tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post2222002975080459415..comments2023-10-30T06:31:05.501-07:00Comments on MilPub: Backside to the FutureFDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-3910499687373064942011-08-22T21:35:35.710-07:002011-08-22T21:35:35.710-07:00Chief,
Very well said. What is to keep either th...Chief,<br /><br />Very well said. What is to keep either the privileged or the proles from changing course, and the course is a deeper rift? Richard Florida's "Creative Class" is pretty to envision, but not all can arrive there.lisahttp://www.rangeragainstwar.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-35473670568691079872011-08-22T19:04:56.789-07:002011-08-22T19:04:56.789-07:00Chief,
In military terms our leaders have sacrific...Chief,<br />In military terms our leaders have sacrificed the initiative. They admit that we have been over run and have no idea how to restore the line of contact. It's like the German Army/44, we've lost our ability to maneuver and our equivalent solution is to make cuts b/c we can't resume the strategic offensive.We lack the ability in space/time/resources.<br /> Everything that our leaders from both sides offer is limited mobile defense and we call it otherwise. Budget cuts are the same as throwing platoons to stop en div penetrations.<br />Nobody has any plan that will bring us back offensively. Every move of both sides only fortifies the fact that our ideas today are as unreal as the Hitler concepts of 44. We propose budget cuts(Stalingrad tactics) when what we really need are deep strategic penetrations of enemy forces.<br /> Nobody has ever won a modern war by defensive posturing, and that's all we are being fed. Budget cuts are Stalingrad tactics that will lead to complete encirclement.<br />Neither side has a clue as to what will work in the new world that our policies have wrought. You enumerate these very clearly.<br />I'm starting to realize/believe that it takes 30 years for our federal/ state/local laws to mature into true butt fucks into our lives.<br />I have no idea as to the solution<br />jimjim at rangerhttp://rangeragainstwar.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-43611803063331332022011-08-20T19:31:39.174-07:002011-08-20T19:31:39.174-07:00And to add amusement to the misery...there are for...And to add amusement to the misery...there are former millionaires who are flat ass broke because of the last recession...I know, I cried a river too.<br /><br />But with the latest shenanigans in our world economy it looks more and more like we're heading for a second recession...booyahh!!!<br /><br />I am seriously thinking of turning my yard into a garden next spring.sheerahkahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16694622087244891222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-61651045047302417822011-08-18T15:48:05.265-07:002011-08-18T15:48:05.265-07:00Of course now, who would argue that it came ever s...Of course now, who would argue that it came ever soooo close to rebellion in 1933? If you've got real skin in this game . . . which means at least $1 million. Half that and you're still bait . . . that's their measure, so why not use it?<br /><br />As to who among the current US elite would like to consider the real history of the US in 1933? Nobody, nor their dog.<br /><br />Just like back in the bad ole days, it never would have happened, them Russians were ever so peaceloving . . . and them Germans ever so bad back in the 1940s . . . <br /><br />Just don't figure out that it might actually come down to state power in the hands of an unaccountable and corrupt elite . . . that would be bad for business . . .seydlitz89https://www.blogger.com/profile/15431952900333460640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-82323253058341822422011-08-17T22:00:54.453-07:002011-08-17T22:00:54.453-07:00FD Chief makes a good point when he writes that gl...FD Chief makes a good point when he writes that globalization put the end to Ford's realization that producers are also consumers. Global trade works in both directions to out-source workers and customers. You don't need Americans to buy automobiles if, for example, the Brazilian middle class is as numerous and as affluent as the middle class in Europe. Which it is. At least for now.<br />Add global warming, peak oil, land depletion, contamination of the oceans, and the increasingly poor returns from scientific research, and things look pretty grim. <br />In MHO, we should take Retired Patriot's advice seriously and set about set about constructing "civil institutions outside of existing structures." Engaging in conventional politics is a waste of time, especially now when the elites have immunized themselves against argument and reason. As their budget priorities show, they put their trust in weaponry. <br />Elements of the Left have, I think, have come to a similar conclusion. No more milling about, preaching to ourselves in “free-speech zones” while cops, costumed like Darth Vader, glower and fondle their billy clubs. Instead, plant an urban garden or teach some kid how to be a plumber or a mechanic who can keep an old tractor running on home-brewed ethanol. The real confrontation will be between those who strive to build upon what remains and those who respond in the traditional American way, that is, with violence.Podunk Paulnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-43160059086545130332011-08-17T15:10:58.949-07:002011-08-17T15:10:58.949-07:00And don't forget, George Carlin always knew th...And don't forget, George Carlin always knew this to be true.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi6XV8yBFoUJasonhttp://armchairgeneralist.typepad.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-21497928978405576012011-08-17T08:12:44.818-07:002011-08-17T08:12:44.818-07:00Nice post Chief, but I can't help but consider...Nice post Chief, but I can't help but consider the distinctions between 1933 and today . . .<br /><br />In 1933, trying to re-sell the gilded age would have flown like a lead balloon and probably have ushered in a real rebellion. The moneybags knew that, so they kept their self-serving ideas to themselves and watched as the New Deal - actually a revamped version of TR's Square Deal - took off.<br /><br />As Rexford Tugwell, one of FDR's Brain Trust wrote in March 1933, "I do not think it too much to say that on March 4 we were confronted with a choice between an orderly revolution - a peaceful and rapid departure from the past concepts - and a violent and disorderly overthrow of the whole capitalist structure."<br /><br />Also FDR's whole approach of patiently explaining his programs in his radio addresses, of appealing for solidarity, of warning citizens not to trust everything they read in the newspapers due to their vested interests in attacking his policies . . .<br /><br />In retrospect, 1933 looks like a golden age of US democracy in action, rather than a time of broad economic crisis, although it was that as well. <br /><br />Compare that with today.seydlitz89https://www.blogger.com/profile/15431952900333460640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-47808021680521827162011-08-17T05:20:49.221-07:002011-08-17T05:20:49.221-07:00Great post Chief! The 400 (and the rest of the .1...Great post Chief! The 400 (and the rest of the .1% who want to be in the 400) will not stop until we are Bangladesh. The media, which starts the next campaign on the second Wednesday of every November will be no help because they survive on the vast billions of dollars campaigns bring in. Grifter politicians won't help because they are so completely narcissistic and dependent upon the plutocrats to maintain a standard of living that exceeds the one 99% of their constituents lead.<br /><br />No, it's nothing but a train wreck of historic proportions - and we're on it. And since the wheels are already off the tracks, there's nothing to do but hang on for the ride. And when the time comes, remember who caused the wreck, hold them accountable and perhaps show some charity (instead of a head on a pike a lifetime of servitude in a veteran's home). <br /><br />In the meantime, we may not have the 40acres or the burgeoning job market, but we do have each other - locally and regionally - and we need to start building the civic institutions outside the existing structures. I think at this point, more value comes of that energy than all that is directed towards influencing the corrupt, but formal political process we have today. <br /><br />RPRetired Patriothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10653011328780251842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-381917167978264683.post-71479075796150569102011-08-17T04:57:15.633-07:002011-08-17T04:57:15.633-07:00A powerful post, Chief.
I can put some numbers on...A powerful post, Chief.<br /><br />I can put some numbers on your fears. Right now the Unemployment and Underemployment number (U-6 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics) is hovering around 16%. I will be pleasantly surprised if the number is less than 25% by the end of 2013. There's a decent chance that number will reach 40% by 2020.<br /><br />While I understand and emotionally agree with your statement that welfare state is too deeply engrained in the US psyche to be cancelled, I fear that you're not thinking creatively enough about the matter. There's lots of ways to wreck the welfare system that seem sensible on the surface. <br /><br />For example, what really high inflation (15%+) rears its ugly head again and the government announces that it can't afford cost of living increases. The system would be effectively crippled as a way of supporting people in less than five years.<br /><br />Medicare patients already have a difficult time getting into medical clinics because the clinics don't like their reimbursement rates and don't have to take Medicare patients. Extend that to hospitals and even emergency rooms and you've essentially denied medical care to a large but quiet percentage of the population.<br /><br />But in spite of the statistical evidence, I'm done with hopelessness. There are ways out of this mess, mostly by starting on a very local level and working your way up, and I'm going in search of them. For example, the mayor of my community is a bit of a jerk and likes the office far more than I'm comfortable with but does a very good job of being mayor.<br /><br />The titans of industry are doing a fantastic job of destroying the middle layer of companies (the ones that are most likely to supersede them some day) but there is an ever-increasing number of smaller employee-owned companies that are successfully competing on a local level because those titans of industry, quite frankly, aren't all that competitive when you look closely at them (which is why the titans are so profitable to begin with).<br /><br />I'm not going the Global Guerrilla route either. JR has stared into the abyss too long and I doubt the accuracy of his vision for the future. There's still a lot of power in human potential (you can dress up my optimism as potential for future profits if you like) and the global trade and information sharing platforms that have destroyed so many jobs can also save lives and make for a brighter future at virtually no cost to the corporations.Plutohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04036751798841079048noreply@blogger.com