Is it Possible to Confront Capitalism?
I wonder when the first time someone said, "the rich are getting richer"? I go back to almost the middle of last century and I'm sure I've heard it most of my life, and I probably heard it first from my grandpa who went back to the start of last century. If it keeps going, those rich getting richer, will there come a time when the rich have everything, then it won't have to be said anymore? How is this going to work out in the end? Seems like if it keeps going there will come a time.
"The rich are getting richer. It is a refrain that has certainly been uttered before, and likely will again, as Deutsche Bank Securities’ chief economist points out that the gap between the haves and have-nots in the U.S. is, indeed, widening.
Deutsche Bank’s Torsten Sløk says that the distribution of household wealth in America has become even more disproportionate over the past decade, with the richest 10% of U.S. households representing 70% of all U.S. wealth in 2018, compared with 60% in 1989, according to a recent study by researchers at the Federal Reserve."
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-richest-10-of-households-now-repre...
Seems like every time a new study comes out, it keeps getting worse. It also seems like there is nothing being done about it, and not only that, it's not even being discussed. Because regardless what Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other democratic party politicians (face it, that's what Bernie is) say while preaching to their supporters, they are not talking about what really needs to be talked about, as much as their supporters claim they are. We're way past hoping incremental "progress", which never seems to come anyway, from this duopoly political system is going to save our asses.
Some of the most despicable humans on the planet in my opinion are hedge fund billionaires (closely followed by hedge fund millionaires). Accumulating that kind of wealth via gambling on hedge funds is to me a sick as it gets, not just with those individuals perpetuating these massive scams on the rest of us, but on the rest of us not recognizing it's all bullshit and we have to stop it. These fuckers are making billions of dollars doing WHAT? Unreal.
But here's one who at least has the balls to tell some truth even though he doesn't seem to recognize his "occupation" and status as a prime symbol of system failure. At least I didn't see where he wrote, "ya, I'm a scumbag bastard and I'm giving all my ill begotten wealth to the Movement for a Fucking Revolution" (MFR). Maybe if one of us can get to him and suggest that.
"I have also seen capitalism evolve in a way that it is not working well for the majority of Americans because it’s producing self-reinforcing spirals up for the haves and down for the have-nots. This is creating widening income/wealth/opportunity gaps that pose existential threats to the United States because these gaps are bringing about damaging domestic and international conflicts and weakening America’s condition.’"
He goes on to say:
"Capitalism is now working in a way in which people and companies find it profitable to have policies and make technologies that lessen their people costs, which lessens a large percentage of the population’s share of society’s resources,” Dalio writes. “Those companies and people who are richer have greater buying power, which motivates those who seek profit to shift their resources to produce what the haves want relative to what the have-nots want, which includes fundamentally required things like good care and education for the have-not children.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/founder-of-worlds-biggest-hedge-fund-s...
My granddaughter wants to go to Disneyland. I read an article tonight about that new Star Wars attraction and how it costs $129 per person to get into the park, $200 for a light saber, $42 for a soverneir drink and 12 bucks for a fucking beer. I hate to tell her we're in that 70th percentile and going to Disneyland is like sailing first class on the Titanic, it's reserved for families that can afford to spend 3 grand in one day while the 70 percentiles wonder how they can cover an unexpected $700 bill. I tell her and my grandsons, we have to enjoy camping in the forests surrounding Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens, cooking hot dogs and marshmellows over an open fire, and taking trips to Astoria to see the Goonies house.
That's not bad and we'll stop for four dollar burgers on the way, and maybe a 3 buck beer. Tastes the same, guarendamtee it. Actually better if you took out a second mortgage just to take the kids to Mickey Mouse land and can't enjoy it one bit because you know you'll be paying for it for years, and you can't enjoy the beer because all you can think of is you paid twelve fucking dollars for it.
The illicit, illegal and immoral billionaire has this to say about how we should address this issue of capitalism.
"Change must come from the top, he writes. “You will not effect change unless you affect the people who have their hands on the levers of power so that they move them to change things the way you want them to change,” Dalio notes. “So there need to be powerful forces from the top of the country that proclaim the income/wealth/opportunity gap to be a national emergency and take on the responsibility for re-engineering the system so that it works better.”
Ya right, uh what was your name? Ray? Where to start. No Ray, billionaires and the rest of the ultra rich and their two political parties are not going to proclaim a fucking national emergency so they can change the system that gave them mega yachts and mansions and create a system that more fairly distributes wealth to all humans on the planet. They are not going to bite the hand that feeds them, we're not going to let the foxes guard the henhouse, we aren't going to let those that got us in this mess say they're going to get us out of it. (How many more sayings are for this? Ray?)
It's not going to come from the top, it's going to come from the bottom because the bottom has to take those levers of power and shove it up the ruling class' ass along with this undemocratic duopoly unrepresentative political system. It has to come from the bottom or it won't happen at all. It's going to take a revolution, a global people's revolution against rule by the rich and their capitalism. That's just logic, it's just common sense. It's history. If you don't know that Ray, maybe you should come on down for a while, see what it's like at the bottom. Donate your wealth to the MFR.
Comments
Word.
‘Take the Power Back!’
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
Take the Power!
You mean 'Take the Power!' !
Ordinary working people have never had the Power, at least not in the USA.
And if we don't succeed in taking our power, we're fucked.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
anal sex from W. Disney
"Disneyland" has always been just another way to spell "anal sex". Put another way, if I wanted the principal usufruct of a trip to Disneyland, I'd head straight (!) to my nearest gay bar. At least I'd get breakfast the next morning, and my host would respect me in the morning!
And it's been that way since opening day.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Heh.
I got to go to Disney World for my 9th birthday, back in the '70s when people were generally doing better (though, still, we camped on that trip). Anyway, it was a lot of fun at the time for the blissfully ignorant like me, but I have often thought back to the one ride we went on that I only later recognized as blatant propaganda for Monsanto. (I think it was in the "Futureland" part of the park).
Nowadays, I'd sooner yank out my own fingernails than fork over a single dollar to that "park."
the rich are getting richer
Living memory of any kind is still waaaaay too shallow a reach.
People have been complaining "the rich are getting richer" since before the alleged time of Abraham (c. 2000 BCE).
That's roughly as far before the times ascribed to the alleged J. Christ as we are living after them.
The roots of predatory capitalism go really deep, amice. And if we don't manage to put an end to it, and soon, we're all toast.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Funny how we always think we're onto something
different but it's always the same thing. Kind of like debating who should be the next democratic party nominee for president.
nothing new under the sun
"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
-- Ecclesiastes 1:9 (King James Version) c. 1000 BCE
source
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
The 1300s were bad for this sort of thing. And the rich,
powerful types fought each other constantly. So much money was raised and squandered on stupid wars, skirmishes, land grabbing and crown stealing it impoverished the peasants and anyone with a defendable realm. The Plague(s) as well. Populations dropped enormously.
Most of my knowledge of this period comes from Barbara Tuchman's 'Distant Mirror'. It is surprisingly familiar in all its aspects.
When people were desperate enough to risk being killed they went after both kings and nobles and the churchmen, both groups could tax and raise armies. The concentration of wealth, the absolute waste, and eventual loss of knowledge of things like roads, buildings, sewers, bathing, cropping, literally almost destroyed Europe. Primary schools were available at least to some, before this period, but disintegrated due to lack of funding.
New technologies were bettering some aspects of life but also putting historical work out of commission. Sounds so much like today.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
History repeats
as you note ~ we are back in the dark ages!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Plagues and feudal capitalism
The Plagues were what put an end to much of that. I remind you of the schematic diagram of Capitalism:
The Plagues not only reduced the numbers on the bottom-most tier, but seriously undermined the net military quality (baseline athleticism, etc.) of those who were left. The result was that the Feudal Capitalist Pyramid came "a-tumblin' down" like the proverbial walls of Jericho. It's the only time I can think of in pre-industrial times where the People held any of the Power. And the cost -- the Plagues -- was hideous!
.
edit: Gave the comment a decent Subject line.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Of course the rich are getting richer
Our government has been sold to the highest bidder and they don't work for us because of this. This country has been hollowed out by the corporations who moved their factories over the pond so that they don't have to pay a living wage or any of the benefits that most of us grew up with having. The rich don't give a rat's ass about our failing schools, hospitals, infrastructure etc because they don't use them. Instead of driving on roads filled with potholes they can just hire or buy jets to whisk them cross country.
This is an excellent article about the 1% who have bought out our government and have gotten them to do their biddings. This was written in 2012 during Obama's tenure when he was transferring $29 trillion to the banks and the cronies that worked for them. It's too long to do a good excerpt so you can read it yourselves.
OF THE 1%, BY THE 1%, FOR THE 1%
Remember the last time people took to the streets to protest against the bank bailouts and the increasing wealth inequality? Yeah our best president since FDR got his goon squads to break it up along with people's desire to protest against anything. The BLM is the only protest still happening, but even those are getting less frequent because of how brutally they are broken up.
The time for us to do something has long passed because now the cops have become militarized and states are making laws against all protests.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
2008 was an excellent time for re-distribution
The banks should have been allowed to go bankrupt, hurting some workers 401K but mauling the 1%. Depositors should have been paid by FDIC. It would not have been the end of the USA as Obama said. Iceland did it and recovered faster than the rest of Europe. Repeal of the Clinton repeal of Glass-Steagal would have closed that avenue of wealth.
I see this guy and other one per centers musings as a positive sign. The system is cracking and it's owners are starting to worry. Instead of racing each other to the top like lemmings to fall over the cliff on the other side, some are starting to think rationally, "Hey! I've got a billion dollars. What good is reaching for more if it just gets me a firing squad? We have all anyone can rationally use, why rock the boat grasping for more?"
I predict most will keep running like a Greyhound after an electrical rabbit.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
while i agree that
restoring glass-steagal (separating public from investment banking), where the hedge-funders (small wonder they're known as 'swinging dicks' rule is the commodity futures modernization act' (also bill clinton), and while the wiki doesn't seem to reflect it, it was while i was still blogging at firedoglake that those 'hedgers in commodities who'd come in on the exchanges', would have their losses insured by the FDIC. wtf? then gary gensler was runnin' the joint.
then there was lanny davis's (iirc) 'pre-emptive prosections' which amounted to 'we'll be watching you, big banks, but if you'll be good...you can escape with impunity'.
but i will add that i've been (virtually) at Davos w/ the lords of capital every year since then, and they all 'do worry so' about the disparity of wealth, including, yanno, Christine LaGarde of the IMF. hard to take any of it very srsly.
A bit off the subject, but this cartoon is exactly why cops are
not prosecuted when they shoot unarmed civilians. The wealthy have no intention of sharing their stolen money with them. But letting them get away with outrageous shit with no accountability doesn't cost them anything. And it indoctrinates cops as honorary members of the elites.
Totally on topic
Letting them get away with murdering us does exactly what you said. The PTB have always needed their praetorian guards to keep the riff raff in line. The military also fills that role because they are the muscle for letting corporations steal other country's resources.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
A physical protest/revolution against police/military power
isn't possible right now. Who knows about the future. But I can't shake the fact that Katy Perry has over 100 million twitter followers yet we can't organize a national referendum/initiative system to counter the oligarchy.
Do you actually believe twiiter would let the left
the real left get a foothold of 100 million
followers calling for the great reset with heads
rolling?
As for the hedge funds, private equity, venture
capitalists and such make the hedge funds look
like saints
And when was the last time the Sherman Anti Trust Act
used to break up a monopoly?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/three-decades-of-neoliberal-policies-h...?
EDIT: adding this
https://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Well,
we can vote in the next election. I guess that's all we've got. I was just using twitter as an example relative to possibilities for organizing, not recommending it's use. If we have to go with smoke signals, I'm all for it.
There's also this:
The Typewriter Revolution
Link leads you to their manifesto. Good stuff.
What's a typewriter?
Heh. I've got me a 1926 Remington that still works great although I need to find another ink roll. You never know.
Check out California Typewriter.
I’ll bet they can hook you up.
Nice documentary on that place by the same name, too.
Thanks! I'll do that.
Ribbon
You can get typewriter ribbon all day — even for a 1926 Remington. It's been pretty much standardized for about a century. If you need help, drop me a PM.
I was actually thinking
more like petroglyphs
EDIT: the aliens will come to save us, seriously.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Katy Perry on Twitter
"Shaking" that fact is easy; the cause of Katy Perry having over 100 million twitter followers requires no thought or action to work, and is ubiquitous and unavoidable.
And we're talking about Twitter users, please don't forget!
Starting a successful international uprising, on the other hand, takes a great deal of both thought and action (and the latter needs to be well thought out action, at that). These are quite rare even among those like us who care about what's going on, much less in the brains of typical Twitter users. (In my experience, anyway.)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
So what you're saying is
freedom and liberty these days is never going to be as popular as Katy Perry.
I blame it on cell phones.
cell phones
Exactly. "More popular than Jesus" rides again!
Freedom and liberty matter to the top head. Katy Perry gets votes from the bottom one.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
It seems like a long time since I’ve read an essay of yours BA
It was worth the wait. I think you have a good idea about how to confront capitalism ... go back to nature.
Found this on youtube, which seems to fit the mood ...
[video:https://youtu.be/BoVJhr9yd40]
growing your own food on a piece of earth
one just occupies for survival is quite effective to confront capitalism. watching the seeds grow and deliver your life-sustaining food supply on the base of your own labor on your own land is satisfying to mind and soul and body somehow, and generates a bit of hope. Not needing the capitalist system in refusing being their consumers may be a more powerful idea as one would believe. Disneyland and Hollywood ... we could live without them.ho
My son just showed me his garden in the middle of the night via video calls from half around the world. Some healing solutions against your inner rage come naturally. Thank God there are gardens and plants...
https://www.euronews.com/
Until some bully and his pals come along...
Kill you, rape your wife, take everything they can carry and burn the rest. That's what history tells us happens to unarmed farmers.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
that sounds like the rage my son throws at me,
when something, someone, somewhat really pissed him off to the point he self-destructs himself. I am helpless then.
I think it would happen, if it happens, to armed farmers as well. Men is his worst own enemy.
I wished I had something to say to you that helps alleviating the pain, but I have nothing.
https://www.euronews.com/
Thanks, mimi
It must have some survival value. Kinship selection, maybe.
Berserkergang has some biological reason for surviving.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
it's lovely and
healthy to grow our own organic food w/ heirloom seeds, but what we can grow depends how may frost-free days there are in certain locales: here, about 90. but think of what gardens can't grow: nuts, seeds, enough legumes for proteins, oils, so much more. stats say that USians (dunno about germans) eat about a ton and a half of food a year, but even then: food isn't by any means the largest expense.
not meaning to quibble unnecessarily, just by way of a reality check, ma soeur. and we're gardeners, until recently about a third of an acre's worth of veg and herbs, and a dozen fruit trees that make fruit...some of the time. no apples this year.
big sister (I call you that now), my comment
was certainly one that shows the helplessness of knowing how to change and fight against the system of predatory capitalism. I would think most here on this board are aware of the difficulties to come up with plans and solution, which then leave us little people with the little things an individual can try to do to not support too willingly the insane social problems and inequalities predatory capitalism creates. I hope I have understood your comment correctly.
May be the toughest thing is not knowing how to handle our helplessness and realizing, when, whatever we think might help, we immediately see a counter-acting reason why it won't.
Drives many nuts, then reason sets it, and (hopefully) we tell us that getting nuts is no option.
Now I am going into my mothers garden, and bow in front of our walnut tree. Nut trees take a life-time to grow til they produce nuts. So, it deserves some respect and shows that I am just a little bit a nut-case.
I am still mad that all our hazelnut bushes have been removed for 'beauty reasons' some 40 years ago. I am dreaming of a Macademia nut tree. They grow slowly and boy they are diffiuclt to harvest. So, never cut down Macademia nut trees, which frigging land delelopment companies do to build their overprized apartment complexes on those land containing wild Macademia nut trees. To top injustice with insults, the rents of the building they construct are too high to help the underpaid average worker. So yeah it is a shit predatory capitalist system.
Viva the nut trees and nut cases.
A little last resort to not give up on nuts ... there are always peanuts ... and if you have peanuts and tomatoes and sweet potatoes or bananas or oranges, you can't starve to death or be severely undernourished, (I remember someone summarized these FAO reports like that, which you need to pay me to read through them.)
Bless the nut trees ... because being a nut is something worthy and useful.
What (
or who) is your favorite nut, Wendy?https://www.euronews.com/
all capitalism is
predatory, and as marxist economist michael hudson writes: 'it's beginning to kill the host' or close to that. ; ) no peanuts here, no oranges, bananas, no nuts, no seeds save sunflowers, but one needs fields-full, and a way to harvest them. we're at 7000 ft. elevation, so are quite limited. i used to can about 600 qts of fruits and home-grown veggies but we still had to shop for soooo much other stuff.
why you're my favorite nut, miz mimi. but my second fave is the Pecan, most especially the Roasted Pecan, yum. cost too much now, and we just used the last bag of the 6 in the freezer that our son and DiL had brought from Costco in fort collins last time they came. lol, they've since divorced, and she has all the necessary cut-rate cards. we won't harsh his mellow to shop for us, grin.
blessings on ya, little sister.
Mr. Dalio has overlooked
the most important fact in his consideration of the 1%: they cannot change.
What does he think would convince his 1% buddies that wealth inequality has reached the "national emergency" level, sufficient to induce them to make changes?
We have evidence that the oligarchy's greed may well destroy life on Earth via climate change. That's a global emergency. Has that knowledge induced the 1% to change their ways?
At some point, when the 1% vampires have sucked the energy and life out of everyone on the planet, there will be no one left for them to feed off. That means they will go extinct with the rest of humanity. Has that knowledge induced the 1% to change their ways?
They literally cannot change. They're caught in the depths of a powerful and destructive addiction. Most of them are in a pampered state of denial, and the few who do recognize their addiction still believe, like Dalio, that they have power over it. They won't ask for help because they think they can control it.
If there ever was a group of people who needed a 12-step intervention, it's the 1%. "It's go to a 12-step group or the guillotine, guys. You choose."
This wealth-hoarding addiction has recurred so many times over the course of human history, I have to think it's part of the human condition.
Either the human race has evolved to the point where we can shake off the hoarding addiction parasitism, in which case we survive as a species and live together in more healthy ways; or if we haven't, we may have reached the point non plus, the final curtain, no more do-overs. The human experiment has come to its conclusion. Game over.
In any event, if there's any doing to be done, we can't wait around hoping the abusive, gaslighting, parasitical addicts at the top will do it.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
Amen
they can't help themselves. They wish their children the same life and values. They suffer from what I call Aflunesia in that in becoming wealthy they forget where they came from, the people that helped them, looked out for them. Friends, community..Ta Ta in the rear view mirror. The values they pass on are marrying well, living well, attending the right schools and above all separate themselves from us. RW conservative marry a liberal? Sure as long as they run in the right circles. From those right circles come the generation that will lead us, unless we put a stop to it.
I do believe the change
must come from the bottom. Even though the tone is set at the top, the bottom are the only ones who can change that tone. As a bottom dweller, I know we must confront that capitalism to effect change.
I agree with mimi ~ growing your own food is a great way to confront capitalism, too. Effect change by eating your own healthy, nutritious food.
Speaking out confronts capitalism. Allow yourself to confront others who stand up for capitalism. Speak up even if your voice shakes.
Great essay, BA.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
You are asking the right question
Good one. You're pretty much asking what happens to us when the game's over.
Capitalism, or any economic system is just an invention, a marriage of accounting principles and mysticism grafted on to and guiding life as we know it. I guess that makes our species today the first successful cyborg. This "machine" is made up of billions of cogs on one side of the balance sheet, absolutely necessary with no individual power, and a few on the other side of the balance sheet with great power, but not really necessary. Like a tapeworm grabbing nutrients and sustenance, having done little to benefit the host that makes its life possible.
We can't even see how capitalism shapes everything around us, it's far too pervasive, too old and ingrained in history. From infancy we live in it before we can even think about it. Schools teach us how to be good cogs, while the tapeworms learn how to be better tapeworms. To be a better tapeworm is to keep re configuring the machine to benefit the tapeworm.
Everything from religion to science is in thrall to capitalism. So much of the faith religion relys upon is used for capitalism. It's a perfect blend of mysticism and magical science, a closed system of made up rules. For all it's pretense at science it can't see the machine crashing to a standstill 24hours before it happens. Or, maybe it can. There are fortunes to be made on the way down, too. You just need to know when to jump.
Our government is almost entirely configured to serve capitalism. Even non profits have to conform to a business model to function. I still can't figure out why if a million of us have a dollar, and one person has a million dollars, why does the millionaire have all the power? Over and over, why do we let this happen? When are we going to stop letting a game of "Monopoly" run our lives, a game where the tapeworms control the roll of the dice?
I would add
house flippers and corporations to your list of most evil people. Yes, even small corporations.
This shit is bananas.
Great addition
The banks and other financial institutions bought up thousands of homes that had been foreclosed on with Obama's blessings because he said that would stimulate the economy. They are now absent slumlords and have raised rents so high that people can't afford them. Plus they took so many houses off the market it's caused prices to go up.
BTW. Warren got into house flipping and was so successful at it she loaned money out to her family so that they could get in on the fun. Of course nothing wrong with that..
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Democrats are the enemy of the people
It started with John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Their tax cuts benefited the wealthy. Their Vietnam War hurt the poor. Jimmy Carter brought us the era of deregulation that transferred more wealth upward. Bill Clinton blessed us with NAFTA and the repeal of Glass-Steagall. Barack Obama transferred trillions to the banks and tried to force TPP down our throats.
It's amazing that so many people still view Democrats as the solution when it should be obvious to anyone of good sense that they are part and parcel of the problem.
The only reason is
the other team is viewed as worse. That's it. There's two teams, you got to pick one or sit out the game. Some view one party as worse, some view the other one as worse. Most people view the entire system as FUBAR.
I've got to say though, the democratic party has emerged as more dangerous to this country as well as freedom and liberty imo, relatively speaking. Like Dahmer vs Bundy.
The democrats are more dangerous than the republicans
for sure for sure... people think that if the republicans would just get out of the way then the democrats would be able to pass legislation that helps us and would bring the troops home. How many times have you seen people say that they don't feel bad for their neighbors who go bankrupt from medical bills? Or they lost their health insurance because of what a republican governor did? Kos laughed when coal miners lost their insurance including the kids in the family. "People need to stop voting against their interests." Sure. If only they had voted for that democrat then none of those things would have happened to them.
The party of fake opposition also keeps progressives from being elected, but what should really prove that democrats are the more effective evil was Obama's presidency where he took almost every one of Bush's policies and expanded on them. And he not only got a pass then, but he's still getting one.
"Obama's presidency was scandal free."
"He ended two wars and he didn't start any new ones."
I reply to the first one with "he killed two Americans without due process. I call that a scandal."
The democrats let the republicans dribble the ball all the way to the basket without any opposition.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Absolutely. Additionally, the so called liberal positions
the party is taking on identity politics are sparking a backlash, part of how we got Trump and other countries are leaning to right wing governments. I could say up until recent years that I did believe the republican party's agenda was worse. But that's changed and I have to say, for me, people like Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and the justice democrats have greatly contributed to that. Actually, it seems to be directly related to the full emergence of the "progressive" theme in the party.
lol.
dunno who 'sansa' was at the end of the series, but the tankie-sphere has been having a hella lotta fun with this one:
Jesus,
the comments on that twitter feed made me blind! I'll b4 bac;
to your point:
no one blames young greta for the way they've coopted her so unconsionably and cavalierly for their own uses, but she also looks the part they use her for:
How many times.....
Only once.
You got it!!
As if there'd be a way to vote for their interests..... sheesh!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Heh...only once huh?
Guess that might be because you're not looking at ToP anymore and seeing how much people have changed since the great exodus that they deny happened. Many of them have become downright mean and then there's the new members who get away with saying things that used to get people banned.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Yes. Only once. And once is enough.
Yes. Only once. And once is more than enough.
Gakkk!
You're right, of course. Exitatus sum. I'm outta there! I don't hang where I am not wanted. And, on March 15, 2016, Kos made it perabundantly clear that I and my ilk were unwanted there. I've logged on once since, and an occasional guest view to see if I've been bojoed yet. But my playing days there have ended.
Exhibit A: Wee Mama. It's my understanding that this once gentle, sweet Kossack has turned into the very sort of "Christian" that I participated in the FidoNet HOLYSMOKE Echo to fight!
All I can say is: glad these aren't here......
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
while the theme here is 'confronting
capitalism', i'm not quite sure how many c99ers have been injured by the ruling class or capitalism itself. i've seen so much evidence of wine tastings, jaunts to spain, italy, morocco, $5 g contributions to candidates, posh parties, and the like.
given how many amerikans go to bed hungry, are dying from lack of medical help, eat out of dustbins, are homeless, families living in cars...there's quite a large difference, even with me and mr. wd when the wolf never leaves our door.
but raise your hands if you'll be voting for the best incremental baby step democratic socialist D: well, sure, bern: fight for fifteen! for a decade that's been the Magic Number, when of course it's not even close to a living wage.
but although actual socialism comes in any number of guises, from one person, one vote, all votes are equal, howie hawkins is a socialist, and while not making every private entity public, these are from his perspectives and policies page:
'renewables' aren't 'sustainable', and i have other chiches w/ his green party green new deal and 'impeach trump because 'hate crimes' , but in the end, i'll sure as hell vote for him if he wins the green nomination and gets on a CO ballot.
but of course he won't win, and most of you want your votes to Count! but for how long has that been the case?
g' night.
renewables not sustainable?
Renewables not sustainable? Please clarify?
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
biofuels,
for one example, whether sea algae, corn, switch grass...that all have negative impacts on the biosphere down the road. solar is renewable, but also has potential carbon externalities for production, length of duration, and most especially mining for increasingly rare minerals for battery storage, much like saying 'electric cars' are zero carbon. wot? where is the power for your plug-in generated? another meaningless term these days is 'clean energy'; another is 'net zero carbon', which just uses capitalist market solutions to offset fossil fuel use, carbon capture and storage, but doesn't limit fossil fuel use whatsoever. nuclear is considered 'renewable', as well.
but yes, i should have said 'renewables aren't necessarily sustainable, but at the moment i can't separate the two terms as i stare at the word 'renewable'. geothermal, yes, but digging that deep into the ground...hydro, bu oh, my; dams and all; and the costs and hidden costs of new plants. (our conservancy district got a few bids for a new one here)
people posit ocean wave power, but i dunno what's really involved with that, do you?
tidal power
I do. Tidal power involves damming a large tidal pool and harnessing the power of the ocean water passing into amd out of it. Only a few such places exist in Nature.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
nuclear fission not renewable
By whom, the nuclear power industry? Or some pseudo-educated hack over on Daily Kos?
Certainly not by any thinking human being. (And yes, wendy, this means you.) Once the fissile metals are mined and used, there's no way to renew that supply. This makes them less renewable than carbon burning, at least while we still have photosynthetic organisms successfully living on the Planet.
Just because it isn't fossil fuel doesn't mean it's renewable.
n.b.: I've gotten in trouble over on Kos pointing some of this stuff out!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
who said that?
m
Better don't tell me, because ... I could forget myself.
https://www.euronews.com/
(scratching head)
well, it may have been touted as both clean and renewable, the former by james hansen nuclear proponent, and renewable by those who envision obomba's decommissioned nuclear bomb upgrade to 'newer ones' who've touted it as the reason it's renewable.
thanks for the tidal pools and their rarity as a power source. mr. wd did advise me that geothermal heating pits could also be dug outside buildings. a blogging friend, then RL friend from utah recently helped design such a system for the mesa verde nat'l park New Visitor Center close to the highway, but somehow i'd envisioned it being Under the center.
re hydro: as well, the big dams like glen canyon are silting up crazily, and one never knows how much precipitation will make it into the reservoirs any more. our local big lake was darned near empty at the end of last year (against board prez. mr. wd's pleas), but wooot, it's full now, and there's still snow in the mountains.
also, go figure: the union of concerned scientists is touting nuclear with a few caveats, like 'monitoring', 'verifying', yada yada, as is stewart brand who once edited 'the whole earth catalog' (yanno, our hippie bible), and no, i'm not calling nuclear anything good. hansford station is still leaking nukes into the rivers and ocean. those nuclear 'wastes' will never be cleaned up.
Granddaughter just came in to my room and
said Jasmine's (one of her best friends) mom asked if we had an extra full mattress because the person who loaned them one for their kids asked for it back. I do have an extra full mattress (my granddaughter knew that), but I was saving it for times when my grandsons are visiting. I asked my granddaughter, "do they need a bed", and she said ya. Puts me in a bit of a spot, but I have to go with the greater need. I can get another mattress if I need to, they evidently can't right now.
That's how it is, which ain't so bad all things considered. I've got ancestors that sacrificed everything to join a wagon train for Oregon City in 1852, one walking the entire route while pregnant. My grandparents were lumberjacks in the forests of the great northwest in the early 1900's, joining in the timber strikes, including the one that led to the Centralia massacre in 1919. Hey, we made, we had good families, we love each other, we eat, we have roofs over our heads, we help each other.
But the contrast is too stark, and unjust, and made all that more by the reasons for the contrast. We'll never get justice from the democratic party and this duopoly political system. The only way is a revival of the Mother Jones spirit in the early part of last century. It's time to put the fighting pants on.
So if people want to vote for these dem party politicians, more power to ya. But it won't do shit and it won't do anything even close to what needs to be done.
democratic parties collapse all over in Europe
as well. It's kinda scary. Great essay and comment, BA. Thanks.
https://www.euronews.com/
good on ya,
i reckon your decision to 'give to the greater need now' is sound. my own hippie philosophy is that giving...is always returned somehow, which credo used to baffle (if not slightly annoy) mr. wd. but over the decades, he's learned that it seems to be so. as we have so much less now, one thing i/we can do is to still tithe food (an artifact left from obomba's Terror Tuesdays, i fear), but the local natural foods store allows me to tag onto their wholesale orders w/ a 15% surcharge, which helps a hella lot. 1# bags of medicinal and flavorful spices save a hella lotta money. i must have 32 kinds in qt. jars in the cellar food room, as well as other bulk products, most esp. pumpkin seeds. sooooo healthy, so tasty, as well as beans, rice, garbanzo beans, shitake shrooms, canned tomatoes, jazz like that.
now i don't have any relative stories of valor (not even such demonstrable love, i reckon) such as yours, but i do appreciate hearing that you do. i will say that i spent about five years shlepping to california, then ohio from CO to help my parents out, but after they'd divorced, my father died at 47, my mum committed suicide a couple years after we'd brought her here to live at age 47, iirc.
my paternal g'parents and older sister: Pfffffttt.
democrats? DSAs? if you have time, take a look at this. 'Jacobin editor Bhaskar Sunkara makes a fool of himself', may 31, wsws.org spoiler alert: sunkara doesn't have to even try to make himself a fool)