There ARE honest people on the Left.

[dblack]

The same way Republicans treated Cheney.

Yup. The real enemies are the partisans - from both sides.

 

[Doug1943]

That's a fair assessment. What has happened to the US moving away from democratic principles has also happened to virtually every such nation in the history of mankind. Though the time frame may vary, basically we follow the trajectory of Rome, the British Empire and so many others. C'est la vie.

Well ... we need to explain why these entities fell. When there are cycles in nature, we seek an explanation, causes. The big cycle -- the seasons -- is due to the tilt of the earth's axis as we orbit the sun. Comets return periodically because they're orbiting the sun. There are evolutionary explanations for the 17-year cicada cycle.

But I have never seen a plausible explanation for the decline and fall of whole societies. There are some -- generations going soft, for example, due to success. But that seems too general to me. On the other hand, I haven't read a hell of a lot about it.

The question is: can we salvage something from the wreckage? Of course, this depends on exactly what form the 'wreck' will take and what the wreckage will consist of. No one knows that. This is especially so given the unique qualities of the US: its immense wealth, its military dominance around the world (contracting rapidly of course).

What we do know are eternal truths: Bismarck's observation that all the great questions of mankind are settled by blood and iron. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. ('It' being the means of sustenance if the supply chain/network collapses, a 20-round cordless drill -- plus being part of an organization of like-minded people. Like these folks: https://YCPT.org

 

[Doug1943]

Yup. The real enemies are the partisans - from both sides.

Partisanship is a reflex on both sides, and just reflects the reality of what's happening. Each side sees the other as enemies of what it holds dear. And both sides are right. There is no getting around this fact.

 

[leftwinger]

The overwhelming majority of Zoomers are also pulling the D lever. If Rs want to save the party, they need to stop looking to the past and find out why their future looks so bleak.

ridiculous to know. With 30million bogus ballots in 2020. you have no idea what any group is voting for.

 

[konradv]

ridiculous to know. With 30million bogus ballots in 2020. you have no idea what any group is voting for.

So you’re saying Trump only got 44M votes!

 

[dblack]

Partisanship is a reflex on both sides, and just reflects the reality of what's happening.

No. It reflects the "reality" of the two-party death spiral. But it's not how people really are. It's mostly artificial and creates animosity that doesn't need to exist. But it does exist, because the partisans benefit from keeping people scared and angry. We need to tell them to get lost.

 

[Doug1943]

No. It reflects the "reality" of the two-party death spiral. But it's not how people really are. It's mostly artificial and creates animosity that doesn't need to exist. But it does exist, because the partisans benefit from keeping people scared and angry. We need to tell them to get lost.

You're not wrong about there being people who benefit from there being a high level of animosity betwen the two camps in America today, the pro-Americans and the anti-Americans.

The Right in particular is preyed upon by a whole zoo of grifters who care nothing about the truth, or about saving the country, but who exist only to make money from the people they peddle their nonsense to. Alex Jones is the most prominent of them.

On the Left, it's the Black community who suffer most from hustlers whose living depends on keeping their base angry.

But then you have to ask: why now? What's different? What has changed since, say, 1970 and today? I can promise you that then, the US was deeply divided, mainly by the Vietnam war. People even talked about 'revolution' and 'civil war'. The Left loathed Richard Nixon (not without reason), and spouted the usual horseshit about 'fascism', burned flags ... and some of them even began planting bombs.

What has changed?

I won't answer my own question. Perhaps others have some ideas. Because we definitely have changed.