Anti-Trump protesters riot in DC
Fascists: Anti-Trump rotesters from the same coalition that Project Veritas taped planning violence in DC on inauguration day are now rioting and committing violence in DC on inauguration day.
The violence includes blocking roads, checkpoints, breaking windows, and setting fires, among other nasty behavior. The link provides a nice roundup, with videos.
Note that I call these protesters fascists not because the oppose Trump, but because they are willing to commit violence against him and his supporters, merely because they disagree. Note too that I myself would even support such violence, if a president started abusing the consitutional rights of citizens and begin ruling like a dictator. So far, however, no one has the right to accuse Trump of doing this, as there is zero evidence of him being anything more than a moderate liberal who appears to be shifting rightward as he ages.
One more point: These protesters are probably doing more to encourage a second Trump term than they can imagine. They are revealing their fascist nature for all to see. And I strongly believe that most Americans will be turned off by this.
Posted from lovely McCarran airport in Las Vegas, where I am stuck for an extra hour because of weather delays.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Fascists: Anti-Trump rotesters from the same coalition that Project Veritas taped planning violence in DC on inauguration day are now rioting and committing violence in DC on inauguration day.
The violence includes blocking roads, checkpoints, breaking windows, and setting fires, among other nasty behavior. The link provides a nice roundup, with videos.
Note that I call these protesters fascists not because the oppose Trump, but because they are willing to commit violence against him and his supporters, merely because they disagree. Note too that I myself would even support such violence, if a president started abusing the consitutional rights of citizens and begin ruling like a dictator. So far, however, no one has the right to accuse Trump of doing this, as there is zero evidence of him being anything more than a moderate liberal who appears to be shifting rightward as he ages.
One more point: These protesters are probably doing more to encourage a second Trump term than they can imagine. They are revealing their fascist nature for all to see. And I strongly believe that most Americans will be turned off by this.
Posted from lovely McCarran airport in Las Vegas, where I am stuck for an extra hour because of weather delays.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Snowflakes meet bikers.
I know who I’m betting on.
Riots in Chicago too. Waiting for the media to call them protests.
Congratulations to the US people! Now, it is reality, Trump is President! He gave a great, spicy and sharp speech, which will be membered much in later times, just required to start epoch.
Alex–
You (& LocalFluff,) are enjoying this all, way too much! (But, that’s OK, for now. I’m enjoying the Festivities on C-Span today, very much. It’s refreshing to see some patriotism going on, for once.)
The definitive Donald Trump Campaign video featuring Kid Rock
https://youtu.be/Zaqvc-0XDMM
(4:19)
More snowflakes headed to DC to continue this temper tantrum Saturday.
He said: “[We are] ready to unlock the mysteries of space” in a speech he obviously wrote himself. Why would Stephen Miller or Kellyanne Conway have asked him to add that? So, are we going to Mars now
I watched Reagan’s 1980 address just before and expected something more ceremonial. But this was 100% Trump (c). The rain actually made it better than sunshine would’ve. It felt unreal to watch. Now there will be action! Sweden’s foreign minister (who just became member of UN’s Security Council) is frightened and unavailingly hopes that Congress will save Obama’s climate policy.
Trump knows how to win by just talking. He doesn’t need to cheat laws or bribe or spy. He intimidates with words, his track record of victories and the humiliation of those he defeated. The neocons, the democrats, the MSM and now the world is next up.
“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters”
“For the Word is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword”
#110 Trump Inauguration Meltdown
Clint Howard Guests 1-19-17
Louder With Crowder
https://youtu.be/NIwixnsENfw
(1:14:46)
Wayne-
Well done with the LwC mention. Coincidentally I was watching that episode when I read your comment.
“dig dig dig dig dig dig dig dig dig….”
“Trump knows how to win by just talking.”
@LocalFluff: He’s not a politician. That is probably what makes him more authentic and down to earth than anybody else in Washington. BTW, we should at least thank Obama for not pardoning Hitlery, even if he was at risk for being contaminated by that cesspool.
Robert,
You touched on something I’ve been waiting to come together for a post, and that is how 2016 may have been a watershed year in that the expected privilege politicians of all stripes and lay acolytes of the Left has fostered for decades was checked by those who remember the spirit of JFK’s Inaugural Address. The Left built an alternate reality for eight years that didn’t progress as planned and now they are imploding. Every naked truth about Progressivism has been laid bare. It was White House or Bust and they are . . . busted.
Sympathies on McCarren. Before they muted the slot machines it was my least favorite airport, and even now I’ll pick flights based on not going there.
One more point: These protesters are probably doing more to encourage a second Trump term than they can imagine.
This is why the media doesn’t label the ‘protesters’ as Democrats or mention they are organized and funded by the Democrat party. The media also doesn’t cover the violence, intimidation, and abuse hurled at their victims. In order to see the truth, you have to read tweets, blog posts, and watch videos of people who were there.
They are revealing their fascist nature for all to see.
Quite literally. There are videos of them chanting, “This is what fascism looks like!” And they are right, just not in the way they intend, lol.
@LocalFluff: You hit the nail and made point! Thanks.
TimArth–
Good deal!
Excellent Clint Howard interview on Crowder.
Clint Howard
Balok the Alien – 1966
https://youtu.be/IJOn9DFeINo
(1:47)
A repeat from me:
(political haiku)
“Obama has failed
The worst President ever,
Jimmy Carter smiles”
Related, because its Trump:
The Trump administration erases the term “climate change” from the government web site at 12:00, in the first minute of his administration.
http://www.climatedepot.com/2017/01/20/all-references-to-climate-change-deleted-from-white-house-website-at-noon-today/
This is an indication of the direction that our ship of state will be sailing. That being said, let there be honest concern for eliminating the production of pollution in all of its forms from our and the rest of the worlds industry and let us not empower the Leftist forces who would harness the world to their own ends.
Like I have pointed out in the past few months, Trump has two potentials. Lets help him to lead in a way where he respects the Constitution and at the same time makes real and substantive progress in all of the areas where we need to make it. I wish him the strength and the wisdom to accomplish his task.
Destiny awaits Trump, as it awaits us all: http://darkroom-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/2017/01/md-trump-inauguration-p95.jpg
The anti-Trump protesters blocking passage to the inauguration chanted “This is what a police state looks like.” wodun’s comment is appropriate to that chant, too. A police state would tend to prevent free travel.
Does anyone have an idea of how many of these protesters complained that Trump might not commit to accepting the election results, four or five months back ?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-accept-election-results_us_582094f8e4b0aac6248591c7
“Fifty-six percent of Americans think Trump should concede if he loses on Tuesday, and 31 percent of those who believe he should concede think it would be a major threat to U.S. democracy if he doesn’t”
I suspect that a majority of these protesters — violent or not — are among the 31% of the 56% (17% of the US population) who thought that merely not conceding, much less protesting the results, was a major threat to US democracy. Their hatred of Trump has blinded them to the same behavior of Clinton and of themselves.
From the Huffington Post article: “But peaceful transfers of power have kept America a stable democracy for centuries. If that tradition ends, it could shake the belief that democracy is effective and cause voters to become more apathetic or adopt a more extreme political ideology.”
So, with these flag-carrying people having declared their own behavior as being a major threat to US democracy, they are not as patriotic as they may think that they are. Their own violence “could shake the belief that democracy is effective and cause voters to become more apathetic or adopt a more extreme political ideology.” As though an ideology that violence is an acceptable form of protest is not already extreme.
But, then again, neither is Clinton so patriotic, with her suddenly-failed Clinton Foundation, whose foundation seems to have been set on her being president rather than on some sort of bedrock, and without her presidency it has fallen into ruin now that no one will donate to it. Too bad it took her so very long to concede the election and required Obama’s urging ( http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/307536-obama-urged-clinton-to-concede-on-election-night ), but apparently our democracy was saved by her eventual concession. Too bad she thought that a recount was a good idea rather than accept the results, especially since the recount was halted as soon as it was discovered that in Wisconsin Clinton actually got fewer votes and Trump got more votes than the original count reported, showing us that the supposed Russian hack of the election — if true — favored Clinton, not Trump.
And neither is Obama, with his $150 billion generosity to those who chant death to us; his releases of enemies back into the terrorist camp; his scorn for our Constitution, which he views as a document of negative rights rather than a protector of the rights and liberties of We the People; and his doubling of the national debt to $19.9 trillion, after he had declared a measly $9 trillion to be unpatriotic. By Obama’s own definition, he is unpatriotic.
Some do not recognize peaceful protest when they see it.
http://www.revelist.com/politics/america-responds-obama/5855
They seem to think that gatherings of people, signs, and the offensiveness of burning effigies (because “thousands of Black men were lynched in Jim Crow America” by Clinton’s and Obama’s Democratic Party, the only ones who supported Jim Crow America) are violence, but miss that blockades, fistfights, and smashing windows is actual violence. Then there is the bravery shown by those who hide their faces during these 2017 protests, which makes us wonder why they feel the need to hide and the 2008 protesters didn’t.
@ To everybody’s attention:
“The 4 Pillars of Highly Successful Societies”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_lP13mvE7Q
I found this political ideology very convincting.
Anyone remember this pathetic sole?
“Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage”
https://youtu.be/P36x8rTb3jI
(0:26)
The rush has completely worn off, the nightmare of DJT, begins:
Rince Priebus is Chief of Staff: Two-time loser, Rino-Crony. Hates Conservatives.
Destefano is Head of Personnel: Boehner acolyte, Rino-crony. Will not employ Conservatives.
Plain old Stefano– loves “Industrial Policy.” FDR all over again.
Mitch McConnell runs the Senate: He thinks the Constitution is a suicide-pact. (Thinks my grand-daughter should be drafted.)
Paul Ryan runs the House; Rino-Crony.
Mitch’s wife will be running a Cabinet post; Rino-Crony.
Thad Cochran– he still doesn’t know what year it is or where his office is located. Demented Rino-Crony.
Bob Corker– architect of the non-treaty, iran-treaty. Still has his job and is still alive. Rino-Crony.
HRC & BJC– honored guests. Publicly thanked for all their “hard-work.”
We spend $4 billion/year on free cell-phones.
30 million people collect SNAP every month.
90 million people are not in the workforce.
We have $20 trillion in debt & $200 trillion in unfunded-liabilities.
And… they can’t wait to borrow a Trillion dollars and build “infrastructure.”
Looks pretty much…. Inside-Establishment RINO-CRONY, to me.
Ben Shapiro on Corporatism
https://youtu.be/cs_iGxYfbHQ
(5:31)
I am getting incredible push back to the self described “Pussy March” on Washington 1/21/17. Several women who sited the march to me got highly offended at ME when I called it the “pussy hat march”, which is what the march was called as evidenced by the many, many thousands of women who organized and knit their own pink “pussy hats” and wore them to the actual march. I was accused of just calling it the “pussy hat march” implying that I was denigrating the activity of the women who participated because I was a man and a Conservative and I only consumed very select and biased news.
Once again the uninformed point a finger at someone who is a bit more informed then most and imply that I am the problem. (NOT).
1. https://www.pussyhatproject.com/
2. http://www.businessinsider.com/pussy-hats-womens-march-washington-trump-inauguration-2017-1
3. http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2017/01/05/women-knit-thousands-of-pussy-power-hats-to-support-the-womens-march-on-washington/
Trump’s plan relies heavily on private financing.
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/306847-five-things-to-know-about-trumps-infrastructure-plan
Cotour–
Highly remain, infinitely pleased, HRC is not madam president.
The buzz is wearing off fast however, when I think of the likes of Mitch, Ryan, et al.
I do remain hopeful on Trump himself, I just do not trust the Usual Court-Jesters that appear to be running the back-office.
-We just can’t afford to borrow & blow, more billions & trillions on “infra-structure.” Been there, did that, never can work, why even pretend otherwise?
The whole Idea, is to reduce the reach & scope of the Federal Government, not re-arrange the Deck Chairs. Private business can do what they want, cut their taxes and get out of the way. No need to “plan” any of it, unless they intend to skim off the top & otherwise engage in cronyism.
(needless to say, it’s bad when Obama did it, and Trump should not engage in similar behavior towards “our side.” Mitch, Ryan, Corker, Thad, …. not “our side,” but firmly pure “inside.” )
In Michigan, we just raised our State gas-tax by 7 cents/gallon January 1st, ostensibly for “roads & infrastructure.” (They always say that… it never happens, not really….)
The people in Nebraska, shouldn’t have to pay for my sewer-project or airport, and nobody wants to pay for high speed rail in California, (or for subways in NYC.)
Anyway… personally, it IS refreshing to see Trump “fight back,” I can not deny it.
wayne, The majority leaders have alot of power, of course they get something in return in a negotiation with Trump. Acclaiming the Clintons on inauguration day took the edge off of the Democrats who boycotted it, and it was respectful for the institutions of the Republic. The battle with them is over. Trump recognizes the reality and does what it takes to get something done in it. One has to deal with people one doesn’t like and move forward in a winning way.
Have you heard this one:
JFK put a man on the Moon.
Obama put a man on the ladies’ loo.
@Wayne: What does RINO-CRONY mean???
@LocalFluff: My swedish friend, any comment to my video, which I linked above and which is about being a libertarian realist? Wayne, what do you say?
Alex, RINO stands for Republican In Name Only. Crony means corrupt, as in services in return among friends in power (at the cost of a third party).
I think that the genes can take care of themselves without our help (half of human genes have been found in virus). They don’t care about us as individuals anyway, they use us to recombine and deliberately kill us! Aesthetics is whatever anyone wants it to be. Borders is the delimitation of a certain legal system, a kind of separation of powers to create competition between legal systems (not necessary as the Roman Empire proved). Freedom is the goal for me, the legal system a tool to achieve it, to uphold so called negative rights. So I’m not impressed.
Alex-
RINO = “republican-in-name-only.” As-in, “we need to go on a RINO hunt…”
“Crony” as in: …the unholy alliance between big-business & the State.
Crony Chronicles:
I Want To Be A Crony
https://youtu.be/2aO9tA5DWJM
(1:39)
…the unholy alliance between big-business & the State.
referencing your video clip;
hyphenated-libertarians are even wackier than plain-old libertarian’s, who are quite fragmented as it is.
CNN, ABC, NBC, WaPo, NYT should be completely banned from all contact with any WH staff. No invitations to press conferences, never any interview. Their lies incite hate, death threats, violent riots and inspire sick people to torture completely unrelated disadvantaged persons live on Facebook. And they spread lies, for example about the president’s relationship with the intelligence authorities, which are dangerous to US foreign relationships. Freeze them out completely! What will they be when they never get any news about the US government? Invite a new set of media enterprises to take their place. And introduce libel legislation for media where intent to cause damage need not be proven by the victim. It should be enough to prove that a media lie caused harm in order to sue them for reparations. MSM is the filth on the bottom to be drained first when the plug is pulled in the swamp.
I don’t like the idea of tax credits paying for the infrastructure plan. How big of a company would it have to be to benefit from a tax shield like this?
I keep bringing this up all over the place but will do it again. American companies have $2.5 trillion abroad. They don’t want to repatriate that money because taxes are too high. The current tax rate is 35%. Offer a one time tax rate of 20% or 25%.
This would bring in $500b or $625b respectively. Put this money into some sort of mutual or index fund. If we can assume a return of 3% a year, that would mean a $15b or $18.7b return. Reinvest half that and spend the other on infrastructure projects. So about $7.5-$9b would be available to spend.
Each year the fund could get bigger, depending on the market, and so would the amount that could be spent.
It would be a self sustaining long term solution that would prevent bubbles from really expensive but short term projects as well.
The only difficult part would be keeping the politicians from raiding the fund.
From a space cadet perspective, the above scenario could work for space based projects as well.
We will have to see whether the conservatives that people here said that Trump needs to surround himself with will be able to convert Trump to conservatism.
What concerns me is what seems to concern wayne, in that Trump has surrounded himself with a lot of liberals and progressives. Trump also seems to still believe in corporatism, where he gets a large say in what we get from businesses, rather than free market capitalism, where We the People have the say in what we want from businesses.
Obamacare is a case of the former, corporatism. We moved to that from the free market version of healthcare that existed in the 1960s. In the 1960s, healthcare was relatively lightly regulated by state governments, and there were few complaints. As time went on, the federal government got more intrusive, and the more it intruded, the more complaints there were.
It has gotten so bad that now the IRS sends out intimidating warnings that if we do not buy health insurance we will be fined — er — taxed. That the IRS has such a plan shows how widespread is this new aversion to the expensive, benefit-less Obamacare. The only people who seem to like it are those who get it paid for by someone else. It also shows how intensive the government has gotten in helping their crony businesses, what with such bullying tactics on We the People.
Unless Trump takes actual action to return us to a free market capitalist country, he is no friend of ours or savior of the country.
wayne,
your “I Want To Be A Crony” video shows just how cronyism spreads, and why people love to get paid to not work, or how they get rich by having friends in high places (like Trump and Clinton did). “It’s like having a best friend who gives you other people’s stuff.”
Of course, the “other people” is the rest of us, the non-cronies. The people who only get paid to work. It is the people who buy their own healthcare plans, then pay higher prices at the stores so that businesses can pay for their employees’ healthcare plans, and then pay higher taxes so that government can pay for the healthcare plans for the non-working slackers.
Thus, we individuals pay for three healthcare plans, not just one. and no one gets any benefit from their plans. What a waste of a once-great economy.
Anyone have any idea how many of those anti-Trump protesters are cronies who get paid to not work?
@LocalFluff: Your reaction surprized me and does not fit what I expected to hear from you. Men are not equal, in contrast to what leftists believe (actually, it is the most important belief of liberals and leftists. You are not a leftist!!!The genetic infrastructure of different groups/races differ significantly and is therefore most important, in addition to cultural aspects. You said youself: Ethnic diversity is no strength, see Islamic and African invasion of Europe.
https://mises.org/library/egalitarianism-revolt-against-nature-and-other-essays
@wodun. Space based internet would be a great infrastructure. It would provide great security too, since internet and thus payments would work even during power outages on the ground. I hope that Elon Musk knows how to charm the president. Elon Musk’s enterprises are all made in the USA, including the largest factory in the world. And he has delivered under budget (although not ahead of schedule). He should be Trump’s role model.
@Alex, I think ethnic diversity is a strength, when it is not forced upon people. The arab muslims is the exception because they on purpose remain where they were 1400 years ago.
Alex–
Highly enjoy Murray Rothbard and the Mises dot Org folks, in large measure.
>My one caveat & where I do break with them— a lot of their scholars think Lincoln was a dictator. I am not down with that, at all.
Some of them, also have a distinct Neo-Confederate bent to their views. (which I am also not down with.)
“Over here,” we believe that All Men are Created Equal, and they are Equal before the Law. >Outcomes, are not guaranteed.
Radical Egalitarianism
Edward– good stuff.
Even if I were to assume DJT was everything he claimed, Priebus, McConnell, and Ryan, now run the show, and they hate Conservatives. Stefano is a hard-core Industrial Policy wonk and these leaning’s toward FDR esque “big infrastructure” phony-baloney projects, should frighten everyone.
LocalFluff– Musk’s Solar City & Tesla, are quite the crony operation’s. The purchase of electric cars is subsidized by the Feds, on a per-car basis. The solar-panels— heavily subsidized as well. I would put forth— those 2 companies wouldn’t exist in an un-subsidized form. (We don’t want to become “Europe,” but Stefano loves that stuff.)
Off-thread, but this is good….
“Passengers Cheer as Woman Berating Trump Supporter is Kicked off Plane”
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/video-passengers-cheer-woman-berating-trump-supporter-kicked-off-plane/
Alex–
Highly suggest this book;
“Conceived in Liberty”
Murray Rothbard
https://mises.org/library/conceived-liberty-2
wayne,
Yeah, Elon Musk isn’t stupid. In a society where the government steals and spends most of the money, one speeds up things by alot by making use of the government to ones advantage. Elon Musk doesn’t buy the climate doomsday myth. He just uses it to make the government subsidize the technologies he needs for Mars: Solar power, batteries, electric vehicles. And unrelated to the climate he uses NASA to subsidize his rocket and spaceship technologies (and the unworkable hyperloop is only intended to get government finance vacuum engineering experience).
Unless you are the president, you won’t fight the system by pretending that it doesn’t exist. Now that the rules have changed drastically, you’ll see Elon Musk stop talking about the climate and start talking about patriotism and greatness. He just wants to go to Mars. Like Wernher von Braun he makes the best out of whatever the government’s rules happen to be. (And with Elon Musk on his side, Trump would improve his standing among the scientist communities.)
Elon said he needs a new name for the BFR/ITS. Why not name it:
The Great America Rocket?
LocalFluff suggested: “ Why not name it: The Great America Rocket?”
Nice name, but there may be a trademark issue with a themed amusement park:
https://www.cagreatamerica.com/
@LocalFluff: I think ethnic diversity is weakness, which can be demonstrated at many examples, so is no bridge between us for a further discussion. Goodbye.
@Wayne. I do not believe, but I know that that all men are Not Created Equal. Evolution does not stop at men.
Realistic Anti-Radical Egalitarianism
I didn’t know that the Women’s protest in DC was lead by an islamist:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/01/figrues-organizer-dc-womens-march-linda-sarsour-pro-sharia-law-ties-hamas/
Here’s the only reporter from the Swedish government’s television, Sweden’s largest TV channel, our BBC, in the US on inauguration day interviewing a Trump supporter. This is no joke, it’s for real. I wonder why Swedish reporters don’t make $20 million a year like Megan Kelly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYQhwr1u70
Alex,
I do not think that the phrase “all men are created equal” means what you think it means.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TSiJ2Gp058#t=135
“Obviously not equally rich or equally smart or equally tall or equally fast but equal under the law, which applies to the rich and powerful as well as to the poor and friendless.”
There may be tyrannies around the world where some are more equal than others (Hillary Clinton seems to fall under that category), but the meaning of the phrase in the United States’ Declaration of Independence means equality under the law, no matter what their evolution, ancestry, or physical or mental limitations.
@Edward:
Thank you for response and explanation. I think that a group of people, whose shares similar genes and evolution heritage have the right for sustaining their specific ethnicity and race (tat shall be truth for all ethnicities and races), even if this means men made “laws” are restricted, which at the end the objective to enforce mixing by governmental power. Ethno-states are superior to states, in which different ethnicities fight each other for political power. Best example for very successful ethno-states are many Asian countries as Japan or South-Korea, and until a few years/decades ago also most of European countries. USA is declining at present because it is losing its state of being a mainly an European derived country rapidly (from 90 down to 60% in few decades) and therefore also its principal culture and its internal coherence.
Video: Anti-Trump Protester Sets Trump Supporter’s Hair on Fire
http://www.infowars.com/video-anti-trump-protester-sets-trump-supporters-hair-on-fire/
Alex–
I’m only speaking of equality under the Law.
“People,” of course, do not have identical physical or intellectual attributes, and outcomes are not guaranteed. Any attempts to ensure outcomes, are doomed to failure.
I would however, put forth the proposition that “Western Culture” is superior to all other Cultures. And specifically, I mean post-enlightenment “western culture.”
In Our Hands, Part 1:
“How We Got What We Have”
https://archive.org/details/InOurHan1950
Alex wrote: “USA is declining at present because it is losing its state of being a mainly an European derived country rapidly (from 90 down to 60% in few decades) and therefore also its principal culture and its internal coherence.”
The driving culture in the US is one of freedom and liberty. It isn’t European, or African, or Asian. We have demonstrated the ability for people of different skin color, genes, heritage, and ethnicity to adapt themselves to freedom and liberty in order to work and live together. (However, some people have philosophies or ideologies that do not allow for coexistence with alternates.)
Alexis de Tocqueville saw the United States first hand and wrote a two-volume book on why we went, in a mere 200 years, from a literal backwoods village that couldn’t feed itself (because it tried socialism before it had a name) to a power able to defeat the strongest power on the planet. By the time of the American Revolution, Europeans were surprised at how well we lived in the New World. Housing was plentiful and relatively luxurious. Food was plentiful, and industry and agriculture were strong. A hundred years later, America was powerful enough to save the world from two world wars, and a hundred years after that, America’s 5% of the world’s population produced a quarter of the world’s economy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuv0K8H8ILM (12-minutes, Bill Whittle: “American Exceptionalism”)
The phrase American exceptionalism is often attributed to de Tocqueville, but it was a biographer who coined it. American exceptionalism is not because we are better or smarter or harder working people than the rest of the world. We come from the rest of the world. We are the rest of the world.
American exceptionalism comes from our liberty to express exceptional behavior, work, and lifestyles. It is when we are forced into a specific behavior, method of work, or lifestyle that we lose our exceptionalism — our liberty. Rather than explore new methods, inventions, skills, or talents, we are now required to stick with only one set of these, as though one size fits all. It does not.
From wayne’s video: “How we work and how we live makes all the difference in what we have in the United States.”
What we have is not so much things; it is the liberty to do as we please, not as the government requires. This is one of the serious mistakes with the Supreme Court ruling that the government may make us do, say, or think anything the government wants us to, just so long as they associate a tax with it.
Due to the godforsaken Obamacare law, We the People now are required to associate with a health insurance company, paying them incredible amounts of money for piss poor benefits, and the insurance companies, the medical organizations, and our doctors are required to perform in specific ways. Heaven forbid that you say the wrong thing; it could be a crime, or it could turn a minor crime into a major crime. We are now fined cruel and unusual amounts for practicing our religious beliefs in how we work rather than how our local governments want us to work.
It is not the people, and it is not a specific culture that determines America’s success. As a nation, we celebrate not only Independence Day, but also Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day. Different cultures make up American culture, and we celebrate them. The only culture that is required to make America great is a culture of liberty and rule of law — a nation of laws, not of men, which is what is meant by “all men are created equal;” laws apply equally to all, and the Obamas, Clintons, and Nixons are not above them.
That Obama got away with violating not just laws (e.g. enforcing and executing the ACA as he saw fit, not as it was written or intended, truly making it Obama’s law, not Congress’s) but the Constitution (e.g. bypassing Congress to create non-laws that had the force of law). Clinton goes unpunished for a multitude of crimes, any one of which have already put other people into prison. Nixon, however, did not get away with anything, and he didn’t do many things that he wished he could do — But Obama did them! It was a different time, four decades ago, when an Attorney General would not let even the president get away with a crime, than it is now, when multiple Attorneys General let not just the president but his friends get away with anything.
We Americans are free to make improvements without governmental permission. This is what happened in California wineries vs what happened in French wineries. The French government told the French wineries that, since they had the world’s best wines, they could not change their methods or wines. They had to stick with the same “one size fits all” philosophy. Experimentation and improvement were banned. Californians were free to do so, and did. In 1976, in honor of America’s bicentennial, France held a blind contest of wines, and a California wine took first prize and others placed very high among the wines. It was the shock heard around the world. (Portrayed in the movie “Bottle Shock.”)
wayne’s video, which pointed out that the American economic culture is bottom up, describes why America works so well.
It has been as the federal government gained power at the expense of We the People that we have been prevented from working so well — we became more top down. Top down corrupts people. In America, one form of corruption is government bribing the population (what a twist on the concept) — free stuff taken from other people — in exchange for keeping the corrupt government in power. Government now redistributes the prosperity from those who deserve it — those who produce it — to those who do not deserve it and do not earn it — cronies who keep the government rulers in power. (What happens to those people once the ruling class no longer needs the population’s consent in order to remain in power?)
Another strategy to keep power is to prevent We the People from being united. This is why the ruling class works so hard to maintain the myth that there are oppressors and oppressed. Divide and conquer is the rule of the government, and it enables them to justify passing out free stuff to those it has declared the oppressed, keeping them feeling oppressed but happy to have such a “kindhearted” government.
We recently saw an example of how well the strategy of divisiveness works. The Women’s March on Washington, this past weekend, excluded not just men but transgenders. Their message was one of hatred, not love, and of problems, not solutions, of differences, not similarities, of exclusivity, not inclusion. It was hardly an event of unity.
The government has become corrupt and it has corrupted parts of the population.
So, yes, Alex, you are right that America’s economic and legal culture have been compromised, and we live the poorer for it. However, that is not because that compromised culture came from other countries, from other cultures, or from people with different skin color, genes, heritage, or ethnicity. It came from the natural tendency for those with power to become corrupt. It is why we must not have career politicians or career bureaucrats.
The Women’s March on Washington protest in DC may have been lead by an islamist, as LocalFluff pointed out, but it seems that the day before, those who were protesting the supposedly anti-muslim Trump aren’t as pro-muslim or pro-immigrant as they thought:
http://redalertpolitics.com/2017/01/23/anti-trump-protesters-ruin-muslim-immigrants-livelihood-torching-limo/
Unless this is also fake news. It is hard to tell, these days.
This is one of the problems with violent protest. You are bound to eventually harm not just innocent people but people whom you say you support. I suppose the violent protesters and the protest organizers (who did nothing to prevent violence and seem to have done much to encourage it) do not seem to be smart enough to realize that fact or work hard enough to prevent that fact. Maybe Obama thinks that those organizers are the ones who start our nation’s businesses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKjPI6no5ng (1 minute)
Somebody helped these violent protesters, and we wish that they hadn’t, because these protesters did build that violence.
Hi Edward,
I thank you for very your detailed response and taking my comments serious. However, I would like to propose a thought experiment, which might propose that your outlined political (universal) ideology of Americanism fails in reality, because men are not equal in many aspects. Please reflect the following simple idea: A virus killed only all Caucasian (European/White) people in some decades, only Blacks and Hispanics survived and contribute now 50% each to whole US population. You would now argue, it does matter, it is same America, same country. I say, no, that is not the case. The result is a very different country, with much reduced capabilities, strength and so forth.
“..it is the liberty to do as we please, not as the government requires.”
YES! The American spirit is about the protection of an individual’s freedom. American culture, from spaghetti westerns to modern day sci-fi hero movies, has always revolved around the theme of getting rid of bullies and holding them accountable. A man should be able to do as he pleases as long as he doesn’t infringe upon someone else’s freedom to do the same. If people happen to butt heads, then sometimes compromising and going for a win-win situation is beneficial to all. Sadly though, our civilization is still rapidly losing its civility. I think this is a critical aspect and needs to be adressed just as much or maybe even more than debating ideas and doing things differently. The bullies have lost power and are now playing victim. Humoursly pointing out the hypocrisy will go further than something like what Obama did to the protesters over the Dakota access pipeline. We know that if things were reversed and Hitlery was president, conservative protesters would probably have been treated the same way and with the MSM backing her up. Madness!
Alex,
You wrote: “I would like to propose a thought experiment, which might propose that your outlined political (universal) ideology of Americanism fails in reality, because men are not equal in many aspects. … You would now argue, it does matter, … I say, no, that is not the case. The result is a very different country, with much reduced capabilities, strength and so forth.”
You are correct, Alex. I would say that it does not matter, because it does not matter. In fact, we do not need a hypothetical thought experiment, because the experiment was performed with measurable results.
Try this thought experiment:
I single ship lands at a forested Plymouth Rock in 1620 with people contracted into a seven year experiment in which everyone works to the best of his ability and at the end of the seven years they will evenly distribute all production equally among themselves. This sounds completely fair, and is why socialism is thought to work. These people are farmers, so what could go wrong?
Upon further reflection of this thought experiment, we realize that not everyone works equally hard (your version of all men are not created equal) yet those who are slower or sicker or whatever will get just as much in the end as those who toiled endlessly. The harder workers complain to William Bradford, the founder/leader, that the arrangement is unfair, and they fail to work so hard, too.
At the end of the first winter, with half the population dead from starvation and disease, the thought experiment is declared a complete failure due to lack of other people’s productivity (read: “other people’s money” as it is the same concept). Bradford shifts the experiment to one of free market capitalism and liberty of thought (e.g. religion), action, and word. After all, the complaints were correct, so do not shut down dissent when it so often has a point.
At the end of that summer, the harvest is so tremendous that there is far more than enough for everyone, so a feast is declared and they invite the local Indians, who had shown these farmers the peculiarities of the local food crop, corn. The liberty allowed them to choose what to produce, the free market helped them in that choice, and the capitalist aspect let everyone choose how much to share in other people’s successes. To top it all off, those who toiled more or smarter, or who had talent or skill, or who invested wisely benefited from their own work or choices.
So, it has been shown that a country with much less capabilities, strength, and so forth can prosper rapidly with liberty and free market capitalism. Free market capitalist countries continue to attract new immigrants from the centrally controlled countries. Some even risked death at walls surrounding East Berlin and at sea on rickety boats to go from centrally controlled countries to free market capitalist countries — that is how powerful the benefit and attraction is.
Your problem, Alex, is that free market capitalism has caused unmitigated prosperity everywhere that it has been tried. It was invented in Europe to great success, and brought by Europeans to America to fabulous success, so it is assumed that Europeans are superior to those who have yet to fully embrace it, but it is the liberty that is required for free market capitalism to exist that allows this success, not the people who embrace it. China and India took up free market capitalism mixed with some liberty, and they are now beginning to see far more prosperity than they did under strict centralized control.
One hundred years ago, Argentina was an economic power house, comparable to the US, at the time. The difference is that the Perons took control of Argentina and turned it into crony capitalism, rewarding their friends and punishing their enemies. The song should go, “Don’t cry for me, Argentina. I will do well no matter how bad off you all are. Cry for your lost liberty and the prosperity that you once enjoyed.” (Don’t worry; I won’t get into songwriting, as I don’t do well with rhymes. Hmm. “Don’t worry, be happy.” Nah. That’ll never work, as it doesn’t rhyme either.)
It does not matter whether it is Whites or Europeans who practice liberty and free market capitalism, or whether it is Blacks or Hispanics who practice them, because they will prosper, too.
It is the culture of limited thinking — groupthink, to use a term — that requires everyone in the group to think and act alike or else be shunned, which limits the ability to freely innovate. This limited thinking locks everyone into a mindset that traps everyone in one era rather than move freely into a future era. It is similar to centralized planning and control, except it may be less clear who is at the center.
With liberty, free market capitalism, and equality under the law (remember the meaning of “all men are created equal”?), they could still take a small town, such as Los Angeles was in 1862, and turn it into one of the largest cities and metropolis regions of the Earth 150 years later. No thought experiment necessary, because this actually happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkXI-MNSb8Q#t=119
Meanwhile, the Soviet Union failed within seven decades, Cuba has been a basket case since the first Castro took over, and Chavez turned oil-rich Venezuela into a mess. As Castro was taking over Cuba, the Democrats took over the successful Detroit that Republicans built, declared it to be their model city, and turned it from a beautiful, booming city into a disaster area with half its former population (while the rest of the US nearly doubled in population.
Like Cuba, East Berlin, and Mexico, the Detroit population fled the somewhat centrally controlled city in favor of places where they could live with more liberty. Detroit turns out to be a perfect model of what leftism does.
Tyrannies are good for the tyrants, because by definition they abuse their people to their own benefit. Centralized planning and control is good for the central planners and controllers, because they plan and control it that way. Monarchies are good for the monarchs, because they get to be tyrannical or to plan centrally as they wish, and they definitely control centrally, but they rarely embrace liberty, because it reduces their power. Everyone wants to have power, even We the People, and power is what liberty, free market capitalism, and equality under the law leave us with.
Free market capitalism is good for the people, not so much the ruling class, because it is the people who choose what they want, encouraging the entrepreneurs among them to provide what they want, because everyone may choose to participate in the capitalism. These are what give free people the power.
New thought experiment:
What happens when a government takes a free market capitalist society and centralizes the planning and control?
Once again, we have seen the results in Venezuela, Cuba, the European Union, and now the United States. Cuba stagnated, Venezuela is crumbling, all of Britain is exiting, and the United States hasn’t seen a 3% economic growth year in the eight years since the communist moved into the White House, an economic record worse than even the Great Depression.
Insomnius wrote: “Sadly though, our civilization is still rapidly losing its civility.”
How true. This was demonstrated last weekend during much of the Women’s March on Washington. Those ladies (sorry to insult real ladies, but I mean no incivility) should consider taking a page from their nemesis, Trump, and keep the locker room talk inside the locker room. The lady in the lady-part costume whose sign demanded her dignity back would have succeeded just by removing her costume. She would have been far more dignified even if the action left her naked on the National Mall. How much of each of those speeches turned out to be hate speech?
Meanwhile, the audience cheered and applauded all that incivility.
Last March, Bill Whittle talked about these violent anti-Trump protesters, not because he predicted that they would be violent at the inauguration but because they have been violent for years. It’s what they do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeEPSjOBzRA (7 minutes, Bill Whittle: “American Fascists”)
“This violence is not about Trump, it’s about the way they do business on the left.”