Whining and bitching is the most American thing you can do. It often means that you see something that can be improved, and democracy is supposed to be about eternal vigilance.
Being proud of your country should mean being proud not of our current laws, but of the constitution that allows us to fix those laws when they are deficient.
For the record, carrying a gun while marching in the street while eating apple pie is the most American thing you can do - as long as you’re wearing red, white and blue. This is true for people of any political persuasion, left or right.
In all seriousness, though, it’s our Constitution that brought us to this point. The laws aren’t being fixed - and gaps in the budget are kicked down the road. The government pays corporations in tax breaks, and corporations use their profit to pay politicians their bribes. All of this has been sanctioned by the Supreme Court, directly decided by cases brought before them (Citizens United, for example). The Supreme Court also has “stolen” elections, where the objective winner was not chosen. (Gore vs. Bush)
What we are seeing up to this point is no checks, no balances and no plan for the future. That’s a failure of the Constitution on a massive scale.
IMHO, I think the only chance for salvation is the economy. All middle-class Americans have one thing in common - the 401k. If the economy crashes, especially if the stock market takes an extended dive, then the opposition voices will get loud. The average American will draw a line at destroying their retirement income.
I honestly don’t know which is worse - an authoritarian government that provides a stable economy or an incompetent government that destroys the very country it’s trying to loot.
If the government still recognizes the authority of the constitution, then you can fix the constitution via amendments.
Otherwise, it would be time for a new constitution. But of course, in that case, there would truly be nothing to be proud of. It would mean your entire country and government was a complete failure, and that whatever new constitution you ratified would have to make many provisions to protect the government from the overwhelming stupidity of the citizens.
The American Constitution is the oldest national codified government constitution in force. No other constitution has lasted so long. Ergo, either it’s a really solid document that can still serve us - or its time has passed.
Or, I guess there’s a third possibility. The Constitution might be like a virus - not an entirely wholesome organism, but very good at surviving. A document that can sometimes serve the masses, but also a tool for the elite when properly weaponized. Perhaps it’s a document that perfectly balances authoritative power with social conflict.
I think, though, that our forefathers should have addressed a balanced budget in writing. If the budget isn’t balanced and if the debt is above a certain percent of the GDP, then emergency elections should be held. This would avoid a lot of the looting from our coffers.
I feel in the US we are closer to scenario two. Sure, it’s theoretically possible to modify the constitution but people have been trying to decades and the level of political consensus required is quite extreme.
You get as many people in the baggage car as you can to coordinate throwing their weight against one side and derail the train. Choo choo motherfuckers.
Yeah. I think one of the hardest things I’ve discovered, at least where I live, is that a lot of folks who would also work in fields where they can’t not show up. My mom’s a hospice nurse, I work in animal care. She can’t not attend to her patients and I’m not going to neglect the dogs in my care for a day. We could take the day off symbolically, show solidarity, but the work won’t stop, it’d just be one of our “don’t care” coworkers doing it. Our other struggle has been that, in a relatively union free state, most of the union folks are caught in that “benefits for me, fuck you, go Trump” mentality. Not a blanket accusation of union workers, just a lot of our locals are ladder-pullers.
Strange argument. Not only should it be really obvious by now that your constitution isn’t helping you guys “fix those laws,” but you’re also saying that people who live in a society without a constitution shouldn’t be proud of their country. Now, as not-an-ultranationalist I do agree that people shouldn’t be “proud of their country,” but it’s certainly possible to offer a better justification of that position.
Whining and bitching is the most American thing you can do. It often means that you see something that can be improved, and democracy is supposed to be about eternal vigilance.
Being proud of your country should mean being proud not of our current laws, but of the constitution that allows us to fix those laws when they are deficient.
For the record, carrying a gun while marching in the street while eating apple pie is the most American thing you can do - as long as you’re wearing red, white and blue. This is true for people of any political persuasion, left or right.
In all seriousness, though, it’s our Constitution that brought us to this point. The laws aren’t being fixed - and gaps in the budget are kicked down the road. The government pays corporations in tax breaks, and corporations use their profit to pay politicians their bribes. All of this has been sanctioned by the Supreme Court, directly decided by cases brought before them (Citizens United, for example). The Supreme Court also has “stolen” elections, where the objective winner was not chosen. (Gore vs. Bush)
What we are seeing up to this point is no checks, no balances and no plan for the future. That’s a failure of the Constitution on a massive scale.
IMHO, I think the only chance for salvation is the economy. All middle-class Americans have one thing in common - the 401k. If the economy crashes, especially if the stock market takes an extended dive, then the opposition voices will get loud. The average American will draw a line at destroying their retirement income.
I honestly don’t know which is worse - an authoritarian government that provides a stable economy or an incompetent government that destroys the very country it’s trying to loot.
What if it doesn’t allow that? Asking for a friend.
If the government still recognizes the authority of the constitution, then you can fix the constitution via amendments.
Otherwise, it would be time for a new constitution. But of course, in that case, there would truly be nothing to be proud of. It would mean your entire country and government was a complete failure, and that whatever new constitution you ratified would have to make many provisions to protect the government from the overwhelming stupidity of the citizens.
“Time for a new constitution”
Maybe.
The American Constitution is the oldest national codified government constitution in force. No other constitution has lasted so long. Ergo, either it’s a really solid document that can still serve us - or its time has passed.
Or, I guess there’s a third possibility. The Constitution might be like a virus - not an entirely wholesome organism, but very good at surviving. A document that can sometimes serve the masses, but also a tool for the elite when properly weaponized. Perhaps it’s a document that perfectly balances authoritative power with social conflict.
I think, though, that our forefathers should have addressed a balanced budget in writing. If the budget isn’t balanced and if the debt is above a certain percent of the GDP, then emergency elections should be held. This would avoid a lot of the looting from our coffers.
I feel in the US we are closer to scenario two. Sure, it’s theoretically possible to modify the constitution but people have been trying to decades and the level of political consensus required is quite extreme.
You get as many people in the baggage car as you can to coordinate throwing their weight against one side and derail the train. Choo choo motherfuckers.
General strike? We’re working on it. Unfortunately, a hundred years of anti-union propaganda is difficult to crack.
Yeah. I think one of the hardest things I’ve discovered, at least where I live, is that a lot of folks who would also work in fields where they can’t not show up. My mom’s a hospice nurse, I work in animal care. She can’t not attend to her patients and I’m not going to neglect the dogs in my care for a day. We could take the day off symbolically, show solidarity, but the work won’t stop, it’d just be one of our “don’t care” coworkers doing it. Our other struggle has been that, in a relatively union free state, most of the union folks are caught in that “benefits for me, fuck you, go Trump” mentality. Not a blanket accusation of union workers, just a lot of our locals are ladder-pullers.
Strange argument. Not only should it be really obvious by now that your constitution isn’t helping you guys “fix those laws,” but you’re also saying that people who live in a society without a constitution shouldn’t be proud of their country. Now, as not-an-ultranationalist I do agree that people shouldn’t be “proud of their country,” but it’s certainly possible to offer a better justification of that position.