A Divided America

Recently headlines have told of polling data which show deepening divisions among the American people. While one wants to be very careful, it was partly because of internal divisions that the Roman Empire was ultimately toppled.

My latest reading adventure is Michael Grant's The Fall of the Roman Empire.  A Reappraisal.  I am early in the book, but the introduction holds out promise of a great tome.

Surely, America is divided.  This is not exactly new, or news, but the divisions seem to be becoming more profound due to the ability of people with a cause and/or a vengeance to be part of an online community, separate and apart from a geographical locality.  Thus, complaints can be shared and amplified over vast distances and without a friendly local counter-balance.

To connect today's post with my last post, can the operation of the Roman Empire at all be compared to fascist Italy?  After all, the Roman Empire and Mussolini's dictatorship both arose in essentially the same territory.

Sometimes, you see, it is easier to ask questions than to answer them.  But I intend to continue asking questions and trying to answer them as long as you, dear reader, are there.  

Is This Fascism?

What's in a name? is a question asked by philosophers and poets for hundreds if not thousands of years.  So I ask, what is in the term "fascism?"  How important is it to know the answer?

In his book Anatomy of Fascism, Robert Paxton does a fine job of charting the origins of the movement back to late nineteenth century Italy among the farmers who were getting a raw deal on their produce.  As is so often the case with political movements, fascism began with a grievance.  In this case the grievance was justified.  And early fascism did not carry the same pejorative meaning it carries today.

Nevertheless, by the time Mussolini and then Hitler came along, fascism had gone through many stages and phases.  Hitler and his followers eventually jettisoned almost all of the socialist aspects of National Socialism, leaving a bare-bones and brutal metallic skeleton which came to be called Nazism.

Does fascism survive today?  When we look at recent times, we know about Spain under Franco, Chile under Pinochet, and Uganda under Amin.  All these regimes could be considered fascist, in spite of the differences between countries.

But surely, we do not have fascism in the United States, right?  This is the question I want to spend time with this summer.  I want to do it as carefully as possible, even if the material is spread out over several entries in blog form.  Other writers such as Thom Hartmann have written convincingly of a type of fascism which is present in America, if not rampant.  I cannot duplicate his research here.  But perhaps through several posts I can present certain facts pointing to the truth about our economy.  For the truth is this is an economy run primarily for the benefit of the few, with the assistance of the government.  This is the elemental definition of fascism.  Thus, even if we don't have storm troopers in the streets and gas chambers in the Rocky Mountain states, there is still a basic system supported by elites (including very much media elites) which dominates economic activity.  It is this system which is proving so harmful.  But this assertion needs facts to back it up.  In a way, ever so many posts on this blog offer support. (Some are found under "Popular Blog Posts" to the right.)

So the story will continue.  More events to come will show the meaning of my thesis.  Please "stay tuned."

Today is Flag Day in the U.S.

Saturday Poetry

Today's poem is of Emily Dickenson, that great poet of 19th-century America with her love of nature and her questionings of the divine.  I see this poem as great, for its enthusiasm and its wonder.  It is on the subject of this web log in the wide sense.  Matters of heart and soul are very much with us these days, in America and beyond.  Desires fierce and soft break all around.  To put emotions into such poetry as Emily Dickenson does is of inestimable value, and precious, even.


            *************

Exhilaration -- is within --

There can no Outer Wine

          So royally intoxicate

          As that diviner Brand


          The Soul achieves -- Herself --
 
          To drink -- or set away

          For Visitor -- Or Sacrament --

         'Tis not of holiday


          To stimulate a Man

          Who hath the Ample Rhine

          Within his Closet -- Best you can

          Exhale in offering.


             -- c. 1862

           
         

Time to Adopt "Brat" As a Term of Endearment?

The Nation magazine reports that a major theme of the David Brat campaign in Virginia was opposition to Wall Street and Washington financiers.  Once again, we see the major media missing an important part of the story.

Just who David Bratt is remains largely a mystery.  But the true nature of his campaign is beginning to be known, at least to those who pursue alternates to the national media.

This may indeed be a time, as Ralph Nader is pointing out, when the right and the left can agree on certain issues such as the nature of business in America and the inappropriateness of government meta-spying.


Cantor Opponent Called Out Corruption

"Brat Beats Singer"

In church and synagogue, a cantor is a person charged with leading congregational singing.  And (in or out of a religious institution) a brat is, well, a brat.  So, as you will see I am having a bit of fun with today's bold headlines announcing the news of the defeat of Eric Cantor by David Brat ("brawt"?).

I am describing this defeat as a net wash nationally -- for now.  The analysis of an anonymous politico in today's Washington Post that Cantor's defeat is what happens to a fellow who does not tend the weeds in his own backyard sounds right to me.  (Cantor has been flying all over the country raising money for other Republicans.)

What it does say for certain is that people are indeed angry with establishment Washington and Cantor was very much a part of the Congressional establishment.  As others have said, it also announces the power of the tea party movement, at least in some places.  We will very likely see more dalliance with the right as economic conditions continue to deteriorate.

All we are left with is the question:  Will the Republicans without Cantor know how to sing a new tune?  

Saturday Poetry

Only great poetry seems able sometimes to evoke the reality of war in all its horror.  Yesterday, the world marked the 70th anniversary of D-Day.  (Properly, Operation Overlord referred to the invasion and fight for Europe, and Neptune referred to the invasion of Normandy alone.  This was not a distinction much observed at the time or since.*)   This helacious fight enveloped all who participated in it.  The gratitude we have to those brave men is incalculable.

Carl Sandburg, notable poet of the 20th Century, had his own viewpoint on war.  In his poem "Wars," Sandburg describes in neat detail the differences between the wars of the past, present, and future.  Due to copyright concerns, I am unable to re-print the entire poem here.  You can find the entire poem in Carl Sandburg.  Selected Poems.  George and Helene Hendrick.  Harcourt Brace & Co., 1996, p. 108.)


from "Wars" by Carl Sandburg --

In the old wars clutches of short swords and jabs into faces with spears.In the new wars long-range guns and smashed walls, guns running a spit of metal and men falling in tens and twenties.In the wars to come new silent deaths, new silent hurlers not yet dreamed out in the heads of men.

(c) 1996 by Maurice C. Greenbaum and Philip G. Carson as Trustees for the Carl Sandburg Family Trust



*Source:  Eric Larrabee, Commander in Chief.  

Commander in Chief

Franklin Roosevelt is regarded as being second only to Lincoln as the greatest war President this country has ever had.  When one looks into the matter this seems an unnecessary distinction, as Roosevelt was a great war President, particularly considering the world aspect of World War II.

Eric Larrabee lays out the vast history of the War as led by FDR.  So far, I have read of the period from early isolationism to Pearl Harbor.  The story has many components, and, gratefully, Larrabee tells the stories of George Marshall, and Gen. King equally well -- in addition to that of FDR.

One is struck by the reluctance of the U.S. in the inter-war years to commit to an adequate defense should there be another major war.  In fact, such a war seemed inconceivable to many.  Thus, the armed forces were undermanned and under-equipped right up to and beyond the infamous Pearl Harbor attack.

This circumstance is more striking still when compared with American strategy after World War II when we have never relinquished world leadership as a war power!  Although in the first years after the War America did scale down from World War force levels, the apparatus for war was never given up.  And by 1961, the commercial machinery for making war was robust enough to inspire Dwight Eisenhower, former World War II general and now President, to give his famous warning about the military-industrial complex.

Now, as the 100th anniversary of World War I approaches, American has its own Century as so many wanted.  Even with a more diverse world, American might continues.  What is behind that might -- the economic structures, the financial underpinnings, the manufacturing ability -- whether those are still equally as strong is very much a matter of debate.  

Evolving Focus

Quickly --

As readers may have noticed, or sensed, this blog is evolving.  There have been more posts recently which are short essays of a more general nature, and fewer news items with attached links.  As time goes on, I find traditional and even non-traditional news sources as less relevant to actual needs at this time.  It is fine to report on news events, and I plan to continue to do so.  However, there needs to be a certain kind of thoughtfulness now, not often found in simple news reports.  So, expect to find posts of a more reflective nature, perhaps, and fewer strictly factual/news stories.  Do return!

Summer Is a New Opportunity

Early June is a time full of promise.  To some "June is bustin' out all over."  To those in the far north it may be a chilly and windy time, though less cold than January, say.  In the southern hemisphere the official start of winter is close and autumn is drawing to a frosty close.

Since I am in the northern hemisphere let's experience an atmosphere of hope and newness for a moment.  In years past summer has brought freedom bus rides and lunch counter protests.  A few years later there has been police brutality -- or Sammy Davis, Jr. hugging Richard Nixon -- take your pick.

Now, we have the opportunity for another kind of summer.  Before the pundits completely take over our country with a projected Hilary Clinton/John Ellis ("Jeb") Bush race, let us prepare ourselves (legally and non-violently) for the coming crisis of finance and confidence.  I have spoken of this coming crisis before. Most recently, this has been written of in The Crash of 2016, by Thom Hartmann.

I see my duties now as reading as much as I can, posting here, and getting my own financial house in order. Beyond this, I see myself developing some specific to-do lists relating to how to survive and how to help others survive.

As you can see I am a bit ambitious.  For now, I am listening, watching, waiting, and trying to cooperate with reality.

N.B.  The close of the season has been a busy and hectic time for me.  Things are easing now, and among other summer-time duties, I hope to continue posting here.  It is apparent to me that a new day is indeed coming.  

Still Here (After All These Years)

Next week we celebrate the eighth anniversary of this web log.  While eight years of publishing is not such a very long time, in Internet history it is an eon.

What has changed the most is America.  While statistics were already trending in 2006, we have seen so much during the later years of the naughts, and the early years of the teens, that it is rather overwhelming at times.

We stand today in an America hollowed out.  Its industrial might has been hollowed out.  Its Bill of Rights has, in many ways, been hollowed out.  The framework of faith in the American dollar has been hollowed out.

What is left is a confused and muddled picture.  American federal leadership suffers divisions to the point of being nearly dysfunctional.  This is an extremely dangerous situation, full of potential pitfalls.  The poor have been suffering for a long time.  And now the middle class is under duress.  The wealth class, especially the top 1/10th of 1 percent, however, are doing better than they have in ages.

It is this imbalance which is so destabilizing and dangerous.  Even some of the wealthy, such as Warren Buffet are aware of this.  They know if there becomes too much of an imbalance between the haves and the have-nots, rot sets in and the foundations of society cave.

We cannot undo our recent past.  What we can do, however, is get as much information as we can and use that information to oppose the oligarchs and plutocrats wherever they may hide.  

The Musical Patriot: Erudite Traitors Seek to Pervert U.S. Constitution

The Musical Patriot: Erudite Traitors Seek to Pervert U.S. Constitution

The Crash of 2016: Can We Avoid It?

Author Thom Hartmann has presented evidence in his new book The Crash of 2016 that there may be a cycle in history which careens between cataclysmic economic events.  By the point of Chapter 3, the workings of the elites, or Economic Royalists, are becoming clear.  Just by seeing more clearly how the powerful protect and extend their reach over time, hope springs up that something can yet be done in this particular cycle.

It is also becoming clear that certain other powerful individuals, some with money, do not want to see the current reckless profiteering continue.  For one thing the Democratic Governors Association is very active in the effort to elect Democrats in states which seemed to go for Republicans in the tea party revolution of 2010.

In coming days I will have more on these efforts at turning back the tide which is now being called Fascist and foisted on America by the oligarchs and plutocrats of our time.  

The Crash of 2016

In his new book published last November*, author Thom Hartmann lays out a certain history of America in which he says about every eighty years there is a major economic crash followed by a major war.  For my purposes now I am not so concerned about the wars, but I am greatly concerned about the economic crashes.

We are, says Hartmann, headed for another major crash.  And this certainly goes along with other experts such as the writers of Aftershock, already referenced here.  The point Hartmann makes about the Great Forgetting following the Great Depression rings true, sadly.  Those who remember the Great Depression now, though not few in number, are an increasingly smaller proportion of the population and many alive now who do remember the Great Depression were too young to understand its true meaning.  Thus a book like Hartmann's is very important.

Yesterday, I obtained my own copy of this landmark new book and have begun reading it in earnest.  I am very happy with the book so far, grateful for its attention to the economic plight of average citizens and grateful for its clear recounting of such things as the difference of opinion between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as found in their exchange of letters.

The main test of the book and of our times will be how well we learn from history and whether we are able to stem the tide of the march to disaster which at this point seems so inevitable.

In coming days I hope to have more hopeful things to say on this subject.

The Crash of 2016.  Twelve Publishing.  2013

Slow Growth Surprises Prognosticators

The U.S. economy barely grew in the first quarter of 2014, frustrating experts who expected a significantly stronger performance, according to today's New York Times. With growth at a near standstill there is wonderment over the Fed's announced intention to continue pulling back on stimulus measures.

Of course, stimulus measures of the kind the Fed engages in carry their own risks -- such as raising fears of inflation as well as exacerbating worries of a destabilized financial system down the road.  The Federal Open Market committee expressed confidence in their decision to pull back on Treasury and market-backed securities.  Fed chairwoman, Janet Yellin, indicated confidence in the direction the Fed is taking in a recent speech.  She declared the Fed is focused on the right things.

Despite all the talk of confidence in the economy, underlying factors such as a weak labor market remain areas of concern.  Federal Reserve members who have a seat at the meeting table should spend a day at an employment office and really listen to actual applicants seeking work in a tough economic environment.