In the same year as our Declaration of Independence, a document even more influential in modern history was completed: Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations.' Like the Bible, it has been selectively and deceptively quoted. Smith foresaw the potential for corruption inherent in uncontrolled capitalism, but almost everybody has ignored those passages. Lucky us! We get to live Adam Smith's worst nightmare.
As of this morning, Trump's underbelly is exposed:
1. Friday is Trumepstein day.
2. Several discharge petitions are circulating in the House, including the extension of Obamacare.
3. The Trump administration has been accused of violating international law:
Use of force at sea: Legal experts and UN human rights officials have stated that U.S. military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, which resulted in fatalities, violated international human rights law by constituting arbitrary deprivation of life. These attacks did not appear to be in the context of national self-defense or against an imminent threat, and unprovoked attacks on international waters also violate international maritime laws.
Human rights and immigration policies: Policies such as mass deportations, family separations at the border, and restrictions on the right to asylum have been widely criticized by human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Genocide Watch as violations of international refugee law, including the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Undermining international institutions: The administration has faced significant criticism for disengaging with the UN Human Rights Council, withdrawing funding for a UN refugee agency, and imposing sanctions on the chief prosecutor and other officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Experts argue these actions undermine decades-old global justice frameworks.
Threat or use of force: The UN Charter requires signatory states to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. The Trump administration's military actions, such as the strikes on Iranian sites or the potential for an invasion of Venezuela, have been widely considered to be in violation of both U.S. law and international law, as they often lacked proper congressional authorization or justification under international self-defense principles.
According to several sources, many of our "allies" are contemplating issuing sanctions against us.
AI: The most concrete "sanctions" currently discussed are retaliatory tariffs and trade countermeasures in response to the Trump administration’s broad "reciprocal" tariff policies.
European Union: In April 2025, the EU set tariffs on a variety of U.S. imports, though their application was temporarily suspended to allow for negotiations. European leaders, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have warned that if negotiations fail, the EU will respond proportionately to defend its interests.
Other Allies: Nations such as Japan and Brazil have expressed significant concern. Japan has stated that "all options are on the table," while Brazil's Foreign Ministry noted that U.S. tariffs violate commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Yeh, but I don't think that I would like to live in Russia, the country, discounting Putin, has a dark soul, it's alcoholism rate is 2nd behind Belarus, it glorifies, even worships death, it's populace is servile, by tradition. It is a police state, that imprisons and murders its enemies. It's enemy is anyone who speaks their mind, people are turned in by neighbors.
If we don't get the Republicans and especially Trump and his minions out of the government, we will soon not have the right to speak freely. They want to take away our First Amendment rights so badly you have no idea. Then there is more, but let's just start there.
I agree, but how to do it. The elections are rigged, they control the police and what they don't are sympathizers, They control the military. So how are we going to get him,his minions and his controllers out of the government.?
Why does Scandinavia always comes up consisting of the smartest countries on the planet? My friend's cousin is a professor in Finland and loves paying 49% taxes in exchange for excellent free healthcare and education. Not only that, corporations also pay their fair share in taxes because they value healthy smart employees. How novel! Let's face it, we live in a greedy little country....
Well we are number one in gun violence. We are at the top of the list of first world nations without a national health care plan, in fact we ARE the list.
Did we need Susie Wiles to tell us that the White House is "The Island of Misfit Toys"? That TRump thinks he can do anything? Musk is a druggie? She got the Vance thing wrong---he is INVOLVED in a conspiracy. I also feel let down to see Leavitt's lips that TRump covets are actually filler.
NONE of this had to happen. The rest of the world has some semblance of sanity concerning gun violence and health care. WE have a bunch of psychos telling us we don't deserve those nice things. All because of Republicans. See you in the streets.
How about the idea that people just won't change until something truly drastic happens to them personally? What about The Day the Earth Stood Still? Seems pertinent to me.
The corruption Thom recounts is surely real, and turning America into a 2-class economy - the have2much and the wanahavemores. No argument that the GOP created this corrupt system. There is also no argument that the Democrats are part of that corruption, and they have barely lifted a finger to try to change it.
Our citizens are NOT united, and reversing bad laws requires a high level of voter consensus. Trump is evidence that the majority of voters foolishly vote against their own interests, and most still support Trump despite bleeding profusely from their pocketbooks. That is because the Dems have done little to educate the public about the personal cost of their politics, and reverse the notion that progressive policies are not radical socialist communism.
This is a great post. I think we need to take just 3 or 4 parts,condense it into 5-6 word phrases and repeat,repeat,repeat. We know the corruption is so blatant and obvious,it should be easy to go on the offense.
I'd like to insert a piece that is not germane to this conversation and some of you might already know about. . In the May 9 edition of the " Nation" magazine there is an article entitled " Coin Operated" by Jacob Silverman. It is about the totally corrupt " crypto" industry and how they have used mafia tactics against those who do not agree with the "crypto" scam. If you take a look@ the charts of the crypto stocks including Bitcoin,solt,Xrp,Etherium,they are all in the toilet. Of course they are supported by David Sacks"A south African Nazi" and AI czar. The amt of corruption is well beyond what any of us could possibly imagine.
Amazing how death and destruction have become normalized by Fox hate of America. The people actually believe this is just how things are like childhood death and that elder that no longer work use to die of starvation and cold in the winter happened before Social Security. This is the mindset the people have been conditioned to. Know that the world is awakening and shifting to the 5D where Christ Consciousness prevails and nobody is treated as a casualty of cruel neglect.
Being founded as a collection of British colonies created for the purpose of wealth enhancement through plunder, the US has always tilted toward the fascist end of the scale. The occasional eruptions of common sense and decency that come from our flirtations with sincere democratic ideals disappear soon enough under the waves of corporate money. It is all like a dream, an ephemeral island of mercy submerged under an ocean of greed. We can fix this, through a sustained collective electoral effort, but we can never rest, because the waves are relentless, and corporations are not only allowed to be people,; they have platinum level citizenship.
"Roll back the Predatory State" Shout out for Medicare for All! The planet will be rid of us if we keep ignoring humankind predatory damage, science and deregulation.
The only good news I could find today was that it looks like MAGA won't get control of CNN. https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-cnn-2674407438/ Otherwsie, I am still in the usual dark place when it comes to writing my own Substack. Trump's in the Dark Tetrad. We know it. Lot's of American know it. The tragedy for our democracy is that MAGA likes having a president with these traits (psychopaths, extreme narcissim, Machiavelliamism, and sadism) and even if Trump has revealed as much malevolence as he has and he might not win a fair election today, he's still the president an ruthlessly wields the power of that office.
There is no question that, when we are watching precious lives being lost, when we are being attacked or undermined in our democracy, and when we are demonized by hostile and aggressive forces that we must go on the offense and fight with all we have to defeat the people using money and power to destroy all that has been built over generations and centuries. But, at some point, we have to understand where their perverse beliefs, ideas, and motivations are coming from. They actually justify what they do and how they operate with some sort of rationalizations, twisted logic, paranoid ideation, mythology, ignorance, and dogma or religious theory to get to where they can think and behave in this way. Until we have a better grasp on their process and dynamics, we are fighting with a blindfold on. Right-wing ideology is irrational. It will continue to spread and proliferate, and irrationality and fear will dog our best efforts until we can be instrumental in unravelling and revealing for them the erroneous points and parts of their process and shedding light to help them see where they have failed to see and understand something closer to reality. It most often starts with early infancy and generalizing to conclusions from personal experience that is discouraging, frustrating, or traumatic.
Thank you, Professor Hartmann, for your always clear-eyed view of what’s really happening and why. The extremist right have gotten their dream, to create an insane oligarchy and fascist dictatorship. Funny that the fools who voted for this won’t get a damn dime.
America previously known as the land of the free has become a huge prison with most of its citizens enslaved by greedy corporations. The land of the cheats and scams. Created by billionaires to enrich themselves and screw the average people. Milking and squeezing them to the last drop. Insane. Barbarian. How sad and pathetic!
You forgot to mention that under Biden American billionaires increased their wealth by $1.5 trillion and during Obama's first term the wealthiest 7% of Americans saw their wealth increase by 28% while the bottom 93% saw a loss of 4%. Just thought you and you were readers would want to know that the upwards transfer of wealth is strictly bipartisan.
In the same year as our Declaration of Independence, a document even more influential in modern history was completed: Adam Smith's 'The Wealth of Nations.' Like the Bible, it has been selectively and deceptively quoted. Smith foresaw the potential for corruption inherent in uncontrolled capitalism, but almost everybody has ignored those passages. Lucky us! We get to live Adam Smith's worst nightmare.
As of this morning, Trump's underbelly is exposed:
1. Friday is Trumepstein day.
2. Several discharge petitions are circulating in the House, including the extension of Obamacare.
3. The Trump administration has been accused of violating international law:
Use of force at sea: Legal experts and UN human rights officials have stated that U.S. military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, which resulted in fatalities, violated international human rights law by constituting arbitrary deprivation of life. These attacks did not appear to be in the context of national self-defense or against an imminent threat, and unprovoked attacks on international waters also violate international maritime laws.
Human rights and immigration policies: Policies such as mass deportations, family separations at the border, and restrictions on the right to asylum have been widely criticized by human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Genocide Watch as violations of international refugee law, including the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Undermining international institutions: The administration has faced significant criticism for disengaging with the UN Human Rights Council, withdrawing funding for a UN refugee agency, and imposing sanctions on the chief prosecutor and other officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Experts argue these actions undermine decades-old global justice frameworks.
Threat or use of force: The UN Charter requires signatory states to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. The Trump administration's military actions, such as the strikes on Iranian sites or the potential for an invasion of Venezuela, have been widely considered to be in violation of both U.S. law and international law, as they often lacked proper congressional authorization or justification under international self-defense principles.
According to several sources, many of our "allies" are contemplating issuing sanctions against us.
AI: The most concrete "sanctions" currently discussed are retaliatory tariffs and trade countermeasures in response to the Trump administration’s broad "reciprocal" tariff policies.
European Union: In April 2025, the EU set tariffs on a variety of U.S. imports, though their application was temporarily suspended to allow for negotiations. European leaders, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have warned that if negotiations fail, the EU will respond proportionately to defend its interests.
Other Allies: Nations such as Japan and Brazil have expressed significant concern. Japan has stated that "all options are on the table," while Brazil's Foreign Ministry noted that U.S. tariffs violate commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Even in RUSSIA today Health Care is a Government Responsibility!
Even AI has a balanced description
Funding: Employers pay 2-3% of salaries into social funds, part of which goes to the Compulsory Medical Insurance (OMI) fund for citizens.
Coverage: Guarantees basic, emergency, and hospital care, but quality and access are often poor due to underfunding.
Costs: Emergency care is free for everyone, but non-emergency services, diagnostics, and drugs often require OOP payments or informal payments.
It is certainly not perfect - but it is light years ahead of the USA - the Europeans, Canada and the UK do better.
Yeh, but I don't think that I would like to live in Russia, the country, discounting Putin, has a dark soul, it's alcoholism rate is 2nd behind Belarus, it glorifies, even worships death, it's populace is servile, by tradition. It is a police state, that imprisons and murders its enemies. It's enemy is anyone who speaks their mind, people are turned in by neighbors.
Russia loves death more than life: https://medium.com/@elvirabary/why-russia-loves-death-more-than-life-inside-russias-death-cult-09ea882f1284
Magical thinking and superstition inside Russia: https://medium.com/@elvirabary/how-magical-thinking-and-superstition-rule-putins-russia-9a302861e50e
If we don't get the Republicans and especially Trump and his minions out of the government, we will soon not have the right to speak freely. They want to take away our First Amendment rights so badly you have no idea. Then there is more, but let's just start there.
I agree, but how to do it. The elections are rigged, they control the police and what they don't are sympathizers, They control the military. So how are we going to get him,his minions and his controllers out of the government.?
Why does Scandinavia always comes up consisting of the smartest countries on the planet? My friend's cousin is a professor in Finland and loves paying 49% taxes in exchange for excellent free healthcare and education. Not only that, corporations also pay their fair share in taxes because they value healthy smart employees. How novel! Let's face it, we live in a greedy little country....
Brown University shooting: Follow the blood money to gun violence profiteers
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/12/14/brown-university-shooting-blood-money-gun-violence-profiteers-vanguard-blackrock/
He told us we would be sick of winning.....
Well we are number one in gun violence. We are at the top of the list of first world nations without a national health care plan, in fact we ARE the list.
Did we need Susie Wiles to tell us that the White House is "The Island of Misfit Toys"? That TRump thinks he can do anything? Musk is a druggie? She got the Vance thing wrong---he is INVOLVED in a conspiracy. I also feel let down to see Leavitt's lips that TRump covets are actually filler.
NONE of this had to happen. The rest of the world has some semblance of sanity concerning gun violence and health care. WE have a bunch of psychos telling us we don't deserve those nice things. All because of Republicans. See you in the streets.
How about "The Island of Malevolent Toys"?
How about the idea that people just won't change until something truly drastic happens to them personally? What about The Day the Earth Stood Still? Seems pertinent to me.
The corruption Thom recounts is surely real, and turning America into a 2-class economy - the have2much and the wanahavemores. No argument that the GOP created this corrupt system. There is also no argument that the Democrats are part of that corruption, and they have barely lifted a finger to try to change it.
Our citizens are NOT united, and reversing bad laws requires a high level of voter consensus. Trump is evidence that the majority of voters foolishly vote against their own interests, and most still support Trump despite bleeding profusely from their pocketbooks. That is because the Dems have done little to educate the public about the personal cost of their politics, and reverse the notion that progressive policies are not radical socialist communism.
This is a great post. I think we need to take just 3 or 4 parts,condense it into 5-6 word phrases and repeat,repeat,repeat. We know the corruption is so blatant and obvious,it should be easy to go on the offense.
I'd like to insert a piece that is not germane to this conversation and some of you might already know about. . In the May 9 edition of the " Nation" magazine there is an article entitled " Coin Operated" by Jacob Silverman. It is about the totally corrupt " crypto" industry and how they have used mafia tactics against those who do not agree with the "crypto" scam. If you take a look@ the charts of the crypto stocks including Bitcoin,solt,Xrp,Etherium,they are all in the toilet. Of course they are supported by David Sacks"A south African Nazi" and AI czar. The amt of corruption is well beyond what any of us could possibly imagine.
Amazing how death and destruction have become normalized by Fox hate of America. The people actually believe this is just how things are like childhood death and that elder that no longer work use to die of starvation and cold in the winter happened before Social Security. This is the mindset the people have been conditioned to. Know that the world is awakening and shifting to the 5D where Christ Consciousness prevails and nobody is treated as a casualty of cruel neglect.
Propaganda works.
Another excellent column full of information unknown to most citizens. We are in dire need of effective, truthful public education.
Being founded as a collection of British colonies created for the purpose of wealth enhancement through plunder, the US has always tilted toward the fascist end of the scale. The occasional eruptions of common sense and decency that come from our flirtations with sincere democratic ideals disappear soon enough under the waves of corporate money. It is all like a dream, an ephemeral island of mercy submerged under an ocean of greed. We can fix this, through a sustained collective electoral effort, but we can never rest, because the waves are relentless, and corporations are not only allowed to be people,; they have platinum level citizenship.
"Roll back the Predatory State" Shout out for Medicare for All! The planet will be rid of us if we keep ignoring humankind predatory damage, science and deregulation.
The only good news I could find today was that it looks like MAGA won't get control of CNN. https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-cnn-2674407438/ Otherwsie, I am still in the usual dark place when it comes to writing my own Substack. Trump's in the Dark Tetrad. We know it. Lot's of American know it. The tragedy for our democracy is that MAGA likes having a president with these traits (psychopaths, extreme narcissim, Machiavelliamism, and sadism) and even if Trump has revealed as much malevolence as he has and he might not win a fair election today, he's still the president an ruthlessly wields the power of that office.
There is no question that, when we are watching precious lives being lost, when we are being attacked or undermined in our democracy, and when we are demonized by hostile and aggressive forces that we must go on the offense and fight with all we have to defeat the people using money and power to destroy all that has been built over generations and centuries. But, at some point, we have to understand where their perverse beliefs, ideas, and motivations are coming from. They actually justify what they do and how they operate with some sort of rationalizations, twisted logic, paranoid ideation, mythology, ignorance, and dogma or religious theory to get to where they can think and behave in this way. Until we have a better grasp on their process and dynamics, we are fighting with a blindfold on. Right-wing ideology is irrational. It will continue to spread and proliferate, and irrationality and fear will dog our best efforts until we can be instrumental in unravelling and revealing for them the erroneous points and parts of their process and shedding light to help them see where they have failed to see and understand something closer to reality. It most often starts with early infancy and generalizing to conclusions from personal experience that is discouraging, frustrating, or traumatic.
Thank you, Professor Hartmann, for your always clear-eyed view of what’s really happening and why. The extremist right have gotten their dream, to create an insane oligarchy and fascist dictatorship. Funny that the fools who voted for this won’t get a damn dime.
America previously known as the land of the free has become a huge prison with most of its citizens enslaved by greedy corporations. The land of the cheats and scams. Created by billionaires to enrich themselves and screw the average people. Milking and squeezing them to the last drop. Insane. Barbarian. How sad and pathetic!
You forgot to mention that under Biden American billionaires increased their wealth by $1.5 trillion and during Obama's first term the wealthiest 7% of Americans saw their wealth increase by 28% while the bottom 93% saw a loss of 4%. Just thought you and you were readers would want to know that the upwards transfer of wealth is strictly bipartisan.