No money for Unemployment Comp or Food Stamps, but Plenty for Bombs and War

[Thumpalumpacus]

[...]

held my nose and voted for the lesser of major evils

[...]

Vote, run for office if you like, I might even admire you for doing so. But this nation is far past fixing, way too ill to recover.

Nothing personal, but I think there might be a connection right there.

Nothing in this country will change until voters quit thinking that there are only two parties. There are options. It's not a horse race, you don't win a jackpot for picking the winner.

[tjakey]

[...]

held my nose and voted for the lesser of major evils

[...]

Vote, run for office if you like, I might even admire you for doing so. But this nation is far past fixing, way too ill to recover.

Nothing personal, but I think there might be a connection right there.

Nothing in this country will change until voters quit thinking that there are only two parties. There are options. It's not a horse race, you don't win a jackpot for picking the winner.

Mm, I didn't say "lesser of two evils". I don't actually think there are only two parties in the US, I think there is only one. Republicans and Democrats are both pro-war, both wedded to crony capitalism and the money the robber barons shovel into political campaigns. Nearly everyone holding a national political office is at least a millionaire several times over. Their first priority is to protect their own economic interests, particularly when they leave office and pick a revolving door to Wall Street, Mega Corporate America, or Think Tank funded by Mega Corporate America. No one who is a serious threat to the military / corporate / religious junta will ever be allowed on a ballot. (Which means alternate party options really aren't options. Voting for one may make you feel all dressed up in democracy, but it will not keep the cold wind of a thoroughly corrupted system from freezing your ass.)

You are right, it isn't a horse race. But it is a race already rigged. The jackpot was divided up long ago, and the American people didn't get any of it.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Nothing personal, but I think there might be a connection right there.

Nothing in this country will change until voters quit thinking that there are only two parties. There are options. It's not a horse race, you don't win a jackpot for picking the winner.

Mm, I didn't say "lesser of two evils". I don't actually think there are only two parties in the US, I think there is only one. Republicans and Democrats are both pro-war, both wedded to crony capitalism and the money the robber barons shovel into political campaigns. Nearly everyone holding a national political office is at least a millionaire several times over. Their first priority is to protect their own economic interests, particularly when they leave office and pick a revolving door to Wall Street, Mega Corporate America, or Think Tank funded by Mega Corporate America. No one who is a serious threat to the military / corporate / religious junta will ever be allowed on a ballot. (Which means alternate party options really aren't options. Voting for one may make you feel all dressed up in democracy, but it will not keep the cold wind of a thoroughly corrupted system from freezing your ass.)

You are right, it isn't a horse race. But it is a race already rigged. The jackpot was divided up long ago, and the American people didn't get any of it.

While I agree that the major parties are virtually indistinguishable, the fact remains that there are several minor parties that could be viable alternatives to the two "major evils".

So far as alternative parties being a realistic alternative, of course they're not, right now ... nor will they ever be if your example is followed. It may work, it may not, but if we simply hold our noses and vote for the lesser of the "major evils", or worse yet, abstain, then we'll never know, will we?

That was my point.

[tjakey]

While I agree that the major parties are virtually indistinguishable, the fact remains that there are several minor parties that could be viable alternatives to the two "major evils".

So far as alternative parties being a realistic alternative, of course they're not, right now ... nor will they ever be if your example is followed. It may work, it may not, but if we simply hold our noses and vote for the lesser of the "major evils", or worse yet, abstain, then we'll never know, will we?

That was my point.

I hope your point is valid, and I am eventually proved wrong. But my view is that democracy in America is an illusion. There will never be a viable alternative to the major evils until this current junta is removed from power. And it cannot be removed though a democratic process that does not exist. We can no more vote the Dem / Rep out of power than the Chinese can vote the Communist Party out of power.

Should they be removed from power by some other means, any new attempt at self-rule that does not drastically rewrite the Constitution and abandon a crony capitalism / consumerism economic model that is utterly untenable, will be an equal failure.

That was my point.

[Thumpalumpacus]

You may be right, but until the premise is questioned, it's veracity cannot be tested.

I think the rich will certainly use their money to buy whatever election they feel affects their interests. I'm not naive.

But I also think that they cannot do so obviously, for fear of allowing the electorate a peek behind the curtain, which means that mounting pressure from the electorate can, and should, be felt. But only if the electorate accepts its responsibility[/i].

Whether that will happen, I'm unsure.

[The Grand Nudger]

The electorate is eagerly awaiting an invitation to the party behind the curtain. Step one, put an axe in the Horatio Alger mythos.

[Minimalist]

But I also think that they cannot do so obviously, for fear of allowing the electorate a peek behind the curtain

You're giving the electorate an awful lot of credit.

[Heywood]

We don't have the money for bombs either.....we have to borrow money to drop bombs/ make war.

[Anomalocaris]

If you are going to borrow money, at least invest the borrowings where they would earn a return, like infrastructure and education. Bombs for us have been pure consumption that have not earned us positive returns since around 1953.

[Heywood]

If you are going to borrow money, at least invest the borrowings where they would earn a return, like infrastructure and education. Bombs for us have been pure consumption that have not earned us positive returns since around 1953.

I think you are ignoring the seigniorage benefits bombs and the ability to make war give us. Without an arsenal the US would not be the issuer of the worlds reserve currency and I am sure you will agree seigniorage is a convenient source of revenue for us.