For decades now, the standard of living in the United States has been steadily declining. Wages have stagnated and not kept up with inflation. Good-paying, quality jobs have grown scarce, and decent benefits have grown even scarcer. Average debt for families and individuals, to say nothing of the national debt, has risen dramatically. The education system has slipped, going from the best ranked education system in the world during America's "golden age" of the fifties and early sixties, to seemingly regularly hovering near the bottom among advanced, developed nations.
All of that is depressing enough, and it seems clear enough to be beyond dispute. There are some who still maintain a relative status quo to those better days, and do not want to change a thing in our society as a result, lest we see even more of a decline. Yet, it seems that people who fall on both sides of the political divide, either to the left or to the right, admit that there has indeed been a decline in the country. They cannot agree on what that decline actually is, or why it happened, or who or what is at fault. Yet most Americans will concede that there has been some kind of a slow decline (not really all that slow in terms of historical trends, but in terms of people of people's lives and how they see it, this decline has occurred with near glacial slowness). Again, we cannot seem to agree why it happened, yet we all suspect that it happened for a reason.
There is an eerily accurate prediction by Carl Sagan which, I think, has largely proven accurate, and which basically predicted this grim future. Here is the full quote:
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...
"The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
One thing that has been hard not to notice, and which parallels this decline, has been the American aversion to communism, which was easily stretched to encompass something called "socialism." I put that in quote, because in fact, there are different opinions about socialism and what it encompasses, to the point that it would be hard to give any kind of definitive answer as to what socialism actually is. The only thing that most Americans could agree upon is that it was to be feared and, politically, to be avoided at all costs.
Indeed, "socialism" became the boogie man, something that politicians and journalists would hurl at someone, particularly anyone with aspirations for high office, in order to compromise their political legitimacy. Traditionally, as soon as the label "socialist" gets associated with someone, their political career pretty much quickly ground to a halt. This was the reality for a very long time in this country, since at least the post-Cold War days, particularly the era of McCarthyism, to very, very recent times in this country's history.
And so, if someone argued about how other developed nations in Europe or in eastern Asia or Australia or Canada have seemingly surpassed the standard of living seen in the United States, and that we might learn something, they were quickly dubbed as a "socialist" and quickly dismissed. Whatever their arguments, however logical they may have been, they quickly were extinguished and ushered off the political stage, usually not to be heard from again on any major level.
Again, though, the decline in the American standard of living. More and more, Americans saw that the quality of life in some nations that practiced "socialism" actually exceeded that of Americans. There are the Nordic countries of Europe, the Scandinavian nations, which have embraced socialism (important to note, this is not the same as communism), and they enjoy better salaries and benefits, and a much better education system. Japan surpassed the United States on many levels, as did Australia, where people there on average live in larger homes, are entitled to much longer vacations, and have a higher ranked educations system than we do here in America. Canada, our neighbor, has also passed us in terms of quality of life, and even more Americans traveling abroad could see that.
Little by little, the fear-mongering tactics have been proven wrong, and more and more Americans are coming around to the reality that maybe "socialism" when used as a scare tactic does not reflect the reality of so-called socialist practices in countries like Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, or other nations that enjoy a higher standard of living than the United States. Little by little, people woke up to the fact that this nightmare vision is exaggerated, that it is one more big lie that we have been told in order that nothing be done about very real issues facing Americans, such as stagnant wages that have failed to keep up with inflation, or benefits that consistently get stripped from working Americans, or how the "for profit" healthcare system in this country has failed tens of millions of Americans, and given this country the highest costs of any healthcare system in the entire world.
Frankly, a change has long been overdue. Yet, there are people who clearly continue to hang onto the illusion - or delusion - that any kind of major changes to utilize tax dollars towards making people's live a little bit easier and more manageable is very bad, even un-American. It is expected among those who identify as conservatives, perhaps particularly Trump nuts. But it is especially depressing when it comes from those who pass as being from a more liberal persuasion. In recent days, I posted about some of these so-called "liberal elite media" types who have been attacked Bernie Sanders, with Chris Matthews hinting that a Bernie Sanders presidency might see execution squads in New York's Central Park, or Chuck Todd comparing Bernie Sanders supporters with "brownshirts." Both work for MSNBC, and it was on that obviously garbage channel that James Carville also compared Bernie Sanders and his supporters to a "cult."
As tiresome and, frankly, predictable as these paranoid, knee-jerk attacks have been, they are finally beginning to fall on more and more deaf ears. More and more people are waking p to the fact that we are being fed propaganda, and that this propaganda has been responsible for the decline of the country over the course of decades. The emergence of a very politically viable and relevant Bernie Sanders is a sign that maybe we are finally seeing more people tiring of being told that competing for fewer and fewer jobs for lesser salaries and benefits is not the best way, and that we do not have to resign ourselves to this fate because not doing so is somehow un-American.
The election is far from over. While Bernie Sanders is not a lock (yet), he has indeed emerged as the legitimate, bona fide frontrunner. The major news media is telling us that the real victors are the second and third place candidates, because no one expected them to do so well. New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters went as far as to say that by any reasonable measure, Pete Buttigieg would be considered the frontrunner. But that is not accurate. No, the real winner so far is Bernie Sanders, and those who support his campaign. Why? Because Bernie Sanders received more votes in both the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary, and he is leading in the next race in Nevada, as well. In fact, he is leading nationally, and that is a fact.
Clearly these people are fearful. But why? Bernie Sanders is not championing communism or some Stalinesque version of so-called "socialism." He wants a better country on the model of what can be seen in those Nordic countries in Scandinavia. In fact, he wants to bring this country closer to what it used to have itself back in the days of FDR and Truman, when this country emerged as the leading country in the entire world, with the highest standard of living. And who supports him? People like me, who are tired of their BS lies, and no longer wish to be lied to, time and time again, or accept the status quo as living conditions continue to worsen in the country. The polls showed Bernie Sanders beating Donald Trump by a greater margin than any other Democrat in 2020, and this was also true back in 2016. They tried to brush him aside as some kind of one-time thing and as a non-factor, not a viable candidate, back in 2016, even though he pushed the seemingly already coronated Hillary Clinton right to the edge. Now, despite relentless attacks by Hillary, MSNBC, New York Times reporters, and other major news media sources, Bernie Sanders is the leading candidate in the Democratic field.
Sanders supporters do not want some new Stalin or Soviet -style communist dictator. We also do not want a new kind of dictator or king, which Trump seems to want to become. We want a better country with a more promising future. One that not only does not reject science, but also does not fold to paranoid, tiresome views about how anything but the way things have worked over the past four or so decades is acceptable, and any tinkering with the religious support of the military industrial complex and corporate welfare state is unthinkable or deemed un-American. We want a country that has better jobs and benefits and schools, and a healthier environment. And we know damn well that we are not going to get that from Donald Trump, nor from those Democrats who blindly pursue huge endorsements from special interests with deep pockets. Sanders is true to common people. They are the ones who made Sanders relevant, and Bernie Sanders supporters understand that when Hillary Clinton or MSNBC or New York Times media figures attack Bernie and his campaign, they are actually attacking us, personally, because they fear what the people can do when they wake up and take control of the country.
Who are Bernie Sanders supporters? They are everyday people, with everyday jobs. Not the "liberal media elites" or power players in Washington, but people who make an honest living and are tired of the game feeling rigged against us, yet having MSNBC or the New York Times insist that we are not, that America is exactly the same as it always was, that the opportunity to realize the American Dream is still very much intact. All you have to do is open your eyes to realize that you are being relied to, and more and more people are indeed opening their eyes. Those are Bernie Sanders supporters.
People like me.
Frankly, a change has long been overdue. Yet, there are people who clearly continue to hang onto the illusion - or delusion - that any kind of major changes to utilize tax dollars towards making people's live a little bit easier and more manageable is very bad, even un-American. It is expected among those who identify as conservatives, perhaps particularly Trump nuts. But it is especially depressing when it comes from those who pass as being from a more liberal persuasion. In recent days, I posted about some of these so-called "liberal elite media" types who have been attacked Bernie Sanders, with Chris Matthews hinting that a Bernie Sanders presidency might see execution squads in New York's Central Park, or Chuck Todd comparing Bernie Sanders supporters with "brownshirts." Both work for MSNBC, and it was on that obviously garbage channel that James Carville also compared Bernie Sanders and his supporters to a "cult."
As tiresome and, frankly, predictable as these paranoid, knee-jerk attacks have been, they are finally beginning to fall on more and more deaf ears. More and more people are waking p to the fact that we are being fed propaganda, and that this propaganda has been responsible for the decline of the country over the course of decades. The emergence of a very politically viable and relevant Bernie Sanders is a sign that maybe we are finally seeing more people tiring of being told that competing for fewer and fewer jobs for lesser salaries and benefits is not the best way, and that we do not have to resign ourselves to this fate because not doing so is somehow un-American.
The election is far from over. While Bernie Sanders is not a lock (yet), he has indeed emerged as the legitimate, bona fide frontrunner. The major news media is telling us that the real victors are the second and third place candidates, because no one expected them to do so well. New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters went as far as to say that by any reasonable measure, Pete Buttigieg would be considered the frontrunner. But that is not accurate. No, the real winner so far is Bernie Sanders, and those who support his campaign. Why? Because Bernie Sanders received more votes in both the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary, and he is leading in the next race in Nevada, as well. In fact, he is leading nationally, and that is a fact.
Clearly these people are fearful. But why? Bernie Sanders is not championing communism or some Stalinesque version of so-called "socialism." He wants a better country on the model of what can be seen in those Nordic countries in Scandinavia. In fact, he wants to bring this country closer to what it used to have itself back in the days of FDR and Truman, when this country emerged as the leading country in the entire world, with the highest standard of living. And who supports him? People like me, who are tired of their BS lies, and no longer wish to be lied to, time and time again, or accept the status quo as living conditions continue to worsen in the country. The polls showed Bernie Sanders beating Donald Trump by a greater margin than any other Democrat in 2020, and this was also true back in 2016. They tried to brush him aside as some kind of one-time thing and as a non-factor, not a viable candidate, back in 2016, even though he pushed the seemingly already coronated Hillary Clinton right to the edge. Now, despite relentless attacks by Hillary, MSNBC, New York Times reporters, and other major news media sources, Bernie Sanders is the leading candidate in the Democratic field.
Sanders supporters do not want some new Stalin or Soviet -style communist dictator. We also do not want a new kind of dictator or king, which Trump seems to want to become. We want a better country with a more promising future. One that not only does not reject science, but also does not fold to paranoid, tiresome views about how anything but the way things have worked over the past four or so decades is acceptable, and any tinkering with the religious support of the military industrial complex and corporate welfare state is unthinkable or deemed un-American. We want a country that has better jobs and benefits and schools, and a healthier environment. And we know damn well that we are not going to get that from Donald Trump, nor from those Democrats who blindly pursue huge endorsements from special interests with deep pockets. Sanders is true to common people. They are the ones who made Sanders relevant, and Bernie Sanders supporters understand that when Hillary Clinton or MSNBC or New York Times media figures attack Bernie and his campaign, they are actually attacking us, personally, because they fear what the people can do when they wake up and take control of the country.
Who are Bernie Sanders supporters? They are everyday people, with everyday jobs. Not the "liberal media elites" or power players in Washington, but people who make an honest living and are tired of the game feeling rigged against us, yet having MSNBC or the New York Times insist that we are not, that America is exactly the same as it always was, that the opportunity to realize the American Dream is still very much intact. All you have to do is open your eyes to realize that you are being relied to, and more and more people are indeed opening their eyes. Those are Bernie Sanders supporters.
People like me.
The internet is freaking out over this spooky prediction by Carl Sagan about the future It's disturbingly accurate. BEC CREW 25 JAN 2017
The Night Socialism Went Mainstream Bernie Sanders’s victory in the New Hampshire primary marks a turning point for Democratic politics. RUSSELL BERMAN FEBRUARY 11, 2020
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/bernie-sanders-wins-new-hampshire/606022/?utm_term=2020-02-12T04%3A07%3A26&utm_medium=social&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&fbclid=IwAR3cvqv1ZGLH-L11wh8dn9jjvZqEgRvEib97mtdEH-8eazpP7L7xjAnlvjk
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