what do you think of america now?

[dancap48066]

From Dendood in the earlier post:
I had my bowl of popcorn all set and ready to watch them jump over the fiscal cliff and crush the brand of the Republican party for a generation. But thanks to Wall St. arm twisting and poll numbers in the toilet, rational(?), well maybe 'self interested' minds are stepping forward. Ted Cruz is about to be kicked to the curb.

-It has been like watching The Titanic. But without the love story.

But fear not, The Tea Party crazy has a lot more crazy hiding in the brush.
Keep your popcorn at the ready.

You almost made me spit out my dinner as I read that part laughing my ass off. God, I love this forum

 

[Dendood]

Hi Dan, glad to bring the funny. Which is a relief to hear. When I post I'm trying as hard as I can to be as affirmative about my position as possible. In hindsight I cringe a little reading what I write... the tone always seems too aggressive. In general I'm a pretty quiet person and I reflect a long time on topics and pay attention to a lot of sources and data.

Alas, my brain doesn't hold data in my head, so I have informed positions, but lack the ability to cough up data that brought me to my positions. Which at times makes me cringe as well.

For all the instability it would have caused, I so wanted the Republicans to take us over the fiscal cliff. And since it all starts up in a short month or two, if I were the Dems I would stand there and hold the door open for them so Crazy can walk through.

The Republican party is getting too much of a pass. As much as some can blame the Tea Party for being extreme, there's not one position held by the far right that the rest of the Party would not back. There is not now and never was a moderate voice in today's GOP. As witnessed by Olympia Snow. Although touted as moderate, she never broke rank with the Conservative line. You are what you do, not what you say. And not only did she not walk her walk, she never spoke it. The same is true of the Party as a whole. They don't agree with Ted Cruz's tactics, but the substance of what he is for, they ALL agree with that.

If they are comfortable casting 40+ votes to try and end Obamacare, don't think for a minute that if they had the power they wouldn't cast any and every vote to turn back the clock on Gay Marriage.

What do I think of America?

I think America should
End the war in Afghanistan
End the war on drugs
Reduce Military Spending
Pass a comprehensive Immigration Bill
Set tougher Environmental Standards
Toughen regulations on Corporations and the Banking Industry
Tax the fuck out of the Wealthy
Provide incentives to business that favor the middle class and working poor
Raise the minimum wage, or better, create a policy of a living wage
Fund higher education
Pass a Jobs bill
Tax financial transactions
Close Corporate Loopholes
Invest in national infrastructure
Pass restrictions on high capacity firearms
Pass anti-discrimination legislation
Pass laws that make it easier for people to register and vote
Restrict fracking for oil and other 'dirty' sources of energy
Invest in Clean Energy


In short, if I were in Congress I would the Frankenstein of Liberalism.

 

[tonka]

I always look forward to your posts, Dendood. I think you are pretty positive. There are core American values that you deeply believe in. What's more positive than that?

I like your list. it would certainly make my life better, and my neighbors. What it would require is a huge cut in the military budget. I'm all for that. We're a continental country with oceans on either side, and Canada and Mexico as neighbors. We can still protect ourselves and cut it...70,80,90 %?

It would also mean the end of Pax Americana. Since the end of WW2, Pax Americana has kept a lid on things. Relative peace, not total peace. But like Pax Romana (and others), it fostered a long period of peace, stability, and economic expansion.

But it's become a suckers game for America. We gets the huge costs (in treasure, in lives lost and damaged, in hate). We get the criticism (some certainly deserved). Our allies get low cost protection, and the moral high ground.

I realize this is the classic isolationist argument. But I think it would be great for America. For the world? Who knows.

 

[james1981]

I think your list is a good one Dendood.

Tonka, perhaps there's some middle ground between Pax Americana and isolationism.

 

[buffpaul]

I am a proud American, tired of war and religious fanaticism.
Afraid to travel for fear of foreign perceptions/bigotry.
I am happy to lock the borders and tend my own business.
If there's anything to be done to make your country better, Please don't hesitate to ask someone else.

 

[Dendood]

Hi Buff,

No need to live in fear. If you lock down the borders you won't be able to buy an Ipad, Iphone. A truly locked down border would mean no gas for your car. No wicker furniture for the patio. In order for goods to come and go, people have to come and go.

And you'll still be free to mind your own business while the world continues to go about its own.

Travel may be a concern, but would it have been any less safe to travel to Morocco, or the Boston Marathon?

In the heyday of civil rights movement there was a common refrain, "No Justice. No Peace." The best way to confront the difficult challenges facing all our nations is to trust good will. The more good will is spread to the widest swath of the populace, the easier it is to combat the ills of the world. Most people -everywhere- want to tend to their own well being. Much of the ill will America (short for 'United States of America'... you know, like 'LOL.'......) Much of the ill will was earned through decades of CIA and the like toppling governments, supporting corporate raids on foreign resources, etc. etc.
Very much buying into the notion that "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."

We have reached a tipping point where an informed, global population no longer makes indifference to wide swaths of populations an easy ledger to the needs of the few. We can best raise the nation by raising the well being of us all from the bottom up. We've tried from the top down and it failed.

40% of all U.S. workers make less than $25k a year. And for most of that 40%, $25k would be HUGE increase in their income, if they could get it. We are not talking about 'takers' here. These are people eager to work. Proud to work. -And working. And yet they are unable to afford a basic standard of living, even though they do work.

By contrast, the CEO of Apple.... when Steve Jobs died the new CEO took 327 times Steve's compensation as head of the company. Americans were busy buying their phones and Ipads, while the majority of U.S. Apple jobs were low paying sales clerk positions at Apple Stores. Many of whom were LAID OFF during this executive cash grab.

40% of all U.S. workers make less than $25k while just 40 hedge fund managers made $14 billion dollars last year alone. 40 individuals. 14 Billion. -Most of it tax free.

Corporations write our laws. Congress just rubber stamps them. If we game the system in favor of building a middle class -and export the idea of 'justice for the majority', you'll have less to worry about at night. No need to gate your community. No need to build fences. No need for fear.

 

[tonka]

I'm not an economist. Isn't there a tension between "justice for the majority" and justice for the working class in rich countries?
In the last few decades, incomes have risen... in India, South America, China, now even Africa. There is a huge new middle class. These same forces have battered the working class in the rich countries. I'm hanging on pretty well, but it's me, my friends, my family. Cars built in Mexico are not built in Detroit. Clothes made in Bangladesh are not made in Los Angeles. Is justice for one injustice for another?

As to travel. I've been lucky to travel over the years. People don't hate Americans (unless you act like a jerk). They may not like all of our military actions, but Madonna and Mickey Mouse and Google and aids drugs and Randy Blue make for a varied picture.

 

[bigsal]

I'm not an economist.

Even the so-called "economists" are not real economists.

The proof of this is the current economic situation in which are most developed countries. A true failure.

 

[Dendood]

Hi Tonka,

Personally, I see that 'tension' as being the illusion used to maintain the status quo. I have a friend I went to College with, a business major who is also a Republican. Every time I brought up the idea of higher wages, he would fall back on the 'price of a t-shirt' argument. Raising wages raises prices. -After hearing this a number of times, I asked him, "Why is it no one raises this point when the guy on the top takes a raise?" Executives at McDonald's all have hefty salaries. Hedge fund managers, Apple Executives, somehow the market is able to absorb their costs without the Market falling apart. But when the subject comes up for the guy at the loading dock, it is as if the world would come to an end if earned a living wage. As if the working poor would be robbing food from the mouths of middle class children.

Why does Tom Brady have to make 12 million a year while the guy collecting tickets works for minimum wage? I realize Tom Brady has unique, valued skills that makes the engine run. But take away the guys collecting tickets, inspecting bags for weapons, etc. etc. are part of the 'experience'. Couldn't Tommo live on 11 million a year and give the guy pushing over priced, unhealthy snack foods enough pay to at least consider buying a car, health care, providing for his kids.

And not just Tom. The Koch Brothers. McDonald CEOs. The College in my town, the President of the College makes more than the President of the United States. And we're one of those hyphenated St. schools. The Campus Police Chief makes more money than the Police Chief of Chicago. And while the Administration sucks down huge salaries and the students go into debt for thousands of dollars, the pay rate for faculty falls a bit each year. -And it is the teachers that get labelled as "takers".

I have no qualms with people making money. What I have issue with is the idea that it is a good thing if "I" make all I can, but others making more destroys the system.
To quote Joni Mitchell...
"Some are treated well in these games of buy and sell.
And some like poor beasts are burdened down to breaking."

The irony is, if you pay the lower class more, it all comes back to you anyway. Someone with $500,000 in savings isn't likely to put an extra $10,000 into the economy. Someone making $15k a year is likely to put 90% of that, if not more, back into the economy. Which only creates more business, more profits, more money for the people at the top.

Job creation. It's a good thing.