I can't say I'd heard of Jeffrey Tucker before reading this, but what he says here is downright brilliant!
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I don’t know. So what does this Libertarian guy want to do with the country?
I have no idea. I’d never heard of him before reading the graphic, but I know that I liked, and agree with, what he said. I included the Wikipedia link for those who wanted to know more. Also, though he certainly he sounds like one, there’s nothing in the Wikipedia article associating him with the Libertarians.
Well, I agree with what he’s saying here, but then most Americans want everything in the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version anyway (I believe part of the idiot birther movement is because the president’s background and upbringing doesn’t fit into any neat little boxes, and it hurts their brains to think about it), so I’m not sure how else any nominees, for any office in this country, would present themselves or “their” ideas.
Meh, I think the two major parties are just mirror images of one another anyway.
argh
*don’t* fit into any neat little boxes
Meh, “doesn’t” actually reads better than “don’t” to my ears…
Thanks Luddy. I’m sure a lot of my more partisan readers would not be as open-minded as you seem to be about Mr. Tuckers statement.
At the risk of sounding even crazier than most people already think I am, I think of this system as being like a real-world version of the “SkyNet” machine intelligence from the “Terminator” movies. Ultimately, its goal is to increase its control over world affairs in order to thrive and grow, and the election cycle, where it presents us with two or more supposedly “opposite” choices in various political races, is just a myth it perpetuates to mollify the sheeple that comprise the vast majority of the population.
As outlandish as that sounds, the never-to-be-pinned-down “truth” is evidenced by the fact that it does continue to thrive and grow, and exercise ever more control, despite the apparently huge pendulum swings in government policy.
BTW, I agree with your assessment of how a lot of people see Obama. Personally, I like Obama a lot more than I like Romney from a strict “personality and temperament” perspective. Unfortunately, I can’t see either one making even the barest start in the monumental level of change required to save this country from oblivion…
I don’t think I’d call your ideas “outlandish,” although I would say that our real-world SkyNet is a relatively new political construct based on wealth. We were isolationists, or maybe more correctly “neutralists”, for long while (and I think our ultimately entering the first world war was as much a moral decision as a political one — and we didn’t enter WWII until we were attacked) , and for our first 200 years I think we really did believe our avowed ideals. But, y’know the 80s deregulated EVERYTHING, and once people started becoming uber-rich, wealth — the accumulation, the long-term retention of it, even just the appearance of it — became the guiding principle. It’s not even the “American Dream” anymore; these days, you’re either rich and getting richer, or you’re not. Where oil barons used to at least stay behind the scenes, today they just run for office themselves.
Until us 99 percent figure out how to land a punch that will really hurt, nothing much will change, at least from within this country. I know the big talk these days is all about China, India and Brazil, but I don’t see the U.S. imploding any time soon, either.
So, me, I just try to do stuff I find personally fulfilling with like-minded people, and leave the idiocy to the idiots. It’s dust-to-dust for everyone, anyway — something I actually find reassuring.
As inspired as I was by what I was taught of the ideals that drove the founding of this country, I realize now that seeds of it’s eventual decline, the “root of all evil” itself – the belief that a person’s moral imperative is to be of benefit to others, were planted in its foundations from the very beginning by the founders failure to refute those beliefs for the sake of political expediency. The net result is that the majority of people feel like “slaves” dependent on the government to protect them from the “masters” who keep them down, while remaining completely blind to the fact that the whole system depends upon their being the willing slaves they are.
But I love your conclusions Luddy, particularly the “leave the idiocy to the idiots” and “It’s dust-to-dust for everyone, anyway — something I actually find reassuring” parts!
Dear “Reverend” Tucker; I am afraid. Phillip
We should all be afraid my friend, but you apparently have unflattering knowledge of Mr. Tucker that I do not. Being a devout “non-believer” myself, I admit to being a little put off by his being a Catholic convert, but since I’ve heard of no attempts by him to shove those beliefs down anyone’s throat, I see no reason to thrash him for it.
There is enough truth in Tucker’s take to make it interesting, I agree. Anyone who has read the books “Top Secret America” and “Drift: The Unmooring of America’s Military”, which I have, would not deny that our government has become so large and complex as to challenge reasonable management. To his credit, Mr. Obama has asserted that he would like to downsize and simplify it. (Sorry, I don’t have a link, but I’m certain I read it.) The problem with doing that of course is that the government is in the charge of not just one decision-maker, but of a huge committee, including Justice, the Executive and the biggest, most-devisive, most-partisan, most-self-indulgent bloc of all, Congress. Congress is the reason, for example, the DoD keeps buying weapons and weapons systems the military hasn’t asked for and doesn’t need. Influential constituencies want the business, a.k.a., jobs.
Our system of government, to paraphrase Churchill, is the worst – except for all the others.
Very true Jim. I love the Churchill paraphrase. And don’t forget Eisenhower’s warning about the Military Industrial Complex!