Courtesy

Greetings good citizen, I thought I was, er, 'blunt' but apparently I am guilty of 'candy coating' Our American Century when compared to this guy! Today's post is rooted in American exceptionalism where greed and selfishness has crowded out mercy and pity from the American psyche.

In his own words:

But because most of America is now managed by and predatory capital — even its healthcare, media, and education — there is little room, space, opportunity, chance to discuss and suggest and educate people about higher ideals, values, and purposes. For example, on the BBC, I can watch endless documentaries by academics on everything from Renaissance art to French literature — but in America, I’m stuck with Ancient Aliens, poverty porn, police-state reality shows. What is that going to teach me, show me, induce in me — except ignorance, paranoia, resentment, and spite?

I was tempted to correct 'managed by' by inserting dominated but the astute get the flavor of what the writer is communicating so I left it. A LOT of my writing suffers similarly, largely because words fail.

But I digress. I just titled today's offering and it mirrors the intent of the original writer, who again, couldn't find the right words.

Here's another pointed excerpt:

Now imagine that everything in a society is run by and for the rules of predatory capitalism. Everything. What reason is there to treat anyone with decency, respect, fairness, dignity? You don’t give up your first-class airline seat to an old woman if you’re an aspiring hedge fund asshole, do you? Why would you? So there’s little need for such norms and codes of gentleness and kindness to develop, evolve, and grow unless a society has public goods. In econ-parlance, we’d say that an “positive externality” of public goods is that they are civilizing mechanisms, which produce norms and codes of gentleness and kindness and respect and dignity.

Are you getting this FOX NEWS VIEWERS?

Which is to point to another truth few recognize, the same people that equate Money with Intelligence ALSO equate Beauty with TRUTH...so all you have to do is get a vivacious female or a handsome hunk to deliver your message and the 'none to swift' will swallow it, even if it's a pack of vile lies.

While my compatriot points to capitalism as the culprit behind social decay, the true 'underlying problem' remains gullibility and the inability to detect/parse the nonsense from the few kernels of truth it is cloaked in.

Or to put it so EVERYBODY can understand it, we are neck deep in STUPID!

That, my friends is like trying to build your house (civilization) on a foundation of quicksand.

In order to become a society of EQUALS we must first all share the same 'reality'.

The 'predator' TELLS US he is no different than us but even they do not believe this. their first vain assumption is that they are smarter than we are BECAUSE they KNOW they lie!

Is that the kind of society YOU want to raise your kids in? [But you do!]

Yeah, I hear ya. YOU aren't given a choice, except you are but you choose to accept it and turn your head because there isn't anything YOU can do about it.

If you do what you SHOULD DO the a-holes in the Blue Suits will come and cart YOU off!

THAT is where the rubber meets the road and where the wheels come flying off, every time.

Since it's Saturday you know who of 3 M fame was on HBO last night...and didn't he have Jeff Bridges on to talk about his new documentary on the environment.

Talk about awkward, Bill asked Jeff why 'humanity' was so 'uncaring' about the state of the environment and they both knew the answer wasn't HUMANITY, it was the assholes running things (who also happen to cut their paychecks/fund/greenlight their projects!) [Talk about 'coming out of the closet' the current TREASURY SECRETARY has a list of film credits as long as your arm in case you were wondering what formed the basis for my claims that you are being MANIPULATED!]

It could be interpreted as intentional but I think they left it open so they couldn't be retaliated against considering the current F-YOU political environment.

Yeah, you no longer have to squint to see the puppeteer's strings.

Just a personal opinion but Bill should get an Oscar for his performance with Jeff last night and Jeff deserves a best supporting for his roll as 'foil'.

But I once again digress...

Oh, and he ain't foolin' nobody when he sarcastically points at the Democrats need to start 'winning' elections when everybody knows there is no longer any such thing as a Democrat. The 'faux opposition' is only there to lose.

Only ONE 'party' has a seat at the table and that is the party of the predator capitalists. The rest is simply 'window dressing' and make believe...'theater' if you will.

But if he doesn't want the platform he has to be cancelled and forgotten he has to 'play the game' too.

Yeah, Bill is taking risks because the takeover of Time-Warner tells him that his days are numbered.

That and he's becoming 'irrelevant' between Trevor Noah and Jim Jeffries.

Um, not vindictiveness but the same dose of reality that today's writer points to when he cites the 'disappearance' of 'common courtesy'.

Am I being too soft?

That is for you to judge.

Thanks once again for letting me inside your mind.

Gegner