The Tenth Amendment says any powers not given specifically in the articles of the Constitution shall belong to the states or the people. 

The Supreme Court does not have authority “AGAINST” ruling by the states, if the states show a majority, they can, likely even do it individually, but it would only show protest, if you want real results, to net a new election and a valid president who actually DOES reflect the agenda for change at a credible level, for a budget in the black (meaning the current fiscal year, yes, Obama was upfront saying he knows the level of previous debt incurred in the red in the trillions, and YES, (we presumably would at a majority level say NO, if the public knew, they were not listening to his heinous agenda), he admitted upfront, that he wanted to increase the already trillions in red ink and blood deficit spending, again for the current year.  I KNOW OBAMA VOTERS AND CAMPAIGNERS DID NOT LISTEN TO HIS ACTION PLAN, AND IT IS SHAMEFUL OF THEM…THEY HEARD THE HYPE WORDS, HOPE, CHANGE, AND PEACE, AND INSISTED, “oh no, Obama wouldn’t do that!”  Oh yes, he said he wants to!  I heard him, and I am sure the Middle East heard him, and I am sure Pakistan does not want ‘unmanned planes’ targeting their border against supposed terrorists…Obama has said these things, vividly to the media, on videotape.  (Meet the Press exit interview by Tom Brokaw…Brokaw spoke to Obama as if it was not horrific, to me it certainly is very horrific, and to the “mainstream” public, I believe if a new election is demanded, and the challenge of challengers against two party incumbents were seen as should be for democracy, the truth of Obama certainly would be shown…hyped speech swaying listeners who do not listen, would be a very changed picture if the REAL DEBATE DUE were required by the people in 50 states.

Usurping the tyranny of the status quo, is what I am suggesting is the power of the Tenth Amendment, where a void of the votes due to lack of honest democracy due, could net the forced result,  by the people, of the people, and for the people, as required by the people!

Not the authority already shown in the U.S. Constitution.  Requiring the REAL DEBATE of SIX not TWO, would restore the informed voting result required where certainly if the people want incumbents out of office, the power of the people is there to claim, and the Tenth Amendment can force the public statement of democracy against incumbent tyranny forced by media,  but undoable in the 50 states, if the people want to, it is feasible, but the majority needs to do it. 

Look at the Tenth Amendment, and consider the reality of the constitution which says the votes are approved by the electoral college (in this case, they were the two incumbents, due to the media hype, and not the right state review for this action which I suggest can be done if the people want to, the state legislatures do the finally approval of the votes, and so, the Governor, Secretary of States Office and the legislatures in the 50 states could say, “void” result, certainly, using the power to declare a new election required for real democracy to happen.  (The media rule would be usurped by the people handily.  they would have to do it or go under.)

(I have been trying to get the public to realize the majority is not being represented currently, and, as a fan of Nader, he had every right to compete as a serious challenge, and the voter registration makes the entire picture of two party rule not sustainable, the numbers are non-partisan at a majority level.  24 states do not register party.  Of the 26 states which do, 21.3 million are NOT in the two parties, which are 62 million combined of 167 total million registered voters.)

We are not supposed to be stuck with red and blue states when we want change due for democracy to happen and people’s power to declare the government is for public interest not corruption!

http://www.MVToday.blogspot.com

It may be semi-ok in the long run, even if there is a very ugly Fascist phase. But that would depend on how bad the economy and social unrest gets. Wolin himself notes the widespread political passivity and lack of social unrest. The founders noted it back in 1776 when they wrote how “mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

History reveals about 40 big panics - crashes, all eventually, painfully recovered from. There are, of course, much more powerful steps that our government could take to thaw credit (if it wasn’t largely corrupted by Wall Street money.)

Bailed out banks are refusing to lend. The US can’t direct them to, having taken only nonvoting stock. Restore investor confidence with tough regulation, big fines and jail time. Amend the Federal Reserve Act to make the Fed a part of government. Monetize our national debt; issue government money, including enough to spend for infrastructure. Call all Treasury securities. Pay them off at accrued value (or retire them when due) by direct deposit and void them. Voila! No national debt!  Require 100% bank reserves with the Fed as lender of last resort, and cap interest rates. Inflationary? Not rationally, but money-created re-inflation now would be good! This threat would give uncooperative bankers a Come to Jesus Now scare, for it would take away their power to create money when making loans and to charge usurious interest. They’d start lending quickly.
  To understand this, see the 10 minute YouTube video “Zeitgeist Addendum: Modern Money Mechanics,” read “The American Monetary Act” on line, and the book “Web of Debt” by Ellen Brown, Chapters 37-47 passim.

re: elizabethe

Your call for the application of the tenth amendment, while noble, is cavalier at best. It should be remembered that Constitutional amendments and their interpretations reside with U.S. Supreme Court, an august body of very dubious distinction. A good example of their application of the 10th amendment was in 1942, in Wickard v. Filburn, where they ruled that the Federal government had the right to tell a wheat farmer what he could do with his crop, even though it was intended only for his own farms consumption. The Supreme Court ruled that Federal law applied because it might “effect interstate commerce ” of wheat.
Well guess what? This rational was applied 58 years later, when that same august body dismissed the lawsuit of a medical marijuana grower in California, Gonzales v. Raich, which stated that despite the claims of the grower of personal consumption, it could “effect the interstate commerce of marijuana”.
In fact that “interstate commerce” alibi has been used many times to deprive states and their citizens of their rights.

I do not see how anyone can call Obama “Well meaning” or “intelligent” - pre-election day all who “believed” a no experience, no accomplishments, incumbent choice ONLY allowed by the media, was “valid” and “well meaning” not a powermonger, should have checked his website, http://www.barackobama.com and scrutinized his agenda platforms, there was no use of taxes for the proper public interest services due, only pretenses of tax cuts while the private corporate sector gets his endorsement with your tax dollars, against the public interest, for their corrupt gain, and his military offensives stated unabashed…no healthcare was offered, a tax cut to buy the increased corrupt system with obvious rising prices foreseeable, but you do not need a crystal ball, all you had to do is listen to his action play, there was no hope, change or peace in view…hype of corrupt policies entirely…occupy Afghanistan, send in 90,000 troops?  This is “well meaning” and increase the trillions in debt military budget, already deficit unchecked spending approved by a corporate corrupt Congress who thinks they cannot say no to the ELECTED BY A MAJORITY president?  Authority given out the kazoo, and he means well, no, he “means it” - his nastiness and lack of integrity in the entire picture STATED CLEARLY…and yes, he is so enthusiastic about himself, everyone just claps…I do not.  I would love to see the Tenth Amendment invoked by the 50 states with public pressure by a public that finally wakes up to reality…he told the public he wanted to wage war and called it peace…in everyone’s face…I heard him, not because I like him, I hate him, he is audacity of the most horrific sort, just like Hillary Clinton.  Who knew?  The media for starters.  The greedy and powermongering party leaders, at the runner-up level.  Joe Biden, of course.  And, Sarah Palin, of course.  And, oh yes, the media wants her to be in the future picture.  The media is as corrupt as Obama - I believe has no match…the low level of stooping just as if it is not serious and just for fun without having to use taxes for proper use, oh well, who cared?  The outside challengers and those of us who voted for the real change due.  Ballot box power for real politics never mind the media corruption of saying we did this.  I did not.  I voted for the BEST of six, and if you do not know the majority could have, go figure why not.  I blame the two parties and the majority and know the media pointed the way, but should be robbed of their failure to inform by the people, use the Tenth Amendment and get the proper picture of incumbents who have to face candidates who are their real challenge for change.

Of course it’s not going to be okay. Duh! Why ever would you think it would? Obama is the Schmoo reincarnate. Remember? The Schmoo? No? Pity.

http://whatintheworld-icarus.blogspot.com/

why do you think they brought that battalion back from Iraq, assigned them here in case of nuclear attack or civil unrest?

Congress accepting (they’d have to vote against it) their $4700/per year raise AGAIN should be enough to bring some people to civil unrest.

With an estimated one hundred trillion in unpaid derivatives, economic bets that the market would fail, the American People should not be asked to pay off the unpaid derivative debts of banks.  Between the Fed and the Government eight trillion has already been spent to probably pay off the politically best connected and not to provide credit to the marketplace. What is being done with taxpayer money is a shimi and a sham.

Banks were selling derivatives well in excess of the value of their banks; and sometimes, multiple times the value of their banks.  The belief that somehow getting the banks lending again is going to somehow solve the derivatives mess is a smokescreen to buy time.  The question is how can those derivatives be wiped off the books without bankrupting the banks? 

So this is not really a mortgage crisis but instead a derivatives crisis.  Bad mortgages pale by comparison, yet our esteemed Congress is telling us this is a crisis mostly of “confidence.”  Bull shyt!
Hedges is if anything underestimating the reality we face.  Bush, Cheney, Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulsen, and an unending list of congressmen, bankers, and hedgefund investors are in effect the greatest economic criminals in the short history of America.  The bottom has fallen out and most of America is in denial.  It’s over.

To me, the important point is that all recognize that the current attitude of Obama and his Administration will be insufficient to solve our current Crisis.

Also, I think it is of equal or greater importance that those who have remained Awake & Aware in spite of the giant apparatus working to keep them Asleep & Programmable acknowledge the Truth that the World is now presenting to them.

Namely, that while the situation of today does not -of course- merely resemble a minor crisis of a generaly healthy system -even the still Dreaming can now see this- it also does not resemble the MAJOR crises of recent History.

We are in an era of epochal change.

Which should be of no surprise to those who are Awake & Aware. They at least should realize that one long Age of the World has now decisively ended, and another shall soon begin.

At such a point, Solutions must necessarily become very, very, deep indeed.

The logic and rationality of this is so apparent, so utterly obvious, that I doubt I need to explain it to anyone.

Oh Chris Hedges! How full of Doubt and Sadness you seem! How I wish I could speak with you! How I wish I could thus reassure you that what you see is but the failure of a Wicked System and the -inevitable- simultaneous failure of its Incompetent Opposition!

Totalitarianism? HA!

You wish me to fear Totalitarianism while the very foundation of Hierarchism itself is crumbling and fading away?

Oh Chris, you’ve GOT to take a break! Let go of yourself and your mental constructions of the World for a little while and take a moment to consider the contemplation of the Divine and the deep belief that has for so long motivated your advocacy of Truth!

Obama will not be sufficient because Politics itself is now no longer sufficient to address our Need.

A new Philosophy and a new Understanding are now required if the World as we Imagine It is to be truly reconciled with the World as It Is.

Of course the transition will be harsh.

Of course the fools will be deluded.

Of course the current powers will fight us.

Of course the future looks bleak.

Of course the path forward is treacherous and unsure.

But these are the features of epochal change. These are the problems that will be overcome. These are the struggles that the Struggle is struggling against.

These are NOT the causes for Fatalism or Depression!

These are the causes for Self-Determination and Community Action!

In the famous -if legendary- last words of the Wobblie Songmaster Joe Hill:

“Don’t waste time in Mourning. ORGANIZE!”

And please, Oh Ghost Voices of the Internets, do not bother asking what I suggest you -or we, or anybody- should do about all of this. For one, I will not answer -I do not speak with Ghosts only People. For two, while I may have some Ideas about what I and my small Community should do, what YOU and YOUR Communties do is NOT FOR ME TO DETERMINE.

The Age of Hierarchies is over.

The Age of Truth -and therefore Love, and therefore Cooperation, and therefore True Democracy- will soon begin.

The only advice I would give is this:

Prepare.

-matti.

What’s more, 401(k)s kept afloat by “profligate consumption” have been obliterated/liquidated. It’s going to get a lot worse when millions who were forced to participate in 401(k) scam (after pensions were withdrawn) enter upon old-age. Likes of which this country has never known before, after completion of redistribution of wealth (as David Cay Johnston noted on DN this morning) from bottom to top over the last few decades.

Hedges is right, “It’s Not Going to Be OK.” FDR’s promise was delivered up to so-called “greatest generation,” and to a few of the more aged Boomers (nee 1940-1945), those who got hold of and held dearly on to real estate before 1975. WWII generation supposedly learned as kids during Great Depression. But they forgot over time, not least as self-congratulation was bolstered by likes of Tom Brokaw. The same generation was terrified of communism and then by MLK. Few remember the reality. The so-called “greatest generation” turned out the most “selfish generation.” I think I noted before of how we were more right when radical hippies. But, we Boomers decided on same path as old folks, except with greater desperation. Height-Asbury bygone. We learned of real estate and then became liberals.

Obama has no plan to provide healthcare either, while his nominee spent today apologizing for tax evasion. One isn’t even allowed to die hereabouts, speaking of “totalitarianism.” As insurance-premium billions are spent to keep alive everlasting “greatest generation,” if only to breath a while longer. That none is allowed to die is upshot of absolute power heretofore unknown. We’re already there, Chris.

Limbaugh is latest manifestation of Coughlin, while Boomer liberal Olbermann futilely nips at cigar-chewer’s heels.  I’ve been getting a bitter laugh out of media’s carrying on over really mushy-sentimental Rush, including denials by all concerned of how the kid is head of that party, which in fact he is. For the simple reason that too many of us are or have become so simple-minded. Thanks not least to lack of what would be system of education that is really only system of indoctrination until college level at which point largely too late. Though college remains occasion on which radicalism might be indulged in ivory-tower fashion, not at all unlike indulging during flirtatious vacation that is Spring Break. Before reentering the real word of hard labor, whereupon childhood indoctrination returns to rule minds after those were playfully liberated over span of four years of college.

Wollin, per Hedges, reminds me of Marcuse, who foresaw over half a century ago—of how encouraging consumption (of all things long since reduced to commodities) serves as twisted form of liberation, which Marcuse theorized—in Freudian terms—as “repressive desublimation.” Marcuse too was disappeared, though he did account for what concerns Wollin-lack of social unrest. Name of the book is ONE-Dimensional Man, incapable of radical thought after reduction. Orwell was a little off. By now, no need for hall-monitor Big Brother, when we’re more than willing to self-monitor or simply don’t know enough that power need be concerned. Not even Obama seems to know of what Hedges writes of here, let alone Wollin, and Marcuse too long ago. Fromm too.

By now, to think, never mind to doubt, is regarded as passé pastime engaged in only by cranks. In the midst of a culture—also political—milieu best described by that other great philosopher, Cindy Lauper, who wrote of how “Girls (and boys too) Just Wanna Have Fun.” Something, apparently, all but the most thoughtful just wanna do right up until final thud.

If still in doubt, see Philip918 below for how thought is dismissed by those of lazy-thus most vulnerable to totalitarianism-mind. Totalitarianism is finally the absence of mind.

RE:MAINSTREET & NOWHERE, February 2 at 9:23

Love the handle, and love the post!! It’s a keeper.

It’s pretty much the same thing that Sheldon Wolin says in the work that Chris Hedges references, “Democracy Incorporated: The Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism.” I’ve been recommending it since Chalmers Johnson first reviewed it here on this site nearly a year ago.

I don’t think Chris Hedges is a crank, though he is a bit prone to the histrionics of some vague and unspecified neurosis. Still, he’s visionary enough. It’s just that he’s always kind of late getting to the vision, because he frequently gets side-tracked on paths to nowhere. (Like the big hero-worship of Ralph Nadar. Give us a flippin’ break!)

TO MAINSTREET AND NOWHERE—-I just read my previous
comment and realized I referred to you as “mainstream” instead of “mainstreet.”  Sorry, it
must have been a Freudian Slip!

To Mainstream and Nowhere——To your final question
“Why do people keep doing the wrong things at the
wrong time?”, I can only reply “IGNORANCE, MY FRIEND,
IGNORANCE, WITH A LITTLE COVETOUSNESS THROWN IN ON
THE SIDE!”

Excellent article.  We hardly ever hear from academia.  I can understand why.  Years ago(1976)
while teaching at a major university I went on a
local talk show to discuss “Why Wealthy People
Neglect Poor People?”  I was told the following day
my teaching contract would not be renewed.  After
that experience I could never locate another university teaching position.  That may be one of
the reasons we don’t hear much from academia.  Another is lack of a forum for expressing their
ideas.  I would write a book except it would be a
waste of time.  Nobody would publish it.  I’ve been
watching CNN lately.  What a waste of time listening
to the cororate puppets.  I hardly ever hear anyone
mention anything about the American jobs being
shipped overseas for slave labor.  Sweat shops in
China where young women slave 12 hours a day or more
for American businesses while making $64 dollars a month.  That’s exactly what I made when I enlisted
in the Air Force in 1958 but I did at least get a
place to sleep, food, and some clothing.  My heart
really goes out to high school graduates trying to
find a job in America.  Sorry kids, but big business
had to get rid of labor unions by going overseas.  If you don’t have a parent with influence it’s off
to the welfare lines for you.  I hate to sound so
gloomy. I have a niece who is in that position right
now.  She asked for $1,ooo before Christmas.  I sent
it to her.  Now, in less than 2 months, she is reluctantly asking for another $1,000.  I am presently in Florida to escape the harsh winters up
north.  I told her a couple of weeks ago She could
live in my house in Ohio for free.  Hopefully, she
can find a part-time job at WalMart to pay the
utilities.  Now, I am going to look for a small cheap house in a state where I don’t have to pay
state income taxes.  Perhaps, Florida.  I hate the
thought of Hurricanes.  I am right on the Atlantic
Ocean renting a trailer.  I have been studying the
Bible for nearly 32 years.  I know what it says about
the “waves roaring” in the last days, which I whole
heartedly believe we are in.  Look at people while
you are strolling through the mall.  Do they look
happy? I’m afraid not.  What ever happened to love?
I feel sorry for the children.

Troublesum is right.  The Sky isn’t falling, it has already fallen.  Obama is continuing the polices of Bush.  The American people just don’t realize it yet.

@KDelphi

I wouldn’t doubt it.  It’ll be a “modest proposal” to replenish the Social Security Trust Fund.

@Ed

You are right about politicians becoming obsessed with ideology.  Every time I see that bastard Mitch McConnell on TV blabbering his obstructionist talking points, I want to vomit.  Plain and simple, that man is EVIL.  He would rather die and take a roomful of people with him than put his ideology aside and try to work on legislation that would actually benefit the working class constituents in Kentucky.  The economy here in Kentucky was already behind the national average before the economic turmoil, and Mitch and his GOP cronies want to make sure that he runs the rest of us into the poor house.  I voted against him and tried to convince everyone I know to do the same.  If he runs for another term, I will be first in line to volunteer for his opponent and I will go door to door in my community to try to stop him from being re-elected I never, ever, ever thought that I would say these words:  He is worse than Bush.

cyrena,
My ilk are glad that you know Obama is not Godot.

The opinions of Sheldon Wolin and his ilk are right on target. Truthdig is available to anybody who has the address and a computer. How many people over 50 years of age have the computer skills to research all the web sites addressing our problems to form an analytical opinion based on fact.

I feel that I am not over dramatic when I say that we are in very parlous times.

The people who espouse the ranting and raving of the likes of Russ Limbaugh and Michael Savage on conservative radio and TV are some of the most dangerous types that challenge our from of representative government. I am not saying these insane political personalities should be banned from public communication, but should be held accountable and subject to debate on all forms of public communication.

It is easy to sit in your golf cart and debate the pros and cons of government and taxes, But when you are on a street corner looking for work and signed up with plenty of qualification for a job at your local employment office and you have to rely on public assistance to eat, then the subject of work is not academic exercise for you or your family.

Leonard Pitts, a columnist for the Miami Herald who I don’t agree with most
of the time, but got it right this time, says “I bet that will surprise
[Doug one of 2000 readers that fired off e-mails to Mr. Pitts] -  that
one’s first loyalty as an American is to party or ideology. So that you must
defend your guy [Limbaugh in this case] with mindless zeal even if he is
President God-awful and attract the other guy with mindless zeal is the
common denominator. What’s right, what’s wrong, what’s best for the country,
these things don’t even enter the equation.”

“Yes, we all have our politics, our prism, or pet narratives. Nothing wrong
with embracing an ideology that gives structure and order to you thinking.
But for too many of us, ideology become identify, becomes an intellectual
straightjacket, become an excuse not to think. Instead, they wallow in a lazy childishness such that questions involving the life and future of a
great nation are treated like stickball or tag.”

The opinions of Sheldon Wolin and his ilk are right on target.

Truthdig is available to anybody who has the address and a computer. How many people over 50 years of age have the computer skills to esearch all the web sites addressing our problems to form an analytical opinion based on fact.

I feel that I am not over dramatic when I say that we are in very parlous times.

The people who espouse the ranting and raving of the likes of Russ Limbaugh and Michael Savage on conservative radio and TV are some of the most dangerous types that challenge our from of representative government.

I am not saying these insane political personalities should be banned from public communication, but should be held accountable and subject to debate on all forms of public communication.

It is easy to sit in your golf cart and debate the pros and cons of government and taxes, But when you are on a street corner looking for work and signed up with plenty of qualification for a job at your local employment office and you have to rely on public assistance to eat, then the subject of work is not academic exercise for you or your family.

Leonard Pitts, a columnist for the Miami Herald who I don’t agree with most of the time, but got it right this time, says “I bet that will surprise [Doug one of 2000 readers that fired off e-mails to Mr. Pitts] -  that one’s first loyalty as an American is to party or ideology. So that you must defend your guy [Limbaugh in this case] with mindless zeal even if he is
President God-awful and attract the other guy with mindless zeal is the common denominator. What’s right, what’s wrong, what’s best for the country, these things don’t even enter the equation.”

“Yes, we all have our politics, our prism, or pet narratives. Nothing wrong with embracing an ideology that gives structure and order to you thinking.

But for too many of us, ideology become dentify, becomes an intellectual straightjacket, become an excuse not to think. Instead, they wallow in a lazy childishness such that questions nvolving the life and future of a great nation are reated like stickball or tag.”

Old Ed of the Delta

None of the major American corporations could survive long without the government.  They like to whine about taxation and regulation but they love the welfare benefits.

Troublesum writes:

“I was surprised to hear cyrena agree that things are not going to get better - “We knew it wasn’t going to be ok.”  I thought Obama was the answer to all our problems.  I mean, why the urgency to elect Obama if things aren’t going to get better??  What was that all about?”

~~~

You should NEVER be ‘surprised’ by anything from me troublesum, though I didn’t say that “THINGS” weren’t going to get better, because some “THINGS” probably will, and it’s all relative, and nothing that YOU are likely to recognize, because it’s too late for YOU and your ilk. That’s just the way it is.

As for electing Obama, did you have any better ideas at the time? If so, you’ve yet to ever convey one on this forum.

I’ve never expected Obama to bring back the dead, so if that’s what you think involves making “THINGS” better, then your perceptions and expectations are as off the mark and as far from reality as they’ve been since you started posting them. Such is life for the me-me-me, it’s all about me’s of the world.

No, what I knew was that Barark Obama was our best chance at a soft rather than totally devastating crash landing. I never expected him to save the whole thing, because it was far too late for that long ago. He’s just the best at what is now a matter of rescue and recovery, and the repugs are doing everything they can to keep even that from happening.

That TOO, was to be expected. Good thing we don’t need them or have to count on them to do anything more than stay the hell out of the way.

There ARE some lives that can still be saved, and hopefully a new foundation provided for the generations of the future.

And, President O is doing a fine job so far…exceeding even my own expectations.

WMark
Understandably corporate America would love to be rid of taxation.  Responsibility is a dirty word.  They got rid of regulation awhile ago and we are seeing the results now. 

What I meant by feeding at the public trough is in reference to the marriage between business and the military or the military-industrial complex.  You could call it corporate welfare.  The military, by way of the American taxpayer, bares the cost of research and development of new products, while corporations reap the profits.  It’s quite a racket.

Corporate America would LOVE to be rid of the Feds….their regulations, their taxation, etc.  They’re only in bed together because of the tremendous amount of TAX VALUE (and sometimes lobbying money) they provide to the Feds.  And, as much as many of you think that corporate america is practically non-regulated, I believe very differently.  Over-regulation is why there haven’t been any oil refineries built in the US in twenty years, despite the demand (we are now importing refined gasoline, not just oil…more money into other countries’ pockets). 

Regardless, we have to create an environment where business can thrive, not just survive.

phillip918
Are you Phil Gramm?

WMark
The question is, how do we make business independent of government?  Corporate America has always fed at the public trough only now they’ve elbowed the public out of the way.  Maybe you’ve been out of the country for awhile.

Chris, I love you brother, you have known the inner psyche and given the world an invaluable path to understanding ourselves.  But, if only you had different experiences in life, you wouldn’t repeat this fallacy that the end of the world is coming.

The bad news is that the transaction infrastructure, by which 1-to-1 buying and selling takes place, has NEVER been more comprehensive and robust.  In order to establish that there will be chaos, you must establish that the internet, cellphones, and other communication fabrics go down.

Will the banks go down? Does it matter? No, and No. If the banks continued much longer with there snit, their capital strike, refusing to accept each others transactions in settlement there are 10 other huge, well developed industries who will take over: the ISPs (cable and telcos), the cellphone companies, Oracle, Microsoft and Google and the software industry—even Walmart, Starbucks, or any other big retailer. The ONLY ONLY ONLY reason they put up with the banksters is their effectiveness and expertise.

Oh jeeez. cmon people. focus on the real problem—it’s the collapse of the antiwar movement and other movements under the stunning, botox, paralyzing effect of propaganda.

It’s quite funny that every time a Hedges column appears here there’s a Greek Chorus proclaiming they knew it all along and that Hedges is so behind the times.  He’s the most radical of the columnists here, but all praise goes to Robinson and Dionne for the pablum they write.

I was surprised to hear cyrena agree that things are not going to get better - “We knew it wasn’t going to be ok.”  I thought Obama was the answer to all our problems.  I mean, why the urgency to elect Obama if things aren’t going to get better??  What was that all about?

How will Obama deal with the inevitable radicalization of the working class and what was the middle class?  That’s the question.  Not even the greek chorus knows.

This is one pathetic pity party.

To all of you people talking about how horrible “consumerism” is and how we should get away from it…

Not sure if we are saying the same thing or not, but all economic (and standard of living) progress is based on our being able to be more productive in providing goods and services.  No amount of “consumerism” will drive economic recovery, and we should not be redistributing people’s income just to drive more of it.  What we need is more INVESTMENT in the enterprises that bring goods and services to the market in more efficient ways.  That’s how we drive productivity numbers up, that’s how more people get employed, that’s how more people make more money and the standard of living goes up. 

Think about it…if we drive the “productivity machine,” we could provide healthcare for a fraction of the cost that it is today, everybody would be able to pay for it out of their OWN pocket and not NEED “benefits,” corporate OR government-provided (oh, right…we wouldn’t want people to be independent from the govt now, would we….)

•  “The daily bleeding of thousands of jobs will soon turn our economic crisis into a political crisis. The street protests, strikes and riots that have rattled France, Turkey, Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Iceland will descend on us. It is only a matter of time. And not much time.”

Oh Chris…if only you knew how many years LATE you are in noticing this.
Gaze closer…to Oakland, CA, Houston, TX, Flint, MI, Detroit, MI,

Have a look at New Orleans, LA, and every single other inner-city ghetto in America.

Gaze into the ‘heartland’ where the drugs have destroyed entire communities, leaving little behind besides blown-up meth labs and completely destroyed lives.

Chris, Chris, ya gotta catch-up. You’re exactly like the mother of a young colleague currently engaged in her graduate studies in Southern Cal. She (along with many of my colleagues) is originally from the Bay Area…Oakland to be precise.

She recently spent several months there, where her family still lives. In her studies, (and as a Native Oaklander) she long ago recognized how acute the stituation is there, but it’s suppressed, which means it isn’t noticable to the rest of the world (or the people next door in Marin County). Anyway, when she was there, (and reporting- in pretty frequently) the descent into chaos in Oakland was becoming more and more evident, and spreading.
One day a few months ago, her mother (middle-aged, used- to- be middle- class professional, kinda like me ) noted that:

“there sure seemed to be an awful lot of CARS BACKFIRING lately.”

YIKERS!! My young friend wondered if it would be of any value to point out that those frequent noises were NOT ‘cars backfiring’. She’s a bit high-strung, so needless-to-say I suppose, she was a bit frustrated. She did explain that those sounds of explosions weren’t coming from backfiring cars though, and advised her mom to just stay in the house with the doors firmly bolted whenever she heard such noises.

I said all of that to say that it’s already here Chris. It’s already here, and has been for a very long time now. Nobody was paying attention to what was happening in plain sight. Or…they didn’t CARE. Didn’t realize how it would eventually effect them. Too bad. We’ve never been a far-sighted population. At least not in the past 50 or 60 years.

And, it’s been so bad for so long, that we KNEW ‘it wasn’t going to be OK” - at least not until the destruction could be halted. It’s only grown worse of course.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross”. Sinclair Lewis, “It Cant Happen Here”, 1935

The violence we are perputrating abroad, will soon be brought hone to us. There wont be world sympathy.

Who will defend us against Blackwater, Raytheon, etc.

From, “Shock and Awe:Achieving Rapid Dominance”, the military doctrine for the US war in Iraq:

“Shocks and Awe are actions that create fears, dangers and destruction that are incomprehensible to the people at large, specific elements/sectors of the threat society, or to the leadership.”

From Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine”..“Amid weapons trade, the private soldiers, for-profit reconstruction and the homeland security industry, what has emerged as a result of the Bush administrations particular brand (of).. shock therapy , is a fully articulated new economy.It now exists quite apart from any one administration and will remain entrenched until the corporate supremacist ideology that underpins it is identified, isdolated and challenged….”

“People were in prison so that prices could be free”—Eduardo Aleano, 1990.

Rick—We have had far Right policies for 30 years. We are, by far, the most conservative country , in the so-called “free” world. It would take about 30 years of Fidel Castro or Che Guaverra, of the uS to even APPROACH, “far Left Wacko” status. You have absolutely nothing to worry about..

Bipartisanship is for suckers and cowards, when the Right has a completely ammoral idea of what ‘Merka should look like.

Big Wes—Never fear! President Obama is going to “restructure” social security! Let old and disabled die in the streets. Now, that’s a good neo-liberal for you!

Oodles noodles—-You WANT “empire”?? I will bet against Empire any day, and, FOR the USAans (they have to grow balls)! “Democratic” society is incapatable with Empire.

Rachel, Yes , but you may go to jail for NOT having an Obama bumper sticker on your car! Gheesh!

Maybe the good news is this collapsing motherfucker-of-all-bubbles (“civilization” itself) is, despite carefully CONtrived appearances, about as insubstantial as all the electronic “money” that energizes its lethal machinery.  The domesticated peoples’ve been on a consumptionist binge for about sixty years, now.  It’s sure as hell about time for the PURGE!

It oughta be reassuring to people that the entire damned CONtraption is nothing but make-believe, no more “real” than all the digitized drama that presently sucks-up so much of their precious attention.  As much more immediate and pressing concerns reassert themselves, however, tame Two-leggeds aren’t going to have any to spare for the frivolous and false.

Chris Hedges’ apocalyptic prognosis here does seem well within the realm of “possibility.”  Except that it relies for its validity on there being nothing else going-on here but the sit-com/soap-opera of “civilization.”

Life Herownself, though, only does Song ‘n’ Dance.  So “When Quinn the Eskimo gets here…....”

HokaHey!

What got us out of the “great depression” ... aside from government ministrations ... was WWI and the incredible post-war military industrial complex (including the GI bill) .... most of which was based on manufacturing ... ooops ....

A lot of our service economy requires someone able and willing to pay for our services ... aside from infrasture repair and enhancement and creating the social services network to support genuine health care, child care and elder care and K-12 education ... it’s hard to know what the new jobs will consist of, how much they will pay, if they will carry benefits much less who the “employer” and human resources management will be…. however, regardless a lot of subsidized pay is going to be disbursed before property taxes can hope to take over funding these services, if ever.

It’s appalling how much of our economy is dependent on “employee benefits” and the disposable income of the well employed—so much of healthcare and the recreation/hospitality and recreation industries.

My biggest fear is that we—like the defeated Germany after WWII—will rev up our war machine as an economic bailout (again).

I remain astonished that United Statesians, born in revolution, have not festooned lamp-posts across the country with the dangling corpses of the recently hanged rich.

“The rich are the scum of the earth in every country.”  (G. K. Chesterton)

Okay, the empire is crumbling!  Those of us that didn’t buy into the supremacy ideology kind of saw this coming.  So, we won’t have massive consumerism, not necessarily a bad thing - people buying stupid things they didn’t need in the first place - hey, they may actually be able to have some real money.  While Americans on the whole have been dumbed down with info-tainment, faux reality shows, and pablum - there are still a few of us that realize that that is not all there is!  GWB did do one thing - he helped those of us that think, realize how much work we have to do to help our fellow Americans understand not just the devastation that he has wrought in the world, but to our country!

We realize that George Orwell’s 1994 may have missed the date by 6 years, but we are in Orwellian days none-the-less!  The corporate state must be dissembled!  People can only “eat cake” for so long, just ask Marie Antoinette!

Rick, you must not be very much of a liberal! The only way out of this mess, the only way to control the corporatocracy, is to have a liberal president and liberal Legislative branches of governance.
Once again, supposed liberals, neo-liberals, have chosen the president, the true liberals in this last election were not heard due to the underwhelming access given them to the media outlets and during the debates.
I am rightly ashamed at the idea of corporate control of the debates, which did not include Cynthia McKinney,Ralph Nader and worst of all did not include the Democratic candidate of choice, and true liberal, Rep.Dennis J. Kucinich.
The corporate media decided that he was not a “viable’ candidate and so disenfranchised him from the very beginning of his campaign for president.
Should there ever be true and fair elections, then we
will have an elected liberal in the White House for the first time. What a change that will be! Someone
who speaks for the people and not for the corporate shills that run our country now.

Speaking of distractions, did everybody vote for their favorite superbowl tv commercial?  You see what they take us for?  http://www.msnbc.msn.com

At last some good news! “Our way of life is over. Our profligate consumption is finished. Our children will never have the standard of living we had.” Three cheers! “And poverty and despair will sweep across the landscape”. Hey, tough break, but why shouldn’t they really feel the anguish of Gaza and Iraq and many other places. What goes around, comes around. “Our empire is dying” – and not a moment too soon! “The street protests, strikes and riots that have rattled France, Turkey, Greece, etc., etc. … will descend on us.” Bring it on! “And [do] not [take] much time.” “At no period in American history has our democracy been” a popular democracy and that’s not about to change now. “Barack Obama is exposed as a mortal waving a sword at” Afghanistan and the Middle East. A third-world president for a newly emerging third-world America. The symbolism couldn’t be more striking. “Inverted totalitarianism, unlike classical totalitarianism, does not revolve around a demagogue or charismatic leader.” The demagogic Bush is departed and the charismatic charlatan Obama has been newly installed so the ‘classical’ route is still not obsolete. For all his bumbling, Bush couldn’t have pursued the policies he did without the blessing of the powers behind the throne. His imperial militancy was a desperate gamble on the part of the ruling elites – with very broad-based bipartisan support – to reassert American supremacy in the traditional ‘hard’ power manner. When it failed, Dubya took the rap personally and was derided for his rustic rube persona. Now the system pukes up the new “charismatic” demagogue Obama Copacabana who is lauded for his super-human intelligence and his unity administration “who poses as saviors and offer dreams of glory and salvation”. “It testifies to how thin the commitment to democracy is in the present circumstances. Democracy is not ascendant”. In the Orwellian world of American politics, you almost know what to expect from a party called the Democrats. Who knows, maybe Obama will turn out to be the American Mugabe. Bush and his Republicans did a pretty good imitation of Milosevic and his commitment to the republican tradition. It’s not only totalitarianism that’s “inverted”.  “Inverted totalitarianism” may find “its expression in the anonymity of the corporate state” but it still needs flesh-and-blood protagonists to carry it out. Modern man may be ‘one-dimensional’ but they’re not that one-dimensional. Someone is still pulling the strings back there. “The American left” undeniably, “has crumbled”, alright. But it was really the other way around, “a bankrupt Democratic Party” sold us out, and the reactionary working class long ago “abandoned” ship and “has no ability to organize” - or be organized. “Unions are a spent force”; and a chronically corrupt one. There’s plenty of reason to “despair over the left … We have a few voices here, a magazine there, and that’s about it. It goes nowhere.”  So “turn our economic crisis into a political crisis.” “The street protests, strikes and riots that have rattled” Europe are long overdue. “It is only a matter of time. And not much time” to be lost.

Hedges is a professional hand-wringer.  He only sees the dark side - as though he has permanent Cheney filters on his thinking.  Too bad. He needs to mix into his reading list items from more optimistic people than are his usual taste.

The human species is a remarkable and adaptive one.  The world will recover from its current problems, and without mass rioting in the US. Mr. Hedges is wrong imho and depressingly so.  He needs more light in his life.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with most of you…the economy has NOT collapsed!  Yes, we are in a severe recession (but been there before), yes, our financial system is extremely stressed (to which our govt has responded in a knee-jerk fashion by throwing our money at it), and yes, we are challenged by “international relations” (mostly terrorist states) every day.  That doesn’t mean we should prepare to pack up, live in tents, stand in line for food, etc. Granted, there are some folks out there already doing that, and the numbers will increase, undoubtedly, but that’s far from what I think of when someone says our economy or our country has “collapsed.” 

Excuse me for my “right-wing” philosphy, but the solution out of this mess is MORE capitalism, not less…more freeing of the resouces of individuals, not more taxation. We are overtaxed already, and it is about to get worse. 

The Dem’s “stimulus plan” will do nothing to right our economy, just as The New Deal did nothing to save us from The Great Depression (ask yourself…how long did the Great Depression last after the New Deal was passed? Roosevelt’s office began work in 1933, and five years later, unemployment was 19%)

1. Fix our banking system, not by throwing money at it, but by creating a shelter for distressed assets, or by allowing assets to be valued on a 3-year average, not on today’s prices.  That will keep bank’s afloat and provide confidence back to the markets.

2.  Lower taxes on everyone who pays them…if you’re going to provide federal welfare checks, don’t call it a tax break for those that don’t pay taxes.

3. Invest in new energies, but take advantage of what we already have…deep drilling offshore, clean coal technologies, natural gas, and shale oil can make this country energy independent in a matter of a few SHORT years.  We can’t develop and implement new technologies while our economy sends money overseas. 

4. #3 above will have the additional benefit of giving us great “flexibility” in how we deal with countries that want to see us destroyed. 

This country has everything it needs to be strong again, and, as in the past, the key is liberty. Individuals (and private companies) can do great things when given the freedom to do so.  Once we become wards of the state, we are bound to it.  The nationalization of our banking and healthcare systems will create a generation of endentured servants.

How about a little music to “brighten your day”? LOL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwfL1nGFkd0

There are universal forces at work today that affect our lives.  Traditional Native Americans understand these forces and their expected consequences.  So do not despair of the ascendant right, because forces far greater than they are in play.

In these times it is best to prepare for the worst.  Food, clothing, water, meds, first aid supplies, and the means with which to garden organically and to cook outdoors are keys.  If you think “collapse” and prepare for it, than you will be ready for anything. 

DO NOT LISTEN TO WASHINGTON.

Rick,
You don’t get it.  Not, the sky is falling… the sky HAS fallen.  The really frightening thing is that even Obama believes in Obama.

Economics has NEVER been subordinate to politics.

We the people are responsible for what is happening.  I was interested in what Wolin said about the vast entertainment network.  Indira Ghandi once said that had it not been for Bollywood - India’s eqivalent of Hollywood in Bombay, now Mumbai, - there would have been a revolution in India.  The Indian movie industry turned out thousands of cheap movies every year which kept the poor of India distracted and forgetful of the destitution around them.  Here in the US we have not only the distractions of popular entertainment but also an ever increasing number of technological toys to make us forgetful.  And then there is superbowl sunday. 

Robert Bly used to say that the US was in decline because we no longer have a story.  Greed is not something you can build a lasting culture upon.  Decline was probably inevitable.

Keep striving for the truth, despite all the pushback from the politically, economically, militarily and socially powerful who have a great deal to hide, for the truth will set you free.

We don’t know what is coming or, perhap more importantly how it will “roll out” ...

““Under inverted totalitarianism the reverse is true,” Wolin writes. “Economics dominates politics—and with that domination comes different forms of ruthlessness.””

As far as I can see restoring the rule of law ... even “expanding” it by rolling back some of the systemic inequities and racist/classist aspects ... is the only way to address what I agree is an appalling deficit wrt compassion.

Although raised an atheist, the ubiquitous maxim of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” inspired an nominal “compassion” in the world I grew up in ... however, even this not-too-demanding standard was jettisoned by Saint Ronnie in the name of expediency based on “what we cannot afford.”

I share Hedges’ pessimism and anxiety. There seem to be a lot of folks spoiling for a fight, spoiling for vigilantism. Many have little idea how rapidly repressive measures will be implemented and enforced.

A lot of people in this country have never experienced prolonged unemployment where even McDonalds and the temporary agencies weren’t hiring ... a lot of very hard working peple have been making ends meet for years by working 2 or 3 jobs ...

On the bright side, I got an E-mail from Barack Obama today inviting me to join “my neighbors” next week for an “economic recovery meeting” to watch a video and discuss Obama’s plans ... it’s a good start and not a minute too soon.

Working for justice is working for peace and compassion.

The bottom 65% of the economy, has been gone since Reagan. They live in a desolate land, populated with a Wal Mart, a Mc Donalds, and drug rehab.

Soon to follow will be the upper middle class, it will take them a while to adjust to living in their cars, Tent’s and Trailers. At least 1 year or two till all their wealth is gone, and they realize going further debt to send a child to college, is no longer an option. So after that the higher education system will go under.

Then the Airlines, will go. There may be one or two carriers left at the end of this, subsidized by the goverment like Amtrack.

Then there will be familes whose every waking thought will be how to save a penny, or find something to eat.

But most importantly, there will be no money to support the military, or the political administration of state or federal governments.

Empire is already gone. And by June, the political financial system of this country will collapse as well..

So many good posts here! 

jackpine says, “Empires are built to fall,” is historically borne out.  Prosperous nations seem to inevitably drift into materialism and anti-intellectualism (so evident in today’s America) with almost predictable disastrous results. 

America may end up a third or fourth world country like some great empires of the past did or she may end up like Britain and the Netherlands…surviving but no longer world-dominant.  We’d do well to study how they did it, and our greatest stumbling block will be our peculiar belief in ‘American exceptionalism.’

Inverted totalitarianism? All you need to do is watch the Walmart TV spot leading up to the Super Bowl. THAT is the America so many know so well: the self absorbed consumer driven robots, who only find meaning in marketing created, corporate brands. Ask yourself this: how did a championship football game metamorphosis into a national pig-out holiday?
It was reported that President Obama had a bipartisan crowd over to watch The Game. That is the smiley face that jackpine savage speaks of.
Always remember that Barack Obama loves America, whatever that means…

de Tocqueville said, “in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.” Until the common folks of this country wake up, learn to organize, and demand an end to the kleptocracy strangling the American Dream, we will continue to experience the pain and suffering. No politician beholden to the corporate elite is going to change anything. Sitting around waiting on help from the social sewer that is our government will not help. It is time to take our demands for social equality and an end to the potential extinction of the middle class directly to Washington, maybe even carrying pitch forks and torches.

Yep, the empire is crumbling around us as we sit by complacently and let it.  The last few decades of selling the future to reap the profits today have finally caught up with us.  Today is the future we’ve been borrowing against for so long.  We should have known that you can’t outsource all of the good manufacturing jobs, replace them with low-paying service industry jobs, and expect the same levels of consumption.  The transfer of wealth upwards can no longer continue when the bottom rungs no longer have employment or are finally tapped out by the increases in food, energy, and health care and can no longer consume.  When the trouble moves up the rungs, widespread panic ensues.  More crap, like credit freezes and job losses, come back down.  It’s a vicious cycle.  The poor can’t pay the rich anymore, so the rich send their pain back down to the poor.  And I can really see no end in sight.  Everyone except the upper echelon will suffer eventually, if they haven’t already.

I’m interested to see how mass unemployment is going to affect Social Security.  Today’s workers are paying for today’s beneficiaries.  If there are millions of people unemployed, the amount of money going into the system is reduced.  It’s no long sustainable.  Will our politicians once again borrow against the future and bail the system out?  Most likely, because it is politically expedient today.  I will be damned 40 years from now, even though I will have been paying into the system for 50 years.  Of course, the country will have gone to hell in a hand basket anyway, so who really cares.

Obama is a faux intellectual and may turn out to be the demagogue that Chris Hedges speaks thereof. As the pillars of religion are falling I wonder what the human element will be? During the Great Depression, a phenomenon took place in that the people were blaming themselves rather than the government and Big Business.Will this occur again? Americans are such a docile animal and so content with living in the worst of conditions. Oh well, keep your powder dry, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Didn’t Jefferson say that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

So let the empire crumble. For true change to come, all veneers must be brushed away. Obama’s administration will either be the catalyst for this radical change, or it will be one of the blue-blooded casualties.

In the season of boll-weevils speakin’ evil in your ear
And a pile of manure fertilizin’ all your fears
Yabadabado all the way to Shangra-La

The gigs up?  I’ve been saying this for more than a decade, but don’t nobody listen.

Empires are built to fall.  And Bill Clinton had the once in a generation opportunity to end the empire when it was no longer clothed in opposition to the Soviet Union.  Instead he slapped a Walmart smiley face on it and forged ahead.

We went from a respected (though not always loved) and powerful nation to a flaming out-house in less than a generation.  Mr. Obama ain’t gonna put the fire out by pissin’ on it.