Insanity

[AllentownJake]

We are in the current shape we are in as a nation because the working white poor and lower middle class 30 years ago were brainwashed into believing that taxes were the source of all their problems. Abortion and Gays angered their deity, blacks and Hispanics were out to take over, that unions will destroy their jobs, and that destroying the environment was good for them.

It was marketed to them and sold to them wrapped in an American Flag.

Fucking amazing. This is about as sane as when the Aztec priest convinced the people they needed to sacrifice people on an altar in order to make it rain.

Shouldn't be surprised, only the officers actually owned slaves during the Civil War.

[RandomThoughts]

1. yep it was insanity.

intentional mixed with fear and confusion.

But I do not believe it was of God.
2 Timothy 1
6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

[Kutjara]

2. "only the officers actually owned slaves during the Civil War."

Right there is the single statement that says everything anyone needs to know about "us" and "them," right down to today. The only thing that's changed is that the "officers" and the "slaves" have altered their identities. Slightly.

Thanks for the crystal-clear shot of cold water to the brain.

[omega minimo]

3. It was the middle class, don't blame the poor and lower MC, they were the ones who felt the first

blows of Reaganomics.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5864151

[TahitiNut]

4. As always, the illusion that "those people" (in times past) weren't as "enlightened" as us ...

... is the result of being too close to the trees to see the forest. The more interesting lesson is to try to consider how many of the things we take for granted ("the way things are") without much concern (if any) will be regarded in not too many years as "insane" or "retarded" or hateful and bigoted.

I'm now of an age (66 ... on Sunday) that I can easily recall (my memory is intact, thank doG) when large parts of the world map were marked 'unexplored' and kids dies of polio and doctors made house calls (along with the milkman) and mail was delivered twice a day and the 'n-word' (which I always detested) was used in everyday conversation (along with 'kike' and 'wop') and 'queers' supposedly hung out in public restrooms waiting for kids. I remember when it was COMMON and ORDINARY in the South for restrooms to be labeled 'Men,' 'Women,' and 'Colored' (who didn't deserve gender-specific facilities) and the very notion that men and women were somehow unequal was laughable in my Norwegian immigrant family where every woman worked and voted and NEVER put up with shit (nor did the men) even though girls in school had cooties and inside plumbing. Only about 2/3rds of the households had cars and TWO cars was 'rich' and ridiculous and the streetcar was used by EVERYONE and grocers delivered and our suburban residential street was gravel that got oiled down at the beginning of the sumer to keep the dust down and we covered the driveway with 'clinkers' from our coal-fired furnace and the coal truck delivered coal down a chute into the coal bin and we (lucky enough to afford one) loaded the automatic stoker in the morning and evening to keep the house warm.

Wait 30 minutes after eating before swimming. (That was medical 'wisdom.') "Amos & Andy" was popular ... on the radio and then on TV. In 1949, we had exactly TWO televisions in our neighborhood. One was a floor console with a round 9" tube and OURS was a table model with a 17" screen and the envy of everyone. Evenings were spent playing cards, board games, or watching Uncle Miltie (Texaco Fire Chief). Mondya night was for boxing ... look sharp, feel sharp, be sharp, now listen mister.

NOBODY used the "seven dirty words" (at least around kids) and their discovery was a Rite of Passage. I think I was in my teens before I learned the most useful word of all: fuck. It was ASSUMED that the European counties were Colonial powers and half the world was covered with countries with names that began with 'French,' or 'British,' or 'Dutch.' Kings and Queens ruled. Military service was EXPECTED of males and the draft was NORMAL.

That was "the way things are." We were "enlightened" when we thought about people without indoor plumbing (still some around) and those who thought "flat earth" and the crazy fringe religions that only the uneducated believed. Then, of course, there was Father Coughlin. Still.

Fifty years from now, people in their twenties will think us 'quaint' and 'stupid' and 'bigoted.'

If we're lucky.

And that's the crux of the matter. It was due to the enormous efforts of MANY of those people of the past that we have the luxury of regarding 'them' as bigoted or quaint or backwards.

Will the 20-somethings of today do as well??? I sometimes doubt it.

[AllentownJake]

5. Poverty breeds extremism and ignorance

Prosperity breeds enlightenment. Too much prosperity leads to complacency which will eventually lead to poverty. It is a cycle. We are now entering the bust phase and mass real poverty will be entering into the equation.