Battles
We suffer together
But your cancer is war
My body betrays me
But the world turns on you
So much pain we endure
But for you it's from hate
They hurt me to save me
But they hurt you to kill
We were drafted the same
But you fight other men
I fight for survival
But you fight for the cause
We hope for the future
But your hope is unclear
Radiation's the end
But for you it is death
Nut's Offerings
Let us sail
The Great Sand Sea
We will fish
For trinitite
Then we'll troll
The deep's sky iron
Holy gifts
For God King Tut
Hey Bobby. Been thinking about something and since you are far more erudite in regard to international affairs, I thought I'd bounce it off you.
I saw a news opinion piece sometime ago suggesting that the American century was over. I grew up with that concept and felt I was very lucky to be born into the nation which had become the leader of the world.
To be honest, I didn't bother to read the article. Still, the headline got me thinking.
I expect you remember that during Trump's first term I said I don't think our allies are ever going to trust us again. Even if Trump doesn't win a second term, who knows who we will elect next time?
And here he is.
It's not just that he's trying to destroy the American government except for a few powerful arms which he will remake into his servants carrying out his will, he's already trying for a third term but I question that he will be able to get it. Not to mention, the man is damned old. I doubt he has a third term in him.
I think this is something that runs a whole lot deeper than Trump. He's just a symptom of the disease.
Vulnerable
My feeling is that the American people are in a position that reminds me very strongly of the British at the end of World War II. After centuries of empire building (and empire holding) the British people were tired of their young men going off to die in foreign countries so that the people back home could swagger about in imperial pride and the ultra rich could benefit from the loot collected from around the subservient globe.
They adored Winston Churchill as the unparalleled leader who led the crusade against the Nazis, but they had no interest in following this old noble in struggling to retain the British Empire.
They wanted a national health service. They wanted to be exactly what Napoleon always said they were, a nation of shopkeepers rather than a nation ofconquerors.
Trump, with his whole America first thing, is about in the same position right now. The original America first movement headed by Lindbergh simply didn't want us to be used by the European powers as cannon fodder to grow their empires. The America first movement today is not that old movement brought back to life. Today it's a rejection by the American people of being the world's policeman. Many Americans don't want American soldiers going to war in foreign lands.
They're tired of paying the price for leading the world and no wonder, it's a very expensive price. I recently saw a report that today America still spends more on its military budget than the next 10 nations combined. We could do a lot domestically with even a portion of those funds.
We're almost a century late to the party, but I really think a lot of of us are ready to turn into a more thoroughly socialized nation.
Yes, the Trumpsters say that that's what they hate the most, but as was pointed out before the affordable care act was adopted, once people have it, they do not want to let it go. The Brits traded their world empire for the NIH, but I think we're getting prepared to do that ourselves.
I hate to say it, but I think what we really need right now is Teddy Roosevelt. Not the rough rider (me he-man) but the trustbuster. Even Trumpsters might be able to get behind that if the theoretical hero promised to bring our troops home and stop leading the world at the cost of American treasure and blood.
This brings up the next part of the question. If we do resign from the position who replaces us?
China desperately wants to, but China's in desperately bad shape. Her economy is nothing but a giant bubble. Corruption is so extremely pervasive bridges regularly collapse alongside of buildings and the rapidly built cities are on the edge of an economic disaster. Even their fake islands that they constructed in order to claim the South China Sea are beginning to erode away right out from under their naval and airbases.
India has potential but it's wrapped up in its own extreme right ring hatred and bigotry and I think lacks the industrial base to be regarded as a serious contender.
Remember a few decades back when everyone thought Brazil was going to rule the world? No one's even suggesting it now.
Russia? " I will quote Baron Stein, "Theirs is the rage of dreaming sheep!" Russia had an opportunity to be a economic powerhouse. Putin has crushed Russia for the foreseeable future. Even if he wins in Ukraine, he has lost every other battle, including the economic struggles.
I think the best bet is the European Union. It's hard to credit tired old Europe becoming the world leader again, but a united Europe is a new beast. If Europe can successfully stop its endless efforts to conduct war against itself, it will be an economic powerhouse with plenty of resources and plenty of manpower -- and it's highly industrialized as well. We all have assumed that Europe is that stable, but then Europe was assuming that Russia was that stable too. (remember Angela Merkel assuring the world that Russia was now a friendly bear?) The European Union is still an experiment that's in its early stages. If they can keep it together, I think this century will be called the European Union century.
So, lots to cover here. I wonder how you respond to my oddball thoughts.
Eventide
Raindrops spatter
Shatter
The sky
Hits ground
Gleaming shards
Of light
Water prisms
Melt
To mirror sheen
The road
The pitter patter
Of a million
Little raindrop feet
Fulfillment
For my soul
Fragment
The moon
Full moon
Eye of heaven
Cataract ridden
Gazing down
Blindly down
Upon the dying world
An added thought:
A poem begins with a lump in the throat; a homesickness or a love sickness. It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment. A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.
On target once again Mr. Sanders. The Democratic Party does more virtue signaling and posturing for extreme positions than it does reaching out to America and trying to meet the needs of the average American. "Defund the police", "white privilege", and a host other self-destructive and incredibly alienating phrases (not to mention positions) frighten the majority of Americans, convincing them that the Democratic Party is doing its best to make the middle-class suffer so as to protect and coddle a minority of non-mainstream individuals.
I have said it before and I'll say it again, instead of referring to defunding police and taking away white privilege, the Democratic Party could have won a great deal of support by advocating for the increase of mental health services and ensuring that every American has their rights fully respected.
In other words, the Democratic Party is becoming more and more a mirror image of the Republican Party. It pleases its extremist base as its first and foremost intent. If this keeps up the Democratic Party will become exactly the opposite of the Republican Party and aim only to please its base.
This actually helps the Republicans because they find it easy to convince the middle class the extremist interests of their wealthy and ultra religious base are shared with the average American. The wealthy elites are good at pandering to the peons they exploit. America's intellectual elites cannot succeed in this endeavor.
>“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders wrote in a statement. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”<
My friend Susan posted: "News broke yesterday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had advised federal emergency workers to evacuate Rutherford County, North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, because of concerns about their safety after Trump and MAGA Republicans spread the false rumor that federal agents are forcing people off their land to start lithium mining projects. The alert came after the U.S. Forest Service sent an email to federal responders saying that National Guard troops had encountered armed militia saying they were “hunting FEMA.” FEMA officials will no longer go door-to-door with disaster assistance, but instead will stay in fixed locations." Heather Cox Richardson
I commented: In a recent call to a radio program, a caller revealed that he and his wife were deeply worried about his father-in-law. They did not live in Florida and so could not help him. His home had been severely damaged by the hurricane, he had no power, and he was going hungry. When they told him to get aid from FEMA, he informed them that FEMA was trying to give him money, but he refused to take it because he had heard on right wing media that if you take aid from FEMA they will steal your home
The caller concluded that this is a cult in action.
