Fantasy Land or Will America ever grow up?

[ramapo]

What irks me the most (among many things) is the complete inability of Americans to accept some measure of responsibility for this mess.

Taxes are bad and must be cut even though we are taxed less heavily than any other country.

Do not cut my services though.

Debt rules our country as thoroughly as it does many of our lives individually.

Ross Perot made probably the most honest and straightforward assessment of the economic mess we had made. Clinton cleaned it up (sort of) but it is now worse than ever.

Carter didn't do happy talk and got replaced by Morning in America. Mondale told us taxes had to increase and look what happened to him. Perot was right on but went off the deep end.

Krugman today on Pacifica outlined this problem. Can't raise taxes, can't cut services. Only choice left for the country is an economic meltdown since debt cannot accumulate indefinitely.

Any chance that Americans can be told that they are out of control and that this must be fixed without the messenger being shot?

[soupkitchen]

1. Tom Wolfe writing on America in the 1930's Sound familiar?

From, "You Can't Go Home Again"

I believe that we are lost here in America, but I believe we shall be found……I think the true discovery of our spirit, of our people, of our mighty and immortal land is yet to come. I think the true discovery of our own democracy is still before us……
I think the enemy is here before us, too…….I think the enemy is here before us with a thousand faces, but I, we, know that all his faces wear one mask. I think the enemy is single selfishness and compulsive greed. I think the enemy is blind, but has the brutal power of his blind grab…….
I think the enemy deceives us with false words and lying phrases, saying:
“See, I am one of you—I am one of your children, your son, your brother, and your friend. Behold how sleek and fat I have become—and all because I am just one of you, and your friend. Behold how rich and powerful I am—and all because I am one of you—shaped in your way of life, of thinking, of accomplishment..……..am I not just one of you?….Am I not the living image of what each of you may hope to be, would wish to be, would desire for his own son? Would you destroy the glorious incarnation of your own heroic self? If you do, then, “says Enemy, “you destroy yourselves—you kill the thing that is most gloriously American, and in so killing, kill yourselves.”
He lies! And now we know he lies!. He is not gloriously, or in any other way, ourselves. He is not our friend, our son, our brother. And he is not American! For, although he has a thousand familiar and convenient faces, his own true face is old as Hell.
Look about you and see what he has done.

[BJ]

2. Not until the sewage laps at the shores of suburbia.

Not until the checks are all over drawn;

Not until the SUVs all run dry........

[pretzel4gore]

3. 'men learn by suffering'

the ancients used to say. read that in toynbee's 'a study of history' long ago and know that the most noble death a modern can have is to die under a park bench. try tell that to anyone(!)
What's awful is the one dimensionality of the 'well to do' experience.....in the 60's 70's it was that (the idea of boring security) which today are GLORIFIED (one local radio jock says 'happy capitalism' as his hello/goodbye!) that created the momentum of the 'counter culture' the back to land small=beautiful and the idea of the human brotherhood. Incidentaly, it was this REJECTION of the american dream in its boring securest that PISSED the fascist racist pigset off, and led to gwbush as the 'leader' of freeworld (haha)