It's Not Going To Be OK

[Daniel]

Someone posted this on another board I post on.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090202_its_not_going_to_be_ok/

It’s Not Going to Be OK

Posted on Feb 2, 2009

AP photo / Nikolas Giakoumidis

By Chris Hedges

The daily bleeding of thousands of jobs will soon turn our economic crisis into a political crisis. The street protests, strikes and riots that have rattled France, Turkey, Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Iceland will descend on us. It is only a matter of time. And not much time. When things start to go sour, when Barack Obama is exposed as a mortal waving a sword at a tidal wave, the United States could plunge into a long period of precarious social instability.

At no period in American history has our democracy been in such peril or has the possibility of totalitarianism been as real. Our way of life is over. Our profligate consumption is finished. Our children will never have the standard of living we had. And poverty and despair will sweep across the landscape like a plague. This is the bleak future. There is nothing President Obama can do to stop it. It has been decades in the making. It cannot be undone with a trillion or two trillion dollars in bailout money. Our empire is dying. Our economy has collapsed.

How will we cope with our decline? Will we cling to the absurd dreams of a superpower and a glorious tomorrow or will we responsibly face our stark new limitations? Will we heed those who are sober and rational, those who speak of a new simplicity and humility, or will we follow the demagogues and charlatans who rise up out of the slime in moments of crisis to offer fantastic visions? Will we radically transform our system to one that protects the ordinary citizen and fosters the common good, that defies the corporate state, or will we employ the brutality and technology of our internal security and surveillance apparatus to crush all dissent? We won’t have to wait long to find out.

There are a few isolated individuals who saw it coming. The political philosophers Sheldon S. Wolin, John Ralston Saul and Andrew Bacevich, as well as writers such as Noam Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson, David Korten and Naomi Klein, along with activists such as Bill McKibben and Ralph Nader, rang the alarm bells. They were largely ignored or ridiculed. Our corporate media and corporate universities proved, when we needed them most, intellectually and morally useless.

Wolin, who taught political philosophy at the University of California in Berkeley and at Princeton, in his book “Democracy Incorporated†uses the phrase inverted totalitarianism to describe our system of power. Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader. It finds its expression in the anonymity of the corporate state. It purports to cherish democracy, patriotism and the Constitution while cynically manipulating internal levers to subvert and thwart democratic institutions. Political candidates are elected in popular votes by citizens, but they must raise staggering amounts of corporate funds to compete. They are beholden to armies of corporate lobbyists in Washington or state capitals who write the legislation. A corporate media controls nearly everything we read, watch or hear and imposes a bland uniformity of opinion or diverts us with trivia and celebrity gossip. In classical totalitarian regimes, such as Nazi fascism or Soviet communism, economics was subordinate to politics. “Under inverted totalitarianism the reverse is true,†Wolin writes. “Economics dominates politics—and with that domination comes different forms of ruthlessness.â€

I reached Wolin, 86, by phone at his home about 25 miles north of San Francisco. He was a bombardier in the South Pacific during World War II and went to Harvard after the war to get his doctorate. Wolin has written classics such as “Politics and Vision†and “Tocqueville Between Two Worlds.†His newest book is one of the most important and prescient critiques to date of the American political system. He is also the author of a series of remarkable essays on Augustine of Hippo, Richard Hooker, David Hume, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Max Weber, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx and John Dewey. His voice, however, has faded from public awareness because, as he told me, “it is harder and harder for people like me to get a public hearing.†He said that publications, such as The New York Review of Books, which often published his work a couple of decades ago, lost interest in his critiques of American capitalism, his warnings about the subversion of democratic institutions and the emergence of the corporate state. He does not hold out much hope for Obama.

“The basic systems are going to stay in place; they are too powerful to be challenged,†Wolin told me when I asked him about the new Obama administration. “This is shown by the financial bailout. It does not bother with the structure at all. I don’t think Obama can take on the kind of military establishment we have developed. This is not to say that I do not admire him. He is probably the most intelligent president we have had in decades. I think he is well meaning, but he inherits a system of constraints that make it very difficult to take on these major power configurations. I do not think he has the appetite for it in any ideological sense. The corporate structure is not going to be challenged. There has not been a word from him that would suggest an attempt to rethink the American imperium.â€

Wolin argues that a failure to dismantle our vast and overextended imperial projects, coupled with the economic collapse, is likely to result in inverted totalitarianism. He said that without “radical and drastic remedies†the response to mounting discontent and social unrest will probably lead to greater state control and repression. There will be, he warned, a huge “expansion of government power.â€

“Our political culture has remained unhelpful in fostering a democratic consciousness,†he said. “The political system and its operatives will not be constrained by popular discontent or uprisings.â€

Wolin writes that in inverted totalitarianism consumer goods and a comfortable standard of living, along with a vast entertainment industry that provides spectacles and diversions, keep the citizenry politically passive. I asked if the economic collapse and the steady decline in our standard of living might not, in fact, trigger classical totalitarianism. Could widespread frustration and poverty lead the working and middle classes to place their faith in demagogues, especially those from the Christian right?

“I think that’s perfectly possible,†he answered. “That was the experience of the 1930s. There wasn’t just FDR. There was Huey Long and Father Coughlin. There were even more extreme movements including the Klan. The extent to which those forces can be fed by the downturn and bleakness is a very real danger. It could become classical totalitarianism.â€

He said the widespread political passivity is dangerous. It is often exploited by demagogues who pose as saviors and offer dreams of glory and salvation. He warned that “the apoliticalness, even anti-politicalness, will be very powerful elements in taking us towards a radically dictatorial direction. It testifies to how thin the commitment to democracy is in the present circumstances. Democracy is not ascendant. It is not dominant. It is beleaguered. The extent to which young people have been drawn away from public concerns and given this extraordinary range of diversions makes it very likely they could then rally to a demagogue.â€

Wolin lamented that the corporate state has successfully blocked any real debate about alternative forms of power. Corporations determine who gets heard and who does not, he said. And those who critique corporate power are given no place in the national dialogue.

“In the 1930s there were all kinds of alternative understandings, from socialism to more extensive governmental involvement,†he said. “There was a range of different approaches. But what I am struck by now is the narrow range within which palliatives are being modeled. We are supposed to work with the financial system. So the people who helped create this system are put in charge of the solution. There has to be some major effort to think outside the box.â€

“The puzzle to me is the lack of social unrest,†Wolin said when I asked why we have not yet seen rioting or protests. He said he worried that popular protests will be dismissed and ignored by the corporate media. This, he said, is what happened when tens of thousands protested the war in Iraq. This will permit the state to ruthlessly suppress local protests, as happened during the Democratic and Republic conventions. Anti-war protests in the 1960s gained momentum from their ability to spread across the country, he noted. This, he said, may not happen this time. “The ways they can isolate protests and prevent it from [becoming] a contagion are formidable,†he said.

“My greatest fear is that the Obama administration will achieve relatively little in terms of structural change,†he added. “They may at best keep the system going. But there is a growing pessimism. Every day we hear how much longer the recession will continue. They are already talking about beyond next year. The economic difficulties are more profound than we had guessed and because of globalization more difficult to deal with. I wish the political establishment, the parties and leadership, would become more aware of the depths of the problem. They can’t keep throwing money at this. They have to begin structural changes that involve a very different approach from a market economy. I don’t think this will happen.â€

“I keep asking why and how and when this country became so conservative,†he went on. “This country once prided itself on its experimentation and flexibility. It has become rigid. It is probably the most conservative of all the advanced countries.â€

The American left, he said, has crumbled. It sold out to a bankrupt Democratic Party, abandoned the working class and has no ability to organize. Unions are a spent force. The universities are mills for corporate employees. The press churns out info-entertainment or fatuous pundits. The left, he said, no longer has the capacity to be a counterweight to the corporate state. He said that if an extreme right gains momentum there will probably be very little organized resistance.

“The left is amorphous,†he said. “I despair over the left. Left parties may be small in number in Europe but they are a coherent organization that keeps going. Here, except for Nader’s efforts, we don’t have that. We have a few voices here, a magazine there, and that’s about it. It goes nowhere.â€

[canadienmike]

The American left, he said, has crumbled. It sold out to a bankrupt Democratic Party, abandoned the working class and has no ability to organize. Unions are a spent force. The universities are mills for corporate employees. The press churns out info-entertainment or fatuous pundits. The left, he said, no longer has the capacity to be a counterweight to the corporate state. He said that if an extreme right gains momentum there will probably be very little organized resistance.

“The left is amorphous,†he said. “I despair over the left. Left parties may be small in number in Europe but they are a coherent organization that keeps going. Here, except for Nader’s efforts, we don’t have that. We have a few voices here, a magazine there, and that’s about it. It goes nowhere.â€

?????? The left has no power in this country? Have you not seen the new president? And these last couple of paragraphs make it seem like our only hope is from the far left...I would bet most of us here do not agree with that. Things may be bleek right now, but I'm not quite convinced that the sky is falling...and I'm definately sure that our hope is not in the left.

[Guest mustangdave]

This guy is drinking THE KOOL-AIDE....poor fella is a tad confused Me thinks

[BrasilNuts]

"We have a few voices here, a magazine there, and that’s about it. It goes nowhere.”

This guy is completely out of touch with reality.

[Warbird]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling.

The far left wanting more panic, more fear so they, the communists, socialists, will move in and save us. Yeah right!

These are the machinations of the far left, the water carriers of miserably failed followers of Engels, Lenin and Marx. These bric-a-bat wielding goons of communists posing as organized labor leaders, the so-called academic elite in our centers of higher learning trickling down to our children in public schools, have promulgated these ideas for years.

We are in a recession, a serious one. The leftists have waited for years for another chance to seep their dirty little totalitarian ideals into the American conscience. Overall this is a bump in the road, a big one likely to bring about more government intrusion in our lives. But, we will recover for the most part. Our system cannot be compared with Europe. Just because we are both in a recession they are for different reasons. They will contend Europe's ills are because of American style economics for 20 years now. Truthfully these countries are far far better off today than they ever were under communism and totalitarianism.

[TGO David]

Sadly the author makes quite a few good points before handing it over to Wolin's leftist ideas in the second half. The truth of matters has always existed somewhere in the middle. This case is no different.

[towerclimber37]

isn't that the truth Tungsten!

unfortunately many folks tend to see a division of left vs. right.

me? I'm beginning more and more to see it as a difference between GOVT. and CITIZEN.

unless they're absolutely nuts and refuse to come to some sort of concession, there aren't any problems we as citizens can't work through or come to some sort of compromise on.

unfortunately, our government wants to take that away from us...the ability to compromise amongst ourselves, by subscribing to the idea that socialism is the cure for all our woes...and worse yet, they won't concede..

case in point: blagobiotch, up in IL....now here's a politician who refuses to give up even when he's caught...and sadly, it's a trend that many politicians are starting.

[Mark@Sea]

Socialism in this country dates from the '20's. In the 30's, FDR turned a 'burst bubble' on Wall Street (and it needed to burst!) into a long term depression through instituting socialist policies, and used it to fuel his successful attack on the Constitution and Supreme Court. Obama is trying to do the same thing with the economic stimulus package and its' incredible growth of socialist goals.

This recession was designed, engineered and built by democrats - socialists. The housing market bubble? It was inflated by Clinton, Obama, and Frank.

I won't say that their goal was to recreate the conditions of the '30's, perhaps it was simple greed and blind stupidity.

The riots the writer mentioned are rooted in either islam, or socialist 'proles' unable to deal with the (inevitable) failure of their government/financial system. Riots based on islam in this country (riots, as opposed to protests) would be brief, violent, and entertaining - for us. The financial bedrock of this country isn't government - yet, although Obama is trying hard to make it so. If the recession is allowed to take its' natural course, we will recover in 3 to 5 years. If this bailout (don't kid yourself, if this one goes through there will inevitably be more) is passed, within 10 years our GDP will drop drastically, and our standard of living will drop. That happens to be the opinion of the Congressional Budget Office, by the way... Government crowds out free enterprise and capitalism...

Freedom and government are mutually incompatible. It is tolerable - if kept on a short leash. The bailout isn't (yet) a done deal, and the writer is simply encouraging an atmosphere of panic, attempting to convince us to drop that leash.

[wjh2657]

People are still eating and programs are in place to ensure that they will continue to eat. When masses of people start starving (not just being hungry for more food) but starving, then we will have riots.

The American Market is a voracious animal that needs profit to feed. It will survive and continue to feed by forming a market (with jobs and paychecks, it must have consumers) that can survive and profit. It doesn't matter who is President, the Market is going to survive and the American public's well being is tied to that market, so they will survive too.

You cannot equate anything that happens outside the United States to what happens inside the United States. We are not the same as other countries and we never will be!

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

unfortunately many folks tend to see a division of left vs. right.

me? I'm beginning more and more to see it as a difference between GOVT. and CITIZEN.

I'd take your comment farther and say that we simply don't have enough true citizens.

Who might oppose the government but a true citizen?

The riots the writer mentioned are rooted in either islam, or socialist 'proles' unable to deal with the (inevitable) failure of their government/financial system.

The turnip will eventually be bled dry. We're reaching the point where the productive segment of our society can't (or won't) support the unproductive segment. If there ever are large, wide-spread riots, this fact will certainly play into them.

Freedom and government are mutually incompatible.

Yeap. But so many people on both the right and the left think that the answer to this problem is to elect the right politicians. They don't realize that the only real solution is to have less government ("laws"), regardless of who is in power.

[Daniel]

This recession was designed, engineered and built by democrats - socialists. The housing market bubble? It was inflated by Clinton, Obama, and Frank.

Explain this one to me pls.

[Oh Shoot]

While I may disagree with some of the premises of the essay, I think the probable predictions are valid.

The 1000 lb gorilla nobody will talk about is simple global overpopulation. Nobody addresses it because there's really nothing that can be done to stem it.

Anyway, when the inevitable crash begins in earnest, it's certainly reasonable to assume that our government will become MUCH more repressive trying to stem the resultant social chaos. I dare say there are government sponsored think tanks that already have postulated courses of action that would amaze (and sicken) us all.

The economic downturn we see now may or may not be the beginning of the Big Crash. But I'd venture that when it does occur, its beginnings will look very similar to what we are presently observing.

- OS

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

Explain this one to me pls.

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_11631591

This is nothing but extortion. The collectivists have created a situation where it's being presented to the country that the "only good option" is to allow the government to dramatically expand it's interference in our liberty, and to enslave us with astronomical debt. This was all created by the political left.

[Mark@Sea]

Daniel;

Community Reinvestment Act, A Carter era time-bomb. Clinton lit the fuse.

http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_1_the_trillion_dollar.html

Obama was a lawyer for (wait for it).... ACORN, which filed suit against banks it felt were 'redlining' (refusing to provide enough hi-risk mortgages) in 'certain' communities. You might say that they tossed the bomb at the banks.

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI=

Barney Franks' boyfriend cooked the books at Fanny Mae while Barney pushed to allow Fanny Mae to take on more and higher risk mortgages. Fanny and Freddy provided banks with a buyer for really, really risky notes, then turned around and sold those notes to investors as grade-A risks. When Republican senators wanted to audit/regulate the mess, Franks and other Dem's screamed racism and fought it tooth and nail. You might say that he kept the Republican bomb squad out of the building until it was too late.

http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080924145932.aspx

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122091796187012529.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The meltdown on Wall Street was triggered by the bursting of the housing bubble, which caused a lot of that 'grade-A' paper to be de-rated. QED.

OhShoot, I remember reading, in the early '70's, about the horrible dangers that overpopulation posed. By now we were all supposed to be using oxygen masks to breathe, amid the polluted desert wasteland that would occur. It worried me greatly for years, and thus I find it annoying now. I note 2 pertinent facts - the green party, sierra club, San Francisco genius that published this crap later had better than half a dozen kids, and the terminal population limit his 'proven theory' posited was passed in the early '80's.

Where the theory really falls apart is so simple, some people seem to miss it. Humans are not lemmings. We are capable of adjusting our environment. Today, in this country, we over-produce to such an extent that farmers are paid not to grow food, and Mickey D's finds it economical to pre-cook that Quarter Pounder, and toss it out if it isn't sold in an hour or three.

Energy is our Achilles' Heel. Thankfully, we have plenty of coal, and there is always nuclear power.

Edited February 6, 2009 by Mark@Sea

[NuTcAsE]

People are still eating and programs are in place to ensure that they will continue to eat. When masses of people start starving (not just being hungry for more food) but starving, then we will have riots.

The American Market is a voracious animal that needs profit to feed. It will survive and continue to feed by forming a market (with jobs and paychecks, it must have consumers) that can survive and profit. It doesn't matter who is President, the Market is going to survive and the American public's well being is tied to that market, so they will survive too.

You cannot equate anything that happens outside the United States to what happens inside the United States. We are not the same as other countries and we never will be!

We are well on our way......

[FUJIMO]

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_11631591

This is nothing but extortion. The collectivists have created a situation where it's being presented to the country that the "only good option" is to allow the government to dramatically expand it's interference in our liberty, and to enslave us with astronomical debt. This was all created by the political left.

saw it coming years ago. No one, not even the wife, believed me.. I was in construction and saw people moving into subdivisons that were way way way out of their range. When joe & sally welfare/ssi check drive their 76' chevette up to a $300,000 townhouse with their 9 mixed kids, mobile meth lab, plastic swimming pool,and trash bad relatives, something is fishy.

I didn't read the link above, but I surmise it has something to do with barney "suckmesideways" frank and the rest of the left libs making sure banks gave loans to people who couldn't afford them while assuring them the govt. "had their backs" . A pure and simple recipe for chaos, which the media inflated, and a great deal of sheep believed it was ALL THE BAD MEN AT THE BANKS FAULT !!! Not to say they didn't take advantage of it, but when someone assures you of something, you expect everything to be alright. Little did they know, the honest lenders that is (if there are any), that big brother govt. was just setting them up for ultimate failure.

I'd like someone to tell me how someone drawing welfare or ssi should even have the privilege to go get a loan on ANY home or vehicle that is way beyond what they could EVER afford. Even if you took all the checks they will get for the rest of their worthless lives and added them up and it still doesn't pay the interest on some of the homes they were allowed to buy.

I know it just doesn't apply to welfaree's, but I've said many times before on here, and many of you know it, welfare is where we should start giving giant enema's. Like tenncare, only go about it a little different. talk about creating jobs.And I know just how to do it.

First take hard working people who have been laid off or lost their job due to the libs selling off the country. Give them a camera, address's to people drawing welfare or "disability", and then get ready to start chopping away. Hell, I can give you 12 that I know of right now to start with. And put people that will take action on what they see on the film, not shrug it off like those ass clowns we have in there now.

[ukerduker]

saw it coming years ago. No one, not even the wife, believed me.. I was in construction and saw people moving into subdivisons that were way way way out of their range. When joe & sally welfare/ssi check drive their 76' chevette up to a $300,000 townhouse with their 9 mixed kids, mobile meth lab, plastic swimming pool,and trash bad relatives, something is fishy.

I didn't read the link above, but I surmise it has something to do with barney "suckmesideways" frank and the rest of the left libs making sure banks gave loans to people who couldn't afford them while assuring them the govt. "had their backs" . A pure and simple recipe for chaos, which the media inflated, and a great deal of sheep believed it was ALL THE BAD MEN AT THE BANKS FAULT !!! Not to say they didn't take advantage of it, but when someone assures you of something, you expect everything to be alright. Little did they know, the honest lenders that is (if there are any), that big brother govt. was just setting them up for ultimate failure.

I'd like someone to tell me how someone drawing welfare or ssi should even have the privilege to go get a loan on ANY home or vehicle that is way beyond what they could EVER afford. Even if you took all the checks they will get for the rest of their worthless lives and added them up and it still doesn't pay the interest on some of the homes they were allowed to buy.

I know it just doesn't apply to welfaree's, but I've said many times before on here, and many of you know it, welfare is where we should start giving giant enema's. Like tenncare, only go about it a little different. talk about creating jobs.And I know just how to do it.

First take hard working people who have been laid off or lost their job due to the libs selling off the country. Give them a camera, address's to people drawing welfare or "disability", and then get ready to start chopping away. Hell, I can give you 12 that I know of right now to start with. And put people that will take action on what they see on the film, not shrug it off like those ass clowns we have in there now.

Let's do this....

WE THE PEOPLE serve Frank, Schumer, and Dodd with a bill that covers the amount of the housing disaster. We liquidate everything they own or have a stake in. We them proceed to find any other associates involved with this housing nightmare. We then move to Carter, Clinton, and any other person who promoted these immoral housing practices. After rounding these individuals up, we charge them with crimes against the constitution and send them to Arizona so Joe Arpairo(sp) can put them in pink jumpsuits and live in tents.

[FUJIMO]

Let's do this....

WE THE PEOPLE serve Frank, Schumer, and Dodd with a bill that covers the amount of the housing disaster. We liquidate everything they own or have a stake in. We them proceed to find any other associates involved with this housing nightmare. We then move to Carter, Clinton, and any other person who promoted these immoral housing practices. After rounding these individuals up, we charge them with crimes against the constitution and send them to Arizona so Joe Arpairo(sp) can put them in pink jumpsuits and live in tents.

Better yet, since they are sooooooooo damn good at helping people, let's move all the jackasses you mentioned above to iraq to help them and there govt. "rebuild" iraq. give them one set of clothes, 2 sticks, a can of vienna sausages, and a hostess apple pie (after all apple pie is as american as you can get ). And kick their asses out of a plane over baghdad, parachutes optional. And not to worry barney, they'll treat you to all the "man loving" you can handle. How do broomsticks suit you ??

[Oh Shoot]

...

OhShoot, I remember reading, in the early '70's, about the horrible dangers that overpopulation posed. By now we were all supposed to be using oxygen masks to breathe, amid the polluted desert wasteland that would occur. It worried me greatly for years, and thus I find it annoying now. I note 2 pertinent facts - the green party, sierra club, San Francisco genius that published this crap later had better than half a dozen kids, and the terminal population limit his 'proven theory' posited was passed in the early '80's.

Where the theory really falls apart is so simple, some people seem to miss it. Humans are not lemmings. We are capable of adjusting our environment. Today, in this country, we over-produce to such an extent that farmers are paid not to grow food, and Mickey D's finds it economical to pre-cook that Quarter Pounder, and toss it out if it isn't sold in an hour or three.

Energy is our Achilles' Heel. Thankfully, we have plenty of coal, and there is always nuclear power.

Much more complicated matter than x amount of food for x number of people world wide, or x square feet per x number of people, etc - and the

various poisons in consumable substances is a negligible killer (large in numbers, but small in percentage).

Has more to do with overall environmental footprint of all planetary resources used per person, and of course, the disproportionately heavy footprint of those in US and other "industrialized" nations.

By defining the problem as "environmental", which it ultimately is, I don't mean that supplies of food, water, air, even fuel, etc. will be insufficient anytime soon - rather, that diminishing earth resources means most everything becomes drastically more costly.

Advanced technology has translated into fewer workers necessary to produce more, and with those unneeded workers now not able to purchase the products. Humans are thus devalued as both producers and consumers.

It's one thing to overdrive one specific part of the ecosystem so that the rich only can afford it, but when you overdrive all parts, and the "rich" become fewer, thus does the planet shrug enough fleas off for comfort balance.

Certainly, another depression here would significantly lower our population in a way undreamt of in the 30's, for far too many reasons to go into here. And of course that would be pretty much a world wide depression. If it's bad enough for social services to significantly break down, then you get the biblical Bad Things.

All spoken of as "economic", but at root, "environmental" causation.

Of course a debate about nomenclature will be pretty far down anyone's list of priorities.

- OS

[Guest SUNTZU]

Socialism in this country dates from the '20's. In the 30's, FDR turned a 'burst bubble' on Wall Street (and it needed to burst!) into a long term depression through instituting socialist policies, and used it to fuel his successful attack on the Constitution and Supreme Court. Obama is trying to do the same thing with the economic stimulus package and its' incredible growth of socialist goals.

This recession was designed, engineered and built by democrats - socialists. The housing market bubble? It was inflated by Clinton, Obama, and Frank.

I won't say that their goal was to recreate the conditions of the '30's, perhaps it was simple greed and blind stupidity.

The riots the writer mentioned are rooted in either islam, or socialist 'proles' unable to deal with the (inevitable) failure of their government/financial system. Riots based on islam in this country (riots, as opposed to protests) would be brief, violent, and entertaining - for us. The financial bedrock of this country isn't government - yet, although Obama is trying hard to make it so. If the recession is allowed to take its' natural course, we will recover in 3 to 5 years. If this bailout (don't kid yourself, if this one goes through there will inevitably be more) is passed, within 10 years our GDP will drop drastically, and our standard of living will drop. That happens to be the opinion of the Congressional Budget Office, by the way... Government crowds out free enterprise and capitalism...

Freedom and government are mutually incompatible. It is tolerable - if kept on a short leash. The bailout isn't (yet) a done deal, and the writer is simply encouraging an atmosphere of panic, attempting to convince us to drop that leash.

"Thus a wise prince will think of ways to keep his citizens of every sort and under every circumstance dependent on the state and on him; and then they will always be trustworthy." - Niccolo Machiavelli

Right from the playbook.

[Guest jackdog]

isn't that the truth Tungsten!

unfortunately many folks tend to see a division of left vs. right.

me? I'm beginning more and more to see it as a difference between GOVT. and CITIZEN.

unless they're absolutely nuts and refuse to come to some sort of concession, there aren't any problems we as citizens can't work through or come to some sort of compromise on.

unfortunately, our government wants to take that away from us...the ability to compromise amongst ourselves, by subscribing to the idea that socialism is the cure for all our woes...and worse yet, they won't concede..

case in point: blagobiotch, up in IL....now here's a politician who refuses to give up even when he's caught...and sadly, it's a trend that many politicians are starting.

Well welcome aboard tower.