For forty years America restrained concentrated wealth and built the largest middle class in history. Then billionaires rewrote the rules, bought political power, and began taking democracy apart…
Thom's post was a BINGO! Back when I was a military officer and civil servant, I gave occasional guest lectures at Dresden Technical University and did some consulting to help the Saxon government struggle to transition to democracy back in the early 90s. One thing that Thom did not touch on, but which likely explains the rise of the AfD is the economy.
The Soviets did very little to help support the post-war economy in the Saxon capital of Dresden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden). I recall a huge mansion at the end of (If I recall correctly) the Augustusbrücke across from the royal side of the Elbe. In 1991, there was a mature tree growing right through the bombed-out roof. It is finally gone today, but it was clear evidence that Russia did the minimum to restore what WWII westerners bragged was a mass bombing campaign to flatten the city to end the war. So, when the Wall came down, Saxony was still a postwar mess.
Sadly, Saxony was not getting much recovery help from Germany. While the capital, Dresden, slowly recovered, the rest of the state economically resembled the post-Civil War South in America. The transition from agriculture to manufacturing was slow. Chemnitz especially resented the lack of recovery support. Kruschev had implemented RFKjr-type babushka agricultural policies that destroyed the fertility of fields, such as eliminating all tree lines (windbreaks) which led to erosion so bad that crop yields fell and took decades to restore. The farm ponds were so polluted with fertilizer and insect spray chemicals that the livestock were dying off. The result today is that Saxony shares an economy and political worldview similar to Louisiana.
Democracy has to be both political and economic in order to maximize freedom. When capitalists talk of freedom, they mean freedom for themselves alone, not for their workers; freedom from taxation, regulation, responsibility, and consequences. Their only object is profit; all that flag-waving and freedom talk is just a joke they play on us. When we democratize, we socialize, by creating and ensuring the fairest and broadest possible distribution of power.
The billionaire oligarchy just uses democracy for propaganda purposes to gain the votes to stay in power - and profit. Demonizing brown people, working women, and LGBTQ people takes the focus off them and their corruption. MAGA was engineered for just such a purpose.
Thank you, Thom, for a clear encapsulation of how we got into the mess we are in.
I worked for decades in the global trade field. About 30 years ago I remember thinking, and saying, to whomever would listen, that the lesson the PRC was teaching all who had eyes to see was that they were demonstrating you could have capitalism in a market system WITHOUT DEMOCRACY.
I have always felt that 19th & 20th Century big money reluctantly put up with some form of democracy to energize and congeal the societies they needed to make, buy and sell what they were feeding off of.
In the circles I moved in, admittedly on a more or less mid-level, I could see the interest in how China would manage one without the other. I would wager, though I have no proof, that this is what pushed the post-Reagan Democrats (Clintons, Obama, Biden, Carville, etc.) to sell their Republican lite strategy to Wall St and Silicon Valley in hopes of heading off the obvious decline into oligarchy that the "Reagan Revolution" would bring.
Of course, they failed.
Can we save the NEW DEAL model? Or, is it simply a matter that the China model of brahmins and mandarins -- aka limo liberals -- managing capitalism and directing our lives -has fallen flat and that "the market" is -- and will produce a line of -- kings?
Thom, this has to be the best letter you've done so far. It explains for people like me why we're on the verge of losing our democracy, and in the strongest of terms what we need to do about it. You're a gift that keeps on giving!
Thom's analogy to football - or any other regulated activity - is apt indeed, for it is the rules, that must be followed by all, that gives all the maximum degree of freedom, and negates the extreme power and wealth differences of workers and their corporate would-be royalty.
If only this idea (and most of Thom's insights) could reach all Americans, then FDR's New Deal might thrive again.
The current Democratic establishment is a failure. It rejects FDR, undermines candidates who embrace FDR, often parroting Repugnican slurs to the benefit of Repugnican candidates (e.g., Michigan). We are in dire need of a new Democratic, democratic, establishment. Notably, left-leaning candidates running as Independents are doing well in “red” states, having distanced themselves from the understandably toxic “D”.
This is a mind-set of a people who are focused on rewarding the few with their dreams of oligarch riches at the expense of the many. Then you demonize the vast majority and make them the enemy.
These billionaires are fighting for a position in this new chess game of an oligarch future for the world. It’s not just about the US anymore and it hasn’t been for many years, now.
These are power mad individuals who ignore suffering and the obvious decay that happens when you ignore the many and repeatedly pound on the glories that the trickle down jobs bring to the people.
This is a billionaire wet dream. People who are drunk in power and want to eliminate opposition to their plans to control all assets and all rewards. The dream of being the ultimate voice and force, while simultaneously crushing all opposition so they will NEVER rise again….
This is the ego voice of a nine year old with a video controller who is blowing up his opponent’s men. And, this is also the voice of the men who are trying to take over the free world.
G.P. I agree with much of you said. However the one piece that seems to be missing is the role of AI in this oligarch takeover. The proponents,Trump,Musk,Bezos,Huang are viewing a county in 2027-28 with an unemployment rate of 30% although this will be hidden from the public by legacy media who are deathly afraid of reporting any negative news for fear of threats from the the those mentioned. Since there are virtually no Dems or organizations who can mount real pushback,we are in real trouble.
East Germany has a long history of Prussian and Soviet strongman rule. I think the modern German government has tried to distance itself from that. In this time of resurgent hatred and a desire for someone to solve the problems of a complex modern society, some people are seeking reassurance in old patterns of governance.
I've been saying forever. Ism's are not forms of government. Ism s are ideologies. Ideologies are secular and sectarian. Islam, Hindu, Christianity and Judaism are as much ideologies as egalitarianism, capitalism, communism
Forms of government are cracy;s as in autocracy. theocracy or democracy.
Precisely. Progressive Dems aren’t “socialists” or “communists”. That’s just Republicans playing their greatest hits of fear and disinformation. Progressive Dems support welfare capitalism…regulated capitalism, just like we had under FDR and LBJ and even under Republicans Eisenhower and Nixon. All that became under attack beginning with Republicans with the election of Reagan in 1980. Republicans today support oligarchy, Laissez Faire capitalism…capitalism with no rules, no regulations, winner take all monopolies and oligopolies. With no safety nets. No Social Security, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or unemployment insurance, or workplace safety, or pensions, or clean air, safe food or water, no voting rights. Republicans voted AGAINST all of that and it is under attack by Republicans, again.
DSCA, or Democratic Socialist Capitalist Party of America should be the real moniker (but it's too long,) because capitalism - which is how our money is earned - is the basis of our government. However, socialism is needed to impart regulation, which is needed to keep capitalism under control and to disperse a more even income to all Americans. Besides, without socialistic government programs (paid for by taxpayers,) like incorporation, subsidies and tax breaks (which, to most of us, are unavailable,) todays oligarchs might be be selling encyclopedias or digging ditches (Yeah, that's pretty extreme, but they wouldn't be where they are.)
Hmmmm. Here I go again living in my alternative universe, but...
Biographers have noted that FDR used racial slurs in private correspondence and personal notes as a young man, reflecting the casual racism common among his social class at the time. Apparently he was quite fond of the word Nigger. As president, FDR largely avoided pushing for civil rights legislation, such as anti-lynching laws, allegedly because he feared losing the votes of powerful Southern segregationist Democrats needed to pass his New Deal programs. Further, his administration authorized Executive Order 9066, leading to the forced relocation and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
I may be slow...but I'm quicker than you. Ergo, aside from sophomoric ad hominem insult have you any substantive argument of the facts? Go ahead, Gloria, thrill me with your superior intellect.
FDR saved capitalism for his class, which isn't my class. But we need to avoid the weeds and work together. I'm disappointed to hear that FDR used racist language as a young man. But I believe he did the best he could in his era to pull the country out of the Great Depression and save as many people from starvation as he could, no matter their racial background.
The more I learn about WWII and all modern wars, the more it seems they have more to do with banking and financial interests than ideology. I don't know how much danger the US Japanese-related people were in after Pearl Harbor and what needed to be done to get everyone aligned to fight the war. Again, hindsight ......
I apologize for my reply. We were walking in the park, and I stopped to check Hartmann's comments after I listened to the report. Your comment didn't add anything positive to the discussion and distracted from the topic. I'm done here. Take care and have a good day.
FDR, like all of the rest of us homo sapiens, had feet of clay, and in his case, knees and hips of braces; I would fault him gravely for a couple of actions, those of turning away a boatload of Jews, and the Japanese-American interment (both of which may have reflected public opinion of the time,) but he did more to uphold and strengthen our particular form of representative democracy than anyone (possibly excepting Washington - who had his own feet of clay) before or since.
You said that last time. Further who trolled whom? I made a factual comment and I could not possibly care less about European palatability. You decided to attack me personally which, frankly is of little consequence to me,. However, you crossed the line in attacking my intelligence for I have forgotten more than you, and those like you, will ever, ever know and I don't appreciate it at all.
Another fact, just as the revered Thomas Jefferson was a pedophile, slaver and rapist (of Black little girls) Eurocentric sanitization of fact means absolute zero to me. What Black man, or women, has ever referred to you as an inbred cracker have you ever revered? What Black man, or woman, has raped and enslaved your children that you revere? How many of you were branded with the name of people that murdered, raped and enslaved you?
Come on Gloria, thrill me and my primate monkey-brain with your spectacular intellect. Because, so far, you are simply whistling past the graveyard.
In Negro" culture (or whatever Massa chooses to call us) we have an adage: "don't start no shit, won't be none."
The Democratic Socialists have the right idea, don't you think? We need to embrace a more militant and conscious approach to dealing with the fascists. But we will have to be more strategic and increase awareness of the root problems and then fight for the change we are demanding. Here is what I wrote in a new article posted on my Substack Saturday:
Neo-liberalism, neo-conservativism, globalized imperialism and hubris, along with oligarchy, plutocracy, kleptocracy, and a budding theocracy have all disrupted our lives and our democracy. Those should all be resisted with all the strength and determination we can muster. However, behind those forces and interests are fundamental beliefs and ideologies, such as the myth of original sin, male superiority, white supremacy, and superstitions about a god who relieves us of our responsibilities and social obligations. Those things are largely intact. True progress will always be blocked as long as those ideas and convictions are not adequately challenged.
Abstractions and generalities are not adequate to change perceptions and beliefs. I cite Thom's latest book in my article and agree with everything he says about how the American dream was stolen. However, my argument now is that we are required to rethink the American dream, get past merely hoping to revive the middle-class, forget about reforming schools under an anachronistic paradigm, and rediscover education as it was imagined during the Enlightenment.
The title of my article is: Waking Up from the American Dream; or Not, and the subtitle is:
Sales Pitches for Get-Rich-Quick Fantasies Materialized - For a Few. Here is another excerpt:
This is to seriously propose that Americans dispense completely with the concept of an American dream and that we get real, instead. This is not just hyperbole, theory, rhetoric, or rank cynicism. This fantasy of some ideal life that is ostensibly not imaginable elsewhere and which we wish everyone could share, yet which seems to be denied even to millions of Americans, even in the 21st century, is a bit of a farce. Is it not a little presumptuous for Americans to try to specifically identify or quantify what everyone everywhere should dream of and aspire to, as if we are so special?
The "American dream" was never going to include all Americans. It is time to start thinking big and to stop allowing ourselves to be limited by reactionary thinking, superstition, and fear of rocking the boat.
Robert,interesting post and I agree. However there is one ingredient that is lacking. Americans are not fighters,to expect a large majority of Americans to fight back is laughable.
For the 75,000 who voted for Harris,how many have been to rallies,written post cards,done some door knocking,maybe 7 million. These activities take effort,there seems to little enthusiasm for putting in the effort. Let someone else do it. Those who do not participate always have an excuse. There have been 3 " NO Kings Rallies" 8/25 -5 million,10/2-7 million, and 3/26 8 million. Put that in context.
75 Million for Harris
8 million largest protest
Question,where are the other 67 million. Do we think for one moment that the "Neo Nazi" gov't is @ all concerned about this weak showing? Of course not,they are emboldened..
Why aren't there protests every week,pushing back against ICE and there fascist tactics against the hispanic community?Why not pushback against Palantir,a company that is creating a surveillance society where cameras like Flock are mounted everywhere to watch the daily activities of those who the "Neo Nazis" view as opposition.
If you or anyone posting here has a reason to be optimistic,I'd like to hear why .
It doesn't appear that you read my Substack article. I said that it's time to get real. My title is "waking up from the American dream, or not". OR NOT. You are correct. The vast majority f people are not waking up and that is because of the indoctrination/brainwashing they receive in traditional public schools. Maybe you are new here. I've been saying it for years. I am somewhat hopeful about the November election and the changes which are certain to come if Democrats take both houses of Congress. There will surely be some fairly significant changes and Republicans will be in retreat if Trump doesn't get away with some last-second authoritarian move with a declared emergency backed up by the Supreme Court. But soon, it will be back to business as usual. The only hope will be for young people to overcome the repression in schools and to become a new force of resistance against the orthodoxy and the established powers that be. That will not ever happen under a compulsory schooling paradigm enforced by law. Even Thom does not get it - yet. I still have some hope for him, although it is dimming.
Ali Veshi interviewed Jason Stanley professor at the University of Toronto(no youtube but on Spotify) on the US midterms and Stanley relates that fascist Republican regime is in real time stealing the election. He makes the point that in any authoritarian state the plan is to claim some fictional premise. In this case it will be immigrant voter fraudulent voting. The attack on mail in voting is the broadening of this multipronged effort to steal the election.
This has happened in India where the authoritarian regime has made the Muslim population the fraudulent voter faction. It has worked as part of a global right wing agenda to assume power over democratic governments.
Denial of state election results will be the next step after the election if elections are close. The last will be that the Speaker of the House will refuse to seat Democratic member elects. MSM needs to report on all of this.
Massive voter turnout is the one of the major solutions. Join your local Indivisible chapter to create a major unified voice to put down this fascist takeover by participating in any way you can do to make this a referendum vote on democracy.
The dangerous moment isn’t when somebody becomes obscenely rich. It’s when the rest of us start confusing that wealth with wisdom, virtue, or some God-given qualification to run everything. Apparently accumulate enough zeros and your bank statement becomes a character reference. Money is very good at buying things. We should probably remain suspicious whenever it starts trying to buy the referee too.
Sorry to disagree with you, Thom, but it wasn't a "stunning victory". They won less than 1/2 the vote in only one of the 16 German states. And I think, no matter which country one chooses, a party like MAGA or AfD will (unfortunately) win a sizable plurality. It's the terrible nature of humans to be racist, tribalistic, fueled by the superiority of their religion. And, without even using this RW garbage as the example, everyone knows people - many people - who love forcing their own ideas and telling others how to live. None of this surprises me in the least.
Thom's post was a BINGO! Back when I was a military officer and civil servant, I gave occasional guest lectures at Dresden Technical University and did some consulting to help the Saxon government struggle to transition to democracy back in the early 90s. One thing that Thom did not touch on, but which likely explains the rise of the AfD is the economy.
The Soviets did very little to help support the post-war economy in the Saxon capital of Dresden (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden). I recall a huge mansion at the end of (If I recall correctly) the Augustusbrücke across from the royal side of the Elbe. In 1991, there was a mature tree growing right through the bombed-out roof. It is finally gone today, but it was clear evidence that Russia did the minimum to restore what WWII westerners bragged was a mass bombing campaign to flatten the city to end the war. So, when the Wall came down, Saxony was still a postwar mess.
Sadly, Saxony was not getting much recovery help from Germany. While the capital, Dresden, slowly recovered, the rest of the state economically resembled the post-Civil War South in America. The transition from agriculture to manufacturing was slow. Chemnitz especially resented the lack of recovery support. Kruschev had implemented RFKjr-type babushka agricultural policies that destroyed the fertility of fields, such as eliminating all tree lines (windbreaks) which led to erosion so bad that crop yields fell and took decades to restore. The farm ponds were so polluted with fertilizer and insect spray chemicals that the livestock were dying off. The result today is that Saxony shares an economy and political worldview similar to Louisiana.
Democracy has to be both political and economic in order to maximize freedom. When capitalists talk of freedom, they mean freedom for themselves alone, not for their workers; freedom from taxation, regulation, responsibility, and consequences. Their only object is profit; all that flag-waving and freedom talk is just a joke they play on us. When we democratize, we socialize, by creating and ensuring the fairest and broadest possible distribution of power.
The billionaire oligarchy just uses democracy for propaganda purposes to gain the votes to stay in power - and profit. Demonizing brown people, working women, and LGBTQ people takes the focus off them and their corruption. MAGA was engineered for just such a purpose.
Thank you, Thom, for a clear encapsulation of how we got into the mess we are in.
I worked for decades in the global trade field. About 30 years ago I remember thinking, and saying, to whomever would listen, that the lesson the PRC was teaching all who had eyes to see was that they were demonstrating you could have capitalism in a market system WITHOUT DEMOCRACY.
I have always felt that 19th & 20th Century big money reluctantly put up with some form of democracy to energize and congeal the societies they needed to make, buy and sell what they were feeding off of.
In the circles I moved in, admittedly on a more or less mid-level, I could see the interest in how China would manage one without the other. I would wager, though I have no proof, that this is what pushed the post-Reagan Democrats (Clintons, Obama, Biden, Carville, etc.) to sell their Republican lite strategy to Wall St and Silicon Valley in hopes of heading off the obvious decline into oligarchy that the "Reagan Revolution" would bring.
Of course, they failed.
Can we save the NEW DEAL model? Or, is it simply a matter that the China model of brahmins and mandarins -- aka limo liberals -- managing capitalism and directing our lives -has fallen flat and that "the market" is -- and will produce a line of -- kings?
DL
Thom, this has to be the best letter you've done so far. It explains for people like me why we're on the verge of losing our democracy, and in the strongest of terms what we need to do about it. You're a gift that keeps on giving!
Thom's analogy to football - or any other regulated activity - is apt indeed, for it is the rules, that must be followed by all, that gives all the maximum degree of freedom, and negates the extreme power and wealth differences of workers and their corporate would-be royalty.
If only this idea (and most of Thom's insights) could reach all Americans, then FDR's New Deal might thrive again.
The current Democratic establishment is a failure. It rejects FDR, undermines candidates who embrace FDR, often parroting Repugnican slurs to the benefit of Repugnican candidates (e.g., Michigan). We are in dire need of a new Democratic, democratic, establishment. Notably, left-leaning candidates running as Independents are doing well in “red” states, having distanced themselves from the understandably toxic “D”.
This is a mind-set of a people who are focused on rewarding the few with their dreams of oligarch riches at the expense of the many. Then you demonize the vast majority and make them the enemy.
These billionaires are fighting for a position in this new chess game of an oligarch future for the world. It’s not just about the US anymore and it hasn’t been for many years, now.
These are power mad individuals who ignore suffering and the obvious decay that happens when you ignore the many and repeatedly pound on the glories that the trickle down jobs bring to the people.
This is a billionaire wet dream. People who are drunk in power and want to eliminate opposition to their plans to control all assets and all rewards. The dream of being the ultimate voice and force, while simultaneously crushing all opposition so they will NEVER rise again….
This is the ego voice of a nine year old with a video controller who is blowing up his opponent’s men. And, this is also the voice of the men who are trying to take over the free world.
G.P. I agree with much of you said. However the one piece that seems to be missing is the role of AI in this oligarch takeover. The proponents,Trump,Musk,Bezos,Huang are viewing a county in 2027-28 with an unemployment rate of 30% although this will be hidden from the public by legacy media who are deathly afraid of reporting any negative news for fear of threats from the the those mentioned. Since there are virtually no Dems or organizations who can mount real pushback,we are in real trouble.
East Germany has a long history of Prussian and Soviet strongman rule. I think the modern German government has tried to distance itself from that. In this time of resurgent hatred and a desire for someone to solve the problems of a complex modern society, some people are seeking reassurance in old patterns of governance.
I've been saying forever. Ism's are not forms of government. Ism s are ideologies. Ideologies are secular and sectarian. Islam, Hindu, Christianity and Judaism are as much ideologies as egalitarianism, capitalism, communism
Forms of government are cracy;s as in autocracy. theocracy or democracy.
Precisely. Progressive Dems aren’t “socialists” or “communists”. That’s just Republicans playing their greatest hits of fear and disinformation. Progressive Dems support welfare capitalism…regulated capitalism, just like we had under FDR and LBJ and even under Republicans Eisenhower and Nixon. All that became under attack beginning with Republicans with the election of Reagan in 1980. Republicans today support oligarchy, Laissez Faire capitalism…capitalism with no rules, no regulations, winner take all monopolies and oligopolies. With no safety nets. No Social Security, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or unemployment insurance, or workplace safety, or pensions, or clean air, safe food or water, no voting rights. Republicans voted AGAINST all of that and it is under attack by Republicans, again.
DSCA, or Democratic Socialist Capitalist Party of America should be the real moniker (but it's too long,) because capitalism - which is how our money is earned - is the basis of our government. However, socialism is needed to impart regulation, which is needed to keep capitalism under control and to disperse a more even income to all Americans. Besides, without socialistic government programs (paid for by taxpayers,) like incorporation, subsidies and tax breaks (which, to most of us, are unavailable,) todays oligarchs might be be selling encyclopedias or digging ditches (Yeah, that's pretty extreme, but they wouldn't be where they are.)
Hmmmm. Here I go again living in my alternative universe, but...
Biographers have noted that FDR used racial slurs in private correspondence and personal notes as a young man, reflecting the casual racism common among his social class at the time. Apparently he was quite fond of the word Nigger. As president, FDR largely avoided pushing for civil rights legislation, such as anti-lynching laws, allegedly because he feared losing the votes of powerful Southern segregationist Democrats needed to pass his New Deal programs. Further, his administration authorized Executive Order 9066, leading to the forced relocation and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
But...what do I know?
You apparently don't know much.
I may be slow...but I'm quicker than you. Ergo, aside from sophomoric ad hominem insult have you any substantive argument of the facts? Go ahead, Gloria, thrill me with your superior intellect.
Go troll somebody else. I’m not biting.
You already did.
FDR saved capitalism for his class, which isn't my class. But we need to avoid the weeds and work together. I'm disappointed to hear that FDR used racist language as a young man. But I believe he did the best he could in his era to pull the country out of the Great Depression and save as many people from starvation as he could, no matter their racial background.
The more I learn about WWII and all modern wars, the more it seems they have more to do with banking and financial interests than ideology. I don't know how much danger the US Japanese-related people were in after Pearl Harbor and what needed to be done to get everyone aligned to fight the war. Again, hindsight ......
I apologize for my reply. We were walking in the park, and I stopped to check Hartmann's comments after I listened to the report. Your comment didn't add anything positive to the discussion and distracted from the topic. I'm done here. Take care and have a good day.
FDR, like all of the rest of us homo sapiens, had feet of clay, and in his case, knees and hips of braces; I would fault him gravely for a couple of actions, those of turning away a boatload of Jews, and the Japanese-American interment (both of which may have reflected public opinion of the time,) but he did more to uphold and strengthen our particular form of representative democracy than anyone (possibly excepting Washington - who had his own feet of clay) before or since.
You said that last time. Further who trolled whom? I made a factual comment and I could not possibly care less about European palatability. You decided to attack me personally which, frankly is of little consequence to me,. However, you crossed the line in attacking my intelligence for I have forgotten more than you, and those like you, will ever, ever know and I don't appreciate it at all.
Another fact, just as the revered Thomas Jefferson was a pedophile, slaver and rapist (of Black little girls) Eurocentric sanitization of fact means absolute zero to me. What Black man, or women, has ever referred to you as an inbred cracker have you ever revered? What Black man, or woman, has raped and enslaved your children that you revere? How many of you were branded with the name of people that murdered, raped and enslaved you?
Come on Gloria, thrill me and my primate monkey-brain with your spectacular intellect. Because, so far, you are simply whistling past the graveyard.
In Negro" culture (or whatever Massa chooses to call us) we have an adage: "don't start no shit, won't be none."
The Democratic Socialists have the right idea, don't you think? We need to embrace a more militant and conscious approach to dealing with the fascists. But we will have to be more strategic and increase awareness of the root problems and then fight for the change we are demanding. Here is what I wrote in a new article posted on my Substack Saturday:
Neo-liberalism, neo-conservativism, globalized imperialism and hubris, along with oligarchy, plutocracy, kleptocracy, and a budding theocracy have all disrupted our lives and our democracy. Those should all be resisted with all the strength and determination we can muster. However, behind those forces and interests are fundamental beliefs and ideologies, such as the myth of original sin, male superiority, white supremacy, and superstitions about a god who relieves us of our responsibilities and social obligations. Those things are largely intact. True progress will always be blocked as long as those ideas and convictions are not adequately challenged.
Abstractions and generalities are not adequate to change perceptions and beliefs. I cite Thom's latest book in my article and agree with everything he says about how the American dream was stolen. However, my argument now is that we are required to rethink the American dream, get past merely hoping to revive the middle-class, forget about reforming schools under an anachronistic paradigm, and rediscover education as it was imagined during the Enlightenment.
The title of my article is: Waking Up from the American Dream; or Not, and the subtitle is:
Sales Pitches for Get-Rich-Quick Fantasies Materialized - For a Few. Here is another excerpt:
This is to seriously propose that Americans dispense completely with the concept of an American dream and that we get real, instead. This is not just hyperbole, theory, rhetoric, or rank cynicism. This fantasy of some ideal life that is ostensibly not imaginable elsewhere and which we wish everyone could share, yet which seems to be denied even to millions of Americans, even in the 21st century, is a bit of a farce. Is it not a little presumptuous for Americans to try to specifically identify or quantify what everyone everywhere should dream of and aspire to, as if we are so special?
The "American dream" was never going to include all Americans. It is time to start thinking big and to stop allowing ourselves to be limited by reactionary thinking, superstition, and fear of rocking the boat.
Robert,interesting post and I agree. However there is one ingredient that is lacking. Americans are not fighters,to expect a large majority of Americans to fight back is laughable.
For the 75,000 who voted for Harris,how many have been to rallies,written post cards,done some door knocking,maybe 7 million. These activities take effort,there seems to little enthusiasm for putting in the effort. Let someone else do it. Those who do not participate always have an excuse. There have been 3 " NO Kings Rallies" 8/25 -5 million,10/2-7 million, and 3/26 8 million. Put that in context.
75 Million for Harris
8 million largest protest
Question,where are the other 67 million. Do we think for one moment that the "Neo Nazi" gov't is @ all concerned about this weak showing? Of course not,they are emboldened..
Why aren't there protests every week,pushing back against ICE and there fascist tactics against the hispanic community?Why not pushback against Palantir,a company that is creating a surveillance society where cameras like Flock are mounted everywhere to watch the daily activities of those who the "Neo Nazis" view as opposition.
If you or anyone posting here has a reason to be optimistic,I'd like to hear why .
It doesn't appear that you read my Substack article. I said that it's time to get real. My title is "waking up from the American dream, or not". OR NOT. You are correct. The vast majority f people are not waking up and that is because of the indoctrination/brainwashing they receive in traditional public schools. Maybe you are new here. I've been saying it for years. I am somewhat hopeful about the November election and the changes which are certain to come if Democrats take both houses of Congress. There will surely be some fairly significant changes and Republicans will be in retreat if Trump doesn't get away with some last-second authoritarian move with a declared emergency backed up by the Supreme Court. But soon, it will be back to business as usual. The only hope will be for young people to overcome the repression in schools and to become a new force of resistance against the orthodoxy and the established powers that be. That will not ever happen under a compulsory schooling paradigm enforced by law. Even Thom does not get it - yet. I still have some hope for him, although it is dimming.
WE Are In The Midst Of A Stolen Election
Ali Veshi interviewed Jason Stanley professor at the University of Toronto(no youtube but on Spotify) on the US midterms and Stanley relates that fascist Republican regime is in real time stealing the election. He makes the point that in any authoritarian state the plan is to claim some fictional premise. In this case it will be immigrant voter fraudulent voting. The attack on mail in voting is the broadening of this multipronged effort to steal the election.
This has happened in India where the authoritarian regime has made the Muslim population the fraudulent voter faction. It has worked as part of a global right wing agenda to assume power over democratic governments.
Denial of state election results will be the next step after the election if elections are close. The last will be that the Speaker of the House will refuse to seat Democratic member elects. MSM needs to report on all of this.
Massive voter turnout is the one of the major solutions. Join your local Indivisible chapter to create a major unified voice to put down this fascist takeover by participating in any way you can do to make this a referendum vote on democracy.
It’s so refreshing to read, aware, educated intelligent minds discuss the facts. It’s an oasis.
The dangerous moment isn’t when somebody becomes obscenely rich. It’s when the rest of us start confusing that wealth with wisdom, virtue, or some God-given qualification to run everything. Apparently accumulate enough zeros and your bank statement becomes a character reference. Money is very good at buying things. We should probably remain suspicious whenever it starts trying to buy the referee too.
Sorry to disagree with you, Thom, but it wasn't a "stunning victory". They won less than 1/2 the vote in only one of the 16 German states. And I think, no matter which country one chooses, a party like MAGA or AfD will (unfortunately) win a sizable plurality. It's the terrible nature of humans to be racist, tribalistic, fueled by the superiority of their religion. And, without even using this RW garbage as the example, everyone knows people - many people - who love forcing their own ideas and telling others how to live. None of this surprises me in the least.
The other thing is, don't let DT and his Rs use your race-hate against you.
Stop letting the Sad, Scary Clown shoot you in the foot.
#VOTE for Sanity
#STOP Pre-Presidential Kiddie Rape
#BAN Donald from all Bergdorf's dressing rooms when E Jean Carroll is there
#MAKE drooling, lusting after your daughter [incest] a crime