The New American Idiot

[mikkel_the_dane]

I know, but it can also lead to problems when people are trying to come together and organize for a common cause. It might mean having to subordinate one's individuality in order to be a part of a cause greater than oneself.

Yes, but I can do that if I have/want to. I used to be a professional soldier and then a civil servant. I can do something greater than myself.

 

[Stevicus]

Why do you think that is?

I'm not entirely sure where it comes from, but it seems to be a powerful motivator when drumming up support for war or similar activities. In the 19th century, there was a fear of Native American attacks which led to people supporting aggressive policies in order to reduce those fears. Even popular folklore about the West told such a one-sided story that the fear still existed through much of the 20th century.

The same kind of thinking dominated the thought processes of those who wanted to maintain slavery. Most people had no personal financial stake in the institution of slavery, but they resisted the idea of freeing the slaves largely out of fear. Thomas Jefferson compared it to holding "a wolf by the ears."

Fear was really the underlying motivator, at least in terms of playing on the fears of the masses, while the ruling class was probably more focused on greed and how much money they were making. Although that, in and of itself, leads to the fear that they may someday lose their wealth and property (or they might have to pay taxes on it).

The same basic theme of fear continued on into the 20th century when America's outlook turned more global. America had a somewhat contradictory attitude regarding immigrants. America was rapidly industrializing and needed workers, so we needed immigrants, yet there was still a fear of them just the same. Xenophobia in America had taken a strange turn, which led to attitudes such as that of Henry Ford who wanted immigrants to assimilate.

As long as they learned English, dressed like us, acted like us, and got rid of those foreign-sounding names, then they could be "just like us." They also demanded absolute loyalty and patriotism for America, so as to allay certain fears of anyone who may be "different" or possibly a "threat" to our way of life. This fear also was prevalent, and it led to some of my ancestors changing their names and becoming very staunch American patriots.

Then there were ideological threats, global threats, such as fear of anarchists, communists, nationalists/fascists from other nations (although that undoubtedly fed the US-based nationalism which had developed). We've had various "red scares" in this country, and then there was the World Wars which also changed our outlook, but the underlying fear was always there.

But the fear of foreign attack was always more of a latent one, mainly due to our two-ocean buffer and the idea that there would be enough time to build and set up our defenses. Technology changed that, especially with the advent of atomic weapons. People were convinced that in future wars, there wouldn't be time to prepare (and the lesson of WW2 was that it wouldn't have been nearly as bad if we had been better prepared).

The Cold War and the increasing fear of nuclear war also may have led to a certain mental "short circuit" of sorts. Materially and economically, people were doing much better than during the Depression or earlier periods in history, yet there was still a great deal of angst and fear which hung over the culture like some kind of pall. This has continued even though the Cold War ended, yet there's still international tension, xenophobia, and the fear that America will never be great again.

 

[Stevicus]

Yes, but I can do that if I have/want to. I used to be a professional soldier and then a civil servant. I can do something greater than myself.

I see what you're saying, although there are a lot of people who can't.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Partly because of the way the Senate disproportionally represents the sparsely populated state - mostly conservative voting - which accounts for the Senate's current majority and Trump escaping conviction on his impeachment. Look at the states in beige below.

Too bad the Senate wasn't representative of the American people, but rather, of the American states, which are the citizens there. In this way, a Republcan-voting state of 1 million wields as much weight in the Senate as California, and so, even if the idiocy is limited to 35-40% of the people, Trump's usual approval rating, that minority wags the dog in the Senate.

Throw in the election tampering, which is virtual all liberal disenfranchisement (voter roll purging, throwing votes away, blocking the ability of Democrat-leaning to get to a voting booth, Russian election meddling), and liberals are simply not equally represented.

Too bad for America. Morons and their choice ran the COVID pandemic when it needed an Obama, Hillary, or Biden.

Why would a liberal want to participate in such a system (why would a conservative for that matter, but you'd have to ask them)? Forget what a bad value being an America is however you vote.

Here's a nice article comparing the COVID benefits citizens of other countries are receiving: How government COVID-19 cash handouts compare around the world | lovemoney.com

American citizens fare very poorly in this comparison, but that is to be expected in a country with America's intense hatred of government support for its citizens. Fine. Do without. Idiotic, yes, but that's America, as the OP's article asserts.

For the liberal American, it's even worse a deal. He or she contributed just as much to wealth-shifting shenanigans that took billions of dollars in taxes and gave them to those not needing them even as ordinary Americans see their small businesses failing and their jobs vanishing. That's fine for the conservative voters and tax payers, since this is what they voted for whether they know it or not. They voted for the incompetent (if not also malevolent) leadership that led to a runaway pandemic in America.

We opted out eleven years ago when we retired and moved to a mountain lake in Mexico. People don't hate one another here. Religion is not toxic here. Nobody is attacking protesters. No Columbines. We still had an incompetent government response to the pandemic, and the government has less to offer its citizens, but we're not citizens, nor paying taxes through the nose for so little back.

My just wife reordered her estrogen supplements. The patches she likes are no longer available, so she looked into having her medication shipped from the States to Mexico. The patches are scarce there as well, so she settled on returning to the pills, which cost us about $20/mo here, but she could have imported them for $190/mo, and would need a doctor's visit and prescription. Here, it's over-the-counter.

America is the country that the Fox viewers in the flyover states want. They can have my share of America. And yes, there will likely be a blue wave in 2020 as occurred in 2008 after eight years of Bush, but we saw how quickly the American voter forgot all of that and eight years later, brought the Republicans back. Idiot nation.

You'll see the same thing play out again, as the Democrats take the White House (if the election isn't too dishonest) and Senate back and begin repairing the damage done by this Republican government, only to have the idiots forget again and begin voting for Republicans again. Bank on it.

Fox will convince much of America that Biden is as unfit as it did Hillary, and we'll here the same old mantra about how they simply couldn't vote for Biden for a another handful of irrelevant reasons, and elect another monster.

How prophetic is this, just as relevant now as in 2000? :

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." - H.L. Mencken

I read Americans regularly discussing how to restore America, but I don't see it happening in our lifetimes. Some homes just can't be salvaged. One must move out and seek another home, or level the structure and rebuild from the ground up. Personally, I wasn't interested in fighting that fight for a nation that has betrayed my (and its) core values, one whose government views its citizens as capital to be exploited for profit. Let Grammy die if need be to protect estates like Trump's from financial loss. Let junior die or spread disease to his whole family if that serves corporate America's needs. They're all expendable.

Sorry, but I won't support such a nation in any way. Nor do I want to live with its conservatives, much less patronize their businesses. I have referred to the metaphor of the demented brother to illustrate living with people who vote for Republicans. The left being in league with the right is like two brothers, one demented, inheriting a business, with both partners having equal access to bank accounts, setting policy, and signing contracts.

The idiot brother hires George Bush to manage the business for years, leading to tremendous damage to the enterprise. Then the other brother has him replaced with a competent business manager or accountant or whatever, who restores financial solvency somewhat, only to find the the demented brother has fired him and hired another incompetent, this time also a crook with a four year contract, who destroys the business further.

You don't want to be partnered with such a person (I sure didn't), and there's no fixing this problem except to walk away from it and seek greener pastures.

Sorry, Republican voters, but this is how I feel about you. What are you thinking? Doesn't matter any more.

Now compare electoral votes and Representatives to the House. California is number one.

 

[metis]

Not all.
My beliefs are right for me

I never meant all nor even most-- just too many.

 

[metis]

What's wrong with being entertained? I've done enough studying for 15 years in school. What's wrong with taking a little break? I still educate myself a little bit though. And besides a lot of people say half the stuff you learn in school is garbage anyway. I don't say that however

There's nothing wrong intrinsically with being entertained, however if one let's the crave for entertainment crowds out other needed obligations, there's a problem. For example, in college, how many end up flunking out because they're heavy into partying? How many Americans are partying now in large groups with the virus going around?

It's stuff like the above that I'm referring to. It's their choice, but some choices can be quite destructive to one's self and to others.

 

[Jimmy]

I never meant all nor even most-- just too many.

Well there would still be a lot bad people unfortunately without religion or ideology. It could even be worse

 

[Tambourine]

I feel like this paints a picture of European countries that is far rosier than the harsh reality.

 

[Babygirl2010]

Don't worry, Mr. Thighland will make this a great country again