Hundreds died in this week's heat wave. But the real killer is a political & economic system that rewards predators, turns citizens into prey, & leaves governments protecting power instead of people…
EVERYTHING in this country has become a grift, a scam, or a snow job because of the psychos and sickos that are like a cancer within the government. Whether it is local, state or national, business leaders have way too much influence over government officials.
Time to let them know we will end this bullshit. We know what has to be done. How fun is it that they are afraid of democratic socialism. What cowards! They are so afraid that workers will prevail and get what they have earned. They are so afraid that the least of us will have a chance to thrive.
Humans are indeed unique We are the only species that celebrates, supports, elects it's predators.
Perhaps because we are predators ourselves.
The average American celebrates the grifting millionaire, who takes advantage of them, because in their own mind, they are themselves temporarily disadvantaged millionaires
All life is predatory at some level as everything HAS TO EAT something else to survive, except amoebas or organisms like that. Humans have EATEN so many other living creatures that many have become extinct. Eating another creature usually means you HAVE TO KILL IT FIRST. A hard endeavor eons ago - now killing anything is easy-peasy.
If man was made in the image and likeness of God does that mean God is a predator?
Is it possible that religion (not God) was/is supposed to diminish the urge TO KILL everything (Eat or be Eaten/Kill or be killed) and that capitalism, even in some form in ancient societies, drives the urge to kill in order to make a buck? The ancient billionaire class is now today's billionaire class. Unless we all become vegetarians killing and eating is the only way all creatures survive. Is this the true dilemma of all creation?
Vance's ironic predation once in power reflects how power can corrupt. Of course, we humans often do not predate by devouring. Most often, we slowly bleed our prey to death over decades with mortgages and other loans.
One might view the 2026 election SAVE-the-steal plots as setting traps for libtards to blissfully step in. If Trump survives and remains impeachment-proof, he will surely escalate his predation and corruption.
Our corrupt political system, run by billionaires, has made the majority of Americans feel powerless to resist. That might explain why so many MAGA voters boast that they do not pay attention to the news or pay it much heed.
I agree with Thom that the challenge is to get voters to monitor the news full of corruption and law breaking, and to finally overcome their sense of powerlessness and VOTE.
"“To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro’ the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people."
Jefferson was right, of course. But there is a major crisis which has been completely overlooked, including, to my amazement, by Thom Hartmann. This crisis is called ALITERACY. Aliteracy is having the ability to read those "public papers", books, research, and other literature which requires a degree of sustained attention, focus, and comprehension but lacking the interest or ability to engage with anything which is not condensed, superficial, or pre-digested. It comes from the aversion to deep thought and contemplation and the expectation that everything can be simplified and presented to us by experts and authorities, or more often as entertainment designed to distract from reality.
The blame is usually placed on technological devices and the formats for everything from television to social media. However, the root or core cause is much older than any digital device or modern media. The problem is a manifestation of the strong and committed anti-intellectual bias in the US from the very founding. The problem is in the way we do schooling, which consistently discourages the habits of thinking things through for oneself, "critical thinking" to discover fundamentals and errors in popular mythology, and disciplined study for anything which does not add to the individual's income.
I posted an article on my Substack newsletter which explores this topic recently entitled, "Will Education Ever Be Highly Valued for its Own Sake in the U. S. Again?" The following is a quote from that article taken from a paper entitled, "Hindrances to Democratic Schools" by James Davis (2016) which shows the throughline from traditional methods and thinking to the demise of our democracy.
“Another surprising hindrance to democracy is possibly the curriculum itself. Keith Morrison (2008a), in his paper, argues that, “[c]ognition is not simply the acquisition of new knowledge: it engages motivation, personalities, learning styles, dispositions and preferences, the whole person. Teaching and learning take place at the intersection of the individual and society, and the outcomes are unpredictable” (p. 26). He adds that, “[p]edagogy is not transmissive or delivery-based – that is for assembly lines – but cast in a language and practice of 'possibility', of openness, freedom, autonomy and exploration” (p. 27). In other words, students must go beyond the curriculum. Students must learn to evaluate conflicts between the needs of the one and the needs of the many (the individual versus society). They must learn that there has to be a balance. Moreover, that balance requires its citizens to constantly re-evaluate itself through negotiation.”
The constant denial of the failures of our schools and the failure to take the action necessary to turn this around is the height of irresponsibility. Mark my words. Keeping this on the back burner will result in the house burning down. The predators know it and they are doing all they can to keep our attention elsewhere.
It would seem that the great American experiment is undergoing a radical change with this new/not new democratic socialism. I hope it takes off wherever possible but I also fear that the prey humans in the red states are so far into that coma stage over even the mention of socialism in any form, is enough to send them into a mass panic.
If anything, it will further divide the country to the point where the union will become two distinct nation states. One of which will be run by democratic socialists, and the other run by the wannabe predators of the MAGA culture. Much like ancient feudalism. The red states will build their castles and fortifications and the blue states will grow flowers and take care of their people, like what Mamdani is trying successfully, so far, to accomplish.
Meanwhile, corporate, establishment elected Dems - the Schumers, Jeffries, Bookers, etc. - and the corporate, establishment consultants - the Carvilles, Braziles, and their ilk - seek to undermine the very people most willing and able to stem the predation. We tried neoliberalism lite, incremental tweeking, cautious, moderate adjustments, and wound up with fascism. The expected victories in November will be a repudiation, not a validation, of the business-as-usual model of governance that has for too long been the guiding light of entrenched pols. We must prevent them from stealing the light.
I recall reading about Tonic Immobility in prey animals a couple of years ago. It also mentioned prey animals usually have eyes on the sides of their heads and predator animals usually have their eyes in the front to better look for prey. In today’s America, the tonic immobility seems to be provided by Fox News and other right wing media. Most of the prey humans don’t have eyes on the sides of their heads, their eyes are closed….but they can be recognized by red hats.
Yes people are dying from Climate change . And the policies to curtail this killer are arrested by the wealthiest .
The administration does their bidding , they make much more money blocking the actions that would allow more human beings to live. Not to mention the rest of our world, nature , who we are morally obligated to protect.
The Supreme Court also has become a rapacious predator bending always to the wealthiest , who pay the dues of the far right six Republican appointees.
In addition their sentiment to allow the power of the Constitution to be overruled by a power hungry protégée of Putin’s ‘is tragic and shameful. They are wrong , they know it , and they don’t care.
Thom, this is one of the most important essays you have written, I believe.
This is because it first outlines a behavior, but it also witnesses that we as a species are close to clueless as to both the cause and also, the solution to ceasing our almost continuous acts of self-destruction.
A great teacher recently said, and I paraphrase here, that the reason for our predatory actions as humans is our belief in separateness.
At face value this statement would seem self evident; however, until we all acknowledge that at a core and deeper level we all share the awareness that makes all action possible, and indeed all perceptions and all abilities. We all know that we, ourselves, are.
As long as we human animals exist in life, we will be burdened with the left over instincts of a more primitive age.
A time and age when we preyed upon other
species and were preyed upon by others, but its being carried forward because we neglect to remember we also share this elementary knowing of shared awareness of simply being.
We all have this in common. We are actually able to acknowledge this, now, at our present level of development, whereas previously, perhaps, that just wasn’t possible to understand with any depth.
Until we acknowledge our connectedness with each other at this most elemental level, not just as bodies bumping into each other and demanding more space or a reason for “their” existence, but to acknowledge WE have a right to Be—all of us.
Until we can see and acknowledge this elementary connection with our fellow humans will we stop feeling so disconnected and separate, to each other AND to ourself.
Until we are able to see this basic connection with each other it will be impossible for us to truly identify with our fellow beings and unconditionally stop trying to destroy each other one way or another and harbor such contempt and hatred for our fellow humans.
Cheeto and his Nazi Republican allies are working hard at gathering data against American citizens. The dictator has been assured by his fascist buddies Musk and Theil that one of the ways to control elections is to create as many digital footprints as possible from government agencies as reported yesterday at the Guardian. Of course this is against all privacy laws but Cheeto needs to cheat in every way possible to win. In the 21st century digital manipulation of voting machines and tabulation, state attorney generals need to preemptively be addressing this interference by cyber forensic audits that investigate tampering before and after tabulation. Not all precincts will need to be audited in such a way but spot checks should be available and where there is a question perform a forensic audit where necessary.
If you’re unfortunate to live in a red state that has turned over your registered voter data information, you should be worried about a Nazi Republican vigilante challenge of your upcoming ballot in November. Voters in these situations need to vote early so that if there is a challenge, you have time to cure your ballot. Best not to connect with the federal government unless absolutely have to.
There are multiple attacks on free and fair elections by the Nazi Republicans. WE have seen the attempts at the judicial level as well as SCOTUS which allowed for aggressive gerrymandering ploys. The SAVE Act threatens voter registration data as the bill states that if the rolls are not turned over, federal funding for states refusing to do so would have their funding limited or stopped. With Pulte heading up ODNI, there is another avenue of attack. But the digital manipulation of voting machines themselves is right up the tech alley of Musk and Theil and adds another layer of election interference and WE must be prepared for this tech onslaught. Reach out to your attorney general and ask about cyber forensic audits for upcoming elections.
A key point is missed here: our evolution provided for early birth, so that the head could fit down the birth canal, while wiring us capable of culture to finish the job of nurturing children to human maturity. But an underlying mechanism applying to every animal that ever lived, down to the simplest paramecium, is that threats shut down normal functions and activate "fight-or-flight". The problem is that this switch can become relatively permanent if the stress is too persistent. In the case of humans. our prized emotional maturity, which supports all our best actions, is the casualty of persistent stress in childhood. Children raised with nurturing parents learn to cultivate their emotional maturity, their self-regulation, for coping with stress and for caring for others. Unfortunately, children badgered or neglected face remain in a more primitive state, like our belligerent ancestors. Without emotional maturity, they are stuck with primal fears -- literally the bogeyman under the bed. These are the sociopaths and psychopaths in our midst, and those who are halfway matured can be destabilized by incessant fright pressures from social sources -- persistent lies, innuendo, and outright threats, so easily provided by sociopaths instinctively pursuing ancient predatory roles. Our culture needs a therapeutic treatment of kindness and mutual support, to erode the numbers of sycophantic and predatory characters in our midst, promoting the more fully human capacity to live and let live with joy that most of us know, and that indigenous peoples have maintained.
Trump runs a crime family. He is a misogynistic, racist, malignant narcissist. Putin and Bibi have the Epstein files. Everything else follows from that. He is looting and wrecking America.
If I had to come up with a theme song for the upcoming elections, it would be the Marvelettes' "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" and both meanings of "game" would apply.
Great article, thanks. I am thinking that our two party system (Dems vs Reps) will need to be replaced by a more effective popular vote system. I haven't figured out the details yet but I think that the repugnicant party will need to disappear into all but history books, where it will be related how the party of Abraham Lincoln became the party of Tronald Dump & Co... starting in a special way in the 1980 election, when corrupt corporate republican propaganda convinced the Solid South (Southern Democrats) to move to the party of what could now be called Reagan. Essentially, the south had resisted Lincoln's party since 1865 when they lost the civil war... the Southern Democrats were not in any way progressive... although I think LBJ came from those roots and gave us a wonderful set of FDR like social benefit laws. That's probably another reason why the medieval villagers of the Solid South let themselves be shifted into the Nixon/Reagan camp. The contradiction about Lincoln's Party (Republican) would never dawn on them. Today, with the USA in ruins and Ronny Raygun's "shining city on a hill" truthfully just a city on fire,, full of smoke and screaming, we need to move in the Progressive direction. We need balance ("radical middle" or better "progressive middle"). I've always said the liars on the Far Wrong are so far to the Wrong ('right" they call it) that CENTER seems RADICAL and LEFT to them. Let's not be afraid of terminology. We in the USA have been brainwashed into thinking that socialism is evil, associated with Hitler and Stalin... but think about how one of the worst tyrannies in modern Europe (East Germany) styled itself: DDR, meaning German Democratic Republic. One fourth of their citizens were informers for Stasi, quasi modeled on Gestapo and KGB...that's children ratting on parents, parents ratting on children, spouse on spouse... vast numbers of citizens were jailed for seeking freedom, and forced to do slave(ish) labor... and the vast DDR or East German industrial output was sold to Western companies (IKEA being one of many)...and the returning western money (hard cash, not communist airbubble credits) was used by the ruling elite (as in all Communist countries) to support a lavish lifestyle... I think I'm due for a substack article of my own here... Keep up the good work, Thom Hartmann! John T. Cullen, My Pensive Pen PS: I just became a paid subscriber!
Dear Thom, Thank you so much for your powerful essays.
If you will permit me, I would like to change the topic a little bit to a campaign strategy that Democrats can use against their Trump/GOP opponents in ads and in debates: Reductio Ad Absurdum (Reducing to Absurdity). From a Google search - (It) bypasses Defensiveness: Instead of getting bogged down fact-checking every individual claim (which can inadvertently stoke controversy), reductio ad absurdum reframes the argument, turning the absurdity of the claims against the messengers themselves.
All of you who are seeking to recover our democracy, please spread the technique of REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM!
EVERYTHING in this country has become a grift, a scam, or a snow job because of the psychos and sickos that are like a cancer within the government. Whether it is local, state or national, business leaders have way too much influence over government officials.
Time to let them know we will end this bullshit. We know what has to be done. How fun is it that they are afraid of democratic socialism. What cowards! They are so afraid that workers will prevail and get what they have earned. They are so afraid that the least of us will have a chance to thrive.
Good Report, Thom. See you in the streets.
TRump should go down in history as Predator of the United States not President of the United States!
He will.
Humans are indeed unique We are the only species that celebrates, supports, elects it's predators.
Perhaps because we are predators ourselves.
The average American celebrates the grifting millionaire, who takes advantage of them, because in their own mind, they are themselves temporarily disadvantaged millionaires
All life is predatory at some level as everything HAS TO EAT something else to survive, except amoebas or organisms like that. Humans have EATEN so many other living creatures that many have become extinct. Eating another creature usually means you HAVE TO KILL IT FIRST. A hard endeavor eons ago - now killing anything is easy-peasy.
If man was made in the image and likeness of God does that mean God is a predator?
Is it possible that religion (not God) was/is supposed to diminish the urge TO KILL everything (Eat or be Eaten/Kill or be killed) and that capitalism, even in some form in ancient societies, drives the urge to kill in order to make a buck? The ancient billionaire class is now today's billionaire class. Unless we all become vegetarians killing and eating is the only way all creatures survive. Is this the true dilemma of all creation?
Great. comment, I am going to steal it. "if man was made in the image and likeness of God does that mean God is a predator?"
My analogy is that God is a psychic vampire, that thrives off the pain, torment, anguish of ALL living creatures, not just humans.
A natural death is a rarity among living things, especially mammals, fowl and reptiles.
Being eaten alive is more common
Vance's ironic predation once in power reflects how power can corrupt. Of course, we humans often do not predate by devouring. Most often, we slowly bleed our prey to death over decades with mortgages and other loans.
One might view the 2026 election SAVE-the-steal plots as setting traps for libtards to blissfully step in. If Trump survives and remains impeachment-proof, he will surely escalate his predation and corruption.
Our corrupt political system, run by billionaires, has made the majority of Americans feel powerless to resist. That might explain why so many MAGA voters boast that they do not pay attention to the news or pay it much heed.
I agree with Thom that the challenge is to get voters to monitor the news full of corruption and law breaking, and to finally overcome their sense of powerlessness and VOTE.
"“To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs thro’ the channel of the public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people."
Jefferson was right, of course. But there is a major crisis which has been completely overlooked, including, to my amazement, by Thom Hartmann. This crisis is called ALITERACY. Aliteracy is having the ability to read those "public papers", books, research, and other literature which requires a degree of sustained attention, focus, and comprehension but lacking the interest or ability to engage with anything which is not condensed, superficial, or pre-digested. It comes from the aversion to deep thought and contemplation and the expectation that everything can be simplified and presented to us by experts and authorities, or more often as entertainment designed to distract from reality.
The blame is usually placed on technological devices and the formats for everything from television to social media. However, the root or core cause is much older than any digital device or modern media. The problem is a manifestation of the strong and committed anti-intellectual bias in the US from the very founding. The problem is in the way we do schooling, which consistently discourages the habits of thinking things through for oneself, "critical thinking" to discover fundamentals and errors in popular mythology, and disciplined study for anything which does not add to the individual's income.
I posted an article on my Substack newsletter which explores this topic recently entitled, "Will Education Ever Be Highly Valued for its Own Sake in the U. S. Again?" The following is a quote from that article taken from a paper entitled, "Hindrances to Democratic Schools" by James Davis (2016) which shows the throughline from traditional methods and thinking to the demise of our democracy.
“Another surprising hindrance to democracy is possibly the curriculum itself. Keith Morrison (2008a), in his paper, argues that, “[c]ognition is not simply the acquisition of new knowledge: it engages motivation, personalities, learning styles, dispositions and preferences, the whole person. Teaching and learning take place at the intersection of the individual and society, and the outcomes are unpredictable” (p. 26). He adds that, “[p]edagogy is not transmissive or delivery-based – that is for assembly lines – but cast in a language and practice of 'possibility', of openness, freedom, autonomy and exploration” (p. 27). In other words, students must go beyond the curriculum. Students must learn to evaluate conflicts between the needs of the one and the needs of the many (the individual versus society). They must learn that there has to be a balance. Moreover, that balance requires its citizens to constantly re-evaluate itself through negotiation.”
The constant denial of the failures of our schools and the failure to take the action necessary to turn this around is the height of irresponsibility. Mark my words. Keeping this on the back burner will result in the house burning down. The predators know it and they are doing all they can to keep our attention elsewhere.
It would seem that the great American experiment is undergoing a radical change with this new/not new democratic socialism. I hope it takes off wherever possible but I also fear that the prey humans in the red states are so far into that coma stage over even the mention of socialism in any form, is enough to send them into a mass panic.
If anything, it will further divide the country to the point where the union will become two distinct nation states. One of which will be run by democratic socialists, and the other run by the wannabe predators of the MAGA culture. Much like ancient feudalism. The red states will build their castles and fortifications and the blue states will grow flowers and take care of their people, like what Mamdani is trying successfully, so far, to accomplish.
Meanwhile, corporate, establishment elected Dems - the Schumers, Jeffries, Bookers, etc. - and the corporate, establishment consultants - the Carvilles, Braziles, and their ilk - seek to undermine the very people most willing and able to stem the predation. We tried neoliberalism lite, incremental tweeking, cautious, moderate adjustments, and wound up with fascism. The expected victories in November will be a repudiation, not a validation, of the business-as-usual model of governance that has for too long been the guiding light of entrenched pols. We must prevent them from stealing the light.
I recall reading about Tonic Immobility in prey animals a couple of years ago. It also mentioned prey animals usually have eyes on the sides of their heads and predator animals usually have their eyes in the front to better look for prey. In today’s America, the tonic immobility seems to be provided by Fox News and other right wing media. Most of the prey humans don’t have eyes on the sides of their heads, their eyes are closed….but they can be recognized by red hats.
Yes people are dying from Climate change . And the policies to curtail this killer are arrested by the wealthiest .
The administration does their bidding , they make much more money blocking the actions that would allow more human beings to live. Not to mention the rest of our world, nature , who we are morally obligated to protect.
The Supreme Court also has become a rapacious predator bending always to the wealthiest , who pay the dues of the far right six Republican appointees.
In addition their sentiment to allow the power of the Constitution to be overruled by a power hungry protégée of Putin’s ‘is tragic and shameful. They are wrong , they know it , and they don’t care.
Well said, Patricia.
Thom, this is one of the most important essays you have written, I believe.
This is because it first outlines a behavior, but it also witnesses that we as a species are close to clueless as to both the cause and also, the solution to ceasing our almost continuous acts of self-destruction.
A great teacher recently said, and I paraphrase here, that the reason for our predatory actions as humans is our belief in separateness.
At face value this statement would seem self evident; however, until we all acknowledge that at a core and deeper level we all share the awareness that makes all action possible, and indeed all perceptions and all abilities. We all know that we, ourselves, are.
As long as we human animals exist in life, we will be burdened with the left over instincts of a more primitive age.
A time and age when we preyed upon other
species and were preyed upon by others, but its being carried forward because we neglect to remember we also share this elementary knowing of shared awareness of simply being.
We all have this in common. We are actually able to acknowledge this, now, at our present level of development, whereas previously, perhaps, that just wasn’t possible to understand with any depth.
Until we acknowledge our connectedness with each other at this most elemental level, not just as bodies bumping into each other and demanding more space or a reason for “their” existence, but to acknowledge WE have a right to Be—all of us.
Until we can see and acknowledge this elementary connection with our fellow humans will we stop feeling so disconnected and separate, to each other AND to ourself.
Until we are able to see this basic connection with each other it will be impossible for us to truly identify with our fellow beings and unconditionally stop trying to destroy each other one way or another and harbor such contempt and hatred for our fellow humans.
Thom is a Renaissance man. I think the great religions have all come to your conclusion that "We have a right to Be--all of us".
Big Brother Cheeto Is Watching Over You
Cheeto and his Nazi Republican allies are working hard at gathering data against American citizens. The dictator has been assured by his fascist buddies Musk and Theil that one of the ways to control elections is to create as many digital footprints as possible from government agencies as reported yesterday at the Guardian. Of course this is against all privacy laws but Cheeto needs to cheat in every way possible to win. In the 21st century digital manipulation of voting machines and tabulation, state attorney generals need to preemptively be addressing this interference by cyber forensic audits that investigate tampering before and after tabulation. Not all precincts will need to be audited in such a way but spot checks should be available and where there is a question perform a forensic audit where necessary.
If you’re unfortunate to live in a red state that has turned over your registered voter data information, you should be worried about a Nazi Republican vigilante challenge of your upcoming ballot in November. Voters in these situations need to vote early so that if there is a challenge, you have time to cure your ballot. Best not to connect with the federal government unless absolutely have to.
There are multiple attacks on free and fair elections by the Nazi Republicans. WE have seen the attempts at the judicial level as well as SCOTUS which allowed for aggressive gerrymandering ploys. The SAVE Act threatens voter registration data as the bill states that if the rolls are not turned over, federal funding for states refusing to do so would have their funding limited or stopped. With Pulte heading up ODNI, there is another avenue of attack. But the digital manipulation of voting machines themselves is right up the tech alley of Musk and Theil and adds another layer of election interference and WE must be prepared for this tech onslaught. Reach out to your attorney general and ask about cyber forensic audits for upcoming elections.
A key point is missed here: our evolution provided for early birth, so that the head could fit down the birth canal, while wiring us capable of culture to finish the job of nurturing children to human maturity. But an underlying mechanism applying to every animal that ever lived, down to the simplest paramecium, is that threats shut down normal functions and activate "fight-or-flight". The problem is that this switch can become relatively permanent if the stress is too persistent. In the case of humans. our prized emotional maturity, which supports all our best actions, is the casualty of persistent stress in childhood. Children raised with nurturing parents learn to cultivate their emotional maturity, their self-regulation, for coping with stress and for caring for others. Unfortunately, children badgered or neglected face remain in a more primitive state, like our belligerent ancestors. Without emotional maturity, they are stuck with primal fears -- literally the bogeyman under the bed. These are the sociopaths and psychopaths in our midst, and those who are halfway matured can be destabilized by incessant fright pressures from social sources -- persistent lies, innuendo, and outright threats, so easily provided by sociopaths instinctively pursuing ancient predatory roles. Our culture needs a therapeutic treatment of kindness and mutual support, to erode the numbers of sycophantic and predatory characters in our midst, promoting the more fully human capacity to live and let live with joy that most of us know, and that indigenous peoples have maintained.
Trump runs a crime family. He is a misogynistic, racist, malignant narcissist. Putin and Bibi have the Epstein files. Everything else follows from that. He is looting and wrecking America.
If I had to come up with a theme song for the upcoming elections, it would be the Marvelettes' "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game" and both meanings of "game" would apply.
Worthy topic(s) and many interesting points. Now what?
Great article, thanks. I am thinking that our two party system (Dems vs Reps) will need to be replaced by a more effective popular vote system. I haven't figured out the details yet but I think that the repugnicant party will need to disappear into all but history books, where it will be related how the party of Abraham Lincoln became the party of Tronald Dump & Co... starting in a special way in the 1980 election, when corrupt corporate republican propaganda convinced the Solid South (Southern Democrats) to move to the party of what could now be called Reagan. Essentially, the south had resisted Lincoln's party since 1865 when they lost the civil war... the Southern Democrats were not in any way progressive... although I think LBJ came from those roots and gave us a wonderful set of FDR like social benefit laws. That's probably another reason why the medieval villagers of the Solid South let themselves be shifted into the Nixon/Reagan camp. The contradiction about Lincoln's Party (Republican) would never dawn on them. Today, with the USA in ruins and Ronny Raygun's "shining city on a hill" truthfully just a city on fire,, full of smoke and screaming, we need to move in the Progressive direction. We need balance ("radical middle" or better "progressive middle"). I've always said the liars on the Far Wrong are so far to the Wrong ('right" they call it) that CENTER seems RADICAL and LEFT to them. Let's not be afraid of terminology. We in the USA have been brainwashed into thinking that socialism is evil, associated with Hitler and Stalin... but think about how one of the worst tyrannies in modern Europe (East Germany) styled itself: DDR, meaning German Democratic Republic. One fourth of their citizens were informers for Stasi, quasi modeled on Gestapo and KGB...that's children ratting on parents, parents ratting on children, spouse on spouse... vast numbers of citizens were jailed for seeking freedom, and forced to do slave(ish) labor... and the vast DDR or East German industrial output was sold to Western companies (IKEA being one of many)...and the returning western money (hard cash, not communist airbubble credits) was used by the ruling elite (as in all Communist countries) to support a lavish lifestyle... I think I'm due for a substack article of my own here... Keep up the good work, Thom Hartmann! John T. Cullen, My Pensive Pen PS: I just became a paid subscriber!
Dear Thom, Thank you so much for your powerful essays.
If you will permit me, I would like to change the topic a little bit to a campaign strategy that Democrats can use against their Trump/GOP opponents in ads and in debates: Reductio Ad Absurdum (Reducing to Absurdity). From a Google search - (It) bypasses Defensiveness: Instead of getting bogged down fact-checking every individual claim (which can inadvertently stoke controversy), reductio ad absurdum reframes the argument, turning the absurdity of the claims against the messengers themselves.
All of you who are seeking to recover our democracy, please spread the technique of REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM!