Worldwide, Democracy is under threat - not just as a result of Putin’s murderous war against Ukraine, but brewing since the 1980s and Reagan’s neoliberal revolution
Mr. Hartman is predicting the future, and that is always a dangerous statistical challenge; however, I concur with his summary.
But, perhaps, for slightly different reasons. The global health crisis of the 2020-22 has been an excellent vehicle to re-direct and cover-up a fantastic array of pricing and supply systems that have worked well for the last 50 years. As a result the sheer number of global billionaires increased dramatically during the last two years; they were remarkably prescient and able to use the opportunity to consolidate their market share (https://www.wsws dot org/en/articles/2021/09/22/gbps-s22.html). The Ukraine crisis appear to be an excellent incident to generate remarkable global profits for the Oil & Gas Industry globally (ps://www.foodandwaterwatch dot org/2022/03/22/ukraine-oil-gas/). At the same time legislators in the US have been hard at work to secure and expand the US Fracking System, tie pipelines together with Canada's Tar sands to replace the EU's Russian natural gas supply system (https://curtis.house dot gov/press-releases/curtis-introduces-bill-to-choke-russian-energy-sector-and-support-u-s-allies-with-domestic-energy/) with dozens of LNG terminals and ships. As Mr. Hartman's analysis suggests: There are no Good Guys.
Whether the leading powers in our global economic sphere actually have managed a superbly orchestrated re-set, or re-direction, of our entire global economy, social sphere and how we manage our personal health is, of course, up for debate; however, it's a high likely mathematical data scenario and hypothesis that explains almost all of the present chaos, and may support Mr. Hartman's projected scenario for 'A Wild Ride' during the next 10-20 years (https://en.wikipedia dot org/wiki/Great_Reset). As in all scientific endeavors, a hypothesis bears investigation, and this 're-set' hypothesis may benefit from a bottoms up crowd-sourced examination by experts and common folks alike.
The old, and wise, Danish Fairy tale about the emperor's clothes, or lack thereof, comes to mind as a non-rational attempt to explain how, despite a perfectly functioning supply chain and plenty of energy we are all, globally, post 2020-22, experiencing a doubling or tripling in almost every consumer needed resource, from housing, gas, natural gas, medicine, metals-rare and otherwise to the cost of automobiles - whether electric or gas (https://etc.usfm dot edu/lit2go/68/fairy-tales-and-other-traditional-stories/5637/the-emperors-new-clothes/).
The Greening of Planet Earth appears to be a very profitable and opportune cover for a high level of autocratic orchestration, both politically and in commerce. It's very difficult for voters to untangle facts and truths, but more of us need to, respectfully, engage in hard conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues and spouses - or, as Mr. Hartman so ably projects: We may lose almost all ability to live in a collaborative democratically governed community, very soon.
Mr. Hartman's citation:
Hang onto your hat: things are going to get wild.
This coming crisis of war, refugees, food, fuel, a dysfunctional Fed, and a worldwide pandemic could rival anything the world has seen since the 14th century.
Worldwide adoption of neoliberal “reforms” over the past 40 years have thrown in an additional factor: an explosion of consolidated monopolistic businesses and the billionaires they create, who bring along their very own brand of authoritarian and oligarchic political activism and media control (including the social media they own).
Republicans here (and their conservative oligarch-owned colleagues inside other democracies) will exploit every piece of it. They’ll scream about the deficit, yell about the price of fuel and food, howl about crime and immigrants: all to try to frighten people and support their claim that government is their private possession and we therefore never again need to have genuinely democratic elections.
I don’t see any easy answers here. Great wealth and hard-core authoritarians have embedded themselves deeply in the fabric of the Republican Party and in many similar European parties, particularly in Hungary and Poland.
That said, it’s important to remember that the last time we faced a worldwide depression and war — roughly 80 years ago — we and Europe came out of it far more progressive and democratic. Although the toll, in both wealth and blood, was horrific."
Great piece, Teach! (BTW, it's okay to copy-paste the full URL address directly into a comment. After posting, the little word processor turns it into a linkable link. Although for some reason, Substack won't allow "bluing" text in the comment sections for a less cluttered look.)
"The Greening of Planet Earth appears to be a very profitable and opportune cover for a high level of autocratic orchestration, both politically and in commerce. It's very difficult for voters to untangle facts and truths, but more of us need to, respectfully, engage in hard conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues and spouses ..." - Teach1
IOW: Less⛽🛢️💸-ing of Planet Earth and more🌞🌲💚New Deals! };--))
Thanks largely to fossil-fuel billionaires' ubiquitous propaganda networks, e.g., Fux News, the loud clarion call echoing around the globe is still largely unheard and unheeded by way too many of our right-fringe friends, neighbors, colleagues, and, yes, sometimes even our closest family members who have isolated themselves behind the Great Red Divide.
And then when they're caught in abject lies indefensible inside a normally functioning brain, those who heretofore stubbornly refused any meaningful conversation on the subject, for like ever, all of a sudden are now crying crocodile tears for bipartisanship and understanding, sniff.
To no avail, liberal, progressive conservationists, i.e., mostly Democratic voters, have been respectively following the science and engaging science-denying, fake "conservatives," i.e., mostly Republican voters, in hard conversations about climate destruction, i.e., the destruction of life on Planet Earth, even before Jimmy Carter brought the twin climate/economic crises to the forefront of national attention during "his" inflationary crisis triggered by worldwide unregulated capitalism and fossil-fuel addiction. Different times, same problems.
And yet, here we are so many wasted decades later, lemmings going over the cliff. So much for "respectful" dialogue with "The Wall," i.e., the Republican Party of Trump (the naked emperor) and the great wall of willful ignorance, i.e., ...blind stupidity! Voters addicted to wingnut media are the ones who have difficulty untangling facts and truths. So, how does one engage in intelligent conversation with, say, QAnon freaks -- rapidly swelling the ranks of Republicans -- who have convinced themselves with zero evidence, as usual, that DemocRAT libtards are all God-damned-to-hell atheists, part of an international ring of pizza-eating pedophiles who rape and kill babies, drink their blood, and then sacrifice the little pagan whelps to Satan ...respectively?
Johnny-come-lately Republicans, not Democrats, are the ones who need to get their clown act together, learn what bipartisanship and nonpartisanship actually mean, and come sit at the table of reason.
I meant "respectfully" (sarcastically) immediately above; although, "respectively" fits too. When you're raping, killing, blood-drinking, and sacrificing babies, there's a certain rigid order to follow, while performing all those godless, Satanic, paganistic rituals in the basement of Democratic Headquarters/pizza parlor.
I repeat: I wish all articles would end with something like this: "But Mother Nature still bats last" or "...and so it's business as usual while the world burns." ...gad.... our hubris....... Would we be committing omnicide if we were one-tenth as brilliant as we think we are?
Now it's Deltacron-cide. At least the human language has lots of imaginative words to name the thousands of variations that could burn through the population. Mother Nature already gave us the brilliance to mitigate a pandemic by evolving the Homo sapiens' brain into hero scientists who develop vaccines.
It's too bad so many other members of the species haven't evolved enough to recognize the true miracles of science in promoting life and prosperity and are still mired in the fantasies of fables and myths based on fear, wishful thinking, ignorance, and denial. Deadly thought viruses could easily lead to our inability to adapt to a fast-changing environment and thus ultimately to omnicide, God forbid, if things keep going sideways and backwards.
I just thought of something. No, wait, I head read that somewhere, too. We won't be heard by the weak and the lazy. It is much and at the heart of our problem. I agree with, and I learn from Thom Hartmann. But I am discouraged by the weak and the lazy, who are likely to continue to be the victims of the propaganda, and the treachery of the very wealthy. But yet, I'll pull myself up at some point today, remembering, that despair is not an option. Okay? See you on the barricade. Keep on writing and educating me, cabal!
41,549,808. Majority of Americans represented by Democratic senators. But "democracy" is booby-trapped by the structure of the original system. Worse, the problem isn't just the "weak and lazy." Significant contingent of our fellow citizens are hard-wired DNA authoritarian. Born lemmings. So sorry to be a bummer, but the minority are vastly better armed, what you got for a barricade? How flattering, to be member of a "cabal!" Oughtta be some mojo in that.
As Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (kinda just rolls off the tongue) told her lifelong Black friend who was feeling out of sync as a freshman at Harvard, "Persevere!"
How 'bout a shout-out to the slightly off-white lady (1/64th)Liz Warren! Yet She Persisted! We all females are so under attack now. Yet an "uppity" black woman may be put down even more than an "uppity" white woman. Still feel solidarity, sister.
I wish all articles would end with something like this: "But Mother Nature still bats last" or "...and so it's business as usual while the world burns." ...gad.... our hubris....
You have just made the most convincing argument for giving planes to Ukraine. We're afraid of Putin using nukes, well he should be equally afraid of US or NATO using nukes. Isn''t that the whole point of MAD? The consequences of this war dragging out are so dire that I think we need to take the risk.
I'm betting on democracy with a great big side order of mayhem. We are seeing a quickening due to the climate crisis, the pandemic, Ukraine, and new forms of communication. The climate disasters, pandemic casualties, and a Ukraine fighting for democracy are huge wake-up calls. The new communication systems are an opportunity to educate one another. I do think this is a huge chance to attempt democratic solutions. The world-wide shutdown and the coalition for Ukraine are previews of the possibilities.
Of course the bad news is how dire circumstances have to be before we get together to work things out. Slava Ukraini!
Excellent piece. However I think that MSM has normalized authoritarian agendas since Reagan. The TRUTH has been sacrificed for ensuring that DARK MONEY BILLIONAIRES are able to attack DEMOCRACY. Tools of FASCISM & RACISM are used to stir up hate and division among the people. The SOUTHERN CAUSE NARRATIVE has to be replaced by one of TRUTH and the noble cause of DEMOCRACY, FREEDOMS and EQUALITY for all Americans, and we must hold our FREE PRESS accountable for the security of our country by providing TRUTH TO POWER.
I like to think that the glass is half full of shit, and that the oligarchs who have skimmed trillions in this latest “Shock Doctrining” of the world will trickle down enough of their capital to sustain our democracy’s rate of backsliding. Unmasking the grifters and their tactics (as Thom does regularly) is crucial if only to help motivate folks to spread the word that almost ½ of American voters are being played as suckers by the morbidly rich. Progressive leaders must anticipate how the propagandists will treat anything done or said, and defuse it before it’s a problem. Mastering the art and science of propaganda is crucial for progressives, and it would be a lot easier than pro-autocratic news because pro-democratic news should be the truth. (And maybe someday there will be an answer to the question, "How do you tell an idiot that he's an idiot.")
Haha... better to call them sirs and madams and avoid politics in bars in red states with open-carry and/or no-permit conceal-carry. Afterall, the autocratic crazies have already checked off the box that says, "Beer Hall Putsch" on J-6.
I think so -- fat-fingered delete instead of edit, so refreshed and reposted, evidently at the same time you had replied. Haha, if there's a glitch, I'll find it.
I too share the curse of finding glitches, and it's been with me since I first tried to sort some punch cards with our high school's brand new sorting machine. Wish I could have taken that course Pass/Fail.
Mr. Hartman is predicting the future, and that is always a dangerous statistical challenge; however, I concur with his summary.
But, perhaps, for slightly different reasons. The global health crisis of the 2020-22 has been an excellent vehicle to re-direct and cover-up a fantastic array of pricing and supply systems that have worked well for the last 50 years. As a result the sheer number of global billionaires increased dramatically during the last two years; they were remarkably prescient and able to use the opportunity to consolidate their market share (https://www.wsws dot org/en/articles/2021/09/22/gbps-s22.html). The Ukraine crisis appear to be an excellent incident to generate remarkable global profits for the Oil & Gas Industry globally (ps://www.foodandwaterwatch dot org/2022/03/22/ukraine-oil-gas/). At the same time legislators in the US have been hard at work to secure and expand the US Fracking System, tie pipelines together with Canada's Tar sands to replace the EU's Russian natural gas supply system (https://curtis.house dot gov/press-releases/curtis-introduces-bill-to-choke-russian-energy-sector-and-support-u-s-allies-with-domestic-energy/) with dozens of LNG terminals and ships. As Mr. Hartman's analysis suggests: There are no Good Guys.
Whether the leading powers in our global economic sphere actually have managed a superbly orchestrated re-set, or re-direction, of our entire global economy, social sphere and how we manage our personal health is, of course, up for debate; however, it's a high likely mathematical data scenario and hypothesis that explains almost all of the present chaos, and may support Mr. Hartman's projected scenario for 'A Wild Ride' during the next 10-20 years (https://en.wikipedia dot org/wiki/Great_Reset). As in all scientific endeavors, a hypothesis bears investigation, and this 're-set' hypothesis may benefit from a bottoms up crowd-sourced examination by experts and common folks alike.
The old, and wise, Danish Fairy tale about the emperor's clothes, or lack thereof, comes to mind as a non-rational attempt to explain how, despite a perfectly functioning supply chain and plenty of energy we are all, globally, post 2020-22, experiencing a doubling or tripling in almost every consumer needed resource, from housing, gas, natural gas, medicine, metals-rare and otherwise to the cost of automobiles - whether electric or gas (https://etc.usfm dot edu/lit2go/68/fairy-tales-and-other-traditional-stories/5637/the-emperors-new-clothes/).
The Greening of Planet Earth appears to be a very profitable and opportune cover for a high level of autocratic orchestration, both politically and in commerce. It's very difficult for voters to untangle facts and truths, but more of us need to, respectfully, engage in hard conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues and spouses - or, as Mr. Hartman so ably projects: We may lose almost all ability to live in a collaborative democratically governed community, very soon.
Mr. Hartman's citation:
Hang onto your hat: things are going to get wild.
This coming crisis of war, refugees, food, fuel, a dysfunctional Fed, and a worldwide pandemic could rival anything the world has seen since the 14th century.
Worldwide adoption of neoliberal “reforms” over the past 40 years have thrown in an additional factor: an explosion of consolidated monopolistic businesses and the billionaires they create, who bring along their very own brand of authoritarian and oligarchic political activism and media control (including the social media they own).
Republicans here (and their conservative oligarch-owned colleagues inside other democracies) will exploit every piece of it. They’ll scream about the deficit, yell about the price of fuel and food, howl about crime and immigrants: all to try to frighten people and support their claim that government is their private possession and we therefore never again need to have genuinely democratic elections.
I don’t see any easy answers here. Great wealth and hard-core authoritarians have embedded themselves deeply in the fabric of the Republican Party and in many similar European parties, particularly in Hungary and Poland.
That said, it’s important to remember that the last time we faced a worldwide depression and war — roughly 80 years ago — we and Europe came out of it far more progressive and democratic. Although the toll, in both wealth and blood, was horrific."
Great piece, Teach! (BTW, it's okay to copy-paste the full URL address directly into a comment. After posting, the little word processor turns it into a linkable link. Although for some reason, Substack won't allow "bluing" text in the comment sections for a less cluttered look.)
"The Greening of Planet Earth appears to be a very profitable and opportune cover for a high level of autocratic orchestration, both politically and in commerce. It's very difficult for voters to untangle facts and truths, but more of us need to, respectfully, engage in hard conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues and spouses ..." - Teach1
IOW: Less⛽🛢️💸-ing of Planet Earth and more🌞🌲💚New Deals! };--))
Thanks largely to fossil-fuel billionaires' ubiquitous propaganda networks, e.g., Fux News, the loud clarion call echoing around the globe is still largely unheard and unheeded by way too many of our right-fringe friends, neighbors, colleagues, and, yes, sometimes even our closest family members who have isolated themselves behind the Great Red Divide.
And then when they're caught in abject lies indefensible inside a normally functioning brain, those who heretofore stubbornly refused any meaningful conversation on the subject, for like ever, all of a sudden are now crying crocodile tears for bipartisanship and understanding, sniff.
To no avail, liberal, progressive conservationists, i.e., mostly Democratic voters, have been respectively following the science and engaging science-denying, fake "conservatives," i.e., mostly Republican voters, in hard conversations about climate destruction, i.e., the destruction of life on Planet Earth, even before Jimmy Carter brought the twin climate/economic crises to the forefront of national attention during "his" inflationary crisis triggered by worldwide unregulated capitalism and fossil-fuel addiction. Different times, same problems.
And yet, here we are so many wasted decades later, lemmings going over the cliff. So much for "respectful" dialogue with "The Wall," i.e., the Republican Party of Trump (the naked emperor) and the great wall of willful ignorance, i.e., ...blind stupidity! Voters addicted to wingnut media are the ones who have difficulty untangling facts and truths. So, how does one engage in intelligent conversation with, say, QAnon freaks -- rapidly swelling the ranks of Republicans -- who have convinced themselves with zero evidence, as usual, that DemocRAT libtards are all God-damned-to-hell atheists, part of an international ring of pizza-eating pedophiles who rape and kill babies, drink their blood, and then sacrifice the little pagan whelps to Satan ...respectively?
Johnny-come-lately Republicans, not Democrats, are the ones who need to get their clown act together, learn what bipartisanship and nonpartisanship actually mean, and come sit at the table of reason.
I meant "respectfully" (sarcastically) immediately above; although, "respectively" fits too. When you're raping, killing, blood-drinking, and sacrificing babies, there's a certain rigid order to follow, while performing all those godless, Satanic, paganistic rituals in the basement of Democratic Headquarters/pizza parlor.
I repeat: I wish all articles would end with something like this: "But Mother Nature still bats last" or "...and so it's business as usual while the world burns." ...gad.... our hubris....... Would we be committing omnicide if we were one-tenth as brilliant as we think we are?
Now it's Deltacron-cide. At least the human language has lots of imaginative words to name the thousands of variations that could burn through the population. Mother Nature already gave us the brilliance to mitigate a pandemic by evolving the Homo sapiens' brain into hero scientists who develop vaccines.
It's too bad so many other members of the species haven't evolved enough to recognize the true miracles of science in promoting life and prosperity and are still mired in the fantasies of fables and myths based on fear, wishful thinking, ignorance, and denial. Deadly thought viruses could easily lead to our inability to adapt to a fast-changing environment and thus ultimately to omnicide, God forbid, if things keep going sideways and backwards.
I just thought of something. No, wait, I head read that somewhere, too. We won't be heard by the weak and the lazy. It is much and at the heart of our problem. I agree with, and I learn from Thom Hartmann. But I am discouraged by the weak and the lazy, who are likely to continue to be the victims of the propaganda, and the treachery of the very wealthy. But yet, I'll pull myself up at some point today, remembering, that despair is not an option. Okay? See you on the barricade. Keep on writing and educating me, cabal!
41,549,808. Majority of Americans represented by Democratic senators. But "democracy" is booby-trapped by the structure of the original system. Worse, the problem isn't just the "weak and lazy." Significant contingent of our fellow citizens are hard-wired DNA authoritarian. Born lemmings. So sorry to be a bummer, but the minority are vastly better armed, what you got for a barricade? How flattering, to be member of a "cabal!" Oughtta be some mojo in that.
As Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (kinda just rolls off the tongue) told her lifelong Black friend who was feeling out of sync as a freshman at Harvard, "Persevere!"
How 'bout a shout-out to the slightly off-white lady (1/64th)Liz Warren! Yet She Persisted! We all females are so under attack now. Yet an "uppity" black woman may be put down even more than an "uppity" white woman. Still feel solidarity, sister.
I wish all articles would end with something like this: "But Mother Nature still bats last" or "...and so it's business as usual while the world burns." ...gad.... our hubris....
You have just made the most convincing argument for giving planes to Ukraine. We're afraid of Putin using nukes, well he should be equally afraid of US or NATO using nukes. Isn''t that the whole point of MAD? The consequences of this war dragging out are so dire that I think we need to take the risk.
I'm betting on democracy with a great big side order of mayhem. We are seeing a quickening due to the climate crisis, the pandemic, Ukraine, and new forms of communication. The climate disasters, pandemic casualties, and a Ukraine fighting for democracy are huge wake-up calls. The new communication systems are an opportunity to educate one another. I do think this is a huge chance to attempt democratic solutions. The world-wide shutdown and the coalition for Ukraine are previews of the possibilities.
Of course the bad news is how dire circumstances have to be before we get together to work things out. Slava Ukraini!
Excellent piece. However I think that MSM has normalized authoritarian agendas since Reagan. The TRUTH has been sacrificed for ensuring that DARK MONEY BILLIONAIRES are able to attack DEMOCRACY. Tools of FASCISM & RACISM are used to stir up hate and division among the people. The SOUTHERN CAUSE NARRATIVE has to be replaced by one of TRUTH and the noble cause of DEMOCRACY, FREEDOMS and EQUALITY for all Americans, and we must hold our FREE PRESS accountable for the security of our country by providing TRUTH TO POWER.
Great article, as usual. About forewarned ... any specific suggestions?
Thanks for your thoughts and your writings.
I like to think that the glass is half full of shit, and that the oligarchs who have skimmed trillions in this latest “Shock Doctrining” of the world will trickle down enough of their capital to sustain our democracy’s rate of backsliding. Unmasking the grifters and their tactics (as Thom does regularly) is crucial if only to help motivate folks to spread the word that almost ½ of American voters are being played as suckers by the morbidly rich. Progressive leaders must anticipate how the propagandists will treat anything done or said, and defuse it before it’s a problem. Mastering the art and science of propaganda is crucial for progressives, and it would be a lot easier than pro-autocratic news because pro-democratic news should be the truth. (And maybe someday there will be an answer to the question, "How do you tell an idiot that he's an idiot.")
Haha... better to call them sirs and madams and avoid politics in bars in red states with open-carry and/or no-permit conceal-carry. Afterall, the autocratic crazies have already checked off the box that says, "Beer Hall Putsch" on J-6.
I think our posts crossed when I tried to edit.
Is that why your previous comment is deleted?
I think so -- fat-fingered delete instead of edit, so refreshed and reposted, evidently at the same time you had replied. Haha, if there's a glitch, I'll find it.
I too share the curse of finding glitches, and it's been with me since I first tried to sort some punch cards with our high school's brand new sorting machine. Wish I could have taken that course Pass/Fail.
It put my original comment in the right chronological order at the bottom but left this reply thread at the top.