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Generational Dynamics World View
(06-17-2019, 07:10 PM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 17-Jun-2019 PBrower and  Marxism-Leninism

(06-16-2019, 11:41 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: >   Without question, Marxism-Leninism as an economic policy is an
>   economic disaster. Marxism-Leninism as a political order is a
>   human calamity. Either way Marxism-Leninism will retard economic
>   growth (a market at the least punishes wastes of resources) and
>   novel creativity. What Marxism-Leninism is good at creating other
>   than human suffering is weaponry -- hardly a surprise in
>   militarized countries.  Thus the beloved AK-47 and MiG fighters of
>   the Soviet Union, East German missiles, and the infamous plastic
>   explosive Symtex of Commie-era Czechoslovakia. Pour resources into
>   such things with few restraints and there will be spectacular
>   results.

OK, I'm totally confused.

First off, I apologize for rarely reading the other threads in this
forum, and for lumping everyone together as having political views
that range from far left to loony left, and as being guided in all
things by a vitriolic hatred of Trump and 60 million Trump supporters.
It's unfair of me to think that everyone is the same.

Marxism-Leninism is of course a manifest failure in part due to the pathological personality of Vladimir Lenin. His personality had syphilis at its core, and his personal cruelty could create nothing other than a monstrosity no matter what his ideological position.

Aside from his pathological narcissism I cannot ascertain a cause for the nastiness of Donald Trump as a person. He acts as if he can get away with things that few of us dream of. If I grabbed women by their vaginas I would be charged, and possibly convicted, of rape. If I had a daughter and some thuggish black man grabbed her by her vagina I would encourage her to prosecute him for rape or at least sexual assault.

Much of the appeal of Donald Trump is that as a businessman he would use his business acumen to reform American government into something leaner and more efficient. In view of the efficiency of totalitarian states (including China and the Soviet Union, let alone Nazi Germany and Satan Hussein's Iraq) to literally railroad people to the Gulag or the KZ-lager after even a flimsy accusation of wrong-doing, I prefer that our judicial system not be so efficient. The American government is running few business-like operations, so the argument that we can apply more business-like methods to government is void. The government must operate the military, law enforcement, and the judicial process as cost centers. The irony is that Donald Trump was not even a particularly good businessman. He is no innovator, and he has two of the easiest ways of making money at his disposal -- creating schlock television, and being a landlord in high-income areas with housing shortages.

You really should look at the polling thread. Donald Trump is not doing well. Just because you like him does not mean that he is holding onto the marginal support that he got in 2016. A grudging vote means just as much as a fanatical vote. It would not take much of a swing of votes from 2016 to 2020 to cause President Trump to lose a re-election bid. But this is simply consistent with my observation that President Trump is not doing what it takes to get re-elected, which requires that he gain enough voters who grudgingly voted against him to offset those that he loses.


Quote:But you in particular have always expressed the farthest left views,
and views about Trump that I've repeatedly described as completely
delusional.

Marxism-Leninism is so obviously obsolete that it is reactionary. Have you noticed my disdain for North Korea?

I see marks of an authoritarian leader in Donald Trump. I see his frequent denial of objective truth. I see traces of dictatorial and despotic behavior, including utmost contempt for anyone who disagrees with him. I see contempt for the weak and vulnerable, a hallmark of a predatory personality. It is not simply that I disagree with him; I see him going after anyone on the conservative side of the political spectrum if that person 'fails' to defer 100% to him. He may not be as bad as Stalin, who used people up and killed them off if they became somehow inconvenient to his designs -- but as one approaches a cliff, one must tread carefully. At some point even baby steps have lethal consequences.



Quote:So now I read the paragraph quoted above.  Have you completely
abandoned your leftist views?  Would David Horn agree with that
paragraph?  That paragraph might have been written by a Trump
supporter.


More likely a Ronald Reagan supporter. I will say this about Reagan -- no matter how much a piece of work one may have thought he was, nobody had any cause to doubt his loyalty to the United States and his respect for Constitutional niceties.


Quote:It reminds of some of the things that Deng Xiaoping wrote in 1978 when
he instituted an "Opening up and reform" policy that completely
reversed Socialism and opened up China to free markets and capitalism.
However, it was still a CCP dictatorship, and the phrase "Socialism
with Chinese characteristics" came into use, even though it was no
longer socialism, but was the same as Hitler's National Socialism.

The problems with China should be obvious.

First, China is not at all a democracy. It has a dominant-Party system in which there is some show of a nominal opposition -- but the split in power is a reliable 60-40, so the nominal opposition gets to keep its dreams (think of Democrats in Utah or Republicans in New York City) but never wins anything except some tiny concession.

Second, the capitalist and free-enterprise concessions are made for strengthening the economic power and ultimately military power of China, and not for giving workers any rights. Government-controlled unions such as those in China are worthless to a worker. They are good for fleecing workers on behalf of political hacks and exhorting workers to toil harder and with more dedication so that they can deserve more from employers and create a 'stronger' economy. Such was the role of Robert Ley, a Nazi political hack who was head of the Deutsche Arbeitsfront which took over the functions of what had been independent labor unions in Germany under Hitler.
One is better off with no union than with a union that sells workers out to an employer while fleecing those workers.

Third, China has yet to become a consumer society or welfare state (the two go together) as the other countries on your list are. The objective is productivity, and not the prosperity of workers. China exports much, takes the proceeds on behalf of the state apparatus (including the bloated military) and lets workers get little. It may be better than what the Chinese used to get in China, but it is still a raw deal.

If you want a Fourth Turning  assessment -- such implies the sort of contradictions that History often resolves either with reform -- or violence. So see I on China. But I also see trouble in America with a President who offends the sensibilities of the Intelligence services and the senior officers of the Armed Forces. Obama was easy to deal with because he knew and respected the rules, including Constitutional niceties. He wanted terrorists whacked, as did the Intelligence services and the Armed Forces. Obama was the velvet glove on the mailed fist when it came to dispatching terrorists like Awlaki and Osama bin Laden.

Quote:Once again, I'm confused.  What's happening to you?  Are you going through a midlife crisis?

I have never liked totalitarian or even authoritarian regimes. They invariably bring raw deals to the common man who does the toil. I see copious warnings about Donald Trump from, of all people, George Orwell. Of course it goes beyond him to economic elites who see themselves entitled to squeeze the worker to exact more profit, graft, and executive compensation. Even our current tax laws promote monopoly and vertical integration that imply the increasing power of corporate behemoths too big to fail or even judge. I also distrust media (most infamously FoX "News") that use Orwellian Newspeak and even the Two Minute Hate.

...In any event, national success is a balance between tradition that allows some cohesion in life (as in legal precedent and institutional checks-and-balances) and incremental reforms. I recognize that our political institutions are designed for a People with a moral compass and for the absence of the concentration of economic power. American political institutions were built for a nation whose businesses were largely small and hence unable to either bribe politicians or hire lobbyists to monitor nominally-elected officials.

We have drifted toward government by lobbyist, which is a novel form of unrepresentative government and possibly an inchoate dictatorship. We are approaching a cliff, and even baby steps in the direction of the cliff portend disaster. You and I can do little about China, but here we are in America. Institutions established over 200 years ago are at risk for specious reasons, and not by some madman overseas like Hitler or Tojo but instead by vile, corrupt people here.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist  but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.


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Messages In This Thread
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 05-14-2016, 03:21 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 05-23-2016, 10:31 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by radind - 08-11-2016, 08:59 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 01-18-2017, 09:23 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 02-04-2017, 10:08 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 03-13-2017, 03:33 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 03-15-2017, 02:56 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by SomeGuy - 03-15-2017, 03:13 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 05-30-2017, 01:04 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 07-08-2017, 01:34 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 08-09-2017, 11:07 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 08-10-2017, 02:38 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 10-25-2017, 03:07 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by rds - 10-31-2017, 03:35 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by rds - 10-31-2017, 06:33 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by noway2 - 11-20-2017, 04:31 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 12-28-2017, 11:00 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 12-31-2017, 11:14 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 06-22-2018, 02:54 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-11-2018, 01:42 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-11-2018, 01:54 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-19-2018, 12:43 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-25-2018, 02:18 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 07-11-2018, 01:58 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 08-18-2018, 03:42 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Galen - 08-19-2018, 04:39 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by pbrower2a - 06-18-2019, 04:32 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 09-25-2019, 11:12 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 03-09-2020, 02:11 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Camz - 03-10-2020, 10:10 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 03-12-2020, 11:11 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by JDG 66 - 03-16-2020, 03:21 PM
RE: 58 year rule - by Tim Randal Walker - 04-01-2020, 11:17 AM
RE: 58 year rule - by John J. Xenakis - 04-02-2020, 12:25 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by Isoko - 05-04-2020, 02:51 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by tg63 - 01-04-2021, 12:13 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by CH86 - 01-05-2021, 11:17 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-10-2021, 06:16 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-11-2021, 09:06 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-12-2021, 02:53 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-13-2021, 03:58 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-13-2021, 04:16 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by mamabug - 01-15-2021, 03:36 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 08-19-2021, 03:03 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 08-21-2021, 01:41 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-27-2022, 06:06 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-27-2022, 10:42 PM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-28-2022, 12:26 AM
RE: Generational Dynamics World View - by galaxy - 02-28-2022, 04:08 PM

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