fantoozie

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.

Actually it turns out it’s a lot easier to just convince Americans to be cool with slavery again instead.

You’re very right, but one important caveat is that US-born citizens do not want these jobs. They literally think it’s beneath them and won’t do it.

I’m serious; I’ve worked with migrant farm laborers for 12 years. Citizens will choose exploitation over and over and over rather.

Observe the resurgence of right-wing nationalism in the West.

It’s not accidental that this phenomenon is occurring specifically within the context of algorithmic social media exclusively controlled by multinational corporations. It is collusion between these companies and certain political entities to consolidate political and economic power within the fortresses of wealthy Western countries, as a defensive posture to the projected collapse of habitability and globalized trade across the world. By exploiting peoples fears and internalized biases, these architects are redefining the West to meet their economic agenda.

Simply put, the political moment the West is living through is a manufactured cultural shift intended to psychologically prime the populace of said regions for the steady collapse of international law and human rights in the face of unprecedented ecological disaster and the resulting mass migration of displaced people.

Instead of reckoning with their fundamental role in creating this dire circumstance and pursuing a policy of redistribution of wealth and resources to minimize the impacts globally, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the wealthy oligarchs of the world are instead doing away with liberal values and leaning into a nostalgic ideology of social Darwinism and the belief that wealth is a product of intrinsic superiority.

Theres a beautiful video circulating of Seun Kuti speaking to a crowd and telling them that if Europe (and by extension, the West) can free itself from the destructive ideologies of its past, it will inherently lead to resolution of the conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, and the Congo. It iterates the point I am presenting here in a beautifully succinct way and I recommend watching it.

No ethical consumption under capitalism.

I’m simply engaging with other individuals over topics I feel strongly about. That’s what forums are for.

I’ve made my argument clear throughout the thread: I believe the Democratic Party has lost its way and needs new leadership and a truly progressive platform.

You came in with nothing but resentment and simple-minded insults because you’re triggered, bored, and have nothing of value to add. Whatever you think of me is simply something I can’t be bothered to care about.

My argument is for improving broken systems, speaking the truth, and holding power accountable. If we’re not striving to make society better and more inclusive, than what are we doing?

Yeah, no shit.

You picked a strawman by saying that our only options against Palestinian genocide are active participation or finger-wagging, yet mentioned nothing regarding Democratic representatives voting against impeachment or the need for top-to-bottom restructuring of our healthcare system rather than reforming a broken model. Youre only consistent line of argument is that all Republicans are bad.

However, I take great pause at the fact that you are so quick to endorse the elimination of a party that represents a sizeable portion of the population (as awful as they might be) and believe the solution is the establishment of a one-party system with a political party that you seemingly find to be infallible.

My takeaway is that what you really want is to punish Republican voters, yet you fail to see just how much you resemble them.

Sorry babe, you’re a lost cause. You keep moving around from argument to argument to just avoid facing the reality: the democratic party, in its current form, offers nothing of substance that resonates with voters. If you’re right, and theyre bring ‘misled’, then that just solidifies how awfully impotent Dem messaging is.

I think complicity with a humanitarian crisis that gets repeatedly labeled as either genocide or ethnic cleansing is a kick in the nuts.

I think 128 Dem reps voting with Republicans to table impeachment proceedings against an authoritarian president is a kick in the nuts.

But more to your point, I think arguing for expanding healthcare within the context of a system of predatory insurance companies and for-profit healthcare facilities does little to actually fix what is wrong with healthcare. So yeah, kick in the nuts for sure.

It’s giving “getting kicked in the nuts is better than getting kicked in the head.”

Im not sure what you’re talking about. I’m simply calling attention to the fact that Trump is a manifestation of a much more fundamental dissonance between Americans and the rest of the world, particularly the Global South, and even if this country turned around right now the trajectory towards technocratic authoritarianism has been leaning towards this since 9/11. The US is a sick, twisted place; that’s why Trump’s your president.

Great comment. I think they can be equally intelligent in recognizing the consequences of their actions while also being so short-sighted and obsessed with control and immediate financial and political gain that they don’t recognize how much harm theyre causing for all parties.

Thank you for providing a thoughtful response.

Why does it have to be Muslim countries?

Why does it have to be Muslim countries?

But what will you do when the rest of the world’s working poor turns around and suddenly you’re “them”

No it’s not. A well off doctor in the U.S. has more disposable income and assets than ~97% of the worlds population, and is able to sustain their resulting material wealth as a function of economic labor exploitation of “developing” countries

Y’all are just mad because Trump is kicking you down to hang with the rest of us poors.

You don’t have to be stupid to follow an authoritarian. In fact, your characterization is a huge driving force in their radicalization. People with legitimate grievances watched globalization leave them in the dust in pursuit of a multicultural, pluralistic society. This left them vulnerable to narratives that espoused their “historical” superiority amongst other groups and their subsequent entitlement to world primacy. It’s more a function of a lack of diverse perspectives as a result of continued divestment from public services and goods, as well as geographical concentration of wealth and resources and other confounding variables.

I agree that the world before Trump was marginally better for these voters than the alternative they’ve elected, but your heirarchical paradigm is condescending, reductive, simplistif, obnoxious, short-sighted, and exemplifies why so many people swung that way to begin with.

Also, I can’t underestimate how incredibly dumb and dense you have to be to consider that the previous paradigm was good for anyone outside of the West who was not already someone of considerable financial means.