I think this is a very interesting blog about the political parties in USA.
It seems to me…
“In politics stupidity is not a handicap.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte.
Our political parties have fundamentally different visions of what kind of country we should have and neither is feeling sufficiently politically weak to agree to the other side’s vision; there remains essentially no room for independent thinking within the conservative movement.
There has been a move to the right in U.S. political leadership where measures frequently are discussed or proposed that would have been anathema to conservatives under the Eisenhower or even the Reagan administration. This shift to the extreme right cannot be characterized in any way other than as a development of a radical political movement that threatens the very stability and character of the U.S. as we have known it. Isn’t it time for common sense and reason to return to political discourse? The radical right attempts to label the Democratic Party…
View original post 598 more words
AuntyUta 
Lew Bornmann says: ” . . . . Rightwing extremists have a level of anger and hatred not apparent in mainstream liberalism. A significant percentage of the extremely wealthy are conservatives attempting to take over the U.S. political system whereas liberals are more inclined to abstain from politics believing they can save the world – wealthy conservatives make political “investments”; wealthy liberals are more inclined to contribute to healthcare, education, and research. . . . . ”
He also says: ” . . . . This shift to the extreme right cannot be characterized in any way other than as a development of a radical political movement that threatens the very stability and character of the U.S. as we have known it. Isn’t it time for common sense and reason to return to political discourse? The radical right attempts to label the Democratic Party as “socialist” when in reality, the Democratic Party also has moved to the right and now espouses policies more characteristic of the Republican Party not that many years ago.”
I can see some similarities there with our political parties here in Australia. I find that our traditional Labor Party has moved to the right where the Liberals stood before, and the Liberals have moved very far to the right.
And here is something else what Bornmann says:
“The greatest threat our country faces is not external to the U.S.’s geographic borders, it is the internal threat from the extreme rightwing. There doesn’t seem to be any limit to their capriciousness. The goal of rightwing ideologues is to abolish social welfare programs most people consider fundamental to our way of life. Their obvious intent is to destroy our social and economic system.”
What do you think? Does this not describe exactly what threatens to happen here in Australia if our present government has their way?
I thought this article was great Uta, thank you for alerting me! I have shared it around.
Thanks, Robyn.
Yes, there is an anger and hatred amongst right wing extremists. One sometimes got the impression Abbott was on some kind of revenge against the less-well off, the unemployed, the sick and the pensioner.
Well, Gerard, our Prime Minister keeps telling us it is Labor’s fault for wasting all the money. Now government has to pay off debt rather than spending it on welfare! In the meantime rich people get a lot richer by the minute . . . . 🙂
I have just finished an excellent book by a financial analyst at the London brokerage firm Tullette Prebon. He says that real economic growth stopped in 2000 and the global economy has been steadily shrinking since then. He says the US (and the UK) are virtually insolvent because their indebtedness vastly exceeds economic growth that can be expected in the future. The true US debt, for example, is nearly 500 times annual GDP.
What politicians of all political stripes should be doing is leveling with people about this and helping them adapt to a non-growing economy (by developing strong local economies, public transport and renewable energy and ending wasteful wars and consumerism). Instead they try to minimize the effect of the debt through quantitative easing and inflation (it costs less to repay debts with inflated money) and through austerity cuts in pensions and welfare benefits.
The only US Party I see dealing honestly with any of this is the Green Party.
I wonder, Stuart, why Green Parties all over the world have such a tough time to become a bit more mainstream?
And why is it that people (and governments!) find it so hard to live within their means? Is it so difficult to restrict your borrowing to ventures that are profitable and beneficial investments and socially desirable for a well functioning community, rather than use borrowed money for consumption that one could very well do without. Consume that can be classed as additional and ‘luxury’ should basically only occur with money that one has already earned. Capitalism and economists who support the capitalist system went the wrong way by not teaching this!!
There is plenty money around, but it is in the wrong hands. Wealth has been plundered by rent seekers and is being used for speculation and not investment in new productive resources.
People don’t like paying ( mostly income tax) taxes as it ends up in the wrong pockets. Income tax is immoral as it taxes work. So, people restrict themselves in what they could earn. This is ridiculous.There should rather be a tax on unearned profits, like land values.
I totally agree with this, Berlioz. Thanks for commenting! 🙂