Deep State mouthpiece David Ignatius, writing for the WaPo, is previewing a new Rand study that’s due out Tuesday. Rand is concerned that the American Empire is in a long term downward spiral “from which few great powers have ever recovered." Among the few great powers that
I know David Ignatius personally. Unfortunately, David is a total sell-out to the Deep State he now serves. Starting with "the elite," David says. Indeed. David sees himself as so, so elite. But he doesn't have to worry. There is far more virtue in "We the People" than David ever realized. My advice to David is start there. "We the People" will restore America after the elite are done trying to destroy it.
Hubris. But really it's a lack of ethics. [I'm in Italy]
There's a complete failure to promote a self-regulating autonomous-individual participation in society, and consequently the state.
It's not so much a "lack of accountability", the institutions that provide accountability aren't fit for purpose, so even those individuals brave enough to try are always "fighting a loosing" battle.
The hyper financialization of the 80s started this decadence.
The mediocrity of our leaders is astounding.
The US might have the largest budget for the MIC, but it seems less qualitative or efficient than those spending a fraction.
And so hubris. Mediocre people will never have doubts of their genius.
" the institutions that provide accountability aren't fit for purpose,"
That's an interesting statement, because the primary institution responsible for enforcing accountability in any representative democratic system is the legislature. I don't disagree with you, but have no alternative to offer.
I tend to agree re hyper financialization, including tracing it back to the 80s and the mainstreaming of Libertarian ideology. However, consider the irresponsibility of the SCOTUS (1996) in rejecting the line item veto on specious grounds:
But I've noticed that local municipal politicsl seems to function "better", perhaps because the relationship with the electorate is more tangible.
Many years ago while researching issues around "merit", one important take away from "selection processes" (ex. Elections, competitions, etc) was that by the third iteration, repeat participants had a huge advantage over newcomers (round 1: the rules are new to everyone, round 2: some participants have learned and apply the lessons, round 3: repeat participants use proven winning strategies).
Beyond the legislature, complex societies needs implicit expectations of participants that "state bodies" (ie justice system, law and order, health and safety, food & drug, etc) do what they're supposed to do.
My experience atm Is that well meaning individuals within these structures have the deck stacked against them.
So it's not just the high level (national) that appears fubar. And that's not a good sign.
So my thinking right now is the issues are cultural and we could do with an honest reappraisal of the role of money in society (without reducing the discussion into stereotypes of right vs left, rich vs poor, mainstream econ vs Marxism or Austrian school etc.).
I think we can all agree that we wouldn't be having this conversation if we didn't have good teachers.
And none of my school or university teachers are millionaires. Food for thought.
I do think that our political problems are, at core, cultural. Policing of political institutions on a mass scale is almost impossible at a granular level. A common culture--a shared understanding and agreement re the common good--makes that degree of policing unnecessary, or far less necessary than is the case in modern America. Garden variety corruption can be dealt with, but not systemic disagreements re the common good in the context of 1. protected and entrenched civil servants with their own agendas and 2. multi-level political processes in which agenda driven money men come between representatives and constituents.
I can't help but see, I Gnat, whenever I see David's name in print. Sorry folks, I just can't help myself, gnats are particularly annoying little creatures.
Many years ago economist Paul Kennedy wrote a book called The Rise & Fall of the Great Powers. I think the premise of the book, if I can remember had to do with debt trading balances, and other things that caused great powers to decline. At the time I read it, our own country had been going into a tremendous position of being a huge debtor nation wish I could see you in the long run would probably be our downfall. And yes, we are proceeding along that path without a pause.
In the last eight years Donald Trump and Joe Biden between them will have added $12-$16 trillion to the national debt. Our interest rate expense right now is exceeding $1 trillion and going up. We are adding on average $1 trillion every 100 days. Yet neither Trump or Biden have addressed this issue and offered any solution. Biden himself has proposed a $7 trillion budget. Well guess what 5 trillion of that is for healthcare spending, defense spending, and interest on the debt. No amount of taxes can be levied to make up for all of the shortfall.
The truth is that president's have essentially NO control over spending. Focusing on presidents--although some are complicit--misses the point of how America works. Presidents are faced with the choice of approving whatever spending the Congress has approved or shutting down most of the country--which is always wildly unpopular, usually because its Republican presidents who attempt to rein in spending and they are attacked by the Dem media. A president may be able to make a bit of difference nibbling at the margins of the spending--but note that I said "spending" rather than budget. We no longer have true budgets.
I have long maintained that the single most irresponsible SCOTUS decision of modern times regarding the government was rejecting the line item veto. Obviously this is the system that the ruling class wants. It's not about presidents per se.
Oily elites and their verbiage vassals are defining the problems in self-serving, exculpatory directions before the implosion. ‘Not our fault, no sir’.
Plenty of rope lying around, too many empty lampposts, and some fabulous examples to be made and reminders to be generated.
I appreciate the article especially where they blame "domestic factors." Where you say, "the same elites who thought installing Zhou [Biden] over the wishes of the nation," I wasn't sure what you meant by "the wishes of the nation." If you meant Trump, I don't agree that the nation wished for him in Nov. 2020. I certainly didn't. Nothing will change until someone frees the US from the entire post WWII machine.
Susan, what should be disconcerting to all is the notion that our elites should take the lead in finding new leaders. WTF, they are the ones who have been picking our leaders and look at all the mooks right and left not to mention the mean girls of the fascist left. These are the leaders foisted upon us, the un-elected activists who are all on the spectrum of serious mental illness and the rigged elections that give us no choices. Who do you believe should lead us? Who is capable of resisting the siren call of personal wealth accumulation and power that would say, but "for the people?" Not the lame sloganeering for "the greater good," but for all the citizens who wish to live their lives in peace and wish the same for even our enemies.
Cosmo, you hit on my biggest issues. Elites are united, we have no choice, and no one can resist the siren call once they get to the Beltway. The only solution is for the US to be broken up into maybe 3 parts. Southwest states for example could join with Mexico. #1 problem is that US is effectively a military dictatorship, taxpayers are lifelong slaves to what is basically a laughing mob--including "mean girls"--looking to cause misery everywhere.
Another great piece of work, Mark. What stood out for me in the Rand report was this nugget:
"When great powers have slid from a position of preeminence or leadership because of domestic factors, they seldom reverse this trend."
That is quite a statement and I wonder how people here interpret the meaning of that? Yes, there is a glaring fracture within our country, but who caused it and why? Does the Rand go into any of that and point to some root cause? This has the uneasy feeling that a document by an organization we are told is based on research and superior knowledge the experts are pointing to China this time and domestic problems all of which they have created. Now these elites will be the ones along with the experts who brought us here to begin with will try, for the greater good, to "heal the world." Uh huh.
Rand is gonna do what Rand does... feed the Deep State. Ignatius is reinforcing this of course. My question is which Trump will we see if he wins the election. The 2016 agenda Presidency (minus the Russia hoax) or will Trump succumb to the pressure of the Deep State in 2024 and beyond? The one Ignatius describes where need to "tilt" back to a more dominant power. My guess is the latter.
Todays the Duran had an explanation of why the focus on Taiwan:
The belief is if Taiwan becomes strong enough and declares independence, this will cause a loss of confidence in China’s leadership, and cause regime change.
Interesting delusion.
The reality is the majority of Taiwanese are happy with the status quo. They don’t want independence due to fear of China’s reaction, or to become like Hong Kong and lose their freedom.
I know David Ignatius personally. Unfortunately, David is a total sell-out to the Deep State he now serves. Starting with "the elite," David says. Indeed. David sees himself as so, so elite. But he doesn't have to worry. There is far more virtue in "We the People" than David ever realized. My advice to David is start there. "We the People" will restore America after the elite are done trying to destroy it.
Also see my new book on the American people and our endangered republic: "Our Country, Then and Now." https://www.amazon.com/Our-Country-Then-Richard-Cook/dp/1949762858
Hubris. But really it's a lack of ethics. [I'm in Italy]
There's a complete failure to promote a self-regulating autonomous-individual participation in society, and consequently the state.
It's not so much a "lack of accountability", the institutions that provide accountability aren't fit for purpose, so even those individuals brave enough to try are always "fighting a loosing" battle.
The hyper financialization of the 80s started this decadence.
The mediocrity of our leaders is astounding.
The US might have the largest budget for the MIC, but it seems less qualitative or efficient than those spending a fraction.
And so hubris. Mediocre people will never have doubts of their genius.
" the institutions that provide accountability aren't fit for purpose,"
That's an interesting statement, because the primary institution responsible for enforcing accountability in any representative democratic system is the legislature. I don't disagree with you, but have no alternative to offer.
I tend to agree re hyper financialization, including tracing it back to the 80s and the mainstreaming of Libertarian ideology. However, consider the irresponsibility of the SCOTUS (1996) in rejecting the line item veto on specious grounds:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_v._City_of_New_York
I don't have an alternative either.
But I've noticed that local municipal politicsl seems to function "better", perhaps because the relationship with the electorate is more tangible.
Many years ago while researching issues around "merit", one important take away from "selection processes" (ex. Elections, competitions, etc) was that by the third iteration, repeat participants had a huge advantage over newcomers (round 1: the rules are new to everyone, round 2: some participants have learned and apply the lessons, round 3: repeat participants use proven winning strategies).
Beyond the legislature, complex societies needs implicit expectations of participants that "state bodies" (ie justice system, law and order, health and safety, food & drug, etc) do what they're supposed to do.
My experience atm Is that well meaning individuals within these structures have the deck stacked against them.
So it's not just the high level (national) that appears fubar. And that's not a good sign.
So my thinking right now is the issues are cultural and we could do with an honest reappraisal of the role of money in society (without reducing the discussion into stereotypes of right vs left, rich vs poor, mainstream econ vs Marxism or Austrian school etc.).
I think we can all agree that we wouldn't be having this conversation if we didn't have good teachers.
And none of my school or university teachers are millionaires. Food for thought.
I do think that our political problems are, at core, cultural. Policing of political institutions on a mass scale is almost impossible at a granular level. A common culture--a shared understanding and agreement re the common good--makes that degree of policing unnecessary, or far less necessary than is the case in modern America. Garden variety corruption can be dealt with, but not systemic disagreements re the common good in the context of 1. protected and entrenched civil servants with their own agendas and 2. multi-level political processes in which agenda driven money men come between representatives and constituents.
I wonder who is the expected audience given 1/4 (officially)of the nation doesn’t even speak English as a first language.
I can't help but see, I Gnat, whenever I see David's name in print. Sorry folks, I just can't help myself, gnats are particularly annoying little creatures.
Many years ago economist Paul Kennedy wrote a book called The Rise & Fall of the Great Powers. I think the premise of the book, if I can remember had to do with debt trading balances, and other things that caused great powers to decline. At the time I read it, our own country had been going into a tremendous position of being a huge debtor nation wish I could see you in the long run would probably be our downfall. And yes, we are proceeding along that path without a pause.
In the last eight years Donald Trump and Joe Biden between them will have added $12-$16 trillion to the national debt. Our interest rate expense right now is exceeding $1 trillion and going up. We are adding on average $1 trillion every 100 days. Yet neither Trump or Biden have addressed this issue and offered any solution. Biden himself has proposed a $7 trillion budget. Well guess what 5 trillion of that is for healthcare spending, defense spending, and interest on the debt. No amount of taxes can be levied to make up for all of the shortfall.
The truth is that president's have essentially NO control over spending. Focusing on presidents--although some are complicit--misses the point of how America works. Presidents are faced with the choice of approving whatever spending the Congress has approved or shutting down most of the country--which is always wildly unpopular, usually because its Republican presidents who attempt to rein in spending and they are attacked by the Dem media. A president may be able to make a bit of difference nibbling at the margins of the spending--but note that I said "spending" rather than budget. We no longer have true budgets.
I have long maintained that the single most irresponsible SCOTUS decision of modern times regarding the government was rejecting the line item veto. Obviously this is the system that the ruling class wants. It's not about presidents per se.
Oily elites and their verbiage vassals are defining the problems in self-serving, exculpatory directions before the implosion. ‘Not our fault, no sir’.
Plenty of rope lying around, too many empty lampposts, and some fabulous examples to be made and reminders to be generated.
I appreciate the article especially where they blame "domestic factors." Where you say, "the same elites who thought installing Zhou [Biden] over the wishes of the nation," I wasn't sure what you meant by "the wishes of the nation." If you meant Trump, I don't agree that the nation wished for him in Nov. 2020. I certainly didn't. Nothing will change until someone frees the US from the entire post WWII machine.
Susan, what should be disconcerting to all is the notion that our elites should take the lead in finding new leaders. WTF, they are the ones who have been picking our leaders and look at all the mooks right and left not to mention the mean girls of the fascist left. These are the leaders foisted upon us, the un-elected activists who are all on the spectrum of serious mental illness and the rigged elections that give us no choices. Who do you believe should lead us? Who is capable of resisting the siren call of personal wealth accumulation and power that would say, but "for the people?" Not the lame sloganeering for "the greater good," but for all the citizens who wish to live their lives in peace and wish the same for even our enemies.
Cosmo, you hit on my biggest issues. Elites are united, we have no choice, and no one can resist the siren call once they get to the Beltway. The only solution is for the US to be broken up into maybe 3 parts. Southwest states for example could join with Mexico. #1 problem is that US is effectively a military dictatorship, taxpayers are lifelong slaves to what is basically a laughing mob--including "mean girls"--looking to cause misery everywhere.
Another great piece of work, Mark. What stood out for me in the Rand report was this nugget:
"When great powers have slid from a position of preeminence or leadership because of domestic factors, they seldom reverse this trend."
That is quite a statement and I wonder how people here interpret the meaning of that? Yes, there is a glaring fracture within our country, but who caused it and why? Does the Rand go into any of that and point to some root cause? This has the uneasy feeling that a document by an organization we are told is based on research and superior knowledge the experts are pointing to China this time and domestic problems all of which they have created. Now these elites will be the ones along with the experts who brought us here to begin with will try, for the greater good, to "heal the world." Uh huh.
Rand is gonna do what Rand does... feed the Deep State. Ignatius is reinforcing this of course. My question is which Trump will we see if he wins the election. The 2016 agenda Presidency (minus the Russia hoax) or will Trump succumb to the pressure of the Deep State in 2024 and beyond? The one Ignatius describes where need to "tilt" back to a more dominant power. My guess is the latter.
Good call the some massive gaslighting is going to be rolled out. Never let a crisis go to waste. Have they ever?
*that
"The beatings will continue until morale improves."
... all that luxury and decadence... hang your heads /s
Just interested why he is called Zhou…
Zhou is the Chinese name that is pronounced Joe. Started that with revelations of the Biden Crime Family's corrupt dealings with China.
Great, many thanks
Sounds like the Pentagon wants to do some good old "nation building" right here at home.
We should expect lots of "freedom and democracy" during this endeavor which is code for "find the nearest bomb shelter"
The Powers That Be are very, very disappointed in us.
Todays the Duran had an explanation of why the focus on Taiwan:
The belief is if Taiwan becomes strong enough and declares independence, this will cause a loss of confidence in China’s leadership, and cause regime change.
Interesting delusion.
The reality is the majority of Taiwanese are happy with the status quo. They don’t want independence due to fear of China’s reaction, or to become like Hong Kong and lose their freedom.
Oh, goody!! More of the “Ones” we’ve been waiting for!! Can’t wait to see how this sequel turns out.
Let's hope the Rand report is right. I have no illusions about a world run by China, but the Western neocons are long past their sell-by dates.