America

[stardust2003]

I think a lot of people envied the Americans in the post World War 2 era.... ie the 50s.
They seemed to be getting all the consumer goodies, cars, colour TVs luxurious, spacious homes.... their vast farmlands providing abundant crops to fill the supermarket shelves.
The Americans had it good in the 50s and 60s.

Americans had won the war, they had defeated the fascist bullies in Germany, Italy and Japan,
now they were settling down to an endless era of peace and prosperity.

What was the declaration of independence ?

......" certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...."

Of course they worded it wrong, what they meant was
......................".Life, Liberty and the pursuit of .... Pleasure !"

But wot happened ? with my ear to the ground I sense an increasing unease in America, a rising anger and frustration.

Many Americans seem to feel that they are already living in a fascist state.... as though that by dismantling the Nazi fascist states in Europe , the American Government and the CIA had learned all the fascist tricks................ concentration camps, mind control etc... and the state is ready to use them on the American population.

Americans see their jobs being exported to the low wage economies of the third world,
they see the only growth industry left in America being military spending as the American military deals out death and destruction in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Meanwhile at home the Waco massacre is only one example of how ruthless the American state can be against its own people....
Add to that ..... lethal taser guns are now in daily use against the American population and causing
a considerable number of deaths.

The easy going, laid back American cop seems to be morphing into a masked member of a military style swot team.......... surveillance cameras are going up in every city and town in America.
Homeland Security imposes endless rules and restrictions on the freedom of the individual.

I wonder, is the American dream turning into the American nightmare ?

[billybunter]

Having visited America several times I was amazed at how "un free" it really is. It is nearing a police state. And Europe will follow suit unless we are careful.

[savage560]

Originally Posted by billybunter

Having visited America several times I was amazed at how "un free" it really is. It is nearing a police state. And Europe will follow suit unless we are careful.

Very true Billy,we have police sobriety roadblock check points,phone tapping,& internet monitoring by the government.The repubs want you to be born then after that say to hell with you,make it so a woman cannot choose her right of abortion.We are very far behind Europeans in National H/C .The politicians tell the Red Necks here its bad & socialist, un-American, you're a pinko commie if you want it.Yet the same politicos who tell them this ,mainly the repulsive rebublicans, get thier H/C from the US government,hypocrites.I have relatives in Canada & Europe & none come here for "our" version of health care.Why would they its rated #36 in the world ,behind every European country that has it.But we are ahead of Slovenia,what, is that something to brag about?

Our millionaires are paying about half the tax rate as people on the poverty line!The repubs brainwash the incest damaged Hillbillies & tell them its good & they'll be millionaires one day too, ya right I got a bridge to sell them!They buy that BS, idiots!They say it creates jobs by these "JOb Creators", & yes it does.By millionaires paying the lowest taxe rates in the industrialized world here in the US,its result is tons of jobs that pay .29 cents an hour in Asia!They invest a lot of money by this savings too,thus like Nit Wit Romney & Ghengis Kahnrich ,not here, but in the Caymen Islands so they pay no US taxes on investments.In other words it creates jobs & income everywhere BUT HERE!The repub front runners for president want to reduce the elites taxes even more!

We have tons of wellfare here ,mostly for our richest 2% of the populace!Our medical,judicial, system is tilted immeasurably in the favor of your wealth.To support our global empire we tax the commoners,& let the rich off.Like in VietNam war as in all wars America fought since WWII, the overwhelming majority of troops & burdon of $ comes from poor & lower middle-class.A startling fact Pres. Obama wants to cut millitary spending by 1.6%, a mere drop in the bucket,& the repubs lable him as week on defence ,hell we are still ouspending the next 18 nations combined with this meager reduction!We have a Navy larger than the next 13 nations combined, who have blue water navies in the world,yet they want more warships built & we're building them at an alarming rate of 11 per year!We are the millitary of the world corporations!

These are reasons the middle class is almost non-existant here:we can't give our people H/C,along with un-protected borders,& no loyalty of American corp. to keep jobs here.They blame unions, thats reduced to only 9% of the workforce,& we allways give up concessions, so the Corp CEO can make 1500 times the ave. worker here!We have the greedist corp elite here ,they are the highest payed in the world exponetially,whether they perform or not!In Japan they have a law that the corp. CEOs cannot make more than 18x the ave. worker of a corp. he's at, we should have that here!12 years of Bushies, Reaganomics,& Mr. "I am not a crook" policies have bankrupted this country, & reduced our freedoms!

[9876543210]

stardust2003,

Originally Posted by stardust2003

I wonder, is the American dream turning into the American nightmare ?

Jeez. that's a heck of a question and difficult to answer. Just for my two cents though I think this is what is going on.

I believe that working class and middle class Americans are finally waking up to the point that the cards are all stacked against them. The list is so long that I wouldn't even attempt to put a comprehensive list together, but here are a few:

1. Wages have been stagnant since the 1970's when adjusted for inflation.

2. Health care costs have gone through the roof. If you get seriously sick here be prepared for bankruptcy or at least losing most everything you have. Health insurance is ridiculously expensive. Most people I know are paying about $1,200 per month for coverage.

3. Educational costs are now mostly prohibitive for many people. Your average student at a State institution now comes out of a four year program with $20,000 or more of student loans. A PhD or MD can leave a student more than $100,000 in debt. And those debts can not be included in bankruptcy. They stay with you until they're paid off.

Primary and secondary schools budgets are being cut left and right. Something like 30% of all students in the US now don't finish high school.

4. Around 40% of all US mortgages are now underwater. US financial institutions are doing nothing to help except foreclose on anyone that gets close to getting into trouble. And the federal government has done absolutely nothing.

5. Just normal everyday expenses (food, gas, etc.) have been steadily creeping up for a long time now (even though the government says there is no inflation). And why is there no inflation? Because the government took those things out of their calculation that would really define inflation.

I could go on and on. But it really boils down to the knowledge that the government cannot be trusted to tell us the truth and that corporations and the rich are receiving all the benefits while the rest of us pay for it.

Kind of simplistic I realize, but I think that's why people here are a but surly.

[rotobott]

Makes you wonder if those weirdo survivalists with their guns and months worth of food, are maybe the smart ones

[blueballsdc]

Originally Posted by rotobott

Makes you wonder if those weirdo survivalists with their guns and months worth of food, are maybe the smart ones

I have guns and ammunition.
I have knives.
I have swords.
I have axes.
I have bows & arrows.
I have enough food and drink to last me a couple of months.

I guess that makes me a weirdo survivalist.

[rotobott]

Originally Posted by blueballsdc

I have guns and ammunition.
I have knives.
I have swords.
I have axes.
I have bows & arrows.
I have enough food and drink to last me a couple of months.

I guess that makes me a weirdo survivalist.

With the present economic situation, this being 2012, and the Zombie apocalypse about to happen, you aren't weird but you might survive

[blueballsdc]

Originally Posted by rotobott

With the present economic situation, this being 2012, and the Zombie apocalypse about to happen, you aren't weird but you might survive

I also have a couple of baseball bats and one cricket bat which make very effective clubs if needed.

But no golf clubs. I hate golf and refuse to have any in the house. Plus they don't stand up well to repeated clubbing of things over the head.

[palo5]

Originally Posted by blueballsdc

I have guns and ammunition.
I have knives.
I have swords.
I have axes.
I have bows & arrows.
I have enough food and drink to last me a couple of months.

I guess that makes me a weirdo survivalist.

No Comrade, it means you have too much to carry

I only have an old bayonet and a bag of rice

And very strong teeth

Many Americans could also survive with so little

Australians too, of course, because they are strong people. Except when they say that -20C is cold

[billybunter]

Originally Posted by blueballsdc

I have guns and ammunition.
I have knives.
I have swords.
I have axes.
I have bows & arrows.
I have enough food and drink to last me a couple of months.

I guess that makes me a weirdo survivalist.

Are you a community worker by any chance?

I have candles and matches. A wind up radio, a load of kitchen knives that are very sharp. A load of scouts badges, including a 90' swimming badge. A map a compass and a fire striker. In other words i'm doomed.