Juan Cole says that the Deepwater Horizon is not your fault because it's a case of regulatory capture, deep-pocket corporations buying legislation in their favor with campaign contributions. Thing is, as I've pointed out repeatedly, every one of those corrupt bastards in Congress or in your local legislature is there because the majority of Americans in their district or state voted for them. We don't live in a tyranny imposed by some evil dicator, we live in a democracy -- and keep voting for the most corrupt person, the person who accepts the most bribes err campaign contributions, despite the fact that it's destroying us as a nation.
Don't blame me, I voted for the hobbit in the California Democratic Presidential primary. He was the only one who refused to accept bribes err campaign contributions from corporate interests. Yet everybody else seems to have voted for the most corrupt candidates in the race, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Huh. Why is that?
I suppose it's because our campaigns have turned into mudfests where each side uses millions of dollars to smear the other side as un-American baby-molesters who probably bathe in the blood of 9 year old virgins every morning, but that only works because Americans let it work. If Americans simply ignored the mud-slinging, did their own research, and voted for the most honest candidate, we wouldn't have this regulatory capture problem. Yet they don't. They allow themselves to be swayed by the most laughable things, like the majority of Americans who voted for George W. Bush (or had no problem with him and thus stayed home) because "he's the kinda guy I'd like to go to a bar and lift a brew with." Nevermind that GWB didn't even drink. That's the mentality of the average American... they vote for an image, not for honesty, integrity, or substance. And there's nobody forcing Americans to do this. They do it because, well, just because they're Americans, fuck yeah, and nobody's gonna tell them they can't vote for Georgey Dry Drunk or Barry Hopey Changey just because Georgey is a draft-dodging moron and Barry is an empty speech-making suit, yo.
Compound this with the destruction Reagan did to our civil service, a destruction that the majority of Americans approved of because "federal employees shouldn't have better retirement options than the rest of us"... before Reagan destroyed the Federal Retirement System, federal employees were fairly honest because they intended to put in their 30 years and then take their FRS retirement, which would suffice to keep them in herring for the rest of their lives, and crooked companies couldn't influence them with bribery offers of cushy jobs if they ruled the company's way because, well, 30 years, dude, no job offer today outweighs the thought of putting in your 30 years and retiring and spending the rest of your life enjoying yourself. But when Reagan destroyed the FRS and instead put federal employees into Social Security and 401(k) plans, suddenly federal employees were bribable -- and they are.
Yet the majority of Americans still support cutting the pay of federal employees and still support cutting the retirement benefits of state and local employees, retirement benefits that are there to keep employees from being bribable. It seems Americans want something for nothing. They want honest bureaucrats, but they aren't willing to tax themselves for the pay and benefits that it takes to keep them honest. This was Reagan's great observation, that Americans want something for nothing and will vote for anybody who tells them they can have something for nothing, and as long as the majority of Americans are that way... yes, it *IS* your fault, America. You fucking morons.
-- Badtux the Moron-observin' Penguin
You've got to remember that these are just simple farmers, these are people of the land, the common clay of the new west. You know... morons. -- The Waco Kid, in Blazing Saddles
And a significant number of morons are going to vote to give power back to the party of thieves in November.
ReplyDeleteI am past the point of weeping for this country. We get the government that we deserve.
"It seems Americans want something for nothing."
ReplyDeleteYup, you got it. And the rethugs VOTE in this county. I had lunch the other day with the rethug parents. The stepmonster opened her mouth and started yammering about how screwed up government is and I loudly proclaimed "Not all government is bad, my best friend is a library clerk." Suddenly all you could hear was the silverware hitting the plate at the next table over. lol.
When you have an aggregate of over 300 million, you're talking about human nature. If Americans are stupid, it's because humans are stupid.
ReplyDeleteBut there's a lot more to it than that. There is a powerful and very well funded right wing talk machine that has enormous influence over the ignorant and the prejudiced, as well as the merely uninformed, who get duped by their potent misinformation campaign.
The wealthy elite, at all times and places, work hard to keep their advantage - and that comes at the expense of all the rest of us. Same as it ever was.
These days, most people are too damned busy dealing with the problems of their own life to be able to get a good handle on politics and economics as well. Plus, regressives have succeeded in diluting education so that people don't understand civics. And many don't have a good grasp of rational thought processes.
As I think about what is slipping away, it occurs to me that the best time and place to have been alive - maybe ever, was the post WWII U.S. And, in a strange way, we owe a great deal of what we've had to the Great Depression. No GD -- no New Deal, no unemployment compensation, no Social Security, no strong union movement; i.e, no strong middle class.
And this is what we are losing, because it is what the rich and their minions are taking away. Historically, the life time of a democracy is about 200 years. Look where we are.
Good bye, America. It was good while it lasted.
WASF,
JzB
If Americans simply ignored the mud-slinging, did their own research, and voted for the most honest candidate, we wouldn't have this regulatory capture problem. Yet they don't.
ReplyDeleteOf course they don't. To do otherwise would require work. Work of the brain. Being smart. Imagining something other than the-way-things-appear-to-be. Your last sentence in that rant captures it -- the majority are morons.
My wife and I rave on a lot about current events. It's not like we're obsessive lunatics shouting on a street corner who won't shut up and talk about the weather sometimes. We can hold a pleasant conversation about food, travel, music, etc. But we also touch on news, the REAL news that's not being covered in the MSM, like the oil venting from the GOM seabed.
As a result, we're viewed as a couple of Debbie Downers. People don't want to hear. They want trivia. The shit is coming down. It's happening now. America is falling apart, and most people are not all that disturbed. Present commenters excluded.
They won't react until all their money has been stolen, they're homeless and dying. Maybe it won't bother them all that much; just like it's something that's happening to someone else.
Y'know the myths about ostriches sticking their heads in the sand in response to danger, and turkeys being so stupid that they drown in rainstorms by sticking their beaks into the air? Fables debunked by Snopes.com. What those fables actually describe is HUMANS. Doomed, farking well doomed.
At least in America. Maybe Canada too. In the collapse, I think other countries will muddle through better. I have hope for Australia and many nations in Europe. For me, though, it's a matter of save qui peut! as the French say, "Save yourself if you can!" A fellow nurse whose wife is not yoga just announced yesterday that he and her have bought 45 acres off the grid in a rural community where they plan to open a health resort. I'm gonna get to be better friends with that guy...
Error: friend's wife is "into" yoga, not "not.". Must proofread! Bukkomoron.
ReplyDelete