Eh…. finances and wars will have plenty to do with our coming Soviet end. They shouldn’t be discounted so lightly.

What is it to be an American?

The only thing that unifies the United States is our collective hate. Hatred of foreign enemies and hatred of each other.

Likely right on the money! Poor education, blinding false patriotisms and a general sense of entitlement has soured the mindset. Just believing in a concept is just that – Americans have become deluded, over confident and complacent – simply, pride comes before a fall!

since no one is commenting on this article I will get the ball rolling.
the word is Russia economic collapse was by the hand of the cold war trying to keep up with the U.S. as well corruption had its hand in the equation.
lets jump ahead to the U.S. situation two wars going on that shouldn’t have happened.
as well corruption had its hand in the equation. im sure there are more issues to add to both sides but the point is both countries experienced collapse.

Sure glad I left when I did. Looking back, it seems a little by like a poultry farm with the animals singing about how free they are as one by one they’re taken off to the chopping block and then served in a bed of parsley with their legs straight up.

Americans are dinner. And those who aren’t today, will be tomorrow. Bon apetite!!!

Hey, move back to France. Why do you hate America?

(I’m joking). Agree with most of his comments, but the headline is deceiving (as headlines tend to be in US media)

“Nurture your hate, my son. Nurture your hate.”

That’s what I tell young people, accompanied by a supportive squeeze of their shoulder and a sincere look into their eyes. “Nurture your hate.”

Well, your not F%&ked yet. It is seriously, time to demand change.

Soviet coal miners received a bucket of potatoes a week as a wage for over 2 years.
Please don’t wait until that happens to do something.

Well that was optimistic.

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Raw Story, James Schirmer, Noel Confidence, News, Gail Thomas and others. Gail Thomas said: RT @RawStory: Exclusive: #2012 may be the final meaningless political shift in America, author tells Raw http://su.pr/2XJqcf #collapse [...]

Shallow, and off the mark completely.

You know what they say about bloggers: people with an opinion, but no audience…. But not to worry, the world is going to end in 2012, right?

So what’s new? Many of us have been foreseeing this fall of empire for over a decade.

what else is new????old story….wonder what will happen to Canada, may be we’ll get all the rich yankees, or the crazy ones like in 1812?

The problem with America is that its’ citizens have been told their whole life that we are a ‘city on the hill’ and this myth is a condom against reality. Foreign interventions are being sold as spreading the goodness of America no matter how many are killed and maimed (and convince others to hate us). Only when Americans come down to earth and realize they are living in a ‘casino’ on the hill; that their country has been abducted by greedy business people (plutocrats) who have long bought our politicians will anything change. But, by the time former soviet citizens had the awareness what they were told was complete bullshit, it was too late.

Last week we had Chomsky playing Nostradamus with global warming and Republicans, today another “intellectual” doing his doctor gloom and doom part……

I suggest all these old men to get an annual subscription to New Age magazine and purchase a truckload of Viagra

Our legislative system continues to work FOR the corporations and AGAINST the well-being of society. Our legislative branch has become useless in serving the people. Our judicial branch is also being purchased right before our eyes and we have become powerless to stop it because “the people” are too busy fighting amongst themselves to even notice. I agree with most of this article. The only way our future will change for the better is for the people to come together for society’s sake, but they are concerned only for themselves. This doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. We are being destroyed from within.

America’s corporate aristocracy is killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
Do they not notice?

SCOTUS is the most corrupt this nation has ever seen, namely Scalia, Alito, and Thomas, as the egregious examples of outright corruption. While we’re quick to point the finger at other nations’ corrupt institutions, the world sees us a a hypocrite.

Editor/author: there are several minor errors that you may want to correct.

Dmitry Orlov…is one of the later.
Orlov, born in born in Leningrad…
In his book, he detailed his experiences…in the late 1980s, early 1990s.
Energy, above all cheap oil,…
The prime example was…Chernobyl…To this day, the site continued…

The only reason americans are powerless is because they have given their power away through apathy.

This article can be seen to be completely wrong after what just happened in Tunisia. Stop sitting on you ass and then whining that nothing will ever change.

The answer is the same as it has always been. Organize.

The government is just another ‘special interest,’ and it is sucking the life out of the economy and the culture. Neither party knows how to wield power that is by its very nature unjust and omnipotent.

Families and home are the foundation for a post-government society. Home-school your children so they really learn serious basics, rather than political agendas. Grow as much of your own food as you can, or join a co-op that does. Don’t worry about your ‘carbon footprint,’ that’s being minimized for you by Uncle Sam. And learn to live frugally – soon it will be not a choice but a necessity.

Above all, don’t let the government assume all the powers of “charity” with its zillions of entitlements. Keep volunteering, helping the less fortunate, be thankful for your health and safety, and, yes, because not everyone acts with civility these days, arm yourself and learn how to defend yourself. Remember that the trough-swellers will empty the jails, as other third-world countries have, before they will tighten their own belts. And we will have to be able to defend ourselves.

Canada has relatively low debt and is fiscally sound. Its currency is much stronger than the dollar.

Well, Jason, the world isn’t really going to end in 2012. The way it works is that 2012 marks the “end of the age”–the Age of Pisces–and officially begins the Age of Aquarius. What is believed to be happening is that humans will evolve into a more responsible species capable of making the right decisions for themselves without governments and religions telling them how to behave.

It is because religions and governments feel this coming loss of power that they are tightening their tyrannical control. It won’t matter in the end, however. The People will eventually put them in their place. It’s happening in South America and the Middle East as we speak.

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable”.–John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The problem now is that the real super rich live in a global community, where they fly to major cities across the globe to do deals and hobnob. If the USA falls, these people will not be affected in the least. They knew ahead of time that it would crash and burn, and they sold off their estate at a profit, long before the threat of a housing crash. When the US crashes for good, they’ll do less business there, and maybe go back to visit old friends and do some shopping, seeing as you can buy stuff for next to nothing.

The fruit of immorality and godlessness…

Tick tock tick tock…

Perfect. The man the tories hate the most is Saul David Alinsky: “organize, organize, organize.”

Do something?
One of things this article explains is how powerless the average American is.
The more people demand change the louder the plutocrats laugh at them.

The days of Charles Dickens.

Homeschool kids tend to be dorks who dont get laid.

So then you’re acknowledging that you’re part of the problem and not the solution?

“The Empire of Amerika” is almost out of gas hence the rapid development of the surveillance police state at home to suppress the coming revolt against the elites and the development of opposing regional power centers. Only the most delusional or ill informed citizen still believe that the Congress, the Executive or the Judiciary are not corrupted corporate puppets and actually still give a S*** about the people or their well being. Personally, I say bring it on. The evil, immoral and illegal wars “justified” by blatant lies and evidence fabrication will only end when the power structures in Washington that support the war machine and permanent war economy cease to exist.

Wait a second, did we not just demand and get CHANGE?

Can we live a serfs? YES WE CAN!

If the Teatards become political players in reality, you can certainly expect total and utter collapse by 2015. If the Teatards are staved off until they disband, then you can expect collapse much later.

As of this morning: 1 US dollar = 0.9953 Canadian dollars

Youre just trolling

I am moving this comment.

Or if the elites prevail in their planned repression it will be 1984.

Any other profoundly stupid “insights” you would like to share with us based on your lack of actual knowledge and apparent need to stereotype? My kids aren’t homeschooled, but I know plenty that are, and they’re some of the nicest most well-adjusted kids out there, both socially and emotionally. Sure, you have you whack-job evangelicals homeschooling their kids — but if their kids turn into social misfits it’ll be because of their social circumstances and retarded family, not because of the homeschooling itself.

They offer you a choice between turd on a stick, or turd on a bun.
There has to be another choice, but I am still scratching my head.
You look smarter than me. What is it?

Right, because everything is really hunky-dory in America — after all, we’re Number One, what could possibly go wrong? And if things start going really wrong, it’s not the Chomsky’s of this world we should listen to (even though he’s largely been right on almost all his calls in the past), it’s hawkish pundits like Brooks, Friedman, Kristol et al — even though they’ve been chronically wrong about everything.

The secret to having power is to convince others to give it to you.
While we go along with the status quo, we continue giving them the power.
I thought the protests against the Vietnam war were magnificent.
As a young lad at that time, I was inspired by it.

That inspiration is needed again.

“”Basically the people in this country are powerless,” he suggested. “So they should probably focus on things closer to home.”

This is a key statement, in my opinion.

Well you don’t want a Putin in a few years, do you?
Lets avoid that.

Protesting on the scale of the Vietman war protests are only allowed by permit now. If you want to protest these assholes you have to get their permission.
Protests like those will never happen in America again, the protests of the invasion of Iraq were obviously ignored as well. Do you know how big those were?? HUGE!

Well, as I recall the entire fundamentalist, evangelical wing of the TeaParty is slated to be Raptured away in 2012 so that should pretty well thin their ranks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they’re right about that too, just not having the far right christians influencing government policy should go far in slowing the country’s decline.

We didn’t hear of those protests in Australia. There was a media black out on them.
Had the Australian public known we would not have followed W into Iraq. I found out through a German news service but had no idea if they were big or small.
OK. Why did they have no effect?

yes i agree. that one hit me deeply.

Exactly, we are not all on the same sinking ship. The people doing the most damage, directly and through their political puppets, have no stake in the eventual outcome.

If you look closely, those who imply that they hold the moral high ground are those who want to or have already, undermined formerly effective agencies intended to protect the American citizenry. They are also the same group who pushes our military into ever more tenuous foreign entanglements. When you imply the “fruit of immorality”, you should clarify that the immoral ones are the very ones who claim the moral high ground. And anyone with even an inkling of critical thought can tell the big lie being shoved down our throats by the corporate hucksters that invited these false Christians into our government. It is the evangelical Christian caucus that is killing America.

You should read some of Frank Schaeffer’s writings, having grown up with the Billy Graham’s of the world, and now renounced them as power hungry charlatans, he has a unique perspective.

What makes the coming collapse inevitable is the fact that the “system” is no longer subject to change. The powerful interests, like the military/industrial complex, the fossil fuel corporations, the banks, financiers and insurance companies, and the media have the country in a hammerlock. Greed and power are the core values of the oligarchy. They will never let go. To be honest, the patient is already dead.

I guess they should come up with a punctuation character that denotes sarcasm. Oh well.

Anger is better. Focused, controlled anger. Not thoughtless stupid rage.
And always with the eye on the goal. Improve the future of the 98%ers.

They get stellar grades, they don’t get assaulted in school (or insulted for being serious about school), they get into college and do well because they’re independent and industrious, and they get jobs from employers who realize they came from homes where families learned teamwork and leadership.

Students can do that elsewhere too, but as society grinds to a halts and public funding with it, government-funded schools will wither because the teachers unions have admitted that their job is to protect teachers, not teach students.

You can’t have a 50 year war, be it hot or cold, and expect to come out of it intact. We’re dead, only we just don’t know it yet.

Why not both?

The reason American citizens (the ones who are not corporations) are powerless over their political system is because our campaign finance system is pay-to-play. Large campaign donations are thinly disguised bribes which are faithfully repaid as soon as the candidate acquires office.

You ignore the movie with that snapshot. And Canada has no QE2, 3, or 4, or thirteen trillion debt, or Bernanke bent on destroying the currency. It also is much more fiscally responsible (unlike CA, NY, IL, etc.).

Read it and weep —

http://www.google.com/search?q=canadian+vs+US+dollar+history&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=canadian+vs+US+dollar+history&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=AkU&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=ivns&tbs=tl:1&tbo=u&ei=d5FBTbfYEoPqgQfmx8iJAg&sa=X&oi=timeline_result&ct=title&resnum=11&ved=0CGcQ5wIwCg&fp=c2946aa513ef4809

Wrong. There was a time when $1 US was almost $1.50 Canadian. The Dollah is fading all over the world.

I think focusing on things closer to home is the most important statement in this article. The voters in this country need to extract themselves from the two party duopoly, because it is now completely ineffective and impotent. People need to concentrate on changing their own corner of the world ~ forget Washington, because they’ve forgotten us.

“But what really seemed to rock the Soviet empire to its foundations, Orlov explained, was devastation of Russia’s physical environment as a result of industrialization.”

Newt Gingrich proposes abolishing EPA
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48143.html

Republicans dedicated to moving America forward… straight into the ditch.

I think that when and if it happens to us, our collapse -as opposed to that of Russa’s -will go largely unnoticed by most Americans. For years Europe has been working it’s way past us in living standards and technology, etc. -but how many here know about it, or are even willing to hear about it? In Russia’s case, deep seated jaded additudes and physical proximity to Europe made their collapse impossible to ignore. Because of our insulation from the rest of the world both physically and additudinally, denial, and -I’m sorry to say -because of our well known general “intellectual disinterest”, most Americans will continue to believe that we are the lone superpower, the most technologically advanced, with the best healthcare system and the wealthiest citizenry, long into Third World status.Don’t get me wrong -we’ll feel the pain -we’ll just gloatingly assume that all other counties are worse off.

Christians has corrupted religion even more than corporations have corrupted our politcal process.

this indicates that people MUST be involved with their government. The problem is we get form letters back from our reps stating we are insignificant

If the wrong-wing has their way, all children will have to be home-schooled as there will no longer be any public education.

If only they were concerned only for themselves. Half the population vote against their best interest because they need to be told what to think and those that they gravitate to are fear mongering corporate shills.

I disagree with Orlov.

Orlov is incorrect. What happened was Yeltsin hired the fucked up Harvard University clowns as consultants. Harvard is as fucked up as Milton Friedman’s Chicago School. We saw how the Chicago School gave birth to Pinochett and fuck ups like Reagan and Thatcher. Well Harvard fucked up Russia.

Instead of turning Russia into a genuine Capitalist country Harvard turned the nation into a plutocracy. A nation ruled by the wealthy for the wealthy. The oil rich barons of Russia was literally screwing the nation. This gave birth to Putin who was seen as the savior to break up the plutocracy.

Orlov’s statement, “Basically the people in this country are powerless,” he suggested. “So they should probably focus on things closer to home.” Is the shock treatment Milton Friedman advocated.

Fuck the shock treatment. Those of the early 1920′s didn’t go for shock treatment. Those of the early 1920′s pushed for socialism and this scared the crap out of both the Repubican and Democratic Party, which gave birth to FDR.

Note the constant demonizing of socialism by Fox Fraud News and the right. Well I have this to say to those on the right, “Fuck You”. Those of you on the right that wants to eat rich man’s shit off the ground go for it but stay out of government because all you want government for is to force us to eat rich man’s shit. Go to hell with that”.

Our founding people in the early 1930′s that pushed this nation to the left is the spirit we need to restore. This spirit we need to give life to. Trust me if enough people in this nation gives life to that spirit you will see the miselry miser rich who are hoarding the money right now give it up to create jobs, you will see them scared shitless and give us something to appease us. And if they want to hang tough then fuck them we go socialist and make them eat our shit until they break and we will know when they are broken when we see all this goody good stuff they claim Capitalism has for us such as good jobs, good wages, good pension. yummy, yummy.

Let’s get ready to crumble! oh, wait we are already…..

[...] Rawstory.com Parallels to the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Internet = [...]

In truth, the real immorality in America is in the GOPs. But just as important – we have no business being an empire in the 1st place.

They were huge. I particpated in many. What I don’t understand is why we aren’t still protesting these wars. I’m ready to march, but I don’t want to march alone. It was dangerous enough with a hugh numbers of like minded people constantly being intimidated and threatened by the wrong-wing thugs.

Then we change the laws, so they can visit for a few weeks, but that’s it. They can live the rest of their lives in dubai. But, first we make laws raising taxes to eisenhower levels, and increasing the ‘death tax’, and not allowing folks to move huge amounts outside the country, close loopholes in swiss and caribbean banks… you get the idea..

We are not big protesters here. So I can only guess at what it would take.
In those countries where people don’t care if they get jailed or beaten, things are pretty desperate. But too often that is what takes. I do not want to see the US reach that point but I don’t want people to get their heads bashed in or worse. The politicians have to be scared of the people before they do anything.

Where is Gandhi when you need him?

Organize….progressives against baggers? We are in the midst of the worst political and ideological division and polarization in recent history. Convictions are what they are. I think we would be better off to just divide geographically as well with a divorce based on irreconcilable differences. This infighting is stagnating our progression while adult societies leave us behind in the dust. Divided we fall and I don’t see us coming together any time soon.

there is a big proest coming up in march this year… 8th anniversary of iraq… spread the word… let’s make it enormous…

agree, except: “Don’t worry about your ‘carbon footprint,’” – that’s a reich-wing, global-warming-doesn’t-matter-we-don’t-believe-science lie. Living frugally is just right, regardless of income, imo…

There comes a point when you might as well rest your head in the arms of the dragon since nothing you can do will stop it from eating you.

Uh. No.

Yes! Kick-ass! That’s the solution… Bring on by and for the people! Increase the people’s involvement in government! The reich-wing liars want to convince us how bad government is, how it can never help us, there is nothing we can do…. BULL!! They lie to keep power in the hands of elites. We can help us. We can help each other. We are the government. We are the g-damn people!

As far as ‘empire’ goes… good riddance. The US world-wide, corporate, MIC-guarded empire: goodbye. Like the british empire: never should have existed, they wised up and let it go..

‘Power to the people – no delay’ – Chuck D

Forget about appealing to your reps…
They are the problem and have already been purchased by their plutocrats and corporados to do with as they please.

The right likes to give Ronnie Raygun credit for the dissolution of Russia explaining that they were trying to keep up with his “Star Wars Missile Defense System” and while there may have some truth to it, I don’t consider it a primary reason and I don’t like to give him that much credit.

From Wikipedia:
The dissolution of the Soviet Union into independent nations began early in 1985. After years of Soviet military buildup at the expense of domestic development, economic growth was at a standstill. Failed attempts at reform, a stagnant economy, and success of Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence against the Soviet Union’s forces in war in Afghanistan led to a general feeling of discontent, especially[citation needed] in the Baltic republics and Eastern Europe.

Greater political and social freedoms, instituted by the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, created a bad atmosphere of open criticism of the Moscow regime. The dramatic drop of the price of oil in 1985 and 1986, and consequent lack of foreign exchange reserves in following years to purchase grain profoundly influenced actions of the Soviet leadership.[1]

Several Soviet Socialist Republics began resisting central control, and increasing democratization led to a weakening of the central government. The USSR’s trade gap progressively emptied the coffers of the union, leading to eventual bankruptcy. The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991 when Boris Yeltsin seized power in the aftermath of a failed coup that had attempted to topple reform-minded Gorbachev.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Soviet_Union_%281985%E2%80%931991%29

Shallow?

Being able to piss on someone’s leg doesn’t make you a big dog.

You missed the point but rather than ask for clarification or ignore it altogether you chose this as an opportunity to be insulting and dismissive. Seems you have a intimate familiarity with the term shallow, it describes your essence.

There is no cohesion in American society, no sense that we share anything but hatred and selfishness which is considered a virtue.

We were manipulated into wars we didn’t need to fight to boost the popularity of a war president and his profiteering cronies. The justification was fear and hatred. They are bankrupting us both financially and morally.

We fight for an empire for no tangible benefit except to channel our cohesive focused rage. Everything is being consumed to maintain not just the empire but the hate and fear that makes the empire necessary.

Once our Orwellian engineered hate dissipates once we cannot sustain it we are left with a shallow nothing. The “empire” will fail because it has no legitimate reason for being. It’s shell will have consumed itself in the artifice of hate.

In the process of maintaining control by hate we have become the object of others hate. For that the chickens have yet come home to roost.

Now run along.

Soooo! America will treat ALL of it’s citizens like Blacks and Latinos! Ramen Noodles for all my serfs!

Pillage,loot, and plunder,take a spoil and move on.We’re addicts to the pillaging,looting,and plundering,taking a spoil and we refuse to give it up even if it destroys us.

what you all fail to see is that Canada’s trade is about 90% with the U.S. Also we have a lot of t bills in our holding, so the way you go is the way we go.

really, what about our debt to gdp ratio???

[...] Read More: [...]

Comparing the former Soviet Union at ANY point of their history with us proves immediately that this author should not be taken seriously. We’re talking about a country that starved millions of Ukrainians to death by taking their wheat, ALL of it, and exporting it so Stalin could “prove” that what he called “Communism” was a superior economic system that was capable of “feeding the world” when in fact our country was the only one capable of doing that at the time.

In case you didn’t know it the US is already a plutocracy. Powerful multinational corporations and banks control all three branches of government. In the present state our empire is in, it is impossible to elect someone with the power to change things. Our empire like so many before it, is rotting from the inside out. A total collapse is our only chance at building something better for future generations. The reason history repeats itself is that people weren’t paying attention the first time.

Of course. And thank your local TeaBagger and the Party of “No”. NOTHING gets done because of them.

The old white male can’t die off soon enough.

And what a wonderful person you are! Simply mean, cruel, bigoted and INSANE. The world would be a better place without people like YOU.

I was making a lame joke…sandi2. I give no credence to crazy religious prophesy of any type, or any religion…all superstition in my opinion. BTW, JFK was right.

ours is a lot worse than “sick” Europe’s, Our deficit is 11% of GDP, EU’s is six. Our national debt is 92% of GDP, while EU’s is 84.

the bipartisan gang of thieves and the dying elites are draining all they can from the people before the collapse – which they caused.

And Canadian society is much more rational too. They are not being driven into bankruptcy by foolish wars, run away military spending, unneeded bases all over the world, a corrupt Congress..owned by corporate money, criminal Republicans, and on and on….

[...] Diebenow The Raw Story January 27, [...]

And Americans killed millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians in order to prove democracy is better than communism. Additionally American sanctions killed in excess of a million Iraqis, mostly women and children who starved to death. Murder is murder whether at home or abroad.

my point was too brief. The failure of government will lead to astronomical costs of energy, transportation, food, and other necessities, so our “footprint” will be reduced by necessity – we won’t be able to afford it.

However, I’ve lived in third-world countries and the usual stats never include the wood that is cut locally and burned by locals. The US still has a lot of forest land, but it will begin to disappear as people can’t find other sources of heat and minimal domicile requirements. Water — especially clean, potable water – will become a huge commodity, not a given.

Another sad fact is that yes, we will have to defend ourselves. So many people will lack even basic foodstuff and shelter that they will be “forced” to run in gangs (= cooperative survival efforts, or CSE’s) to get it.

The picture of the 1930′s rider of the rails knocking on our door to chop wood in exchange for breakfast, hat in hand, is over. One does not require a vivid imagination to picture today’s version.

Hey man…I’m one of those old, white men and I dig living. Whazzup with you? Jealous because I get better weed?

Wanting old farts to croak looks a lot different to ya when you are one of the old farts.

Don’t say we.

Agreed, although I would hasten to add criminal Democrats.

Just the way I see it coming down the pipe, and I really dread what that is and I regret not being able to do anything to change it.

Aren’t you basically saying the same thing dude before you said? Hahaaa now that’s some funny shit.

You are kidding right?

That was the whole goal of the Reagan era. The whole thing was divide and conquer, and in spite of what has happened to our economy, our international standing, our standard of living and our society in general, this is EXACTLY how those at the top wanted it. And they keep working to make things WORSE for the vast majority of us. I sincerely hope that the end of their time comes soon. DAMNED SOON. These scum bags think that money is the ONLY thing that matters, and that THEY are the ones who DESERVE IT ALL. I saw this coming as soon as Reagan got into office and started stirring up the shit.

It comes down to one very basic idea: You can have a country that works for the vast majority of it’s citizens, or you can lower everyone to “consumer” and screw us all for the benefit of the 2%. You can’t allow such a wealth disparity to exist and say that you have a society. You DON’T. And we are on the edge of not having one ourselves. It’s time to kill off the idea that the rich will EVER do anything to benefit anyone but themselves. They have proved EVERY TIME that they won’t. Even if they do something that does benefit someone else, you can bet the rich are profiting off of it more than those they help. Bill Gates Foundation? A multi BILLION dollar tax break for the richest man in the country, and most of the world.

We have the most fucked up priorities of any country in the industrialized world. Corporations need to be seen as what they are, a TOOL. They should NOT be making ANY decisions for anything but their own business. NO political decisions at all. EVER. HUMANS should be what matter, not profits. Profits should be the LAST thing that matters, not the first, like it is now.

Whoa dude….
By the way I am stealing your analogue there. I will credit you the first couple of times I use it though.

They don’t care. They now see the rest of the world as being their market. They have used us up and are now spitting us out. And the feds are rewarding them for it. This is what happens when you let money make decisions. STUPIDITY reigns every time. Money has NO brains, no morals, no ethics. Expecting it to make a decision based on anything BUT it’s own furtherance is a fool’s game. And yet we do it every day. No wonder the country is toast.

I admire your spirit and agree, but I got news, the ‘Chicago boys’ have been running this country for 30 years now.

It couldn’t happen to a more deserving country and citizenry. Buhbye murica, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out to oblivion…

Golly !

He sounds . . . ssssssssssooooooooooooooo . . . .

NEGATIVE . . . !

I agree with the author on the future of the usa,and that it ain’t going to be pretty. If the right wing wasn’t as sucessful with their propaganda effort, and not so many politicians from both side of the aisle weren’t so corrupted by the corporations, we the people might stand a chance.

What we are never taught is that huge, I mean huge, strikes and work stoppages is what woke up some of the elected to that change was needed in the late 20′s. We better start while there are still enough of us with jobs to make a difference.
Tell ya the truth, now, I think if people would just stop buying and especially paying, things might change. Cuzz these motherfuckers that run thing need money, I mean prodigious, massive, titanic amounts of money. Their rapine is beyond mortal description. Maybe if we just cut it off, you know, quit paying your rent, your car, your insurance, your house note, and only buy JUST what you need, really need…I don’t know, hey, it might be interesting and I couldn’t be any worse than what is going to happen anyway. I mean if that lying cocksucker Obama has taught us anything, it is that there just isn’t that much diff’ between Repubs and Dems anyway, well except the speed at which they’re driving us over the cliff.

Hey Ma…where ya been? If it’s oblivion for us…I’m still gonna find a way to have fun with it.

Cool breezes to you!

Not a proper way to care about America: Shitting on the flag for a dollar.

Soviet fuckin merchant of hopelessness and tiller of terror.

Same for all “no-hopers.”

Go take a flying leap.

Seriously.

You’re never going to succeed, and, you make Michelle Bachmann look like a thinker.

Optimism has its limits, man.

Look objectively at this country. What do you see? What redeeming qualities exist to justify “caring” about America?

Orlov is on to something. Americans are loosing faith in America, the center is not holding, and this is a recipe for collapse. Proof that Americans have loss faith in America can be read in comments from Right and Left which raise an unmistakable chorus of “America is loss”, “the dept is eating us”, and “the government is evil”. But these nay-saying negativists should welcome Orlov’s message since they are anti-statists who should welcome the fall of the American State.

A lot of the right wing “success” is itself propaganda. A wapo poll recently reported that more americans favor socialism than favor the tea party. Also, the electoral results are highly suspect and tilted by big business.

Mr, Orlov’s blunt assessment of the political economy of the current Washington régime was as bluntly stated by Marine Corps Major General Butler in the late 1930′s:

“General Smedley Butler was aware of all of this when he wrote, “War Is a Racket. . . . The flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag. . . . I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. . . . I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.”
See: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22938

Just as millions of ordinary Americans who are awakening to the reality behind the Washington-Wall Street mirage, Butler understood political economy and the historical decadence of the Powers That be, the 5% of the American population who control 95% of our political economy for their private benefit.

Then you must have the secret key to job creation, the erosion of trust in crumbling institutions ALL of which have sold themselves to corporate gluttons. The only family owned paper is the New York Times, and mainstream media has made them out to be the devil. Does that tell you anything? No, I didn’t think so, I knew so.

Then you must have the secret key to job creation, the erosion of trust in crumbling institutions ALL of which have sold themselves to corporate gluttons. The only family owned paper is the New York Times, and mainstream media has made them out to be the devil. Does that tell you anything? No, I didn’t think so, I knew so.

Orlov’s a genius. I mean nail on the head genius.

Orlov’s a genius. I mean nail on the head genius.

I DO have the secret key to job creation!

I DO have the secret key to job creation!

I see one guy taking a shit on my flag for a dollar.

I see one guy taking a shit on my flag for a dollar.

The coming collapse will be due to “American Exceptionalism”: the exceptionally gullible voting for the exceptionally wealthy.

The coming collapse will be due to “American Exceptionalism”: the exceptionally gullible voting for the exceptionally wealthy.

Chicken F*ucking Little personified. This country has survived a civil war, two world wars, the second superimposed on the Great Depression, assassinations, stupid inept presidents, slavery, racial segregation and various private manipulations of the economy.

Like most counties, we have a surplus of morons, many in the form of religious miscreants. However, I think there is a chance to improve. This is not the late Cold War Soviet Union and the US still has immense natural and human resources.

Chicken F*ucking Little personified. This country has survived a civil war, two world wars, the second superimposed on the Great Depression, assassinations, stupid inept presidents, slavery, racial segregation and various private manipulations of the economy.

Like most counties, we have a surplus of morons, many in the form of religious miscreants. However, I think there is a chance to improve. This is not the late Cold War Soviet Union and the US still has immense natural and human resources.

You can’t bail out trust. Watching business leaders who were entrusted with of all things–money..completely BLOW IT. They used the word “deregulation” as a clarion call for economic development and look what happened. Now it’s huge tax breaks, and everyone seems to think that somehow, they’ve magically changed their ways and this will solve everything. Following their tradition, we get yet another self serving proposal masqueraded as a “solution”.

They too are about to be affected by overall declining tax revenues from both business and private entities. There is also a second wave of foreclosures coming down this year and nothing can stop that. Gas prices are already on the rise again, and any rise in energy costs will cause a round of inflation. And the type of jobs being created are not the types of jobs that disappeared.

The last election cycle put people in office who don’t understand (or don’t care) about the US Constitution. They paint themselves as American Patriots, as if they have the exclusive rights to that word. They listen to no one who disagrees with them. Gridlock in Washington. What good can become of that?

I guess we’re going to get what we deserve. When more roads, schools, bridges and other infrastructure starts breaking down, we have to beg the “less government” people for their magical cure all. Soon even they will get the picture when they are applying for day laborer jobs and out in the fields picking food for those who still have jobs.

You can’t bail out trust. Watching business leaders who were entrusted with of all things–money..completely BLOW IT. They used the word “deregulation” as a clarion call for economic development and look what happened. Now it’s huge tax breaks, and everyone seems to think that somehow, they’ve magically changed their ways and this will solve everything. Following their tradition, we get yet another self serving proposal masqueraded as a “solution”.

They too are about to be affected by overall declining tax revenues from both business and private entities. There is also a second wave of foreclosures coming down this year and nothing can stop that. Gas prices are already on the rise again, and any rise in energy costs will cause a round of inflation. And the type of jobs being created are not the types of jobs that disappeared.

The last election cycle put people in office who don’t understand (or don’t care) about the US Constitution. They paint themselves as American Patriots, as if they have the exclusive rights to that word. They listen to no one who disagrees with them. Gridlock in Washington. What good can become of that?

I guess we’re going to get what we deserve. When more roads, schools, bridges and other infrastructure starts breaking down, we have to beg the “less government” people for their magical cure all. Soon even they will get the picture when they are applying for day laborer jobs and out in the fields picking food for those who still have jobs.

No institution lasts forever, not even man. If man were really an intelligent creature, he would be able to both see and prepare for it. But that old piece of shit -ego – gets in the way, making man think he will live forever and be remembered as the great American hero. I’ve got a word of advice: man has yet to reach the age of reason, regardless of what religion, courts or his favorite reality show says. My guess is when it’s time, man will go out with either a whimper, or a loud whine crying, “Why me, Lord?” And there will no one left to answer him.

No institution lasts forever, not even man. If man were really an intelligent creature, he would be able to both see and prepare for it. But that old piece of shit -ego – gets in the way, making man think he will live forever and be remembered as the great American hero. I’ve got a word of advice: man has yet to reach the age of reason, regardless of what religion, courts or his favorite reality show says. My guess is when it’s time, man will go out with either a whimper, or a loud whine crying, “Why me, Lord?” And there will no one left to answer him.

I can’t help but believe what he is saying is correct. This country is so messed up by 30 years of raygunomics and the people are so misled by lies, failure is the only option. When you have a media that lies and doesn’t inform, a political party rooting against the government and people so dumbed down they can’t even think critically it is a slow motion train wreck. When the collapse happens some states with a more informed electorate will survive while the backward ones will erupt in anarchy with the uneducated armed militia types becoming bullies out to kill minorities because according to them minorities are the problem. When I see the Tea Party I think of the KKK who rose up after the Civil War, these later generations of same people rose up after an educated black man was elected and those people don’t like uppity you know what running the country. Ironically we had an idiot for 8 years and they didn’t say a peep while he was running up deficits and basically let the corporations take over our government.

I can’t help but believe what he is saying is correct. This country is so messed up by 30 years of raygunomics and the people are so misled by lies, failure is the only option. When you have a media that lies and doesn’t inform, a political party rooting against the government and people so dumbed down they can’t even think critically it is a slow motion train wreck. When the collapse happens some states with a more informed electorate will survive while the backward ones will erupt in anarchy with the uneducated armed militia types becoming bullies out to kill minorities because according to them minorities are the problem. When I see the Tea Party I think of the KKK who rose up after the Civil War, these later generations of same people rose up after an educated black man was elected and those people don’t like uppity you know what running the country. Ironically we had an idiot for 8 years and they didn’t say a peep while he was running up deficits and basically let the corporations take over our government.

A very misleading headline…the kind I see all the time at HuffPoo…it implies “faith” as in religious faith…that’s what I got out of it anyways.

A very misleading headline…the kind I see all the time at HuffPoo…it implies “faith” as in religious faith…that’s what I got out of it anyways.

John, you are an educated white man who can think critically unlike people like the reich wing poster who comes here to harass. You don’t get your talking points from Fox or reich wing radio. You can articulate and make an informed comments without anyone’s help. If the majority of white people in this country were like you we wouldn’t be in this mess now. The poor scared white people got frightened by having a black president.

John, you are an educated white man who can think critically unlike people like the reich wing poster who comes here to harass. You don’t get your talking points from Fox or reich wing radio. You can articulate and make an informed comments without anyone’s help. If the majority of white people in this country were like you we wouldn’t be in this mess now. The poor scared white people got frightened by having a black president.

In the process they should save money by cutting off the military pensions of people who live outside the US and make hostile statements about it. You’d starve real quick without big daddy’s pension check, wouldn’t you?

Got a clear picture in your mind of you taking an oath to get into the service?

In the process they should save money by cutting off the military pensions of people who live outside the US and make hostile statements about it. You’d starve real quick without big daddy’s pension check, wouldn’t you?

Got a clear picture in your mind of you taking an oath to get into the service?

wagonjerk, You last visit was about a year ago, I suggest you come back a year from now,preferentially with something less stupid to say, meanwhile stick to the Playstation Gamer`s crowd ……

wagonjerk, You last visit was about a year ago, I suggest you come back a year from now,preferentially with something less stupid to say, meanwhile stick to the Playstation Gamer`s crowd ……

Myopic logic at its best. To compare the collapse of the former Soviet Union to the possible same fate for America is to completely ignore the origins of both and what roads both problems emerged from. The United States is indeed on a bad path on all levels and could fall into total despair. But, culturally, politically, informationally speaking, it isn’t even in the same solar system as the former Soviet Union.

I’m surprised this is getting any press at all. It’s fatalist thinking, scare tactics, and assumptions on things that not only haven’t happened yet, but don’t even have enough supporting events to point anyone in that direction on any kind of realistic level. This is someone who wants to sell books plain and simple.

Myopic logic at its best. To compare the collapse of the former Soviet Union to the possible same fate for America is to completely ignore the origins of both and what roads both problems emerged from. The United States is indeed on a bad path on all levels and could fall into total despair. But, culturally, politically, informationally speaking, it isn’t even in the same solar system as the former Soviet Union.

I’m surprised this is getting any press at all. It’s fatalist thinking, scare tactics, and assumptions on things that not only haven’t happened yet, but don’t even have enough supporting events to point anyone in that direction on any kind of realistic level. This is someone who wants to sell books plain and simple.

Then tell us! Just don’t say something like, “Hire more people.”

Our country simply cannot sustain the path it’s currently on much as in the former Soviet Union. Too many layers of bullshit stacked one on top of the other, wanton waste of resources, misplaced priorities, platitudes instead of decisive action, etc. What the end result will be in anyone’s guess, but sometime within the next 5 years I’m afraid we will see widespread unrest and a new currency. You will not like this is you live in the USA.

Sorry buttwipe, My home and property are totally paid for, I have a garden
and animals, I fish daily and am pretty well ensconced with no real bills to
worry about.

I took an oath every time I shipped over, but I Did NOT take an oath to
retire and now that I am completely retired, I believe that my first
amendment rights are perfectly clear. I wouldn’t be making hostile
statements against the country of my birth if it were actually living up to
its Constitution and Bill of Rights.

No I wouldn’t starve, nor will I worry about medical care, France has the
best health care in the world and since I am a French National I do not
worry about any substandard health care from the USA….

In todays world, I would rather be anything than an american idiot… The
world today stands against your hypocrisy and ignorance. You preach your
silliness non stop and you feel that you are the pinnacle of excellence when
you are actually falling so very far behind the industrial nations that you
can never catch up again…. I pity those who are forced to remain for no
reasons of their own making. Perhaps there might be enough one day to
cause a revolution once again, but I doubt it.

No lad, I am long, long past the wide eyed belief in Fairy Tales and
Religious Dogma that is being foisted on the american peep’s today… You
can keep your country, you deserve it and all the rest of the shit headed
your way in the very near future…..

Whether Orlov is right or not, if you read his blog, you’ll find things that can help, like becoming more local– ie, getting more of what we need from close by. Peak Oil is here and we can survive it, but we need to be smart and pay attention to people like him. He’s smart and is trying to warn us of a potential path. We don’t have to take it. We can get better at creating what we need close to home (especially food and energy). I also read Global Guerrillas for insight on resilient communities.

You made sense until your last sentence. I know it is fashionable and trendy in the simple minded set to play the race card…but it is way outdated, so give it up already. And way out of fashion too. A good portion of “scared white people” voted for the “black president” fool, or he wouldn’t be president. Include me in that group. And I gave not one hoot if he was white, black or purple. I am not hung up on race…as you surely are. STUFF THE BLACK PRESIDENT CRAP PLEASE.

Truth deserves repeating when told to fools. Otherwise they miss the point dude. Just like you have. You sound suspiciously like Johnny Warbucks. Interesting name too dude….hmmm.

Bob Zentrails is correct. You have no knowledge of history. What a simple fool you are, but you are in good company on this site.

Most Americans are hypnotized into believing America is the greatest country on Earth. I think Americans have TOO MUCH faith in the system, too much faith in deregulation, the free market, war, empire and “American exceptionalism.” Our problems relate to believing too much in our ourselves, refusing to be self-critical and refusing to change the system.

Orlov may not be entirely correct, but he has a compelling story to tell, an aspect of which is that we should be wary of our own perceived “exceptionalism.” Empires ALWAYS crumble. We can either successfully transform ourselves into a nation that has a soft landing, or we can crash. (BTW, he isn’t the first person to note that the end of cheap energy is nigh. Dwindling supplies of cheap fossil fuels will definitely be a driving force in changing (i.e., downscaling) our economy. IMO, that’s the biggest factor.

For about 30 years, our mass communications giants, like Rush Limbaugh, have been hammering away at the idea that government is obsolete, that corporations and a mythical “free market” form of capitalism can best promote US predominance. “Conservative” political movements, promoting a shrinking government coupled with a rise in corporate dominance (privatization) are embedded frames of a large segment of political theatre. Orlov’s warnings, then, have a familiar ring.

Let’s give the fellow his due. He’s seen things that we haven’t. He may not be a prophet, but he’s got a knowledge base that deserves respect.

The disdain for people smarter than you is why we’re in this mess to begin with. Existence as you know it was created by smart people, not your 100 IQ types. The “average people” in the US have taken the dislike of their intellectual superiors to new heights, and it’s allowing for a pretty significant fall.

note: I don’t know if this guy is one of the “smart ones”, but Chomsky certainly is.

Anywhere the Private Sector cannot or will not create jobs, the Government must do it.

Simple.

They have convinced themselves that it was them, not the goose, that made that egg. So, no.. they don’t notice. It’s hard to see the truth from a gold inlaid toilet on a 150′ yacht spending 4 months a year in the Caribbean.

Orlov is not saying anything that hasn’t been said before in one form or another by wise men with the foresight to understand that (corporate) greed for wealth and power and its corruption of governments eventually leads to some form of collapse. Regardless, anything that focuses more attention on current situations is welcome, even if it only works to wake up just one more person I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. – UnknownI believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs. Thomas Jefferson, (Attributed)Democracy… while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide. – John Adams”The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making power to Congress was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.” – Abraham Lincoln (1809 – 1865) “Benjamin Franklin was shown the new American constitution, and he said, ‘I don’t like it, but I will vote for it because we need something right now. But this constitution in time will fail, as all such efforts do. And it will fail because of the corruption of the people, in a general sense.’ And that is what it has come to now, exactly as Franklin predicted.” – Gore Vidal -

While you may have the secret key to job creation, you may never be able to use it. Others far more powerful than you also have their secret key to job creation. And THEY aren’t able to use it.

IMO, no one’s shitting on YOUR FLAG, which happens to be MY flag as well. If you feel as if the well-being of the US is threatened by the opinions of ONE person, you may also fear that your country is far more fragile than the egg in your pants.

We’re powerless because knowledge is power, and the public is generally vacuous on most topics because the corporate masters own most of the means of communication and refuse to actually inform the public; entertainment is paying better dividends.. for now.

“Home-school your children so they really learn serious basics, rather than political agendas. ”

You mean, like how the planet is only 6,000 years old?

No offense Mr. Orlov, but if you don’t mind, rather than taking the word of someone who left the Soviet Union at age 12 and became an engineer and now has written a book telling people what to do and who thinks that our political problems started with the last election, I’ll rather turn to the ones who truly know what they’re talking about such as Chalmers Johnson, Johan Galtung, Chris Hedges or Noam Chumsky just to name a few. If I still had any doubts, a reading of any good history book tracking the rise and fall of the Roman Empire should clarify any doubts.

“The United States today is like a cruise ship on the Niagara River upstream of the most spectacular falls in North America. A few people on board have begun to pick up a slight hiss in the background, to observe a faint haze of mist in the air on their glasses, to note that the river current seems to be running slightly faster. But no one yet seems to have realized that it is almost too late to head for shore. Like the Chinese, Ottoman, Hapsburg, imperial German, Nazi, imperial Japanese, British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Soviet empires in the last century, we are approaching the edge of a huge waterfall and are about to plunge over it.” ~ Chalmers Johnson

You don’t understand Patriotism.

Shitting on the flag is like drowning The Kitten.

Piss on the Statue of Liberty.

Spit on the Liberty Bell.

But don’t take a shit on the Flag.

Homeschooling is a luxury most can’t afford. And, it’s way less efficient than using schools, and you lose out on any new innovations in education that may be out there. And many times children that are home schooled have difficulty interacting socially since their exposure to other people can be limited.

there are pros and cons to both methods, but if the subject wasn’t a political football for the ruling elites, I would think public schools would be the best option. (provided a civil society where kids aren’t abused at school by other disaffected children)..

Does anyone else remember the Cold War?
I agree somewhat with Orlov but his opinion isn’t particularly ‘controversial’ as apathy will swamp and collapse an number of institutions.
But one key might be ideological blowback — rem the Cold War?

Our side was more than willing to destroy all of the people on the earth to keep ‘them’ from succumbing to the type of system we are becoming. Nor can you induce people to work hard, save and be honest citizens and then reward them with theft, violence, endless war and debt for no appreciative gain at the local level. The system was held together with nothing more than propaganda.

You can’t as a Empire ruthlessly control your people with such a high ‘ideals’ and not expect ideological apathy and cynicism when the fear simply evaporates.

How many empires have then been in the world before the USan one? How many of them are alive today? Why? If you can honestly answer those questions, you’ll see what he’s talking about. Whether you see it or not, like it or not, it’s happening. And faster than you think. The sooner you come to grips with it, the more you can prepare and hope to lessen the blow. Denial is not going to stop the inevitable from happening.

Religion is the root of all that is evil in the world and always has been. Belief in a invisible non existent deity that knows all.,sees all,created everything but does nothing when horror strikes is absurd. Mankind has, from the beginning of recorded history, created every god that that has ever been spoken of. It is the belief that weak minded people have in this nonsense will eventually destroy our world. Believe in yourself, not a spook in the sky.

Don`t worry Joe,no one will ever accuse you of being smarter than myself :).

“The “average people” in the US have taken the dislike of their intellectual superiors to new heights….”

Hahaha, since I am not even a US citizen, your beautiful demonstration of egocentric arrogance falls short below the IQ of a dog shit.

No Raw Story for you! Come back, one year. ;)

He is very right on everything he says, people will not listen, they will still vote for the mobsters they support over the other mobsters…both sides work for the banks.

Better yet, we would be able to prevent it. Instead, we make the same mistake over and over and over again expecting different results each time. That’s as dumb as dumb gets. Even animals learn from their first mistake.

John, there is always room here for you if you ever feel the need to get away from all the crazies in your country…..

40 years of cons/AmericanTaliban members telling their sheep that the government is the enemy has taken its toll.
Thanks Repubes….. You have hastened the demise of our great country.

Why the harsh treatment of “wagonjak” ?

Instead, Wagonjak should be congratulated for his keen appreciation of nuance in the formulation of a headline !

I too noticed that the word “faith” was misleading and that “confidence” would have been a more appropriate term.

Dmitri and his wife have already moved onto a boat and are ready to split at any time. But they’re young. people like me will have to adapt in place. Which might not work; but at our age it doesn’t really amount to much of a tragedy. Y’all younger folks, if you CAN, consider: Get out of town and get land. Eliminate all debt on it. Secure an on-site source of water and heat. Grow and preserve food. If you CAN’T (i.e., *must* stay in the big city) then get to know and ingratiate yourself to your neighborhood warlord.

Looks to me like you read the headline and not the article. This has nothing to do with religion. The “faith” stated is in the the government systems in place. Take a breath, read the actual article, and calm down. You’re too quick to shove your own beliefs down everyone’s throat in the same way that you don’t want others to do to you. You are indeed the pot calling the kettle black.

As Hegel pointed out long ago evil collapses on its own because it is inherently contradictory. This is the U.S. We destroy nature, embrace materialism, champion economic predation, pump out mediocrity in our educational institutions, and live a lifestyle that causes premature death.

Because the difference is, at the Huffington Post he wouldn’t be able to post a comment criticizing anything related to journalistic or editorial work

So….our sputnik moment is actually a Chernobyl moment. Who could have known?

Kids can “learn” that anywhere. Homeschoolers are as diverse as any other group. And I think parents, and not the government, should be in charge of their children’s education.

The thing about Europe (and they are in just as bad of economic instability as we are) is that Fox Noise has drilled it into the heads of their viewers that Europe is a socialist union. This means that their ignorant followers believe you must wait in line to see a doctor, the quality of medical services is less than adequate, and that they are crazy to pay such high taxes which go to “hand outs.” Then there’s the whole argument about socialist institutions teaching students “communist nonsense,” etc. It’s ridiculous. Europe is just as corrupt as America since our American based Corporations have infiltrated and infected the world over but at least they have it better than we do in some ways.

As far as I know, no one believes we’re a superpower anymore. We all know China and India are growing faster than we are. They just don’t realize we’re stagnant and beginning to regress as a country. Plus, the tea party and far right are so racist it doesn’t matter to them. They don’t understand the implications or even care for all the details because, in their mind, America will always be the best country in the world.

I thought of Hurrican Katrina as a sort of “wet Chernobyl”. Surely nobody who lives in America can trust their rulers after that…

I thought of Hurrican Katrina as a sort of “wet Chernobyl”. Surely nobody who lives in America can trust their rulers after that…

When the prognosticators tell you the system is going to collapse, that’s the time to buy stock.

I thought of Hurrican Katrina as a sort of “wet Chernobyl”. Surely nobody who lives in America can trust their rulers after that…

When the prognosticators tell you the system is going to collapse, that’s the time to buy stock.

I thought of Hurrican Katrina as a sort of “wet Chernobyl”. Surely nobody who lives in America can trust their rulers after that…

When the prognosticators tell you the system is going to collapse, that’s the time to buy stock.

;-)

Been living under a rock all these years?

;-)

Been living under a rock all these years?

;-)

Been living under a rock all these years?

;-)

Been living under a rock all these years?

Hey girl.. Just wanted to say you’re still as stupid as the last time I was here … Keep the ignorance close to you so when dancing you can stink up anywhere you go. CT

Hey girl.. Just wanted to say you’re still as stupid as the last time I was here … Keep the ignorance close to you so when dancing you can stink up anywhere you go. CT

Hey girl.. Just wanted to say you’re still as stupid as the last time I was here … Keep the ignorance close to you so when dancing you can stink up anywhere you go. CT

Hey girl.. Just wanted to say you’re still as stupid as the last time I was here … Keep the ignorance close to you so when dancing you can stink up anywhere you go. CT

They’re just trying to get the rest of the population up to speed.
It seems yestersdays ‘crazies’ are todays realists.

They’re just trying to get the rest of the population up to speed.
It seems yestersdays ‘crazies’ are todays realists.

They’re just trying to get the rest of the population up to speed.
It seems yestersdays ‘crazies’ are todays realists.

They’re just trying to get the rest of the population up to speed.
It seems yestersdays ‘crazies’ are todays realists.

Devil is a class a bitch… please ignore me… but at least I use my brain when I’m not masturbating.

Devil is a class a bitch… please ignore me… but at least I use my brain when I’m not masturbating.

Devil is a class a bitch… please ignore me… but at least I use my brain when I’m not masturbating.

Devil is a class a bitch… please ignore me… but at least I use my brain when I’m not masturbating.

They’re just trying to get the rest of the population up to speed.
It seems yestersdays ‘crazies’ are todays realists.

You really need to work on your syntax. But first, maybe you should look up the word in a good dictionary. You do own a dictionary?

You really need to work on your syntax. But first, maybe you should look up the word in a good dictionary. You do own a dictionary?

You really need to work on your syntax. But first, maybe you should look up the word in a good dictionary. You do own a dictionary?

You really need to work on your syntax. But first, maybe you should look up the word in a good dictionary. You do own a dictionary?

a stick or bun without the turd? lol

a stick or bun without the turd? lol

a stick or bun without the turd? lol

a stick or bun without the turd? lol

Actually, I’d love to see Putin President in the US for a couple of years – doping our oligarchs food with polonium, tossing them out windows and locking them up in dungeons with six inches of filthy ice water on the floor for twenty five years.

Yeah, I could get behind that. Might be the trick to actually save the country.

Actually, I’d love to see Putin President in the US for a couple of years – doping our oligarchs food with polonium, tossing them out windows and locking them up in dungeons with six inches of filthy ice water on the floor for twenty five years.

Yeah, I could get behind that. Might be the trick to actually save the country.

Actually, I’d love to see Putin President in the US for a couple of years – doping our oligarchs food with polonium, tossing them out windows and locking them up in dungeons with six inches of filthy ice water on the floor for twenty five years.

Yeah, I could get behind that. Might be the trick to actually save the country.

Actually, I’d love to see Putin President in the US for a couple of years – doping our oligarchs food with polonium, tossing them out windows and locking them up in dungeons with six inches of filthy ice water on the floor for twenty five years.

Yeah, I could get behind that. Might be the trick to actually save the country.

Actually, I’d love to see Putin President in the US for a couple of years – doping our oligarchs food with polonium, tossing them out windows and locking them up in dungeons with six inches of filthy ice water on the floor for twenty five years.

Yeah, I could get behind that. Might be the trick to actually save the country.

Aww, and you can still kiss my beautiful ass,if you have enough time between 2 sessions of self humiliation on Raw Story :)

But it`s good to know you are feeling better after the butt fuck I gave you last time. are you still wearing diapers?

Aww, and you can still kiss my beautiful ass,if you have enough time between 2 sessions of self humiliation on Raw Story :)

But it`s good to know you are feeling better after the butt fuck I gave you last time. are you still wearing diapers?

Aww, and you can still kiss my beautiful ass,if you have enough time between 2 sessions of self humiliation on Raw Story :)

But it`s good to know you are feeling better after the butt fuck I gave you last time. are you still wearing diapers?

Aww, and you can still kiss my beautiful ass,if you have enough time between 2 sessions of self humiliation on Raw Story :)

But it`s good to know you are feeling better after the butt fuck I gave you last time. are you still wearing diapers?

Aww, and you can still kiss my beautiful ass,if you have enough time between 2 sessions of self humiliation on Raw Story :)

But it`s good to know you are feeling better after the butt fuck I gave you last time. are you still wearing diapers?

Orlov, no matter what anyone says, is only trying to help?. Our government is not as smart as most of us believe. The bankers, and wall street folks are the ones who have figured out how to conquer the richest, most powerful country in the world. ???? What can an ordinary person do?

Orlov, no matter what anyone says, is only trying to help?. Our government is not as smart as most of us believe. The bankers, and wall street folks are the ones who have figured out how to conquer the richest, most powerful country in the world. ???? What can an ordinary person do?

Orlov, no matter what anyone says, is only trying to help?. Our government is not as smart as most of us believe. The bankers, and wall street folks are the ones who have figured out how to conquer the richest, most powerful country in the world. ???? What can an ordinary person do?

Orlov, no matter what anyone says, is only trying to help?. Our government is not as smart as most of us believe. The bankers, and wall street folks are the ones who have figured out how to conquer the richest, most powerful country in the world. ???? What can an ordinary person do?

Orlov, no matter what anyone says, is only trying to help?. Our government is not as smart as most of us believe. The bankers, and wall street folks are the ones who have figured out how to conquer the richest, most powerful country in the world. ???? What can an ordinary person do?

You can pretty much replace Soviet with USA and adjust some of the dates and it reads like it will have been written in 2025. I’m perpetually amazed how many perfectly sane and intelligent people in this country like to keep their blinkers on. Not only do they seem to be incapable to learn from history (the real history, not some revisionists interpretation a la Tea-Party talking points), but even fail to see the obvious signs in current affairs across the world.

I believe that this country has created a me, me, me society, which gave as much rise to its success as it is instrumental in the problems, current and future, we have to deal with.

You can pretty much replace Soviet with USA and adjust some of the dates and it reads like it will have been written in 2025. I’m perpetually amazed how many perfectly sane and intelligent people in this country like to keep their blinkers on. Not only do they seem to be incapable to learn from history (the real history, not some revisionists interpretation a la Tea-Party talking points), but even fail to see the obvious signs in current affairs across the world.

I believe that this country has created a me, me, me society, which gave as much rise to its success as it is instrumental in the problems, current and future, we have to deal with.

You can pretty much replace Soviet with USA and adjust some of the dates and it reads like it will have been written in 2025. I’m perpetually amazed how many perfectly sane and intelligent people in this country like to keep their blinkers on. Not only do they seem to be incapable to learn from history (the real history, not some revisionists interpretation a la Tea-Party talking points), but even fail to see the obvious signs in current affairs across the world.

I believe that this country has created a me, me, me society, which gave as much rise to its success as it is instrumental in the problems, current and future, we have to deal with.

yes indeed Tosser, too bad you cannot afford a bitch like me. Still trolling for free porn? you know there is an alternative http://www.adrants.com/images/piracy.jpg

yes indeed Tosser, too bad you cannot afford a bitch like me. Still trolling for free porn? you know there is an alternative http://www.adrants.com/images/piracy.jpg

yes indeed Tosser, too bad you cannot afford a bitch like me. Still trolling for free porn? you know there is an alternative http://www.adrants.com/images/piracy.jpg

yes indeed Tosser, too bad you cannot afford a bitch like me. Still trolling for free porn? you know there is an alternative http://www.adrants.com/images/piracy.jpg

Luv’s in fact… you believe in you’re own superiority so you’re no Nihilist… dumbass.

Luv’s in fact… you believe in you’re own superiority so you’re no Nihilist… dumbass.

Luv’s in fact… you believe in you’re own superiority so you’re no Nihilist… dumbass.

Luv’s in fact… you believe in you’re own superiority so you’re no Nihilist… dumbass.

Aww, your intellectual exercise hits the limit of your argumentation expertise

Aww, your intellectual exercise hits the limit of your argumentation expertise

Aww, your intellectual exercise hits the limit of your argumentation expertise

Aww, your intellectual exercise hits the limit of your argumentation expertise

I have a spermguard. My keyboard is clean.

I have a spermguard. My keyboard is clean.

I have a spermguard. My keyboard is clean.

I have a spermguard. My keyboard is clean.

a move in the right direction is never late, Us just need to take it responsabilities back, appologise 4 mistreated ennemies ( tons of chemichals on vietnam soil..), make new allies, based on win-win situation. be more fair in its (palestinian-israel) conflict, support democracy everywhere, never forget that history can unearth most of wrong doing, by the time. last but not least never cut Education budget, dont think it would be hard, us is still leading the way with most of the “potential” education toys like iphones, i pad.., in a word.. truly embrace the image it shows off, in the last century hollywood movies “crap”(the time befor AIPAC, when the country where still praised & loved)

a move in the right direction is never late, Us just need to take it responsabilities back, appologise 4 mistreated ennemies ( tons of chemichals on vietnam soil..), make new allies, based on win-win situation. be more fair in its (palestinian-israel) conflict, support democracy everywhere, never forget that history can unearth most of wrong doing, by the time. last but not least never cut Education budget, dont think it would be hard, us is still leading the way with most of the “potential” education toys like iphones, i pad.., in a word.. truly embrace the image it shows off, in the last century hollywood movies “crap”(the time befor AIPAC, when the country where still praised & loved)

a move in the right direction is never late, Us just need to take it responsabilities back, appologise 4 mistreated ennemies ( tons of chemichals on vietnam soil..), make new allies, based on win-win situation. be more fair in its (palestinian-israel) conflict, support democracy everywhere, never forget that history can unearth most of wrong doing, by the time. last but not least never cut Education budget, dont think it would be hard, us is still leading the way with most of the “potential” education toys like iphones, i pad.., in a word.. truly embrace the image it shows off, in the last century hollywood movies “crap”(the time befor AIPAC, when the country where still praised & loved)

a move in the right direction is never late, Us just need to take it responsabilities back, appologise 4 mistreated ennemies ( tons of chemichals on vietnam soil..), make new allies, based on win-win situation. be more fair in its (palestinian-israel) conflict, support democracy everywhere, never forget that history can unearth most of wrong doing, by the time. last but not least never cut Education budget, dont think it would be hard, us is still leading the way with most of the “potential” education toys like iphones, i pad.., in a word.. truly embrace the image it shows off, in the last century hollywood movies “crap”(the time befor AIPAC, when the country where still praised & loved)

a move in the right direction is never late, Us just need to take it responsabilities back, appologise 4 mistreated ennemies ( tons of chemichals on vietnam soil..), make new allies, based on win-win situation. be more fair in its (palestinian-israel) conflict, support democracy everywhere, never forget that history can unearth most of wrong doing, by the time. last but not least never cut Education budget, dont think it would be hard, us is still leading the way with most of the “potential” education toys like iphones, i pad.., in a word.. truly embrace the image it shows off, in the last century hollywood movies “crap”(the time befor AIPAC, when the country where still praised & loved)

Funny Jay, and good catch.

At this point he should take his own advice–belief in the article, not the headline…Dimwit.

What is the smallest muscle in a sheep’s ass? Apparently your dick ,lol

Chris Hedges is great!

I know your intentions are good, but all you said was, “Somebody has got to hire more people.” No matter how simply true your solution is, it doesn’t rise above a tautology. In fact, you are answering the question about putting people to work, by saying, hire them! This is no secret. I really wish you did have a secret solution to joblessness, but it is apparent that you don’t.

I agree mostly, but disagree on the faith issue. I would argue that America will fail because of IDIOTS who make faith thier litmus test for government. These IDIOTS will elect Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann based on faith…..and six months later blame democrats for all the mistakes that Palin/Bachman made….The TeaParty is leading this nation to doom.. Wake up people…

Yawn

No, I said the Government needs to hire more people.

Not Somebody.

Everything that the Private Sector doesn’t cover needs to be covered by the Government.

That’s what the Government is for.

You got your Private Sector providing its whimsy, and you’ve got your Government providing stability.

I didn’t say “Somebody.”

I said The Government.

Yes, he is. And, unlike the others, he puts his money where his mouth is. He’s quickly becoming my favorite.

dead! Just like the brave Americans and other brave people who fought for ‘We The Peolpe’,

The protests of the 60s should be an example for us all but what alot of people dont fully understand (through lies) is that activists, leaders even famous musicians were murdered for standing up for human rights. The assassinations, political harassment and mind control tactics continue even to this day.

The main difference between the 60s and now is the content of music, radio and the overall media in general.
Tv was not corportized yet and really had just been invented so the news and content was more pure and innocent in its fruitation. When corps/govt realized how powerful images and media is in shaping public opinion is when all ethical and moral boundaries cease to exist and then media, specifically tv, newspapers, even radio slowly began to turn into propaganda for war and the corp elitist wealthy agenda.

The Internet is also a form of media so it can also be used as an instrument for propaganda because it is used as a marketing tool.

It really is all about the media,
“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” Malcolm X

We have to get rid of Obama. As long as Obama is president, sane people are voiceless. Just today, the moron surrendered to the NRA. Tomorrow he’ll surrender to some religious nuts or well-water polluters or corrupt FBI officials. And you’ll hear nothing of it because elected Democrats no longer take a stand because Obama is supposedly a member of their party. In reality, however, Obama is pure evil and serves nothing but evil. Anybody but Obama in 2012. Literally.

“Americans will “stop expecting anything of Washington,” turning the US into more of a “banana republic” than a super power.”

Based on what?

Is this idiot saying the Federal Government does not provide services to each and every state and citizen?

Another teabagger who was evidently sound asleep during the Bush years.

And are you implying the president (ANY president) can just do whatever he pleases?)

Get yourself an education and get back to us.

Orlov is quite right. The US goverment panders to the whims of the upper 5% of the wealthiest people to the detriment of the rest of us. How can it hope to maintain legitimacy and govern in this manner? There have been too many times where 70% of the country has been on one side of an issue and the Congress on the other. The Supreme Court has nullified at least one election.
Here in the US most institutions that rely on citizens respect are untrustworthy. Banks and other financial institutions, media, political, you name it. We even have some of our most exalted leaders calling for the arrest and/or assassination of Julian Assange simply for revealing the truth to the public. Most of us have good reason for paranoia and mistrust.

There is not mention whatsoever about religious faith in the article. The article mentions faith in “the system”.

“Orlov theorized that the US would eventually collapse — not from finances or war, but from a lack of faith in the system.

It would happen over three overlapping stages, he said: financial, political and commercial”.

If you agree with the rest of the article, how did you miss the rest of the article?

You obviously didn’t read the article, nor did those who “liked” your post.

you must be my 5th grade teacher? are you Miss Crabtree Benway?

“The” flag. It’s no different than a teapot or a doorknob. It’s an object.

Hear ! Hear ! A true Patriot Sir !

No, YOU are saying any president can do whatever he pleases. I’m saying Obama and Bush are the same evil. YOU are standing firm with Bush and the Teabaggers. I despise them. You support the continuation and amplification of the Bush years.

But thank you for demonstrating my point to exactitude. I love it when this happens. You are literally too stupid to know what you’re supporting.

The likes of Ray-GUN initiated the diassembly of America with dereg, essentially letting the hounds loose to do whatver meyhem they could from outright deregulation, to disabling American Industry by initiating the manufacturer exodus to other countries, being equated to the destruction of the American Manufacturing Principles established by the Founding Fathers when the Colonies were breaking British rule and establishing an independent industry, to cutting Union benefits, this setting the stage for the whole financial collapse when forced IRA’s were then destroyed in this latest 8 year banks mis-managment. 45 years of GOP/ corporate symbiosis has collapsed the American economy and everything else. Now they want to continue the apocolypse. TEAdiots are just hastening the day. Michelle Bachman is a prime example.

Thanks for your opinion comrade but I respectfully disagree.

Yeah man, and did you ever look at your hands while you’re on acid?

Ronald Reagan was a far-left radical compared to Barack Obama.

No I believe he is saying that as our current course is unsustainable the failure will be Washington’s lack of will to actually change that course.

No matter who you vote for there are bank bailouts – 85% + of the population opposes those bailouts yet they continue. Bush started the bailouts Obama continued them. QE2 is nothing but a bank bailout coupled with monetizing our debt. Who are you going to vote for to stop the bank bailouts?? This is what he means by we will stop expecting anything of Washington.

Who do you vote for to stop the warrant-less wiretaps or indefinite detention? Obama has continued both of those that Bush started. Who do you vote for to end the wars?? Do you honestly expect Washington to change direction on any major issues? Do you expect Washington to actually represent the people and not the lobbyist?

I already don’t expect anything other than more of the same from Washington no matter which party is in charge.

No I believe he is saying that as our current course is unsustainable the failure will be Washington’s lack of will to actually change that course.

No matter who you vote for there are bank bailouts – 85% + of the population opposes those bailouts yet they continue. Bush started the bailouts Obama continued them. QE2 is nothing but a bank bailout coupled with monetizing our debt. Who are you going to vote for to stop the bank bailouts?? This is what he means by we will stop expecting anything of Washington.

Who do you vote for to stop the warrant-less wiretaps or indefinite detention? Obama has continued both of those that Bush started. Who do you vote for to end the wars?? Do you honestly expect Washington to change direction on any major issues? Do you expect Washington to actually represent the people and not the lobbyist?

I already don’t expect anything other than more of the same from Washington no matter which party is in charge.

No I believe he is saying that as our current course is unsustainable the failure will be Washington’s lack of will to actually change that course.

No matter who you vote for there are bank bailouts – 85% + of the population opposes those bailouts yet they continue. Bush started the bailouts Obama continued them. QE2 is nothing but a bank bailout coupled with monetizing our debt. Who are you going to vote for to stop the bank bailouts?? This is what he means by we will stop expecting anything of Washington.

Who do you vote for to stop the warrant-less wiretaps or indefinite detention? Obama has continued both of those that Bush started. Who do you vote for to end the wars?? Do you honestly expect Washington to change direction on any major issues? Do you expect Washington to actually represent the people and not the lobbyist?

I already don’t expect anything other than more of the same from Washington no matter which party is in charge.

He is saying that as the federal gov’t provides less and less to states and individuals, then more and more states and individuals will expect that trend to continue. The result will be that people will slowly (or quickly) move to the extreme of expecting nothing (or almost nothing) from the federal govt. This attitude is being encouraged by the libertarian right, and the teabagger gang.
The “conservatives” have posited that the federal govt should spend less, do less, help less, and regulate less – accross the board. If their ideology became dominant in such a way as to make that happen, then we would see our infrastructure crumble, more pollution, more hopelessness amond destitute, disabled or elderly citizens, and a general impoverishment of positive attitudes, which are based on hope for the future, as well as contentment with the present.
I would be more reticent in calling people idiots, if I were the one failing to understand the point.

He is saying that as the federal gov’t provides less and less to states and individuals, then more and more states and individuals will expect that trend to continue. The result will be that people will slowly (or quickly) move to the extreme of expecting nothing (or almost nothing) from the federal govt. This attitude is being encouraged by the libertarian right, and the teabagger gang.
The “conservatives” have posited that the federal govt should spend less, do less, help less, and regulate less – accross the board. If their ideology became dominant in such a way as to make that happen, then we would see our infrastructure crumble, more pollution, more hopelessness amond destitute, disabled or elderly citizens, and a general impoverishment of positive attitudes, which are based on hope for the future, as well as contentment with the present.
I would be more reticent in calling people idiots, if I were the one failing to understand the point.

He is saying that as the federal gov’t provides less and less to states and individuals, then more and more states and individuals will expect that trend to continue. The result will be that people will slowly (or quickly) move to the extreme of expecting nothing (or almost nothing) from the federal govt. This attitude is being encouraged by the libertarian right, and the teabagger gang.
The “conservatives” have posited that the federal govt should spend less, do less, help less, and regulate less – accross the board. If their ideology became dominant in such a way as to make that happen, then we would see our infrastructure crumble, more pollution, more hopelessness amond destitute, disabled or elderly citizens, and a general impoverishment of positive attitudes, which are based on hope for the future, as well as contentment with the present.
I would be more reticent in calling people idiots, if I were the one failing to understand the point.

WHat the hell are you talking about?

I said: “And are you implying the president (ANY president) can just do whatever he pleases?)”

How does that relate to me implying a president can do whatever he pleases?

And what in the world are you referring to sying that I’m standing firm with Bush and the teabaggers?

Can you even read?

WHat the hell are you talking about?

I said: “And are you implying the president (ANY president) can just do whatever he pleases?)”

How does that relate to me implying a president can do whatever he pleases?

And what in the world are you referring to sying that I’m standing firm with Bush and the teabaggers?

Can you even read?

WHat the hell are you talking about?

I said: “And are you implying the president (ANY president) can just do whatever he pleases?)”

How does that relate to me implying a president can do whatever he pleases?

And what in the world are you referring to sying that I’m standing firm with Bush and the teabaggers?

Can you even read?

extremists are never satisfied
they revel in hyperbole
they argue from emotion, and not from reason

extremists are never satisfied
they revel in hyperbole
they argue from emotion, and not from reason

extremists are never satisfied
they revel in hyperbole
they argue from emotion, and not from reason

I’m now sick(er) to my stomach, but he’s probably right.

I’m now sick(er) to my stomach, but he’s probably right.

I’m now sick(er) to my stomach, but he’s probably right.

I understood his or her point, I just disagree.

It’s just the same teabagger drivel Bachmann and others throw out as chum for the die hard wingnuts to chew on.

The Federal Government is here to stay and will always be the primary source of services for citizens.

If you think any state can stand alone, or believe it’s all going to somehow come to pass…for whatever reason, you’re out of your mind.

I’d love to see just one state pull away, accept absolutely NO federal funding or services of any kind…and see how long they last.

I understood his or her point, I just disagree.

It’s just the same teabagger drivel Bachmann and others throw out as chum for the die hard wingnuts to chew on.

The Federal Government is here to stay and will always be the primary source of services for citizens.

If you think any state can stand alone, or believe it’s all going to somehow come to pass…for whatever reason, you’re out of your mind.

I’d love to see just one state pull away, accept absolutely NO federal funding or services of any kind…and see how long they last.

I understood his or her point, I just disagree.

It’s just the same teabagger drivel Bachmann and others throw out as chum for the die hard wingnuts to chew on.

The Federal Government is here to stay and will always be the primary source of services for citizens.

If you think any state can stand alone, or believe it’s all going to somehow come to pass…for whatever reason, you’re out of your mind.

I’d love to see just one state pull away, accept absolutely NO federal funding or services of any kind…and see how long they last.

Declining expectations as the US government cuts more and more services to the majority to look out for the top 1-5%. Not really a surprise, the US is greatly weakened as an economic super power, so how long can it afford to be a military super power is up to debate, but it cannot go on for very long.

Declining expectations as the US government cuts more and more services to the majority to look out for the top 1-5%. Not really a surprise, the US is greatly weakened as an economic super power, so how long can it afford to be a military super power is up to debate, but it cannot go on for very long.

Declining expectations as the US government cuts more and more services to the majority to look out for the top 1-5%. Not really a surprise, the US is greatly weakened as an economic super power, so how long can it afford to be a military super power is up to debate, but it cannot go on for very long.

I think you are saying that people have too much faith in illusions, or delusions.
“The system” on the other hand, is very real.

I think you are saying that people have too much faith in illusions, or delusions.
“The system” on the other hand, is very real.

I think you are saying that people have too much faith in illusions, or delusions.
“The system” on the other hand, is very real.

Yes, I just spent quite some time on his blog reading some very interesting information. Good stuff.

Yes, I just spent quite some time on his blog reading some very interesting information. Good stuff.

Yes, I just spent quite some time on his blog reading some very interesting information. Good stuff.

The problem with Obama is that he has continued and built on the corruption of the Bush years. When you defend Obama, you defend Bush.

The problem with Obama is that he has continued and built on the corruption of the Bush years. When you defend Obama, you defend Bush.

The problem with Obama is that he has continued and built on the corruption of the Bush years. When you defend Obama, you defend Bush.

I think Orlov is saying basically the same thing, without getting carried away by a metaphor.

I think Orlov is saying basically the same thing, without getting carried away by a metaphor.

I think Orlov is saying basically the same thing, without getting carried away by a metaphor.

I don’t disagree.

The wars are draining us right now, but I don’t think pulling out is as easy as most think.

I don’t disagree.

The wars are draining us right now, but I don’t think pulling out is as easy as most think.

I don’t disagree.

The wars are draining us right now, but I don’t think pulling out is as easy as most think.

“When you defend Obama, you defend Bush.”

That’s not true.

When a president takes office there are many policies and decisions in place that can’t merely be discarded on a whim.

The president can lead, but if Congress doesn’t follow, he’s got a problem.

And if you take the time to read a newspaper you’ll see just how the GOP has handled their ability to say “NO” to literally any proposal or police initiated by the president.

“When you defend Obama, you defend Bush.”

That’s not true.

When a president takes office there are many policies and decisions in place that can’t merely be discarded on a whim.

The president can lead, but if Congress doesn’t follow, he’s got a problem.

And if you take the time to read a newspaper you’ll see just how the GOP has handled their ability to say “NO” to literally any proposal or police initiated by the president.

“When you defend Obama, you defend Bush.”

That’s not true.

When a president takes office there are many policies and decisions in place that can’t merely be discarded on a whim.

The president can lead, but if Congress doesn’t follow, he’s got a problem.

And if you take the time to read a newspaper you’ll see just how the GOP has handled their ability to say “NO” to literally any proposal or police initiated by the president.

Interesting comment. However, I wonder if information access, or a knowledge base is really going to protect anyone. It almost seems that the educated will find themselves just as frustrated as they do today. In areas with a heterogenous population, things could turn out very nasty, as tribalism asserts itself, and fear of the other dominates. In homogenous populations, there will be much less ability for anyone to whip up fear of an internal other, and militia types will focus more on defending borders. How bad things might get would have a lot to do with where one happens to live, and what one happens to look like.

Interesting comment. However, I wonder if information access, or a knowledge base is really going to protect anyone. It almost seems that the educated will find themselves just as frustrated as they do today. In areas with a heterogenous population, things could turn out very nasty, as tribalism asserts itself, and fear of the other dominates. In homogenous populations, there will be much less ability for anyone to whip up fear of an internal other, and militia types will focus more on defending borders. How bad things might get would have a lot to do with where one happens to live, and what one happens to look like.

Interesting comment. However, I wonder if information access, or a knowledge base is really going to protect anyone. It almost seems that the educated will find themselves just as frustrated as they do today. In areas with a heterogenous population, things could turn out very nasty, as tribalism asserts itself, and fear of the other dominates. In homogenous populations, there will be much less ability for anyone to whip up fear of an internal other, and militia types will focus more on defending borders. How bad things might get would have a lot to do with where one happens to live, and what one happens to look like.

Obama supports pretty much every single corruption of the the government that was undertaken during the Bush years. From torture to Wall Street.

Obama supports pretty much every single corruption of the the government that was undertaken during the Bush years. From torture to Wall Street.

Obama supports pretty much every single corruption of the the government that was undertaken during the Bush years. From torture to Wall Street.

While the country survived all those things, many of the citizens did not.
Surviving trauma also leaves scars of many kinds, yes?
If simple survival is seen as success, then we have already fallen badly.

Losing Moses on The Freeway—Classic!
War is a Force that Gives us Meaning—A must read!!!

Exactly Sarah will save us all….

Just because you have moved beyond racism, doesn’t mean that it is not still a pervasive force in America. It has never had anything to do with being fashionable. There are plenty of people who are still plenty hung up on race.

The Soviet Unions demise was due, in part, by their long war in Afghanistan in which we supported Bin Laden. Will we go down the same path? We already are. $1million per man per day is what that war costs us in dollars not including the lives forever changed by it. Meanwhile our industrial base has been sent overseas and we are now the worlds largest exporter of resources and worlds largest importer of manufactured goods. When I was a kid it was completely opposite.

While the Tea Party points out the obvious about the budget which nobody dared talk about during the Bush War years, their draconian solutions to these problems are scary. Why the Tea Party has such a love affair with the billionaires who could give a shit about them, I’ll never know.

Interesting comment back to you also. I live in a very heterogeneous city and when I go home in the afternoon I see kids of all different colors hanging out together. It gives me hope for our future that (at least) where I live these kids are colorblind.

That guy has it backwards and he has to know it. I’m sure the Soviets had faith that their empire would go on. I’m sure the British had faith that their empire would go on. I’m sure the Romans and other empires had faith also. Faith in bad policies of a society don’t change the outcome, faith in spending and overextending of a societies abilities doesn’t change anything. Faith is good to proclaim and even do, but in the end you faith have to be backed up by reality, and reality tells us that faith doesn’t stop the laws of societal physics. Every action has a reaction, some not at that moment some at a later date, but they do happen.

Orlov makes a couple of mistakes. He says most of America depends on the government. Not true. Most may take what appears in front of their nose from the government. But Americans have not historically trusted their government to provide–not “most” of the bottom two thirds of America, anyway. They will take it if it is there, but they don’t just sit down and starve if it isn’t there. They get competitive, legally or illegally. They don’t just sit down and die. There were many stories about Russians doing almost exactly that when the Soviet Union collapsed. Orlov’s other mistake is equating Chernobel to BP Gulf. Three Mile Island could stand in, but that wasn’t but about a tenth as bad and America more than weathered it. Even Katrina essentially began the deposing of an American President, and Katrina still stands as something far less than Chernobel. The American people can be dumb as rocks, but every once in a while they stand up and do something that no one in any way expected. This time around the ballot box may not even figure into the equation, and that is something no one outside of the United States of America can understand. Americans are creative, and sometimes they respond to severe conditions with bedrock creativity and everything everyone thought about the situation just gets totally blown out of the water. That still can happen. 98% of America is not really in jail. We just are beginning to think that’s where all the politicians would like us to be. So we’re thinking. And sometimes (not all the time, admittedly) we’re just really good at it. And really creative about it.

OK.
I will disagree with your assessment that this is teabagger drivel. If anything, it is a warning against teabaggerism.

And while I’m at it, the title, “Empire”, isn’t really part of 2/3 of American’s thinking. It may be the banks, the politician’s and the big industrialists’ thinking, but it’s not an “American” thing. What mistakes Americans have made politically for the past thirty years may have allowed this “empire” trash to enter our sphere, but most of America would just as soon see it gone as anyone else in the world–in some cases, moreso. Most Americans have been “for” a “one world” scenario, but a fair one to all involved. Its just that our media, politicians and industrialists have pushed this “winner take all” mentality and we kind of “let it ride”, thinking it really would take everything (like the banks and insurance companies and investment sector) over, but it does seem to have done it. So now we think. Creatively.

[...] http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/exclusive-people-stop-expecting-washington-author-tells-raw/ [...]

Hmmm…War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning? Not sure about that.

I don’t think so. Now if he believes that the US problems got started with the last election. And if he was 12 years old when he left, I seriously doubt that he had the knowledge or maturity to grasp and/or assess what was going on. Then, he became an engineer and now he writes a book warning about what he went thru when he was a kid? Sorry. But none of that adds up to reason for me.

Although one must agree that our country’s position is perilous, few (except this author) are willing to see the obvious: No remedy is possible considering the inherent legacy issues bringing us down. The corporations can buy political campaigns; the lobbyists are running riot; the banksters will continue to rob us blind, both republicans and democrats are bankrupting the country; China’s unfair trade policies are going unchecked. In my opinion this trend is unstoppable and will lead to increasing economic instability and ultimately civil unrest. As a historian, I can only see hope for some in the sanctuary monasteries of the Dark Ages. When the bottom falls out, Gold, Silver and bullets won’t be sufficient if you are living in or near a city – your only hope will be exiting to rural strongholds. Fortunately, I have a Montana ranch that can serve this purpose. If you are interested in hearing more of my plan, please contact me at this email address: montana.big.love@gmail.com (By the way, I hope I am wrong in my analysis, but caution suggests preparing for the worst.)

The headline is misleading. Makes it sound like a religious argument. “They have set their hair on fire and are running around in circles,” would better represent what he said.

Yes, the younger generation gives me a lot of hope. It was basically impossible for either of my kids (17 and 24 ) to accept, tolerate, or believe any of the racist garbage that was such a large part of our country’s history.

Dividing geographically will lead immediately to civil war. Again.
As you say, divided we fall.
Can you imagine the choice of relocation or assimilation ?
With us or against us ?
Think like us or leave?
Disaster.

Dividing geographically will lead immediately to civil war. Again.
As you say, divided we fall.
Can you imagine the choice of relocation or assimilation ?
With us or against us ?
Think like us or leave?
Disaster.

It’s funny that you say this, because this idea that America isn’t an empire or that “2/3[rds]” of the American people don’t recognize it as such is somewhat recent if you are correct and I have no way of knowing what you are basing this statistic on. Last Sunday at 12:30 ET, Turner Classic Movies ran a silent feature from 1929 called “Tide of Empire,” which was an early Hollywood western about a cowboy who wins his girlfriend’s family ranch. Since there isn’t anything more mainstream than Hollywood and since a far larger percentage of the population watched movies in 1929 than they do today, one might suspect that at this period at least people did identify America as an empire. And this was long before the last “thirty years.”

Indeed, it was Jefferson himself who first bestowed the title of “empire for liberty” on America in a letter to James Madison dated April 27th, 1809. In fact, Jefferson believed that the best government for an “empire” was self government. Something, that most countries which are widely believed to be part of the American empire indeed have. We don’t do what the British did which is establish a Crown government on the conquered territory, we are much more prone to allow a member of the indigenous population rule at our behest. While you may be right that many people today don’t feel comfortable talking about our “empire,” I don’t think you can get any more “American” than Thomas Jefferson, although I realize the Texas school board disagrees.

And of course the concept of “Manifest Destiny” was nothing more than a uniquely American rendition of the European concept of “White Man’s Burden, which meant that white America was destined to have dominion over racial others, but in the traditional of “American exceptionalism,” we didn’t see it as a “Burden” but rather as “Destiny.” Just as it was god’s will that the Puritan’s establish a new Jerusalem on America’s shores it was equally god’s will that white America rule all racial others. And of course, if it’s god’s will who are we to speak against it or to even stop it.

Isn’t history fun?

It’s funny that you say this, because this idea that America isn’t an empire or that “2/3[rds]” of the American people don’t recognize it as such is somewhat recent if you are correct and I have no way of knowing what you are basing this statistic on. Last Sunday at 12:30 ET, Turner Classic Movies ran a silent feature from 1929 called “Tide of Empire,” which was an early Hollywood western about a cowboy who wins his girlfriend’s family ranch. Since there isn’t anything more mainstream than Hollywood and since a far larger percentage of the population watched movies in 1929 than they do today, one might suspect that at this period at least people did identify America as an empire. And this was long before the last “thirty years.”

Indeed, it was Jefferson himself who first bestowed the title of “empire for liberty” on America in a letter to James Madison dated April 27th, 1809. In fact, Jefferson believed that the best government for an “empire” was self government. Something, that most countries which are widely believed to be part of the American empire indeed have. We don’t do what the British did which is establish a Crown government on the conquered territory, we are much more prone to allow a member of the indigenous population rule at our behest. While you may be right that many people today don’t feel comfortable talking about our “empire,” I don’t think you can get any more “American” than Thomas Jefferson, although I realize the Texas school board disagrees.

And of course the concept of “Manifest Destiny” was nothing more than a uniquely American rendition of the European concept of “White Man’s Burden, which meant that white America was destined to have dominion over racial others, but in the traditional of “American exceptionalism,” we didn’t see it as a “Burden” but rather as “Destiny.” Just as it was god’s will that the Puritan’s establish a new Jerusalem on America’s shores it was equally god’s will that white America rule all racial others. And of course, if it’s god’s will who are we to speak against it or to even stop it.

Isn’t history fun?

The big difference between then and now was the draft.
If every high school graduating class saw half its members at risk of being grabbed by the military and sent away to kill and die, there would be millions in the streets.
Since we have an all-volunteer military, and the wars have gone on for so long, most folks think that our servicemembers were aware of what they were signing up for.
No matter how much we hate war, we can’t really protest the kidnapping of our children by the military, as was the case during Vietnam.

The big difference between then and now was the draft.
If every high school graduating class saw half its members at risk of being grabbed by the military and sent away to kill and die, there would be millions in the streets.
Since we have an all-volunteer military, and the wars have gone on for so long, most folks think that our servicemembers were aware of what they were signing up for.
No matter how much we hate war, we can’t really protest the kidnapping of our children by the military, as was the case during Vietnam.

Whoa.
Yikes.
Pessimistic much?
In the America that I live in, there is also love, learning, art, adventure, family, hope, strength, friendship, personal growth, triumph over tradgedy, and big plans for the garden in spring.
Just because there is plenty of bad stuff, does not mean there is not plenty of good stuff.

Whoa.
Yikes.
Pessimistic much?
In the America that I live in, there is also love, learning, art, adventure, family, hope, strength, friendship, personal growth, triumph over tradgedy, and big plans for the garden in spring.
Just because there is plenty of bad stuff, does not mean there is not plenty of good stuff.

I agree that Chernoble was a unique disaster and that nothing that has happened in America so far can compare with it. Three Mile Island wasn’t even close. The Chernoble reactor basically melted down. Nothing like that has ever happened anywhere else in the world.

The rest of what you have written here is nothing more than a popular rendition of “American exceptionalism” and I’m not sure that it applies today, if it ever applied. For most of our history up to the 1900′s we just kept moving West as things got tough, but all of that opportunity produced by the possibility of moving West was garnered by “the government” and the wars that were fought to gain more land and to drive “the savages” from the land that had already been usurped. In other words, “the government” made acquistion and “homesteading” possible.

Once there was no more continental land to steal, it became a bit different story and by the Great Depression people were definitely depending on their government to do something to ease the pain and suffering associated with city life and high unemployment. One of the greatest disappointments in Obama and the Democrats and one of the main reasons that the Republicans took back the House is because people are still depending on the government to do something to to improve the economy and increase the availability of jobs.

I agree that Chernoble was a unique disaster and that nothing that has happened in America so far can compare with it. Three Mile Island wasn’t even close. The Chernoble reactor basically melted down. Nothing like that has ever happened anywhere else in the world.

The rest of what you have written here is nothing more than a popular rendition of “American exceptionalism” and I’m not sure that it applies today, if it ever applied. For most of our history up to the 1900′s we just kept moving West as things got tough, but all of that opportunity produced by the possibility of moving West was garnered by “the government” and the wars that were fought to gain more land and to drive “the savages” from the land that had already been usurped. In other words, “the government” made acquistion and “homesteading” possible.

Once there was no more continental land to steal, it became a bit different story and by the Great Depression people were definitely depending on their government to do something to ease the pain and suffering associated with city life and high unemployment. One of the greatest disappointments in Obama and the Democrats and one of the main reasons that the Republicans took back the House is because people are still depending on the government to do something to to improve the economy and increase the availability of jobs.

“Empire”, isn’t really part of 2/3 of American’s thinking.

Don’t be too sure. It all depends on the way it’s framed. The US has 800-1000 military bases world-wide, depending on how the counting is done, and if someone in one of those many countries decides they don’t like foreigners on their soil and launches some little provocation, most Americans are willing to go nuts and start screaming about revenge and supporting our troops. That’s supporting the Empire. We want cheap food and cheap energy. That comes from the Empire; we just don’t know, or want to know, all the dirty details. And as resources have become tighter more and more of us are slipping down to the have-not side of the equation.

I don’t think there’s such a simple one-to-one correspondence between our situation and the Soviet Union as this writer would like to draw. But like it or not, the US in the world has been acting more like an empire than a democracy.

“Empire”, isn’t really part of 2/3 of American’s thinking.

Don’t be too sure. It all depends on the way it’s framed. The US has 800-1000 military bases world-wide, depending on how the counting is done, and if someone in one of those many countries decides they don’t like foreigners on their soil and launches some little provocation, most Americans are willing to go nuts and start screaming about revenge and supporting our troops. That’s supporting the Empire. We want cheap food and cheap energy. That comes from the Empire; we just don’t know, or want to know, all the dirty details. And as resources have become tighter more and more of us are slipping down to the have-not side of the equation.

I don’t think there’s such a simple one-to-one correspondence between our situation and the Soviet Union as this writer would like to draw. But like it or not, the US in the world has been acting more like an empire than a democracy.

Most Americans depend on the road system created and maintained by government.
Most Americans depend on the (government) public school system and public universities.
It’s not necessarily about gov’t checks in the mail.
We shall see how Gulf oil spill compares with Chernobyl. Time will tell more.
BIG agreement on American creativity versus the stunted human potential of the Soviet system.

Most Americans depend on the road system created and maintained by government.
Most Americans depend on the (government) public school system and public universities.
It’s not necessarily about gov’t checks in the mail.
We shall see how Gulf oil spill compares with Chernobyl. Time will tell more.
BIG agreement on American creativity versus the stunted human potential of the Soviet system.

Faith in what… Wall Street; profits or greed?

Faith in what… Wall Street; profits or greed?

That may be true, the fact remains that there are plenty of people who are not hung up on race. And the fall back position of the lame reasoning that “it must be because Obama is black”…is just plain ole dumb. Honest people can have honest differences with him and it could have nothing to do with race. I voted for him, not because he was, or was not, black. I voted for him because I thought he was the best qualified candidate. His color was irrelevant and not a consideration at all. And I submit that black folks who voted for him because he was black…are simply racist.

That may be true, the fact remains that there are plenty of people who are not hung up on race. And the fall back position of the lame reasoning that “it must be because Obama is black”…is just plain ole dumb. Honest people can have honest differences with him and it could have nothing to do with race. I voted for him, not because he was, or was not, black. I voted for him because I thought he was the best qualified candidate. His color was irrelevant and not a consideration at all. And I submit that black folks who voted for him because he was black…are simply racist.

A dictator in the White House was consider by FDR. He even helped edited the movie scrip below:

“Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American Pre-Code film variously described as a “bizarre political fantasy”[1] or a “comedy drama”[2] that “is surprisingly socialist in tone (albeit veering toward National Socialism)”[3] and which “posits a favorable view of fascism.”[4]”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Over_the_White_House

A dictator in the White House was consider by FDR. He even helped edited the movie scrip below:

“Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American Pre-Code film variously described as a “bizarre political fantasy”[1] or a “comedy drama”[2] that “is surprisingly socialist in tone (albeit veering toward National Socialism)”[3] and which “posits a favorable view of fascism.”[4]”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Over_the_White_House

Johnny Warbucks the zombie!

Johnny Warbucks the zombie!

Ridiculous. If we fail, it will be due to unrestrained military spending. That’s what destroyed the soviet union.

Ridiculous. If we fail, it will be due to unrestrained military spending. That’s what destroyed the soviet union.

I submit that your understanding of racism in America is limited.

I submit that your understanding of racism in America is limited.

Who are you Homer Simpson’s neighbor Ned Flanders?

Who are you Homer Simpson’s neighbor Ned Flanders?

Yep. I was jailed twice (and on very trumped up charges that did not resemble in the least what we actually did) for walking down the street with other people expressing my views on the Vietnam War. It was quite an experience, and on the whole I recommend it. But the difference now is you won’t be televised at all when they baton you, spray you, beanbag bullet you, set dogs on you, water cannon you, and and run over you with motorcycles, like we sometimes were — so the usefulness of the sacrifice, at least to others, is vastly reduced. There were News Organizations at the time, which is a thing difficult to come by now.

Yep. I was jailed twice (and on very trumped up charges that did not resemble in the least what we actually did) for walking down the street with other people expressing my views on the Vietnam War. It was quite an experience, and on the whole I recommend it. But the difference now is you won’t be televised at all when they baton you, spray you, beanbag bullet you, set dogs on you, water cannon you, and and run over you with motorcycles, like we sometimes were — so the usefulness of the sacrifice, at least to others, is vastly reduced. There were News Organizations at the time, which is a thing difficult to come by now.

Thorstein, I am just a person, like yourself. I see good things in the world, as I mentioned, in addition to the bad things.
The existence of these good things makes it impossible for me to agree with the extreme negativity epxressed in your comment.

And what good would this do? I’m very unhappy with any number of things Obama’s done, but you’ve got to stand back and look at the whole system. Both national parties are subject to the same corruption. We’ve seen what goes on in the Senate, the House. You’ve got the whole military-industrial complex, Wall Street, the various industries, all with their lobbying groups. Any person who becomes president, no matter what their original intentions, is limited in all these ways. The problem is systemic. Obama as an individual may well be quite a good person. But anyone who becomes president in these days is going to have to be responsible for some very bad actions.

Actually, no.

Chalmers Johnson’s three books on the American empire are very good. He had a lot of experience in foreign affairs and a lot of historical knowledge. He knew what he was talking about. Very much worth reading.

Chalmers Johnson’s three books on the American empire are very good. He had a lot of experience in foreign affairs and a lot of historical knowledge. He knew what he was talking about. Very much worth reading.

Exactly my point. I have not read his Trilogy but they are high on my “must read” list.

“What can an ordinary person do?”

An ordinary person may not be able to do much, but 300 million ordinary people can do something.

He is referring to a lack of faith in the empire, not religion.

Ugh

Well, to be more exact, every synthesis contains the seeds of its own destruction — its thesis and the opposing antithesis that arises out of it. Their struggle destroys the original synthesis and gives rise to a new one which will again lead to thesis and antithesis, etc., etc. The question for Hegel isn’t so much “evil” as historical change and the World Spirit. Oddly, it’s the atheistic materialist Marx who is more apt to apply moral judgments to social systems in his version of the dialectic.

Let it burn, we can decide later what caused it

When the sole objective of our worship is money….why be shocked when belief diminishes along with our bank balance? Money out, belief out. The old ‘Leap to Jesus’ preachers have it right: 1) Curse the filthy lucre which binds and enslaves us all. 2) Pray to be free from the bonds of pernury 3) Give generously from your heart into our Sacred Collateral Baskets so that the purity of your gifts will ring the bells in heaven to quench the Hellfire and truly free our souls.

…No diff…..

Ned, the subject matter was the fall of the US Empire, not your moral superiority that you surmise comes from your oh so sunny view of the world.

You are just another little dog pissing on my shoes.

Now run along.

Face it…with no other options the Red left was looking attractive in those days .( Russia was building more tractors). Somebody tried to embody their ‘dream White House’ in a movie. I don’t believe it ‘veered’ anywhere but off-track. Walter Huston (president) in those had the American credibility of Walter Cronkite so when he spoke to a frightened insecure Depression people…he had clout. ‘Fascism’ is I think a reach, but full-blown Socialism was the message. What saved it was the angel (Gabriel?) who arrived deus ex machina to save the day. I think the spiritual angle kept the backers in harness by suggesting (“Heck, this ain’t real”). I don’t think FDR had the time to edit a movie script,he was too busy keeping the militaty tame.. (Mac Arthur was pretty stroppy.).

Face it…with no other options the Red left was looking attractive in those days .( Russia was building more tractors). Somebody tried to embody their ‘dream White House’ in a movie. I don’t believe it ‘veered’ anywhere but off-track. Walter Huston (president) in those had the American credibility of Walter Cronkite so when he spoke to a frightened insecure Depression people…he had clout. ‘Fascism’ is I think a reach, but full-blown Socialism was the message. What saved it was the angel (Gabriel?) who arrived deus ex machina to save the day. I think the spiritual angle kept the backers in harness by suggesting (“Heck, this ain’t real”). I don’t think FDR had the time to edit a movie script,he was too busy keeping the militaty tame.. (Mac Arthur was pretty stroppy.).

Face it…with no other options the Red left was looking attractive in those days .( Russia was building more tractors). Somebody tried to embody their ‘dream White House’ in a movie. I don’t believe it ‘veered’ anywhere but off-track. Walter Huston (president) in those had the American credibility of Walter Cronkite so when he spoke to a frightened insecure Depression people…he had clout. ‘Fascism’ is I think a reach, but full-blown Socialism was the message. What saved it was the angel (Gabriel?) who arrived deus ex machina to save the day. I think the spiritual angle kept the backers in harness by suggesting (“Heck, this ain’t real”). I don’t think FDR had the time to edit a movie script,he was too busy keeping the militaty tame.. (Mac Arthur was pretty stroppy.).

So, the parallels between the fall of the Soviet Union and the current decline of the United States suggest today’s Russia may resemble our future. What I see is a de-facto dictatorship, with a neo-feudal economy driving a Russian diaspora. I could see that happening here not too long from now.

So, the parallels between the fall of the Soviet Union and the current decline of the United States suggest today’s Russia may resemble our future. What I see is a de-facto dictatorship, with a neo-feudal economy driving a Russian diaspora. I could see that happening here not too long from now.

So, the parallels between the fall of the Soviet Union and the current decline of the United States suggest today’s Russia may resemble our future. What I see is a de-facto dictatorship, with a neo-feudal economy driving a Russian diaspora. I could see that happening here not too long from now.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian nukes started leaking out to other places. When the military loses control of ours, I wonder where they’ll leak to.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian nukes started leaking out to other places. When the military loses control of ours, I wonder where they’ll leak to.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russian nukes started leaking out to other places. When the military loses control of ours, I wonder where they’ll leak to.

Pulling out is really very easy, but pulling out and saving face is very difficult.

Pulling out is really very easy, but pulling out and saving face is very difficult.

Pulling out is really very easy, but pulling out and saving face is very difficult.

No, he’s not saying that.

No, he’s not saying that.

No, he’s not saying that.

Well, we know this for sure about Obama and Bush. Let’s try somebody else in 2012.

Well, we know this for sure about Obama and Bush. Let’s try somebody else in 2012.

Well, we know this for sure about Obama and Bush. Let’s try somebody else in 2012.

When people stop “expecting anything from Washington”, the next step is a slide toward ignoring Washington altogether. That will produce a dangerous power vacuum as federal sovereignty is less and less effective. When someone other than the federal government claims that power, there could be fighting.

When people stop “expecting anything from Washington”, the next step is a slide toward ignoring Washington altogether. That will produce a dangerous power vacuum as federal sovereignty is less and less effective. When someone other than the federal government claims that power, there could be fighting.

When people stop “expecting anything from Washington”, the next step is a slide toward ignoring Washington altogether. That will produce a dangerous power vacuum as federal sovereignty is less and less effective. When someone other than the federal government claims that power, there could be fighting.

He knew that going in, yet he still chose to pursue the office of president. He is as much a part of the problem as Bush was. He is just the new puppet in the idiot box.

He knew that going in, yet he still chose to pursue the office of president. He is as much a part of the problem as Bush was. He is just the new puppet in the idiot box.

He knew that going in, yet he still chose to pursue the office of president. He is as much a part of the problem as Bush was. He is just the new puppet in the idiot box.

What are we supposed to have faith in, exactly? Our political system is dysfunctional, far too many of our people are without work, many more are homeless, millions lack affordable health care, the real problems facing us seem to be ignored by our media, including climate change…our nation is embroiled in multiple wars around the planet to feed the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us against, what the hell are we supposed to have “faith” in again?

What are we supposed to have faith in, exactly? Our political system is dysfunctional, far too many of our people are without work, many more are homeless, millions lack affordable health care, the real problems facing us seem to be ignored by our media, including climate change…our nation is embroiled in multiple wars around the planet to feed the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us against, what the hell are we supposed to have “faith” in again?

What are we supposed to have faith in, exactly? Our political system is dysfunctional, far too many of our people are without work, many more are homeless, millions lack affordable health care, the real problems facing us seem to be ignored by our media, including climate change…our nation is embroiled in multiple wars around the planet to feed the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us against, what the hell are we supposed to have “faith” in again?

I firmly belief he is too correct in his assessment of many parallels to the last days of the Soviet Union. We have fallen into exactly the same money pit called Afghanistan and expecting a different result is total insanity. Ask most people whether they have any faith in the political system and you will get a resounding no from most. Their is indeed no faith that tomorrow will be better. Well it was nice while it lasted, but greed brought Old Glory down .

I firmly belief he is too correct in his assessment of many parallels to the last days of the Soviet Union. We have fallen into exactly the same money pit called Afghanistan and expecting a different result is total insanity. Ask most people whether they have any faith in the political system and you will get a resounding no from most. Their is indeed no faith that tomorrow will be better. Well it was nice while it lasted, but greed brought Old Glory down .

I firmly belief he is too correct in his assessment of many parallels to the last days of the Soviet Union. We have fallen into exactly the same money pit called Afghanistan and expecting a different result is total insanity. Ask most people whether they have any faith in the political system and you will get a resounding no from most. Their is indeed no faith that tomorrow will be better. Well it was nice while it lasted, but greed brought Old Glory down .

I guess that is why they want the president to have the power to shut down the internet.
Or rather ‘They’ will have the power to order the prez to shut it down.

This is a powerful tool. I have learned so much, had the opportunity to speak with you guys and discover there are more Americans than just the crazy ones we see on TV.
Keep your thinking cap on. There is a soft underbelly that will help the people to regain control.

I guess that is why they want the president to have the power to shut down the internet.
Or rather ‘They’ will have the power to order the prez to shut it down.

This is a powerful tool. I have learned so much, had the opportunity to speak with you guys and discover there are more Americans than just the crazy ones we see on TV.
Keep your thinking cap on. There is a soft underbelly that will help the people to regain control.

I guess that is why they want the president to have the power to shut down the internet.
Or rather ‘They’ will have the power to order the prez to shut it down.

This is a powerful tool. I have learned so much, had the opportunity to speak with you guys and discover there are more Americans than just the crazy ones we see on TV.
Keep your thinking cap on. There is a soft underbelly that will help the people to regain control.

I would say if people stop buying things they don’t need: good. If people permanently stop buying anything but the very basics: bad – it will crush the economy with lots of collateral damage.

But, if for 1 day, or 1 week: no one buys anything? good! it sends a message and unites people..

I would say if people stop buying things they don’t need: good. If people permanently stop buying anything but the very basics: bad – it will crush the economy with lots of collateral damage.

But, if for 1 day, or 1 week: no one buys anything? good! it sends a message and unites people..

I would say if people stop buying things they don’t need: good. If people permanently stop buying anything but the very basics: bad – it will crush the economy with lots of collateral damage.

But, if for 1 day, or 1 week: no one buys anything? good! it sends a message and unites people..

Now, ok. But the give up is really wrong. This is time to get involved, not drop out.. Dropping out is exactly what ‘they’ want you to do…

Now, ok. But the give up is really wrong. This is time to get involved, not drop out.. Dropping out is exactly what ‘they’ want you to do…

Now, ok. But the give up is really wrong. This is time to get involved, not drop out.. Dropping out is exactly what ‘they’ want you to do…

I submit that your understanding of racism in America is exaggerated, and you are looking for an excuse to play the race card and beat white people over the head with cries of nonexistent racism..all for your own gain. Jim Crow is over dude, deal with it.

I submit that your understanding of racism in America is exaggerated, and you are looking for an excuse to play the race card and beat white people over the head with cries of nonexistent racism..all for your own gain. Jim Crow is over dude, deal with it.

I submit that your understanding of racism in America is exaggerated, and you are looking for an excuse to play the race card and beat white people over the head with cries of nonexistent racism..all for your own gain. Jim Crow is over dude, deal with it.

He knew that going in, yet he still chose to pursue the office of president.

As would anyone else who ran. Frankly, you have to accept that anyone who chooses to run for President of the US in these late days has a couple of screws wound a bit too tightly. Here’s the problem. Any Democrat who could mount a serious challenge to Obama would completely fracture the party and hand the Presidency and probably all three branches of government to the goopers. And the fact is, they would be worse.

He knew that going in, yet he still chose to pursue the office of president.

As would anyone else who ran. Frankly, you have to accept that anyone who chooses to run for President of the US in these late days has a couple of screws wound a bit too tightly. Here’s the problem. Any Democrat who could mount a serious challenge to Obama would completely fracture the party and hand the Presidency and probably all three branches of government to the goopers. And the fact is, they would be worse.

He knew that going in, yet he still chose to pursue the office of president.

As would anyone else who ran. Frankly, you have to accept that anyone who chooses to run for President of the US in these late days has a couple of screws wound a bit too tightly. Here’s the problem. Any Democrat who could mount a serious challenge to Obama would completely fracture the party and hand the Presidency and probably all three branches of government to the goopers. And the fact is, they would be worse.

I agree Orlov does make some mistakes. Partially because he wasn’t born here, that initial 12 years sets a mighty foundation in just being/becoming an American. He didn’t mention the fact the Soviet system was so dead ass broke and it was Gorby and Thatcher at the table well before Reagan was invited to come and play with them.
I think this country has had a series of event that has served to wake us up so we will not have a Chernobel, but I’m afraid we are pas the point of listening and the backlash from the BP spill in the Gulf will haunt us for decades. Which of course will serve as another nail in the coffin for the working and middle class of this country.
Wall St. won’t mind at all, they will find another way to bleed us dry.

That’s what I have faith in. Our government is out to harm it’s people.

I agree Orlov does make some mistakes. Partially because he wasn’t born here, that initial 12 years sets a mighty foundation in just being/becoming an American. He didn’t mention the fact the Soviet system was so dead ass broke and it was Gorby and Thatcher at the table well before Reagan was invited to come and play with them.
I think this country has had a series of event that has served to wake us up so we will not have a Chernobel, but I’m afraid we are pas the point of listening and the backlash from the BP spill in the Gulf will haunt us for decades. Which of course will serve as another nail in the coffin for the working and middle class of this country.
Wall St. won’t mind at all, they will find another way to bleed us dry.

That’s what I have faith in. Our government is out to harm it’s people.

I agree Orlov does make some mistakes. Partially because he wasn’t born here, that initial 12 years sets a mighty foundation in just being/becoming an American. He didn’t mention the fact the Soviet system was so dead ass broke and it was Gorby and Thatcher at the table well before Reagan was invited to come and play with them.
I think this country has had a series of event that has served to wake us up so we will not have a Chernobel, but I’m afraid we are pas the point of listening and the backlash from the BP spill in the Gulf will haunt us for decades. Which of course will serve as another nail in the coffin for the working and middle class of this country.
Wall St. won’t mind at all, they will find another way to bleed us dry.

That’s what I have faith in. Our government is out to harm it’s people.

The US Empire will fall because it is a population of mostly uneducated cowardly bullies that is led by the nose by the most corrupt leaders imaginable…. in other words, it will be the fault of the liberals, the progressives, Clinton’s Fault and Obama’s Fault.

The US Empire will fall because it is a population of mostly uneducated cowardly bullies that is led by the nose by the most corrupt leaders imaginable…. in other words, it will be the fault of the liberals, the progressives, Clinton’s Fault and Obama’s Fault.

The US Empire will fall because it is a population of mostly uneducated cowardly bullies that is led by the nose by the most corrupt leaders imaginable…. in other words, it will be the fault of the liberals, the progressives, Clinton’s Fault and Obama’s Fault.

As an American I would suggest it isn’t our democracy / form of government we’ve lost faith in it’s capitalism. When your financial system rewards those that cheat and make profits off of destruction (e.g. AIG, Goldman Sucks, Helliburton, Excon, Douche Water) all the while pointing the finger at people who make an honest living you can’t help but lose faith. This is what progressives fight against. Justice for all is the progressive mantra and the really sad thing is nobody defends the progressive ideal anymore. Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt knew that you had to bust the trusts and now the haves in both parties disagree. They are in it for the quick buck and early retirement all the while trying to fleece the average taxpaying patriot of any hope of a company pension or social security level retirement. Real liberals and progressives know though capitalism/fascism along with its Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Faux News parasites will ultimately destroy themselves.

As an American I would suggest it isn’t our democracy / form of government we’ve lost faith in it’s capitalism. When your financial system rewards those that cheat and make profits off of destruction (e.g. AIG, Goldman Sucks, Helliburton, Excon, Douche Water) all the while pointing the finger at people who make an honest living you can’t help but lose faith. This is what progressives fight against. Justice for all is the progressive mantra and the really sad thing is nobody defends the progressive ideal anymore. Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt knew that you had to bust the trusts and now the haves in both parties disagree. They are in it for the quick buck and early retirement all the while trying to fleece the average taxpaying patriot of any hope of a company pension or social security level retirement. Real liberals and progressives know though capitalism/fascism along with its Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Faux News parasites will ultimately destroy themselves.

As an American I would suggest it isn’t our democracy / form of government we’ve lost faith in it’s capitalism. When your financial system rewards those that cheat and make profits off of destruction (e.g. AIG, Goldman Sucks, Helliburton, Excon, Douche Water) all the while pointing the finger at people who make an honest living you can’t help but lose faith. This is what progressives fight against. Justice for all is the progressive mantra and the really sad thing is nobody defends the progressive ideal anymore. Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt knew that you had to bust the trusts and now the haves in both parties disagree. They are in it for the quick buck and early retirement all the while trying to fleece the average taxpaying patriot of any hope of a company pension or social security level retirement. Real liberals and progressives know though capitalism/fascism along with its Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Faux News parasites will ultimately destroy themselves.

There is a book, Wolf and Iron, by Gordon Dickson that you might want to read. And Montana gets cold for a long time during the winter.

There is a book, Wolf and Iron, by Gordon Dickson that you might want to read. And Montana gets cold for a long time during the winter.

There is a book, Wolf and Iron, by Gordon Dickson that you might want to read. And Montana gets cold for a long time during the winter.

Wow! Just Wow!

I mean what can you say. The only thing is to somehow think up bad things about the messenger, but his message is untouchable. There isn’t a whole lot you can say to discredit it.

The US isn’t an exact copy of the USSR, but the resemblances are close enough; the exorbitant amount being spent on the military and the control of the government by a small coterie of rich, politically connected men who focused on their own well-being at the expense of the average person; the class of people dependent on the government treasury such as the war profiteers otherwise known as the MIC and the energy corporations being the primary examples of who benefited while people who should have been helped along were left on their own; the degradation of the environment for the benefit of the aforementioned politically connected class; a population that was cynical about the government, but at the same time was being manipulated by right wing forces; and the nativism and the feeling that things were out of control. Since the US economy is a bit bigger (understatement) than the USSR’s economy was, it may take longer to fall, but the trajectory will be the same.

No,No, No there isn’t any thing similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the problems the USA faces today. For starter’s the USA and Soviet Union were not put together with the same glue.Some of the area that were a part of the Soviet Union was taken in WW2, wanted and did go their own way. Other parts were forced to be a part of Soviet Union, under Stalin. before WW2. So would parts of USA go flying off ? Just can’t see it. USA has many things in common (language, customs, history, race (70% white European)}. The Soviet Union enjoyed none of these things and lasted 70years mostly by force. Soviet Union single-party political system, did not help keep it together. USA has been thur much more difficult times than the present and has and always will find a way. If you don’t believe these things, Google “continental dollar” or the “great depression” these things to passed as the current problems.

No,No, No there isn’t any thing similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the problems the USA faces today. For starter’s the USA and Soviet Union were not put together with the same glue.Some of the area that were a part of the Soviet Union was taken in WW2, wanted and did go their own way. Other parts were forced to be a part of Soviet Union, under Stalin. before WW2. So would parts of USA go flying off ? Just can’t see it. USA has many things in common (language, customs, history, race (70% white European)}. The Soviet Union enjoyed none of these things and lasted 70years mostly by force. Soviet Union single-party political system, did not help keep it together. USA has been thur much more difficult times than the present and has and always will find a way. If you don’t believe these things, Google “continental dollar” or the “great depression” these things to passed as the current problems.

lol

lol

Dude why you following me all the time? It’s love ain’t it? I know you are another one of those closet, self loathing, lovethatcock republicans but sorry, this time it’s gonna have to be unrequited, cuzz bro i am a raging hetero who, if not for legal abortion would have like 10 kids now.

Dude why you following me all the time? It’s love ain’t it? I know you are another one of those closet, self loathing, lovethatcock republicans but sorry, this time it’s gonna have to be unrequited, cuzz bro i am a raging hetero who, if not for legal abortion would have like 10 kids now.

Uh, I think the chickenhawk neo-cons take first prize in the cowardly department, and there’s a mountain of videotapes at all the news outlets (except for Fox, of course) that thoroughly documents the bullying tactics of the Tea Baggers. And this country’s nose is still sore from the way Dubya and Darth Cheney led us around in the lead up to the war, the color coded terror alerts, the foiled terror plots that never existed, the list goes on.

In short – what the hell are you talking about? No, wait, never mind. You probably can’t even answer the question.

Uh, I think the chickenhawk neo-cons take first prize in the cowardly department, and there’s a mountain of videotapes at all the news outlets (except for Fox, of course) that thoroughly documents the bullying tactics of the Tea Baggers. And this country’s nose is still sore from the way Dubya and Darth Cheney led us around in the lead up to the war, the color coded terror alerts, the foiled terror plots that never existed, the list goes on.

In short – what the hell are you talking about? No, wait, never mind. You probably can’t even answer the question.

Dude, she is way too cute for you to be wasting your time on political websites. Have fun while you’re young. Leave all of this depressing crap to us geezers.

Dude, she is way too cute for you to be wasting your time on political websites. Have fun while you’re young. Leave all of this depressing crap to us geezers.

[...] As many in America longingly talk of “recovery” from the most devastating economic condition since the Great Depression, others have begun thinking in a very different direction, urging fellow citizens to prepare for the worst. Dmitry Orlov, author of “Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects,” is one of the latter. Soon, he told Raw Story in an exclusive interview, Americans will “stop expecting anything of Washington,” turning the US into more of a “banana republic” than a super power. Orlov, who witnessed the Soviet Union’s collapse from within, lamented that America’s condition is so severe there is “absolutely nothing” most can do to keep it alive or hasten its demise. “Basically the people in this country are powerless,” he suggested. “So they should probably focus on things closer to home.” Published on January 28th, 2011 As many in America longingly talk of “recovery” from the most devastating economic condition since the Great Depression, others have begun thinking in a very different direction, urging fellow citizens to prepare for the worst. Dmitry Orlov, author of “Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects,” is one of the latter. Soon, he told Raw Story in an exclusive interview, Americans will “stop expecting anything of Washington,” turning the US into more of a “banana republic” than a super power. Orlov, who witnessed the Soviet Union’s collapse from within, lamented that America’s condition is so severe there is “absolutely nothing” most can do to keep it alive or hasten its demise. “Basically the people in this country are powerless,” he suggested. “So they should probably focus on things closer to home.” – Full Story CLICK HERE [...]

that’s not capitalism, that’s national fascism……if we had real capitalism and enforcement of anti-trust laws you would say a lot of corporate execs in jail, but under bush, and obama you’ll never see that.

are you one of the deluded partisan hacks coming here from huffingtonpost? I left that place because it had nonsense partisan drivel like yours posted everywhere, why don’t you do us a favor and go back to that cess pool of ignorants. We have one party, and that’s called the oil-drug-war party.

True but in addition to the draft, the news at the time displayed the brutality of the killings and the toll the war took on the American and Vietnam people.

Today we may never know the exact number of Americans and others that have died in these wars. These wars are way more expansive than many Americans realize because the media minimizes the extent of these wars and the death count.

Today we have a draft its just been hidden. Its a back door draft known as Stop Loss. Which happens all too often.

Now it is estimated that, “Almost 70% of college students know someone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan.” That is a huge percentage.

I myself know a soldier who was killed in Iraq. I had an uncle killed in Vietnam. I met quite a few soldiers who were about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. These wars are bigger than what the media/govt portrays.

I think we can protest these wars on moral grounds and as taxpayers. but, as I and a few others have mentioned protesting now is increasingly difficult, dangerous and subject to media blackout and thus not as effective.

and the dems that abdicated their responsibility and gave shrub his war powers….no declaration of war. Cowardly is right, and I think I know why, the evil at the top scared the hell out of congress with 911, but we all know both parties made tons of money, and are still making more…

Bathe her and send her to my bunk.

no it doesn’t. Your lack of intelligence makes it sound religious, to you.

Faith =/= religion.

Only the matrix will fall, Grasshopper, only the matrix.

Me! I want to use the core to heat my house.

I won’t argue with him. I can’t think of a time when contempt for the people has been so transparent by the money and power players. The Gulf is the perfect example as we watched the US Coast Guard and local law authority get their orders from BP and they acted upon those orders. In DC at present we’re given this pony show of the GOP squandering time on issues and votes that they KNOW will dead end while people are begging for jobs and financial security. Now they are pulling out the old one-act play of abortion issue. All the GOP is doing is wasting America’s time while they pull symbolic crap for a campaign flyer.

“Faith,” anti-rational, anti-human, anti-progress, is both stupid and evil. We don’t need faith, we need action.

I wish he wasn’t right. I have acted lawfully, in protest and in voting, the whole of my adult life. But over two decades of speaking, writing, protesting and believing has gotten me exactly nowhere. My contentions are answered by regurgitated quotes from Fox, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck and a few others. Not only does this nation lack political will…it actually lacks the desire to think…it is a passive, receptive society…a hole waiting to be filled…a lazy prostitute waiting to shoved full of d*ck without complaint, utterly apathetic.

I wanted us to not be doomed to a slow slide into irrelevance and fading prosperity…but I am left only wishing that he was wrong.

a must read

It already has…he has the power to detain at will anyone.

[...] ‘US empire’ will fall due to lack of faith, not finances or war, author warns Soon, he told Raw Story in an exclusive interview, Americans will "stop expecting anything of Washington," turning the US into more of a "banana republic" than a super power. [...]

I would think that the collapse would be more from corruption than lack of faith. I have faith in our country and the people in it. I know I sound wishy washy but hey, we gotta have faith in something right? I beleive we can do this together. Look what’s happening in Egypt, the people are pissed and are going to take back their country, it could happen…
Right, and monkeys could fly out of my butt.

[...] By Orlov’s estimation, the US military will never voluntarily quit being the world’s largest oil consumer and largest polluter. Moreover, any plans suggested to the military to end its oil dependency in 30 years are an act of “desperation,” he said….MORE HERE [...]

Action to do… what, exactly?

Action without faith is simply reaction, and knee-jerk reactions tend to be short lived and destructive for everyone involved. Think the Rodney King riots – the anger was warranted, but what did the violence and destruction solve?

Action with faith tends to be more thought out, longer-lived and less destructive. Think the peaceful protests of America’s civil rights movement. Yes there was violence, but it was mostly one-way. The protests were deliberately peaceful, effective, and the results lasted.

I don’t disagree that there needs to be some drastic change. But how?

I wouldn’t take what he has to say too seriously. Russia has always been a country mired in fatalism and corruption so just because his country took one path doesn’t mean the same thing will happen here. We have the largest economy in the world. We still innovate. China has a host of internal problems that may very well impede its much ballyhooed march to world economic dominance. The U.S. will never enjoy the same level of influence it had after WWII. That said, it’s a long way from that to complete destitution.

[...] Exclusive: ‘US empire’ will fall due to lack of faith, not finances or war, author warns | Raw S…. Share and [...]

I find comments are, often, more interesting than the article. As I look at them here. We have the folks that are good way up the food chain, have a government job with all it’s perks, benefits, etc. being paid for by the rest of us. They have every reason to have “faith”. Then there’s some who lost their house, their job, etc recently, they, too, have “faith”. These two categories point out why “we’re different” or “it can’t happen here”. We’re too smart for that. Then there’s some that reality has smashed their world, been out of work a yr, etc. Not much “faith” there or many comments as they’re too busy trying to survive. The “faith” blinders have been removed from their eyes. They KNOW things are bad and not likely to get any better. They’re “hoping” those with “faith” don’t cut off the food stamps, cut their Social Security, extend their unemployment benefits. Then there’s untold millions who won’t even read the article and if they do, sure won’t comment as their “faith” was gone long ago.

Me, after a couple of times up and down the ladder, being on the road with two kids hunting work and now on Social Security, my faith went 30 odd yrs ago. I see the “wonderful” optimism of Americans held by those safe and secure. I see the “go get it” attitude amongst the shrinking middle class who are too scared to think otherwise. For me “faith” is believable when it works for you and not believable when it doesn’t. Based on that, a person can read the comments and tell where they are on the “faith” ladder.

We the American people are sick of corporate masters and a puppet government that gives us two political “choices.” We are sick of the politicians that play musical chairs between corporate boards, elected offices and “think tanks” writing their own laws and regulations. We are sick of the one corporate donor whose financial “speech” drowns out the voices of thousands of private citizens supporting a candidate through their own limited means. We are sick of a criminal justice system that applies only to those too poor to ignore it. We are sick of spending money and lives to invade “liberate” and “nation build” around the world while our own civil liberties slip away and our infrastructures crumbles under our feet. We’ve known this was a problem for years.

What are we going to do about it?

He nailed our dire circumstance.

He nailed our dire circumstance.

and when all the stuff he mentions happens, most of the american people will just have their mouths open and say: ‘ooooh he was right… we shoulda paid attention to something besides our big butts, big cars and big shopping trips at the mall….”

and when all the stuff he mentions happens, most of the american people will just have their mouths open and say: ‘ooooh he was right… we shoulda paid attention to something besides our big butts, big cars and big shopping trips at the mall….”

I agree with the main points of the article. An excellent new documentary (over 2.5 hours) that speaks to these same points is “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward” viewable online here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9WVZddH9w

It includes positive visionary solutions that some people are choosing to enact now.

I agree with the main points of the article. An excellent new documentary (over 2.5 hours) that speaks to these same points is “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward” viewable online here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z9WVZddH9w

It includes positive visionary solutions that some people are choosing to enact now.

You see a connection between the uneducated cowardly bullies and liberals?

You see a connection between the uneducated cowardly bullies and liberals?

zeke a very interesting comment indeed. thanks.

zeke a very interesting comment indeed. thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh yeah well Bush just ‘changed things on a whim’, like a motherucker he did. And he certainly never had a HUGE majority in the congress either. Obama had a million motherfukkers in the streets cheering and crying when he wa elected…he could have done ANYTHING. But, we now know, he did what his corproate Wall Street masters told him instead.

Oh yeah well Bush just ‘changed things on a whim’, like a motherucker he did. And he certainly never had a HUGE majority in the congress either. Obama had a million motherfukkers in the streets cheering and crying when he wa elected…he could have done ANYTHING. But, we now know, he did what his corproate Wall Street masters told him instead.

You are living in happy ignorance, if you think that our past has ceased to affect our present.

You are living in happy ignorance, if you think that our past has ceased to affect our present.

There is more to life than negativity, and there always has been, regardless of the rising and falling of empires.
Look up, the sun is shining, it’s another brand new day. Things are not as awful as you surmise. We can move beyond suffering. Everything is possible. I might plant a little herb garden in my kitchen window today, since fresh herbs make everything taste better. You could try it too ! You can be free, if you want to be. Smile, and the world smiles with you.

There is more to life than negativity, and there always has been, regardless of the rising and falling of empires.
Look up, the sun is shining, it’s another brand new day. Things are not as awful as you surmise. We can move beyond suffering. Everything is possible. I might plant a little herb garden in my kitchen window today, since fresh herbs make everything taste better. You could try it too ! You can be free, if you want to be. Smile, and the world smiles with you.

ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Oh, you were serious? Sorry, I didn’t realize you were one of the uneducated but then I should have since you act as if nothing happened between the terms of Clinton and Obama.

ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Oh, you were serious? Sorry, I didn’t realize you were one of the uneducated but then I should have since you act as if nothing happened between the terms of Clinton and Obama.

‘What are we going to do about it?”….
Pitchforks and Torches seems the only alternative.

‘What are we going to do about it?”….
Pitchforks and Torches seems the only alternative.

Rampant consumerism needs to be buried before anything can move forward.

Rampant consumerism needs to be buried before anything can move forward.

we are not backing Isereal, we are going away from the apple of GOD’S eye. He wrote in his word the consiquences.

we are not backing Isereal, we are going away from the apple of GOD’S eye. He wrote in his word the consiquences.

I’m surprised at the number of people who see no correlation between the Gulf of Mexico and Chernobyl.

The damage in the Gulf is continuing. Dispersants caused the oil to sink, but it’s still there. Still wiping out life in the depths. This will take centuries for nature to overcome.

At least now the oil industry won’t have to worry so much about environmental regs when drilling there. Now the oil industry has wiped out thousands of ecosystems around the world, so that they could drill where they want. They’ve been really lucky that way. To accidentally kill a reef by pumping bilges their, then getting to make money drilling on the dead reef.

So this has been very lucky for the oil industry.

Not so lucky for people living near the Gulf. But we know that people are expendable. If they become a problem, the oil industry can deal with them like they deal with the trouble makers in Nigeria, who are angry that their fishing grounds are polluted.

In the Old Testament, I thought warnings were clear that you’d better ‘BE’ a Hebrew, or suffer the consequences. I don’t remember anything in the Old Testament, or the New Testament about how heathens should support the Hebrews, but could remain heathens.

Um, wasn’t that the “documentary” that the Tucson shooter was obsessed with? I’m willing to check it out but……

To track the updated cost of our wars, see http://costofwar.com/en/

And the comparison of Chernoble and the Deepwater spill is accurate:
The Obama administration granted oil giant BP a special exemption from a legal requirement that it produce a detailed environmental impact study on the possible effects of its Deepwater Horizon drilling operation http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/may2010/gulf-m06.shtml

Ferget American the Idle tonite…

Watch this show instead…

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

lol..that kind of arrogant exceptionalism is gonna be smacked with a rude awakening one day.

lol..that kind of arrogant exceptionalism is gonna be smacked with a rude awakening one day.

“By the next election cycle, Orlov figured, the United States would be in the throes of a “banana republic” such that the voters would exchange one inept political party for another inept political party while expecting different results.”

You’re a tad late on this genius, it’s already happened!

“By the next election cycle, Orlov figured, the United States would be in the throes of a “banana republic” such that the voters would exchange one inept political party for another inept political party while expecting different results.”

You’re a tad late on this genius, it’s already happened!

While the Tea Party points out the obvious about the budget which nobody dared talk about during the Bush War years,

except Ron Paul

While the Tea Party points out the obvious about the budget which nobody dared talk about during the Bush War years,

except Ron Paul

I am very sure you got Fs in history class.

I am very sure you got Fs in history class.

I think he was trying to say that the masses would finally figure it out…

The Democrats haven’t given up on Obama, and the Tea Party believes that Sara Palin will fix everything that is wrong with the USA.

A lot of Americans still have a deep and abiding faith in their favorite political sports team.

I think he was trying to say that the masses would finally figure it out…

The Democrats haven’t given up on Obama, and the Tea Party believes that Sara Palin will fix everything that is wrong with the USA.

A lot of Americans still have a deep and abiding faith in their favorite political sports team.

Any Democrat who could mount a serious challenge to Obama would completely fracture the party and hand the Presidency and probably all three branches of government to the goopers. And the fact is, they would be worse.

Don’t ever expect things to get better if you’re scared to get your hands dirty. Don’t ever complain about how awful things are when your are a coward to see anything done about them.

Any Democrat who could mount a serious challenge to Obama would completely fracture the party and hand the Presidency and probably all three branches of government to the goopers. And the fact is, they would be worse.

Don’t ever expect things to get better if you’re scared to get your hands dirty. Don’t ever complain about how awful things are when your are a coward to see anything done about them.

Executive Orders say they can apparently.

Executive Orders say they can apparently.

Do you have any reading comprehension skills at all?

Do you have any reading comprehension skills at all?

And I’m sure you will be there applauding it. I am very liberal on most issues but I’ve begun to see a certain defeatism set in the past few years, a yearning for self-destruction that borders on self-immolation. I don’t think it’s arrogant to be proud of your country’s accomplishments and to want it to prosper into the future. Leaders like JFK or RFK didn’t hate their country or desire to see it brought low. The U.S. has been an exceptional country, and if being liberal means engaging in self-loathing and self-hatred then perhaps I’ve been associating with the wrong group. Muslims are certainly not shy about trumpeting the moral superiority of their primitive cult, yet I never hear a peep from the left criticizing “Muslim exceptionalism,” the positing of which truly is laughable..

And I’m sure you will be there applauding it. I am very liberal on most issues but I’ve begun to see a certain defeatism set in the past few years, a yearning for self-destruction that borders on self-immolation. I don’t think it’s arrogant to be proud of your country’s accomplishments and to want it to prosper into the future. Leaders like JFK or RFK didn’t hate their country or desire to see it brought low. The U.S. has been an exceptional country, and if being liberal means engaging in self-loathing and self-hatred then perhaps I’ve been associating with the wrong group. Muslims are certainly not shy about trumpeting the moral superiority of their primitive cult, yet I never hear a peep from the left criticizing “Muslim exceptionalism,” the positing of which truly is laughable..

Only a moron tries to argue against history.

Only a moron tries to argue against history.

That flag is a piece of cloth and doesn’t deserve any reverence.

That flag is a piece of cloth and doesn’t deserve any reverence.