Political/economic time
Aug. 8th, 2010 10:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdSome years ago, I wrote this
Once there was a republic that became an oligarchy. It held to some liberal notions (we can't let people starve in the streets) and some conservative (bigger is better). The power became concetrated in the hands of the most-wealthy folks, and the average small-holder was crowded out by cheap labor on factory farms. Slave labor replaced middle-class craftsmen, creating huge unemployment.
The Real Powers began selecting the rulers, placing and deposing at will, and selling off the public assets to create money. They fiddled with the currency. They farmed out the public portion of the social contract to private for-profit contractors.
External enemies mounted a devestating attack, and the people fought a series of economically ruinous wars. A plague from the east wreaked havoc on the poorest folk. Entertainment was very violent and highly sexualized. Athletic competitions were routinely rigged.
As life in the cities became untenable, many fled to the countryside.
The problem is, today there is no countryside.
Today's article from Glen Greenwald in Salon just solidified my idea that we are indeed living in the end of the American Empire.
High/low points of the article for those who want the short form are under the cut
reports are emerging of the Deficit Commission hard at work planning how to cut Social Security, Medicare, and now even to freeze military pay.
Hawaii...furloughed its schoolchildren. Public schools across the state closed on 17 Fridays during the past school year to save money, giving students the shortest academic year in the nation.
Clayton County, Ga....shut down its entire public bus system. Its last buses ran on March 31, stranding 8,400 daily riders.
Colorado Springs switched off a third of its 24,512 streetlights to save money on electricity, while trimming its police force and auctioning off its police helicopters.
...paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue."
Utah is seriously considering eliminating the 12th grade, or making it optional.
And it was announced this week that "Camden [New Jersey] is preparing to permanently shut its library system by the end of the year, potentially leaving residents of the impoverished city among the few in the United States unable to borrow a library book free."
(His citations include the Wall Street Journal and other primary sources)
Add in the fact that Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) is pushing a "deficit reduction plan" that calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. But, he doesn't account for the lost tax revenue. It wil leave the deficit exactly where it would be without the spending cuts, and give the richest 1% of the population 117% of the plans total cuts. Not a type. Go read Paul Krugman for yourself. Basically, we're taking bread from the mouths of old people and children, duly earned pay from those who protect us and dumping it into the already deep pockets of the top 1%.
The fourteen warning signs of fascism are as applicable now as they were when I first encountered them in 2003. In a world where unabashed theocrats and secessionist are running for high office, they may even be more applicable.
Living through the end of an empire is interesting, but it will not be comfortable.
Once there was a republic that became an oligarchy. It held to some liberal notions (we can't let people starve in the streets) and some conservative (bigger is better). The power became concetrated in the hands of the most-wealthy folks, and the average small-holder was crowded out by cheap labor on factory farms. Slave labor replaced middle-class craftsmen, creating huge unemployment.
The Real Powers began selecting the rulers, placing and deposing at will, and selling off the public assets to create money. They fiddled with the currency. They farmed out the public portion of the social contract to private for-profit contractors.
External enemies mounted a devestating attack, and the people fought a series of economically ruinous wars. A plague from the east wreaked havoc on the poorest folk. Entertainment was very violent and highly sexualized. Athletic competitions were routinely rigged.
As life in the cities became untenable, many fled to the countryside.
The problem is, today there is no countryside.
Today's article from Glen Greenwald in Salon just solidified my idea that we are indeed living in the end of the American Empire.
High/low points of the article for those who want the short form are under the cut
reports are emerging of the Deficit Commission hard at work planning how to cut Social Security, Medicare, and now even to freeze military pay.
Hawaii...furloughed its schoolchildren. Public schools across the state closed on 17 Fridays during the past school year to save money, giving students the shortest academic year in the nation.
Clayton County, Ga....shut down its entire public bus system. Its last buses ran on March 31, stranding 8,400 daily riders.
Colorado Springs switched off a third of its 24,512 streetlights to save money on electricity, while trimming its police force and auctioning off its police helicopters.
...paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue."
Utah is seriously considering eliminating the 12th grade, or making it optional.
And it was announced this week that "Camden [New Jersey] is preparing to permanently shut its library system by the end of the year, potentially leaving residents of the impoverished city among the few in the United States unable to borrow a library book free."
(His citations include the Wall Street Journal and other primary sources)
Add in the fact that Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) is pushing a "deficit reduction plan" that calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. But, he doesn't account for the lost tax revenue. It wil leave the deficit exactly where it would be without the spending cuts, and give the richest 1% of the population 117% of the plans total cuts. Not a type. Go read Paul Krugman for yourself. Basically, we're taking bread from the mouths of old people and children, duly earned pay from those who protect us and dumping it into the already deep pockets of the top 1%.
The fourteen warning signs of fascism are as applicable now as they were when I first encountered them in 2003. In a world where unabashed theocrats and secessionist are running for high office, they may even be more applicable.
Living through the end of an empire is interesting, but it will not be comfortable.
