Dave@DavesWorld.org: I found this analysis interesting, especially if I substitute the words "egotistical and loyal" for "spiteful." Americans are safer than any other population on the planet, yet they spend more than the next 7 world powers combined on "defense," which is almost entirely offensive campaigns or occupations all over the rest of the world. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/u-s-military-personnel-deployments-country/
The big hit for campaign slogans:
==>Ronald Reagan: "Make America Great Again" which delivered a knockout punch to peaceful Jimmy Carter and issued in 12 years of overseas investment by his capitalist sponsors
==>Donald Trump:"Make America Great Again," which put another hack in the White House that didn't give a shit for his supporters. Meanwhile, in these 12 years, the national debt more than tripled, which is what Bill Clinton's Presidency was all about fixing, only to be dishonestly led into another brutal misuse of our lives and tax dollars by his successor, Bush, Jr. who was apparently duped by his Vice President.
The problem isn't spite at all. It's intense loyalty to country coupled with a belief that we deserve 25% of the world's resources while producing 3 or 4% of the world's stuff. Whenever I tell someone I'm a veteran, they almost always thank me for serving my country, which I did, but they think I was serving my fellow countrymen, which I wasn't.
I recently wrote a piece about "All Men (and Women) are Created Equal," which summarizes the popular American views of non-American rights.
Urgh this is so close but so wrong. From FDR on rural poor whites were solidly Democratic. Then Democrats ran as far away from them as possible on cultural issues, weakening that tie. Then we elected WJC to push through the most far right agenda that Reagan never could have dreamed of. NAFTA was the biggest hit though. It was obvious neither party was going to be be looking after poor people (and in deed they haven't which is why suicide and heroin are through the roof), and if you can't vote your pocketbook you vote your morals. The fact that democrats and liberals think that they still have the best interests of the white working class at heart is literally insane. Take the ACA for example. You give premium cadillac medicaid coverage to the very poorest (largely POC) but if you make starvation wages you get thrust into a kafkaesque website where you may or may not get a subsidy to buy a totally garbage useless mandatory plan with a high deductible, narrow network and balance billing. They really should have called it the KKK revival bill because I don't think I could have stoked race tensions better if I tried.
And the never ending messaging about race from democrats is again a great way to stop any progress on race relations. Message sent to POC from Democrats: "You're poor because everyone is racist" Message sent to poor whites: "well, we know you're not poor because of racism and this is a perfect meritocracy with us at the top so you must just be stupid morons who deserve what you get." Obama got more votes from white people without a college degree than he did from black people, both elections. Since then not only did Obama fail to do anything to fix the economy or hold anyone accountable for destroying it but he, at his own discretion, made the decision to foreclose on as many poor people as possible. The only reason anyone votes for democrats is because the GOP would have been just as evil and the billionaire owned newspapers and TV were all to happy to propagandize about how Obama saved the economy, people constantly call me a liar for pointing out exactly what Obama did.
I've come to look forward to this blog as research on history. This is a definite departure, an opinion rant. Historic.ly will lose crdibility with posts like this. And by the way, people are a product of their surroundings and influencers. Conservatives in Europe would never yank away free health care from the public--because they have experience that it works. Here Fox New tells people socialized medicine will kill them. I think you're both wrong and have taken the wrong path. Rants and landering are not helpful and make the left look bad.
I read this essay the first time around and liked it but I'm a little more skeptical this time. After all, this is really just the Hillary Clinton "middle Americans are deplorables" take. Some are, sure, but most are simply depressed, and pessimistic. I also don't buy the idea that the cultural elite are beautiful happy people. Just read any tweet by Amber Tamblyn, Andy Ostroy or Alyssa Milano. These people live to hate that 40-year-old "white male" in middle America.
That was amazing
Dave@DavesWorld.org: I found this analysis interesting, especially if I substitute the words "egotistical and loyal" for "spiteful." Americans are safer than any other population on the planet, yet they spend more than the next 7 world powers combined on "defense," which is almost entirely offensive campaigns or occupations all over the rest of the world. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/u-s-military-personnel-deployments-country/
The big hit for campaign slogans:
==>Ronald Reagan: "Make America Great Again" which delivered a knockout punch to peaceful Jimmy Carter and issued in 12 years of overseas investment by his capitalist sponsors
==>Donald Trump:"Make America Great Again," which put another hack in the White House that didn't give a shit for his supporters. Meanwhile, in these 12 years, the national debt more than tripled, which is what Bill Clinton's Presidency was all about fixing, only to be dishonestly led into another brutal misuse of our lives and tax dollars by his successor, Bush, Jr. who was apparently duped by his Vice President.
The problem isn't spite at all. It's intense loyalty to country coupled with a belief that we deserve 25% of the world's resources while producing 3 or 4% of the world's stuff. Whenever I tell someone I'm a veteran, they almost always thank me for serving my country, which I did, but they think I was serving my fellow countrymen, which I wasn't.
I recently wrote a piece about "All Men (and Women) are Created Equal," which summarizes the popular American views of non-American rights.
https://davesworld.org/2020/03/11/all-men-are-created-equal/
Urgh this is so close but so wrong. From FDR on rural poor whites were solidly Democratic. Then Democrats ran as far away from them as possible on cultural issues, weakening that tie. Then we elected WJC to push through the most far right agenda that Reagan never could have dreamed of. NAFTA was the biggest hit though. It was obvious neither party was going to be be looking after poor people (and in deed they haven't which is why suicide and heroin are through the roof), and if you can't vote your pocketbook you vote your morals. The fact that democrats and liberals think that they still have the best interests of the white working class at heart is literally insane. Take the ACA for example. You give premium cadillac medicaid coverage to the very poorest (largely POC) but if you make starvation wages you get thrust into a kafkaesque website where you may or may not get a subsidy to buy a totally garbage useless mandatory plan with a high deductible, narrow network and balance billing. They really should have called it the KKK revival bill because I don't think I could have stoked race tensions better if I tried.
And the never ending messaging about race from democrats is again a great way to stop any progress on race relations. Message sent to POC from Democrats: "You're poor because everyone is racist" Message sent to poor whites: "well, we know you're not poor because of racism and this is a perfect meritocracy with us at the top so you must just be stupid morons who deserve what you get." Obama got more votes from white people without a college degree than he did from black people, both elections. Since then not only did Obama fail to do anything to fix the economy or hold anyone accountable for destroying it but he, at his own discretion, made the decision to foreclose on as many poor people as possible. The only reason anyone votes for democrats is because the GOP would have been just as evil and the billionaire owned newspapers and TV were all to happy to propagandize about how Obama saved the economy, people constantly call me a liar for pointing out exactly what Obama did.
References:
On the cultural issues this is by far the best thing ever published on Vox (so of course they fired the writer): https://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberalism
On Obama: (I sent this to you for your Obama hate tweet chain and I still get RT's and likes): https://billmoyers.com/2015/02/14/needless-default/
I've come to look forward to this blog as research on history. This is a definite departure, an opinion rant. Historic.ly will lose crdibility with posts like this. And by the way, people are a product of their surroundings and influencers. Conservatives in Europe would never yank away free health care from the public--because they have experience that it works. Here Fox New tells people socialized medicine will kill them. I think you're both wrong and have taken the wrong path. Rants and landering are not helpful and make the left look bad.
I read this essay the first time around and liked it but I'm a little more skeptical this time. After all, this is really just the Hillary Clinton "middle Americans are deplorables" take. Some are, sure, but most are simply depressed, and pessimistic. I also don't buy the idea that the cultural elite are beautiful happy people. Just read any tweet by Amber Tamblyn, Andy Ostroy or Alyssa Milano. These people live to hate that 40-year-old "white male" in middle America.