This is a remarkably perfect piece that manages to collect everything wrong with what the US is doing in one small spot. There are a couple of things I disagree with:
"We now have to count Biden an ineffectual bumbler" No. Bumbler, yes. Ineffectual, no. He is, either by intent or default, continuing the policies of Donnie Murdo's regime as well as the policies of the Deep State. These policies may or may not be effective (your opinion on this will probably depend on what effect you think we should have) but they are all deleterious. They are a great way to piss the rest of the world off.
My second disagreement is with the assumption that democracy is a desired end state for all societies. Other societies may find democracy unacceptably difficult to control if, for example, not everybody in the society thinks they are a part of it, or more to our current world situation, if you have some external actor's actively trying to subvert your government.
Democracy has unequal outcomes. The most prosperous democracies made sure the middle class were well taken care of. Our government subsidized the wealthy in hollowing out the middle class to raise the standard of China. The elites wanted to sell their crap there and wanted to create the cosmopolitan citizen. China with it's 1 billion people would dictate what the market would be for the US.
The wealthy fund social justice initiatives that destabilize this country. Our government backs this with tax breaks. In Waukesha Darryl Brooks used a Buick SUV but it was driven by the ideas Ford philanthropy. 40 years of frozen wages, lost economic opportunities, feckless political leaders that destroyed the treasure this country had. For What? Rich dreamers with globalist ideas investing in a nationalist country that stole our ideas so they could make themselves wealthier. Our wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. They do pay their fair share in China. When can we call these people enemies of the country when they intentionally destabilize us then advocate investing in China as Ray Dalio does?
We need a leader that is has values and behaviors that build trust, will build up the middle class, and is anointed by God We will be going through hard times.
"Our government subsidized the wealthy in hollowing out the middle class to raise the standard of China."
Um, no. Yes, the USG subsidizes the wealthy (but not the poor, you can thank Slick Willie for that), and yes, the middle class has been hollowed out but none of that had anything to do with a desire to raise the standard of living in China. You've got to learn to pay attention to cause and effect. The people running large corporations wanted to make more money for their businesses and themselves. These people have two outstanding characteristics. One, they are very greedy and two, while they aren't necessarily very bright, they are very cunning. They are like the people who ran Hostess. The company was headed towards bankruptcy and the only thing they could think of was - cut our labor costs, not reassess our product lines, reevaluate our distribution systems and structures, reevaluate the obscene pay levels for the executive staff, etc etc. The union went along with them the first time and took a pay cut. Naturally management rewarded themselves with millions in bonuses for that bit of incisive insight. That's essentially what Apple did, but they didn't wait to have a failing business. They went to China (you actually need to get off your China kick, it really applies to all of Asia) and got the low wages they wanted. They didn't give two hoots for the Chinese. If they stayed dirt poor, fine. But, ah, that didn't happen. And now you're complaining that their hard work and industry combined with (and this is important) intelligent policies executed by their government have raised their standard of living? Good luck with that.
As for stealing our ideas...I'm sure they did. Before you feel superior about that, we got all our expertise in rocketry from the Germans after WWII and they got all their knowhow from Robert Goddard. The important point here is that both the US and China produce PV (photovoltaic) silicon chips. China produces 85% of the world's supply of PV chips even tho' the US was the first on the market. Why's that? A Chinese PV chip costs a third of its American counterpart. Why's that? I'll give you a hint. It isn't because the Chinese copied American designs.
I'd like to add that the discussion was about political systems: democracy vs authoritarianism. You went off on Capitalism.
You are correct. The intent to move to china was to drive down labor costs but also to create a market in China that would purchase US products. The Term used was consumption led growth. As the standard of living went up in China, American companies thought they could catch the market with their products. They did not think Chinese would build factories equal to the great American factories. They thought Chinese would have loyalty to the companies they worked for and buy American products. The Chinese have pride and they have national pride. Very few Chinese buy an Apple phone or a Buick from GM. Apple should be proud of the nets around workers dormitories, because of suicide.
Before WWII America made great cars and washing machines. Goddard's rocketry was stupid. VonBraun made the V1 and it;s shape based on the K98 round. Goddard said the rocket would not work in the vacuum of space. But he was all the great America had. He was about as smart as the Chinese man that sat on a chair to fly. All American Universities prior to WWII were second rate.
One of the main reasons American labor can'[t compete in the world is medical costs. medical Insurance creates 1/3 of the labor costs. This is another cancer that is hollowing out the middle class. Corporations doing the double Irish Dutch sandwich (you can google what this is), and wealthy using tax loop holes, hiding wealth off shore is another reason that democracy is failing.
We are headed toward a binary society very quickly. The poor black people want to tear whites down as they seek revenge and the wealthy do not want the middle class to exist because they are the first to complain to the government. I know of no binary society democracy, they are all communist. Capitalism and Democracy work hand in hand.
I would suggest you listen to or Read Dr Hanson's book or take the free course
"American Citizenship and It's Decline" Citizenship is the root of Democracy.
Saying you believe in God, says you believe in good into evil even though you may not believe in God. It elevates your thinking to being connected to more than yourself. You become part of the cause for good without having to describe describe it. God can be thought of as the collective consciousness. Collective consciousness in Durkheim's view is the narrative that develops trust between people in society. Chomsky would call this manufacturing consent. Jung's definition is more spiritual. ‘collective consciousness’ as an expression of id.
The human subconscious is not only virtues that develop trust but also memories of the whole of humanity. It is personality which all human beings share a subconscious mind from memories of human beings, alive and dead. I believe there is more to a human other than character to develop trust.
David the successor of Saul was anointed by God, making him righteous. The woke stand in nothing but the outcome. Saying by by anointed by God makes them evil, developing more power and emotion. If Jung is right, man's tendency deep down is to be spiritual by nature. It is well known that the religious have better health. You can make others wrong in a more carefree way. Repressive tolerance can be overcome by no tolerance. You simply cut them off at the knees, show no mercy and no apology because you are good and they are evil.
The part where you become evil is when you destroy someone that is redeemable and may take on your view. “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”― Friedrich W. Nietzsche. You however stand in good and must pray to God for guidance. St. Paul killed many Christians before he became a Christian and later a Saint.
The bottom line is you have more power mentally when you believe in God. You develop confidence (which the woke has you question), fortitude. humility, listening, and prudence for discernment. You are outside of your mortal mind and working for a greater good. The woke need a good swift kick in the ass. Jung said “There is no coming to consciousness without pain…”
PS: About apartheid Israel... One should remember that Nelson Mandela (designated as "terrorist" by US government until recently) stated many times that apartheid in South Africa ended MAINLY due to Cuba's decisive help in liberation wars in Angola and Namibia.
Many experts believe that this is the main reason for US endless economic war against Cuba.
I watched footage of the 1943 Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (aka Japan and other puppets) and I might as well have been watching the "Democracy Summit ".
I think you are missing the zombie elephant in the room. That financial feedback loop that has everyone chasing the dollar, whether it's waiters, or mercenaries. The enormous, metastatic monetary tumor that cannot be questioned. The tool that became the god. The medium that became the message. In which everyone has become hamsters running on their wheels. The only difference being some wheels are much larger than others.
Anyone in the way of the herd must be run over.
The only sure bet is that it will crash, though taking as much with it as it can.
Biden could become popular by making recreational marijuana legal. He could declare the drug war lost and set up clinics to get people off of drugs. If the addict likes drugs too much the government could become their supplier. Cartels make money, so could the government. Addicts would get metered doses, you knock out money for the gangs, and get rid of the need for guns on the street. The ATF could look for those trying to undersell the state in drugs. I think it is beyond the purview of most of the dinosaurs in government like Biden.
Biden has empathy only for his two drug addicted children, Hunter and Ashley. For the rest he was an architect of the “War on Drugs,” (a misnomer because it was actually a “War on People”—mostly brown and black, and drugs was just the excuse), and mass incarceration. He simply has no human empathy for the pain, suffering, deaths, and broken families, and broken inner cities that his policies spawned. Same goes for his continuing Trump’s campaign of crushing sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, and now even Afghanistan. He does not care. What he does care about seems to be recreating the Cold War with Russia and China, because he has always pretended to be the tough guy, even after avoiding the Vietnam draft. This all ends badly…for him and for us.
Hunter Biden put for the US at risk by selling all the rights of cobalt mining to the Chinese profit to himself. All of the Bidens should be put into sacks with cats and thrown into the Potomac River.
No one should be drowned least of all cats. Instead, they should spend the rest of their days as Joe Biden made sure millions of Americans would... inside a jail cell.
Jail requires money. This is money which we can't afford. He also creates a carbon footprint. Eliminating him is good in two cases for utilitarian reasons.
Professor, you say there is popular democracy and a variation, elite democracy. The election of Trump was a usurpation of the elite prerogative by the population (half). I think this was of immense importance and makes the Trump phenomenon a very good thing. Populist democracy won: is this the first such victory in American history?
But the election of an unauthorized President changed everything, it enraged the elite into a broad based censorious authoritarian mania that colours everything. Trump will be a candidate in 2024.
Please help us understand. Populist democracy, good, Trump incompetence and rude affect bad, who should we vote for? I prefer the ignoramus Trump to the lying scum bags of the elite.
Patrick: As always you elegantly outline the situation, contexts - and gather all the strands of your argument, your thesis into a coherence which is irrefutable. And given that many of us here reading your words have lived a similar span of decades we know the truth of your perception. Just now I have come from reading two essays from the John Menadue political blog "Pearls & Irritations" on Australia's nonsense re China - from Teow Loon Ti and Allan Patience (who beautifully draws parallels between the present Australian PM Scott Morrison and the Great War/Versailles Peace Treaty era PM Billy Hughes - both prodding East Asia (now China, then Japan) on behalf of the great powers - while thinking their puny selves are/were on a par with them! Delusional and very dangerous. May the New Year see a diminution of ignorant hubris among those who would selfishly destroy our world.
This is a remarkably perfect piece that manages to collect everything wrong with what the US is doing in one small spot. There are a couple of things I disagree with:
"We now have to count Biden an ineffectual bumbler" No. Bumbler, yes. Ineffectual, no. He is, either by intent or default, continuing the policies of Donnie Murdo's regime as well as the policies of the Deep State. These policies may or may not be effective (your opinion on this will probably depend on what effect you think we should have) but they are all deleterious. They are a great way to piss the rest of the world off.
My second disagreement is with the assumption that democracy is a desired end state for all societies. Other societies may find democracy unacceptably difficult to control if, for example, not everybody in the society thinks they are a part of it, or more to our current world situation, if you have some external actor's actively trying to subvert your government.
Democracy has unequal outcomes. The most prosperous democracies made sure the middle class were well taken care of. Our government subsidized the wealthy in hollowing out the middle class to raise the standard of China. The elites wanted to sell their crap there and wanted to create the cosmopolitan citizen. China with it's 1 billion people would dictate what the market would be for the US.
The wealthy fund social justice initiatives that destabilize this country. Our government backs this with tax breaks. In Waukesha Darryl Brooks used a Buick SUV but it was driven by the ideas Ford philanthropy. 40 years of frozen wages, lost economic opportunities, feckless political leaders that destroyed the treasure this country had. For What? Rich dreamers with globalist ideas investing in a nationalist country that stole our ideas so they could make themselves wealthier. Our wealthy do not pay their fair share of taxes. They do pay their fair share in China. When can we call these people enemies of the country when they intentionally destabilize us then advocate investing in China as Ray Dalio does?
We need a leader that is has values and behaviors that build trust, will build up the middle class, and is anointed by God We will be going through hard times.
"Our government subsidized the wealthy in hollowing out the middle class to raise the standard of China."
Um, no. Yes, the USG subsidizes the wealthy (but not the poor, you can thank Slick Willie for that), and yes, the middle class has been hollowed out but none of that had anything to do with a desire to raise the standard of living in China. You've got to learn to pay attention to cause and effect. The people running large corporations wanted to make more money for their businesses and themselves. These people have two outstanding characteristics. One, they are very greedy and two, while they aren't necessarily very bright, they are very cunning. They are like the people who ran Hostess. The company was headed towards bankruptcy and the only thing they could think of was - cut our labor costs, not reassess our product lines, reevaluate our distribution systems and structures, reevaluate the obscene pay levels for the executive staff, etc etc. The union went along with them the first time and took a pay cut. Naturally management rewarded themselves with millions in bonuses for that bit of incisive insight. That's essentially what Apple did, but they didn't wait to have a failing business. They went to China (you actually need to get off your China kick, it really applies to all of Asia) and got the low wages they wanted. They didn't give two hoots for the Chinese. If they stayed dirt poor, fine. But, ah, that didn't happen. And now you're complaining that their hard work and industry combined with (and this is important) intelligent policies executed by their government have raised their standard of living? Good luck with that.
As for stealing our ideas...I'm sure they did. Before you feel superior about that, we got all our expertise in rocketry from the Germans after WWII and they got all their knowhow from Robert Goddard. The important point here is that both the US and China produce PV (photovoltaic) silicon chips. China produces 85% of the world's supply of PV chips even tho' the US was the first on the market. Why's that? A Chinese PV chip costs a third of its American counterpart. Why's that? I'll give you a hint. It isn't because the Chinese copied American designs.
I'd like to add that the discussion was about political systems: democracy vs authoritarianism. You went off on Capitalism.
You are correct. The intent to move to china was to drive down labor costs but also to create a market in China that would purchase US products. The Term used was consumption led growth. As the standard of living went up in China, American companies thought they could catch the market with their products. They did not think Chinese would build factories equal to the great American factories. They thought Chinese would have loyalty to the companies they worked for and buy American products. The Chinese have pride and they have national pride. Very few Chinese buy an Apple phone or a Buick from GM. Apple should be proud of the nets around workers dormitories, because of suicide.
Before WWII America made great cars and washing machines. Goddard's rocketry was stupid. VonBraun made the V1 and it;s shape based on the K98 round. Goddard said the rocket would not work in the vacuum of space. But he was all the great America had. He was about as smart as the Chinese man that sat on a chair to fly. All American Universities prior to WWII were second rate.
One of the main reasons American labor can'[t compete in the world is medical costs. medical Insurance creates 1/3 of the labor costs. This is another cancer that is hollowing out the middle class. Corporations doing the double Irish Dutch sandwich (you can google what this is), and wealthy using tax loop holes, hiding wealth off shore is another reason that democracy is failing.
We are headed toward a binary society very quickly. The poor black people want to tear whites down as they seek revenge and the wealthy do not want the middle class to exist because they are the first to complain to the government. I know of no binary society democracy, they are all communist. Capitalism and Democracy work hand in hand.
I would suggest you listen to or Read Dr Hanson's book or take the free course
"American Citizenship and It's Decline" Citizenship is the root of Democracy.
https://online.hillsdale.edu/?utm_campaign=Online%20Courses&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=91750519&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8MGAeWBVUYwR2ahO7bC6ET9FJWj0CegMTUyngaAkMke2eO9ItpNMZ73V6c76V7hds49tIW0_2E6IQDsRvpV6UeqFLfBQ&utm_content=91750519&utm_source=hs_email#home
Axtually, Buick sells well in China. Kind of an anomaly.
Anointed by God?
Saying you believe in God, says you believe in good into evil even though you may not believe in God. It elevates your thinking to being connected to more than yourself. You become part of the cause for good without having to describe describe it. God can be thought of as the collective consciousness. Collective consciousness in Durkheim's view is the narrative that develops trust between people in society. Chomsky would call this manufacturing consent. Jung's definition is more spiritual. ‘collective consciousness’ as an expression of id.
The human subconscious is not only virtues that develop trust but also memories of the whole of humanity. It is personality which all human beings share a subconscious mind from memories of human beings, alive and dead. I believe there is more to a human other than character to develop trust.
David the successor of Saul was anointed by God, making him righteous. The woke stand in nothing but the outcome. Saying by by anointed by God makes them evil, developing more power and emotion. If Jung is right, man's tendency deep down is to be spiritual by nature. It is well known that the religious have better health. You can make others wrong in a more carefree way. Repressive tolerance can be overcome by no tolerance. You simply cut them off at the knees, show no mercy and no apology because you are good and they are evil.
The part where you become evil is when you destroy someone that is redeemable and may take on your view. “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”― Friedrich W. Nietzsche. You however stand in good and must pray to God for guidance. St. Paul killed many Christians before he became a Christian and later a Saint.
The bottom line is you have more power mentally when you believe in God. You develop confidence (which the woke has you question), fortitude. humility, listening, and prudence for discernment. You are outside of your mortal mind and working for a greater good. The woke need a good swift kick in the ass. Jung said “There is no coming to consciousness without pain…”
PS: About apartheid Israel... One should remember that Nelson Mandela (designated as "terrorist" by US government until recently) stated many times that apartheid in South Africa ended MAINLY due to Cuba's decisive help in liberation wars in Angola and Namibia.
Many experts believe that this is the main reason for US endless economic war against Cuba.
As usual, Patrick -- another masterpiece. Bravo !!
thanks as always, Boris. Happy holidays to you--and to all other readers and commenters.
We all know CIA did absolutely horrible crimes against humanity for seventy+ years.
But -- CIA is now completely different... And also - the Earth is flat.
The Murderous History and Deceitful Function of the CIA
https://youtu.be/BhkxQRsmMQM
PS: In Indonesia, unlike Vietnam, the US victory was total. “The Jakarta Method” — population is terrified to this day.
I watched footage of the 1943 Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (aka Japan and other puppets) and I might as well have been watching the "Democracy Summit ".
I think you are missing the zombie elephant in the room. That financial feedback loop that has everyone chasing the dollar, whether it's waiters, or mercenaries. The enormous, metastatic monetary tumor that cannot be questioned. The tool that became the god. The medium that became the message. In which everyone has become hamsters running on their wheels. The only difference being some wheels are much larger than others.
Anyone in the way of the herd must be run over.
The only sure bet is that it will crash, though taking as much with it as it can.
Biden could become popular by making recreational marijuana legal. He could declare the drug war lost and set up clinics to get people off of drugs. If the addict likes drugs too much the government could become their supplier. Cartels make money, so could the government. Addicts would get metered doses, you knock out money for the gangs, and get rid of the need for guns on the street. The ATF could look for those trying to undersell the state in drugs. I think it is beyond the purview of most of the dinosaurs in government like Biden.
Biden has empathy only for his two drug addicted children, Hunter and Ashley. For the rest he was an architect of the “War on Drugs,” (a misnomer because it was actually a “War on People”—mostly brown and black, and drugs was just the excuse), and mass incarceration. He simply has no human empathy for the pain, suffering, deaths, and broken families, and broken inner cities that his policies spawned. Same goes for his continuing Trump’s campaign of crushing sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, and now even Afghanistan. He does not care. What he does care about seems to be recreating the Cold War with Russia and China, because he has always pretended to be the tough guy, even after avoiding the Vietnam draft. This all ends badly…for him and for us.
Hunter Biden put for the US at risk by selling all the rights of cobalt mining to the Chinese profit to himself. All of the Bidens should be put into sacks with cats and thrown into the Potomac River.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/hunter-biden-firm-helped-chinese-company-secure-3-8b-cobalt-mines/ar-AAQXpRE
No one should be drowned least of all cats. Instead, they should spend the rest of their days as Joe Biden made sure millions of Americans would... inside a jail cell.
Jail requires money. This is money which we can't afford. He also creates a carbon footprint. Eliminating him is good in two cases for utilitarian reasons.
Professor, you say there is popular democracy and a variation, elite democracy. The election of Trump was a usurpation of the elite prerogative by the population (half). I think this was of immense importance and makes the Trump phenomenon a very good thing. Populist democracy won: is this the first such victory in American history?
But the election of an unauthorized President changed everything, it enraged the elite into a broad based censorious authoritarian mania that colours everything. Trump will be a candidate in 2024.
Please help us understand. Populist democracy, good, Trump incompetence and rude affect bad, who should we vote for? I prefer the ignoramus Trump to the lying scum bags of the elite.
Patrick: As always you elegantly outline the situation, contexts - and gather all the strands of your argument, your thesis into a coherence which is irrefutable. And given that many of us here reading your words have lived a similar span of decades we know the truth of your perception. Just now I have come from reading two essays from the John Menadue political blog "Pearls & Irritations" on Australia's nonsense re China - from Teow Loon Ti and Allan Patience (who beautifully draws parallels between the present Australian PM Scott Morrison and the Great War/Versailles Peace Treaty era PM Billy Hughes - both prodding East Asia (now China, then Japan) on behalf of the great powers - while thinking their puny selves are/were on a par with them! Delusional and very dangerous. May the New Year see a diminution of ignorant hubris among those who would selfishly destroy our world.
Just So. Perfect brief;
lamentably, "in the X-Ring"