We don’t know that yet. And with mail-in-voting it’s possible we will not know for days after the election is over.
But we do know who lost: all of us.
This post comes from one of my readers, “Anna” who replied to my post Biden is a Huge Favorite to Win the Election.
Here are Anna’s comments.
The election is over. You lost.
We will spend more on war. More on zombie corporations. More to lobbyists. More to the rich. We will continue illegally occupying countries and invading new ones. More on treating Americans like they, too, are a conquered people to be watched over and lied to.
Either trump or biden has already won. How did they win? For the past year, all media aligned with the state told you who was electable. You accepted it.
Now, go complete your performance in the farce — by voting on election day.
One of my followers picked up that comment in a Tweet.
Reader Wisdom
https://twitter.com/BungalowBills1/status/1293634388752773121
About half of the US will be wildly cheering on election day, thinking they won.
Their candidate may have, but they didn’t.
Mish
You can’t eradicate cannibalism by eating the cannibals; there is no better analog for what voting is.
The voting booth should reconfigure the ballot lever to a dildo and require the Helots to use their mouths to make the selection of their next master, it also provides a keen preview of things to come for the voter.
“A ballot is just a substitute for a bullet. If your vote isn’t backed by a bullet, it is meaningless. Without the bullet, people could ignore the election outcome. Voting would be pointless. Democracy has violence at its very core!” ~Muir Matteson, “The Nonviolent Zone”
“Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.” Herbert Marcuse
“Working within the system means to become a part of the system. When you go into the voting booth, the only meaningful significance that your action will have is to show that one more person supports the state”. ~Mark Davis
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.” ~ Oscar Ameringer
“An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
“If the right to vote were expanded to seven year olds … its policies would most definitely reflect the ‘legitimate concerns’ of children to have ‘adequate’ and ‘equal’ access to ‘free’ french fries, lemonade and videos.” ~ Hans-Hermann Hoppe
I respectfully reject the “we” presumption. And I respectfully ask you to consider a Hildabeast Killary
Rotten Felon “alternative”.
I respectfully reject the author’s presumption of “we” this, “we” that. I do not have a rock/turd in my pocket and I have no interest in frog-French. This VFW, whose “white privilege” and deaf ear didn’t exempt him from the draft in ’67, humbly entreats other GROUPed/GUNned/GARDENed and . . . System-D SIMPLIFIED on a portion of arable, UN-addressed/UN-encumbered inland, rural “allodial” GROUND . . . “carry on”! “Thrive-in-place”! Lock[ed] and load[ed]. NO Fear/Hate when,”… where two or three GATHER together …”, What/Who “abides”? “JC always before me/us” cuz … there are no atheists in foxholes! Daily increasingly grateful/thankful to still be active/un-medicated and daily engaged in COLLABORATIVE PRODUCTIVE enterprise while “… the whole shit-house goes up in flames” – Jim Morrison. ‘Nuf said and … “a little closer to Home”. Hoo-rah.
If Biden wins, I won’t be happy, but I’ll be relieved to see the American experiment’s continued existence. We’ll have more time on the clock to course correct. Everyone here that’s equating a Trump win to a Biden win is outright ignoring the pace in which Trump’s pushing the country into outright authoritarianism. We currently have a President that can flagrantly break laws and abuse power in a way that no other President in recent history could have ever gotten away with.
U R kidding?! I respectfully reject the “we” presumption. And I respectfully ask you to consider a Hildabeast Killary
Rotten Felon “alternative”.
The real issue, the one that is going to impact all citizens going forward, is going to be government debt on all levels. The Federal Government, Your State Government, and you local government all have massive budget shortfalls.
These are the biggest shortfalls in history on all levels of government. That means they are coming for you. They need money, and you are the only one they can get it from. Of course they are not going to tell you that until after the election, but let me ensure you they are coming for your wallet. The next 5 years will be a period of tax inflation so huge it will forever change the standard of living in America. Go ahead and vote, and think you have some say in your future if that makes you fell better, but you don’t, and deep inside, I think we all know that……
The general trend over the past 20 years since 9/11 has been the transition of Americans into tax slaves. With each new president, we are guaranteed war, debt, and less freedom. Even Trump, who ran as an America first candidate has vetoed efforts to bring American troops hope from foreign entanglements like Yemen while continuing to pour fuel on the fire in places like Syria.
This trend isn’t going to change whether it’s Biden or whether it’s Trump.
Consider, in 3.5 years, with Trump’s signature on every spending bill, America has added over 70% to the national debt what Obama’s signature added in eight years.
Zardoz already beat me to the Carlin reference. Worth posting again.
I guess we will find out if a Biden win will be better than a Trump win as people start voting in just less than a month.
Read this and weep: link to projects.fivethirtyeight.com
Polls in isolation can be wrong as we know, but when 9 out of 10 polls give one candidate a lead this far outside the margin of error this close to the vote the ONLY way for the underdog to win is to cheat.
Mish I am surprised at the sudden rush of russian Troll Farmers your page has gotten lately. I don’t remember this happening on your pages last time like this.
He’s drawn the ire of Q!
We remember Hillary was ahead by 20 points. Your polls don’t mean anything.
There were 49 shootings in New York City in 72 hours last weekend. Democrats are encouraging that with their de-fund the police. It is unsafe in NYC. It is unsafe in Chicago. It is unsafe in Portland. It is unsafe in Seattle. People are running to get out of San Francisco. Democrat run cities.
A recent poll showed that 1/3rd of black voters are turned off by Kamala Harris.
Democrat Leo Terrell said he would vote for Trump if Biden picked Kamala. Terrell is now speaking out against the Democratic Party and telling people to leave the Democratic Party.
No Democrat policy maker appeared on the weekend talk shows, just before the Democratic National Convention. Unprecedented. The Harris-Biden strategy is to hide from the press. There is no there, there. Just attempt to run out a clock. Democrats don’t even want Biden to debate, that is how poor a candidate he is. Keep him hidden from the American people. That is not leadership.
Remember, Kamala was at one time the odds on favorite to win the Democrat nomination. Tulsi Gabbard took her down with one comment.
The Democratic Party is more vulnerable than they think they are.
American voters will have to choose between Donald Trump and Joe Biden to be our next President. It could be said many voters are not jumping with joy.
Both of these men are old. Biden sports signs of dementia and has been accused of corruption. Trump is considered divisive and not as truthful as many people would like. The article below argues are flawed presidential election process is responsible for giving America such poor choices.
just as many people accuse Trump of dementia and corruption. Evidence is actually far better
I disagree. This is just another misguided tactic to attempt to answer what are complete bs rationalizations.
The problem with the system is we the people.
We the people have become garbage.
We the people have nothing to offer.
We the people are corrupt in their personal lives so that is what they bring to elections.
We the people have no self actualization and practice the art of finger pointing instead of introspection.
We the people, Trump and Biden are exact mirror reflections of the garbage this society has become.
No one with any cajones ( a place of power that can implement change ) will surmount this,..that is where the problem lies.
Totally agree with Anna’s assessment. I will not vote for garbage,. Both Trump and Biden are the same ole same ole garbage.
Voting for the lesser of two evils approach is an immature and adolescent fairytale so one can feel grand about themselves that they are “doing something” to improve the system. Really?,..
How does a voter improve the system by voting for what does not deserve a vote.
How does a voter not become part of the same garbage that they are voting for ?
Is the act of voting just so you the voter can get off the hook of not being called “Un American “
Voters, who vote for the lesser of two evils, are really saying ‘I don’t like being robbed but if I have to I prefer him, he’s more handsome’,…or some other unconscious rational masquerading for an adult.
Hey voter of the lesser of two evils,…how about doing what Gandhi did ? He marched to the ocean, picked up some ocean water salt and gave the loving middle finger to the British. He displayed through the use of intelligence how to change the system.
Hey voter of the lesser of two evils,…would now be a good time to begin to practice a conscious act and say ‘I don’t vote for garbage,..i throw it out !’
See,..after election day and voting , which I abstain of until a candidate I deem as worthy of my vote enters the race,…I can feel rather dandy about myself that I did not contribute to the destruction of this country.
YOU, voter of the lesser of two evils, are the enabler of this failed system.
I hope you are gleeful with your contribution.
Voting for the lesser of two evils is the ONLY adult thing you can do when faced with a choice of one or the other. To do anything else is childish and selfish. By voting for a third party candidate with zero chance to win or just not voting at all you abdicate adult responsibility to do YOUR part to make sure that the lesser not the greater of the two is chosen. You can rationalize it all you want, you can get pissed off and throw all your toys, but it is your DUTY as an adult to do anything you can to stop the more evil from gaining office.
Really, the Sanders voters are saying the same thing you do, “why don’t we just vote to make things SO bad in America people will finally chose a radical FAR _____ or _____ being left or right or fascist or socialist, and keep in mind your OPINION is nothing more than that, you are not stating fact when you say one is better than the other, you are stating YOUR FEELINGS. And to make such a potentially life ending democracy killing decision based on your childish feelings is about as immature as a person gets. Like Sanders voters you are just saying I would rather just set it all on fire so we can rebuild, problem is after you destroyed everything the same partisan split will remain and nothing will get rebuilt, at least not without a totalitarian dictator. Something only those on the right really want.
A total bunch of manucia and BS.
It’s “adult thing” to do to recognize that you are part of the problem and you the voter will not contribute to it any longer by voting for garbage candidates.
The DUTY I have is to squelch your brand of patriotism directly into the circular file where it belongs.
You’re under the kool-aid spell of voting for the lesser of two evils and that somehow is responsible and mature. It’s a wasted vote,…how difficult is that to comprehend.
I know,…its better to have the evil you know than one you don’t. How selfish and unaware you are.
You are out of touch and have your head is in the sand. Blinded by the Light.
Would now be a good time to wake up ????
Whatever comrade.
“Grown men do not need leaders.” – Edward Abbey
Nations do
There’s a line you can fill out with a name other than Trump or Biden… It’s called a write in candidate. I am going to write on that line this year “Ron Paul”. If millions of voters did the same, what would those f**kers do then?
As a Biden voter I really appreciate your write in for anyone but Trump.
Why not vote for a candidate who’s actually running?
LOL, You don’t mind if I post this to the Trump Twitter feed do you, it will give the GOP and the fat orange spy nightmares right up to the election.
This is how Mish and others try to explain away their responsibility for the Trump mess – that the other side is bad too, its a big liberal conspiracy, etc etc….. no political party or candidate is going to be perfect or suit everyone, but really people, there is no comparison.
It’s up to you to deal with the pandemic, not the government to “save” you. If you’re concerned, isolate yourself until it’s over. Grab some vitamin D & C, zinc, & Quecertin. Line up a doctor, and have a therapy planned out. Take personal responsibility for your own bones.
As with many issues, it take both A) people individually exercising personal responsibility, not just for themselves, but for those around them, and B) a competent, caring government, to together to effectively address the issue. If you don’t have both, you won’t succeed, and if you have neither, you have a big Trump Cluster-F.
Just a bit hard to do when Trump is doing everything he can to make sure the coronavirus kills as many people as possible. Like opneing the schools just as a second wave hits.
Clearly if people COULD do anything about the virus they would, so no it is not up to the individual. You do your best but that is just not enough.
Every single case of Covid, every death, every closure of business, it is ALL on Trump’s head. By election day he will not get enough votes to be county dog catcher.
Truth.
The one thing government should have been doing is providing testing and (opt-in) tracing. Complete failure in the US. I suspect there are many layers of dysfunction involved (typical government), but certainly much blame goes to this administration.
The people haven’t won an election in over a century. Hopefully this won’t change in my lifetime. The pain required to change the system is not worth it.
I completely disagree. Americans are by far better off today than they were 100 years ago, and much of the improvement is a credit to the actions that have been taken by our democratically elected government and hardworking civil servants. There is also lots of room for improvement, and American should all take a vested interest in the process and stay engaged. Your “hope” is failure and defeat…..
I didn’t say we are not better off. I said the people haven’t won an election in over 100 years. Besides Donald Trump and Kennedy, every president has been an establishment figure picked by the establishment.
Tulsi was our chance. Oh, but she’s a Russian asset.
Well she is actually a crackpot fascist.
Actually Mish you have a poor way of looking at things as does Anna. Life isnt perfect. We aren’t entitled to everything. But we should expect a competent government and leadership. While Biden isnt perfect, I think it is a mistake to let perfect be the enemy of competent in this election. I voted for Trump in 2016 and it been a disaster. Do we really think 4 more years of Trump will somehow get better ?
While I realize you are a libertarian, I dont see you doing anything meaningful to further that cause. This platform could be a bigger stepping stone in a place like Utah for you.
“While Biden isn`t perfect” The understatement of the year. Hilary….”While Hilary wasn`t perfect” and on and on. There are none so blind than those that will not see.
“While I realize you are a libertarian, I dont see you doing anything meaningful to further that cause.”
Mish writes a well-read blog analyzing events from his perspective. What is your definition of “doing anything meaningful”?
I think you are wrong Mish. This is about mere competence not policy.
Fox news is not broadcasting the Democratic National Convention. This tells you all you need to know. We know other networks will broadcast the Republican National Convention. Fox news cannot call itself a news network anymore. They simply want an alternative reality.
Oh the irony but i bet you can`t see it. Bless you. You still think “the other networks” are giving you the real news.
“Fox news is not broadcasting the Democratic National Convention.”
It is on the Fox News channel on my TV
YOU ARE FAKE NEWS.
I am guessing you got that fact from the same place you get all your other propaganda. Fine some other news. Get off social media.
Wasnt on during the hour of Hannity. Period. Fox couldn’t be bothered to preempt most of their political programming.
That’s just capitalism. Fox is the most watch prime time channel. Noticed I said channel and not cable news channel.
Get off social media though. They are manipulating your brain.
I actually don’t. Unless you count Mish’s blog as social media. I spend most of my time working as an engineer, taking care of two kids and and well ..working.
Question is if elections matter. In 2020 are there policy and governance differences between Trump and Biden and during the primaries were there policy and governance differences between Biden and Sanders.
Seems you’re arguing all three are the same while I can’t imagine a more stark comparison.
Feels like a voter suppression argument but I don’t see you intentionally engaging in that.
The Russians already control this country so any election in November is just a sham, comrade. Putin is our real leader.
Lowest voter turnout in history is my prediction
I see team Biden correcting mistakes made by Hillary and ensuring the party is united going into the convention. I suspect that Biden gets a superior turnout vs Hillary Clinton and even adds more Republicans to the mix vs 2016. Think Biden also gets more Blacks, Women and Independents. Where Trump gains is Hispanic males but this is a trend that transcends Trump’s four years
Meanwhile back in lalaland.
My estimate of turnout, Trump 54 million; Biden 71 million. And I think it could be lower for Trump than even that. Part of his problem is that at least half of registered voters tell pollsters they think voting will be dangerous and difficult, the hardcore fascists will turn out to the last one, but that only makes about 35 million anymore than that will come from independents. But, a lot of them will wake up on election day and just say to themselves, “you know what? It just is not worth the risk to vote to reelect that guy.” They will stay home. On the other hand democrats are fired up to the point they do not care what the danger is or difficulty.
In May 25% of the voting age population identified as republican, 31% as democrat, and 40% as independent. I say half the independents will not vote, and more than half the rest will go to Biden. That leave only stealing the election as Trump’s last hope. But the margin by which he and Vladimir will have to cheat is just too wide to be plausible.
That’s always the case. The State wins because it controls the government regardless of who is elected.
Yes … and “The State is a tool in the hands of the ruling class.” — Josef Stalin
One difference is that 1 of the candidates is out to destroy all aspects of government other than himself. Congress, courts, state and local are all irrelevant if 1 of the 2 candidates win.
Boy, the propaganda begins with the convention.
“Give up, Trump is no different than Biden, Biden has history, it’s all in control of the deep-state, world conspiracies, don’t try–it doesn’t matter what you do, etc.”
Lots of easily led people or people with agendas starting to come out of the facebook woods with the dire news of our political impotence.
Yes – and just like Trump feeds this machine, Mish also keeps feeding it….. We are each individually responsible.
Anna….THE ELECTION IS OVER. YOU LOST….
Another of the “burn it to the ground because it isn’t perfect” people. Le’s sit in the ashes and weep.
She’s pushing the “I’m so smart because I know the real story” conspiracy world-view–deep state and all that.
Sorry, Anna, but people have been in worse places than this in the history of the world and while you may denounce the sheeple, the world has always been full of these wobbles.
I don’t think that was her approach, she said exactly what made her consider it to lose. That is a moral perspective or choice.
On the other hand, you are saying that to not endorse a government, or government, is to try to burn a country down. I don’t see how you jump to that conclusion.
“Perfect” is nothing but a strawman.
You burn it to the ground for the same reason you burned Germany to the ground in ’44&’45: Because yes, it/we really is that imperfect by now. At least. And the longer “we” kick the can down the road instead of taking out what is by now nothing but trash, the sooner someone marginally less imperfect will take it (that’d be us) out for us.
The Founders advocated a revolution a generation. Again, nothing to do with perfect. They simply realized than any power structure/System left in power for too long, would degenerated into what we are suffering under today. Hence, you burn it to the ground not because it is somehow “imperfect”, but simply because it is there. And having sufficiently big and many matches, is what differentiates free people from straight up slaves.
I’m going to call your post ‘Requiem For Doom’. How melancholy!
I don’t believe any of this. Sounds like the complaints of an outsider who wants in.
My mom grew up in a communist country with no say in the government my father even worse. I will argue that if you want more say you need to get involved more.
There’s a ton of differences between Trump and Biden. A post like this can only have one goal to disenfranchise and suppress the vote.
If we were all powerless movements like BLM would have zero impact not would the suffragette movement have worked
Sorry comes off as a whine
You note the difference in effectiveness between direct action and voting.
The two are related in my opinion
They are complementary I suppose. One could say that neither would be effective without the other.
Exactly what sort if “impact,” on anything which matters, has BLM had? Did they stop the Fed from robbing productive black guys to feed their favored gaggle of slumlords who are making it harder and harder for black guys to afford a roof over their head? Or from robbing potentially productive enterprise from being competitive enough to be able to hire more black guys? Or from handing the funds obtained by debasement robbing productive black guys to the useless leeches driving them out of their neighborhoods under the banner of “gentrification?”
As for the Suffragette movement, that only “worked” in the sense that it contributed to splitting families apart, hence creating an army of newly vulnerable and unprotected voters clamoring for Dear Leader to rob others as long as he cuts them in for a few breadcrumbs.
Great post
Trump has done a very good job at getting more people involved in politics. This is a win for everyone. Most of the news during Obama was positive and many terrible things happened with almost no coverage.
More people involved is always the best possible outcome. I hope Trump wins again just to see even more people involved. I’m afraid Biden will get a pass just like Obama (and bush,Clinton etc) did.
A divided country is the best outcome. Any country that has come together on most issues turns into a dictatorship quickly.
I like it better in America where only property owners who had a stake in the game were allowed to vote. This idea everyone needs to vote when they invest such little time in developing their vote besides red team vs. blue team and a few sound bites is concerning.
That combined with other changes could make our society work pretty well.
Other ideas I would love to see. A citizen lottery for special power to oversee government power with the power to declassify information. Rules limiting politician wealth and take away their ability to get provide jobs after government.
I could go on and on but those things will never happen.
If we truly had a say in government, why are we reduced to the limits of two parties? Any party trying to inject itself to provide us more choice are quickly shut down by the partnership of these two parties.
Isolation of America would be a good thing. America does not need to meddle in the affairs of other countries. Friends of America? You must mean Fiends of America, countries sucking the life out of us.
I don’t know him, he is far from the devil.
Biden is far more corrupt (he’s had 50 years in Washington DC) than Trump.
You must mean harris will do just fine, joe won’t last 4 years!
People are told what to think in this day and age. Social media has become very very good at manipulating people. Most don’t understand what is going on but Facebook proved long ago it could manipulate people’s emotions. Thought control is wide scale at this point and most don’t even understand it’s possible while being fully manipulated.
The easiest way to prove this is to talk to someone about deleting their favorite social media system. Instantly it goes to how little they use it and how they don’t have a problem just like any addict.
“Biden is more corrupt (he’s had 50 years)”
Yet you cannot cite anything actual and proven and credible of that corruption.
“democrats and BLM starting riots” — lol you just lap up those talking points. why? why do you drink them up like so much free booze? Because they fit your beliefs: darkie bad.
democrats and BLM started protests. it was proven with evidence that other factions came in and did the violence, the destruction.
Mish – and the comments in your comment section here are exactly why this will continue into the unforeseen future. People on both sides choosing the lesser of two evils instead of saying they both are just as bad and I will support neither party. I will only cast my vote for someone I support and will wait for that candidate. If we all wait for candidates we actually support, they will show up. As long as votes are cast for the lesser of two evils, nothing will change. The wealthy will continue to steal the wealth from the country until there is nothing left. Then they will move on.
They won’t hesitate to give you promise you want.
Happy?
If you’re looking for a candidate that 100% matches your priorities, you’re living a fantasy
There is a world of difference between a candidate that 100% matches my priorities and complete garbage.
Totally agree with that assessment. I will not vote for garbage,. Both Trump and Biden are the same ole same ole garbage.
Voting for the lesser of two evils approach is an immature and adolescent fairytale so one can feel grand about themselves that they are “doing something” to improve the system. Really?,..
How does a voter improve the system by voting for what does not deserve a vote.
How does a voter not become part of the same garbage that they are voting for ?
Is the act of voting just so you the voter can get off the hook of not being called “Un American “
Voters, who vote for the lesser of two evils, are really saying ‘I don’t like being robbed but if I have to I prefer him, he’s more handsome’,…or some other unconscious rational masquerading for an adult.
Hey voter of the lesser of two evils,…how about doing what Gandhi did ? He marched to the ocean, picked up some ocean water salt and gave the loving middle finger to the British. He displayed through the use of intelligence how to change the system.
Hey voter of the lesser of two evils,…would now be a good time to begin to practice a conscious act and say ‘I don’t vote for garbage,..i throw it out !’
See,..after election day and voting , which I abstain of until a candidate I deem as worthy of my vote enters the race,…I can feel rather dandy about myself that I did not contribute to the destruction of this country.
YOU, voter of the lesser of two evils, are the enabler of this failed system.
I hope you are gleeful with your contribution.
Don’t vote for the lesser of two evils. Do vote for Jo Jorgensen.
The lessor of 2 evils is still evil.
People should just sit this election out.
Trump will win, its obvious to me. Most people are sick and tired of these politicians who promise everything and deliver nothing. Trump is far from perfect, but he would be hands down better biden and harris. Vote for joe if you want harris in charge. Trump is now a politician, but it was just 4 short years ago he was elected as a non politician and look how things have changed since….through all his faults, he will win again.
The worse part about this election is that whoever wins, half the people will be pissed. I hope and pray they don’t start voting from the rooftops…
“Most people are sick and tired of these politicians who promise everything and deliver nothing.”
Politicians like trump?
He doesn’t act like a politician, that’s for sure.
Politicians, er I’m sorry, I meant liars such as Trump, Biden, Obama (if you like your plan, you can keep your plan), Clinton, Bush I and II, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon (Aug 15th just passed – know your history?) Johnson??? Shall I continue?
And then all the 535 members of the bought-and-paid-for group sitting in the capitol of this country, the greatest corporate fascist state ever seen.
Promise everything–don’t deliver?
Sounds like a hardcore political BSer.
“The worse part about this election is that whoever wins, half the people will be pissed.”
It’s the other half who are the problem, and the worst part.
I am really just glad people are waking up to politics. Trump was a win for this country because of the scrutiny politicians are under. Obama skated and did some very underhanded and terrible things just like every politician before him. The difference was he got a pass.
I hope Trump wins just to watch people get more involved in this counties issues. The other side being mad is a feature not a flaw.
People who are happy , out of all things, with any possible Dear Leader (bona fide deities perhaps excepted) leading a government as overgrown as our current one, are exactly the reason America has fallen as far as it has already.
The whole “politics as a football match” nonsense; cheering for “my team” to beat “your team” at any cost, serves noone but the totalitarians sitting on top of it all pitching people against eachother.
The task The Founders left Americans, was to keep Government, period, in check. Not to grossly abrogate that one, in favor of degenerating into fighting over who gets to nominally run the completely unchecked disaster resulting from failing to do so, for the next four years.
I am a believer in what I call wave theory. It’s very similar to the Fourth Coming but over a longer and short time scale. People go though cycles weekly, monthly, yearly, and over their lifetime. Societies go though cycles in the same fashion. Humanity also goes through cycles. Things go up and come back down. Nothing can stop these cycles they can only be delayed or accelerated.
I don’t know where America is on the overall timescale but I would guess we are more towards the end of things than the beginning. On a shorter term timescale about every 80 years something breaks and things go sideways. We are reaching that point. 1770s, 1850s, 1930s, 2010s.
This situation we find ourselves in is predictable from a timescale perspective. The only real question is how it shakes out.
Somebody took a famous George Carlin rant and made a pretty compelling video to that effect (WARNING : MANY BAD WORDS)
What Anna said soundS true but we still need to rid the country of the grossly incompetent Trump or we’ll never survive COVID19 and the raping of the natural world so once again it’s the lesser of two evils but this time one is exceptionally evil while the other just your everyday, self interested politician.
I’ve gotten so nihilistic that it’s not even that. I’m just annoyed that donald trump has been thrust into my daily awareness and has become an active threat to my survival. I liked it a lot better when I never thought of donald trump, and I would like to return to those halcyon days.
Im done with the lesser of 2 evils. I didn’t vote last election. I’m not voting this one. As far as i’m concerned stick a fork in it.
Vote Jorgensen. Nothing to lose, ad although she won’t win, the more votes she gets, the more her positions will be catered to in the future.
It’s a sad state of affairs when the best two parties representing over 300 million people can do is offer two incoherent, elderly candidates that most likely will died of old age before the Presidential term is over.
McCain wouldn’t have lived out his term. If he’d saddled up with Sarah again, imagine the idiotic hijinks we’d be in the middle of right now!
“when the best two parties representing over 300 million people” IMO its about 400 people or less.
And what does it say about the people who do as they are told and vote for one of these pathetic candidates?
How about someone files a $40 Trillion class action suit against the Federal Reserve for Grand Larceny. Just for fun?
Here’s a bold prediction: the next administration will feature lots of Goldmanites in prominent positions.
Funny how warmly even the “outsider” Trump embraced them after they kept paying Hillary $10K per minute to give rambling speeches about how wealthy she was!
Why would it be a surprise Trump embraced the bankers? For it was the Rothchild Bank that ensured Trump would maintain his status as a wealthy man as the Taj Mahal was failing. Wilbur Ross of the Rothchild Bank saved Trump from financial ruin.
I said it once and I’ll say it again — this country is run by the people, and the people are responsible for making the country run. 200 years ago, our people came here from mostly Europe, and they saw what kings and queens and their henchmen did to a populace. Im pretty sure no one wanted to start over and come here with very little. They had come here because politics in Europe wasnt some political game like on cable TV. People were hurt and killed for no good reason. It really doesnt matter who is president. He/she is weak by design. They knew what would happen if they made the president a king. Kings, autocrats, dictators get a lot done, assuming you are on the right side. Id much rather live in a sideways, unsatisfying, milquetoast, maddeningly gray country like ours than in some duke’s dungeon. Voting at least reminds them all that we are still here.
Kings and queens are like owners of a country… Like home owners, they’ll try to take good care of it in order to keep the population happy and have their descendants inherit the throne. You got 50% chance that your ruler will be competent.
Presidents are like renters, they are only interested in those 4 or 8 years of power, they run deficits because why not it’s the problem of the next president. Your chances of getting a really competent one is far below 50%.
Dictatorships though out history have had some of the best runs.
Our two party system will eventually become a one party system that will transition to a system like a dictatorship but much worse. The one party system will begin to in fight instead of giving up power an a two party system leading to civil war.
Most forms of government don’t last very long. I just hope we get at least 50 more years.
I would like to believe that, but the truth is the country is run by corporations. They are larger and more powerful than ever before!
How do you measure that “corporations … run the country”?
I’d go with civil servants being more in charge than corporations. And, yeah, revolving door, etc.
The fact is, the US is designed such that no one entity is “in charge”. Royalists, as they were called in the late 1700’s on the east coast of North American, argued against such a design. They lost that particular argument at the time. But it’s an argument that will go on forever, and you could say they are back again, now.
RE: “How do you measure that “corporations … run the country. I’d go with civil servants being more in charge than corporations”?
Nearly all of the most powerful and influential “civil servants” in the country are bought and paid for by corporations via their ubiquitous lobbyists and deal makers.
RE: “The fact is, the US is designed such that no one entity is “in charge”. “
The $ is in charge … everywhere …
The people in this country will trample and fight each other for a 200 dollar TV on black Friday. Christian values are at an all time low, particularly among Christians. There is no team spirit.
Bourgeois culture, any culture, can only stand if it is rewarded. In prior times bourgeois culture was fundamentally supported by the upper classes, who invested in America, creating vast wealth.
They modeled sobriety, hard-work, risk and reward. The working classes modeled the behavior through church and labor unions, standing together for each other and nation.
The wealthy have abandoned America, and the working classes have abandoned religion, unions, and each other. Into that void steps cultural anarchy.
Bourgeois culture requires hard-work, and discipline. It requires accountability, primarily of the wealthy. I tire of articles that lament the loss of culture without holding those accountable who have abandoned their responsibilities.
I see both at the same time. Boomers were handed the expansion of obtention wealth in a new global setting, along with the culture shift of the seventies away from “nuclear family” , and the introduction of fiat, debt and false values. It all happened at once.
Manipulation of social values and identity has been going on a long time though in the west. Centralisation of registry and power from at least the early nineteenth century. Classical liberalism was replaced by socialism and government audit towards the twentieth century, and from there a gradual evolution of nationalism, statism and social grant that melded into the neo liberal socialist concoction we have today, via finance and corporate interest. In the US it was the seventies that that really took off, in other countries in different ways, at different times, to different degrees. If you look at europe, some countries only went that way in the ninetees for example, some are still clinging to their previous ethos while still moving in most other ways to new hierarchy.
Who abandoned responsibility though is very hard to pin down, because the whole cold war reality was foreign expansion via whatever means was less than open conflict. That is to say that it was in many ways a duty to westernise the world, to profit from that also in some kind of mutual way with foreign powers . That included with China, and the US beat the british to first place with the country in the diplomatic hustling that went on.
So you had an immense wealth effect at home and abroad, compared with the previous generation, and that brought freedom, technology and industry allowed new freedom also.
What happened after was the transfer of much western manufacturing abroad. The framework was rigged to take advantage of cheap foreign labour and support cooperative governance, while introducing modernisation to those countries, to the profit of western consumers who became more a service economy – serving each other.
Do you want to work on a factory floor or in an office for more ? It’s simple.
Later, do you want your investments to rise in value ? It’s simple also.
So finance and asset pumping is the result, along with a loss of productive framework, new social realities that become disconnected.
Who abandoned responsibility ? Everyone and no-one. People look out for their own interests, and when there is competition that places their existence, or position, in question, they secure that first. So you have the boomers with their assets being supported, and social grants offerred to those who were not part of that expansion, in a new domestic financial experiment that includes low rate mortgages, loans for education, food stamps, $600 a week etc.
That was all a series of cultural shifts as much as economic redirection and financial manipulation.
Clearly the end result is very confused, and that reflects on what choice of government is proffered and people’s expectations with regards.
Maybe the question is
“Who is going to take responsibility ?”
Maybe the answer is
“It suits us to have a government we can blame.”
We have the worlds largest prison population hence your dungeon. One little screw up bye bye.
You are absolutely right. The “American system” is actually not broken yet. Voters COULD still fix everything. The problem is most voters are very, very bad a political philosophy — thus we end up with the horrible leaders and policies that “we” are foolish enough to choose over and over.
“But we do know who lost: all of us.”
…
Not Quite.
For years it has been the Haves vs the Have Nots … not R vs D.
“The Rich” have done fabulously … and will continue to do so.
“For years it has been the Haves vs the Have Nots … not R vs D.”
That, in a nutshell, is our biggest political problem. No matter who wins this election “all of us” will not lose because some of us are the rich beneficiaries of the current system.
For thousands of years the rich have done well.
We actually read history about the times the rich didn’t, but for the most part a small group has controlled the wealth and power throughout history. Don’t expect this to change…ever.
It doesn’t have to be this distorted though. It’s fine if the rich do well, but not when it’s at the expense of everyone else in what appears to be a rigged system. In the last 50 years income growth has been concentrated in the top .1% to a degree not seen since the robber baron era. I would rather see a broader distribution of society’s wealth and not end up at some point with the chaos of a French or Russian revolution. When the rich don’t do well, there is often blood in the streets. That doesn’t serve anyone’s interests.