Feb 9, 2007

A common man's pride

The nation has A-D-D. Most Americans get their beliefs from television and movies. They shun books as if they might die if they actually were forced to sit quietly and read for a moment. America is no longer a nation of craftsmen and statesmen. Gone is the work ethic from our ranks, gone is our desire to shape base elements into great works that last for a long, long time. Gone is the pride in our workmanship, gone is the reverence of patience, gone is the respect for taking the time to do something well, even for taking the time to simply think.

We have become a country that worships disposal. We buy the cheapest crap, and throw it away two months later and buy an identical piece of crap to replace it. Once we built things to last and revered the working class who created these things. Now they are reviled by the richest as pawns, and derided by the poorest as slaves. The American people allow CEOs to plunder profits and gasp in greedy awe at their mansions, their yachts, their multiple “homes”.

And somehow we scorn our working class for daring to desire better pay and healthcare. Unions were what brought our country, up- from the truly industrial slave days of the early 1900s. And now, they are mocked and undercut by these celebrity CEOs who sell out their own workers by outsourcing to China, India, and Pakistan.

And still, the people worship them, in the name of the almighty dollar. America, contrary to popular belief, was NOT Built on free market Capitalism. It was built on the Constitution and the rule of law and enabling the common man to become a better man.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and what we are doing now to our nation is creating a chain with only one strong link at the top, with thousands of brittle links beneath it. Americans who mock the working class and work to prevent the betterment of the lower and middle classes are simply selfish cowards. But these cowards’ policies are ruining our country, except for the richest of the rich . Creating a middle class that is poorer, hungrier, and sicker will eventually doom our nation.

A lot of parallels have been drawn of Iraq and Vietnam. One parallel that I think has not been mentioned enough is the one between our current leadership and the leadership of the Soviet Union in the 70’s. It was not communism that brought the Soviet Union down, from it’s perch as a Superpower. It was corruption, a military industrial complex that drained its nation’s coffers, and a ruling elite that scorned and punished its citizens.

Democracy will not bring America down, and neither will capitalism. But unfettered corruption coupled with a mentality that values corporate profits over our nation’s well-being WILL inevitably destroy everything that Americans HAVE fought for, all these years, from wars to protests in the streets, to political leaders standing up for what IS right and not what profits them the most.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

and Unemployment is at its lowest ..ever?

long live Capitalism...just ask Cuba if your socialist crap works..hey remember the health care is so good even Fido had to call a doc from another country..welp back to drive my second Jeep I have bought in two years ...love it

Faded said...

Whats the best working policy in Use right now, Caveman?

Yep. Social Security. Does anyone in your family get it? I bet they do. Maybe you want your parents to overpay for the healthcare. I don't. Social Healthcare will work if it is implemented and it will save millions of dollars in the long run.

Cuba is a failure for a LOT of reasons, one of which is their government isn't truly a socialist state. Capitalism works- when there are checks and balances. If truly patriotic Americans were CEOS and they werent screwing over Americans it might work Better for our country, instead of funnelling money to China.

RoseCovered Glasses said...

YOUR ESOTERIC MINISTRATIONS ARE FINE BUT---

THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX (MIC) IS CHEWING UP HUGE PORTIONS OF OUR TAXES, WAY OUT OF PROPORTION TO ITS RETURNED VALUE AND PLUNGING US INTO DEBT AND MORE WAR.
The U.S. Department of Defense, headquartered in the Pentagon, is one of the most massive organizations on the planet, with net annual operating costs of $635 billion, assets worth $1.3 trillion, liabilities of $1.9 trillion and more that 2.9 million military and civilian personnel as of fiscal year 2005.

I am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak.

It is difficult to convey the complexity of the way DOD works to someone who has not experienced it. This is a massive machine with so many departments and so much beaurocracy that no president, including Bush totally understands it.

Presidents, Congressmen, Cabinet Members and Appointees project a knowledgeable demeanor but they are spouting what they are told by career people who never go away and who train their replacements carefully. These are military and civil servants with enormous collective power, armed with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Defense Industrial Security Manuals, compartmentalized classification structures and "Rice Bowls" which are never mixed.

Our society has slowly given this power structure its momentum which is constant and extraordinarily tough to bend. The cost to the average American is exhorbitant in terms of real dollars and bad decisions. Every major power structure member in the Pentagon's many Washington Offices and Field locations in the US and Overseas has a counterpart in Defense Industry Corporate America. That collective body has undergone major consolidation in the last 10 years.

What used to be a broad base of competitive firms is now a few huge monoliths, such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Boeing.

Government oversight committees are carefully stroked. Sam Nunn and others who were around for years in military and policy oversight roles have been cajoled, given into on occasion but kept in the dark about the real status of things until it is too late to do anything but what the establishment wants. This still continues - with increasing high technology and potential for abuse.

Please examine the following link to testimony given by Franklin C. Spinney before Congress in 2002. It provides very specific information from a whistle blower who is still blowing his whistle (Look him up in your browser and you get lots of feedback) Frank spent the same amount of time as I did in the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) but in government quarters. His job in government was a similar role to mine in defense companies. Frank's emphasis in this testimony is on the money the machine costs us. It is compelling and it is noteworthy that he was still a staff analyst at the Pentagon when he gave this speech. I still can't figure out how he got his superior's permission to say such blunt things. He was extremely highly respected and is now retired.

http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/spinney_testimony_060402.htm

The brick wall I often refer to is the Pentagon's own arrogance. It will implode by it's own volition, go broke, or so drastically let down the American people that it will fall in shambles. Rest assured the day of the implosion is coming. The machine is out of control.

If you are interested in a view of the inside of the Pentagon procurement process from Vietnam to Iraq please check the posting on this blog entitled, "Odyssey of Armaments"

http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2006/11/odyssey-of-armaments.html

On the same subject, you may also be interested in the following sites from the "Project On Government Oversight", observing it's 25th Anniversary and from "Defense In the National Interest", inspired by Franklin Spinney and contributed to by active/reserve, former, or retired military personnel. More facts on the Military Industrial Complex can be gleaned from "The Dissident" link, also posted below:

http://pogo.org/

http://www.d-n-i.net/top_level/about_us.htm

http://dissidentnews.wordpress.com/2007/01/30/the-military-industrial-complex-and-the-business-of-war/

Anonymous said...

dam that was spam fade ..i thought you were deleting spam..good gosh

RoseCovered Glasses said...

Repetative comments, in context, are warranted if they have merit. Comment on them repetitively as well if you wish.

I am convinced many of us need to be informed more than once. We are prone to be self-centered, a-- rententive and wishful of being entertained, rather than using our brains. We are also very possessive, competitive and egotistical in blogger land. Comes with the turf.