It’s Harder to Keep Silent Than I Thought!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I plan on being silent about the election results until I regain consciousness.  One friend noted that I seemed to be able to type while unconscious.  Caught again!

In the absence of my own thoughts (for now) I am sharing the comments of a long-time friend who is pretty much on the same wave length as I am.  Here is what Lloyd Agte has to say.

Looks like I'll have to fill the gap, then.  I hope a vow of silence is not accompanied by a spell of deafness and blindness!  To wit:

We are hitched to a dying empire.  We have not won a war since World War II.  All others have been truce, withdrawal, or defeat, or stalemate.  We will no longer be in the driver's seat as we were after WWII.  The myth of each generation getting richer and richer by doing less and less (grunt work that is) has come to an end.  The goal of the rich seems to be to acquire more wealth so that offspring don't have to worry about work and so that they can flaunt their "superior" class to an ever impoverishing nation.   They need bread lines, people dying in the street of starvation, food riots, to really feel their superior position.  As the wealth and power drifts into the hands of corporations, who have no responsibility to anyone but themselves, and the wealth percolates upwards in a class warfare that the super rich are winning, and there is less and less money in the hands of the middle and lower classes  that create the demand for goods, our economy will continue to falter and we will continue to try to maintain our lifestyle by borrowing money from the Chinese who will soon have the most powerful economy in the world.

That was a powerful illusion of wealth that the middle-class, and upper class as far as that is concerned, and it even trickled down to the poor, indulged in with the housing boom and bubble.  With nothing down and no credit and lies on a credit report, everyone thought they were getting richer, when it was just a house of cards.  Now they want it back again.  They LOVED that feeling that they were getting richer every day just because they had made the "wise" decision to buy a house.  Everything inflated: price of lumber, housing material, permits, labor, petroleum, stocks, real estate, and on and on.  It was a heady addiction and any drug is hard to give up.  Obama's sober money priming machine slowly does its work, but like a spoiled teenager, American voters want it NOW.  "Wave a wand and make me feel rich again," they shout. And the Republicans are there with their wands and their shills mixing among the crowd to pick the pockets of the middle-class and poor of what little remains.

So expect in each two year cycle a repudiation of those in power by the electorate who want to be restored to at least their illusion of masters of the world, and a constant escalation of material goods is their only means of keeping score.

Lloyd

Expectations Too High?

It seems to be happening again. We are caught in the trap of expectations that may be unrealistic. I am not just talking about political issues, though certainly we have a scenario developing there that tends to confirm past history—no matter how honest you try to be your efforts can be scuttled by old time politics as usual.

Maybe this article IS just about politics! I sure am disgusted and saddened by a lot of what is happening in Washington, DC. I think there is enough criticism to cover all aspects of our political problem. For example:

THE PRESS s always ready to pounce on the slightest indication that someone or something is off course, or maybe will become off course, or they suppose it is possible for someone to get off course. So, of course, they start the pot boiling. The stew that is cooking depends on what network you get your news from. At different periods I have tended to get most of my news from one network, that is, my views tended to be more in line with one than others. This changes from time to time because my own views change. Bottom line: Take the news—from whatever source—with a grain of salt. They all have their ratings axes to grind.

CONGRESSIONAL MEMBERS just don’t get it! They never have, at least in my lifetime span of nearly 75 years, and it doesn’t look like they will. It is not simply a matter of each party having a different philosophical base. There really are differences, particularly on economic policy and foreign policy (what else is there?). The last election seemed to clearly voice the public’s determination as to which side of the philosophical coin they preferred. I am all for each party holding to their basic philosophy because that allows for choice. The winner leads the process from that point on. For the losing party to simply provide an obstructionist role will never result in anything truly practical and efficient getting done. Compromise is an important tool in negotiation as it brings out the most important aspects of each party’s philosophy. But, there comes a time to vote, to arrive at an answer and to begin a course of action. Bottom line: Get over it and get moving!

THE PRESIDENT had a clear vision of what he wanted to accomplish and has made an effort to reach across the aisle to involve the Republicans in the process. I am not sure that Congress and the advisors around him have given him the support and kind of advice he needs. If the President is willing to work with all parties where is the honest cooperation? He has never said he had the ONLY answer. It is too bad that an idealist and pragmatic President has to try to deal with the minority whose philosophy has been thoroughly demonstrated as catastrophic.

FINALLY, Mr. Former Vice-President Cheney, SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP! You are not driving any longer. Do us all a favor and disappear! And take your grumpy, negative cohorts with you.