Georgia on my mind.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

Watching the long lines at food banks for people never needing it before are heartbreaking. People who begrudge the poor getting a little money are the same ones having no problems with very rich paying very little in taxes, etc.

Exactly!!! And America deserves so much better! Rob

[Alan]

Someone once wrote that a democracy progresses through the following sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence, from dependence back into bondage.

Threads such as this make be think our democracy has reached the apathy stage and will soon transition to dependence. I just can't imagine why anyone thinks that's a good thing.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Cool beans for you that you don't experience fear of hunger and fear of being cast out on the streets by Global Capitalism.

You would be surprised at how much money you can make and still experience the fear, that it could all turn on a dime no matter what one does. I was talking with boyfriend how I went to bed Monday night thinking about how much of my life has been dominated by economic fear and he knows the same only from childhood (my childhood was fine economically, I never worried because middle class actually meant something back then though I heard plenty of stories about the Great Depression, but he was raised by a single mother due to divorce). No, we haven't done everything right, those cookie cutter stepford people who do everything right, what paradise do they come from? But heaven knows I do *some* things right (though I never sought to marry rich or anything like that, I've never been conniving like that).

[Tammy]

Not sure how much I agree, but I do appreciate the theory described by Alan.

One could use Rome and Greece as examples. One could use China as an argument against it, perhaps, as I think China has some freedom a few thousand years ago, at least as must as Germany did prior to the Holy Roman Empire.

Anyway to get back on track -

In relation to this theory and others like it, I’m not sure we can do much about it. It’s big picture, several hundred years long, empire level stuff. If the theory is correct, we will go through these stages over great lengths of time as a large society. Our individual opinions about it don’t really matter. And I don’t think we have much effect on the big picture either.

[Tammy]

So then the question remains: “how shall we live our lives if the above is true?”

[Alan]

So then the question remains: “how shall we live our lives if the above is true?”

I think the answer is to resist dependence by rejecting politicians and parties who's stated goal is to provide for you.

[happystuff]

I think the answer is to resist dependence by rejecting politicians and parties who's stated goal is to provide for you.

I can see that working for the "haves", but what about the "have-nots"?

[early morning]

I think the answer is to resist dependence by rejecting politicians and parties whose unstated but clearly acted on goal is to dominate anyone who disagrees with them, by any means necessary.

Good question, happystuff. And to clarify - I'm not talking about RESISTING by any means necessary ( I hope it does not come to that!!), but that the party currently desperately trying to keep executive power is willing to use any means necessary.

[bae]

I fear the Senate is going to flip to democratic and I don’t like that one bit.

I wish the Senate would flip to Republican. I don't see many Republicans around these days though, just Trumpists.

[bae]

H L Mencken said every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

"Vote for me, and I'll increase the Cura Annonae!" - Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus