Debate about Gun Control

[Bob Butler 54]

(05-23-2017, 03:16 AM)Galen Wrote:

(05-23-2017, 01:33 AM)Bob Butler 54 Wrote:

(05-23-2017, 12:16 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: To me what I have said on this makes eminent sense. No need to rehash. As I have also said, it makes sense these days to compromise between rural and urban needs on this issue. The rural side is not interested in compromise, however. The red side is stuck in extremism on this and all other issues. The blue side is more flexible. That is also the weakness of the blue side.

I'm not sure the red guys are as firmly stuck as they have been.  Trump has taken the unraveling memes way beyond the pale, and is doing so with remarkable chaos and dysfunction.  His narcissism and lack of people skills won't make it easy for him to recover.  The Republicans are split.  It's too soon to say where things are going, but it doesn't look like the unraveling status quo is the best bet.

The Republican Party base is at odds with its establishment which why Trump ended up as president.  On the other hand, the progressives seem to be at odds with everybody.  The Democrats have pretty deep divisions of its own to deal with right now.

Welcome to the wonderful world of living in a declining empire.  The government is bankrupt and neither it nor the various will accept this fundamental truth.  As a consequence each interest group is trying to stick everyone else with the check when the music stops.

The government is fiscally bankrupt due to an too heavy play of the low taxes unraveling memes.  The government is morally bankrupt as both parties have embraced serving the big money campaign contributions rather than striving to earn the trust and backing of the People.  The positive side of the Trump, Clinton and Sanders election is that the People are beginning to recognize this, that the establishment candidates are distrusted.  This might leave room for a period of government where there is more care for serving the nation than attracting campaign contributions from the wealthy.

Electing Trump was a big slap in the face of both establishments.  In many ways I find the rejection of the establishment a positive sign.  It is becoming clearer, though, that the nation just chose the wrong anti-establishment.  Trump is going all in with the Reagan memes that drove the unraveling era.  He might just make us fully unraveled, and give us a chance to find where we want to go.  Our current destination seems to be Rock Bottom.

Yes, the failure of the establishment is becoming more visible.  I can only hope candidates arrive who can focus more on the interests of the nation.

During the Agricultural Age, failed empires often died entirely.  The names of great states would disappear from the maps.  Since the industrial age, the dominant states continue to exist, but with less ability and inclination to bully their neighbors.  Since the Industrial Age, Spain though access to New World gold, France though uniting a large area, Britain with its overseas colonies and naval power, Germany with its militarism, the United States with its large land area an its distance from the damaging effects of the world wars, Russia too with its large size, all took their turns as bully empires that dominated the world through economic, military and political clout.

Most over extended what they could do with that clout.  All had a sense of entitlement, a feeling that they were so great they could force their will on others.  All put too much faith and effort into the military and bankrupted themselves in debt.  Well, not quite all yet.  The United States is still working on it.  The red unraveling memes of embracing debt, not taxing to balance the debt, and spending lots on the military are leading us that way, but we aren't over the cliff yet.  Or, perhaps, we are over the cliff, but we haven't noticed yet.

So, yes, I can see us letting go of the 'lone superpower' meme.  Europe, China, Russia and other military economic powers are close to becoming our equal.  The advantage we had of having the only intact industrial infrastructure after World War II is long gone.  Stepping back from the notion that we can force our will on everybody might be prudent. If our urban elite is a annoying our rural regions by forcing their culture and values on them, perhaps the rest of the world feels the same way?

But I don't see us totally going away.  The various great powers of the Industrial Age all had to learn to avoid hubris, to step back to a more normal place in the global pecking order. They survived though in a respectable way.  Cutting back on our pride and feeling of dominance could well be a good thing.  Still, a large number of Americans still glory in a magnificent military and in frequent meddling.  We are still acting like a superpower, even if we haven't the economy to back it.