I am Groot Posted January 14 Report Posted January 14 Was predicted decades ago with incredible accuracy. “Members of labour unions and unorganized unskilled workers will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking and to prevent jobs from being exported,” the late Mr. Rorty wrote in Achieving Our Country, a book based on lectures he’d given at Harvard in 1997. “Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers – themselves desperately afraid of being downsized – are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else. “At that point, something will crack. The non-suburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for – someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots.” Mr. Rorty imagined the gains made by Black and brown Americans would be wiped out. “Jocular contempt” for women would come back in fashion. “All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet. He [this strongman] will be a disaster for the country and the world. People will wonder why there is so little resistance to his inevitable rise.” https://archive.is/7jZ6U Quote "A civilization is not destroyed by wicked men; it is destroyed by weak men who cannot defend what is good.” — G. K. Chesterton
Michael Hardner Posted January 14 Report Posted January 14 1 hour ago, I am Groot said: Was predicted decades ago with incredible accuracy. “Members of labour unions and unorganized unskilled workers will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking and to prevent jobs from being exported,” the late Mr. Rorty wrote in Achieving Our Country, a book based on lectures he’d given at Harvard in 1997. “Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers – themselves desperately afraid of being downsized – are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else. “At that point, something will crack. The non-suburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for – someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots.” Mr. Rorty imagined the gains made by Black and brown Americans would be wiped out. “Jocular contempt” for women would come back in fashion. “All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet. He [this strongman] will be a disaster for the country and the world. People will wonder why there is so little resistance to his inevitable rise.” https://archive.is/7jZ6U Wow. Prescient... how does it end ? 🤔 1 Quote Looks like someone has a new patronizing catch phrase ! Michael Hardner
Barquentine Posted January 15 Report Posted January 15 17 hours ago, I am Groot said: He [this strongman] will be a disaster for the country and the world. "As democracy is perfected, the office [of president] represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people … On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright m0ron." Henry Louis Mencken 1920 Because: “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” Isaac Asimov No wonder Trump said he loves the 'poorly educated'. 1 1 Quote
Barquentine Posted January 15 Report Posted January 15 16 hours ago, Michael Hardner said: Wow. Prescient... how does it end ? Not well, but not total disaster either. (My prediction) I don't think Trump will finish his term. Either a massive stroke or heart attack ends him or debilitates him so he's removed, or after losing BIG TIME in the mid-terms, he quits, rapidly declines and dies. A better President and Congress start making amends for some of his messes. His family drift into the background and live luxurious lives off their grift fortunes. This is just what my intuition tells me will happen, but what do I know - I thought the Jays would winn the world series. Quote
Michael Hardner Posted January 15 Report Posted January 15 1 hour ago, Barquentine said: Not well, but not total disaster either. (My prediction) I don't think Trump will finish his term. Either a massive stroke or heart attack ends him or debilitates him so he's removed, or after losing BIG TIME in the mid-terms, he quits, rapidly declines and dies. A better President and Congress start making amends for some of his messes. His family drift into the background and live luxurious lives off their grift fortunes. This is just what my intuition tells me will happen, but what do I know - I thought the Jays would winn the world series. They DID winn, but they didn't win is all. Well... your prediction is as good as any, I suppose... though the odds of it coming true are still long. With an uninformed electorate, we will see instability until they randomly find a champion who will unmistakably improve the fortunes of the masses. Trump isn't it, IMO. Democratic/Corporate/Academic elites who speak above the heads of the people, such as Biden declaring the economy healthy when it wasn't... are not it. I would guess that we eventually fall into a system of guaranteed payments to the masses because it's the easiest thing for people to understand, and see benefit from. Obviously that system has its limits and until there's a reckoning. Quote Looks like someone has a new patronizing catch phrase ! Michael Hardner
I am Groot Posted January 15 Author Report Posted January 15 18 minutes ago, Michael Hardner said: With an uninformed electorate, we will see instability And why is the electorate so uninformed? My impression is they are less informed now than they were a hundred years ago. And that schools are considerably less informative, with easier tests, with less knowledge, with more coddling, and that the knowledge imparted tends to be heavily slanted towards fashionable leftist beliefs, most of which are implacably hostile to Western society and Capitalism. Quote "A civilization is not destroyed by wicked men; it is destroyed by weak men who cannot defend what is good.” — G. K. Chesterton
John Stone Posted January 16 Report Posted January 16 ............ representation of the volume of rhetoric the electorate is exposed to. How ironic that volume vs political savvy is an inverse relationship Is the internet a threat to democracy? Quite likely and with A.I. taking center stage shortly .......... even more of a threat. The pundits say that the U.S. is in decline - but I'd wager it will be eaten last. Quote
herbie Posted January 16 Report Posted January 16 Same thing is happening here. PP & the Tories trying to convince us that they are the party with the best interests of working people. Mainly with promises to help us keep and make more low paying, menial, dead end jobs. Quote
Goddess Posted January 16 Report Posted January 16 1 minute ago, herbie said: Mainly with promises to help us keep and make more low paying, menial, dead end jobs. Since I lived in Fort Mac for 10 years, I can speak on this. Jobs in the oil & gas industry are NOT low-paying, menial, dead-end jobs. It's the Liberals bringing in Uber drivers and fast food workers. Quote "There are two different types of people in the world - those who want to know and those who want to believe." ~~ Friedrich Nietzsche ~~
herbie Posted January 17 Report Posted January 17 Oh yeah, I forgot ALL the 6.9% unemployed will get jobs in Fort Mac. and rent broom closets for $3000 a month. Or maybe get 6 mos work on a pipeline and end up back on EI like the guys around here. Quote
CdnFox Posted January 17 Report Posted January 17 On 1/15/2026 at 4:42 AM, Barquentine said: Not well, but not total disaster either. (My prediction) I don't think Trump will finish his term. Either a massive stroke or heart attack ends him or debilitates him so he's removed, or after losing BIG TIME in the mid-terms, he quits, rapidly declines and dies. A better President and Congress start making amends for some of his messes. His family drift into the background and live luxurious lives off their grift fortunes. This is just what my intuition tells me will happen, but what do I know - I thought the Jays would winn the world series. I don't think he's going to have health problems that take him out entirely, and there's no chance of him quitting. But he could lose enough senate seats in the midterms to be impeached. I mean really impeached not just charged in the house but actually fully impeached. In which case he's:. If the democrats win enough senate seats that they have the 60% control that they require to push the vote through then I have no doubt whatsoever that is exactly what will happen Quote "That which doesn't kill me... Had better start running."
Barquentine Posted January 17 Report Posted January 17 5 hours ago, CdnFox said: If the democrats win enough senate seats that they have the 60% control Unfortunately that won't happen. Very low 50's at best. Quote
CdnFox Posted January 17 Report Posted January 17 8 hours ago, Barquentine said: Unfortunately that won't happen. Very low 50's at best. Well politics is a funny beast. You may be right, of course that'll be up to the Americans. But the majority of seats that are up for grabs are republican and if things go badly for trump it is possible some could flip. Even Alaska is in play at the moment. Whether or not they can flip 15 seats or not I don't know, it's not going to be easy and honestly I cannot believe that the democrats are so badly damaged that they're going to struggle. This should be a cakewalk and somehow their popularity is very similar to trump's Quote "That which doesn't kill me... Had better start running."
John Stone Posted February 22 Report Posted February 22 (edited) Voting public are beyond mere politics ......... policy ........... governance? Today, they want to be entertained ......... a hack these days and for the foreseeable future needs to be an entertainer to win. On the other hand, Trump shies away from mere Governance ......... his style is to be a ruler. And 'they' agree and applaud the show, while they sit and watch the 'King' deliver the coup de grace to SCOTUS ........I mean, who's left?? I haven't enjoyed myself so much while watching a spectacle like that in years. OMG - the guy is the King of entertainment. The gravy has to be the State of the Union - Tuesday - can't wait! Edited February 22 by John Stone Quote
Barquentine Posted February 23 Report Posted February 23 21 hours ago, John Stone said: And 'they' agree and applaud the show, while they sit and watch the 'King' deliver the coup de grace to SCOTUS ........I mean, who's left?? I haven't enjoyed myself so much while watching a spectacle like that in years. It's actually quite sad. The US could actually be greater, and more powerful. Unfortunately Trump destroys everything he touches. But he will be gone soon, and maybe they can right the ship. But what has he done to the psyche of the country? Irreparable damage? The whole country needs to go into therapy. Quote
John Stone Posted February 23 Report Posted February 23 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Barquentine said: It's actually quite sad. The US could actually be greater, and more powerful. Unfortunately Trump destroys everything he touches. But he will be gone soon, and maybe they can right the ship. But what has he done to the psyche of the country? Irreparable damage? The whole country needs to go into therapy. Edited February 23 by John Stone 1 Quote
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