Undoing the Mess

Some of you believe that electing Democrats will "make things right" ... i'm all for electing Democrats but i couldn't disagree more ... the changes that are needed to repair all the damage go way, way, way beyond anything Democrats have or will ever speak of ... maybe these changes will never be politically viable at all; sadly, that doesn't make them any less necessary ...

Most of us know the truth about what's happened in our country ... It's not all that radical to see that money talks a whole lot louder than "one man's vote" ... Bob Dylan's great line on this was "money doesn't talk it swears" ... letting big monied interests direct policy is not democracy at all ...

Huge fortunes, billions and billions, have been made illegitimately ... seniors are forced from their homes or forced to go without food or the life-saving medications they need while the largest and greediest shareholders of Big Pharma squeeze the last dollar from their elderly shaking hands ...

and here's where i believe the Democrats come up short ... i vote for Democrats because they see that this is wrong ... i vote for Democrats because they see that we must make necessities like life-saving medications available to all who need them whether they can afford them or not ... that is a most enlightened view ... it also is not nearly enough ...

whether legal under current law or not, the profits already made by these inhumane actions should be stripped away ... estates and fortunes should be confiscated ... the actions of MOST of America's upper crusties that have created their great wealth are also illegitimate ...

it's become more than a bit cliched to talk of the military-industrial complex ... how many billions have been made in this industry while the far more pressing needs of the American people go wanting ... in the French revolution, heads were chopped off ... tempting though it might be, i'm not calling for that ... well, maybe just one or two ... but ill-gotten gains, estates, riches, inheritances, the privilege of class, all of those were stripped away ... btw, this is NOT class warfare ... i prefer to think of it as just righting the wrongs ...

and just as an aside, perhaps better as a separate thread, our defense budget is greater than the defense budgets of the rest of the world COMBINED ... are we worried that the entire world will join together to attack us? perhaps we should be ... how many billions and billions have been made for the largest, greediest shareholders of the military-industrial complex? they say they're "protecting us" ... they always "sell" us a noble cause ... what heroes they are ...

the money made in the MIC has not been made legitimately and it should be stripped away ... is that radical? perhaps it is ... we don't talk like that in America ... is it socialism? probably not ... the goal is not necessarily to level the playing field but rather to recognize that MOST wealth, big, big wealth, has been made illegitimately ... is this all subjective? of course it is ... but in a democracy, the people should be able to make this decision ...

no one has an inherent right to keep their stuff especially when it has been unfairly obtained ... just as we can tax some more than others and give "deductions and credits" based on what we value, so can we tax away all ill-gotten gains ...

nothing written thus far sees massive wealth as an enemy ... but perhaps it is ... the points made above focus only on "immorally obtained wealth" and it seeks to use the power of government to right the wrongs ... but it is not at all clear that huge disparities in wealth are compatible with a functioning democracy ...

will we ever even approach the ideal of "one man one vote"?? can we ever hope to truly have our government act in the best interests of ALL its citizens without a special wink and a nod to the monied classes? we have allowed a system to grab hold of our government that caters to "special interests" ... that's a nice euphemism: special interests ... pretty words ... think about what that really means! it means that our government is not acting in the best interests of the American people ... is that what America should be about?

we seem to accept the idea that "what's done is done" ... we seem to accept the idea that the wealthy and powerful will always be able to subvert the will of the people ... we seem to accept the idea that money made legally, albeit immorally, will forever belong to the ruling classes ... we meekly talk about changing the laws so that it "won't happen again" ... that's good but it is NOT enough ... we cannot leave a system in place that perpetuates a ruling class by allowing them to keep their unfairly obtained wealth ... at a minimum, without dragging the illegitimately rich from their houses and chopping off their heads in the town squares, we should address the problem by putting a cap on estate sizes ... we cannot allow the inter-generational sustenance of the ruling classes to be perpetuated through inheritance ...

to conclude, we need to think differently, i.e. more broadly, about the problems our country faces ... safeguarding democracy in the face of a capitalist economy is no easy business if it's possible at all ... we must be far more vigilant about protecting the best interests of the country from the wolves who patrol the halls of our government with their fat wallets ... and those wallets need a regular thinning to ensure that the highest function of government, i.e. serving the needs of ALL the people, is honored ...

:woohoo: i agree entirely with you..recomended

most Democrats freely speak about special interests ... they know that much of what is going on is "un-democratic" ...

and they propose some good partial measures to address the problem ... for example, they call for campaign finance reform and lobbying reform ... neither of these ideas, while both very necessary, will solve the problem ...

what is needed is the "decapitation" of massive wealth ... the damn stuff will leak through the cracks no matter how many "little rules" Democrats throw in its path ... the ultimate solution is to take the profit out of the game ... right now, it is assumed that once the bucks make it to the bank, they are somehow protected forever ... it need not be that way ... if we the people don't like how you got your money, we the people should be able to take it away ...

unfortunately, this is seen as too radical for some ... it's not "popular" ... it's seen as "invasive" ... it's even seen as "un-American" ... and that's too bad ... frankly, i see it as very American ... i see it as very pro-democracy ... i see it as righting the wrongs ...

as long as we meekly go along and accept the rules as the ruling classes have defined them, you're right, nothing will change ... i'm not naive enough to expect leading Democrats to start shouting this message anytime soon ... but it's important to start educating the American people that these views are right and that there will come a time to implement them fully ...

Mexico and central america and all the island nations show up across our boarders and we are starving to.. global warming is about millions of starving and millions more already dead and it will only get worse exponentually.

Walmart Supper Stores are here for a reason.. they have huge lots and big doors on each side with regional warehouse distribution centers. wide lines of people herded by armed national guard will go in one side and get their meager rations for the MONTH.. then they will exit through the other doors.. and try to get home before they get robbed of their rations by roving gangs of migrants without chip implants and militia warlords..

looks like this topic isn't too popular ...

Our choice is whether we will make those changes ourselves to correct the mistakes and make a better world, or will we allow the mistakes to overwhelm us and impose the will of those that made them upon us.

:patriot: K & R :kick:

Democracy does not survive in nations with obscene disparities in wealth. As a matter of fact, facism depends on income disparity from ill gotten gains.

Lobbyists and get funding from sources that aren't Democratic. Clean up Wall Street by putting back the safeguards FDR put in place and use some Teddy Roosevelt tactics to break the backs of these Conglomerates like Carlyle Group, Venture Capitalists, and Hedge Funds which have total unrestrained influence in our Commerce, Markets and health of our Business structure.

There's just so much to do. If only we had someone willing to do it.