Subj : Re: Recession to Depressi
To : Dr. What
From : Kaelon
Date : Fri Jul 22 2022 07:19 am
Re: Re: Recession to Depressi
By: Dr. What to Kaelon on Fri Jul 22 2022 08:33 am
> Oh, ya. But I figured that the Elitists and their hangers-on have been
> slowly perverting the system since the start.
I completely agree. I feel that we've at least had some calibrating events throughout our history to dislodge elitists, inject some populism, and balance it out with merit. But I think the last time we really had an infusion of this was during President Nixon's administration, and to call it truly meritocratic is to look the other way on some of the inescapable abuses of power.
> Sometimes they overstep and get caught, but not often enough.
> And it's made worse because a good chunk of that money is skimmed off by
> various people through the process. Contracts to do something given to a
> buddy, for example. Grants made to others, which kick the money back in the
> form of political donations. Etc.
Yes. Unions in the Northeast are a disaster, largely because they have outlived their longevity. I don't disagree that new Unions are needed to help workers organize and engage in collective bargaining in cases where there is limited competition and corporations aren't engaging with a long-term vision in mind (such as Starbucks, Amazon, and the like). But construction work is notoriously corrupt, and construction unions are an absurd abuse by and large because union management - not the workers - skim the real deals struck with government and big business.
> Plus what they claim to be "science" is not science, but rather the musings
> of the Ignorant Elitists who happen to have a worthless degree.
Absolutely spot on.
> Postmodernism has been around a long time. Mostly in the ignorant
> "intellectual" classes.
I am reminded of Pope Benedict XVI's admonition against the "dictatorship of relativism." When there is no truth, then the only reality is whatever those in power mandate it to be. And then there can be no "right" or "wrong," no "good" or "evil," only what is promoted to be ostensible and whatever runs afoul of power.
> A general breakdown of society helps them seize power.
There is no doubt that Elitists remain in power thanks in large part to Roman-style bread-and-circuses. I mentioned elsewhere that if we managed to break down the cycle of junk-food entertainment ("infotainment") and genuine malnutrition of the vast majority of the population, conditions would start to change quickly.
> Maybe closer to "Atlas Shrugged".
It's definitely a dystopia.
> But my point was that we basially had a "military spending war" and we won
> because we had more money to spend. If we have less, such a war isn't going
> to turn out good for us.
I am less concerned about Russia's capability to match the United States, let alone the entirety of the Western Alliance, with military or economic means. It is, by and large, a third-rate power that has been exposed being geopolitically beholden to second-world countries. It is a tremendous humiliation for Putin. China, on the other hand, has what it takes and has been embarking on a very concerted push.
> But we are squandering that lead. The amount of wokeness in the military is
> truely alarming.
You think there's "wokeness" in the military? I would love to understand why you think that. I think there is an absolute authoritarian and fascist bent, especially among junior officers and rank-and-file who have not really been thoroughly indoctrinated into the civic virtues that the Armed Forces are renowned for instilling in their organization. I would attribute this to an institutional breakdown of onboarding and adoption, but not a proliferation of "wokeness." There is significant organizational resistence to "woke" measures like allowing women and men to co-mingle in battle, permitting openly-gay members of the military to serve, and even gender-reassignment. All of these "woke" measures are seen for what they are - contributing to the general breakdown of the organization's cohesiveness and subverting military discipline. Individuals need to be prepared to shed their individual concerns if they are to truly be a part of a military tradition.
_____
-=: Kaelon :=-
---
� Synchronet � Vertrauen � Home of Synchronet � [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
