Destroyed by Total Capitalism

[mpohl 1]

Destroyed by Total Capitalism
America Has Already Lost Tuesday's Election

A Commentary by Jakob Augstein


The United States Army is developing a weapon that can reach -- and destroy -- any location on Earth within an hour. At the same time, power lines held up by wooden poles dangle over the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy ripped them apart there and in communities across the East Coast last week, and many places remain without electricity. That's America, where high-tech options are available only to the elite, and the rest live under conditions comparable to a those of a developing nation. No country has produced more Nobel Prize winners, yet in New York City hospitals had to be evacuated during the storm because their emergency generators didn't work properly.

Anyone who sees this as a contradiction has failed to grasp the fact that America is a country of total capitalism. Its functionaries have no need of public hospitals or of a reliable power supply to private homes. The elite have their own infrastructure. Total capitalism, however, has left American society in ruins and crippled the government. America's fate is not just an accident produced by the system. It is a consequence of that system.

Obama couldn't change this, and Romney wouldn't be able to either. Europe is mistaken if it views the election as a choice between the forces of good and evil. And it certainly doesn't amount to a potential change in political direction as some newspapers on the Continent would have us believe.

A Powerless President

Romney, the exceedingly wealthy business man, and Obama, the cultivated civil rights lawyer, are two faces of a political system that no longer has much to do with democracy as we understand it. Democracy is about choice, but Americans don't really have much of a choice. Obama proved this. Nearly four years ago, it seemed like a new beginning for America when he took office. But this was a misunderstanding. Obama didn't close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, nor did he lift immunity for alleged war criminals from the Bush-era, or regulate the financial markets, and climate change was hardly discussed during the current election campaign. The military, the banks, industry -- the people are helpless in the face of their power, as is the president.

Not even credit default swaps, the kind of investment that brought down Lehman Brothers and took Western economies to the brink, has been banned or even better regulated. It is likely the case that Obama wanted to do more, but couldn't. But what role does that play in the bigger picture?

We want to believe that Obama failed because of the conservatives inside his own country. Indeed, the fanatics that Mitt Romney depends on have jettisoned everything that distinguishes the West: science and logic, reason and moderation, even simple decency. They hate homosexuals, the weak and the state. They oppress women and persecute immigrants. Their moralizing about abortion doesn't even spare the victims of rape. They are the Taliban of the West.

The Winner Makes No Difference to Europe

Still, they are only the symptom of America's failure, not the cause. In reality, neither the idealists and Democrats, nor the useful idiots of the Tea Party have any power over the circumstances.

From a European perspective, it doesn't matter who wins this election. Only US foreign policy is important to us -- and Obama is no dove and Romney no hawk. The incumbent president prefers to wage his wars with drones instead of troops, though the victims probably don't care if they're killed by man or machine. Meanwhile, despite all the criticism, his challenger says he wouldn't join Israel were the country to go to war with Iran because the US can now no longer afford such a thing.

In any case, it is wrong to characterize Republicans as the party of warmongers and Democrats as the party of peace -- or even to call the latter a left-wing party at all. After all, it was Democratic presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson who started the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Republican presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon ended these wars. And Ronald Reagan, who Europeans see as the embodiment of both the evil and absurd aspects of American politics, was a peaceful man compared to the standards we have since become accustomed to. He only ever invaded Grenada.

The truth is that we simply no longer understand America. Looking at the country from Germany and Europe, we see a foreign culture. The political system is in the hands of big business and its lobbyists. The checks and balances have failed. And a perverse mix of irresponsibility, greed and religious zealotry dominate public opinion.

The downfall of the American empire has begun. It could be that the country's citizens wouldn't be able to stop it no matter how hard they tried. But they aren't even trying.

[rehmwa 2]

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A Commentary by Jakob Augstein

I can think of at least a dozen high school sophomores that could write a commentary with less blatant stereotyping and strawmen and intellectual laziness about both parties than this guy just did.

Read like a typical SC thread. so anything new here?

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[lawrocket 3]

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The truth is that we simply no longer understand America.

That assumes you ever did.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Lefty 0]

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Anyone who sees this as a contradiction has failed to grasp the fact that America is a country of total capitalism.

Stopped reading there. Was hoping for a thoughtful perspective, left disappointed.

Provoking a reaction isn't the same thing as saying something meaningful.
-Calvin

[mpohl 1]

Maybe that's the problem!!??
Ever heard of an open mind? And that an open mind is like an open parachute. Of course, a closed mind...you get the idea!

Best wishes to your con'd existence!

[billvon 2,400]

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The United States Army is developing a weapon that can reach -- and destroy -- any location on Earth within an hour. At the same time, power lines held up by wooden poles dangle over the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy ripped them apart there and in communities across the East Coast last week, and many places remain without electricity. That's America, where high-tech options are available only to the elite, and the rest live under conditions comparable to a those of a developing nation. No country has produced more Nobel Prize winners, yet in New York City hospitals had to be evacuated during the storm because their emergency generators didn't work properly.

Anyone who sees this as a contradiction . . .

I don't see that as a contradiction. It was a massive storm. I bet it would even have damaged that superweapon the author talks about - and it definitely destroyed the homes of the rich elite right along with those wretches living in "conditions comparable to a those of a developing nation."

What's his point? That storms can damage things?

[mpohl 1]

Maybe the point was: "Why spend money towards a weapon of destruction, when you can't even bury a power cable in the ground?"

I thought your grasp was better than this!

P.S.: Any 3rd wold country, banana republic, can deal better w/ power outages (via inversors, generators) than NYC. I know first hand!!!

P.S.: Every time I have professional tradesmen and engineers (most of them friends) visiting from Europe, they can't stop laughing and falling all over themselves. Be it cars, infrastructure, standards, or construction standards. They all go back teary-eyed!!!!

The country is backwards by at least a 50 years!!! And you ask why?

[airdvr 197]

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Any 3rd wold country, banana republic, can deal better w/ power outages (via inversors, generators) than NYC.

Pretty sure because generators are the only way they get power. DO you realize how ignorant you sound when you say any 3rd world country?

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Every time I have professional tradesmen and engineers (most of them friends) visiting from Europe

I'm very much sure that their schools haven't taught them why they aren't all speaking German or Russian and the astronomical amount of money that was spent by the US. If they really want to go back teary eyed perhaps they need to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns. I'm absolutley certain you should.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[mpohl 1]

Why don't you join me on one of my trips to the Dominican Republic? Ready when you are.

And yes, my "professional" contacts are from Germany, France, Europe. What astronomical amounts have you spent, dimwit???

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Any 3rd wold country, banana republic, can deal better w/ power outages (via inversors, generators) than NYC.

Pretty sure because generators are the only way they get power. DO you realize how ignorant you sound when you say any 3rd world country?

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Every time I have professional tradesmen and engineers (most of them friends) visiting from Europe

I'm very much sure that their schools haven't taught them why they aren't all speaking German or Russian and the astronomical amount of money that was spent by the US. If they really want to go back teary eyed perhaps they need to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns. I'm absolutley certain you should.

[airdvr 197]

I'm fairly certain that the DR would not be classified as a 3rd World country. But I guess once you've been to the DR you are qualified to speak for all 3rd world countries.

SO your professional contacts are from those 3 countries? If we're so backwards why do they bother to come here?

Other than paying taxes I haven't spent an astronomical amount. My government has.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[airdvr 197]

We walked all over DC. Never felt like I had wandered into an unsafe area. A place to stay overnite might be a bit pricey, better deals out near BWI. There are shuttles that go into DC from there.

Please don't dent the planet.

Destinations by Roxanne

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Destroyed by Total Capitalism
America Has Already Lost Tuesday's Election

A Commentary by Jakob Augstein

The United States Army is developing a weapon that can reach -- and destroy -- any location on Earth within an hour. At the same time, power lines held up by wooden poles dangle over the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy ripped them apart there and in communities across the East Coast last week, and many places remain without electricity. That's America, where high-tech options are available only to the elite, and the rest live under conditions comparable to a those of a developing nation.

Right! It's like those other third world countries where over half the people have no toilet (as of he 2008 638 million Indians out of 1.1 billion didn't have one). Oh wait... the 2000 US Census revealed that 99.36% of us had indoor plumbing and they stopped asking about it.

America is not like a third world country.

[mpohl 1]

I give up. YOU WIN!

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I'm fairly certain that the DR would not be classified as a 3rd World country. But I guess once you've been to the DR you are qualified to speak for all 3rd world countries.

SO your professional contacts are from those 3 countries? If we're so backwards why do they bother to come here?

Other than paying taxes I haven't spent an astronomical amount. My government has.

[mpohl 1]

Man,

if u are really serious, I'll show you the light :)
As a first timer, the spot is Sosua.

You speak Spanish or French? Creole would be a killer!

[mpohl 1]

You have no clue.

I suggest you travel to Continental Europe or Asia. Report back with your impressions!!!

Hasta la vista, bebe!

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Destroyed by Total Capitalism
America Has Already Lost Tuesday's Election

A Commentary by Jakob Augstein

The United States Army is developing a weapon that can reach -- and destroy -- any location on Earth within an hour. At the same time, power lines held up by wooden poles dangle over the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy ripped them apart there and in communities across the East Coast last week, and many places remain without electricity. That's America, where high-tech options are available only to the elite, and the rest live under conditions comparable to a those of a developing nation.

Right! It's like those other third world countries where over half the people have no toilet (as of he 2008 638 million Indians out of 1.1 billion didn't have one). Oh wait... the 2000 US Census revealed that 99.36% of us had indoor plumbing and they stopped asking about it.

America is not like a third world country.

[champu 1]

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Why spend money towards a weapon of destruction, when you can't even...

...Any 3rd wold country, banana republic, can deal better w/ power outages

You aren't, by any chance, one of the folks who scoffed at the deployment of the Carl Vinson to Haiti in 2010 are you?

[billvon 2,400]

>"Why spend money towards a weapon of destruction, when you can't even bury a
>power cable in the ground?"

Why spend money on European trains when you can't even do reliable aboveground distribution wiring?

(Hint - most of Manhattan lost power because the wiring buried in vaults got flooded)

>P.S.: Any 3rd wold country, banana republic, can deal better w/ power outages (via
>inversors, generators) than NYC. I know first hand!!!

Do you mean "inverters?"

And let's look at those numbers. 41 people died in NY due to the flood. In 2010, a heat wave in Russia killed 7000. Just heat, no floods or storms.

Why spend money on the Russian space program when they can't even afford air conditioning? (And this is an example of "dealing better w/power outages?")

You really have to get out more if you think 41 deaths in NYC after a megastorm is an example of a huge national disaster.