Here’s how we got into this mess…
Reagan legitimized greed and for 40 years America has been beholden to the almighty dollar. If someone is rich, they’re beyond reproach. They’re job creators; they’re more worldly and more intelligent and if you knew your place you would get on the endless treadmill and start running…
In place.
Because the truth is it’s hard to get ahead in America, especially if you’re not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. And if you’re not, you’re demonized, like Obama,- not born in America, “foreign,” “other,” divisiveness rules and there’s no cohesion, you cannot get your message heard.
And its only getting worse.
Twenty minutes ago I tuned into late night TV. I never do that anymore, it used to be a ritual, but it’s passe. Jimmy Kimmel has given up jokes and gone for the jokesters themselves – the right wing, especially Trump. Stephen Colbert goes for the same jugular.
But it’s an echo chamber.
Because those whose minds they want to change are not listening.
And the truth is the most important powers in America are the media owners.
Which is why the right wing attacks them so heavily, to the point too many people no longer trust what they see or read. The end result is we all have our own facts, our own stories, and the nation is ruled by the rich elite.
Until now.
We thought social media was gonna save us, but the problem is that the men running those companies grew up post-Reagan themselves, believing if they deliver for Wall Street, they’ve delivered for the country. And the fascinating thing about social media is there’s no there there – nothing without the public’s participation.
They’re not making anything, they’re just selling ads to our eyeballs which cannot stop paying attention to the train-wreck. But being beholden to the dollar none of these outlets can do the right thing. They’re categorically against it.
Zuck pays fealty to his stock price, so believe nothing the man says if it will drive his numbers down. And Snapchat is about entertainment, not news. And Twitter is the land of fake accounts arguing over what the facts are.
And I’m stuck in the middle with you.
Now when the wool was pulled over our eyes – most especially during the Clinton years, when finances were good, when they stole the safety net – we just stopped paying attention and bought our cars and drank our beer and lived our lives.
Then, life got hard. Bush II gave more money to the rich, broke the nation’s finances, got us into a war benefiting his and his party’s donors and then crashed the economy.
But it was the Democrats‘ fault, it’s always the Democrats’ fault.
You see, this has got nothing to do with right or left, right or wrong, either party, but muddying the water. So you’ll give up and feel powerless, stop paying attention, like in some third world country, so they can rape and pillage to their content. Can you say “Koch“?
Don’t say “Soros,” it’s a false equivalency.
And if you’re arguing with me you’re completely missing the point.
I’m like Jimmy, I’m like Stephen; I’m preaching to my choir, of which you are not a member. And now we have stopped paying attention to you. We know you’re not going to change your view, just go back to the rodeo you came from where immigrants and taxes are bad and people of color are the problem.
Our only hope is to get out the vote and get rid of gerrymandering and then…
Kids flipped the script.
You see money is no match for the truth.
We pushed our nation’s values to the limit. Congresspeople, most of whom their constituents could not name, were beholden to the money, not the voters. And now the light is being shone upon them and they’re flummoxed, crippled. “I can’t vote that way because of the NRA.” Huh? So you’re beholden to gun manufacturers?
This is not about guns, this is about the American way of life.
We’re so convinced America is so peachy, the best country in the world, that we believe unrest can’t happen here, that it’s just a few bad apples. But just like school shootings, the protests, the upheavals, are coming fast and furiously.
Right after #MeToo we’ve got anti-gun protestors. Do you think this is a coincidence? After all, we’ve been inundated with the news of so many school shootings, WHY NOW?
We haven’t had this spirit here since 1969, truly.
So what is happening here is the center no longer holds.
If you’re a rightie, if you watch Fox News. You’ve got no idea about the student protests, unless you read in social media that they were fake, imported agitators. But that kid said if he was an actor, you should have seen him in the school’s rendition of “Fiddler On The Roof,” he was AWFUL! And less wooden and more honest than anybody in D.C.
Hell, it’s a thrill to listen to these kids elucidate, gives us faith in the educational system, especially one that’s not faith-based and done in the home.
That’s right, those people want to divide us.
But suddenly we’re becoming united.
So what happens next?
Damned if I know, but it’s no longer business as usual.
Sure, people were dumb and voted against their interests and elected Donald Trump.
Then again, so many were sick of business as usual, and couldn’t vote for Hillary.
You and me just picked the most expeditious choice, but it turns out expediency no longer applies.
Meanwhile, we’ve got a President who keeps looking backward and a Congress that’s paralyzed.
And suddenly the jig is up.
That’s people power.
We learned that online, if the product is not great it fails. We can research instantly.
Which is why the right wants to get rid of net neutrality. Don’t forget, they’re not our public airwaves, they’re THEIRS -the people who paid for them via lobbyists and auctions and…
Maybe there’s just unrest. Maybe authoritarianism results. Maybe there becomes one place online we all go to to find out what’s going on.
The rich don’t want this, they like us confused. But we’re wired, we’re connected, they have no idea of our power.
That’s right, you have power.
And the first thing you have to do is educate yourself, so you can talk authoritatively. Forget emotion, focus on facts, without them you’re going to have a hard time succeeding in the future.
The fact finders adhere to a past paradigm, not taking a stance, that’s what’s wrong with the so-called “mainstream media.” But facts without interpretation are worthless.
Sling your arrows, attack me, but you’re missing the point.
I’m just the messenger. But there’s something happening here, and what it is ain’t exactly clear.
For what it’s worth.
If it lasts.
I agree that this generation of kids (who have grown up as the mechanical ducks in a shooting gallery) can stand the nation on its head, are undoubtedly incensed enough to finally move the thieves, grifters and morally insane out of Congress.
But that righteous anger will have to both mobilize and last. To do that, it will have to pick up steam. And to do that, it will have to pick up like voters, voters who don’t have that same personal connection as the kids; voters who want to do the right thing but…you know, only if it’s not raining on election day.
Those kids will have to literally shove their urgency in the faces of simpatico voters for the rest of this year to make any difference.
And then, longer term, to have even half a chance these same kids (and the rest of us) will have to overcome decades of GOP gerrymandering and voter suppression (the rest of us turned a blind eye to.)
That’s assuming the SCOTUS stacked deck doesn’t outright snub Democracy and affirm political gerrymandering.
Not going to be easy. But if these kids can add their momentum to the current zeitgeist, and we can switch the House this year (or at least make it so close the GOP can’t just run roughshod over the American people), we have at least a shot.
If not? It will take at least half a generation to re-balance Congress, and a full generation to undo the damage this WH seems insistent on foisting on the country.
p.s. – agree with you about the similarities to the upheavals of the late ’60s except that those in power now have more tools (drones, et al) to surveil/halt public demonstrations/arrest leaders, as well as the political will/muscle to’ legally’ penalize said actions. Truly, to avoid the sort of bloody street confrontation many of see as inevitable at this point, Nazis like McConnell, Ryan and their ilk are either going to have to (naturally) expire or be removed.
Hey Leftysez, when did you start writing stand up comedy? You’re entire screed is a perfect illustration of why no one is listening to leftists anymore. The more you call Trump voters “dumb”, the more they are cemented in his corner. Keep this in mind, I didn’t vote for Trump. But you idiots on the left side of the aisle keep making the same mistakes, over and over. You just can’t keep your righteous indignation quiet and stop insulting the very people you are trying to sway. But just for fun, let’s go thru some of your ridiculous bullshit in this article:
“Reagan legitimized greed and for 40 years America has been beholden to the almighty dollar. ” – BULLSHIT. Greed and money have been driving capitalism since the “Robber Barons”. Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, J.P. Morgan.
“it’s hard to get ahead in America, especially if you’re not born with a silver spoon in your mouth. And if you’re not, you’re demonized, like Obama” – BULLSHIT. All it takes is hard work and entreprenurial drive and imagination. The fact is, most people won’t sacrifice enough to do what it takes to “get ahead”, which I guess means “get rich”. Oh and you don’t think Trump isn’t demonized on a daily basis? What fucking planet do you live on?
“If you’re a rightie, if you watch Fox News. You’ve got no idea about the student protests, unless you read in social media that they were fake, imported agitators.” – BULLSHIT. I watch CNN (for laughs), MSNBC, Bloomberg, FoxNews, & ABC. All covered the student protests ad nauseum. If you’re going to shoot off your mouth, at least get your facts correct.
“Sure, people were dumb and voted against their interests and elected Donald Trump.” – BULLSHIT, especially the part about voting against their interests. I grew up in a town of 2500 people and still speak to friends and relatives who still live there. These people are Trump voters, and they are ecstatic about the tax reform and the extra money in their paychecks that they are seeing. They see someone in the White House who is calling out the mainstream media on their biased coverage and opinions. They see someone who is on their side punching back at the liberals and leftists who they see as tearing away at Judeo/Christian values that the foundation of this country was built on. This is why they love Trump and will continue to be in his corner.
I’ll stop there for now and let Kerouac and Chuck tear you another asshole, cause it’s coming. Suffice to say that if you are waiting on the Millennials and younger to change things, you’re in for a LONG wait. These people might be the laziest, most entitled generation ever. They aren’t going to get out and vote. It would take away from their incessant posting on social media about whatever meaningless and self absorbed activity they were currently involved in.
+1
All ahead flank.
LMAO. Nothing like shouting someone down for generalizations of the Right by making your own for the Left. This is the kind of vitriolic bullshit that has the country at each other’s throat. It’s an opinion, Guy. We all get one of those.
You want to talk about hypocrites? How about the GOP screaming for 8 years about Obama exploding the debt/deficit and jeopardizing “our children’s” future? Well, all of that crap is out the window, isn’t it? Those same people that voted for Trump and are “loving their extra income” due to his tax cuts are ALL hypocrites. They have turned a blind eye to anything and everything that they railed about when Obama was in office. If he had done and said the things Trump has they would have lost their bible-thumping, hypocritical minds. Adultery. Greed. 3 marriages. Porn stars. And the golf. Good goddess the GOLF! That’s all good now. No problem. Besides, it’s all a lie anyways, right? Fake news!!! Nothing to see here.
I have a 28 year old son and a 30 year old daughter that just might take exception to your generalization about their generation. I’ll put their success and salaries up against anyone’s hanging around this website. You’re putting the blame of their generation on the wrong folks. Look up the rung to mommy and daddy. Apples don’t fall far from the trees.
+1
“You want to talk about hypocrites? How about the GOP screaming for 8 years about Obama exploding the debt/deficit and jeopardizing “our children’s” future? Well, all of that crap is out the window, isn’t it? Those same people that voted for Trump and are “loving their extra income” due to his tax cuts are ALL hypocrites.”
Hang on a sec, there Jim. If we gave Obama’s brilliant ideas on Health Care 6 years to see if they worked, we ought to at least see if Trump’s tax cuts create enough income to trivialize the debt.
ObamaCare (ACA) worked right off the bat, the GOP’s constant skulduggery aside.
lil’ Donnie’s tax cuts are doomed to fail (as have historically ALL trickle-down schemes); they’ll also lose ‘popularity’ once the minuscule tax rebates to the proles expire.
BULLSHIT. The ACA was garbage from day 1 and my family financially suffered directly from it’s ill conceived ideas.
Nothing much to add your cogent take, GWSWOT… do submit for KCC readers et al an link, consideration current US political firestorm – filed under category ‘trying to interfere another country’s politics/attempt influence’, nod WW II:
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/23/us/how-nazis-tried-to-steer-us-politics.html
😥
““Reagan legitimized greed and for 40 years America has been beholden to the almighty dollar. ” – BULLSHIT. Greed and money have been driving capitalism since the “Robber Barons”. Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Carnegie, J.P. Morgan.”
Dead on the money. Ask Nancy Pelosi.
So Lefty wants a return to the halcyon days of 1969. The Chicago Democrat Convention and the attendant riots, upheaval and violence.
Nick, in his comment above, relates his wish for “Nazis” like Ryan and McConnel to die or be “removed”.
Lefty’s scattershot, mail in, check the box boilerplate commentary in the coming revolution is interesting to me, because it dovetails with Nick’s “Call to arms”. The threat of violence and “Bloody Street Confrontation” will only be avoided if “Righties” who watch Fox News come to their senses. If not, forcible removal and violence are on the menu and it will be hell to pay for those who do not get in line behind their newly acquired, by force of arms, “Leaders”.
The Rule Of Law provides groceries on the shelves, paved roads, stoplights etc. etc. and is upstream from the social contract, which, if Lefty and Nick, get their way, will soon devolve into a Robespierre – Marat revolutionary anarchy, from which, finally, justice will be delivered to “Fox News” simpletons and the rest of us “Nazis” on the right.
Mike Tyson once famously said, that “Everyone has a plan, until they get hit in the mouth.”
A Violent revolution in the streets, that as many on the left hope for, resulting in the breakdown of “The Rule Of Law”, would be catastrophic, and, would not, in my opinion, go so swimmingly as would our liberal guides predict.
I am always amused, by puny little, anal scissoring pukes like Lefty, who give de facto permission for and encouragement of violence in the streets.
Most people, I would guess, with the exception of grade school scuffles, have never experienced real, live action shooting, brawling, fights to the death on a personal level. The human heart is a mighty machine and if you have been up close and personal when the shit hits the fan, blood will fly, literally fly 20 and 30 feet as bones are broken, organs are pierced, while life’s tenuous grip slips and shifts. During those seconds that seem like hours, you are, as Obama likes to say, “Fundamentally Changed”. You get smart quick, or you die and you sure as hell, come away a changed man with a new respect and appreciation for conversation and opposed to confrontation.
Those generals and military leaders, I have admired most, were scared of, and avoided violence, by way of their experience and participation in nightmarish, violent events.
So Lefty and Nick, would leave behind, propaganda and seek the “Propaganda Of The Deed”.
Not me.
They cut Robespierre’s fuckin head off and Marat bled out in a bathtub.
Let’s just keep talking, on the tennis courts.
My guess, is that, if there really were, another bloody Civil War in this country, that people who never say a word, maybe “Fox News” simpletons, would have Lefty hanging by his fuckin heels in the public square before lunch, like the Fascist he is.
So true, Chuck… both my parents were in Europe WW II, dad a soldier the US Army fighting Nazis, mother a German native & young girl begging for a scrap of food, while watching bombs fall and stepping over dead bodies in the street.
Alas, whether one attributes Plato or Santayana – “only the dead have seen the end of war.”
If, as E.M. Cioran wrote, “hate invigorates”, then forgive me Mütter, Oma und Opa: Kerouac hates the liberal left – am VIVIFIED!
😈
“Seeing the elephant, sounds really great until you get hit in the mouth.
“Alas, whether one attributes Plato or Santayana – “only the dead have seen the end of war.”
So true.
It really isn’t that hard to get ahead in America. All it really takes is some hard work and maybe a little luck.
Of course, most people don’t know what hard work means anymore. They think that a college degree entitles them to “getting ahead”, yet don’t realize that if everyone else has a college degree, they are ahead of no one.
If you want to get ahead, do shit that other people won’t do. If you’re a tradesman, read books (ie learn) on business so you can run your own plumbing company someday. Live below your means for awhile, save your money, study your profession in your downtime, and then take a risk while using everything you learned/saved.
Or you can just go to your 9-5 job, get on facebook or watch tv after work, rack up credit card debt while living beyond your means, and then bitch that it’s impossible to get ahead anymore.
+1
+1
Gun protests are this month’s Tide Pods.
Next month they’ll move on to Glade plug-in enemas.
Nothing to see here, folks.
+1
“the Democrats‘ fault, it’s always the Democrats’ fault” – Lefsetz
– not ‘always’, but more often than not it is true; consider 2017 as having been year ‘one’ the current obuma ‘market correction’ – the first of ‘seven’ more to go, same…
😎
One last smack in the face of reality for Leftysez, Harley, and all the other leftist morons. The latest crash caused by the housing bubble WAS the Democrats’ fault, Bill Clinton especially! Allow me to refresh your memory:
Under Slick Willie, we were given the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, a cornerstone of Depression-era regulation. He also signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which exempted credit-default swaps from regulation. (This had a domino effect, and combined with these cancerous CDOs caused the mortgage crisis bomb) In 1995 Clinton loosened housing rules by rewriting the Community Reinvestment Act, which put added pressure on banks to lend in low-income neighborhoods.