The
social and support structure in the United States seems to be collapsing, and
that collapse, that might suck into it the collapse of the economy and our
democracy, is making the world more dangerous. After the progress that was made after World
War II the destruction of social support network began with the Reagan
administrations and the neo conservative movement that took over the
government. It is clear that the evil in
humanity began to overtly exert its negative influence when Reagan became President. That evil was kept in check after the second
world war by our strong national moral rectitude and our care and respect for
the welfare of citizens,. Over the last
35 years, however, that economic and social stability, that was won mostly by the
blood of labor, has been chipped away by Republican policies that have been growing
out of control since the 1980s. Karl Marx once equated
religion as the "the opium of the people." By cultivating extreme religious
positions in the 1980s and 1990s, the Republicans hid a more bizarre narcissistic
ideologies based on profit. It is those narcissistic
ideologies based on profit that are the true "opiate of the masses" -
and people are being recruited into this new religion by the promise a "wealth
heaven" if they are true to these ideologies, a heaven that one can never reach, unless one is there already. These bizarre ideologies have been, and are,
being used by right wing politicians to misguide and keep the middle and lower economic
classes off balance and used as expendable "soldiers" in their quest
to control all aspects of the U.S. and world economy.
With the
concentration of wealth in the small percentage of the population, the levels
of inequality are returning to the corrosive levels of the "Gilded Age"
and the royal system of government in Europe of the distant past. The world economy is becoming a boom-and bust
engine that enriches the "well to do" while starving everyone
else. People can no longer afford to
live on the subsistence wages that are being forced on them. This trend in the destruction of our
social-economic-political system is an a downward spiral. Through the republican controlled media, for
example: Fox News and right wing radio
commentators and conservative controlled newspapers (six corporations control
90% of the U.S. media ) people have been "brain washed" and forced to
retreat from anything that does not reinforce their own prejudices. In turn they create an increasing intense or
irrational dislike or fear of people that don't think like them and of people from
other countries - a xenophobic population.
Right wing politicians take advantage of this to "control" the
opinion of the population and advance their economic policies such as less
public support for education. Accelerating
the decay of our democracy. Indeed our
democracy is deteriorating into nothing more than an ill informed electorate.
This limited
education of the electorate, destruction of our social and economic support
network, coupled with the promotion of these bizarre ideologies has allowed
people like Trump to based his presidential candidacy on racist, homophobic,
xenophobic, islamophobic positions and find a significant portion of the
electorate willing to accept his positions.
He has had the benefit of the Republican party, since Ronal Reagan, cultivating
these people. It has been this
preparation of an ignorant electorate that has allowed a horrible and deplorable
candidate become a real contender. Anyone
who helps him advance his racial, religious and ethnic bigotry is part of that
bigotry. I agree with Mrs. Clinton, this
portion of the electorate form a deplorable group of citizens.
I also
agree with her that there "… are people who feel that the government has
let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody
worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just
desperate for change. It doesn’t really even matter where it comes from. They
don’t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their
lives will be different. They won’t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose
a kid to heroin, feel like they’re in a dead end. Those are people we have to
understand and empathize with as well.”
However, she is not filling the need of these people, she is not
presenting the change that we need, she speaks in platitudes and theory. The people want to see strong positions and
she does not seems to have the talent, either in her or behind her to
understand and put the democratic platform in these strong positions. Bernie Sanders is able to do that, Elizabeth Warrant
is able to convey those strong positions.
Unless Clinton changes her presentation and offers what people want, the
electorate's minds will be dominated by
the person selling the new opiate of the masses.
---------
I have not
been writing too many blog entries this
year and I have tried to concentrate on travel and adventure blogs -
travel with my son. However, with this new presidential election, I can't bring myself to
just stand on the sidelines and not say anything. I need
to post my views and opinions on the candidates' positions. I hope you find them challenging for
discussion and are willing to communicate your reactions and opinions to me so
that we may have a intelligent exchange on these and other topics. comments and feedback can be made through this blog or they can be directed to my email: riverarg@gmail.com.
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