The headlines this week are wild: Trump is threatening nutso tariffs against America’s traditional trading partners (although none for Russia, of course), demanding that our allies proclaim their willingness to go to war with China, and — along with his billionaire buddies — looting our government w...
Yeah this article rightly points out Eisenhower’s foresight and the ways intelligent leaders saw the writing on the wall throughout the last century. 2016 was certainly an inflection point, but in hindsight 2020 seemed to be the tipping point.
American voters in both major parties consistently vote against their own collective interests in order to maximize individual gain. It’s irrational, but also so essentially American.
For example, consider that the historical self-narrative and cultural lexicon for young American students is essentially:
“We are the greatest country on Earth. Our ideals are universal and should be impressed upon all of Earth’s peoples. We deserve all the wealth we have, but are not responsible for the consequences. Any criticism against us is a direct attack on our way of life.”
It should be no shock that without intentional efforts to maintain civic society, integraye immigrants and other minorities, and foster social cohesion through rural-urban exchange; this type of culture quickly erodes into the ‘fuck you, got mine’ mentality rampant on social media, perpetuated by corporate interests, and exploited by malicious political agents.
Well said, but it’s not just American voters. Also it depends very much on how you explain things to voters - individual gain and collective interest are not opposites, but that’s what a corporate lobbyism/propaganda machine has been promoting for many decades.
Yeah just yesterday I watched snippets of old Reagan & Bush II speeches. They are so dumb and smarmy and naive.