From a humanitarian standpoint, you would expect both parties to want to pump vast amounts of money into the economy. Paying for businesses to stay open, paying for medical services, paying the unemployed, and the newly impoverished — this is exactly what Americans need now.
And from a politicalstandpoint, a huge stimulus check would help grow the economy and prevent a depression, which the GOP, being the party in power, should welcome. Similarly, the Dems, who would benefit in the next election from a weak economy, should oppose stimulus.
But in the byzantine world of Washington, things seldom are as they may seem. The Dems say, “More,” and the GOP says, “Less.” Why?
Let’s look at some background:
1. In the past 50 years, the federal debt (blue) has grown massively, from $280 Billion to $21 Trillion.
2. In the same period, inflation (red) has grown relatively modestly.
Monster increase in federal debt; moderate increase in inflation. And still sustainable.
3. The debt still is sustainable, has not replaced private debt, is not running short of lenders, and is not a “ticking time bomb.” None of the warnings from the debt fear-mongers have come true.
4. Because of Covid, we now suffer from a terrible recession. Many millions of Americans have run short of money, or soon will. They can’t afford even the basics: Food, rent, clothing, transportation, schooling.
5. The federal government has unlimited money. Even without collecting a single penny in taxes, it never can run short of dollars. At the touch of a computer key, the federal government could pump trillions more dollars into the economy. It could give every man, woman, and child survival money.
The U.S. government has the power to ease the fear and suffering of its people, at no cost to anyone. And yet, we see articles like this:
WASHINGTON — Democrats controlling the House narrowly passed a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Thursday night, a move that came as top-level talks on a smaller, potentially bipartisan measure dragged on toward an uncertain finish. An air of pessimism has largely taken over the Capitol.
The Democratic bill passed after a partisan debate by a 214-207 vote without any Republicans in support.
The move puts lawmakers no closer to actually delivering aid such as more generous weekly unemployment payments, extended help for small businesses and especially troubled economic sectors such as restaurants and airlines, and another round of $1,200 direct payments to most Americans.
Passage of the $2.2 trillion plan came after a burst of negotiations this week between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. The Trump administration delivered concessions Wednesday, including a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and a markedly higher overall price tag of $1.6 trillion, but that failed to win over Pelosi.
“This isn’t half a loaf, this is the heel of the loaf,” Pelosi said in a televised interview Thursday. Pelosi spoke after the White House attacked her as “not being serious.”
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has drawn a line in the sand and warns that Trump won’t approve legislation that approaches a $2 trillion threshold.
So, why do the Dems want to stimulate the economy, while the GOP is dragging its feet? Two reasons:
1. The GOP is the “party of the rich.” Gap Psychology shows why the primary goal of the rich is to become richer. The only way to do that is to widen the income/wealth/power Gap between the rich and the rest.
The Gap is what makes them rich; the wider the Gap, the richer they are.
There are two ways for the rich to widen the Gap: Either get more for themselves or force the “non-rich” to settle for less. The COVID recession is forcing the “non-rich” into desperate poverty.
Desperate workers, willing to accept any job at a low wage, are exactly what the rich want. A generous stimulus package would narrow the Gap.
Desperate workers, wider economic Gap: Sounds like heaven to the party of the rich.
2. A stimulus package passed today would primarily affect the post-election economy — much too late to improve the GOP’s political chances this year.
So from the Republican standpoint, why do anything that might help a possibly Democrat administration, especially since the GOP has been locked into the false narrative that deficits are bad?
They would rather wait until they see this year’s election results. Then if they win, they always can ride in heroically to stimulate economic growth before the mid-term elections.
As for the starving, jobless Americans, who cares about them? To the right-wing, they merely are what Modern Monetary Theory refers to as “buffer stock.”
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
I was so impressed by her situation and by her wisdom, I wanted to share her letter, and my response, with you. She wrote:
Lack of money or low wages is a valid point.
Affordable housing is not fair housing.
Many below & poverty level wage people, like myself, who work very hard and need affordable housing, are placed in impoverished areas or areas where there is no public transportation and end up paying more in gasoline to travel back and forth to work & grocery shopping that is it a lose-lose proposition.
People fail to thrive grouped in impoverished communities.
The environment is a daily discouragement creating more stress and low self-esteem. This is my experience and is not a blanket statement that covers the world.
I responded, “Thank you, Ms. Lopez. I hope you don’t mind that I intend to quote you in a future post. You make several good points that I would like to write about. Be well, Rodger Malcolm Mitchell.
She, in turn, wrote, “Yes Sir. I want to help society in any way I can.”
Oh, if only our politicians had the same attitude as Ms. Lopez.
As the article stated, the widespread, false belief that the federal deficit and debt are too high, “unaffordable.” and “sustainable” is fostered and disseminated by the rich to keep down those “below & poverty level” people like you.
The reason is “Gap Psychology, the desire to distance oneself from those below, on any comparative measure.
“Rich” is a comparative, not an absolute, term. A man having $1,000 is rich if everyone else has $1,000, but he is poor if everyone else has $1 million. So, there are two ways to become richer: Obtain more for yourself, or force others to have less.
Poverty is not a lack of work. Poverty is not a lack of effort. Poverty is not a lack of intelligence. Poverty is a lack of money, and the solution to a lack of money is to give impoverished people money.
Period.
The federal government has infinite money. The federal government could and should give people money. Doing so, would eliminate, or at least dramatically reduce, poverty.
There is another, widespread, false belief, and that is, if the government gives people money, they won’t work.
The rich like to portray the poor as lazy and deserving of their poverty. So in the minds of the rich (and many in the middle-income groups) giving people money is immoral, in that is encourages sloth.
Utter nonsense.
The fact is that by any standard, the poor on average work harder than those above them, economically. No one labors less than the rich except for the very rich.
Sadly, even Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), an economic philosophy that understands the federal government’s unlimited money supply, offers as a solution, something they call a “Jobs Guarantee” (JG). It is a process by which the federal government finds or creates minimum-wage jobs for the unemployed.
The only thing the “Jobs Guarantee” guarantees is that the poor will work hard, stay poor, and live in the impoverished areas you described, and never escape.
Question for economists and politicians: If the poor need money, why give them minimum wage jobs? Why not give them the money they need?
Answer: Because of some deeply ingrained belief that “if given money, the poor won’t work. They need the moral pride that comes with having a job.”
Again, utter, puritanical and paternalistic nonsense. A minimum wage job does not provide morality or pride. It only provides insufficient money, together with the “daily discouragement creating more stress and low self-esteem” you, Ms. Lopez, described.
If a person loses her job, has she suddenly become lazy or immoral? Of course not, but it is a myth the rich like to spread.
Today’s America reminds me of a billionaire uncle who won’t help his impoverished nieces and nephews because of self-proclaimed “moral reasons.”
My heart goes out to you, Ms. Lopez. You write like an intelligent and decent woman, whose poverty is not due to any character flaw, but rather to fate.
When I read a letter such as yours, all I can think is, “There but for the grace of God, go I.
I will send a copy of your letter to a few Senators and Representatives. Perhaps they will think more seriously about how to help the impoverished, and not merely disparage them.
Meanwhile, you and your family, friends, and neighbors, please be sure to vote for the politicians most likely to empathize with your plight, and offer real solutions.
One day, Americans will understand the needs of the poor, the power of our government, and the solutions for the less fortunate. Some may say, “yes, but not now.” I say, “If not now, when?”
Monetary Sovereignty: This term describes the unlimited ability to issue and control a currency. Even without collecting taxes, a Monetarily Sovereign can spend forever.
Gap Psychology: This term refers to the desire to distance oneself from those below, in any social ranking, and to come nearer to those above.
The Big Lie: This term describes the false claim that a Monetarily Sovereign entity needs or uses income.
Joe Biden made a big mistake. He revealed, in an interview with ABC’s David Muir, that he doesn’t understand federal financing.
“Everyone should pay their fair share” of a useless and regressiv tax.
Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, the former vice president (said) everybody should pay “their fair share.”
“I will raise taxes for anybody making over $400,000,” Biden told Muir, adding, “no new taxes” would be raised for anyone making under $400,000.
Presumably, Biden and Harris believe that making “soak-the-rich” statements will endear them to the working populace, who gleefully enjoy any punishment of the rich.
They may be right about those emotions, but they are at least partly wrong about the economics.
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.
But, the federal government neither needs nor uses tax income. The federal tax dollars you send to the U.S. Treasury leave the economy and cease to exist. So, rather than holding taxes steady, the Democrats should cut taxes for everyone who is not rich.
Tax policy is taking on additional significance for the 2020 presidential election, with the economic crisis inextricably tied to the pandemic, and more than 30 million Americans currently on unemployment.
Although Biden has been leading in the polls, polls also have shown that voters have greater confidence in President Donald Trump when it comes to the economy.
Voters may have greater confidence in Trump regarding the economy, because Trump has taken credit for the ongoing effect of President Obama’s increased deficit spending.
Trump, with his tax cuts for the rich and his increased import duties — which effectively are tax increases on the “not-rich,” has widened the Gap between the rich and the rest.
“Is it smart to tax businesses while you’re trying to recover?” Muir asked.
“It’s smart to tax businesses that are in fact making excessive amounts of money and paying no taxes,” Biden told Muir.
“It’s how we did it last time,” he said, in reference to the 2008 recession, adding that his work, at the time, with then-President Barack Obama, led to economic recovery, “with the largest, the most consecutive number of months of growth in jobs of any time in history. We did it the right way.”
No, it is not smart to tax business when you’re trying to recover, or any other time. What they actually did was pump money into the economy with increased federal deficit spending:
Federal debt growth declines in advance of recessions (vertical gray bars). Then, to cure recessions, the federal government increases deficit spending.
A growing economy requires a growing supply of money. Increased federal deficit spending (which increases the federal debt) grows the economy. When federal deficit spending does not increase sufficiently, recessions result. These recessions are cure by increases in federal deficit spending.
Increased taxation reduces federal debt growth and therefore is recessionary.
Taxing the rich more, while holding taxes level for the “not-rich” would be recessionary. While taxing the rich would help narrow the Gap, the recessionary effect must be overcome by taxing the not-rich less.
“Look [at] what he’s doing,” Biden continued, criticizing the president. “The money was supposed to go to help small businesses. You have one in six small businesses that have already closed. You’re finding a situation that over 60% of the money — only 40% of money for small businesses went to small businesses.”
When Muir pressed him on whether taxes would be raised on small businesses, Biden emphatically said, “No.”
“There will be no raising taxes” on the “90% of the businesses out there are mom and pop businesses — that employ less than 50 people,” Biden responded.
“We have to provide them with the ability to reopen. We have to provide more help for them, not less help,” he said.
Biden is correct that small businesses need help, but this will not be accomplished by taxing large businesses, however one defines “large” and “small.”
That a business employing more than 50 people should be considered “large” and taxed more, is ludicrous. The number of employees is not relevant to “making excessive amounts of money and paying no taxes.” What is relevant? Profits and taxes.
Why penalize businesses for hiring? It makes no sense to penalize businesses at all, because businesses provide goods, services, and money to the economy.
To narrow the Gap between the rich and the rest, the highest personal incomes should be taxed, not businesses.
In Summary, Biden doesn’t understand Monetary Sovereignty, Gap Psychology, and this misunderstanding leads him to tell The Big Lie.
Assuming he wishes to help the underclasses, narrow the Gap, and stimulate the economy he should begin by eliminating FICA, while leaving the funding of Medicare and Social Security to the federal government.
Contrary to popular wisdom, FICA does not fund Social Security or Medicare. Like all federal taxes (but unlike state/local taxes) FICA funds nothing. The federal government could fund unlimited spending with no taxes.
FICA is the most regressive tax in America. Eliminating FICA would benefit workers and businesses. It would decrease unemployment by making employment cheaper. It has been suggested seriously by just one politician, none other than Donald J.Trump. But, in perhaps the only time the GOP toadies have stood up to Trump, they said “No.”
Ironically, this may have been the only good idea Trump has had during his term.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
Back in 2015, well before Trump won the Presidency, well before he even was the leading Republican candidate, this blog warned about his dictatorial bent.
With less than three months until the most consequential election in many decades, this might be a good time to examine dictatorships.
We soon might live in one.
All dictatorships are remarkably similar. They are like movies having the same characters, and the same plot, being filmed again and again, but just with a different cast.
The four characters in a dictatorship always are: The dictator, the sycophants surrounding the dictator, the enforcers (police, army), and the public.
I. THE DICTATOR
All dictators are psychopaths.
When you read “The Hare,” the test for psychopathy, which lists twenty characteristics common to psychopaths, you’ll be able to understand why dictators exhibit psychopathic tendencies.
The clinician scores each item with 0 (no presence), 1 (uncertain) or 2 (definitely present). Psychopaths score 30 to 40 points. The general population typically scores less than 5.
1. GLIB AND SUPERFICIAL CHARM — the tendency to be smooth, engaging, charming, slick, and verbally facile.
Psychopathic charm is not in the least shy, self-conscious, or afraid to say anything. A psychopath never is tongue-tied.
“I am a stable genius.”
2. GRANDIOSE SELF-WORTH — a grossly inflated view of one’s abilities and self-worth, self-assured, opinionated, cocky, a braggart.
Psychopaths are arrogant people who believe they are superior human beings.
3. NEED FOR STIMULATION or PRONENESS TO BOREDOM — an excessive need for novel, thrilling, and exciting stimulation; taking chances and doing things that are risky.
Psychopaths often have a low self-discipline in carrying tasks through to completion because they become bored easily.
They fail to work at the same job for any length of time, for example, or to finish tasks that they consider dull or routine.
4. PATHOLOGICAL LYING — can be moderate or high; in moderate form, they will be shrewd, crafty, cunning, sly, and clever; in extreme form, they will be deceptive, deceitful, underhanded, unscrupulous, manipulative and dishonest.
They will defend their lies even when confronted with negating facts.
5. CONNING AND MANIPULATIVENESS — the use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from Item #4 in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one’s victims.
6. LACK OF REMORSE OR GUILT — a lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, coldhearted and unempathetic.
This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one’s victims.
7. SHALLOW AFFECT — emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness and superficial warmth.
8. CALLOUSNESS and LACK OF EMPATHY — a lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, and tactless.
9. PARASITIC LIFESTYLE — an intentional, manipulative, selfis, and exploitative financial dependence on others as reflected in a lack of motivation, low self-discipline and the inability to carry through one’s responsibilities.
10. POOR BEHAVIORAL CONTROLS — expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper; acting hastily.
11. PROMISCUOUS SEXUAL BEHAVIOR — a variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and an indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of numerous, multiple relationships at the same time; a history of attempts to sexually coerce others into sexual activity (rape) or taking great pride at discussing sexual exploits and conquests.
12. EARLY BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS — a variety of behaviors prior to age 13, including lying, theft, cheating, vandalism,bullying, sexual activity, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, alcohol use and running away from home.
13. LACK OF REALISTIC, LONG-TERM GOALS — an inability or persistent failure to develop and execute long-term plans and goals; a nomadic existence, aimless, lacking direction in life.
14. IMPULSIVITY — the occurrence of behaviors that are unpremeditated and lack reflection or planning; inability to resist temptation, frustrations and momentary urges; a lack of deliberation without considering the consequences; foolhardy, rash, unpredictable, erratic and reckless.
15. IRRESPONSIBILITY — repeated failure to fulfill or honor obligations and commitments; such as not paying bills, defaulting on loans, performing sloppy work, being absent or late to work, failing to honor contractual agreements.
16. FAILURE TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR OWN ACTIONS — a failure to accept responsibility for one’s actions reflected in low conscientiousness, an absence of dutifulness, antagonistic manipulation, denial of responsibility, and an effort to manipulate others through this denial.
17. MANY SHORT-TERM RELATIONSHIPS — a lack of commitment to a long-term relationship reflected in inconsistent, undependable, and unreliable commitments in life, including in marital, business, and familial bonds.
18. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY — behavior problems between the ages of 13-18; mostly behaviors that are crimes or clearly involve aspects of antagonism, exploitation, aggression, manipulation, or a callous, ruthless tough-mindedness.
19. REVOCATION OF CONDITION RELEASE — a revocation of probation or other conditional releases due to technical violations, such as carelessness, low deliberation or failing to appear.
20. CRIMINAL VERSATILITY — a diversity of types of criminal offenses, regardless if the person has been arrested or convicted for them; taking great pride at getting away with crimes or wrongdoings.
By our count, Trump scores a 39, ( a “2” on every criterion except #19), at the very top of the psychopathy scale, and somewhat higher even than Adolf Hitler.
II. THE SYCOPHANTS
Shakespeare wrote, “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Dictators need constant emotional reinforcement, which requires a coterie of sycophants.
Similarly, dictators also are leery of those who are too talented or are given too much praise, viewing them as dangerous and untrustworthy competition.
Trump surrounds himself with incompetents, liars, toadies, and criminals. (Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, Ben Carson, Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen, Wilbur Ross, Chris Collins, Duncan Hunter, Salvatore Testa, Tony Salerno, Roger Stone, Felix Sater, Jeffrey Epstein, Alexander Acosta, George Papadopoulos, Alex Van der Zwaan, Konstantin Kilimnik, et al).
Their sole qualification for his support was loyalty to Trump, who quickly dismisses any who do not display sufficient fealty to him.
And the above list doesn’t even include Mitch McConnell and the entire GOP, who lack spines or morals, so don’t dare to criticize even the most outrageous of Trumpian comments or actions.
The book, Everything That Touches Trump, Dies, “is written to argue the myriad ways in which bowing to the president will poison even those with good intentions — like those who join the administration to serve the country, or those Republicans who go along with Trumpism because they like Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.”
Many, otherwise well-intentioned people, joined Trump’s sycophant’s club only to leave in disappointment. Jeff Sessions, Rex Tillerson, John Bolton, James Comey, Anthony Scaramucci, Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer, Preet Bharara, Michael Short, Mike Dubke, Sally Yates, Angella Reid — the list goes on and on.
An example of a perfect sycophant in Trump’s menagerie is Kellyanne Conway, defends Trump’s every action, no matter how obscene. Her reputation will forever be “Trump’s Goebbels.”
(Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda, initiated the “Heil Hitler” salute and insisted on the use of “Der Führer” as the title. His letters are full of groveling praise — such as repeated testimonials that the experience of Hitler transformed his consciousness — and imagined scenes of glorious triumphs against various adversaries in which the Führer stands firm and unshakeable.)
Sycophants are an extreme embodiment of Gap Psychology, the urge to distance oneself from those below in any social hierarchy and to near those above.
Sycophants are emotionally vulnerable people who willingly relinquish their own personalities and beliefs to those of the dictator. They say what he says. They believe what he believes. They excuse and defend everything the dictator does, no matter how vile.
The ultimate sycophants are the members of a cult, who will go so far as commit suicide upon the orders of the cult leader. (See: Jim Jones.)
The dictator creates what are claimed to be “dangerous” enemies to hate (Trump created such “enemies” as: Mexicans, blacks, all foreigners, non-citizens, Muslims, gays, the poor, strong women, liberals, China, Democrats, ‘the elite’, the ‘lamestream’ media.”), and then he offered his protection from these “enemies.”
(For Hitler, enemies were foreigners, Jews, Gypsies, the disabled, Catholics, foreigners.)
Cultism is why the German people so willingly attacked their Jewish neighbors and sent them off to death camps. They believed what their dictator told them.
Suppressed studies. Muzzled scientists. Disbanded scientific advisory committees. These are some examples of the gross violations of scientific integrity that the Trump administration has carried out during its 3½ years in power.
At the Union of Concerned Scientists, we have been tracking these attacks on science since day one and our tracker has now hit a new, grim milestone – the Trump administration has so far engaged in more than 150 attacks on science, far exceeding the attacks recorded during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations.
And during the COVID-19 pandemic, where death counts have reached 150,000, there has never been a clearer example showing that the Trump administration’s willful disregard of science comes at a fatal cost.
Only a few of the 150 examples:
Global warming is a Chinese hoax
Vaccination is a danger
The threat of COVID-19 is a lie
Air and water pollution are not a problem
Mask-wearing is a liberal plot to destroy the economy
COVID-19 testing is a liberal plot to make Trump look bad
Hydroxychloroquine prevents and cures COVID-19
Injecting disinfectant into the body can cure COVID-19
III. THE ENFORCERS
This group includes the military, private security, the police, palace guards, special forces, etc.
In addition to the military, Hitler had his personal bodyguard units, including the SS (“Protection Squadron”)
In addition to the U.S. Army, Trump has at his disposal and has used federal law enforcement officers from the FPS, ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Marshals Service in Portland Oregon alone.
When you see officers in riot gear attacking peaceful protestors, or read about police brutality, particularly against minorities, have you ever wondered what is going through the minds of the enforcers?
They are Americans, most often family people, who have parents and children, yet they willingly attack the parents and children of their fellow Americans with a gusto that can go well beyond “keeping the peace.”
Why? Why are all dictatorships supported by a military composed of brutal, amoral, fellow citizens? What changes, mentally and emotionally, in these people when they join an enforcer group?
That nice, polite, young man, your neighbor boy whom you watched grow up and whom you thanked for protecting the nation by joining the army — that same young man will kick down your door, shoot you and your family, and burn down your house if ordered to by his superiors.
If, one day, you had told that young man to kill a neighbor, he would have refused. But put him in a uniform, and make him part of an enforcer organization, and he will obey any order, no matter how appalling.
The German death camp guards went home each evening to hug their loving wives and play with their children; then each morning went back to work, torturing and killing other wives and children.
Why?
Our friends and neighbors knocked him down, then marched by, as he lay unconscious, bleeding, and near death on the sidewalk.
What happens to our “protectors” when they receive orders from the dictator? All over America, we see the answer.
The boys we cheer as heroes for defending us are the same boys who kill us; they essentially “lose their minds” and their morals when part of a strong dictatorial group. The group’s morals become their morals; the group’s beliefs become their beliefs.
The military, the police, and all similar organizations are cults, where any divergence from the cult’s path is strongly discouraged and often punished.
They do not think of themselves as part of the community. They often think of you as the enemy, to be controlled by whatever means possible.
The greatest danger to any nation is not a foreign army, but the nation’s own army. It is relatively rare, these atomic-weapon days, for a foreign army to “take over” another nation.
But it is a daily occurrence for a dictator to use an nation’s own army to take over that nation.
From day one, military recruits are not only taught the value of instant obedience to orders, but they’re also conditioned through the rigorous, rapid, and heavily directive nature of boot camp.
The idea is to acclimatize new recruits to the idea of following the leader to hell and back.
When people are dying around you and your lieutenant tells you to “Take that hill!” then obedience and training are required for swift and efficient action.
But as a society, we’ve had to embrace the hard lessons of unthinking obedience gone wrong. The Nuremberg defense is the classic example of why “just following orders” is an unacceptable excuse for morally damning actions.
But this wasn’t the last, and it wasn’t always an enemy of the U.S. damning themselves.
IV. THE PUBLIC
By necessity, the public knows only what it is told and what it experiences.
If your fellow citizens experience problems (illness, hunger, poverty), and the controlled media tell you there are no problems, or the problems are minimal, you receive mixed messages.
That is why every dictator makes a point of demeaning the “lamestream” media. He wants to control what you see and what you hear so that you will dismiss claims of problems as “fake news.”
So far, America’s media have been free to report the facts, though dictator-driven and Russia-driven social media have had a powerful effect on what you believe.
The American Constitution created by men who had no knowledge of the Internet. It was created without the knowledge of semi-automatic and automatic guns in everyone’s hands.
It was created without the knowledge of a Congress for whom the independence of the judiciary is anathema and “law and order” is used as a synonym for fascism, racism, and tyranny.
It was created, with good intentions, to be a document that establishes a government far different from the European autocracies, with their dominant royalties.
But it only is a document, a piece of paper. Its power lies solely in the good intentions of the powerful people entrusted to interpret it honestly.
The Constitution did not prevent the forced removal of American citizens of Japanese descent. The Constitution has not prevented bigotry in hiring and compensation. The Constitution has not prevented poverty. It did not prevent the illegal Vietnam war.
The Constitution did not prevent slavery. In fact, the original Constitution prohibited the passing of laws that banned slavery. And despite what the Constitution now says, Americans remain divided about that unholy abuse (“separate but equal,” statues of slave-holders, “black lives matter”).
The Constitution cannot prevent the perversions of a dishonest President, a compliant Congress, a corrupted judiciary, nor a bigoted Supreme Court.
The Constitution does not defend America. That fragile piece of paper called “The Constitution,” relies on the American people to defend it.
Today, America is at the precipice. A dishonest leader, defended by a bootlicking Congress, a biased Supreme Court, and Americans who have forgotten the Hitlerian lessons of World War II, has taken steps to subvert the coming elections.
It once may have seemed inconceivable that America could become a 3rd world, banana-republic-style dictatorship, but no longer.
The thought that the most powerful nation on earth, militarily and economically, could be ruled by an amoral, dictatorial government, with the naive blessing of a minority of the American people, should make you shudder, for your self. For your children. For the world.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 