I have been saying that a reckoning is coming and I think it will be soon. Young people like my youngest son are indeed fed up with being poor and told to shut up and do as they're told by their so called elders.
The revolution is gaining steam. I, for one, will be glad to see it come. In the meantime, I will support the younger generations as much as I can, despite what my peers tell me is right.
He's not much of an activist, more like the old hippie types we were back in the day. He just wants what they all want, a decent standard of living and stability. Something that Trump is aggressively taking away from them.
Terrance,I agree with 100%. Younger people are pissed and they want to vbe active. Also many younger people are now familair with Hitler and the " Nazi" partyh from 1934-41 and they recognize that Donald Trump is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and his supporters the Supreme Court,Federal Reserve,Wall Street,white christian Nationaists and of course the TechnoNazis" are to blame. Some of your peers are probably making money in the stocl market and are happy with the "Neo Nazi" gov't.
My youngest son told me this weekend that all he wants is to be able to make enough money to buy a new SUV and have a place of his own. Something he can't do yet. He's worried about the high cost of housing and the other rising costs in general. He says all of his friends feel the same way. He's single, paying rent to live in a friends house, and working two jobs.
My, so called, peers, are somewhat wealthy white people comfortable with their retirement pensions and savings enough that they could care less about the outside world, as long as it doesn't intrude on theirs. They just want to shop the internet, attend their churches, and gossip with their book clubs and fellow church members, and spend time with the grandkids. Very little else matters. Until something does.
I can't live in that type of a cocoon. Which is why I pay attention to my son. His older siblings are comfortable with their middle class lives and pay little attention to much else, as long as nothing intrudes on their standard of living.
I've tried to tell them that the gravy train is probably going to end soon but that went on deaf ears. Now, I'm more concerned about the world my grandchildren are going to be forced to live in by the time they reach adulthood.
Can we FINALLY adopt universal health care for all? We are an embarrassment compared to all other civilized, compassionate societies, that recognize this as a RIGHT for all their citizens.
The ACA was "Romneycare." You keep defaming Pelosi. She should sue your ass. She counted heads, would have offererd a "public option." The main problem was in the Senate.
Google:
Nancy Pelosi was a strong advocate for a public option within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation in 2009-2010, seeing it as essential for driving down costs and increasing competition against private insurers, but ultimately compromises led to its removal from the final federal bill, though she insisted on a robust version to pass the House. She argued a government plan would provide leverage for the middle class and check the power of insurance companies, fighting for it despite industry opposition.
Pelosi's Stance & The 2009 Effort:
Essential for Passage: Pelosi declared a public option was vital for the House to pass its version of the health care overhaul.
Competition & Cost Control: She believed it would foster competition, lower premiums, and improve quality, forcing private insurers to offer better deals.
Compromise: While pushing for a strong version, she had to concede to more moderate Democrats, leading to a less robust, but still present, public option in the House bill.
Senate Negotiations: She faced challenges in getting the Senate to agree, eventually compromising further in negotiations.
Why It Was Removed (Federally):
Senate Opposition: There wasn't enough support in the Senate for a strong public option, making its inclusion in the final federal law difficult.
Compromise for Passage: To secure passage of the broader ACA, the public option was ultimately dropped from the federal bill, with some hoping for future state-level implementations or later federal action.
Legacy:
Pelosi's fight for the public option marked a significant push for government-sponsored insurance within major health reform, even though it didn't make it into the final federal law, setting a precedent for future efforts.
Also As of late 2025, Nancy Pelosi ranks as the second or third wealthiest member of the House of Representatives, with an estimated net worth of approximately $278 to $281 million. She is generally the fifth wealthiest member of the entire U.S. Congress, including the Senate. and all her wealth is in investments.
And what did Sanders just do to cancer victims a few days ago?
Pelosi was a realist. She knew what would pass and what wouldn't. Like it or not, there was no way for universal health care to pass. It STILL won't pass in our current Congress.
Universal health care would have past the senate if Harry Reid had invoked the nuclear option..
You are correct Universal Health care will never pass, we will never be Denmark, greed rules, money talks, morals walk away. Unless we control both houses and the Senate by 60 votes, or do away with the filibuster.
The reason Harry and Chuck did not go for the nuclear option is because they were providong cover for about 9 to 11 DINO senators.
As for Sanders, I am not a Bernie bro, in fact I have reservations as he honeymooned in Moscow wihen it was the USSR.
'"Sanders wants this bill passed alongside other health care measures that were scrapped from last year's funding package, including funding for community health centers and primary care programs. He's not opposed to helping kids with cancer; he's trying to leverage this moment to get more done for health care overall.
Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Is it infuriating? Yes. Our community watched from the gallery as this bill, named after Mikaela Naylon who spent her final weeks advocating for it, fell one vote short. The disappointment is real and valid.
But this is not the end of the road.
Senator Sanders has a history of supporting childhood cancer causes, and his staff has indicated they're confident this will get done in the new year. The support is there. The votes are there. It's a matter of when, not if. "
Bernie doesn't want to piece meal health care, thus hand a victory to AHIP and the Republicans. Give us the whole thing, not a piece and then let them declare job done.
Have you checked Bernie's legislative history? He ranks near the bottom in terms of results. He talks great but he doesn't want to play with others. He wants to play by HIS rules only. Real life doesn't work that way. I would love it if universal health care was a thing. Along with a number of other things. But I'm a realist. Even FDR had to back off; ditto Biden, ditto LBJ, ditto others.
Case in point - Mamdani won in NYC - let's see what the real world effect will be. And how many will stick with him when he doesn't get all the things he promised.
A "New New Deal" is long overdue!!! The less than loyal opposition party/cult has done everything possible over the years from the inception of the first "New Deal" to water down at best and completely eliminate the provisions in FDR's landmark legislation! It's time for the 2nd "New Deal" that addresses today's reality of the U.S. public, from wealth inequality, the high cost of education and housing, and the ongoing impacts and consequences of global climate change.
The closest we've had was during the Biden administration....although he coudn't get his agenda passed he got more progressive legislation than anyone since LBJ.
First order of business is to shut down the MAGA agenda.
I have a basic rule about capitalism, and that is that the purpose of competition is to eliminate competition. From that comes the rule that capitalism will eat itself, because when the competition ends in monopoly or oligopoly, there is no way to continue ever-increasing profits other than to destroy the system they throve on. That is where we are now. It takes a heavy boot on the neck of free enterprise to keep this opera from turning into a tragedy.
Correct, competition eventually eliminates all but the most powerful.
Where communism is a system in which the state owns and controls the means of production
Capitalism is a system in which a private entity owns and controls the means of production. At first there are many, but as John Davidson Rockefeller said, "competition is a sin", and soon their are few, and eventually only one. Even if there is an appearance of many.
For instance the largest refinery by capacity is Marathon Petroleum, it is owned by
Vanguard, Blackrock and State street.. As investors they have rep's that sit on or chair the Board of Directors, which sets policies and hires CEO's to direct those policies.
Chevron Corporation: BlackRock is a major investor in Chevron, which operates several refineries, including the Richmond refinery in California and the Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi.
ConocoPhillips: Vanguard is the top shareholder, with BlackRock and State Street also holding significant stakes. ConocoPhillips has an ownership interest in refineries, often through joint ventures or specific subsidiaries.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation: This is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners in the U.S. and is included in funds managed by the "Big Three" asset managers.
Phillips 66: Also a major refiner, Phillips 66 is another company in which these asset managers hold shares through their funds.
Shell plc and BP plc: The asset managers also hold billions in debt and equity in other global oil giants.
Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), Suncor Energy, and Cenovus Energy: Vanguard and the other firms are major shareholders in these Canadian oil companies, which operate various oil sands projects and associated refining capacity.
The big three, (Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street) are also major investors in corporate media, entertainment, defense, agriculture, transportation..and the the tech industry.
Most alarming of all is BlackRock although not owned by one person or entity; it's a publicly traded company (BLK) with its shares held by numerous institutional investors like Vanguard, State Street, and individual shareholders, with co-founder Larry Fink serving as Chairman & CEO, holding significant influence but not sole ownership
This man, Larry Fink, is the most powerful man in America.. but the techfascists, especially Peter Thiel are giving him a run for the money.
William,great points and don't forget all the tech stocks including Nvdia that the above institutions own. Vanguard,Blackrock,StateStreet and all of Wall Street supports the "Nazi" agenda.They have conceded that democracies do not work and only "Nazis"and technonazis" should run the Gov't. When people wake up to this fact,there may be some pushback.
You are absolutely correc. Fritz Thyssen said as much in his book "I paid Hitler"
Thyssen was Germany's paramount industrialist financier. He soon learned that he had fucked up and September 1939, fleeing to Switzerland after breaking with the Nazis over the war and anti-Semitism, but was later arrested by Vichy France in 1940 and sent back to be imprisoned in concentration camps until the war's end
Such regimes don't dissolve or reform on their own or from with, but their are factions and alliances (only temporary) that arise, will eventually eat each other and themselves, while we the people suffer, including, especially, the hateful, fearful morons that empowered the coup and revolution.
Nothing lasts forever, everything is transitional, We may like what goes in, but like the digestive tract, we are poisoned by what comes out.
Having taught statistics I don't take poll results without more context--how many people were asked, how the questions were worded, what the margin of error is, and so on--but it does seem obvious that a lot of Americans are really unhappy with where the country is going. But when people ask what the solutions are and who is responsible the answers are all over the place, and too often manipulated by those with vested interests.
Personally I'd like to see a lot more socialism in American. Heck, by 19th century standards we already are a long way there (tax supported libraries, parks, police, fire, etc.) though the cutbacks to things like PBS show we're drifting away from that. Unfortunately a lot of Americans have been led to believe that the term equals Communism. (Similarly they confuse fascism with Nazism.) Thus they won’t even consider this as an option.
And they've been conditioned too! Like a friend of mine who is against Medicare for All because she "doesn't want a bureaucrat between me and my doctor". "How about now where you have an insurance adjuster between you and your doctor," I asked. "A bureaucrat would insure you get the treatment you are entitled to, the adjuster now tries to cut your benefits." She had no answer.
We need an effective socialist party in America, if only to provide a different vision and raise serious national questions that neither party is asking. At the least these would force some change. Maybe a Scandinavian system wouldn't work here, our country is much larger, more diverse, and much less trusting of a far bigger government than places like Finland or Denmark. But that doesn't mean a lot couldn't be done. But if change comes it will be from the bottom up, because "leaders" are comfortable with what they have. With rare exceptions like FDR most always are.
Plenty of us Boomers want to see Democratic Socialism here too! But the insatiable oligarchs, spineless politicians, ruthless "leaders" and souless rightwing "intellectuals" would rather see us all dead before that happens. Get out your pitchforks, folks!
If TRump and his regime were not psychopathic killers, I would say they have become the greatest of gifts. The greed and corruption on display by them is the best education you could give a young worker that can't afford college, health care, a house, vacation, and a few kids.
I think we are down to the idea of "work to eat" and that isn't even affordable.
Meanwhile, look-up the pictures of the yachts. Read the stories about the fancy bunkers, gated communities, and security that the American oligarchs have. It's disgusting, and so is their meddling in our elections.
Speaking of those, I DO believe Dems found the interference in the election is a good reason to withhold the autopsy. Strategy is a bitch. See you in the streets.
1. Polls are mostly bullshit. And Trump/MAGA will try to corrupt any future national election.
2. IMHO the major reasons why MAGA is in power are:
a. We wuz robbed. Interference with the 2016 and 2024 election.
b. "Culture" is more important than economics.
3. It is possible that issues like Trumpepstein, Obamacare subsidies, tariffs, Ukraine/Putin policies, can turn enough Congressional Republicans against MAGA.
Polls cannot help but reflect BS, but they are informative. MAGA Republicans are extremists in everything, so they tend to respond to polls in the extreme, regardless of experience. Data from people who identify with other political groups seem reasonably reflective of reality. Under Trump, I watch for the direction of trends in polls, which lately are increasingly less and less supportive of the administration across party lines.
Polls are often vague and some respondent groups answer in the extreme. However, when you see MAGA satisfaction with the Trump economy start sliding a few points every week or so, that is informative.
I hated Ronald and Nancy Reagan so much back in the 1980’s. That Iran Contra War was a SCAM and a bait and switch manipulation in my uneducated opinion at the time. And when Reagan refused to formally apologize to all African American’s during his term, I was furious! I was a naive white girl from S California who did not understand the institutionalized Racism in our country. All I knew was that Ronald Reagan was 100% bad news. Now I know how truly horrible his actions were. His policies are/were sickening.
I have posted before that it is widely accepted among Americans that if you are rich, you deserve it because you must be smart. Universities promote the notion because it is good for business and self-flattering. In reality, if you are a billionaire, you are not nearly as smart as you are ruthless or entitled by family wealth. Billionaire Trump is so dumb that he thinks he can reduce the cost of things by 1200% and eliminate income taxes with tariffs that he thinks foreign countries pay. LOL.
All of my European friends have college degrees or higher because school was almost free in their countries. Europeans do not go broke due to healthcare costs - that too is almost free. Europeans live better than the average American, but so few Americans who ever travel overseas see anything but monuments and cathedrals. If they did, they might also notice that most houses are made of concrete with tile roofs that do not suffer from woodrot, implode in windstorms, or catch fire from wildfires. Most American wood houses last about a century - built-in obsolescence.
As for ruthless, why are the billionaires letting Trump's incompetence push America into recession and raise the cost of everything for everybody? Maybe because it will hasten widening the divide between the ruling class and the rest of us?
The use of tarriffs in lieu of tax revenue was probematical at best and hurts more businesses than it helps. It's presently an open issue -- cases heard at SCOTUS. Many Congressional Republicans are openly opposed.
Many businesses are not faring well. Only about 4% do extermely well and move the markets. The percentage of. S&P 500 companies issuing negative EPS guidance for Q4 2025 is 54% (58 out of 108), which is below the 5-year average of 58%.
What we see via the media are CEOs, who in many cases have limited corporate authority, either acquiescing to Trump or are placating him based on risk management concepts.
I'd hope that behind the scenenes, these CEOs are auditied and that the audits reflect contingent liabilities.
One of those contingencies is that their company will be crushed financially by competitors in bed with Trump.
Tariffs may be an open issue, legality-wise, but the data show they were going to be a bust from Day-1. Robert Lawrence of the Peterson Institute for International Economics did a careful calculation. Even a “successful” tariff policy would do little to revive U.S. manufacturing. It would also not replace income taxes or lower the deficit - just the opposite. Paul Krugman's post today has several citations (including Lawrence) to validate that.
There’s no doubt that young people are getting screwed. It’s so bad that pursuing shutting down the government and boycotting major vultures in the economy is needed. But they will need help from us elders. Many of us have our comfortable retirement locked in (or so we think) but it’s time to contribute to the cause. We have limited time to save the republic.
Damn Hillary and the entrenched dems for thwarting Bernie in 2016. But he still remains the godfather of democratic socialism.
I strongly agree with all of this, but one question keeps popping up in my head. I keep hearing slightly different numbers on the drop in the middle class from 65%-43%. But the question is, of that change of 22%, how many moved to the upper class? I believe that it is some, but I have trouble finding sources on these stats. In case I am arguing with someone about the demise of the middle class, I want to have my facts in order.
After WW2, European countries had "Christian Democratic" Parties in their countries, including defeated Germany. Those parties, a counter to the Communist parties, were the ones most responsible for the rise of many of the benefits European countries have that the US doesn't. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-democracy They fully embraced the theme of social and economic justice, traditional values that the Rs now pretend they want.
Here, thanks to people like Franklin Graham and all the others, Christianity has become a dirty word because of their embrace of racism, billionaires, open bribery, and all the other ills.
But as LBJ pointed out, and here I quote him . . .
“If you can convince the lowest White man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”
There's the obstacle. The catch. The D's problem.
VOTE, people. Nuts to butts on line at the polling place.
If being in favor of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, among other New Deal and Great Society programs makes me a socialist then I'm a socialist. Good to hear young people by significant percentages are in favor of democratic socialism. However, there are few of them participating in anti MAGA demonstrations (in the college town) I bob my poster up and down in. Is their commitment to anything reliable? Will they vote in significant numbers? Can they form a sentence without saying - like? I'm not counting on them to help rid us of the Trumpsters. Please tell me I'm wrong.
I have been saying that a reckoning is coming and I think it will be soon. Young people like my youngest son are indeed fed up with being poor and told to shut up and do as they're told by their so called elders.
The revolution is gaining steam. I, for one, will be glad to see it come. In the meantime, I will support the younger generations as much as I can, despite what my peers tell me is right.
Thanks Terrance, I hope you are right, especially good to hear of your sons feelings.
He's not much of an activist, more like the old hippie types we were back in the day. He just wants what they all want, a decent standard of living and stability. Something that Trump is aggressively taking away from them.
Terrance,I agree with 100%. Younger people are pissed and they want to vbe active. Also many younger people are now familair with Hitler and the " Nazi" partyh from 1934-41 and they recognize that Donald Trump is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and his supporters the Supreme Court,Federal Reserve,Wall Street,white christian Nationaists and of course the TechnoNazis" are to blame. Some of your peers are probably making money in the stocl market and are happy with the "Neo Nazi" gov't.
My youngest son told me this weekend that all he wants is to be able to make enough money to buy a new SUV and have a place of his own. Something he can't do yet. He's worried about the high cost of housing and the other rising costs in general. He says all of his friends feel the same way. He's single, paying rent to live in a friends house, and working two jobs.
My, so called, peers, are somewhat wealthy white people comfortable with their retirement pensions and savings enough that they could care less about the outside world, as long as it doesn't intrude on theirs. They just want to shop the internet, attend their churches, and gossip with their book clubs and fellow church members, and spend time with the grandkids. Very little else matters. Until something does.
I can't live in that type of a cocoon. Which is why I pay attention to my son. His older siblings are comfortable with their middle class lives and pay little attention to much else, as long as nothing intrudes on their standard of living.
I've tried to tell them that the gravy train is probably going to end soon but that went on deaf ears. Now, I'm more concerned about the world my grandchildren are going to be forced to live in by the time they reach adulthood.
Can we FINALLY adopt universal health care for all? We are an embarrassment compared to all other civilized, compassionate societies, that recognize this as a RIGHT for all their citizens.
This is the solution, we could have and should have had it, instead Pelosi and Rahm gave AHIP a gift called the ACA.
All that is necessary is to amend: Section 103 of P.L. 89-97 to read eligible at live birth./
A one page bill, instead we got 600 pages of verbage that lawyers love and AHIP wrote.
The ACA was "Romneycare." You keep defaming Pelosi. She should sue your ass. She counted heads, would have offererd a "public option." The main problem was in the Senate.
Google:
Nancy Pelosi was a strong advocate for a public option within the Affordable Care Act (ACA) legislation in 2009-2010, seeing it as essential for driving down costs and increasing competition against private insurers, but ultimately compromises led to its removal from the final federal bill, though she insisted on a robust version to pass the House. She argued a government plan would provide leverage for the middle class and check the power of insurance companies, fighting for it despite industry opposition.
Pelosi's Stance & The 2009 Effort:
Essential for Passage: Pelosi declared a public option was vital for the House to pass its version of the health care overhaul.
Competition & Cost Control: She believed it would foster competition, lower premiums, and improve quality, forcing private insurers to offer better deals.
Compromise: While pushing for a strong version, she had to concede to more moderate Democrats, leading to a less robust, but still present, public option in the House bill.
Senate Negotiations: She faced challenges in getting the Senate to agree, eventually compromising further in negotiations.
Why It Was Removed (Federally):
Senate Opposition: There wasn't enough support in the Senate for a strong public option, making its inclusion in the final federal law difficult.
Compromise for Passage: To secure passage of the broader ACA, the public option was ultimately dropped from the federal bill, with some hoping for future state-level implementations or later federal action.
Legacy:
Pelosi's fight for the public option marked a significant push for government-sponsored insurance within major health reform, even though it didn't make it into the final federal law, setting a precedent for future efforts.
Also As of late 2025, Nancy Pelosi ranks as the second or third wealthiest member of the House of Representatives, with an estimated net worth of approximately $278 to $281 million. She is generally the fifth wealthiest member of the entire U.S. Congress, including the Senate. and all her wealth is in investments.
Pelosi resisted Stock Trading ban as wealth grew fueling suspicion: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/us/politics/pelosi-stock-trading-ban.html
We sorely need uncorrupted political leaders, and that is what Gen's X, Y and Z want.
"Uncorrupted." Defamation.
PROVE she had insider info.
Her husband ran a hedge fund.
Her husband ran a hedge fund. Hedge funds profit from inside info.
I don't have to prove anything Daniel, just connect the dots.
Nancy was the Speaker of the House, privy to all info that affects investment strategy.
Her wealth is in investments.
She Resisted Stock Trading ban as wealth grew fueling suspicion: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/us/politics/pelosi-stock-trading-ban.html
I don't have to walk outside and get wet to know that it is raining.
The brurden of proof is on you....
You have a lot in common with Trump and David DePape.
I know that the ACA is Romney care, and it came out of the Hertiage Foundation, it is the right wing alternative to Universal Health Care.
I am not defaming Pelosi. She played her role in congress by keeping Bernie Sanders bill for Universal Health Care off the table.
We could have had universal health care, as the Democrats controlled congress and the W H, were it not ofr Pelosi and Rahm.
Facts are not defamation.
As regards opposition in the Senate. Harry Reid could have used the nuclear option.
And what did Sanders just do to cancer victims a few days ago?
Pelosi was a realist. She knew what would pass and what wouldn't. Like it or not, there was no way for universal health care to pass. It STILL won't pass in our current Congress.
Universal health care would have past the senate if Harry Reid had invoked the nuclear option..
You are correct Universal Health care will never pass, we will never be Denmark, greed rules, money talks, morals walk away. Unless we control both houses and the Senate by 60 votes, or do away with the filibuster.
The reason Harry and Chuck did not go for the nuclear option is because they were providong cover for about 9 to 11 DINO senators.
As for Sanders, I am not a Bernie bro, in fact I have reservations as he honeymooned in Moscow wihen it was the USSR.
However " From https://www.facebook.com/theTruth365film/posts/many-in-our-community-are-confused-about-why-the-mikaela-naylon-give-kids-a-chan/1289198179910325/
'"Sanders wants this bill passed alongside other health care measures that were scrapped from last year's funding package, including funding for community health centers and primary care programs. He's not opposed to helping kids with cancer; he's trying to leverage this moment to get more done for health care overall.
Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Is it infuriating? Yes. Our community watched from the gallery as this bill, named after Mikaela Naylon who spent her final weeks advocating for it, fell one vote short. The disappointment is real and valid.
But this is not the end of the road.
Senator Sanders has a history of supporting childhood cancer causes, and his staff has indicated they're confident this will get done in the new year. The support is there. The votes are there. It's a matter of when, not if. "
Bernie doesn't want to piece meal health care, thus hand a victory to AHIP and the Republicans. Give us the whole thing, not a piece and then let them declare job done.
Have you checked Bernie's legislative history? He ranks near the bottom in terms of results. He talks great but he doesn't want to play with others. He wants to play by HIS rules only. Real life doesn't work that way. I would love it if universal health care was a thing. Along with a number of other things. But I'm a realist. Even FDR had to back off; ditto Biden, ditto LBJ, ditto others.
Case in point - Mamdani won in NYC - let's see what the real world effect will be. And how many will stick with him when he doesn't get all the things he promised.
A "New New Deal" is long overdue!!! The less than loyal opposition party/cult has done everything possible over the years from the inception of the first "New Deal" to water down at best and completely eliminate the provisions in FDR's landmark legislation! It's time for the 2nd "New Deal" that addresses today's reality of the U.S. public, from wealth inequality, the high cost of education and housing, and the ongoing impacts and consequences of global climate change.
We are not the problem.
The closest we've had was during the Biden administration....although he coudn't get his agenda passed he got more progressive legislation than anyone since LBJ.
First order of business is to shut down the MAGA agenda.
Vote in people who are actual realists, not people who talk good, but don't really get anything done.
I have a basic rule about capitalism, and that is that the purpose of competition is to eliminate competition. From that comes the rule that capitalism will eat itself, because when the competition ends in monopoly or oligopoly, there is no way to continue ever-increasing profits other than to destroy the system they throve on. That is where we are now. It takes a heavy boot on the neck of free enterprise to keep this opera from turning into a tragedy.
Correct, competition eventually eliminates all but the most powerful.
Where communism is a system in which the state owns and controls the means of production
Capitalism is a system in which a private entity owns and controls the means of production. At first there are many, but as John Davidson Rockefeller said, "competition is a sin", and soon their are few, and eventually only one. Even if there is an appearance of many.
For instance the largest refinery by capacity is Marathon Petroleum, it is owned by
Vanguard, Blackrock and State street.. As investors they have rep's that sit on or chair the Board of Directors, which sets policies and hires CEO's to direct those policies.
Chevron Corporation: BlackRock is a major investor in Chevron, which operates several refineries, including the Richmond refinery in California and the Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi.
ConocoPhillips: Vanguard is the top shareholder, with BlackRock and State Street also holding significant stakes. ConocoPhillips has an ownership interest in refineries, often through joint ventures or specific subsidiaries.
Marathon Petroleum Corporation: This is one of the largest independent petroleum refiners in the U.S. and is included in funds managed by the "Big Three" asset managers.
Phillips 66: Also a major refiner, Phillips 66 is another company in which these asset managers hold shares through their funds.
Shell plc and BP plc: The asset managers also hold billions in debt and equity in other global oil giants.
Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL), Suncor Energy, and Cenovus Energy: Vanguard and the other firms are major shareholders in these Canadian oil companies, which operate various oil sands projects and associated refining capacity.
The big three, (Vanguard, Blackrock and State Street) are also major investors in corporate media, entertainment, defense, agriculture, transportation..and the the tech industry.
Most alarming of all is BlackRock although not owned by one person or entity; it's a publicly traded company (BLK) with its shares held by numerous institutional investors like Vanguard, State Street, and individual shareholders, with co-founder Larry Fink serving as Chairman & CEO, holding significant influence but not sole ownership
This man, Larry Fink, is the most powerful man in America.. but the techfascists, especially Peter Thiel are giving him a run for the money.
William,great points and don't forget all the tech stocks including Nvdia that the above institutions own. Vanguard,Blackrock,StateStreet and all of Wall Street supports the "Nazi" agenda.They have conceded that democracies do not work and only "Nazis"and technonazis" should run the Gov't. When people wake up to this fact,there may be some pushback.
You are absolutely correc. Fritz Thyssen said as much in his book "I paid Hitler"
Thyssen was Germany's paramount industrialist financier. He soon learned that he had fucked up and September 1939, fleeing to Switzerland after breaking with the Nazis over the war and anti-Semitism, but was later arrested by Vichy France in 1940 and sent back to be imprisoned in concentration camps until the war's end
What we are living through is both a self coup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-coup financed by a fascist takeover, a top down revolution.
Such regimes don't dissolve or reform on their own or from with, but their are factions and alliances (only temporary) that arise, will eventually eat each other and themselves, while we the people suffer, including, especially, the hateful, fearful morons that empowered the coup and revolution.
Nothing lasts forever, everything is transitional, We may like what goes in, but like the digestive tract, we are poisoned by what comes out.
Having taught statistics I don't take poll results without more context--how many people were asked, how the questions were worded, what the margin of error is, and so on--but it does seem obvious that a lot of Americans are really unhappy with where the country is going. But when people ask what the solutions are and who is responsible the answers are all over the place, and too often manipulated by those with vested interests.
Personally I'd like to see a lot more socialism in American. Heck, by 19th century standards we already are a long way there (tax supported libraries, parks, police, fire, etc.) though the cutbacks to things like PBS show we're drifting away from that. Unfortunately a lot of Americans have been led to believe that the term equals Communism. (Similarly they confuse fascism with Nazism.) Thus they won’t even consider this as an option.
And they've been conditioned too! Like a friend of mine who is against Medicare for All because she "doesn't want a bureaucrat between me and my doctor". "How about now where you have an insurance adjuster between you and your doctor," I asked. "A bureaucrat would insure you get the treatment you are entitled to, the adjuster now tries to cut your benefits." She had no answer.
We need an effective socialist party in America, if only to provide a different vision and raise serious national questions that neither party is asking. At the least these would force some change. Maybe a Scandinavian system wouldn't work here, our country is much larger, more diverse, and much less trusting of a far bigger government than places like Finland or Denmark. But that doesn't mean a lot couldn't be done. But if change comes it will be from the bottom up, because "leaders" are comfortable with what they have. With rare exceptions like FDR most always are.
Plenty of us Boomers want to see Democratic Socialism here too! But the insatiable oligarchs, spineless politicians, ruthless "leaders" and souless rightwing "intellectuals" would rather see us all dead before that happens. Get out your pitchforks, folks!
Social Democracy has a nice ring to it.....
If TRump and his regime were not psychopathic killers, I would say they have become the greatest of gifts. The greed and corruption on display by them is the best education you could give a young worker that can't afford college, health care, a house, vacation, and a few kids.
I think we are down to the idea of "work to eat" and that isn't even affordable.
Meanwhile, look-up the pictures of the yachts. Read the stories about the fancy bunkers, gated communities, and security that the American oligarchs have. It's disgusting, and so is their meddling in our elections.
Speaking of those, I DO believe Dems found the interference in the election is a good reason to withhold the autopsy. Strategy is a bitch. See you in the streets.
1. Polls are mostly bullshit. And Trump/MAGA will try to corrupt any future national election.
2. IMHO the major reasons why MAGA is in power are:
a. We wuz robbed. Interference with the 2016 and 2024 election.
b. "Culture" is more important than economics.
3. It is possible that issues like Trumpepstein, Obamacare subsidies, tariffs, Ukraine/Putin policies, can turn enough Congressional Republicans against MAGA.
Polls cannot help but reflect BS, but they are informative. MAGA Republicans are extremists in everything, so they tend to respond to polls in the extreme, regardless of experience. Data from people who identify with other political groups seem reasonably reflective of reality. Under Trump, I watch for the direction of trends in polls, which lately are increasingly less and less supportive of the administration across party lines.
They do not report what they actually think, only what they believe the pollster wants to hear.
I.E. K scale in the MMPI.
Polls are often vague and some respondent groups answer in the extreme. However, when you see MAGA satisfaction with the Trump economy start sliding a few points every week or so, that is informative.
I hated Ronald and Nancy Reagan so much back in the 1980’s. That Iran Contra War was a SCAM and a bait and switch manipulation in my uneducated opinion at the time. And when Reagan refused to formally apologize to all African American’s during his term, I was furious! I was a naive white girl from S California who did not understand the institutionalized Racism in our country. All I knew was that Ronald Reagan was 100% bad news. Now I know how truly horrible his actions were. His policies are/were sickening.
I have posted before that it is widely accepted among Americans that if you are rich, you deserve it because you must be smart. Universities promote the notion because it is good for business and self-flattering. In reality, if you are a billionaire, you are not nearly as smart as you are ruthless or entitled by family wealth. Billionaire Trump is so dumb that he thinks he can reduce the cost of things by 1200% and eliminate income taxes with tariffs that he thinks foreign countries pay. LOL.
All of my European friends have college degrees or higher because school was almost free in their countries. Europeans do not go broke due to healthcare costs - that too is almost free. Europeans live better than the average American, but so few Americans who ever travel overseas see anything but monuments and cathedrals. If they did, they might also notice that most houses are made of concrete with tile roofs that do not suffer from woodrot, implode in windstorms, or catch fire from wildfires. Most American wood houses last about a century - built-in obsolescence.
As for ruthless, why are the billionaires letting Trump's incompetence push America into recession and raise the cost of everything for everybody? Maybe because it will hasten widening the divide between the ruling class and the rest of us?
The use of tarriffs in lieu of tax revenue was probematical at best and hurts more businesses than it helps. It's presently an open issue -- cases heard at SCOTUS. Many Congressional Republicans are openly opposed.
Many businesses are not faring well. Only about 4% do extermely well and move the markets. The percentage of. S&P 500 companies issuing negative EPS guidance for Q4 2025 is 54% (58 out of 108), which is below the 5-year average of 58%.
What we see via the media are CEOs, who in many cases have limited corporate authority, either acquiescing to Trump or are placating him based on risk management concepts.
I'd hope that behind the scenenes, these CEOs are auditied and that the audits reflect contingent liabilities.
One of those contingencies is that their company will be crushed financially by competitors in bed with Trump.
Tariffs may be an open issue, legality-wise, but the data show they were going to be a bust from Day-1. Robert Lawrence of the Peterson Institute for International Economics did a careful calculation. Even a “successful” tariff policy would do little to revive U.S. manufacturing. It would also not replace income taxes or lower the deficit - just the opposite. Paul Krugman's post today has several citations (including Lawrence) to validate that.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/magas-manly-manufacturing-misfire
There’s no doubt that young people are getting screwed. It’s so bad that pursuing shutting down the government and boycotting major vultures in the economy is needed. But they will need help from us elders. Many of us have our comfortable retirement locked in (or so we think) but it’s time to contribute to the cause. We have limited time to save the republic.
Damn Hillary and the entrenched dems for thwarting Bernie in 2016. But he still remains the godfather of democratic socialism.
I strongly agree with all of this, but one question keeps popping up in my head. I keep hearing slightly different numbers on the drop in the middle class from 65%-43%. But the question is, of that change of 22%, how many moved to the upper class? I believe that it is some, but I have trouble finding sources on these stats. In case I am arguing with someone about the demise of the middle class, I want to have my facts in order.
Vote, people!
Yay for Social Democrats! Who are better at accounting.
After WW2, European countries had "Christian Democratic" Parties in their countries, including defeated Germany. Those parties, a counter to the Communist parties, were the ones most responsible for the rise of many of the benefits European countries have that the US doesn't. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-democracy They fully embraced the theme of social and economic justice, traditional values that the Rs now pretend they want.
Here, thanks to people like Franklin Graham and all the others, Christianity has become a dirty word because of their embrace of racism, billionaires, open bribery, and all the other ills.
Facts. Key facts.
But as LBJ pointed out, and here I quote him . . .
“If you can convince the lowest White man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”
There's the obstacle. The catch. The D's problem.
VOTE, people. Nuts to butts on line at the polling place.
If being in favor of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, among other New Deal and Great Society programs makes me a socialist then I'm a socialist. Good to hear young people by significant percentages are in favor of democratic socialism. However, there are few of them participating in anti MAGA demonstrations (in the college town) I bob my poster up and down in. Is their commitment to anything reliable? Will they vote in significant numbers? Can they form a sentence without saying - like? I'm not counting on them to help rid us of the Trumpsters. Please tell me I'm wrong.