We have developed some interesting belief systems in America EnUn. Some of the most interesting to me are related to a central belief thread but vary in it's expression.
The central belief is that if Americans are good and highly moral, our exceptional abundance and continued financial and military success is the return favor from the supreme being.
We have a Baptist Church for example that goes to soldier's funerals and lampoons their death and makes the point that by homosexuality being tolerated in the Army and other sinful behavior in their judgment, the deaths of military personnel are the message from God instead of victory.
Are you following me so far?
We had a vice President who declared that the American way of life is non-negotiable. He apparently had obtained the authority to speak for all 330 million of us in singular fashion. Careful analysis of that statement has led me to believe that he may be correct in that we will not negotiate it, but will rather accept the default that occurs from hanging static until negotiation is rendered useless by manifest reality.
The very best notion I can offer you is that the people involved remember the salad days of America,
in essence the Post WWII era when the combination of geopolitical aftermaths of war, stagnation of potentially competitive societies of scale, and availability of petroleum and mineral and material wealth to exploit for American interests, we at their apogee of active exploitation. At this same time,
there were existing societal taboos and practices in America, and the dominance of the groups of various races, religions, and wealth enabled interests, that saw this period as proof of their inherent superiority, quite often with the notion that God was rewarding them at that time.
The Republican party has catered to and stroked many of these legacy groups to augment the voting power of what is a corporatist oriented party of the concentrated wealth in America. The courted groups have time and time again not seen their notions manifest in the political party that has claimed to need and represent them to augment it's poor demographics so far as winning elections.
So now they have shown up as the Tea Party, to reconcile what they thought they were standing for with whom they thought was to implement their stances into political reality. Unfortunately, they are funded, handled, exposed to media, and dispensed, by the prevailing concentrated wealth and infrastructure of the legacy Republican party. I.E. they are to be expended as an advertising gimmick in order to purchase political office for rank and file Republican corporatists yet another time.
The American Empire is crumbling much like the British did, and the concentrated wealth accrued during the uniquely American form of colonial prowess is being gathered into the pools that will define the American aristocracy as we descend in corporate feudalism.
The Tea Party is the mask our equivalent to the House of Lords wears when they have gotten drunk and misbehaved at the last party, and wish to get back in to grand ballroom once again.
America has done a novel experiment since our founders set it into motion, and from the inception we have been blessed by vast land, resource abundance, and a system biased greatly for the expression of individual pursuit of happiness via the exploit of resources, with an overwhelming disregard for efficiency in most cases. Laced into this is a common belief that God blesses us uniquely with copious resources more so than other means of grace and providential gifting. We are just beginning to see that this may not be true, and it is knocking us quite low. It is just starting to dawn on some of us that Jesus might have been poor, and lived on donations, and run afoul of authority and power if he had been born in America instead of Galilee, and yet somehow, one is left with the sneaky suspicion that in the wondrous workings of God, he would have still been blessed and in a state of grace.
If you Brits have any notions of use for this riddle, feel free to toss them into the stewpot, please.
PeakOil is You
New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
Re: New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
by efarmer » Thu 07 Oct 2010, 11:38:38
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efarmer - Intermediate Crude
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Re: New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
by Plantagenet » Thu 07 Oct 2010, 12:00:30
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '
')The pic goes too far. Honest people of whatever political persuasion should be turned off by outright propaganda. Examine the pic for a moment.. notice how the artist makes him more emaciated than he really is, notice how the arms aren't fully drawn in -- this is all intended to make him look weak. Even the eyes look sickly.
')The pic goes too far. Honest people of whatever political persuasion should be turned off by outright propaganda. Examine the pic for a moment.. notice how the artist makes him more emaciated than he really is, notice how the arms aren't fully drawn in -- this is all intended to make him look weak. Even the eyes look sickly.
I must respectfully disagree with you on this, Sixstrings.
Read Woodward's new book "Obama's Wars." The book is causing a stir precisely because Woodward clearly shows that Obama is weak and vacillating and makes key decisions based not on the facts or even on his own views, but because he gives in to pressure.
If all artists were required to portray our presidents as strong, decisive people, that WOULD BE propaganda. But Artists in the US are not required to glorify politicians, so they are free to try to catch the essence of the true, inner person----the art you object to is just one artist's vision of Obama that portrays a weak man.
But, if you insist, there are other artists who make the same point with a different artistic style.
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Re: New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
by EnergyUnlimited » Thu 07 Oct 2010, 12:37:59
Thanks efarmer and others for helping me to understand Tea Party phenomenon.
I am now getting some ideas what it is all about.
As per myself I am half Brit (by mom) and half Pole (by dad) and currently I live in Poland, albeit about half of my life (and entire professional career) I have spent in the UK.
I would have a difficulty to show an equivalent of Tea Party in the UK and for example BNP would not wash at all.
However certainly there are some comparable groups, perhaps not organized formally yet.
Some peoples are sincerely believing that God is blessing the Queen and they have no doubts here whatsoever.
They are also associating name of the country (Great Britain) with some sort of actual *greatness*, eg in Victorian sense.
However I must admit that some aspects of Old England are nice.
In Poland beliefs are a bit different.
Peoples are believing that God and Virgin Mary in particular have taken some particular *care* about the nation and as a result it got subjected to a sequence of disasters carefully tailored to keep it sometimes underwater and sometimes just above but still struggling.
Whenever would you try to point out that such a *care* seems to be perverted somehow and it may be in fact a *curse* not *care* at all, hostile reactions are a likely result.
At the best such peoples are replying that without this care Poland would *always* remain underwater.
I am now getting some ideas what it is all about.
As per myself I am half Brit (by mom) and half Pole (by dad) and currently I live in Poland, albeit about half of my life (and entire professional career) I have spent in the UK.
I would have a difficulty to show an equivalent of Tea Party in the UK and for example BNP would not wash at all.
However certainly there are some comparable groups, perhaps not organized formally yet.
Some peoples are sincerely believing that God is blessing the Queen and they have no doubts here whatsoever.
They are also associating name of the country (Great Britain) with some sort of actual *greatness*, eg in Victorian sense.
However I must admit that some aspects of Old England are nice.
In Poland beliefs are a bit different.
Peoples are believing that God and Virgin Mary in particular have taken some particular *care* about the nation and as a result it got subjected to a sequence of disasters carefully tailored to keep it sometimes underwater and sometimes just above but still struggling.
Whenever would you try to point out that such a *care* seems to be perverted somehow and it may be in fact a *curse* not *care* at all, hostile reactions are a likely result.
At the best such peoples are replying that without this care Poland would *always* remain underwater.
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Re: New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
by efarmer » Thu 07 Oct 2010, 13:13:51
For those of us who are drawn to spiritual belief, in the myriad of forms and expressions that it takes,
there are of course the common threads that always manifest. I am a Christian, but have participated in prayer with Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists for about 35 years. It has formed a deep impression within me that spiritual expression should be humble and local and directly person to person, and via adjacent contact of peoples, should manifest it's fruits.
The notion that governments with military forces can express distinctly defined faith as a matter of course is contrary to the nature of achieving anything except polarization and war. This is because the militarized nation will inevitably see an area consisting of people of a different spiritual expression as being an invitation from God to save them and in fact justify conquering and simply robbing them.
This is a very old story. This malfeasance would still persist without religion, but it would be harder to convince the invading nation that the killing is sanctioned under a prevailing spirituality that enjoys a large national demographic.
Most dangerously, it funnels humans into thinking that their politics and national pursuits are somehow entwined with their concept of God and spiritual expression in a formal way, and it leads to the justification of unspeakable atrocity in the name of God.
The American founders knew this and designed it out, full well knowing that people would tirelessly labor to sneak it back in. Many Americans will agree with the statement, "America is basically a Christian Nation". But America is not designed to be a Christian nation and the attempt to make it one by political contrivance will simply hasten it's destruction.
The GOP entered into a shameful game to bolster their votes, and they have courted Christian elements who believe in the notion of Christian nationalism, and they have code worded and groomed the differentiation of race and sexuality and sexual preference that was often intertwined. They have demonized the polarities of political philosophy to where their opposition is portrayed as subhuman and to be considered as invalid human beings for their beliefs. They have not spared the blade to parse and sect their own nation on every exploitable challenge of adjacent human living and behavior to enable them to pursue what has shown from it's manifested fruits to be the fastest path to concentrated wealth with the least possible hope of saving the donor organism from the surgery of greed. They did this because they represent the age old paradox of concentrated wealth, that is the fact that it shall always be a thin slice of demographics, attempting to win an election in a democracy.
There is nothing conservative about their waste of American human capital, or potential, or ability to persevere in resource limited times by facing challenges as a union rather than while polarized into gang warfare for sport, the only thing conservative about this party as of late, is their single mindedness in augmenting and preserving the tiny slice of concentrated wealth as it is presently allocated to empowered persons in preservation of the American Financial Nobility.
there are of course the common threads that always manifest. I am a Christian, but have participated in prayer with Native Americans, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists for about 35 years. It has formed a deep impression within me that spiritual expression should be humble and local and directly person to person, and via adjacent contact of peoples, should manifest it's fruits.
The notion that governments with military forces can express distinctly defined faith as a matter of course is contrary to the nature of achieving anything except polarization and war. This is because the militarized nation will inevitably see an area consisting of people of a different spiritual expression as being an invitation from God to save them and in fact justify conquering and simply robbing them.
This is a very old story. This malfeasance would still persist without religion, but it would be harder to convince the invading nation that the killing is sanctioned under a prevailing spirituality that enjoys a large national demographic.
Most dangerously, it funnels humans into thinking that their politics and national pursuits are somehow entwined with their concept of God and spiritual expression in a formal way, and it leads to the justification of unspeakable atrocity in the name of God.
The American founders knew this and designed it out, full well knowing that people would tirelessly labor to sneak it back in. Many Americans will agree with the statement, "America is basically a Christian Nation". But America is not designed to be a Christian nation and the attempt to make it one by political contrivance will simply hasten it's destruction.
The GOP entered into a shameful game to bolster their votes, and they have courted Christian elements who believe in the notion of Christian nationalism, and they have code worded and groomed the differentiation of race and sexuality and sexual preference that was often intertwined. They have demonized the polarities of political philosophy to where their opposition is portrayed as subhuman and to be considered as invalid human beings for their beliefs. They have not spared the blade to parse and sect their own nation on every exploitable challenge of adjacent human living and behavior to enable them to pursue what has shown from it's manifested fruits to be the fastest path to concentrated wealth with the least possible hope of saving the donor organism from the surgery of greed. They did this because they represent the age old paradox of concentrated wealth, that is the fact that it shall always be a thin slice of demographics, attempting to win an election in a democracy.
There is nothing conservative about their waste of American human capital, or potential, or ability to persevere in resource limited times by facing challenges as a union rather than while polarized into gang warfare for sport, the only thing conservative about this party as of late, is their single mindedness in augmenting and preserving the tiny slice of concentrated wealth as it is presently allocated to empowered persons in preservation of the American Financial Nobility.
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Re: New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
by Sixstrings » Thu 07 Oct 2010, 15:23:09
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'R')ead Woodward's new book "Obama's Wars." The book is causing a stir precisely because Woodward clearly shows that Obama is weak and vacillating and makes key decisions based not on the facts or even on his own views, but because he gives in to pressure.
Obama's primary fault is that he's so intelligent that he's indecisive -- Jimmy Carter had a bit of the same problem. The thing about intelligence is that it's the ability to understand all points of view and every side of an issue. That's already extraordinary and something a lot of folks can't do. But the fact is that it takes even more intelligence to then be able to come to a CONCLUSION and act. And that's where Obama, and Carter for that matter, fall short.
Whereas somebody not quite as bright, like GW Bush, can plow through the China shop like a bull calling himself the "decider." Funny thing though is that indecision is actually worse than a simpler-minded person who at least comes to conclusions and can act. I didn't agree with him, but Bush knew who he was and what he believed.
Back to your propaganda art.. not a big deal, it's just not something I'd ever do. This is an example of where the Tea Party is just a bit too angry; Obama is no more evil than Mitt Romney, both of whom's polices are pretty much the same. So how can the rabid right throw up these dehumanizing pics of the President, making look like he's dying of stage 4 cancer (and there's a worse pic out there, that Joker face one), and yet they're just going to end up electing Mitt Romney the next president -- and Obama has done most of Mitt's work for him, even passing Romneycare.
Actually you Republicans have gotten everything you want -- Obama didn't raise your taxes, you got the Moar War you wanted, you're getting more US-destroying free trade agreements, and more favoritism for the rich and incorporated. For the love of God, how much MORE could you guys ask for?
So that's why I don't get.. somehow Obama is less than human, even though he sure looks like Mitt Romney to me, when in fact you Republicans are just going to replace him with the actual Mitt Romney. Obama is more Republican than he is Democrat, so again why do you guys hate him so much? I oppose him because he's so far to the right, what I don't get is why YOU hate him (you're right wing, you ought to be at least mildly satisfied sheesh).
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Re: New Gallup poll predicts biggest GOP majority since 1946
by Plantagenet » Thu 07 Oct 2010, 15:51:10
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'O')bama's primary fault is that he's so intelligent that he's indecisive
I guess we agree then Obama is indecisive, but I don't see much evidence that Obama is terribly intelligent. When Obama speaks without using what Mondale called his "idiot boards" (i.e. the omnipresent teleprompters, Obama makes the same kind of moronic howlers that Bush used to do.......as anyone in what Obama believes are the "57 states" could tell you.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')how can the rabid right throw up these dehumanizing pics of the President, making look like he's dying of stage 4 cancer (and there's a worse pic out there, that Joker face one)
Relax. Pictures like the Obama-joker image are political caricatures. Artists have been doing this kind of thing as part of democratic politics for hundreds of years. You could probably find political caricatures in Athens and Rome thousands of years ago. Trying to censor artists is foolish.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'S')o that's why I don't get.. somehow Obama is less than human... hate him so much... hate him
No one is talking about hating Obama but you. You are one of the more thoughtful posters here, sixstrings, but you are way off course on this one. Obama seems like a perfectly nice man, but his policies and the democrats policies are clearly failing on the economy, the deficit, the war in Afghanistan, peak oil, the environment, poverty, jobs, etc. --- why not vote the dems out and try a different approach that actually has a chance to succeed?
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