People like the Koch brother (half way there) and all the other far right pieces of dogshit spent decades astroturfing and fueling this anti-government sentiment. Selling the idea that government is hated by everyone, government is inefficient and ineffective so private corporations are the better alternative. That allowing wealth to accumulate in only a few individuals will benefit everyone as they fund humanitarian projects.
One thing I gotta hand to guys like Rockefeller is he took his son's advice and actually did give a fuck load of money to prop up stuff that benefited society. This isn't praise for him, no, it's just recognizing that he wasn't a total buffoon. He and his son and family (and many other tycoons then and since then) realized you either have to give back or eventually things will degrade so far that people snap and TAKE back what you stole.
Unfortunately the Koch-types let their wild dogs off the leash and they have no power to control them anymore. Things like repealing Roe v Wade was supposed to be the carrot forever in front of the hogs so that they accept the tax cuts for the wealthy. Cutting social security was always supposed to be promised in the pursuit of "cutting taxes" and making the damn disabled and elderly (obviously they're all faking it) go back to work. The non-dipshits knew that passing such unpopular laws not only would end the game for them it would also cause societal ruptures that they couldn't undo. You can't shove the country ever further to the right for a century and then when the inevitable comes to pass, and the boom post-WWII completely fades, start screaming "woah woah too far guys! We gotta keep THAT law!"
There are people, a lot of them, who somewhat-correctly identify government programs as failing to meet their proposed goal. Social security disability is one. Medicaid, various unemployment programs, food stamps/EBT, etc. They fail to see that the reasons those programs fail is due to systematic dismantling and crippling via defunding, understaffing, and means testing. Neoliberalism, basically. The idea that the "market" can and will solve all problems, so why do we need social security? Mix that in with radicalization of (ironically) many poor workers to knee jerk question and resent anyone who does become old enough or disabled enough to break through all the means testing and red tape to get benefits and, of course, racism, and it's a perfect recipe for advocating against their own best interests and for, no exaggeration, ultimately the total dismantling of the federal government followed by state governments (which are already inadequate).
This is something the "tea party" (idiotic name) types and their outgrowth which includes people like pdf file Gaetz, Gym Jordan, etc. openly advocated for for like 20 years now. At least 15 years. To shut government down (brother!) to defund every "unnecessary" agency (guess which are unnecessary? Hint: it sure isn't the military or FBI), and basically to grind everything to a halt.
A ridiculous idea, one that the Koch brother (never gets old) surely is not thrilled about seeing actually possibly happening. Because all he really wanted (his personal views on abortion, gay marriage, God, etc. are totally irrelevant) was to keep his taxes down and make sure he and his family and his capitalist buds could make billions of dollars and continue directing how Washington is run. If there is no government, or society starts SERIOUSLY declining (imagine the homelessness if social security were cut by say 50%), their wealth starts becoming pointless. Riots are inevitable if enough people are homeless and hungry. That's why they've always favored the "bread and circus" route instead of the full on authoritarian "pick up that can, citizen!" approach. It's more peaceful (in their home country - key point), safer, more enjoyable. If they can't go to the airport anymore without a person chucking his shit at their limo before he's blown away by private police in front of them, that's not so much fun anymore!
I don't know how they can recover things. If I were a betting person, I'd say they can't recover neoliberalism. It's going away one way or another. The only thing left to see is how right wing authoritarian things get, how bad things get, at least in the US. Other places may well have strong leftist movements rise up. The US, due to 80 strong years but over a century generally, of anti-socialism and anti-communism rhetoric is surely going down the fash pipeline. Probably anyway.
The big difference between now and rockafellars day was that their was actual competition amongst the elite.
Now they are all on the same page. Have crushed competition and having done that have allowed their ranks to be filled with buffon fail sons that can't plan more than the next quarter out.
always knew those dastardly elderly were faking age. Don't get me started on all these workshy "dead" people
Mix that in with radicalization of (ironically) many poor workers to knee jerk question and resent anyone who does become old enough or disabled enough to break through all the means testing and red tape to get benefits and, of course, racism, and it's a perfect recipe for advocating against their own best interests
once knew a guy who would say "I've broken every bone in my body who needs health and safety" he really was a fucking moron
on the general point
I agree about the problem but they might be true believers and just not realise the problem they are creating. It's entirely possible that they don't understand that these issues will happen because they don't actually think about what happens to poor people
Yeah, that's true. Some people might actually be deluded enough (Peter Thiel fuck his name not googling it types) to believe in some sort of anrchocapitalism hellscape. Into which they'd instantly become enslaved by some massive Bezos Amazon slave factory (chattel slavery instead of the slavery of forced to sell labor for a wage). But I guess good luck explaining that to them... many seem to have the imagination of a 14 year old. They're definitely not all stupid, just extremely naive and uneducated if they think a world with zero federal government will in any tangible way be better than this one. I know a lot of people want or joke about "going back to monkey" or back to feudalism style arrangements. That's definitely not their plan though. They want something more like a Mad Max style future but they think they'll be the robot guy in charge of water (spoiler: they won't be).
Guns very cheap. Bulk ammo is relatively cheap. Meanwhile basic needs keep rising with no end in sight. Sounds like a good combination for a country that never has homicidal maniacs shooting up public places due to misplaced rage.
These freaks are going to fuck up their game and bag by denying Americans their bread and circus
That's the ultimate irony of these fucksticks.
People like the Koch brother (half way there) and all the other far right pieces of dogshit spent decades astroturfing and fueling this anti-government sentiment. Selling the idea that government is hated by everyone, government is inefficient and ineffective so private corporations are the better alternative. That allowing wealth to accumulate in only a few individuals will benefit everyone as they fund humanitarian projects.
One thing I gotta hand to guys like Rockefeller is he took his son's advice and actually did give a fuck load of money to prop up stuff that benefited society. This isn't praise for him, no, it's just recognizing that he wasn't a total buffoon. He and his son and family (and many other tycoons then and since then) realized you either have to give back or eventually things will degrade so far that people snap and TAKE back what you stole.
Unfortunately the Koch-types let their wild dogs off the leash and they have no power to control them anymore. Things like repealing Roe v Wade was supposed to be the carrot forever in front of the hogs so that they accept the tax cuts for the wealthy. Cutting social security was always supposed to be promised in the pursuit of "cutting taxes" and making the damn disabled and elderly (obviously they're all faking it) go back to work. The non-dipshits knew that passing such unpopular laws not only would end the game for them it would also cause societal ruptures that they couldn't undo. You can't shove the country ever further to the right for a century and then when the inevitable comes to pass, and the boom post-WWII completely fades, start screaming "woah woah too far guys! We gotta keep THAT law!"
There are people, a lot of them, who somewhat-correctly identify government programs as failing to meet their proposed goal. Social security disability is one. Medicaid, various unemployment programs, food stamps/EBT, etc. They fail to see that the reasons those programs fail is due to systematic dismantling and crippling via defunding, understaffing, and means testing. Neoliberalism, basically. The idea that the "market" can and will solve all problems, so why do we need social security? Mix that in with radicalization of (ironically) many poor workers to knee jerk question and resent anyone who does become old enough or disabled enough to break through all the means testing and red tape to get benefits and, of course, racism, and it's a perfect recipe for advocating against their own best interests and for, no exaggeration, ultimately the total dismantling of the federal government followed by state governments (which are already inadequate).
This is something the "tea party" (idiotic name) types and their outgrowth which includes people like pdf file Gaetz, Gym Jordan, etc. openly advocated for for like 20 years now. At least 15 years. To shut government down (brother!) to defund every "unnecessary" agency (guess which are unnecessary? Hint: it sure isn't the military or FBI), and basically to grind everything to a halt.
A ridiculous idea, one that the Koch brother (never gets old) surely is not thrilled about seeing actually possibly happening. Because all he really wanted (his personal views on abortion, gay marriage, God, etc. are totally irrelevant) was to keep his taxes down and make sure he and his family and his capitalist buds could make billions of dollars and continue directing how Washington is run. If there is no government, or society starts SERIOUSLY declining (imagine the homelessness if social security were cut by say 50%), their wealth starts becoming pointless. Riots are inevitable if enough people are homeless and hungry. That's why they've always favored the "bread and circus" route instead of the full on authoritarian "pick up that can, citizen!" approach. It's more peaceful (in their home country - key point), safer, more enjoyable. If they can't go to the airport anymore without a person chucking his shit at their limo before he's blown away by private police in front of them, that's not so much fun anymore!
I don't know how they can recover things. If I were a betting person, I'd say they can't recover neoliberalism. It's going away one way or another. The only thing left to see is how right wing authoritarian things get, how bad things get, at least in the US. Other places may well have strong leftist movements rise up. The US, due to 80 strong years but over a century generally, of anti-socialism and anti-communism rhetoric is surely going down the fash pipeline. Probably anyway.
The big difference between now and rockafellars day was that their was actual competition amongst the elite.
Now they are all on the same page. Have crushed competition and having done that have allowed their ranks to be filled with buffon fail sons that can't plan more than the next quarter out.
always knew those dastardly elderly were faking age. Don't get me started on all these workshy "dead" people
once knew a guy who would say "I've broken every bone in my body who needs health and safety" he really was a fucking moron
on the general point
I agree about the problem but they might be true believers and just not realise the problem they are creating. It's entirely possible that they don't understand that these issues will happen because they don't actually think about what happens to poor people
Yeah, that's true. Some people might actually be deluded enough (Peter Thiel fuck his name not googling it types) to believe in some sort of anrchocapitalism hellscape. Into which they'd instantly become enslaved by some massive Bezos Amazon slave factory (chattel slavery instead of the slavery of forced to sell labor for a wage). But I guess good luck explaining that to them... many seem to have the imagination of a 14 year old. They're definitely not all stupid, just extremely naive and uneducated if they think a world with zero federal government will in any tangible way be better than this one. I know a lot of people want or joke about "going back to monkey" or back to feudalism style arrangements. That's definitely not their plan though. They want something more like a Mad Max style future but they think they'll be the robot guy in charge of water (spoiler: they won't be).
I don't think this is it again I just don't think they understand that this will happen
or they like what happens to poor people
"Oh cool! Rope is on sale!"
Axes are very cheap, pretty easy to maintain, and incredibly reliable.
Guns very cheap. Bulk ammo is relatively cheap. Meanwhile basic needs keep rising with no end in sight. Sounds like a good combination for a country that never has homicidal maniacs shooting up public places due to misplaced rage.