G
Gandalf Grey
Guest
The Great American Disconnect
By Jon Faulkner
Created Mar 30 2008 - 11:23am
Americans seem to have accepted dysfunctional government as unavoidable.
Another president, another congress will soon come to power. Amid the noise,
the blaring trumpets, the delirium that ushers another president into
office, is the quiet acceptance that whatever the new guy does it won't be
done for ordinary Americans. During the Bush Administration, many Americans
have been innocently unaware of the quiet, insidious changes that were
calculated into their lives. Some like to think the next president will
restore the Constitutional Rights that were taken from them. They are fully
aware that the Bush Administration has taken an ax to the foundations of
democracy. They'll look hopefully to the new president to restore those
rights, and put things back. But there are some things that once they are
gone can't be brought back.
The failing economy, the decaying infrastructure, the apparent indifference
that Americans seem to feel about their kid's futures are accepted as a
matter of course. The war that consumes their sons and daughters as cannon
fodder is just another slap in the face that Americans have resigned
themselves to. The once, good paying jobs that included health care and
other benefits are gone, replaced with low paying jobs without benefits or
security. Americans have had to adjust to a diminished standard of living.
They've become jaded, cynically indifferent, and many pause to wonder what
they've traded for a 30 year mortgage, an undependable income, and their
ever growing debt. Americans have lost their enthusiasm for the chase.
They're
too damn tired, disgusted and disappointed to keep pretending there's a pot
of gold at the end of the rainbow when they well know there's only another
stack of bills, and never enough money to pay them.
For some unfathomable reason, Americans don't think they're worthy of health
care, or higher education for their kids, or jobs that pay a living wage.
They wait for their government to order their lives - to tell them what to
expect. They've been told that government is the enemy - a tool of the
liberals. It exists to steal their money and then give it away to some feel
good, warm and fuzzy social program. The answer, say the conservatives, is
to privatize everything. Hand most government programs over to private
interests. The current war is largely privatized. Halliburton, the war's
chief beneficiary, has been caught overcharging over and over again. Private
security guards make 3 to 5 times what a soldier makes, and they don't have
to go without vital equipment. The privatized war is the reason the war will
never end. If Halliburton and the other contractors knew they'd sucked all
the money up they'd leave Iraq like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Bush wanted
to privatize Social Security, but the market kept nose diving every time he
tried to sell it.
The U.S. government has given untold billions to save badly managed
corporations that would sink without government help. Corporations will
steal the paint off the walls if given the chance, so handing them chunks of
the government to run is inviting them into the cookie jar. Many Americans
think privatization is a fine idea until the bills come due. Then they
complain. Liberals are socialists and conservatives want to elect Ward
Cleaver - return to a past where kids learned values from a good whippin'.
The voters are spoon fed the same tiresome, redundant line year after year.
Conservatives are the good guys who want to get government out of the lives
of Americans. Liberals would take every dime Americans earned if given the
chance. Conservatives say that government is the enemy and liberals are the
architects of governmental bureaucracy.
Both parties will say anything to get elected. Americans could demand they
tell the truth. After all, these politicians are asking to lead the free
world, and certainly honesty is not too much to expect from them. When they
lie about each other, or distort the truth in any way, they should be forced
to make a public apology and promise to stop lying. Saxby Chambliss ran a
campaign ad that showed Max Cleland's face fading away and re-emerging as
Saddam Hussein. Cleland lost 3 limbs in Vietnam and won the Silver Star for
gallantry. Americans watched, and assuming the vote count wasn't altered,
elected Saxby. Americans are numb. They no longer expect good people to seek
government office. But to elect Saxby over Max Cleland? That's hard to
believe. Each election cycle the candidates promise change. They'll tell the
truth. They won't lie to the American people. The fact they feel compelled
to make such promises is revealing.
In 2000, Bush promised tax relief. "Who's better at determining how to spend
the hard earned money the government takes from your check, he asked. A long
pause, then .. shouting - "You or the government!" The crowd was on its
feet. Thunderous applause. Bush cuts taxes, takes the nation to war, then,
having seriously depleted the treasury revenues, must borrow the money to
prosecute the war.
Conservatives ignore the inconvenient truth that a democracy, unlike an
aristocracy and other types of government, looks after its citizens and uses
a common pool of money with which to do so. The hallmark of a great nation
lies in seeing its future, its destiny, in its children. Another measure of
its worth is its treatment of weaker, less fortunate citizens. Why do
conservatives feel compelled to promise "Compassionate Conservatism," if
elected? They've coined the phrase to mitigate their well known position of
complete disregard for the poor, the disabled, the elderly whose lives could
depend on a prescription they can't afford. Conservatives, with their
compassion, are like the promise keepers who hug each other and bond - who
advertise their intention to stop beating their wives and kids in drunken
rage, and to devote themselves to their families as any normal father would.
Compassionate conservatism is conservative atonement. Bush belongs to a
political party that regards the weak, the helpless, the unfortunate, as
pests. The republican mayor of Miami ordered rat poison to be poured into
every garbage can in the city. You see, the mayor didn't think some bum
should eat for free, and besides, the raccoons were upsetting enough cans as
it was. The mayor thought he was performing a public service. Such is the
sociopathic mentality of the compassionately conservative republican.
An estimated 50 million Americans lack health care insurance, while another
2,000 are becoming uninsured everyday. According to the Kaiser Family
Foundation, a family of four pays $12,100 a year on health insurance, 74% of
which is borne by the employer who is typically the owner of a small
business. From 2000 to 2006, health insurance premiums rose 87%. That's more
than 4 times the growth in wages. By 2016, expenditures on health care will
reach 4.2 trillion dollars. Today, single coverage is about $4,400 a month.
If there has ever been a time for government intervention, this is the time.
The lack of health insurance for so many Americans should be a source of
deep shame in a nation that never lets the world forget, "We're number 1!
We're
number 1!" The irrevocable, unshakeable truth, is that a political solution
is demanded - is imperative. But republicans will have none of it. Their
motto is best described as tax relief for the wealthiest. And for the
rest? - "Let them eat cake."
Economic ruin is a conservative republican's forte. They like to boast of
successes in business but without the government they profess to hate, many
of their business's have often been doomed to failure. Follow the trail back
from any ill advised, economic travesty, and chances are there will be a
republican pulling the levers. The so called president is a case in point.
Business doesn't like regulations so Ronald Reagan, 30 years ago, began the
deregulation frenzy. The democrats went right along with the ill advised
scheme to deregulate the market. Unrestrained capitalism has run amok ever
since. Reagan's whimsical, "Morning in America," has turned into "Nightmare
on Elm Street." Some people are driven by a terrible need. They must have
more, always more. It's a form of mental illness. They're like a cancer - an
uncontrolled horror that consumes everything. When Reagan rode into town the
regulations governing business behavior were relaxed or done away with, and
trouble wasn't long in coming. The deregulated S&L's began to fail, one
after another. The lesson that deregulation isn't such a good idea wasn't
learned.
John Kenneth Galbraith was a Harvard professor. He was one of the foremost,
economic thinkers of his time. He said of the S&L collapse - It's "the
largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance and larceny
of all time." The collapse of the nation's S&L's were a direct result of
deregulation. Unrestrained capitalism was loosed upon an unsuspecting public
and now, almost 30 years later, the overvalued housing market is kicking the
props from under America's economic pinning. Deregulation permitted business
to make money anyway it could. Now the bill is due and the cost is going to
far exceed the S&L debacle. Americans are still believers in deregulation
and still can't recognize the economic ruin it brings.
California rate payers, after their bout with the wonders of the deregulated
market are still paying. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC,
reported that deregulation was the sole cause of the California rip-off.
Losing almost 100 billion was bad enough, but then Californians elected
Arnold Schwarzenegger governor. This is a guy who met with Enron's Ken Lay
and the Mayor of Los Angeles. Enron asked for the meeting to call off the
Federal and State investigators who had some handcuffs with Kenny Boys name
on them. Governor Davis was kicked out of office. He said, "I inherited the
energy deregulation scheme which put us all at the mercy of the big energy
producers. We got no help from the Federal government. In fact, when I was
fighting Enron and the other energy companies, these same companies were
sitting down with Vice President Cheney to draft a national energy
strategy."" Cheney was the head of the National Energy Development task
force. When Davis asked for help Cheney refused and told him that
deregulation must stay in place.
Incredibly, California's Public Utility Commission has voted to reconsider
deregulation even though the State's Legislature has outlawed it. Governor
Schwarzenegger is solidly behind the new scheme. Californians will watch
Lucy hold the ball again. They'll run up to kick it and of course, at the
last moment, Lucy will pull the ball back. Charlie Brown will fall flat on
his ass, again. Conservatives figure that Californians have the same, short
attention span that Americans in general have. Tell them the same old
bullshit about healthy competition, the free market being allowed to compete
so everyone may enjoy lower prices, and they'll buy it again. Wait and see.
An empty treasury, a soul destroying war, the contempt of the international
community, Americans as divided as they've been at anytime since the Civil
War. George and Co. will blithely retire to their palatial homes and 7
figure bank accounts. "Thanks America. It was a pleasure serving you! "He,
he, he. Lemme know if I can be of further assistance." Hah! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Those suckers. P.T. sure wasn't kidding! There is one born every minute!"
On election days, those Americans who still feel compelled, or duty bound to
participate in representative democracy, will drag themselves to the polls
where they'll vote for a candidate they fully expect to dissemble, cheat,
lie and otherwise misrepresent his/her position. Of course, simply stealing
an election is faster and cheaper than paying for a legitimate one, and
besides, what's the harm, really? Junior explained it this way. "Fool me
once, shame ... shame on ... you." A long pause while Junior's eyes dart
around. "Fool me - can't get fooled again!" He finished triumphantly,
hunched forward and looking around for approval, his eyes shifting out of
his head.
Americans found almost perfect unity when the Saturn 5 rocket lifted off for
the moon. That was the last time the U.S, and indeed the world, has come
together as a people. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, every
American knew they lived in a very special country - a country that had
reached out far beyond where it could see. Americans had accomplished
something that would shape human history, and they did it together. Every
American could celebrate their nation's courage, it's determination, and
above all, its collective will. The entire planet shared in the
extraordinary, American accomplishment and humanity was unified for one,
incredible moment. The people of earth understood. They'd been a fundamental
part of something that made every person on the planet as close as any
brother or sister. The people of earth had watched as humanity defined its
destiny - to journey out among the stars. Nothing, remotely like it, has
happened since.
_______
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
By Jon Faulkner
Created Mar 30 2008 - 11:23am
Americans seem to have accepted dysfunctional government as unavoidable.
Another president, another congress will soon come to power. Amid the noise,
the blaring trumpets, the delirium that ushers another president into
office, is the quiet acceptance that whatever the new guy does it won't be
done for ordinary Americans. During the Bush Administration, many Americans
have been innocently unaware of the quiet, insidious changes that were
calculated into their lives. Some like to think the next president will
restore the Constitutional Rights that were taken from them. They are fully
aware that the Bush Administration has taken an ax to the foundations of
democracy. They'll look hopefully to the new president to restore those
rights, and put things back. But there are some things that once they are
gone can't be brought back.
The failing economy, the decaying infrastructure, the apparent indifference
that Americans seem to feel about their kid's futures are accepted as a
matter of course. The war that consumes their sons and daughters as cannon
fodder is just another slap in the face that Americans have resigned
themselves to. The once, good paying jobs that included health care and
other benefits are gone, replaced with low paying jobs without benefits or
security. Americans have had to adjust to a diminished standard of living.
They've become jaded, cynically indifferent, and many pause to wonder what
they've traded for a 30 year mortgage, an undependable income, and their
ever growing debt. Americans have lost their enthusiasm for the chase.
They're
too damn tired, disgusted and disappointed to keep pretending there's a pot
of gold at the end of the rainbow when they well know there's only another
stack of bills, and never enough money to pay them.
For some unfathomable reason, Americans don't think they're worthy of health
care, or higher education for their kids, or jobs that pay a living wage.
They wait for their government to order their lives - to tell them what to
expect. They've been told that government is the enemy - a tool of the
liberals. It exists to steal their money and then give it away to some feel
good, warm and fuzzy social program. The answer, say the conservatives, is
to privatize everything. Hand most government programs over to private
interests. The current war is largely privatized. Halliburton, the war's
chief beneficiary, has been caught overcharging over and over again. Private
security guards make 3 to 5 times what a soldier makes, and they don't have
to go without vital equipment. The privatized war is the reason the war will
never end. If Halliburton and the other contractors knew they'd sucked all
the money up they'd leave Iraq like rats fleeing a sinking ship. Bush wanted
to privatize Social Security, but the market kept nose diving every time he
tried to sell it.
The U.S. government has given untold billions to save badly managed
corporations that would sink without government help. Corporations will
steal the paint off the walls if given the chance, so handing them chunks of
the government to run is inviting them into the cookie jar. Many Americans
think privatization is a fine idea until the bills come due. Then they
complain. Liberals are socialists and conservatives want to elect Ward
Cleaver - return to a past where kids learned values from a good whippin'.
The voters are spoon fed the same tiresome, redundant line year after year.
Conservatives are the good guys who want to get government out of the lives
of Americans. Liberals would take every dime Americans earned if given the
chance. Conservatives say that government is the enemy and liberals are the
architects of governmental bureaucracy.
Both parties will say anything to get elected. Americans could demand they
tell the truth. After all, these politicians are asking to lead the free
world, and certainly honesty is not too much to expect from them. When they
lie about each other, or distort the truth in any way, they should be forced
to make a public apology and promise to stop lying. Saxby Chambliss ran a
campaign ad that showed Max Cleland's face fading away and re-emerging as
Saddam Hussein. Cleland lost 3 limbs in Vietnam and won the Silver Star for
gallantry. Americans watched, and assuming the vote count wasn't altered,
elected Saxby. Americans are numb. They no longer expect good people to seek
government office. But to elect Saxby over Max Cleland? That's hard to
believe. Each election cycle the candidates promise change. They'll tell the
truth. They won't lie to the American people. The fact they feel compelled
to make such promises is revealing.
In 2000, Bush promised tax relief. "Who's better at determining how to spend
the hard earned money the government takes from your check, he asked. A long
pause, then .. shouting - "You or the government!" The crowd was on its
feet. Thunderous applause. Bush cuts taxes, takes the nation to war, then,
having seriously depleted the treasury revenues, must borrow the money to
prosecute the war.
Conservatives ignore the inconvenient truth that a democracy, unlike an
aristocracy and other types of government, looks after its citizens and uses
a common pool of money with which to do so. The hallmark of a great nation
lies in seeing its future, its destiny, in its children. Another measure of
its worth is its treatment of weaker, less fortunate citizens. Why do
conservatives feel compelled to promise "Compassionate Conservatism," if
elected? They've coined the phrase to mitigate their well known position of
complete disregard for the poor, the disabled, the elderly whose lives could
depend on a prescription they can't afford. Conservatives, with their
compassion, are like the promise keepers who hug each other and bond - who
advertise their intention to stop beating their wives and kids in drunken
rage, and to devote themselves to their families as any normal father would.
Compassionate conservatism is conservative atonement. Bush belongs to a
political party that regards the weak, the helpless, the unfortunate, as
pests. The republican mayor of Miami ordered rat poison to be poured into
every garbage can in the city. You see, the mayor didn't think some bum
should eat for free, and besides, the raccoons were upsetting enough cans as
it was. The mayor thought he was performing a public service. Such is the
sociopathic mentality of the compassionately conservative republican.
An estimated 50 million Americans lack health care insurance, while another
2,000 are becoming uninsured everyday. According to the Kaiser Family
Foundation, a family of four pays $12,100 a year on health insurance, 74% of
which is borne by the employer who is typically the owner of a small
business. From 2000 to 2006, health insurance premiums rose 87%. That's more
than 4 times the growth in wages. By 2016, expenditures on health care will
reach 4.2 trillion dollars. Today, single coverage is about $4,400 a month.
If there has ever been a time for government intervention, this is the time.
The lack of health insurance for so many Americans should be a source of
deep shame in a nation that never lets the world forget, "We're number 1!
We're
number 1!" The irrevocable, unshakeable truth, is that a political solution
is demanded - is imperative. But republicans will have none of it. Their
motto is best described as tax relief for the wealthiest. And for the
rest? - "Let them eat cake."
Economic ruin is a conservative republican's forte. They like to boast of
successes in business but without the government they profess to hate, many
of their business's have often been doomed to failure. Follow the trail back
from any ill advised, economic travesty, and chances are there will be a
republican pulling the levers. The so called president is a case in point.
Business doesn't like regulations so Ronald Reagan, 30 years ago, began the
deregulation frenzy. The democrats went right along with the ill advised
scheme to deregulate the market. Unrestrained capitalism has run amok ever
since. Reagan's whimsical, "Morning in America," has turned into "Nightmare
on Elm Street." Some people are driven by a terrible need. They must have
more, always more. It's a form of mental illness. They're like a cancer - an
uncontrolled horror that consumes everything. When Reagan rode into town the
regulations governing business behavior were relaxed or done away with, and
trouble wasn't long in coming. The deregulated S&L's began to fail, one
after another. The lesson that deregulation isn't such a good idea wasn't
learned.
John Kenneth Galbraith was a Harvard professor. He was one of the foremost,
economic thinkers of his time. He said of the S&L collapse - It's "the
largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance and larceny
of all time." The collapse of the nation's S&L's were a direct result of
deregulation. Unrestrained capitalism was loosed upon an unsuspecting public
and now, almost 30 years later, the overvalued housing market is kicking the
props from under America's economic pinning. Deregulation permitted business
to make money anyway it could. Now the bill is due and the cost is going to
far exceed the S&L debacle. Americans are still believers in deregulation
and still can't recognize the economic ruin it brings.
California rate payers, after their bout with the wonders of the deregulated
market are still paying. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC,
reported that deregulation was the sole cause of the California rip-off.
Losing almost 100 billion was bad enough, but then Californians elected
Arnold Schwarzenegger governor. This is a guy who met with Enron's Ken Lay
and the Mayor of Los Angeles. Enron asked for the meeting to call off the
Federal and State investigators who had some handcuffs with Kenny Boys name
on them. Governor Davis was kicked out of office. He said, "I inherited the
energy deregulation scheme which put us all at the mercy of the big energy
producers. We got no help from the Federal government. In fact, when I was
fighting Enron and the other energy companies, these same companies were
sitting down with Vice President Cheney to draft a national energy
strategy."" Cheney was the head of the National Energy Development task
force. When Davis asked for help Cheney refused and told him that
deregulation must stay in place.
Incredibly, California's Public Utility Commission has voted to reconsider
deregulation even though the State's Legislature has outlawed it. Governor
Schwarzenegger is solidly behind the new scheme. Californians will watch
Lucy hold the ball again. They'll run up to kick it and of course, at the
last moment, Lucy will pull the ball back. Charlie Brown will fall flat on
his ass, again. Conservatives figure that Californians have the same, short
attention span that Americans in general have. Tell them the same old
bullshit about healthy competition, the free market being allowed to compete
so everyone may enjoy lower prices, and they'll buy it again. Wait and see.
An empty treasury, a soul destroying war, the contempt of the international
community, Americans as divided as they've been at anytime since the Civil
War. George and Co. will blithely retire to their palatial homes and 7
figure bank accounts. "Thanks America. It was a pleasure serving you! "He,
he, he. Lemme know if I can be of further assistance." Hah! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Those suckers. P.T. sure wasn't kidding! There is one born every minute!"
On election days, those Americans who still feel compelled, or duty bound to
participate in representative democracy, will drag themselves to the polls
where they'll vote for a candidate they fully expect to dissemble, cheat,
lie and otherwise misrepresent his/her position. Of course, simply stealing
an election is faster and cheaper than paying for a legitimate one, and
besides, what's the harm, really? Junior explained it this way. "Fool me
once, shame ... shame on ... you." A long pause while Junior's eyes dart
around. "Fool me - can't get fooled again!" He finished triumphantly,
hunched forward and looking around for approval, his eyes shifting out of
his head.
Americans found almost perfect unity when the Saturn 5 rocket lifted off for
the moon. That was the last time the U.S, and indeed the world, has come
together as a people. When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, every
American knew they lived in a very special country - a country that had
reached out far beyond where it could see. Americans had accomplished
something that would shape human history, and they did it together. Every
American could celebrate their nation's courage, it's determination, and
above all, its collective will. The entire planet shared in the
extraordinary, American accomplishment and humanity was unified for one,
incredible moment. The people of earth understood. They'd been a fundamental
part of something that made every person on the planet as close as any
brother or sister. The people of earth had watched as humanity defined its
destiny - to journey out among the stars. Nothing, remotely like it, has
happened since.
_______
--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson