Has anybody considered the possiibility that this is what the powers that be want?

[ljm2002]

69. Yes, as you say...

..."The system is rigged from top to bottom."

The population is less engaged than ever, except for the True Believers who tend to be fanatical. We have a large portion of the population who think politics is a dirty business and who don't have either the time or the inclination to delve into the details and inform themselves. Why should they? They work hard, they're not getting ahead, and they don't want to spend their spare time on something that is clearly corrupt.

Then when they get mad about some unfairness they have experienced or have heard about, they want to know who to blame. And right wing radio and Fox News are there to tell them exactly who's to blame. It works because the propagandists put their fingers on problems that are real, then twist them to suit their agenda.

But the larger agenda is to divide us, and both sides do that, although the right wingers do it better. The Republicans have tapped in to the anger that people feel. The Democrats try to be soothing and make us think it will all work out, and that they are on our side. But they have long since abandoned the bedrock economic principles that made us rally behind them. They are reduced to saying "There, there, it's not as bad as you think. You need to understand, globalization will actually INCREASE jobs here at home, you'll see!" Then what we see is that the good jobs in manufacturing and IT etc. get exported, and the only increase in jobs is in low paying service jobs in our new "service economy".

And we wonder why liberals are so easily demonized? Just as we can see very clearly when the Republicans talk out of both sides of their mouths, they can see very clearly when the Democrats do the same -- which they do every single time they promote farces like NAFTA and the newer Pacific Trade Agreement (I forget the official name of it).

The oligarchs are running the show. The Democrats are less worse than the Republicans, but both parties are working towards the same ends in the economic arena, and both continue to support a bloated military and an imperial view of our place in the world. Oh sure, we can tell ourselves that we are benign imperialists, whose only goal is to bring democracy to the world. Tell that to the Chileans, to the Nicaraguans, to the Iraqis, the Iranians, ... it just isn't so.

The remaining question is what to do about it. I don't know. I wish I had an answer or even some good suggestions.