Thom, I find your newsletters insightful and your historic perspective enlightening. Today's reference to Brazil - comparing its constitutional democracy to Turkey and suggesting that it is "a newly liberated democracy turning into an authoritarian state" - is factually incorrect and gives me pause. I was born and raised in Brasil. I came to the US in 1977 to go to graduate school in No. California. I have a lot of family in Brasil and I go back often to visit. Brasil is a multiparty, federal presidential democracy with elections every 4 years. There are 3 branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial. From 1964 - 1985 Brasil was a military dictatorship, so hardly a newly liberated democracy. President Lula da Silva is a socialist and part of the Worker's party. He has stood up to trump on several occasions. Brasil has a free press and universal suffrage. Sadly, economic and social inequality persists, made worse by US tariffs imposed on exports.
I'm wondering if allowing this to become a holy war, good against evil, with the oligarchs framing it with themselves as the righteous and good people fighting against permissive liberal beliefs is a bad idea. Maybe, instead of trying to establish ordinary people and working people as the good guys, we should shift the argument back to one more about FDR's additional rights and the idea that all property, assets, and resources must be shared (on a temporary basis - no one or no one family lives forever) as the benefits of a generous and rich land where we all happen to reside and where all should be given maximum opportunities to survive and thrive. The idea of democracy is in distributing everything, including power and natural resources with a sense of equal shares based less on merit and more on membership, I think.
I also believe we should look forward to a time when the "American dream" concept can be dispensed with entirely as anachronistic. Here is what I have written in an early draft of a new article:
Perhaps we could start using phrases such as ‘A Fair Shake for All’, or ‘Enough to Go Around’, or ‘No Excuses for Poverty Now’. Is it not offensive to Americans to aim for a middle-class, an upper-middle-class, or an Epstein-level higher privileged class which only exclude several million souls because they failed somehow to reach high enough or to pray loudly enough to achieve the status and wealth of more fortunate Americans who obtained their ambitions and dreams? The American dream assumes that those who are not dreamers, schemers, and movers and shakers are not true Americans or that they, incidentally, are dispensable and disposable. No. That is certainly not what I envision for America, and it should not be what anyone in a democracy should want. Ruthless competition and dog-eat-dog should be limited to sports and games. Does anyone remember just what the social contract entails?
Rosie O’Donnell subbing for Jimmy Kimmel Live did a musical parody on the Orange Cheeto that hit all the recent highlights of his disastrous presidency. bit.ly/4xfLZSn
Thom, Al great points you made so long ago. Sorry, I will, not be part of your up coming book read. I, believe I, will keep myself safe and out of trouble. Thanks, Thom. Sure it will be fascinating.
I was not familiar with the Davis headnote until I looked it up and realized that it represents the weak leg of scotus cases that underpin the clearly unconstitutional Buckley v Valejo & Citizens United decisions conferring personhood on corporations. https://uscentrist.org/2021/12/14/can-we-break-the-legs-of-corruptions-grip-on-american-politics/
Thank you.😊
Thom, I find your newsletters insightful and your historic perspective enlightening. Today's reference to Brazil - comparing its constitutional democracy to Turkey and suggesting that it is "a newly liberated democracy turning into an authoritarian state" - is factually incorrect and gives me pause. I was born and raised in Brasil. I came to the US in 1977 to go to graduate school in No. California. I have a lot of family in Brasil and I go back often to visit. Brasil is a multiparty, federal presidential democracy with elections every 4 years. There are 3 branches of government - executive, legislative and judicial. From 1964 - 1985 Brasil was a military dictatorship, so hardly a newly liberated democracy. President Lula da Silva is a socialist and part of the Worker's party. He has stood up to trump on several occasions. Brasil has a free press and universal suffrage. Sadly, economic and social inequality persists, made worse by US tariffs imposed on exports.
I'm wondering if allowing this to become a holy war, good against evil, with the oligarchs framing it with themselves as the righteous and good people fighting against permissive liberal beliefs is a bad idea. Maybe, instead of trying to establish ordinary people and working people as the good guys, we should shift the argument back to one more about FDR's additional rights and the idea that all property, assets, and resources must be shared (on a temporary basis - no one or no one family lives forever) as the benefits of a generous and rich land where we all happen to reside and where all should be given maximum opportunities to survive and thrive. The idea of democracy is in distributing everything, including power and natural resources with a sense of equal shares based less on merit and more on membership, I think.
I also believe we should look forward to a time when the "American dream" concept can be dispensed with entirely as anachronistic. Here is what I have written in an early draft of a new article:
Perhaps we could start using phrases such as ‘A Fair Shake for All’, or ‘Enough to Go Around’, or ‘No Excuses for Poverty Now’. Is it not offensive to Americans to aim for a middle-class, an upper-middle-class, or an Epstein-level higher privileged class which only exclude several million souls because they failed somehow to reach high enough or to pray loudly enough to achieve the status and wealth of more fortunate Americans who obtained their ambitions and dreams? The American dream assumes that those who are not dreamers, schemers, and movers and shakers are not true Americans or that they, incidentally, are dispensable and disposable. No. That is certainly not what I envision for America, and it should not be what anyone in a democracy should want. Ruthless competition and dog-eat-dog should be limited to sports and games. Does anyone remember just what the social contract entails?
Best Laugh Of The Summer
Rosie O’Donnell subbing for Jimmy Kimmel Live did a musical parody on the Orange Cheeto that hit all the recent highlights of his disastrous presidency. bit.ly/4xfLZSn
A must see!!
Thom, Al great points you made so long ago. Sorry, I will, not be part of your up coming book read. I, believe I, will keep myself safe and out of trouble. Thanks, Thom. Sure it will be fascinating.
Yep. I'm old enough to remember all of this. It's disgraceful. 🤮