"the beast is self-preserving" - This problem has existed for decades (maybe even a century???). Voting is basically worthless. We have a corrupt system and 99% of the time all you can do is vote for "Corrupt choice A" or "Corrupt choice B".
The two party system should be abolished. The entire system needs to be scrapped and started fresh.
CHAD, a call for coast to coast unity and grace from the mountains high to the wave crashed coasts, in memory of Martin Luther King Jr.
"We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools."
"The person down the street who votes differently than you is not your enemy. They are your neighbor. They worry about the same things you worry about. They want their kids to be safe and their bills to be paid and their country to be a place worth living in. They have been manipulated just like you have been manipulated, fed a different flavor of the same poison, sorted into a different tribe by the same algorithm, pointed at you as the enemy by the same people who point you at them.
The working class Republican and the working class Democrat have more in common with each other than either of them has with the billionaire class that funds both parties.
You share the same struggles. You face the same rigged systems. You are being crushed by the same economic forces that have transferred more wealth upward in the last fifty years than at any point in human history. And instead of uniting against the people doing this to you, you are screaming at each other on the internet about pronouns and flags and whatever fresh outrage the algorithm served up this morning.
This is exactly what they want. A nation at war with itself cannot resist a takeover. A people consumed by mutual hatred will accept any authority that promises to protect them from the manufactured enemy. Every empire that fell was divided before it was conquered. Every free people who lost their freedom were set against each other first.
The red versus blue war is not real. It is a show put on by people who own both teams. It is professional wrestling and you think it is a real fight. The wrestlers go backstage after the match and laugh together while you are still screaming at the guy in the other section who was rooting for the wrong character.
This Is Our Country Not Theirs
This nation belongs to the people who live here and work here and raise families here and will be buried here. It does not belong to billionaires who hold citizenship in three countries and will flee to their bunkers the moment things get bad. It does not belong to tech oligarchs who view democracy as an obstacle to efficiency. It does not belong to foreign interests who have purchased so much influence that they might as well be writing our laws themselves.
We have to stop letting them divide us. We have to start seeing each other as fellow Americans again instead of enemy combatants in a culture war that was manufactured to keep us weak. We have to remember that the person screaming at us online is also a victim of the same manipulation, and maybe if we stopped screaming back and started talking, we might realize we have been fighting the wrong enemy this entire time.
Turn off the television. It is not informing you. It is programming you. Question everything, including the sources you trust, especially the sources you trust. Talk to people who disagree with you and do it without trying to win. Listen to why they believe what they believe. You might discover that the monster you have been told to hate is actually just another person trying to make sense of a confusing world with imperfect information, exactly like you.
Remember who you are.
You are an American. Your ancestors came to this land or were brought to this land or were already on this land, and regardless of how they got here, they built something together that was supposed to be different from the old world’s tyrannies and aristocracies. That project is not finished. Every generation has to fight to keep it alive against the forces that want to drag us back to a world where a handful of rulers own everything and everyone else serves at their pleasure.
Stop letting them divide you. Your enemies are not your neighbors. Your enemies are the people who profit from your division and are building machines to replace you the moment you are no longer useful.
Start acting like it before it is too late". —The Wise Wolf
This is quite a bit to respond to, but I'm going to try to keep it short. I'm well aware of what you say. If you read my other pieces (a few more of which I will likely re-run during this primary cycle), you'll find that I am actually opposed to political parties, as were our founding fathers. They lead to nothing but division and tyranny, tyranny that ultimately will destroy the nation. Washington was quite astute in his discussion of this in his farewell address.
The founders also recognized that "faction," as they called it, the effects of which they sought to mitigate, was human nature that could not be eliminated (read The Federalist #10). Though we share the same struggles and face the same difficulties, there will always be competing interests and desires. Again, this is human nature, and this is why parties form.
If I was to classify myself, it would be neither Democrat nor Republican; rather, it would fall along the lines of constitutional libertarian conservative, because I believe in individual liberty and limited government based on the constitution.
You are correct that the true "division" and conflict is that which exists between the governing "elites" and the people, but as to the red vs blue war not being real, I think that is oversimplification. Rather than "color," party, or label, we need to see the real difference for what it is: individualism vs. collectivism. This is a far more important distinction, and it is essentially a battle between good vs. evil. Collectivism is an evil the depths of which cannot be understated.
Trying to make everyone "equal" by force (rather than treating everyone equally) results in nothing by tyranny and misery for all (all but those exerting the force). Even apart from the threat of collectivism (with which so many in government have deceived the masses due to lack of good education), the corruption in government, dismissal of proper constitutional principles of a small central government which is subservient to the states, and overriding of the independence of the states are bound to destroy the country, as it has already transformed the country into something that the founders would not recognize.
Don't worry about me turning off the TV - I don't watch any mainstream news at all (I actually watch very little TV at all, and then, I'm fairly selective about the shows I watch, which are strictly for entertainment or background noise).
So, for the most part, I agree with you. I encourage you to take a look at some of what else I've written regarding government.
Thank you Chad. We agree about collectivisism. As the man himself heralded:
“With disdain I will throw my gauntlet full in the fact of the world and see the collapse of this pygmy giant. Then will I wander god-like and victorious through the ruins of the world. And giving my words an active force, I will feel equal to the Creator.” —Karl Marx
I wish i had time to read your work as from your comment it aligns with my own, but alas, time is something i have in very limited quantities.
"the beast is self-preserving" - This problem has existed for decades (maybe even a century???). Voting is basically worthless. We have a corrupt system and 99% of the time all you can do is vote for "Corrupt choice A" or "Corrupt choice B".
The two party system should be abolished. The entire system needs to be scrapped and started fresh.
Because they/we don’t know who they are!!!! and who knows they may be a part of the election fraud!
CHAD, a call for coast to coast unity and grace from the mountains high to the wave crashed coasts, in memory of Martin Luther King Jr.
"We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools."
"The person down the street who votes differently than you is not your enemy. They are your neighbor. They worry about the same things you worry about. They want their kids to be safe and their bills to be paid and their country to be a place worth living in. They have been manipulated just like you have been manipulated, fed a different flavor of the same poison, sorted into a different tribe by the same algorithm, pointed at you as the enemy by the same people who point you at them.
The working class Republican and the working class Democrat have more in common with each other than either of them has with the billionaire class that funds both parties.
You share the same struggles. You face the same rigged systems. You are being crushed by the same economic forces that have transferred more wealth upward in the last fifty years than at any point in human history. And instead of uniting against the people doing this to you, you are screaming at each other on the internet about pronouns and flags and whatever fresh outrage the algorithm served up this morning.
This is exactly what they want. A nation at war with itself cannot resist a takeover. A people consumed by mutual hatred will accept any authority that promises to protect them from the manufactured enemy. Every empire that fell was divided before it was conquered. Every free people who lost their freedom were set against each other first.
The red versus blue war is not real. It is a show put on by people who own both teams. It is professional wrestling and you think it is a real fight. The wrestlers go backstage after the match and laugh together while you are still screaming at the guy in the other section who was rooting for the wrong character.
This Is Our Country Not Theirs
This nation belongs to the people who live here and work here and raise families here and will be buried here. It does not belong to billionaires who hold citizenship in three countries and will flee to their bunkers the moment things get bad. It does not belong to tech oligarchs who view democracy as an obstacle to efficiency. It does not belong to foreign interests who have purchased so much influence that they might as well be writing our laws themselves.
We have to stop letting them divide us. We have to start seeing each other as fellow Americans again instead of enemy combatants in a culture war that was manufactured to keep us weak. We have to remember that the person screaming at us online is also a victim of the same manipulation, and maybe if we stopped screaming back and started talking, we might realize we have been fighting the wrong enemy this entire time.
Turn off the television. It is not informing you. It is programming you. Question everything, including the sources you trust, especially the sources you trust. Talk to people who disagree with you and do it without trying to win. Listen to why they believe what they believe. You might discover that the monster you have been told to hate is actually just another person trying to make sense of a confusing world with imperfect information, exactly like you.
Remember who you are.
You are an American. Your ancestors came to this land or were brought to this land or were already on this land, and regardless of how they got here, they built something together that was supposed to be different from the old world’s tyrannies and aristocracies. That project is not finished. Every generation has to fight to keep it alive against the forces that want to drag us back to a world where a handful of rulers own everything and everyone else serves at their pleasure.
Stop letting them divide you. Your enemies are not your neighbors. Your enemies are the people who profit from your division and are building machines to replace you the moment you are no longer useful.
Start acting like it before it is too late". —The Wise Wolf
Hello TriTorch,
This is quite a bit to respond to, but I'm going to try to keep it short. I'm well aware of what you say. If you read my other pieces (a few more of which I will likely re-run during this primary cycle), you'll find that I am actually opposed to political parties, as were our founding fathers. They lead to nothing but division and tyranny, tyranny that ultimately will destroy the nation. Washington was quite astute in his discussion of this in his farewell address.
The founders also recognized that "faction," as they called it, the effects of which they sought to mitigate, was human nature that could not be eliminated (read The Federalist #10). Though we share the same struggles and face the same difficulties, there will always be competing interests and desires. Again, this is human nature, and this is why parties form.
If I was to classify myself, it would be neither Democrat nor Republican; rather, it would fall along the lines of constitutional libertarian conservative, because I believe in individual liberty and limited government based on the constitution.
You are correct that the true "division" and conflict is that which exists between the governing "elites" and the people, but as to the red vs blue war not being real, I think that is oversimplification. Rather than "color," party, or label, we need to see the real difference for what it is: individualism vs. collectivism. This is a far more important distinction, and it is essentially a battle between good vs. evil. Collectivism is an evil the depths of which cannot be understated.
Trying to make everyone "equal" by force (rather than treating everyone equally) results in nothing by tyranny and misery for all (all but those exerting the force). Even apart from the threat of collectivism (with which so many in government have deceived the masses due to lack of good education), the corruption in government, dismissal of proper constitutional principles of a small central government which is subservient to the states, and overriding of the independence of the states are bound to destroy the country, as it has already transformed the country into something that the founders would not recognize.
Don't worry about me turning off the TV - I don't watch any mainstream news at all (I actually watch very little TV at all, and then, I'm fairly selective about the shows I watch, which are strictly for entertainment or background noise).
So, for the most part, I agree with you. I encourage you to take a look at some of what else I've written regarding government.
Thank you Chad. We agree about collectivisism. As the man himself heralded:
“With disdain I will throw my gauntlet full in the fact of the world and see the collapse of this pygmy giant. Then will I wander god-like and victorious through the ruins of the world. And giving my words an active force, I will feel equal to the Creator.” —Karl Marx
I wish i had time to read your work as from your comment it aligns with my own, but alas, time is something i have in very limited quantities.
The original comment is a segment from a larger brilliant ananlysis by its author here: https://tritorch.substack.com/p/everything-you-watch-or-read-is-owned
I think you will find that worth every moment of your time.
Like yourself, my time is limited (which is why I haven’t written lately), so I understand. Thanks TriTorch.