You had me interested until you mentioned genocide and Gaza. You are looking out through eyes of dogma.
I think you are way over the top. Sure, there are some fringes that support higher birth rates for whatever reason but I cannot see this sort of thing becoming as formal as you claim. The GOP, let alone Trump doesn’t control the three branches of your government structure in anything but theory. The margins in Congress are razor thin and the Supreme Court doesn’t always line up 6:3.
I think that it will be chaos and disaster and I don’t necessarily see free and fair elections as an easy way out - not that the USA has ever had such a thing - but you are giving Trump way too much credit. The guy is a self-serving idiot, not an evil genius. His advisors can come up with plans to do this and that but Trump's underlying incompetence in management all but ensures that whatever he tries to do will be fraught with difficulty and uncertainty.
America's threat isn’t Trump and his crew of corrupt minions, it is other nations taking advantage of the confusion.
Hi Britni, thanks for sharing your perspective. I hope you're right, I really do. The slide to fascism isn't a smooth process but one as you describe: of jerks and sudden collapses with resistance all the way.
Re: Gaza, I don't know of any other way to describe the death of innocents by bombs signed by our politicians. For me at least my opinion may be fixed even if it's firmly crooked. That my opinion aligns with the ICC is comfort enough for me.
I do agree, we're entering a period of chaos and uncertainty, likely to be amplified by the very real threat of climate change and worsened by incompetence in the highest offices of our land.
Will we do better? I can only hope that we will but I don't have that much faith in our elected leaders. Hubris is the badge of their tribe and it will lead to much unrest among us.
Thanks for taking the time. I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to comment.
The parallels with Nazi Germany are striking. Trump is pretty much following the same playbook. At least his advisers are; I doubt that he thinks that deeply about anything beyond his own image.
Sure, they would like to have some sort of fundamentalist fascist state. Handmaidens Tale sort of thing. Some would. Others are pulling in different directions. I don't see any of this as a positive trajectory but I really can't see the sort of crew Trump is assembling as being anything like the repugnant but coherent ideology of the Nazis. Trump likes to play his people off against each other, and the losers are kicked aside.
It will be chaos as usual and that isn't good for achieving any sort of goal. Realistically, the only major target Trump achieved in his first term was filling the judicial ranks with supporters
Israel isn't about genocide. The impetus comes from a century ago when a Jewish community in Eastern Europe suffered a routine pogrom. As the women were raped, the men prayed. Of course there was no divine intervention but it sparked a desire amongst some of those present to find a land where Judaism wasn't subject to the whims of the majority and the Jewish population would be masters of their own destiny.
The Holocaust krystallised that feeling and the modern state of Israel is the result: one that has always looked to defend itself effectively. They are more than willing to live in peace with their neighbours who aren't lobbing missiles into their territory or mounting terrorist raids or whatever. Their longstanding cordial relations with former enemies Egypt and Jordan bear this out.
It's not about genocide. It's not about demolishing Arab power. Iran is a bitter enemy and those people aren't Arabs.
Hamas, in my view, chose to force the issue and possibly win a victory in the political arena that they could not do in the miltary field. That's the nature of asymmetric warfare. Their surprise attack, based on sexual violence, was designed to provoke a strong response from Israel. As a result, Gaza is in ruins, the leadership structures of Hamas and other Iranian-backed players are severely damaged and Israel remains as effective a force as ever.
If you want genocide, that "From the River to the Sea" line sums it up. Israel's enemies want tit gone and they cannot do it through military force.
Hi Britni, I get that Trump is following the playbook and perhaps I can add another perspective. There's 14 steps to fascism as a published list and Trump is going through the steps 1 by 1 so you're right. And if you look further back to the inception of America, we've been taking those steps since then. It's not just Trump doing it, he's just the most recent iteration of a terrible ideology that always incorporates violence and is built into the DNA of America itself.
My fear is that he'll try some stupid crap that will bring the crazies out of the woodwork. And all of them good ol' boys are 2A enthusiasts. It won't be a good thing, not by a long shot.
I hear you re: genocide. All I can say is that we/the world needs to do much more than fund wars that don't concern us. That conflict could have ended long ago with a political solution instead of endless bloodshed.
Just my two cents, thanks for your excellent reply. It is very well received. Mitch.
This is good. And I do see what you mean about dumbing down the same over on Medium (I read both). Keep it up my friend. This is the place to let it all out and piss off a few readers along the way. That seems to be working, based on one of your new commentators here. I do look forward to many more like this in the future.
As for the article, I tend to agree with some. Trump is a moron who doesn't have a clue on how to run a government. He couldn't run a little country in South America on his own, much less the largest economy (for now) in the world. His adversarial cabinet picks will indeed sow chaos, a lot of them will get fired and so on over the next four years. Meanwhile, the U.S. will simmer and bubble, waiting to boil over.
Will the U.S. survive? Probably, but not in its current form. By the time we are finished with the next four years, the U.S will have turned a corner and not in a good way. What that's going to look like is anyone's guess right now.
All we can do is hang on for the wild ride ahead and hope we can keep a roof over our heads and food on the table in the meanwhile.
Hi Terry, thanks for your very kind support. Smiling. I will do my best to keep up the content for you. Did you like the idea of dumbing down content on Medium to perhaps incentivize writers to come here?
I did vent a whole lot in this article. The truth is in there somewhere. I agree with you re: the US, we're spending money we don't have hoping that the world will continue to pick up the tab. They won't and we're only going to impoverish the people living here. I watched a clip from Survival Lily on YouTube yesterday. She revealed that I think 75% or more of the people living in Austria don't have savings of more than a few hundred Euro. They are on a knife edge. One hiccup, one costly incident, an illness and they're done. I suspect America is not too far from that as well.
When Trump's idiotic policies start dragging our economy, there will be startling levels of poverty here. It will be awful to see. I keep wondering how to help out the people I already see piling up outside the grocery stores looking for help. Money is the easy quick fix but education and consistent work is the long term fix. I'd love to be part of that solution. I'll ponder it some more. Mitch.
I'm no fan of Trump, but he is just a puppet for the Deep State. Putin, in an interview with Le Figaro a number of years ago, said: "I have already spoken to three US Presidents. They come and go, but politics stay the same at all times. Do you know why? Because of the powerful bureaucracy. When a person is elected, they may have some ideas. Then people with briefcases arrive, well dressed, wearing dark suits, just like mine, except for the red tie, since they wear black or dark blue ones. These people start explaining how things are done. And instantly, everything changes. This is what happens with every administration."
Yes I believe that. There is a bureaucracy that keeps the idea of America alive. Sadly imho it's out of date. We're in a multipolar world and the strategies should be driving us to collaborate instead of compete to the death.
Seems pretty much the trajectory of the way things are lining up, panning out, all designed by the elites. I believe they are all in bed together, the Dems and GOP are just vying for the best position to seize the precious metals under cities, glaciers and mountains. They trade offenses for defenses, sacrifice one or two of their own on occasion to give the media and it's subjects a distraction while they open a new can of slithering worms without our full attention. Going to be interesting to see how they put the joy back into dating and mating since 4B is sweeping the nation post election and a large population of young men haven't been showing any interest in hetero relation or procreation for a long while. We might being seeing the first generation of sexually apathetic people.
Hi Kat, I agree with your take, both sides of the uniparty we endure never fundamentally change each other’s foreign policies post elections. America will do what America does and that is extract resources to build shining cities, whilst running septic lines through the third world afterwards.
The problem with that model is the global south is resisting by forming alliances with the BRICS nations. While we bleed our citizens dry to prop up empire, over there they’re lifting each other out of poverty and keeping their resources for themselves. We need a complete overhaul of our foreign policy to allow us to survive in a multipolar world.
I don’t think our leaders have it in them to cooperate instead of conquer. So we’re all on the Titanic, moving deck chairs around as it slowly sinks. It’s truly painful to watch and live through these times.
Re: 4B
Imho it’s so easy to get people together, biologically we’re wired to reproduce. For us to overcome our evolutionary biology to refuse dating and mating is extraordinary. We could rewrite our social contracts to promote equality and respect for one another. We could fund childbirth instead of hegemony abroad. We could provide a decent life and a future filled with hope so that our children will see a better tomorrow.
But we won’t so 4B it is and that’s just the consequence of old stupid men in the highest offices of the land. I take comfort in knowing their ideologies are a demographic dead end. I’ll post an article about environmental pollution and reproductive rates soon. Thanks for taking the time. Mitch.
HI Aunty J, I’m following your lead. Smiling. Just figuring out the bells and whistles till I get fully on board. Do you have any tips for newbies? Smiling. Mitch.
Mitch, I was actually thinking of asking YOU for help! I hate dealing with "settings" and need to do much to fill in all the blanks on my page. I don't have much patience for figuring out the tech stuff. Glad you are here!
Smiling. I'm figuring out how it works. We'll figure it out together. I do like seeing that they allow us to do podcasts. I'm thinking of reading some of my articles for grins.
Do you mirror articles from Substack to Medium behind the paywall? Not that it's going to pay us anything but I'm thinking I'll only mirror paywalled articles behind paywalls and leave free articles free on both platforms. Thoughts?
Yes. I import all my work to Medium, for the few cents that it is worth. I get next to no responses on Medium and it usually takes me 3 months to get to the minimum $10 payout. Now that you are here on Substack, I'll probably end my membership with Medium. I don't make the $5/month to pay for it.
There’s a clear sense of urgency and frustration with how things are unfolding. What is unsettling is the way that policies, which might seem abstract or distant, trickle down into the everyday lives of real people. The idea of a nation, or even a world, where the system has been designed to benefit the powerful at the expense of everyone else - is not just scary; it’s fundamentally dehumanizing. I don't know what comes after. I can't see past next Tuesday :(
Yeah. Seems the USA and Russia are fighting to split the world in half again, each taking their piece. I hope wherever I am, I’m not in Russia’s half. I’d get any type of America than Russia. Maybe I’m biased.
I do try to keep a little healthy optimism. I am an immigrant here (in the US from NZ - and going back that way shortly for a time - it will be a trial, for Americans and the people who live in America for sure but there are just so many individuals who are good and working hard to keep their corner of the universe in order. We need to look after them too. It is up to us.
AND don’t work so hard that you don’t get to see your daughter at all. She wants you. That’s all. We are programmed to think a fancy house will keep everyone safe but it is not the house or the car; it is you and her mother and your extended family.
If in fact it is all going to hell - as you wrote here - what better time to look after the little stuff. And the little people. Take care of yourself, yeah?
Thank you so much for dropping in and leaving a comment on my post! I look forward to popping in again too!
You had me interested until you mentioned genocide and Gaza. You are looking out through eyes of dogma.
I think you are way over the top. Sure, there are some fringes that support higher birth rates for whatever reason but I cannot see this sort of thing becoming as formal as you claim. The GOP, let alone Trump doesn’t control the three branches of your government structure in anything but theory. The margins in Congress are razor thin and the Supreme Court doesn’t always line up 6:3.
I think that it will be chaos and disaster and I don’t necessarily see free and fair elections as an easy way out - not that the USA has ever had such a thing - but you are giving Trump way too much credit. The guy is a self-serving idiot, not an evil genius. His advisors can come up with plans to do this and that but Trump's underlying incompetence in management all but ensures that whatever he tries to do will be fraught with difficulty and uncertainty.
America's threat isn’t Trump and his crew of corrupt minions, it is other nations taking advantage of the confusion.
Hi Britni, thanks for sharing your perspective. I hope you're right, I really do. The slide to fascism isn't a smooth process but one as you describe: of jerks and sudden collapses with resistance all the way.
Re: Gaza, I don't know of any other way to describe the death of innocents by bombs signed by our politicians. For me at least my opinion may be fixed even if it's firmly crooked. That my opinion aligns with the ICC is comfort enough for me.
I do agree, we're entering a period of chaos and uncertainty, likely to be amplified by the very real threat of climate change and worsened by incompetence in the highest offices of our land.
Will we do better? I can only hope that we will but I don't have that much faith in our elected leaders. Hubris is the badge of their tribe and it will lead to much unrest among us.
Thanks for taking the time. I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Mitch.
The parallels with Nazi Germany are striking. Trump is pretty much following the same playbook. At least his advisers are; I doubt that he thinks that deeply about anything beyond his own image.
Sure, they would like to have some sort of fundamentalist fascist state. Handmaidens Tale sort of thing. Some would. Others are pulling in different directions. I don't see any of this as a positive trajectory but I really can't see the sort of crew Trump is assembling as being anything like the repugnant but coherent ideology of the Nazis. Trump likes to play his people off against each other, and the losers are kicked aside.
It will be chaos as usual and that isn't good for achieving any sort of goal. Realistically, the only major target Trump achieved in his first term was filling the judicial ranks with supporters
Israel isn't about genocide. The impetus comes from a century ago when a Jewish community in Eastern Europe suffered a routine pogrom. As the women were raped, the men prayed. Of course there was no divine intervention but it sparked a desire amongst some of those present to find a land where Judaism wasn't subject to the whims of the majority and the Jewish population would be masters of their own destiny.
The Holocaust krystallised that feeling and the modern state of Israel is the result: one that has always looked to defend itself effectively. They are more than willing to live in peace with their neighbours who aren't lobbing missiles into their territory or mounting terrorist raids or whatever. Their longstanding cordial relations with former enemies Egypt and Jordan bear this out.
It's not about genocide. It's not about demolishing Arab power. Iran is a bitter enemy and those people aren't Arabs.
Hamas, in my view, chose to force the issue and possibly win a victory in the political arena that they could not do in the miltary field. That's the nature of asymmetric warfare. Their surprise attack, based on sexual violence, was designed to provoke a strong response from Israel. As a result, Gaza is in ruins, the leadership structures of Hamas and other Iranian-backed players are severely damaged and Israel remains as effective a force as ever.
If you want genocide, that "From the River to the Sea" line sums it up. Israel's enemies want tit gone and they cannot do it through military force.
Hi Britni, I get that Trump is following the playbook and perhaps I can add another perspective. There's 14 steps to fascism as a published list and Trump is going through the steps 1 by 1 so you're right. And if you look further back to the inception of America, we've been taking those steps since then. It's not just Trump doing it, he's just the most recent iteration of a terrible ideology that always incorporates violence and is built into the DNA of America itself.
My fear is that he'll try some stupid crap that will bring the crazies out of the woodwork. And all of them good ol' boys are 2A enthusiasts. It won't be a good thing, not by a long shot.
I hear you re: genocide. All I can say is that we/the world needs to do much more than fund wars that don't concern us. That conflict could have ended long ago with a political solution instead of endless bloodshed.
Just my two cents, thanks for your excellent reply. It is very well received. Mitch.
This is good. And I do see what you mean about dumbing down the same over on Medium (I read both). Keep it up my friend. This is the place to let it all out and piss off a few readers along the way. That seems to be working, based on one of your new commentators here. I do look forward to many more like this in the future.
As for the article, I tend to agree with some. Trump is a moron who doesn't have a clue on how to run a government. He couldn't run a little country in South America on his own, much less the largest economy (for now) in the world. His adversarial cabinet picks will indeed sow chaos, a lot of them will get fired and so on over the next four years. Meanwhile, the U.S. will simmer and bubble, waiting to boil over.
Will the U.S. survive? Probably, but not in its current form. By the time we are finished with the next four years, the U.S will have turned a corner and not in a good way. What that's going to look like is anyone's guess right now.
All we can do is hang on for the wild ride ahead and hope we can keep a roof over our heads and food on the table in the meanwhile.
Hi Terry, thanks for your very kind support. Smiling. I will do my best to keep up the content for you. Did you like the idea of dumbing down content on Medium to perhaps incentivize writers to come here?
I did vent a whole lot in this article. The truth is in there somewhere. I agree with you re: the US, we're spending money we don't have hoping that the world will continue to pick up the tab. They won't and we're only going to impoverish the people living here. I watched a clip from Survival Lily on YouTube yesterday. She revealed that I think 75% or more of the people living in Austria don't have savings of more than a few hundred Euro. They are on a knife edge. One hiccup, one costly incident, an illness and they're done. I suspect America is not too far from that as well.
When Trump's idiotic policies start dragging our economy, there will be startling levels of poverty here. It will be awful to see. I keep wondering how to help out the people I already see piling up outside the grocery stores looking for help. Money is the easy quick fix but education and consistent work is the long term fix. I'd love to be part of that solution. I'll ponder it some more. Mitch.
I'm no fan of Trump, but he is just a puppet for the Deep State. Putin, in an interview with Le Figaro a number of years ago, said: "I have already spoken to three US Presidents. They come and go, but politics stay the same at all times. Do you know why? Because of the powerful bureaucracy. When a person is elected, they may have some ideas. Then people with briefcases arrive, well dressed, wearing dark suits, just like mine, except for the red tie, since they wear black or dark blue ones. These people start explaining how things are done. And instantly, everything changes. This is what happens with every administration."
Yes I believe that. There is a bureaucracy that keeps the idea of America alive. Sadly imho it's out of date. We're in a multipolar world and the strategies should be driving us to collaborate instead of compete to the death.
Seems pretty much the trajectory of the way things are lining up, panning out, all designed by the elites. I believe they are all in bed together, the Dems and GOP are just vying for the best position to seize the precious metals under cities, glaciers and mountains. They trade offenses for defenses, sacrifice one or two of their own on occasion to give the media and it's subjects a distraction while they open a new can of slithering worms without our full attention. Going to be interesting to see how they put the joy back into dating and mating since 4B is sweeping the nation post election and a large population of young men haven't been showing any interest in hetero relation or procreation for a long while. We might being seeing the first generation of sexually apathetic people.
Hi Kat, I agree with your take, both sides of the uniparty we endure never fundamentally change each other’s foreign policies post elections. America will do what America does and that is extract resources to build shining cities, whilst running septic lines through the third world afterwards.
The problem with that model is the global south is resisting by forming alliances with the BRICS nations. While we bleed our citizens dry to prop up empire, over there they’re lifting each other out of poverty and keeping their resources for themselves. We need a complete overhaul of our foreign policy to allow us to survive in a multipolar world.
I don’t think our leaders have it in them to cooperate instead of conquer. So we’re all on the Titanic, moving deck chairs around as it slowly sinks. It’s truly painful to watch and live through these times.
Re: 4B
Imho it’s so easy to get people together, biologically we’re wired to reproduce. For us to overcome our evolutionary biology to refuse dating and mating is extraordinary. We could rewrite our social contracts to promote equality and respect for one another. We could fund childbirth instead of hegemony abroad. We could provide a decent life and a future filled with hope so that our children will see a better tomorrow.
But we won’t so 4B it is and that’s just the consequence of old stupid men in the highest offices of the land. I take comfort in knowing their ideologies are a demographic dead end. I’ll post an article about environmental pollution and reproductive rates soon. Thanks for taking the time. Mitch.
Spot on Mitch.
I too take comfort in knowing their ideologies are a dead end.
Looking forward to your next articles. You have such clarity of thought that refreshes me amidst the noise.
Walk good. (I've adopted this wonderful salutation now ;)
KAT
Welcome to Substack.
HI Aunty J, I’m following your lead. Smiling. Just figuring out the bells and whistles till I get fully on board. Do you have any tips for newbies? Smiling. Mitch.
Mitch, I was actually thinking of asking YOU for help! I hate dealing with "settings" and need to do much to fill in all the blanks on my page. I don't have much patience for figuring out the tech stuff. Glad you are here!
Smiling. I'm figuring out how it works. We'll figure it out together. I do like seeing that they allow us to do podcasts. I'm thinking of reading some of my articles for grins.
Do you mirror articles from Substack to Medium behind the paywall? Not that it's going to pay us anything but I'm thinking I'll only mirror paywalled articles behind paywalls and leave free articles free on both platforms. Thoughts?
Yes. I import all my work to Medium, for the few cents that it is worth. I get next to no responses on Medium and it usually takes me 3 months to get to the minimum $10 payout. Now that you are here on Substack, I'll probably end my membership with Medium. I don't make the $5/month to pay for it.
There’s a clear sense of urgency and frustration with how things are unfolding. What is unsettling is the way that policies, which might seem abstract or distant, trickle down into the everyday lives of real people. The idea of a nation, or even a world, where the system has been designed to benefit the powerful at the expense of everyone else - is not just scary; it’s fundamentally dehumanizing. I don't know what comes after. I can't see past next Tuesday :(
Yeah. Seems the USA and Russia are fighting to split the world in half again, each taking their piece. I hope wherever I am, I’m not in Russia’s half. I’d get any type of America than Russia. Maybe I’m biased.
I do try to keep a little healthy optimism. I am an immigrant here (in the US from NZ - and going back that way shortly for a time - it will be a trial, for Americans and the people who live in America for sure but there are just so many individuals who are good and working hard to keep their corner of the universe in order. We need to look after them too. It is up to us.
AND don’t work so hard that you don’t get to see your daughter at all. She wants you. That’s all. We are programmed to think a fancy house will keep everyone safe but it is not the house or the car; it is you and her mother and your extended family.
If in fact it is all going to hell - as you wrote here - what better time to look after the little stuff. And the little people. Take care of yourself, yeah?
Thank you so much for dropping in and leaving a comment on my post! I look forward to popping in again too!