Originally Posted by
BearX220
I'm 50. I grew up in the 1960s, when leaders were regularly shot dead, Washington burned, civil rights marchers were beaten and killed, political conventions degenerated into riots, and the country nearly flew apart. I saw all of it, mostly on black-and-white TV, but I was acutely aware of the gravity of the era, young as I was. Yet the threats to basic American liberties were not as profound as they are today, and back then the public was fully involved in doing something about it.
That participatory karma, that faith in the system, persisted through the Watergate hearings and the end of Nixon... then exhaustion seemed to set in.
Today we have a seeming majority endorsing totalitarianism/fascism lite over participatory democracy, and the best opponents can do is write an angry blog post or two. Keyboard cowboys.
"Time to shut up and do something bold" -- like what? A national work strike? A flying boycott, like the Montgomery bus boycott? Strategic targeting of one airline, to put it out of business? Mass non-violent sit-ins, MLK/Gandhi-style, at airport checkpoints? None of that is happening, or even close. The energy that propelled us through the 1960s is gone now. Nobody really cares anymore. People are beaten, scared and fatalistic. It's an ideal environment for fascism to take root. The jackboot contingent sees their chance. Which is why within ten years you'll be anally probed before getting into a minor league baseball game.
No serious protests will accompany America's slipping gently away into that good night. The older folks have given up and the younger ones are stoned on digital goodies barfing out of their smartphones. Elegant blog posts mean nothing when the tanks are in the streets.
I think we're cooked and done.
I disagree wholeheartedly. Take a look at what is happening in Mexico. That is not a drug war, it is an insurrection and a highly successful one. (Hilary Clinton let this slip out in a statement last month.) Huge swathes of that country are run independantly from the federal government in Mexico City. The drug trade does fuel the power of those who have taken over in those areas. All made possible because of an incredibly corrupt and despised federal govt. there.
Now take a look at what is happening to almost every highly centralized industrial country. Their balance books are in shambles, their banks are insolvent, and they can no longer borrow with any hope of paying back and also with no hope of even making the interest payments once inflation starts.
In our own country, 46 states have budget gaps that they cannot close, many with budget gaps that require gutting of many critical functions, 10 states that cannot pay retires within a few years, and a lot more states that run out of retiree money a few years later.
Our federal government survives only by printing money the rest of the world accepts. This is coming to an end, as our status as the world currency is ending fast. Many oil producing countries no longer accept payment in US dollars. When no one accepts US dollars or only at a hugely discounted rates, our standard of living will collapse. There will be no money for the empire, no money for the army of spies at HSA, no money for the wet dreams of the TSA, no money for them to dispense out to buy the acquiescence of the people and of the states. Ultimately, no incentive for anyone to have any loyalty to the federal government at all, in terms of finances.
In short, what we are looking at over the next 20 years is a probable decentralization due to the unsupportable expense and waste of the central govt's. This could be a good thing in the united States because there is a long history of self-government at the local level and at the state level. The unnecessary functions of the federal government could collapse and yet life would continue in the states.