Posted on 07/15/2017 5:03:35 AM PDT by Kaslin
You don’t wish the worst for people or nations that you care about. You don’t want your friend who’s driving drunk to crash his car. You don’t want your cousin who has unprotected sex with a prostitute to get a STD. You don’t want your kid who’s pointing a realistic- looking toy gun at a police officer to get shot. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.”
It’s bad when someone you care about plays those stupid games because it can wreck his life and the lives of the people around him. It’s worse when your country is involved because it can hurt all those same people and their children, along with everyone else in the nation.
That’s exactly the situation we’re in here in our country because the truth we all hate to talk about is that America DESERVES to fail.
I don’t want that to happen. After all, this is the greatest country ever on God’s green earth. We have the most incredible military, the most powerful economy and we’ve done so much for the world. Without us, the bad guys would have won WWI, WWII and the Cold War. We’ve been the indispensable nation.
Are we still?
Today, Americans would rather sit out a war, no matter how important, rather than see our soldiers die as they did during WWI. We weren’t able to deal with less than 4,000 deaths in Iraq while we lost more than 13 times that number in WWI. Our industrial production was the decisive factor in the Allied Victory in WWII. Just to give you one example, when the war started, we had 3,000 planes and by the time it was over, we had produced 300,000. Could we do that again? No. Just no. Do we still have the sort of leadership it took to win the Cold War? The jury is still out on that one, but I doubt it. If the Soviet Union was still around today, half our military secrets would be leaked to it through the New York Times while idiots would laud the leakers improving “transparency in government.” Even while Reagan was taking the steps that brought the Soviets down, Hollywood and the Democrat Party were fighting him every step of the way & we’ve gone even further backwards since then.
Along those same lines, Hoover Dam was built in five years. Today, there would be hashing things out with lawyers and environmental rights wackos for that long and it is doubtful that it could be built at all. Remember when we shocked the world by putting a man on the moon in 1969? Well today, we’re no longer capable of going to get the flag we left there. Instead, we’re obsessing over whether men with mental problems who believe they’re women should be treated like real women. There are more educated people than ever before, but fewer people who seem capable of thinking. We’ve gone so far backwards that as the great Thomas Sowell said, “The problem isn't that Johnny can't read. The problem isn't even that Johnny can't think. The problem is that Johnny doesn't know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.”
So what are our politicians doing about these issues? Our country owes trillions of dollars it never intends to pay off; Social Security and Medicare are both in the red and unsustainable; our borders are unsecured; basket-case enemy nations have acquired nuclear weapons; thanks to Obama race relations are at their worst point since the sixties and more Americans hate each other over their political views than any time since the Civil War. So what’s Congress working on? Well, here’s the hot new topic that Congress seems to really care about…
A number of female House Democrats wore sleeveless clothing on Friday, tweeting in support of "Sleeveless Friday." The action was part of the push to modernize the House dress code. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) said, "It's 2017, and women vote, hold office, + choose their own style. Time to update the House rules to reflect the times!"…Pingree's comments were aimed at Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who said he would work with the sergeant-at-arms to modernize the dress code that includes requiring men to wear a suit and tie in both the Speaker's lobby and House chamber.
This sort of trivia is now the rule, not the exception in politics. As America’s problems have gotten bigger and more intractable, our politicians have created phony problems to solve instead of dealing with real issues. They may not care if North Korea can hit America with a nuclear weapon or whether Social Security will still exist in its current form in a decade, but they can talk your ears off about the women’s dress code, civil war statues and the name of the Washington Redskins. Unfortunately, our Congress is a reflection of our culture which prizes celebrity, outrageous behavior, attention whoring and meaningless expressions of how much people claim to care above all other things. There was a time when being a jerk prone to emotional outbursts of nonsense was looked down upon, but today it means you get a reality show at best and a bigger Twitter following at worst.
There are still a lot of good people in this country, but as a nation, we’ve become complacent, decadent and jaded. We’re the trust fund kid living off the money great, great-grandad left us while the family business we don’t understand fails. What we have in America? It’s rare. Historically, there are not a lot of extremely prosperous, free nations that don’t have to fear invasion because of that powerful military. That means we are squandering an inheritance left to us by previous generations of Americans that we may never have again once it’s lost. We foolishly assume it will be this good forever even though we laugh at and impugn many of the ideas, attitudes and principles that were responsible for our success in the first place. America is not on track for a happy ending and as much as I hate to say it, we’re going to richly deserve the pain, misery and disaster our own actions are going to bring down on our heads one day.
>>My civilization doesn’t deserve to fail. Is his the same as mine? Maybe he needs a spine an an attitude adjustment.
The only cure for Snowflakery is what our grandparents would have called “hard times”. More technology and prosperity will only make the Snowflakery worse. Hard times focuses the mind on what is important and it isn’t transgender rights.
The author of this deserves the same scorn that I give to wacko leftists. Sorry, bud, but “America” doesn’t deserve to fail. And stop using the word “WE” implying that I am included in that - I didn’t give you permission to include me in your “WE.”
The fallacy is that there is one entity called “America” that acts as one person. Wrong. There are over 300 million persons in this country, and each one has his/her personal responsibility for his/her actions. Many of them deserve to fail.
Enough stupidity! do something constructive with your time!
We got alkida thanks to Bill Clinton, by bringing in and supporting the mooja-hadeen in Bosnia (they've been around since the seventh century).
Obama and Old Crusty created ISIS by deposing or killing leadership in moslum counties during his "Arab Spring" (a continuation of Carter supporting the Iranian Iatolas, and GWB taking out Soddom.)
So who do you blame for the emergence of the Barbary Pirates?
I don't see any problem with holding a government accountable for allowing a cult of terrorists to develop.
Agreed. I reject “deserve to fail.”
Not only is it an irrelevant axis since no one with the power is sitting by the deserv-o-meter with a scythe desiding that the time to fail is now. The author ignores the good in our society to guilt trip and wallow. Easy enough to paint the picture of what is wrong but accomplishes little besides making the painter feel satisfied.
There is much that could & should be better about current times in America but much good remains, has been accomplished and will be accomplished. None will be accomplished by the act of excoriating. How many are inspired by a mind-numbing list of failures while ignoring success?
The article is particularly tone deaf at the end:
“We foolishly assume it will be this good forever even though we laugh at and impugn many of the ideas, attitudes and principles that were responsible for our success in the first place. America is not on track for a happy ending and as much as I hate to say it, we’re going to richly deserve the pain, misery and disaster our own actions are going to bring down on our heads one day.”
Does this resonate with how you, your family, you friends feel about America? Not with me or mine. This is the essay of someone who is discouraged and turning away, throwing a stone on the way out rather than lifting up and enabling by cherishing the truly brave and selfless, the resolute spirits around us.
Congress alone does not define us and though it will take time and is not a straight path we can restore the rule of law and Constitutionality in America. That is the path worth pursuing and chronicling not our “guilt”.
Alas, Brave New Babylon . . .
HELL NO! And it ain't over now.
Really, why do so many have this grotesque, defeatist, narcissistic fantasy that it'll be THEIR generation that sees the Collapse, and there is nothing we can do to stop Thelma and Louise from going over the cliff?
While Reagan said freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction, he argued that it must be fought for, protected, and handed on to our children for them to do the same. He didn't throw in the towel. Neither did the people who fought back against CNN whey they tried to blackmail the gif poster.
By most accounts, at the time of the Revolution, 20% were Loyalists, 33-45% were Patriots, and the rest were ballast. If you replace Loyalist with statist, and Patriots with Deplorables, we are right where we started. AND YET...I see a future. As did everyone along the journey in the US. You gotta have faith, and a serious assessment of the situation. And a backbone.
As noted elsewhere, Liberals have made politics their religion...What they really want is liberal Sharia law, a secular theocracy....for them, politics is the means to secular salvation. The minimum wage, gender equality, nationalized health care, and global warming—whatever their practical virtues—are not just expedient policy prescriptions. They are essential aspects of the liberal fatwa...Question them and you are not just wrong—you are a heretic. THIS...is what'll bring down civilization?
It's also worth noting that safety in numbers is also at play. Moldylocks wrote of fear before heading out to Berkeley (where she got clocked) but she was comforted by the (alleged) numbers of equally-deranged secularists (who also got clocked).
I believe, in part, this is why Trump and his retinue keep using Twitter and rallies to remind we Deplorables that, indeed, there's more of us than them, and to not despair. Our steadfast and visible defense of all that is good and right is a partial antidote to this social virus. Everyone wants to win, and one can only hope that further winning will help turn these misguided souls to our side.
Today I stand tall. I am fearful that we may let this watershed moment in US history be wasted. But I am confident we won't.
Let us celebrate, fellow Deplorables. Let not our faces be long with #NeverTrumpism or CNN. We are on the ascent. Our President - a billionaire from Queens - is more like us than any other guy we've had in a LONG time. The future of our Nation - nay, civilization - where we'll always have 20% of the citizenry being chronic whiners, is bright again.
Bluto was right then, and today.
Just because the decadent and jaded get the press coverage doesn't mean that describes the country. This writer might want to take note of whom the complacent elected President.
“In America the “poor” probably average fifty pounds overweight.”
In the US, the poor are the most likely to obese, something that hasn’t ever happened before in all of recorded history. Hard to imagine any sort of sustained civil unrest, at least while that is the case. Which was probably the point of it.
Supposedly the dumbest 10% of voters, the ones that vote one way and then another and can’t usually give a reason that follows any sort of logical explanation, are the ones that decide elections. Supposedly all campaign money is meant to sway the swing voters, at least after the primary process.
That’s something else I find amazing. That the dumbest 10% of eligible voters who manage to vote decide elections, whether or not a pub or dem wins. It could be a good result, or a bad one, but in any case the idiots decided based on who was able to sway them that cycle and not any guiding political philosophy, whether of the left or right.
Freegards
While the MSM pushes that meme the International database does not support it.
“The Voter Turnout Database is the best resource for a wide array of statistics on voter turnout from around the world. It contains the most comprehensive global collection of voter turnout statistics from presidential and parliamentary elections since 1945.
Always growing, the database also includes European Parliament elections, as presented by country using both the number of registered voters and voting age population as indicators, and in some cases the data includes statistics on spoilt ballot rate. The easy-to-use database allows you to search for data by country or field, and even download all the data from the database in one file.”
http://www.idea.int/data-tools/question-countries-view/521/295/ctr
2016 68.29 %
2014 42.50 %
2012 64.44 %
2010 48.59 %
2008 64.36 %
2006 47.52 %
2004 68.75 %
2002 45.31 %
2000 63.76 %
1998 51.55 %
1996 65.97 %
“Pretty hard to argue against this essay.”
No, parts will fail. Parts are always failing. Complainers are always complaining. Here in America complaining is not illegal.
That is a post for the ages. Bump for later.
I am skeptical of the presidential elections there if that is what they are because some of those numbers seem very inflated by any other data I have seen on US presidential elections, and very very inflated for congressional elections in off years. For instance they have 2004 being 12% higher than any other place I have ever seen. Also they have 1968 having 89% turnout? That’s 30% or so higher than any other place I have seen.
FReegards
Depends on the definition of “America”.
The “America” that libs tout (diversity, redistribution, etc.) is all based on phony promises.
The “America” I grew up learning about is based on liberty, and the great sacrifices, thoughts and principles of the founders.
The former is destined to either shrivel, collapse, whatever. The latter shall only endure if we fight to defend it.
No, our civilization does not deserve to fall. Rather we need to be civilized again.
Western Civ is great. A lot more people should try it.
>>where we’ll always have 20% of the citizenry being chronic whiners
They aren’t just chronic whiners. They are “activists”. They are willing to take their whining to the streets and to get concessions from the people in power. The police won’t clear a street blocked by these whiner-activists, but some brave citizen will push through with his truck. But if he hurts one in the process (as he should!), the full force of the law will come down on him and the rest of us will do nothing. Would we block the courthouse so the judge can’t enter to try this brave citizen? No. We’re too busy working so we can have a nice vacation or a new boat or an early retirement.
You see, we are not activists. But, the Founders were.
We are in a war of ideologies today, not a war for independence. They see themselves as the Founders of a “Great New Utopian Progressive Paradise”. They ARE in a war for independence, at least they believe they are and beliefs are the source of motivations.
We are the Tories trying to defend a way of life that does not work as well in the Information Age as it did in the Industrial Age.
The overused comparison to the American Revolution does not apply today. You use a Bluto meme to illustrate your point, but where is YOUR Deathmobile and bag of marbles to wreck one of their protest marches? Are you taking the torch to your vehicle this weekend to armor it up?
Skepticism is always good.
Looking over their site I see little to fault. The methodology is defined at the bottom of this page.
http://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/voter-turnout
They partner with ACE, the UN, Bridges on providing information about the state of elections and Democracy, ie transparency.
Constitutionnet.org considers them positively http://www.constitutionnet.org/event/international-idea-intensive-fellowship-constitution-makers
Perhaps for their own reasons the MSM has again been snowing us for their masters’ purposes to demoralize and fragment our resolve?
They have a Political Finance database as well.
The IDEA can be directly accessed at:
http://www.idea.int/political-finance/index.cfm
Great points, really the meat of the matter!
I don’t know man, it seem like a pretty huge data outlier. Just search around to different places and compare.
But you are right about skepticism in general and I’m not dismissing any possibility. So lets ask ourselves what reasons would there be for a mass conspiracy effort to hide voter apathy by falsifying voter turnout numbers or what reasons would there be to hide voter participation by falsifying voter turnout numbers?
In my gut I am thinking the simplest solution is that the folks who care about politics and participate have a tendency to simply over estimate the number of people who care as much as they do. I suspect there is a large number of folks who simply have no political philosophy they can rationally articulate.
FReegards
I agree 100%. FAR too many evil/stupid people. FAR too many rules, regulations and laws that annually ensnare and tarnish thousands of hapless innocent people. Crushing taxes and fees. Government at all levels corrupt, over controlling incompetent and disrespectful. Rot and corrosion of all traditions and distinctly American history and cultural norms...queer marriage, historical shrine/statue/history destruction and removal, destruction of education at all levels, destruction of health care and so much more. Continuous and relentless pressure for all of the above. Layer on that sprawling dependent crime ridden underclasses.In the pipeline are millions of mis-educated youth and an endless stream of ill fit and hostile immigrants. Pretty bleak. Slow motion train wreck.Don’t know whether Trump or anyone can fix or whether it is even fixable.
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