frustrated
my_partner_doug.) Being college-educated insulates them from the worst unemployment, as does living in or near Washington, D.C. Their personal comfort robs them of a sense of urgency, such as is felt by the many citizens struggling to keep their lights on. Also, when the wealthy 10% and the non-wealthy 90% differ on policy decisions, the wealthy opinion almost always prevails, based on observations of past results.This is a problem, because when the gap between rich and poor gets too wide, a society tears itself apart. History is quite clear on that point. Even before it gets that bad, social aspects break down, causing an increase in crime and other problems. So then, things that increase, or fail to alleviate, the widening income gap are actually un-American in that they reduce the chance of America surviving as a nation. It would be bitterly ironic if one of the world's greatest social experiments collapsed because people couldn't be bothered to give a rat's ass about each other. What war couldn't accomplish, greed and indifference very well might.
March 4 2011, 19:06:24 UTC 10 years ago
If everybody, or even most, were able to do things like generate their own power or grown their own food or make their own items then the isolation of those in power wouldn't be an issue. But the more those at the top can keep people dependent on them the more their own lives are secure.
While flat on my back recently I watched a good chunk of Babylon 5 again. And one of the things that struck me is a scene on Mars where Marcus and Franklin were riding in a tube with their resistance contact. They mention the war and their contact goes "What war?". I find, regularly, that people around me are _that_ isolated from the truth. Or even half the truth. We can't exist as a country that way.
If we are to dissolve into a vast pool of separate people and places I would dearly love to see it happen through groups of self sufficient people taking back their local governments and eventually the great government above gets bled dry. (That path would likely lead through civil war first but still...)
Oh and for kicks watch Babylon 5 again with an eye towards our existing world and national issues. You'll be surprised at how often there are correlations. It's eerily prescient for how old it is.
Thoughts
March 4 2011, 23:23:36 UTC 10 years ago
Actually, America used to be a country where most people were largely self-sufficient, especially on a clan or community level. They worked for themselves, mostly on farms or in small businesses. Now we are a nation of employees (or unemployees), increasingly routed into dead-end jobs that offer no chance to accrue lasting goods such as a house. People are so busy scrabbling to hold their place, they don't have time to learn or practice many of the skills that used to be ubiquitous. I view this as a serious problem.
>>I find, regularly, that people around me are _that_ isolated from the truth. Or even half the truth. We can't exist as a country that way.<<
I agree.
>>If we are to dissolve into a vast pool of separate people and places I would dearly love to see it happen through groups of self sufficient people taking back their local governments and eventually the great government above gets bled dry. (That path would likely lead through civil war first but still...)<<
I would like to see a re-establishment of local sufficiency because it a more robust and efficient system model. Needs should be met at the lowest practical level.
>>Oh and for kicks watch Babylon 5 again with an eye towards our existing world and national issues. You'll be surprised at how often there are correlations. It's eerily prescient for how old it is.<<
No. That sort of bullshit is why I am an EX-Babylon 5 fan. If I wanted to see people get fucked over, and walk away from the television angry and upset, I'd watch the news. I don't.