How The Left Betrays And Patronizes The Poor

"Slate" has an article about actress Susan Sarandon, today, March 29, 2016. The wealthy actress has said she might not be able to bring herself to vote for Hillary Clinton, and that a Trump presidency might hasten the revolution. Isn't it sad how affluent folks look at the prospect of the poor suffering a little more? Such "activism" is why I gave up on living at any commune. Not that all folks in communes are like Sarandon, but too many are. Here's a quote from the Slate article:

"What Sarandon is voicing is the old Leninist idea of “heightening the contradictions,” which holds that social conditions need to get worse in order to inspire the revolution that will make them better. In this way of thinking, the real enemy of progress is incremental reform that would render the status quo tolerable. That was the position of the German Communists in the early 1930s, who refused to ally with the Social Democrats, proclaiming: “After Hitler, our turn!” A similar—if less deadly . . ."

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/03/29/susan_sarandon_is_perfect_spokeswoman_for_neverhillary.html

The writer clearly doesn't like Trump. She does a neat segue into that from her main point. But she seems to be saying that a Trump presidency will be largely lackluster and uninspiring. I think Trump will take us to war. What will be different this time is that we will prevail and reach a point that can be seen by all as "winning a war". The actual price of a real victory, say against ISIS/ISIL, is the world watching as you annihilate a technically inferior enemy while dragging in substantial collateral, innocent casualties. War is technically worse than hell. People in hell belong there.

During this time people of the US will be measured for their overall contribution. Those who are seen as a drain on vital war resources like food or housing may be pressed into service or remanded to some other situation. Under Trump I expect urban dumping grounds to expand. Trump will bring a materialistic spin to class issues we already face. If you don't measure up, your life becomes less comfortable and likely less safe.

He is a messianic capitalist. Expect schools to close as the education system is left dangling in the breeze after being returned to state control. Even if he pulls the plug on the ACA, insurance will still be expensive. Healthcare on the cheaper side of the population will get worse. Working 60 hours a week will seem normal. Trump is the kind of guy who will give fast food workers a $15 minimum wage, then give fast food franchisers subsidies to automate.

Trump is a circus barker who always has something shiny on hand for a distraction. He openly brags about his deals and dealings. Who is Peter and Paul with this guy? At the last moment I'm sure he'll deliver the big bribe that causes swarms of people to vote for him. His inner democrat is bursting to get out. Hillary will look weak against him. No matter how many more bodies the Clintons spread about.

 

Good thoughts but I differ on one:

schools already are "state" owned and that is good
the only alternative is privatizing K-12 education, and turning it over to religious groups and banks
The Catholic Church has been attempting to get America to do this since the 1870's. During that decade, 38 states passed "Blaine Amendments" to their constitutions so as to prevent tax dollars from going to Catholic schools. Whatever problems exist in public schools pale in comparison to what would befall us if patriarchal religion took over education, at taxpayer expense
Pedophilia
anti-gay propaganda
return of segregation

then, the Muslims would want their tax support.
which is why the Founders thought up separation of church and state

The World Bank encourages nations to privatize higher ed
Chase Bank, in America, backs K-12 privatization, drooling at the prospect of privatizing a 900+ billion dollar a year endeavor. Wal-Mart's charitable foundation backs privatization

state controlled schools are the way to go / the only alternative is patriarchal religion controlled / at taxpayer expense

home schooling isn't an alternative on any large scale

 

I'm with Susan. Better to necessitate a real revolution, win or lose, than to slowly have our rights stripped away while we stand idly by and do nothing because we can't believe what's happening. Until it's too late.

If Donald Trump is going to start wars and build walls and all of this, he's going to try to do it fast. If he can't, he can't. If he can, the people will stop him and overthrow him. If we can't, if the cops and the military aren't on the side of the people, then it's already too late.

I guess people are willing to accept a "peaceful" fascism, though. Anything is preferable to death. If we were all forced to live in a virtual reality where corporations were our sole benefactors, we'd be okay with this so long as there was no dying involved. The wealthy and powerful can go ahead and kill anybody, innocent children if they want, and so long as America is relatively unscathed, everything's fine. Seriously, are they pumping something into the water to make us all feel this way? How can this be. How can we be such cowards.

 

Revolution as dreamed of by Marxists and anarchists is impossible in America. Most people are conservative, and those people are armed. Dreams of revolution are counterproductive. Give me reform, any day. Sweden and Denmark look pretty damn good, and that is where reform will get us.

 

They will never be an overthrowing of any US Govt without a shit ton of military involvement. There just won't be a revolution because people are generally comfy.

 

The question at hand then would be how to dissolve the illusion of comfort to enable the sleeping masses to awake and strive for change

 

Perfect Disorder, there is a lot of change that can be accomplished without violence. Like much of life, it takes work. At times it is boring.

I think too many on the Left dream too big.

(But yeah, Prozac and religion silence many. But still . . those people have plenty of other options.)

 

I do not promote the concept of violent revolution eleven. In fact I feel that such an uprising can bring only suffering and sameness to our society

 

There's some logic to 'heightening the contradiction'. It was costly tea the crossed the line and got we Americans a country.

Maybe trump's clown face on Mt. Rushmore would would start a party. "You're Fired America" he'd say at the gallows

 

I disagree, respectfully, Iode. Reform, reform, reform. The dreams of anarchism and Marxism are but wet dreams.

 

Your probably right. But what if the narrative in our country was completely driven by media to create a false dichotomy, all the same while doing nothing.

I think we'd both agree that revolution becomes essential at some point. We're just talking about where we'd draw the line.

 

The state is controlled by the banks and corporations. How do people not get this? The state is corporate owned and controlled.

State education is state brainwashing.

Um, you do realize there weren't Muslims in the country around the time of the founders, correct?

 

How can you, Trump, and America, prevail against ISIS/ISIL when you created, trained, armed, and funded them directly, or through surrogates like Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia?

 

Which Muslims want tax support?

 

In his early life, Karl Marx wrote something like this. My memory is not perfect, so I do not claim this to be a "quote." Marx wrote that:

Ordinary Harps make ordinary music when striken by ordinary fingers, Ionian Harps when striken by the winds of the storm.

What he meant to say by this analogy is that the Ionian coast of Greece was the birthplace of many great ideas, including modern western democracy-where people get to govern themselves. And so I think he was saying that political ideas are stronger than any one man. The Storm, or The Political Idea, will bring the change that mankind needs in these dire times.

 

Oh yes there were Muslims in America then, both free and slaves.

 

Of course there were SOME Muslims, but very, very few. My point is Muslims in America back in the 1700s were not the reason for separation on church and state.

 

The pressure to prevail will be applied to Trump as he is called out for his bold words during the campaign. As for who funded who, we've always had this issue. Fast & Furious to the Iran/Contra "coke for guns" deal. I wasn't suggesting innocence. I'm only looking at what I see unfolding with a lot of the usual posturing factored in. Since you want to also lay this at my feet I have to remind you that none of these conflicts was ever put up for a vote. Americans have been hijacked by the US government, they don't actually get to vote on issues. Would the nation have voted to go into Iraq? Afghanistan? Vietnam? Not likely. But we'll never know because Americans never got a choice.

 

OK, I just remembered from history classes that there were Muslims; and, when I went to the salve museum in Washington DC they had an exhibit of a letter written by a Muslim slave during his enslavement. I will go along with the "few" because many Middle Eastern people who came to America were Christians or Jews who had come to escape abusive treatment from the Wahabist Muslims back home.