as US corporations, but it works all the same, and perhaps moreso hre. His corporates were things like The Church (yeah, that one), the industrial or manufacturing sector, ideally/theoretically represented by reps of the boards/owners and managers of the businesses in that sector plus reps of the labor force in that sector, agriculture - the ag businesses+ag labor, etc. This seems more progressive than the US version because, at least the model, gives labor a seat at the table. Here we have warred against labor since day one, even outlawing the communist party and, in effect, the IWW, etc.
In the US our corporates are "the church" (we all know which churchists have a seat at the table), the MIC, Agriculture, etc, all of which are largely corporatized though some involve "partnerships". So what do the corporations of which these corporates are composed want?
Lack or regulation, no oversight, no environmental restrictions, no quality restrictions, no labor safety restrainst, a powerless labor force given minimal remuneration, and the whole panoply of wants that will drive profit maximization. All of these wants ensure the crapification of everything, including our lives to the extent fulfilled Hence fascism, as existing and implemented here in the US today will create crapitication and the erosion of all of our institutions. What, you may ask, about government, its interests and its role. Simple, self peerpetuation by means of keeping the corporates happy.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Really good summary...
Very good points about corporates and corporations and how they interlock with facsism. And what they want? Lack of oversight, of regulation, of environmental protections, worker protections... yes, those, and more are exactly it. So danged foreseeable. We have done this before, and yet, here we are again...
Thank you for this comment, it was great! And have a good weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I'm working on a piece
of my own on this very subject, having just returned from a long awaited bucket-list trip to Europe. I didn't mention it here before leaving, as I thought it unwise to advertise when I'd be away from home for any time. But suffice it to say that it really brought the enshitification of American life into sharp focus for me. It very effectively underscored the ubiquitous and never-ending propaganda being used to sell this current sad state of affairs to all of us. It didn't have to be this way.
I'm not sure when I'll get it finished, as my employers (apparently overjoyed by my return) are loading me down now more than ever with corporate dreck. But it is in progress. I've got another surgery coming up in May (the repair of the repair of the repair of the incisional hernia resulting from a less-than-optimal closure of my abdominal muscles, after emergency stomach surgery a few years ago), so I'll have at least a few days of rack time to organize my thoughts...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Looking forward to hear
of your trip abroad. I used to read about how other countries solved the problems we have. Very little of that now. More and more we can't seem to look beyond our borders for answers, and soon we won't be able to do even that. Propaganda works when there is nothing to counter it,and if it's not propaganda, it's misdirection.
Like how Canadians hate their health care system, how it doesn't work and all Canadians come here for treatment, because everyone knows, we have the best health care system in the world.
Sometimes Canadians...
British, Europeans come here for health care. But it's almost always for care options that were refused by their countries health care system, for various, often realistic, reasons. In my limited experience, the health care in Britain and in Europe, for normal people, was/is miles above that here in the US, sad to say.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I want to hear what you experienced
since my European travels ended by 2018, more or less. I have no doubt it is very different now.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Suffice it to say
that the picture uniformly painted by Our Betters, concerning the travails of the citizens of other countries, is somewhat overstated.
I think the best example of it was from a recent Somali immigrant, working as the driver of a Bolt rideshare we took in Amsterdam (on the way to the Anne Frank house, BTW). He said that he found it quite astonishing how effectively the American people have been and are being gaslit.
All I could say was "You and me both, brother. You and me both..."
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
I am really looking forward to that piece!
When I first traveled to Europe, many, many years ago it really brought home how 'backward' our country was in so many ways. And this was in mid/late 1970s. Now, I have visiting, maybe even living in, Europe, one last time on my bucket list. Dunno if I (we, me and my hubby) can do it, but I'm going to try!
Another surgery? Dang. Hoping for a very quick and good recovery for you.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Do it, if you can.
As I'd said, this was a bucket-list trip for us: one that I'd wanted to take for many years. The rumors of the demise of the rest of the world have been somewhat exaggerated, as have our repeatedly-claimed, carefully-reinforced, and highly-prized delusions of American preeminence.
OTC's .sig line is spot-on, and the truth of it was very soundly reinforced by this trip:
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
We may not have arrived upon those sunny shores, exactly; but we can sure as hell smell them from here.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Interesting article about weaponizing weather
https://x.com/RaminRnp/status/2047058265075245457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7C...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Air travel will be gone --
because they will all run out of jet fuel because, you know, Trump needs the "w."
Airlines in Europe slash thousands of flights as Iran war cuts jet fuel supplies
And, of course, the Democrats are part of the problem:
This Isn’t Just Trump’s War on Iran. Both Parties Paved the Way for Disaster.
I kind of think you have to be a direct beneficiary of Trump policies to benefit from Trump policies. Tomorrow he will say something to influence the markets, and his investment team will behave appropriately. Monday he will take it back, and cash in.
At any rate, the story I read, once, was that Hitler went into debt to a number of countries and then he got out of those debts by invading those countries. I don't think it's an option open to Trump.
"Saying 'The lesser evil is good enough' is how we got to this point in time.” -- Dystopian Daily
America... selling gold?
I had no idea, but am not surprised. Sheez. Thanks for these articles and videos.
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Our bestie in the East
Is that a good thing?
Tim cites a lengthy column here about Sanae Takaichi written before she became Prime Minister of Japan. It's worth reading though in light of her more aggressive posturing, and the continuing LDP effort to remilitarize Japan. Adelstein compares her to Trump.
There have been a number of foreign media reports on the changes in Japan's weapons industries and Japan's "new" approach toward its "self defense force." Japan's latest posture concerning sales of offensive weaponry is the road back to making "Japan great again." Most of the reports, except for those of mainland China, South Korean left of center media, and some Japanese internal social media still committed to Japan's pacifist tradition, take a positive (anti-China) view of Japan's return to a strong military posture. The public shifts in Japan's national security policy are with a view toward altogether eliminating Art. 9 restrictions on Japanese military policy. This was a long term ambition of the LDP in Japan which now sees an excuse in so called "Chinese aggression." The latter is a phrase often heard in the US as well. The days of a "self flagellating" Japanese self image are over according to the right wing parties supporting Takaichi.
Well here's the DW report-
己所不欲，勿施于人。
All-out-for-Israel Americans — ranging from Jewish billionaires
to non-Jewish (“Goy”) working-class poor people duped by their religious leaders — becoming the spearhead and vector for fascism and genocide at home and abroad?
As the saying goes, that was “not on my bingo card.”
Yet here we are.
WTF?
The TSA isn't "The Latest Fascist Casualty", it was The First Fascist Product (of the 21st Century).
I REALLY hope I'm reading this wrong. NOBODY should be defending the TSA. NOBODY should've EVER been OK with it.
If "anti-fascist" activists are taking it for granted, then fascism has truly won.
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Funny, that.
Many folks have forgotten that they long since stopped being an adjunct to greater public safety, and remain only as a way to reinforce the unfortunate fact that we are never getting back what we allowed to be taken away.
That is by design, to my way of thinking. The water's not that hot yet- there are barely any bubbles forming on the bottom of the pot, and there's not that much steam. Amirite?
Meanwhile, the wealthy carry their golf clubs straight from their cars at the curb out to their private jets with nary the slightest bit of ritual disrobement or explicit stripsearching. I like sitting in the Perfect Landing restaurant over at Centennial Airport (less than a mile from our apartment here, it is one of the busiest corporate jet airports in the country), and watching the expensive people wandering around out on the tarmac, completely unhindered.
Shoulda picked my parents better... Next time, for sure.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
My initial perception was similar
...but the TSA became an institution. I had some bad experiences at the airport early on. Initially, TSA struck me as unprofessional, dumb, rude, overbearing, uninformed, etc. I can say this only in hindsight, but I regarded it at that time, similar to what I see in the news about ICE and BP operations. Over the years, my opinion of TSA changed quite a bit. I feel that it is much more professional, courteous, and capable of exercising sound judgement.
I may be completely wrong. This is just my subjective experience. I know several people who travel extensively, and up till now haven't heard any air travel nightmare stories in years based on TSA conduct. Frankly, I've been surprised by this. I'm interested to hear other views on this topic.
Thanks for the post LM!
(edit) Okay, my take on this is mistaken. This is the TSA privatization aim from Project 2025. Yes, that's a very bad idea.
己所不欲，勿施于人。
As in all things,
your mileage may vary. I’ve had more than my share of run-ins with TSA over the last few years. The last one was on a business trip in February. Because of my fake knees, I always have to go through the pornoscanner. But this time, the operator freaked out over the very stout, boned elastic belly band I currently need to wear to keep my soon-to-be-repaired hernia under control. He pulled me aside and grilled me about it for several minutes. One supposes that he thought I had a terrorist under it, or something. In any case, he finally ordered me, very clearly, to “Take it off!”
Well, okay, buddy- you got it. So right there in front of Gawd and everybody I lifted up my shirt, dropped trou, and with some effort slid my belly band over my skivvies to my knees. Now, the funny part is that my hernia is not small: unsupported, it approximates Dolly Parton’s left tit, just to the left of my belly button. It was definitely a show.
The effect of letting it loose was gratifying. He freaked, his supervisor freaked, several people in line got a good laugh out of it, and watching the backpedaling was somewhat fun, given the constraints. They did a reasonable approximation of an apology, and then offered to let me go behind a nearby privacy screen to get re-dressed.
Oh, *now* you want to be polite? I declined, and reassembled myself right there, in front of Gawd and everybody. Might as well let everybody watch me shove Dolly back in…
The quality of training and the general level of humanity exhibited by the TSA minions varies widely, in my experience. Not a fan…
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Thnx UFS!
This is similar to one of my early experiences with TSA. I actually thought they had gotten beyond hassling old white guys with physical impairments. In fact, when this happened to my father a generation ago, it angered me quite a bit. I've had a couple of situations like this, one at the border leaving Canada in a truck, and another with guards in a court house where I worked. In the latter case, I knew it was deliberate. So I definitely know how you feel.
己所不欲，勿施于人。