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Without even getting into foreign policy, this is how I see the perversion of the old "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" role of government specified in the Declaration and how far from those ideals America v2.0 really is.
We're living in the world champion of runaway capitalism, where the only thing that's valued in business anymore is the ability to extract more work from fewer people for less pay, all the while cutting or eliminating benefits, busting unions and generally creating a climate where the labor force is too scared and insecure to make much noise.
Where three out of 10 people around you at any given time are religiously insane and think the earth is about 6,000 years old. Where public education is just about extinct, and where there is no money for anything necessary or worthwhile, unless you like new nukes and aircraft carriers. Where the economy runs as a rigged zero-sum game, and where even rare and highly prized skill sets don't guarantee a job with decent pay. Where environmentalism is seen as subversive, and where intellect is viewed with suspicion. Where health care is a privilege and not a right, and is rationed by bank account. Where Constitutional guarantees are now optional, where celebrity worship trumps political awareness, and where the apex of mass culture is the Super Bowl halftime show. Where paper pushers make fortunes and caregivers make minimum wage, and where systemic racism and xenophobia create murderous monsters out of otherwise decent people. Where the second amendment -- the only one still respected by the feds -- has created a national free-fire zone, while protests are restricted to "free speech zones." Where the distribution of wealth is so heavily concentrated in the greedy little fists of the upper five or so percent that they own about 60 - 70 percent of everything and even that's not enough for these parasites. Where the trappings of success go to the most devious or outright criminal, while the decent people get the dregs. Where a significant percentage of the country's infrastructure of roads, bridges, overpasses and underpasses is structurally compromised and in immediate need of reinforcement, but there's only federal money available if you're in the mass slaughter and genocide business.
I know who has the power and who never will. I know US troops have shot and killed their own countrymen and women many times in the past, and most will do so again if the peasants get too far out of line and they're ordered to open fire. And if they don't, there's always Blackwater and the rest of the private armies ready to pick up the slack. I know there's only one party in the political system, and it's not on my side. I know that the radical left will never, ever be represented in any significant political way in this country. I know those recent presidential directives and executive orders have a purpose, and it's not pleasant. I know domestic spying is a way of life and probably will never go away. I know the patriot acts and the military commissions act have made being an American citizen about as useful as holding a Venusian passport. I know that all labor movements, which hold the most promise for working people, have been shut down as soon as they gain a little traction, their leaders imprisoned or killed, and their members routinely beaten half to death by federal strike breakers. Now, in the age of injustice, law firms specialize in union busting, making guns and brass knuckles largely unnecessary.
This is a rather dim view of the country I know, but I can't find much evidence to support a contrary view. And I'm not a pollyanna by nature, so the current BushCo shit storm weighs heavily. Perhaps some of you, those who are feeling a little less doomed today, can offer some opposing points of view.
wp
Note: This is somewhat similar in nature to a new OP by Blues90 so, mods, if you think it's too much like a dupe, feel free to remove or relocate.
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