We're going to really need each other from now on.

[MinneapolisMatt]

The last few months have been very confusing for me to say the least. I'm trying to figure out the rationale behind the White House, and I simply can't. I don't know what's happening and why it's happening. (Please, no snark about that comment. I'm literally at a loss.)

I'm 34 and have grown up never counting on job security, never thought much about social security, and have figured if I can't count on a job, why count on that? So there it is.

What I have noticed since, oh, 1996, is that the media, politics, and the "system" in general has changed. I remember when The Pelican Brief came out and while I found it thrilling, never really took it seriously. Now our country is that times a billion, and we all know it. It's probably been that way from the beginning.

Then comes along Wikileaks, which I think is perhaps the most globally changing movement ever. It's full impact is yet to be seen, but it has the potential to change the world as we know it permanently. It could be a very bad thing, it could be a very good thing. I can't see the future, but what I can feel is the paradigm shifting beneath my feet.

Despite all the uncertainty we are facing, we're going to need each other more than ever. Not just as people on the internet, but in real life too. We really need to reach out to our loved ones and strangers alike who are in need more than ever because we're probably going to keep getting less and less from the institutions we have grown up/lived with and which most have relied upon.

I have no real answers or solutions, however I find myself feeling more and more apt to not want to burn any bridges and adapt an attitude of forgiveness with my fellow citizens. Life is short enough as it is let alone having to deal with several possible, looming, gigantic crises.

I'm having a hard time trying to articulate how I feel. Maybe seeing the world's power structure going mad has made me become very introspective and re-evaluate what the future will be like. I feel we're starting to undergo a shift humanity hasn't seen in centuries - if ever?

I know I'm rambling as writing isn't one of my strengths; but I had to get this feeling off of my chest. I'm also not trying to sound overly-dramatic or sensitive or anything. Just trying to express what I'm sensing. We have to be ready for some significant changes ahead, or at least that's how I'm feeling it, and I hope we can all adapt and take care of each other through some probably historic times.

Thanks for reading. :grouphug:

[Voice for Peace]

1. Not rambling at all. Articulated well.

And I completely agree with you. Thank you!

[MinneapolisMatt]

8. Thanks.

:)

[molly77]

44. Articulate and thoughtful..not rambling.

We are giving food to food pantries this year instead of Christmas gifts. Our communities survive, we survive. Our Mother Earth survives, we survive.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Recommended. nt

[BlueIris]

3. That's how I feel. nt

[tavalon]

4. You rambled far less than you think

and I'm predisposed to like this OP, because I am of the same mind. It's clear the DC Beltway is no friend of ours and that we only have each other.

[ibegurpard]

5. good post

[Honeycombe8]

6. What exactly are you concerned about?

Something about a power shift? The White House? What exactly? Not sure I understand.

Maybe because I'm older than you are, and so have seen things come and go more, I don't view this time in history as power shifting, or anything earth shattering - except for global warming caused by man's actions. Now THAT'S earth shattering.

The rich have always run the world. Used to be monarchies and aristocrats and dictators. Now it seems to be corporations and aristocrats.

Politics has always been brutal. Politicians have always been unscrupulous, with a fair percentage being outright criminal in some of their actions. (Read up on Huey Long, for example. And La's governor Edwin Edwards is still in prison, I think. Unless he's passed on.)

Some things are better than they used to be. Some things are worse.

So I guess I'm not sure what you're upset about, exactly.

[MinneapolisMatt]

9. You've been through more political cycles than I.

But it's also a bit disconcerting to hear people in my neighborhood who are in their seventies saying things like they've never seen anything like this (in this country) ever in their lifetimes. It has made me think a lot.

[Honeycombe8]

15. They've never seen anything like WHAT? That's what I'm not understanding.

What, exactly, is this thing that concerns you?

[glitch]

18. The disparity between the haves and have-nots has not been this wide since before the Great

Depression. The transfer of wealth from the working class to the top 1% of the population has not been this swift and this extreme since the late 1800s.

There are alarming increases in homeless populations and people falling below the poverty line.

Aggressive wars with ill-defined objectives costing trillions at the same time as tax cuts to the very weathy, also costing trillions.

There is quite a lot to be alarmed about, perhaps you've seen disparity before but according to the statistics you have not seen this systemic level here in the U.S. unless you are over 80, but if that were the case you probably would have a better understanding of the concerns of the OP.

[Duval]

57. You are not alone in your confusion. There have been many

changes in my lifetime, but none have given me such a feeling of despair that began in 2000. And never have I seen such a hate filled political climate. The Republicans have become extremists and Democrats/Liberals/Progressive are having a hard time defining themselves. During the Bush years (W), I felt as though I had fallen through the looking glass, or that George Orwell was surely a prophet. I am in my early 70s. And, btw, you write very well. Recommended!:hi: :hug: :fistbump:

[truedelphi]

76. Hang in there Minneapolis Matt.

It is easy to say, "Oh things are terrible now, but were much better back then."

I do it all the time. Except when you really think about your life...

For example, in second grade in Chicago, <circe 1958> the Catholic nun told us little kids we probably should pray very hard, as none of us would live to see our thirteenth birthdays, due to the Cold War and the Bomb.

And of course, the Thirteen Days of the Cuban Missile Crisis - the churches were packed to overflow during weekday hours, and older people stood on the street corners. They would be huddled there discussing the events: "If Kennedy and Kruschev cannot get the war machine off their backs, none of this neighborhood will be here by the end of the month." (Had those two politicians not done as was needed, I would indeed have died before my thirteen birthday.

And of course, things in America's political realm have been bad for quite a while. After all, it was Clinton that installed NAFTA, and who signed off on Federal Communications Act of 1996. While encouraging the Monsanto Globalists to pursue their "Large Farms only" policy

It is just none of us knew much then, as the internet was not yet this living, breathing presence in our lives. YouTube didn't even exist. So we know more now, and as a result, it is harder to be contentedly complacent.

[Goldstein1984]

79. "History doesn't repeat itself; but it rhymes" ~ Mark Twain

Yes, there has always been a ruling class, and wealthy merchants (corporations) have replaced nobility in that role, but degree matters as much as the scenario.

Revolution comes when the degree of suffering reaches a threshold. Yes, there have always been both ruler and ruled, and the Few seek power and riches at the expense of the Many whether the system is a democracy or an aristocracy. Democracy is disappearing as the wealth and power are concentrated in the Few.

Change is slow, like two continental plates building tension along a fault, and most are numb to it. Revolution comes suddenly, when a threshold of tension is reached. If it could be predicted it could be prevented.

You aren't alone in what you're seeing. This nation is beginning to rot from the inside. Eventually, entertainment and reassurance from those who are doing well under the status quo will cease to pacify. The trunk can no longer be relied upon.

Don't let anyone dismiss your concerns or invalidate your views to keep you part of the flock. Wolves will shape the future of this nation, not sheep.

[peacetalksforall]

13. I absolutely don't see this the way you do. The rich have always had more, yes. But the shift is

they are taking away from us. The fervor for the poor to bail-out the rich is just one example. Losing our right to select the President - happened at the Supreme Court level - you just haven't seen the implication yet. You will have no say - the corporations will have the entire say - in selecting. This is it - there are worse things coming our way - and entire country owned and operated by not just corporations, but a ruling elite.

And Teabaggers don't know we will be one - no lines between red and blue. The division will be horizontal with gold on the top and mud on the bottom.

[Honeycombe8]

17. I see. Well, I see the issues you've described. They're huge. And I agree...

that they are happening.

But I don't view them as earth shattering. They're upsetting, and if happens completely, will last for the rest of my lifetime, probably.

Then it will shift again.

The power structure you describe...the ruling elite, etc....this is the way it was at the beginning of the 20th century. FDR and the Great Depression changed that.

This is a democracy. The law is king. So I view the country more as a pendulum swinging....the rich rule for awhile, until the people rise up and elect someone like FDR. Then the pendulum swings the other way, until the people rise up (the Tea Partiers) and elect someone like (insert name of Wacko Candidate candidate here). Nothing is static in our country, because of the way the government is set up.

I viewed the Patriot Act as the single most destructive thing to the country, but that was years ago, so we've all quit talking about it. But I still view it as extremely harmful to the freedom that "we the people" have in this country. More so than anything happening right now.

When someone says that the Supreme Court chose the President. Well, yes and no. The appeal to that court was made under our laws, and the court accepted to hear it, legally. They ruled on it, legally. I agree they shouldn't have heard the case, and certainly shouldn't have decided the way they did, but it's not the same thing as the Court interceding in the election and appointing the President.

[JDPriestly]

37. Actually, whether the Supreme Court's decision was remotely

authorized by our Constitution is questionable to say the least.

The Supreme Court really stretched and pulled its legal analysis to get to a result it wanted. It was a result-oriented decision in my opinion.

How votes are counted is a state matter. The Supreme Court did not give the Florida Supreme Court time to finish its work on the matter.

Then the Supreme Court came in with a cockamamie sort of 14th Amendment argument that was only possible due to an assumption that Bush had won.

My memory may not be serving me correctly, but that is the way I remember the events.

It was fixed from the beginning. And the whole nation has paid a terrible price for it.

Sandra Day O'Connor really let the country down when she supported Bush in Bush v. Gore.

[BrklynLiberal]

32. You are absolutely right.

The latest stats are showing the upper 1-2% have the greatest percent of wealth they have ever had in this country, and their rate of increasing that wealth is the highest it has been in decades.

The poor are getting poorer. The top 2% have MUCH MORE wealth than the bottom 80%

These charts are form 2007..and the gap has widened, significantly since then.
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

Table 1: Distribution of net worth and financial wealth in the United States, 1983-2007
Total Net Worth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 33.8% 47.5% 18.7%
1989 37.4% 46.2% 16.5%
1992 37.2% 46.6% 16.2%
1995 38.5% 45.4% 16.1%
1998 38.1% 45.3% 16.6%
2001 33.4% 51.0% 15.6%
2004 34.3% 50.3% 15.3%
2007 34.6% 50.5% 15.0%

Financial Wealth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 42.9% 48.4% 8.7%
1989 46.9% 46.5% 6.6%
1992 45.6% 46.7% 7.7%
1995 47.2% 45.9% 7.0%
1998 47.3% 43.6% 9.1%
2001 39.7% 51.5% 8.7%
2004 42.2% 50.3% 7.5%
2007 42.7% 50.3% 7.0%

http://www.mybudget360.com/top-1-percent-control-42-percent-of-financial-wealth-in-the-us-how-average-americans-are-lured-into-debt-servitude-by-promises-of-mega-wealth/

Top 1 Percent Control 42 Percent of Financial Wealth in the U.S. – How Average Americans are Lured into Debt Servitude by Promises of Mega Wealth.

[Knight Hawk]

16. Let me tell you

I am in my sixties and have seen lot.The USA has definitely changed for the worse in the last 10 years or so.There is a strong feeling among almost all the people I know that a sea change is occurring as I type this.I have followed politics since the 1960 election ,saw John Kennedy speak in person on the campaign trail.Of the 535 members of Congress I do not believe there has EVER been as many selfish indivduals.It is all about ME,ME,ME ad infinitium.We are not the UNITED states anymore.In all sincerety we would probably be better separating into two,maybe three,separate countries.Have an election in each state and let people vote.I fear that the only thing that is going to psychologically shake us out of this death spiral we are in is a major war or a very serious economic depression.I have never seen such a dearth of hope as I see now.And a good pep talk is not going to get us out of it.We need electric shock treatments AND a lot of sheer guts,determination,hard work and discipline .We ALL have let it slip away.

[Honeycombe8]

19. Yes, it's changed for the worse in the last 10 years, for sure. But it was this way...

at the beginning of the 20th Century. The poster was talking about earth shattering events, the end of the country, etc. I wasn't sure what he meant...I didn't see anything ending the country.

If you're only looking at the last 10 years, then yeah, things look earth shattering. If you go back farther, it looks like more of the same that used to be, then changed, but is here again.

Remember reading about the greed and the ruling class and the investors and companies that caused the Great Depression? It's here again. And it almost caused a second Great Depression. But it didn't. Not yet, anyway. Not quite.

I see the hatred and lack of respect that both major political party leaders have towards each other. How can we get anything passed if they call each other names and act anything but professional? That's not leadership. But that's not new, either. It's gotten much worse in the last 30 years (since Reagan), but it used to be really bad in prior generations, too. Even during the beginning years of the country.

I'm concerned about fraud in elections (I don't think Bush was elected TWICE). But that's nothing new, either.

I guess I see it all as very upsetting, and it pisses me off..but I don't view it as earth shattering or impending doom for the country. Because it seems to me to be like the things of old are here again. The country won't end. It will go on. There will be elections and voting and voter fraud and unscrupulous politicans and rich people running things. But if the people rise up and insist on an FDR-like leader, the pendulum will swing back the other way.

I love Obama. He's made big advancements in the areas of the environment and alternative energy. No other candidate would have done as much, IMO. But I'm wondering if he has the strength of will, when it comes to the Republicans. They're the best at winning elections and manipulation and media control. Can the current Democratic leaders deal with that? I don't know.

[jwirr]

34. One thing has changed that should cause everyone concern. In the

past each problem era found a way out because there were plenty of natural resources to stimulate growth. FDR had cheap energy, etc. Today we are looking at if not total depletion then hard to get at resources. That is different. Also the equation of urban/rural has drastically changed. At the beginning of the 20th century most of our country were rural and mostly independent for the basic necessities of life. Today we are an urban country dependent on others for almost everything. IMO things look very scary.

[jtuck004]

35. +1

[marew]

39. In my 60's also and completely agree.

I was in college while Lyndon Johnson was president. There was a completely different feeling then. I remember his "Office of Economic Opportunity." That was a completely different world. There has been a dramatic shift. It may shift back someday but probably not in my lifetime.

[madmax]

54. I remember OEO - got my first part-time job

after school at the Town Library. Wonderful opportunity for a kid like me with 1 parent. It helped in many ways, not just the extra cash. It was what we call today, 'networking'.

[madmax]

55. +1

[JDPriestly]

36. Here is the shift as I see it, Honeycombe8

The "free market" is new and bringing change. Thus far, it has robbed working people in the US of their power over their jobs, their incomes, their security and, ultimately, their lives.

The internet is also new and bringing change. Wikileaks is proving that the internet has the potential to rob governments and the rich of their power -- by preventing them from negotiating and plotting in secret and by preventing them from hiding information from us.

The future will either be a true democracy in which the power of the rich is shared with the poor because it is limited by the power of information, or the future will be a totally authoritarian regime dominated by the biggest bullies.

It is up to us to choose which way we go.

[Odin2005]

7. Great post, thanks!

:hug:

[MinneapolisMatt]

11. You're welcome.

:)

[glinda]

10. I share your feelings. Thoughtful post.

[1776Forever]

12. I am a senior who was just thinking about how much the younger generation has lost - I had some bad

times too but I had enough good times to keep afloat and bring good memories more then bad ones out of my life. I was just thinking about how much has been lost in the last 12 years. I don't know what to say except I hope there is something that will happen SOON to give hope to our younger generation. I would think a jobs program that worked for many many people would be the number 1 thing that would lift us out of the hole we are in. Take care and know you are not alone in your feelings. Young or old we are all wondering what the hell happen to our high hopes and why there is so much greed in our world.

[OHdem10]

22. very good and hearfelt post. You make an excellent post.

when you ask that we stick together and look out for
each other.

It can be very frightening and some days are worse than
others.

When we bitch and moan, it is because we care what happens.

[BrklynLiberal]

31. Well said....Thanks for that.

[peacetalksforall]

14. You expressed yourself very well. Thanks for posting.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

20. Thank you for such a thoughtful post.n/t

[emilyg]

21. Thank you.

[sabrina 1]

23. You aren't rambling at all. Your post expresses what many

people are feeling and does so very well. I agree regarding the huge changes and also, the uncertainty about whether they will be good or bad.

And about sticking together. It does feel more and more like 'them' against 'we the people'. But, there have been bad times before, and bad leaders. The good thing is, even though it shatters a lot of pleasant illusions, we know more now than we did just a few years ago. The question is what do we do now? I don't know either.

[Greyhound]

24. I enjoyed reading your post and hope you will respond.

(One criticism because I'm a bit obsessive about words having specific meaning, you can't feel a "paradigm shifting beneath my feet".)

Since you used it to illustrate what you're feeling, have you considered the message of The Pelican Brief? Conspiracies and confluence of objectives do and have always existed. There have been repeated warnings for generations about what is and has been happening. From great Authors to confessions of the conspirators themselves, we have been told over and over again that the parasite class has always and will always work in concert against us for their own benefit.

And with every step we are also told that it is not happening, that it is for our own good, that it cannot be stopped, that it is simply coincidence, that it is for some other purpose, etc., and most of us believe them. We deny what is before our eyes because it is easier to just go along. Because we all seek acceptance and we all fear to risk. But as you are beginning to see, sooner or later we are left with only one choice, resistance or submission.

Throughout history every major innovation in human communication has caused massive social change and an improvement in the human condition. And each time this has happened the beneficiaries of the status quo have used violence to suppress those changes. Computer networks are such a change. The internet and the World Wide Web constitute the greatest innovation in human communication yet and Wikileaks is a result of that innovation.

Do you think it is coincidence that you place the year 1996 as the point where everything changed? Do you think that the parasites spent billions upon billions buying and controlling every form of mass media? And more to the point, do you think it is a coincidence that virtually all the major nations are banding together to squelch, threaten, dismiss, and discredit what Wikileaks is doing?

We are fast approaching the breaking point and every single one of us will have to decide which side we are on, the authoritarian or the egalitarian. There will be pain, but if we, as you say, "adapt and take care of each other" we will have the opportunity to make a much better future.

Just remember that the old ways are dying, so watch for genuinely new ideas, but also be aware that the parasites are not stupid. Willing cooperation only through mutual benefit, never through coercion, dilution and dispersion of power, these are of benefit to people and are anathema to the parasites.

[OneGrassRoot]

26. These are the words that Beck & Company despise...

You wrote: "Willing cooperation only through mutual benefit."

Yes, ABSOLUTELY! :)

It's this portion of Wishadoo's mission statement that led Beck to diss it on his show:

Wishadoo! is a social visionary enterprise committed to and infused with the core values of integrity, respect, and compassion. The intent is to be self-sustaining and to create jobs and income opportunities for others through a cooperative model. Everything has mutual benefit, supporting and sustaining The Common Good. We are shifting the traditional model of “profit-only corporation” to “mutual-benefit cooperation” with the social vision as the guiding force.


It's up to choose this path...willingly, truly seeing the benefit for all, rather than feeling we MUST as part of some pre- or post-apocalyptic scenario, imho.

:hi:

[InvisibleTouch]

33. Mutual self-sufficiency rather than reliance on outside forces and big corporations.

Yes, I'm big into that too. I don't trust that "the grid" and the supply lines and the basic necessities that we've come to take for granted, will be easily accessible in the near future. We've got to learn to survive doing our own thing, and to help one another out by bartering our skills among each other.

One contrary note, though - in every era there have been people convinced that we were living in "the worst of times." As it turned out, the world always survived - it just changed. So I'm not sure I'd say we have it worse now than at any other particular time in history, but there *is* a change in the works. That doesn't necessarily have to be bad.

[nenagh]

27. Wow, just wow... & in 1996..

1996..."Language a Key Mechanism of Control".. Newt Gingrich.

And before people scoff at Newt Gingrich's morality problems..

His manifesto, to me, represents the bedrock of Repub propaganda that is successful to this day.

Well said and many thanks for your comment.

[MinneapolisMatt]

29. LOL!

Yeah, the paradigm thing under my feet was a little strange. I hope you understand I wasn't being literal. Hahaha!

Just woke up, no coffee yet, but I wanted to say hi before I got on with my busy day.

1996 - you're correct. That's exactly why, not only for the reasons you stated, but for personal reasons as well. And looking back, it's really clear now.

I'm glad many of the old ways are dying, and feel more prepared than a lot people. Every now and then it's a little much though. Kinda wish everything would be put on pause for a few months so I could catch my breath!

[snagglepuss]

47. Well said nt

[OneGrassRoot]

25. And, may I humbly suggest, that this is a very, very good thing.

In my view, we need to get back to "community" and compassion and empathy and forgiveness -- regardless of what is happening with governmental and other institutions. By embracing these qualities and working more cooperatively, we take our power back.

Maybe when there is this critical shift, the systems themselves will either start to shift and/or crumble, for us to build anew.

And it can be a positive shift, not an apocalyptic "must."

I suggest it be something we look forward to and actively work toward.

I invite you to check out Wishadoo!, something I've been working toward really my whole life, and speaks to much of what you say here, and you said it very, very well.

Nice to meet you. :hi:

[LiberalLoner]

28. Thank you so much for this wonderful post! K&R n/t

[BrklynLiberal]

30. You have loads and loads of comany in your confusion and loss of "faith".

I have been around longer than you have, and at this point, I am numb with disappointment and confusion.

[mudplanet]

38. seeing the world's power structure going mad - there's nothing insane

about it at all, it's a very rational and predictable progression of events if you have read Marx.

The wealthy are going to continue to act to increase their share of the wealth and power until the have-nots get so fed up that they revolt. All that remains to be seen is what form that revolt will take. But it's pretty clear that the wealthy aren't going to give it up without a bloody fight.

[MinneapolisMatt]

40. Thanks to all for sharing.

It's great to read different perspectives. I mean it, thank you.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

41. K&R

[Jackpine Radical]

42. Absolutely.

I think you're right on target. The only way through what's coming is small-scale, informal collectivism, and that in turn is based on valuing and loving each other.

[PBS Poll-435]

43. I approve this post nearly 100%

I think wikyleaksy is a scam but I do agree that we have crossed the Rubicon for political civility.

There is a soft iron curtain between Democrats/Liberals/Progressives/Liberal Republicans/ and bat-shit crazy Conservatives/Republicans/Tea Idiots/Baggers/Rubio/Palin/Bachmann.


As I write this this sounds like a PNAC piece. :grr:


Ah, fuck it.

[DailyGrind51]

45. You said it all, thank you! I'm finding myself reaching out more, also.

[mdmc]

46. thanks for the OP

solidarity

[snagglepuss]

48. Very well said. I share your sentiments. nt

[WCGreen]

49. Your angst is mine as well...

Stated in away that is very understandable to one and all...

Great job.

[NNN0LHI]

50. Imagine being out of work a couple of years with a young family to support and you look around ...

... and all your neighbors are buying what a foreign competitor was selling here instead of what you were making before you were laid off.

Think that would confuse you? Would you ever forget that?

Don

[laughingliberal]

51. Ah, the wisdom is strong in this one. K&R. nt

[Greyhound]

52. Kicking again. Let's see if more will join the conversation. n/t

[madmax]

53. You said it from the heart and beautifully

Thank you, Matt. :hug: and of course a :grouphug:

[Divernan]

56. For the last several years, I have been relieved I don't have grandchildren.

I have adult kids in their 40's - all well educated and currently well employed. They hopefully will be able to save enough of their earnings to retire before they collapse & die on the job. I was a single parent who at times worked 1 full time and 2 part time jobs simultaneously to support my family. That isn't a viable alternative for today's single parents. I encouraged and supported my kids to get bachelor's and advanced degrees.

What can parents of today's teenagers do? What future is available for these kids? Why incur massive student loan debt to qualify yourself for jobs that have been shipped overseas? I see friends' kids who might have gone to college in an earlier era. They're working at minimum wage jobs, still living at home, and spend their time off on drugs, alcohol, casual sex and partying. Sort of an "eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow will be as hopeless as today " approach to life.

[glinda]

74. I am grateful I have no children at this point.

[donco6]

58. I'm 50 and I feel about the same.

You're not alone. I don't know what else to say.

[Locrian]

59. maybe what you're feeling...

I believe what you are feeling is the feeling that we are ALL being pushed into acting as if it's every man(and woman) for himself. It's a feeling that the world is telling you that selfishness it the only way to act in life. At the same time, we feel we create no value. That we dont matter.

But WE all know that that is WRONG. We feel it in our core that SOMETHING is rotten and we dont know what the fuck it is. We are caught in this artificial world where EVERYTHING is controlled by established, rich, authority.

We've been sold a system that is INHUMAN. The way the economy works it ONLY values the established: the investment class (this used to be called "non-productive" activity). It was DESIGNED this way, and it works to extract "wealth" from people and hand it to the rich. It is the only way we now measure value.

Check this out - it may help make sense of things...

http://rushkoff.com/books/life-incorporated/

Its basic laws were set in motion as far back as the Renaissance; it was accelerated by the Industrial Age; and it was sold to us as a better way of life by a determined generation of corporate leaders who believed they had our best interests at heart and who ultimately succeeded in their dream of controlling the masses from above.

We have succumbed to an ideology that has the same intellectual underpinnings and assumptions about human nature as--dare we say it--mid- twentieth-century fascism. Given how the word has been misapplied to everyone from police officers to communists, we might best refrain from resorting to what has become a feature of cheap polemic. But in this case it's accurate, and that we're forced to dance around this "F word" today would certainly have pleased Goebbels greatly.

I think your comment "we are going to need each other now" is SPOT ON! It will be the ONLY way we can take back who we are. It will be the local "value" we create and the human ties and bonds and whatever you want to call it that are the only hope we have.

[defendandprotect]

60. Global Elites have always been "mad" -- Capitalism is suicidal ....

in its exploitations of nature and humanity --

and Elites/Royals or the few violent among us -- however you think of them --

are from the same gene pool which gave us genocide against the Native American

and enslavement of the African here -- and on and on. Conquest thru organized

patriarchal religion -- introducing the cross with the sword. Conquest by

colonization. Conquest by flase flag operations. American Imperialism.


Threats, blackmail as we can see from the Wikileaks info -- no matter what it takes!

There is only one way the right wing can rise and that's by political violence --

assassination -- stolen elections -- lies. And, we've had more than 50 years of in

plein air political violence by the right wing.



Patriarch -- and its underpinning =

Organized Patirarchal Religion -- and its economic system =

Capitalism =



And just a PS on Social Security -- for three decades and more GOP/right wingers

have been lying to the public about Social Security, especially to confuse them

about what it is -- IT IS ACTUALLY AN INSURANCE PROGRAM which no citizen could

replace anywhere with a private company.

If you were married and had children and you something happened and you died --

it would provide for your spouse and children. If you were disabled -- same thing.

Your age is really irrevelant --

:)




The Unholy Trinity

[treestar]

61. Turn off the TV

Oh the drama! This is pathetic! Nothing especially bad has happened. Life goes on. The drama addiction on DU is over the top!

[MinneapolisMatt]

63. I don't watch news TV, that's for sure.

Love Turner Classic Movies, though. And PBS.

[defendandprotect]

64. Very serious things have happened: Global Warming and banrkutping of our Treasury ....

neither bode well for our futures --

Global Warming is a very serious event in the lives of we now living --

and for our children.

Bankrupting the Treasury is a major step in destroying democracy.

[Ramulux]

62. Its not just you

Its pretty much every single non-Obama loyalist democrat I know that feels this way. As you point out the craziest thing about all this is the fact that the white house seems to be completely unaware of the moral collapse that is happening within their base. Its almost surreal watching this happen because like you, I have tried and simply cannot come up with any reasonable explanation as to why they are doing what they are doing.

Sadly it has come down to the real question we must ask, is Barack Obama an idiot, or was he just never on our side to begin with? I'm thinking its the second.

[defendandprotect]

65. It is NOT the base which is suffering a "moral collapse" ... it is this

administration --

If the "base" were not morally certain they would not be so upset with Obama

and his administration!!!

Not only do we need a new candidate in 2012 -- we need to be encouraging Obama

daily to rid himself of the FOXES he's put in charge of government -- and more

and more every day as he's just appointed LEW a former CEO at Citigroup which

has been involved in fraud -- and will now head up OBM!!

Most of these major banks have also been involved in laundering huge amounts of

drug money -- will it now be laundered directly thru government?


All of Obama's "picks" -- the whole group which were responsible for CREATING this

financial scheme and its collapse -- and who also profitted from it -- and who have

been preventing any real remedy to these schemes must GO -- !!

[humbled_opinion]

68. But your missing the bigger picture...

Look Obama has been defined by the Right with their media and corporate sponsors as a far left radical liberal progressive, whose agenda is full of Marxist ideas and the change that he so broadly spoke of in 2008 is actually Socialism come to America.

By allowing them to spin this definition, without serious retaliation, is what caused the tea party revolution and is what has caused the independent minded people to flee from Obama.... It is exactly why the independents fled Bushco in 2005 because they saw his actions as radical and dangerous to world peace so they dumped him.

The problem isn't that Obama isn't morally certain, he was lauded on every forum as a great commuicator. The problem was that Obama stopped communicating his principles and adopted a shift to the right. The way I see it is Obama started to believe that getting things done trumped getting things done the right way and that is the major failure.

So now the reaction will be that the base begins to get riled up, when we never should have let our guard down to begin with. It may be too late, but who knows it all may work out well in the end, thats what makes this such an interesting time, historically speaking.

[AndrewP]

66. great post

[davidthegnome]

67. It's hard for everyone

Everyone I know, at least. There are things happening in the world today that boggle the hell out of my mind. The oil spill, the effects of global warming, the unchecked greed and ambition of corporations and politicians, war, debt, bankruptcy, unbelievable selfishness. So much of it is there to see, in the open, when that was not so much the case before the internet - unless you knew where to look. A wealth of information is out there now, available for everyone to draw what they will from it. I'm confused as hell too, and not ashamed to admit it.

I can't decide what (if any) media should be trusted, that does not have it's own agenda or isn't peddling for some corporation or another. Wikileaks... to think there's someone sharing information the government doesn't want us to have puts a smile on my face. Sorry guys, you want phone taps without warrant? We've suffered through the farce of the Patriot Act and so much other nonsense, and now these idiots are in a fury about wikileaks? Hmm... something here strikes me as ludicrous. I'm not entirely sure what I think of it, ultimately, except that if it pisses the government off by exposing some secrets, it pleases me.

That being said, I'm younger than you are, 26. I have to agree with you though, I have felt for a long time now that the world is changing - I'm young, but not uneducated or stupid. As a student of world history, I still say that we are seeing change (for good or ill) that has not been seen in any living memory. Wikileaks is a part of that, but only a small part of the whole. The internet has made it possible for us to educate ourselves and each other on a level never before seen, to share with each other what we know and learn from the ideas and the knowledge of others.

I suppose it's silly to say this, even in an internet forum, but it is more than what I see and read or even hear about. I have a feeling that great change is coming, perhaps a gut feeling, perhaps instinct, perhaps a spiritual thing - or maybe I drink too much coffee. In any event, it is a feeling I cannot ignore, I think we are still in the beginning of what I hope and pray will be an age of greater enlightenment, peace and prosperity for us all (it's just off to a rocky start, I hope). I believe without a doubt though.... something is happening, it is certainly a time of change.

I've rambled enough.

Thank you for your post, I wish I was able to articulate my feelings as well as you did.

[Baldy]

69. Wrap your arms around this....

America had a great decade in the 50's, huh? If you discount all the morally and phyiscally wounded soldiers, that is. It seemed prosperous, at any rate. Beyond those years, most--like 99%--of Americans have been working class. Working class as in working to keep food and shelter a daily habit.

Survival ain't nothing new---every living creature has to do it. What's new is supporting those who would never survive otherwise. Humans made it this far by natural selection, but advances in medicine, international travel/communication, and the US Constitution which guarantees that the weak survive--and indeed thrive--regardless of the impact on society has thrown Nature's perfect natural selection into the abyss.

Sure, I can understand the op's angst. But understand my need to think him the weakest link, to vote him off the island, to demote him to french fries, to ask him to supersize it, to be Nature's Tool of Natural Selection.

heh.

[MedicalAdmin]

81. Look everyone - it's a eugenics fan

Baldy, you might want to consider a few things. First, why was eugenics / social Darwinism so popular in Germany in the years 1930'- 1945? Second, have you ever considered that if it comes to voting off the weak link ( or one could perhaps say ' missing' in your case) that bald men might just not make the cut? That is to say, what convinces you of your superiority?

[myrna minx]

70. I'll link arms with you, my neighbor.

:grouphug:

[liberation]

71. We have always needed each other...

... some people are just starting to notice.

I actually think good things will eventually come out of this. It is time to evolve, I say.

[JerseygirlCT]

72. Well put, Matt

And we can only hope that more people see things as you do. Because we do need each other; every single one of us.

[Swamp Rat]

73. The pessimist in me sees an authoritarian dystopia on the horizon.

Hope I'm wrong.

[stlsaxman]

75. Thank you, Matt. I was really needing this.

The guitarist of King Crimson, Robert Fripp, wrote of times like these-

"In strange and uncertain times, such as those we are living in, sometimes a reasonable person might despair. But Hope is unreasonable and Love is greater even than this."

[WheelWalker]

77. True story, Matt.

:kick:

[Goldstein1984]

78. Thanks for writing

I have twenty years on you, and I'm experiencing the same thing. So much I took for granted, until it was suddenly gone. I haven't had a chance to read all the replies, and won't have time until at least tomorrow, but let me write down a quick thought in reply to your wonderful post.

First, I believe the Ruling Class knows that the people only have each other to count on, which is why they are so cynically playing us against each other using our fears to divide us.

Second, I believe you're correct in saying that we will increasingly not be able to rely on the institutions that we have come to expect to be there when we need them. They were created to serve the Many, but they have become inconvenient for the Few. People with no safety net are fearful, and fearful people are easy to manipulate. And those institutions now divert resources from things more important to the ruling class, like wars for acquisition of wealth and power.

Third, what we can expect is that the government, which I have come to believe have become a separate entity from "We the People," is in the process of creating a paradigm in which we will receive "security" in exchange for taxes. Dissent will be defined as treason. Knowledge will be defined as elitism. Patriotism will be defined as obedience.

Finally, it's been a long time since I used the inclusive "We" when speaking of the United States. I'm ashamed of what the government claims to do on my behalf. There are only a ruling class and a working class, and a government that serves the Few by manipulating the Many. The democratic process has become a formality and an illusion that the ruling class has learned to manipulate.

It's almost impossible to engage in meaningful debate, even with Liberals who still support the system. Truth has become so elusive. Morality is claimed by all sides in mutually exclusive contexts. As Orwell said: "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength."

Class war is upon us, and worse is coming.

[MinneapolisMatt]

82. Wow.

Thanks for that reply! Very well put.

[BobTheSubgenius]

80. Put me in the non-rambling camp, as well.

As a get-it-off-your-chest effort, it's actually cogent and articulate.

[Bryn]

83. Well Said, Matt

too late for me to recommend, but to give your post a kick for more people to read.