CommentsMY TURN--The destruction of a power never happens all at once. Rome wasn’t conquering other cultures one day and then the next day finding themselves falling apart.
These things happen somewhat slowly, but like a train that picks up speed, once it is on a trajectory with momentum, it can escalate the process. The evidence is all around us, but no one wants to talk about it. It seems that people continue to adopt the “blame everything else” attitude; and meanwhile, the crumbling of the state continues.
It appears that as humans, it only takes a few generations to completely forget the lessons that were learned in history. If you reach back, you can view the cause and effect for the rise and eventual fall of each of the fascist regimes. There is a common baseline where a majority of the people feel that they have been insulted, embarrassed, harmed or simply deserve more; they single out a group or culture to place the blame on, begin a regiment of hate and punishment, attack and devour other nations, and they turn their attention to continuing groups to feed the hate.
They support and elect leaders that glorify them and their country in a hyper-nationalistic way, with flags, anthems, military might, and religious icons being touted as the real reason that their “God” is behind them.
For those countries that may have had reporting of news in clarifying the truth, these individuals will find themselves in prisons (or worse) and there is a development of only “government approved” journalism that placates the message of the administration.
All those that may have been friends or allies are now distanced and while there is a mutual respect for other dictators, there is no honor among thieves, and therefore they will often attack each other.
When the people promote and support a single negative rhetoric based on hate, racism, bigotry, and sexism, it will not be long before they will cry out for the blood of anyone that isn’t exactly like them. There is no limit, no stopping point, and the enraged and insane mob will scream for more, until they only have each other in the pen. Those that maintain critical thinking are typically too fearful to say anything; they know that they will be cannibalized, and so they make excuses for the behavior or even redirect attention.
There’s no profit in reporting the fall of the American empire, so only the heavier organizations are bothering to say anything. As with many things in the U.S., they would prefer to let people live in an illusion. One that has reported on this is BigThink.com. In their article: Why The Fall of the American Empire Will Come by 2030, historian Alfred McCoy reviews what we can expect:
“McCoy sees the election of Donald Trump to Presidency as a defining moment. He does not think Trump himself is the cause of the waning American power, but rather a symptom of it. Nonetheless, McCoy regards Trump as likely to hasten the downward trajectory.”
The article continues with:
“What role will Donald Trump play in this scenario? McCoy sees the new President as setting out to demolish ‘the essential pillars of U.S. global power’. Namely, weakening alliances with NATO and Asian partners, as well as cutting back on scientific research that has for a long time given the edge to the U.S., its military industrial complex, in particular. He also cites other examples of U.S. being withdrawing from global leadership, like its new stance on the Paris Climate Accord and the TPP.
McCoy acknowledges that the U.S. has already reached a point where it’s no longer the dominant global power, with its share of the global economy getting smaller. Indeed, the U.S. portion of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined from 40% in 1960 to 22% today. Essentially, America’s economic role is nearly half of what it used to be. By 2030, China will jump ahead and become the world’s preeminent economic superpower. ”
When Profit Overtakes the Rights of People
The downfall of the country has been happening for a long time. Under the guise of “less government control”, conservatives have been manipulating their story to their supporters that more profit for the big corporations will mean a better life for the average American. This is the old “trickle down theory” and they know that their constituents are just too stupid to remember that it hasn’t worked…ever. When you add the constant message of “fear” that they promote on sites such as Fox/Breitbart/Sinclair; that liberals want open borders or even want Satanism taught in schools (yes, they really believe that), then you have a perfect formula for uneducated, knuckledraggers that refuse to look at facts and the truth.
You need only look out over the faces of any of the conservatives that attend the Nazi-esque rallies that Trump has had to see the same view as Germany in pre-WWII. They scream “fake news” in the same way that Brown Shirts yelled “Lugenpresse” (false media). They blame anyone that isn’t a white Christian (or their version of Christianity) for all of the woes of their lives and the country.
Companies such as Fox have devoted decades to pushing the wrong rhetoric to those that listen to them and sadly, the conservatives that believe them don’t seem to have the ability to differentiate between their lies and the truth of reality. Add to this that other news networks no longer devote their time to reporting, but seemed to be focused on “ratings” for many years, and it has allowed the country to spin out of control.
We can’t blame the GOP for everything, as it has been the Democrats and liberals that have allowed this to happen. Liberals and Independents out-number the conservatives and yet they sat by and let gerrymandering and voter suppression occur while they bickered among themselves as to which candidate is “perfect enough” to get their vote or worse yet, just decided to sit out voting all together because they were too self-absorbed. Republicans count on this pissy attitude that liberals seem to share and in some of the circles that call themselves “progressives”, they appear to have the same personality traits as those of the extreme right. Democrats have seemed to try to play by the rules, while the Republicans know that the only way they can win, is to cheat. Democrats have let them get away with it, with a soft-gloved attitude in a desire to be bipartisan. The GOP simply views it as weak, laughs at Dems, and continues to push on with illegal activities.
The Democratic Experiment Has Failed
The people that came to what is now “America” did so to escape many things and in the hope of starting a new life where they could enjoy prosperity, happiness, and the pursuit of their own religious beliefs. However, it is the nature of the powerful to impose their will on those less powerful, and as companies grew and prospered, they did so on the backs of workers that were toiling to build the very country that we have. All too soon we forget the corporations that imposed child labor, sweat shops, low wages for those working in harsh environments, destructive lending practices, and even threats for those that did not comply with the religious doctrines of the company. As the United States grew and expanded it became painfully obvious that the government had to step in to protect people against the illicit practices that involve corporate greed and caused harm to people. This is what the conservatives hold disdain for. They feel that the government shouldn’t interfere with any company practice, no matter how disgusting. They are also willing to look the other way when it comes to foreign interference in the very heart of our election system, because it benefits them. Of course, they don’t mind taking advantage of all of the positive benefits that liberals have been responsible for getting passed in legislation.
Unless people of common sense on both sides of the aisle step up to the plate and acknowledge that we need to return to a more bipartisan aspect of working together, we can assume that the experiment that our forefathers tried to institute, has failed.
With the election of the orange Voldemort, combined with an administration that has crossed every line of decorum to line their pockets and those of their benefactors, liberals may have finally had enough and will enter the playing field with “gloves off.” The outcome of all of this remains to be seen, as it has already been noted around the world that the United States is no longer the guiding light that it once was, but instead, a darkened arena that is emulating fascist regimes of the past…..and we know what happened to those.
(S. Novi is a journalist that worked in the media and continues to seek out truth and integrity. A liberal and one that is suspicious of cults and empty promises. Her posts originate at Medium.com. She is a contributor to CityWatch.)
-cw
