That was a great sit up and listen on the daily yesterday David. I am glad you posted it here too. Also wish I could have actually seen you on the pod.
Writers, citizens, prognosticators etc are swiftly eager to point out encouraging bright spots as well as to lament gathering darkness. You state it succinctly and pragmatically.
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I hear friends say things like, "I'm not ready to engage. I'm too disappointed in America for electing Trump. I'm looking for ways to escape America - at least for a while." This is not the answer to our current predicament! Yes, we've been aware for decades or centuries that power corrupts and money equals power, but we have been compliant in allowing ourselves to be lulled into believing what is convenient rather than what is true. We live in the land of the free, while we enslave more humans than anywhere in the world in a private penal system designed to enrich shareholders rather than reform human beings. Everyone in America has a chance to work hard and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, except those without boots. Everyone is equal under the law, except Donald Trump and his criminal friends. The "failure" of Americans to prevent the election of Trump lies squarely with the fact that pretending we are something we aren't, simply doesn't work anymore to convince a majority of Americans to vote for anything. The neoliberal project to convince us everything is great and capitalism is the best system we can come up with has finally hit the wall and no amount of hypernormalization is going to fix it. Our hopes of finding a safe emergency grass strip to land the plane has faded and it looks like it's going to be a fiery crash landing. We better start planning for the recovery - and a totally new plane design.
A perceptive, helpful article. These are common in “Need to Know” and I’m grateful for that. As we know, it’s not an accident that “Robber Barons” is in our lexicon and it’s helpful to be reminded of that.
Helpful, too, is this advice: “It’s will take a willingness to criticize our system, recognize its flaws, understand that companies were originally chartered by governments to serve society and that it is a perversion that they and their owners should somehow be tailoring society to serve them.”
It is still possible if we unite and develop a more perfect democracy by modernizing the Constitution. Please read A MORE PERFECT DEMOCRACY: Modernizing the United Statr\es Constitution for the 21sr Century. It took over 70 years of watching our government, learning wore of our history, seeing repeated attempt by politicians and wealthy people to gain, purchase or steal power to develop the many solutions to the many, yes many, problems in our current Constitution. Instead of fighting 50 battles to rectify these weaknesses and problem areas one at a time, why not fight one GRAND MODERNIZATION at a Convention of Constitutional lawyers, experts and ordinary voters at a closed door Constitutional Convention that bars politicians, political party representatives and big money.
David: I really believe we a\re on the same side. If I could get you and your followers to reas the book (which has been accepted for consideration by the Pulitzer Price committees at Columbia University) we could join in a more coordinated campaign looking ahead to the midterm elections.
I accidentally cut myself off without a finish. Which is, that I urge all of those whose voices and contributions we respect so deeply, to put the climate crisis at the beginning of every discussion that comes up on Substack and every other form of media. Please, let us no longer be so naïve!
I find it dangerous and deeply depressing to read the words of people I admire, including Heather Cox Richardson, you, Thom Hartmann, many others who have a deep historical perspective to bring in an attempt to make us feel better and conceive of the possibility that the world is not going to end.
Because the big big issue that everyone overlooks is that never before in history was there a climate crisis looming over all of our hubris about how things are going to be in the future. The lack of foresight is breathtaking.
And never before in history, have we had the technological monster, manipulating millions of us all around the world. A monster that not only manipulates, but is also pollutes on a massive scale, gobbling up natural resources on levels we cannot even conceive.
We are still on the edge of the breakdown of the climate, coming as a result of the wars, the fires, the loss of our soils, the over population exacerbated by the resistance to population control, the starvation as the Earth gives up being able to produce life, and so many more examples of what eco-collapse is going to look like. It’s going to start getting worse in the next four years.
Yes, enough we told you so' s. Fortunately, there are more and more groups focusing on defending democracy and restoring it. But, we need more, and a united effort is essential. We need to reach the people who through mis, dis, or low information do not realize the relevance of what we are fighting for. Perhaps a theme for another DSR podcast.
Demagogues have a talent for focusing the poor masses on the same goals as the power elite. Sadly, often the people most harmed are also the most fervent believers. Until we value facts, truth, and real solutions as a nation this dynamic will only get worse. Daily people give up their power to others who claim to support their best interests though only care about their own.
I’m afraid things will get much worse before they get better. Hopefully we can wake up from this nightmare. A new generation of bold leaders who are true public servants are needed. A tough road in our social media news cycle driven society.
The fundamental problem is that the concept of amassing unlimited wealth lies at the very heart of our system of unfettered capitalism. Anyone who gets filthy rich, and by almost any means whatever, is applauded and held up as an example to which the rest of us should aspire.
Real change, therefore, is going to require us to reexamine our most basic of values. In plain words, we have to ditch the idea that making a buck is the highest parameter of success.
To my mind, a fresh start requires a profound change in the way that we view healthcare and education: they should not be treated as commodities for sale, but as essential birthrights.
The problem lies in the "we." Some of us are very good about "we." Some of us spell it "me." Plus capitalism seems to require serious fettering, as without it it is too tempting toward the Midas end of things.
OK. But how do we begin "restoring the ideal of a system that serves society as a whole"? Warnings and hand wringing about how terrible it will be don't help. And concluding that a generic group of "Democrats" and "leadership" need to do something puts us in a passive state. What can we regular types do?
Well, the League of Women Voters has been at it since about 1920, and the NAACP has been around even longer, since 1909. If they've got chapters/branches in your area, check them out. See if there's an Invisible group within reach. I'm not a Bernie fan myself, but Our Revolution, the organization he inspired, is doing good work in many places. There's plenty of activism going on now, even in red states, around reproductive rights, and it's highly likely that if there are any immigrant communities in your area, they're well aware of what's happening. Short version: Find out what's going on in your area and how you can support it.
That was a great sit up and listen on the daily yesterday David. I am glad you posted it here too. Also wish I could have actually seen you on the pod.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/17/politics/joe-biden-equal-right-amendment?cid=ios_app
🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆🎇🎆💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
Writers, citizens, prognosticators etc are swiftly eager to point out encouraging bright spots as well as to lament gathering darkness. You state it succinctly and pragmatically.
This is a tough spot we're in.
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I hear friends say things like, "I'm not ready to engage. I'm too disappointed in America for electing Trump. I'm looking for ways to escape America - at least for a while." This is not the answer to our current predicament! Yes, we've been aware for decades or centuries that power corrupts and money equals power, but we have been compliant in allowing ourselves to be lulled into believing what is convenient rather than what is true. We live in the land of the free, while we enslave more humans than anywhere in the world in a private penal system designed to enrich shareholders rather than reform human beings. Everyone in America has a chance to work hard and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, except those without boots. Everyone is equal under the law, except Donald Trump and his criminal friends. The "failure" of Americans to prevent the election of Trump lies squarely with the fact that pretending we are something we aren't, simply doesn't work anymore to convince a majority of Americans to vote for anything. The neoliberal project to convince us everything is great and capitalism is the best system we can come up with has finally hit the wall and no amount of hypernormalization is going to fix it. Our hopes of finding a safe emergency grass strip to land the plane has faded and it looks like it's going to be a fiery crash landing. We better start planning for the recovery - and a totally new plane design.
One more thing - we will never have political democracy without economic democracy.
A perceptive, helpful article. These are common in “Need to Know” and I’m grateful for that. As we know, it’s not an accident that “Robber Barons” is in our lexicon and it’s helpful to be reminded of that.
Helpful, too, is this advice: “It’s will take a willingness to criticize our system, recognize its flaws, understand that companies were originally chartered by governments to serve society and that it is a perversion that they and their owners should somehow be tailoring society to serve them.”
A country that elects Trump twice is not worth caring about. Let it burn.
Amen
It is still possible if we unite and develop a more perfect democracy by modernizing the Constitution. Please read A MORE PERFECT DEMOCRACY: Modernizing the United Statr\es Constitution for the 21sr Century. It took over 70 years of watching our government, learning wore of our history, seeing repeated attempt by politicians and wealthy people to gain, purchase or steal power to develop the many solutions to the many, yes many, problems in our current Constitution. Instead of fighting 50 battles to rectify these weaknesses and problem areas one at a time, why not fight one GRAND MODERNIZATION at a Convention of Constitutional lawyers, experts and ordinary voters at a closed door Constitutional Convention that bars politicians, political party representatives and big money.
David: I really believe we a\re on the same side. If I could get you and your followers to reas the book (which has been accepted for consideration by the Pulitzer Price committees at Columbia University) we could join in a more coordinated campaign looking ahead to the midterm elections.
That is the truth. Fools failed to defend democracy when doing so was still possible.
I accidentally cut myself off without a finish. Which is, that I urge all of those whose voices and contributions we respect so deeply, to put the climate crisis at the beginning of every discussion that comes up on Substack and every other form of media. Please, let us no longer be so naïve!
I find it dangerous and deeply depressing to read the words of people I admire, including Heather Cox Richardson, you, Thom Hartmann, many others who have a deep historical perspective to bring in an attempt to make us feel better and conceive of the possibility that the world is not going to end.
Because the big big issue that everyone overlooks is that never before in history was there a climate crisis looming over all of our hubris about how things are going to be in the future. The lack of foresight is breathtaking.
And never before in history, have we had the technological monster, manipulating millions of us all around the world. A monster that not only manipulates, but is also pollutes on a massive scale, gobbling up natural resources on levels we cannot even conceive.
We are still on the edge of the breakdown of the climate, coming as a result of the wars, the fires, the loss of our soils, the over population exacerbated by the resistance to population control, the starvation as the Earth gives up being able to produce life, and so many more examples of what eco-collapse is going to look like. It’s going to start getting worse in the next four years.
Well said.
Yes, enough we told you so' s. Fortunately, there are more and more groups focusing on defending democracy and restoring it. But, we need more, and a united effort is essential. We need to reach the people who through mis, dis, or low information do not realize the relevance of what we are fighting for. Perhaps a theme for another DSR podcast.
Demagogues have a talent for focusing the poor masses on the same goals as the power elite. Sadly, often the people most harmed are also the most fervent believers. Until we value facts, truth, and real solutions as a nation this dynamic will only get worse. Daily people give up their power to others who claim to support their best interests though only care about their own.
I’m afraid things will get much worse before they get better. Hopefully we can wake up from this nightmare. A new generation of bold leaders who are true public servants are needed. A tough road in our social media news cycle driven society.
The fundamental problem is that the concept of amassing unlimited wealth lies at the very heart of our system of unfettered capitalism. Anyone who gets filthy rich, and by almost any means whatever, is applauded and held up as an example to which the rest of us should aspire.
Real change, therefore, is going to require us to reexamine our most basic of values. In plain words, we have to ditch the idea that making a buck is the highest parameter of success.
To my mind, a fresh start requires a profound change in the way that we view healthcare and education: they should not be treated as commodities for sale, but as essential birthrights.
Anything less would be tinkering at the edges.
The problem lies in the "we." Some of us are very good about "we." Some of us spell it "me." Plus capitalism seems to require serious fettering, as without it it is too tempting toward the Midas end of things.
We had the robber barons and the yellow journalism of the past. We overcame that with leadership. We will again. We need a candidate that leads and a platform that sells to all Americans. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/reform-the-democratic-party?r=3m1bs
OK. But how do we begin "restoring the ideal of a system that serves society as a whole"? Warnings and hand wringing about how terrible it will be don't help. And concluding that a generic group of "Democrats" and "leadership" need to do something puts us in a passive state. What can we regular types do?
We can work together to create a new vision that actually serves society as a whole!
https://crisistransition.substack.com/
Well, the League of Women Voters has been at it since about 1920, and the NAACP has been around even longer, since 1909. If they've got chapters/branches in your area, check them out. See if there's an Invisible group within reach. I'm not a Bernie fan myself, but Our Revolution, the organization he inspired, is doing good work in many places. There's plenty of activism going on now, even in red states, around reproductive rights, and it's highly likely that if there are any immigrant communities in your area, they're well aware of what's happening. Short version: Find out what's going on in your area and how you can support it.
Thank you Susanna. I had not heard about Our Revolution. I donated to them. I'll now search for local organizations. Take care.
Very good points! (Spell-check turned your “Indivisible” into “Invisible.” 🤬)