The Two-Party Political System in the USA was Founded by Plutocrats

 Here's only a tiny part of the current state of American politics.  Each description at each link is extremely brief---

 https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/house_denounces_horrors_of_socialism_in_bipartisan_resolution

[Here are some of the "horrors of socialism" in the USA:  national parks, public roads, public libraries, public health clinics, social security retirement, & anything else not privatized.]

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/1_000_children_are_yet_to_be_reunited_with_families_after_separation_at_us_mexico_border

[This borders on criminality perpetrated by Repub AND Dem elected officials & appointed bureaucrats.  Perhaps arguably, it's child abuse.]

https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/3/headlines/guantanamo_prisoner_majid_khan_freed_and_resettled_after_2_decades_of_detention_years_of_torture

["The U.S. continues to hold 34 prisoners at Guantánamo. Only 11 of them have been charged in military tribunals."  What an egregious shame on American national politicians.  ALL humans have certain rights, including criminals, terrorists, SUSPECTS, & the like.]

HISTORY MATTERS---

The first political Parties in the USA were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans (AKA, the Anti-Federalists).  They were formed by the first political "bosses" about twenty years after the founding of our country.  Alexander Hamilton was the Head of the Federalists, and they were in favor of a strong central government.  When the USA was forming in the mid-1770's, Hamilton favored a monarchy for our type of government; he believed we should have a King.  Thomas Jefferson was the Head of the Democratic-Republicans, and they favored strong States' Rights.

These first American political Parties were formed by the members of the social elite, the rich plutocrats of that time.  Almost all of them "owned" hundreds of slaves, and believed only the aristocracy should rule a country.  Twenty years prior to the formal organization of the two Parties, these same men formed our government.  They did not favor a democracy, and often described same as "two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner".

They finally settled on a Constitutional Republic in which "all men are created equal", except of course, for slaves.  Women couldn't vote, and members of the Senate were not elected; instead, they were appointed to office.

Time passed, and things changed.  Now we're the "land of the free and the home of the brave".  I agree we're brave.  One has to be when putting up with politicians who favor mega banks, perpetual war, fossil fuels, policing the world, the American Empire, the rich & powerful, and Edward Bernays style propaganda.  But, are you "free" - from debt, from job insecurity, from the rat-race, from pollution (e.g., the "forever chemicals" and the nano-plastics in your body), from a fractured and atomized society, from the super high cost of living, from a government too large to be managed properly, from "food deserts" scattered all across the country, from weather extremes which could have been mitigated on the macro-scale, from inflation (the hidden tax)?  If not, then place much of the blame on a broken TWO-PARTY system which is largely run by Oligarchs and/or their influence.

Don't jump to conclusions.  No one loves this country more than I do.  It's a false myth which says if you love your country, then you must support the scoundrels who are running it.  Plutocrats promote that baloney.  The aristocracy wants you to believe such nonsense.  As Warren Buffett once stated fairly recently:  "There's a Class War going on in this country, and my side is winning.".  So true, Mr. Buffett.

It doesn't have to be that way.  Stop drinking the propaganda kool-aid coming from Repubs AND Dems.  Overwhelmingly, they are on the same Team (except for a few social hot-button issues), and it's not yours.  They are on Team Oligarchy.

So, what's to be done?

1.  If you're a Democrat, don't ever vote for one of your "centrist/moderate" candidates (unless he/she is running against someone like Trump).  They are NOT centrists; they are corporatists.  They are part of the Big Business Establishment.  Instead, support Progressives.  They have their flaws, but they're the closest thing to being democratic (with a small letter "d") in the Corporatist Dem Party.  The Dem Party of the past is long-gone, replaced by neoliberalism.

After Sanders was completely shafted by the DNC, it's amazing to me that any Progressives remained in the so-called Dem Party.  They all should have dumped it.  I'm guessing they believe they'll change it from the inside.  That's highly unlikely.  It's a rigged game, rigged by billions of dollars.

2.  If you're a Republican, be aware that the Repub Party also is long-gone; it has been co-opted first by Neoconservatives, and then by Neoliberals.  They support Big Biz over Small Biz.  They egregiously promulgate Corporate Globalization and monopolies.  The only thing they want to conserve is Rule by Plutocrats.  They favor industrial farming over smaller family farms.  They abhor competition in the marketplace.  They don't give a damn about your religion, your ethics, or your belief in conservatism.  In short, you've been bamboozled.

Your best hope is to dump the so-called Repub Party, and become an Independent or perhaps a Libertarian (although, you probably won't care for the liberal side of libertarianism).  You're fairly well shafted, partly because most likely you don't know much at all about Russell Kirk, the Founder of Modern Day Conservatism.  Without knowing it, you allowed genuine conservatism to be replaced by neoliberalism.

................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

There are almost ZERO genuine "conservatives" in the present-day USA

The title is one of my hypotheses.  It's based on long experience as an ardent conservative back in the 1960's, and on my continuing interest in all major political and economic philosophies up through today.  From Edmund Burke to Russell Kirk to William F. Buckley, Jr. and beyond, I'm well-versed in the personalities & principles of conservatism.  I haven't been a conservative for decades, but remember it all.  Some people have said, "But conservatism has changed since back then.".  No, and here's why:  the bedrock principles of a philosophy do not change.  The "change" is as follows:  conservatism has been displaced & co-opted by neoconservatism and neoliberalism (there's not a lot of difference between the two), and they have principles totally different from those of conservatism.

The term, "conservative" or "conservatism" once stood for honor, duty, conservation of high values, integrity, truth, acting in a civil manner, and minding your own business.  That's why the co-opters of the Conservative Movement retained the label rather than owning up to their real identity.  They wanted the (mostly) good reputation of being a conservative.

Russell Kirk (R.I.P.) is well known as the Father of American Conservatism.  His iconic book, The Conservative Mind" (1953), had seven editions with total sales over one million copies.  I doubt there are even ten so-called conservatives today (under the age of 50 of so) who know much of anything about him, or about the principles he espoused.

 From Kirk:

"When every person claims to be a power unto himself, then society falls into anarchy. Anarchy never lasts long, being intolerable for everyone, and contrary to the ineluctable fact that some persons are more strong and more clever than their neighbors. To anarchy there succeeds tyranny or oligarchy [emphasis added], in which power is monopolized by a very few."

~  The Russell Kirk Center

[Yes, I also had to look up the definition of "ineluctable".  It's an adjective meaning:  unable to be avoided or resisted, inescapable.  Kirk was an intellectual of the highest order, hence the fancy language.  He laid the philosophical underpinnings for American Conservatism, and did so almost singlehandedly.]

Kirk on civil society and change:

"Conservatives are champions of custom, convention, and continuity [as in the peaceful transition of power] because they prefer the devil they know to the devil they don't know... necessary change, conservatives argue, ought to be gradual and discriminatory, never unfixing old interests at once."

From---

https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2021/07/ten-conservative-principles-russell-kirk.html

No time to go through all ten principles from the link immediately above.  Just from the quotes cited so far, it should be obvious that Trump & Crew (and many others who claim to be Right-Wing) are not conservatives at all.  Some of them think they are, but that's only because they are completely unfamiliar with the founding principles of American Conservatism.  For example, such principles do not support threatening violence to election officials, or to those of us who are exercising the freedom to wear a pandemic mask, or those who believe a woman should have control over her own body, or those who believe human rights violations by Saudi Arabia, or Israel, or any other country disqualify them from being our ally.  Such principles do not support initiating violence or "first strikes" of any kind.  They do not support egregious lying or fraud, nor do they support wanton destruction of Nature in the name of capitalism.

True conservatives conserve good things rather than destroy or damage them for little or no reason.

So, what's my point here?  To those few of you who still are genuine conservatives, I suggest the following.  Politically and philosophically, get as far away as possible from the unprincipled, unethical, uncivil, phony "conservatives" who have co-opted the Conservative Movement.  Their ideology is much closer to fascism than it is to conservatism.  In the long run, History will judge them as either fascists or precursors to such.

......................

Not only my opinion.   Be Well

Sustainability: Start at the Village/Town/City/COUNTY Level

https://steadystate.org/resisting-the-temptation-of-growth-at-the-county-level/  

and -

https://transitionnetwork.org/

Homo sapiens has been working on sustainability for planet Earth for at least thirty years or so.  Despite some progress (especially in Europe), we aren't close enough to where we should be.  National politicians all around the world seem to get side-tracked by neoliberal influences, which also inundate Main Street with "unlimited growth" propaganda.  So - often there's lots of hopeful talk at the national level, but action mostly becomes limited to kicking the can down the road.

The political Right here (in the USA) was co-opted decades ago, first by neocons, then by neolibs... and most of them on Main Street appear to be completely unaware of the coup.  They seem to think they're still in the "Conservative Movement".  That movement, started by Russell Kirk in the 1950's, is long dead.  The so-called conservatives of today are supporting an ideology which would be anathema to the original modern-day conservatives of the Kirk Era.  That ideology they're supporting is corporatist-globalist-neoliberalism, and it doesn't want to conserve much of anything, except for maybe Plutocratic Rule.  It's against Small Biz, anything rural, anything natural, and is working to utterly destroy Nature by  favoring infinite growth at any cost to our finite habitat.  Its goal is to have the entire world run by Big Biz Elites.  Forget family farms, the mom-and-pop corner store, and any kind of level playing field in the business-financial-economic-labor arena.  In general, neoliberals and the Super-Rich are against all of that.  

The kicker is this:  they finance most national political election campaigns.  That's why, in the USA, we've seen little progress toward sustainability over the past few decades.

The two links above show ways to get things rolling.  [Again, you have to copy and paste; the links are inactive.  As a Low-Tech or No-Tech person, I have no clue as to how to make them active.  Nor do I have the time to find out how.  I'm guessing Blogger makes them inactive in order to discourage people from leaving blogspot.  In my opinion, that's not a good idea.]

If I recall correctly, the Transition Movement (the 2nd link) started in the UK.  It is spreading to countries around the world.  Kudos!  From the ground up is the way to start, rather than from the top down.  The top won't budge much at all until the bottom level starts a groundswell.

...................

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The End of American Hegemony is Now on the Horizon

It's difficult to predict whether that end still is a long way off or will happen somewhat quickly...too many variables.  Nevertheless, it is finally visible.  Despite what Oligarchs and those who are propagandized to the hilt may think, the approaching end of the USA's worldwide hegemony is a good thing.

A few years ago the results of either a Gallup or Pew Research Poll (can't recall which) indicated that 80% of the world believed the greatest threat to peace was the USA.  I suppose our Bully Boy, Reality Show, Tweety Bird, Ignoramus, Oval Office Occupier would call those results "fake news"; but then, everything he disagrees with is so named by him. 

China, the rest of Asia (including India), Russia, Iran, large parts of South America (especially Brazil), South Africa, and now even Saudi Arabia, are so fed up with our Govt's HEGEMONY that they are waging an unprecedented economic/financial war on the USA.  They have a good chance of winning it.  First came South America's rejection of our Govt's longstanding policy of Neocolonialism relative to them.  Next was BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, & S. Africa) and their financial revolt, and just recently, we have the PetroYuan...essentially backed by gold.  Finally, beaucoup countries are allowing escape from the "almighty" Dollar via cryptocurrencies.  Dollar-dumping is rife in many, many countries.

We live in interesting times--- we are witnessing the beginning of the end of American Hegemony... especially monetary/financial hegemony.  Our Gov't and its Mega Bank Cronies will do anything legal or illegal to prevent that end.  It all hearkens back to Manifest Destiny and the crimes committed under that "justification".  The main difference between then & now is that our Empire is no longer land-based.  It's now based on control via threats of force, both monetary/financial/economic force and military force.  Most of it is illegal, immoral, unethical, and unconstitutional.

Starting a war won't prevent the end of our hegemony; it only might postpone it.

The Constitutional Republic of the USA is now in name only.  These days, we live in a Fascist State.  According to both FDR & Mussolini, Fascism = the Power of the State married to the Power of BIG Business.  Undeniably, that's the U.S. Gov't both for quite a number of years and presently.

The days of genuine American Conservatism (a big part of which was non-interventionism abroad and non-speculative banking at home) AND genuine American Progressivism (a big part of which was a safety net for the most vulnerable and fairness for all) are mostly gone...long gone.

And so it goes.  

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Crony Capitalists, Globalists, NeoConservatives, Corporatism, and the Corporate Media

YaHoo News just posted a brief piece about Ajit Pai (the FCC Chairman) doing a gag skit for some group in which he was a shill for Verizon.  A member of upper management in Verizon participated in that "joke".  The gag apparently fell flat.

The fact is, for some time now the Corporatocracy & its Crony Capitalists have been supremely confident that Americans are so propagandized & distracted that they (the Corporatists) never will be dethroned.  As a result, they don't even try & conceal their Cronyism anymore.

The main problem is that too many Americans don't appear to understand the difference between Corporatism (essentially Crony Capitalism) and genuine Capitalism.  Too many believe the battle here is between Capitalism (or really, a Mixed Economy) & Socialism.  It isn't.  It's between Corporatism and genuine Capitalism.  Most of the Right Wing and even much of the Left Wing seem to think those two are the same thing.  They aren't even close to being the same.  This is why the Right Wing, in particular, is supporting (without realizing it) the destruction of our economy---they think they're supporting Capitalism.  They aren't; they're supporting Crony Capitalism...which basically is Fascism.  Until they overcome that ignorance, our country--- & especially our economy--- is doomed to NeoFeudalism.

The same exact thing is true for "Conservatism".  People who think they're "Conservatives" today aren't even close to that.  They are NeoConservatives (based on the idiots they've been supporting for at least a couple of decades).  NeoConservatism is a horse of an entirely different color, & over a period of 20-25 years, it has totally replaced genuine Conservatism.  The Corporate Media all know this, but continue the myth that current Right Wing politicians are "Conservatives".  They do it because NeoConservatism has a very tiny base of support, whereas the old, long-gone Conservatism has a much, much larger base of support.  NeoConservatives essentially are Globalist, hegemonic, monopolistic, militarist, Crony Capitalist, elitist politicians (pretty much Fascists)...nothing at all like 99% of the old Conservatives, such as Russell Kirk or Paul Craig Roberts.  I would venture to guess that almost all Americans who call themselves Conservatives today haven't even read the "Bible" of Modern Day Conservatism by Kirk, The Conservative Mind (1953).  Had they read it, it would dawn upon them that they've been supporting the wrong politicians.

In The USA, Propaganda reigns supreme.  And so it goes.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Sorry State of USA Politics

Consider the following brief points.

1.  The electorate (in both major Parties) are fed up with politics as usual... the Establishment Game, the Rigged Game.  That's a good thing.  But, the "popularity" of Trump is one result of that... seriously?  Donald Trump IS the Establishment.  To those of you on the political Right--- he's not a Conservative in any sense of the word; he's not even a sincere Republican.  He's a Corporatist.  Corporatists are beyond the old, anachronistic political labels.  Trump is so ignorant of Ethics & Morality that he would "bring back water-boarding, and a helluva lot worse".  [Water-boarding is not just getting someone's face wet; it's suffocation to the point just shy (hopefully) of death.  Too many believe that's not torture.]

2.  The millionaire Ted Cruz, also a Corporatist, sounds like a smooth-talking used car salesman.  He oozes insincerity and phoniness.  He also is not any kind of Conservative.  Like Trump, Cruz IS the Establishment.

3.  Jeb Bush left his service in Florida, became some sort of investment banker, and made millions.  As a politician, he's simply tiresome.  Like his brother Dubya, he's a believer in the NON-Conservative concept of preemptive war... which, by the way, is a violation of Ethics, Morality, and International Law.  Jeb is so desperate that he recently tweeted a photo of a handgun with his name on it... talk about pandering.

4.  I'll say this for Marco Rubio:  he's the only leading candidate who essentially & comparatively is financially broke.  Unfortunately, he's one of many who (from time to time) wears his religion on his sleeve... thus pandering to a certain segment of the Right.  Plus, like several others, he has many foreign policy beliefs that are decidedly NON-Conservative.  [Except for Rand Paul, no longer in the race, the Repub candidates all sound like warmongers... just like Obama, the Absolute King of the Drone Wars.]

5.  Hillary Clinton is a Corporatist posing as a Populist.  She sounds like a really slick, smooth-talking used car salesman... just as does her husband.

6.  Bernie Sanders appears to be genuine, but with politicians, one never knows until it's too late.  In my view, he should have run as an Independent.  He doesn't represent the Corporatist Democrat Party, and should he not get the nomination, he's done.  That would not be the case as an Independent.

7.  The debates this election season are pretty much asinine...completely ridiculous.  From the beginning to the present, debate moderators (most likely at the direction of someone else) obviously focus on certain candidates to the virtual exclusion of others.  Questions should be posed, and then EVERY candidate should be given equal time to respond.  We've seen very, very little of that.

8.  Something fishy is going on with the Democrats... that is, fishier than with the Repubs.  First, the Dems haven't had nearly enough debates; it's almost as though the Party purposely is avoiding debates.  Second, the number of debaters was reduced to three in nothing flat.  What the hell was that?

9.  The Repub debates have devolved to the point of resembling a bunch of spoiled, squabbling, name-calling children at some bizarre gathering.  Not enough discussion of genuine ISSUES, and way too much concentration on social Hot-Button issues... that is, when the candidates are not engaged in personal attacks.  It's almost as if the Party wants to guarantee that Repubs will lose in November.  Immature.

10.  Do a bit of research on unelected superdelegates relative to the nomination process.  They are Party Elites who have unwarranted power.  In NH, for example, Sanders more or less trounced Clinton... but the nomination delegates were split evenly between the two candidates.  That was reported by the Corporate Media, but they didn't explain why the split was even.  It was because the superdelegates favored the Corporatist, Clinton.  Decidedly UNDemocratic... in the Democrat Party.  What a farce.  Superdelegates are one way that the Establishment controls elections... the People be damned.
.......................................................
As stated several times in the past, I'm not a Repub or a Dem... haven't been for years.  Many moons ago, however, I was a Conservative.  In 1964, I was President of the Colorado State U. Chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)... worked my butt off for Barry Goldwater's election.  At that time, YAF was the most Conservative organization in America... much more so than the Young Republicans.  I mention this now because in this Blog (for 9 yrs) I've often commented on "Conservatives" and/or "Conservatism"... as in this article.  I consider myself well-versed in the subject.  It's important for people to realize that the high-level, so-called Conservatives of today are not any such thing.  Conservatism was replaced by NeoConservatism, which was replaced by Neoliberalism.  The use of the term, Conservatism, is now a Propaganda ploy.  I would venture to guess that less than 10% of today's high-level, so-called "Conservatives" have read the bible of modern-day Conservatism, The Conservative Mind, by Russell Kirk.  Should Repubs or others ever do so, they will discover that most of the policies supported by the likes of Trump, Cruz, all the Bush Boys, Rubio, Fiorina, etc. are not Conservative in the slightest.  Ron and Rand Paul are the closest thing to genuine Conservatism nowadays; how they are viewed by the so-called "Conservative" leadership of today demonstrates the disappearance of that political Movement.  Genuine Conservatism essentially is no more.  Don't believe the political hacks and pundits of today who refer to themselves as "Conservative"; they either don't know what they're talking about, or they are propagandizing you.

Be Well

A Genuine Conservative

Paul Craig Roberts was in the Reagan Administration. He has written for both National Review and the Wall Street Journal. As I once was, he still is a Russell Kirk-Barry Goldwater Conservative...a genuine Conservative. [Russell Kirk was the Founder of the modern American Conservative Movement, in the '50s. http://www.kirkcenter.org/kirkbio.html ] In my opinion, if a "Conservative" of today has not read The Conservative Mind, (1953) by Kirk, that person is not philosophically rooted in Conservatism.

The phony NeoCons began their movement in the '70s, in obscure journals; by the end of the '80s, they were well-entrenched in think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute, and launched their takeover of the Conservative Movement. By the early to mid-'90s, they claimed to be the representatives of Conservatism. For some odd reason, the American people bought it. Men like William F. Buckley, Jr. were marginalized by the NeoCons, and labeled "Paleo-Conservatives"---a derogatory term invented by the NeoCons, whose ultimate goal is an American Empire, somewhat like the old Roman Empire. That's when I left the Conservative Movement and became a Libertarian.

Here's what a genuine Conservative thinks of Bush-Cheney, the Iraq War, pre-emptive wars, the so-called "War on Terror", etc.--- (The last link is devastating...it has to do with the war in Georgia.)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts109.html

http://www.vdare.com/roberts/090203_terror.htm

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts08152008.html (scroll down a bit)

The so-called "Conservative" political pundits of today are nothing but shills for the phony NeoCons. True Conservatism has been relegated to the back of the bus. [I keep referring to NeoCons as "phony" because, by their own admission, they are Progressives disgruntled with the lack of aggressive military policy on/by the Left. That's the only thing about which they are disgruntled with concerning the Left. Simply put, they are not Conservatives of any kind.]

Do not think for a moment that presently, with Obama, the NeoCons are out of the picture. They are still as thick as flies and plying their trade in DC. Some are in the Obama Administration...example: Dennis Ross.

All hail the American Empire.

Wake up, Amerika.