Listening to Trump we’re in boom times. He’s always saying how great the economy is.
Same thing with his supporters, who are generally in two camps – the religious right, and the comfortably numb.
The religious right justifies voting for him because he’s pro-life. Trump could shoot a person and Fifth Avenue and they wouldn’t care. All they care about, is they see his administration as their ticket to overturning Roe V. Wade.
The comfortably numb shrug off his thuggish, autocratic behavior with “yeah but the economy is great”. They all say the same thing, on cue, in defending his administration – the economy is booming, unemployment is low, and the stock market is at an all-time high.
This, economy is great meme, got me thinking.
If the economy is so great, how come according to this study that most Americans couldn’t afford a $1000.00 emergency?
The recent government shutdown is all over the news, as it should be. Now we’re seeing interviews with affected workers facing financial ruin because they missed 1 paycheck.
I’ve read that close to 1 million workers are affected by the shutdown. So if the economy is so good, why are these 1 million workers 1 missed paycheck from financial disaster?
If the economy is so good, why are housing costs the highest they’ve been in years?
How come most can’t afford health insurance?
Low unemployment doesn’t directly translate to economic prosperity. So what if unemployment is low, if no one can afford to buy a home, amass savings, or pay for health insurance.
According to this piece, most Americans don’t benefit from the stock market.
If the economy is so great, why is student loan debt at an all-time high? How come no one but the wealthy have money to pay for college?
According to this piece, the federal deficit is on the rise. Deficits and spending is what gave rise to Tea Party, remember them?
The deficit is on track to more than double by 2028.
In order for deficits to be paid down, revenue has to outpace spending. But that’s not happening. The economy that Trump and his followers are so in love with isn’t producing near enough revenue to pay down the deficit.
It gets worse. Mitch McConnell, today’s Dick Cheney, is quoted in this piece as saying the real problem is entitlements. For those who aren’t wonky, entitlements is Republican code speak for cutting programs that millions depend on. It’s code speak for cutting social security and medicaid.
When I look at the data I say we’re teetering on the edge of economic disaster. I see the Trump Crime Family, Mitch McConnell and gang, as a bellwether of dark times.
“The economy is booming” is just another example of the group think culture we’re in. It’s a story created by the machine. Then it’s repeated often enough that it becomes true — same as Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or the Tonkin incident President Lyndon Johnson used to sell the Vietnam War.
The problem isn’t that the Russians helped Trump get elected by spreading thousands of posts on social media that were read by millions. The problem, is that millions of Americans believe the lies.
I don’t understand why not, millions of Americans don’t do a sit-in at our nations capitol in an act of protest and solidarity. A sort of, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore”.
Scratch that, I do. An action like this requires critical thinking and a grasp of the big picture.
Most Americans have a frail grasp of the big picture. Climate change? Thinking ahead? Questioning things? They’re wrapped up in right now – making the mortgage, the rent, paying bills. No time for critical thinking. So they get their information from 128 characters or their social feed — because it’s easy. They don’t read. Instead, they’re constantly devoted to the machine, which repays their devotion by numbing their mind. They’ve outsourced their memory to Google.
They’re Comfortably Numb.
On this weeks Ralph Nader podcast, Ralph had Bruce Fein on for the 2nd half of the show. Bruce writes for the American Conservative, a hub of great journalism.
Bruce Fein was associate deputy attorney general and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission under President Reagan and counsel to the Joint Congressional Committee on Covert Arms Sales to Iran. He is a partner in the law firm of Fein & DelValle PLLC.
Bruce is a true conservative – remember them? He’s at least as worried about Trump – the lawlessness and unchecked power, as the left is. I know Trump supporters don’t listen to the left. But why aren’t they listening to people like Bruce?
Bruce comes on at 28:20. Give it a listen.
If the economy is so good, why are we facing a constitutional crisis and a war with Iran? Iran isn’t like Iraq, this won’t end well.
The machine knows most are beat down and have no time to think. It’s playing our broken down state against us. It’ll get worse until we the people have the courage and the strength to standup for ourselves, our children, and the next 7 generations.
You can start by calling your representatives and asking them the 8 questions that Bruce wrote.
Or you can sit there and think that someone else will fix it. Please don’t do that.
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