Posted on 10/26/2005 10:31:00 PM PDT by SirJohnBarleycorn
America is in trouble--and our elites are merely resigned.
It is not so hard and can be a pleasure to tell people what you see. It's harder to speak of what you think you see, what you think is going on and can't prove or defend with data or numbers. That can get tricky. It involves hunches. But here goes.
I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon. That our pollsters are preoccupied with "right track" and "wrong track" but missing the number of people who think the answer to "How are things going in America?" is "Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination."
snip
That's what I think is going on with our elites. There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship. Or into bad territory with the trolley.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
And she's saying this is a bad thing? What's wrong with this person? Doesn't she know the media has been the problem with decades. The implosion is the healthiest thing possible.
And she's affectionately reading about Christopher Lawford? Oh, for Pete's sake.
And can't she even spell "moat"?
Do I know when or even *if* these possible dangers might materialize? No. I hope they never do. But denying their potential to do so, suddenly and terribly, seems to me unwise.
As for Peggy's focus on the "elite", just look at the behavior of the Republicans that have gone to D.C. as proof that a large majority of even our "own" elite (who largely control our national destiny) are primarily interested in their own welfare. How else can you explain the astonishing indifference (or actual abettment) towards illegal immigration, destructive spending (does the prescription drug benefit make "saving social security" or continuing to pay for the WOT more or less likely?) and unConstitutional law-making?
The arguments of Cassandras need to be critically addressed. But the same can be said for those of pollyannas.
In 30 years, the USA will be a third world country. Ever been to Detroit?
My wife and I live in Western NC on Lake James (thank God), but when I travel to Detroit, Los Angeles, all I see is burned out cities. It is not going to get better.
I do not want to see my grand-kids living in environment like Somalia.
Unfortunately the huddled masses no longer yearn to breathe free.
They want sit on Uncle Sam’s lap and have him place pealed grapes in their mouth.
For the most part the pioneer spirit is gone from this land. The people who speak of “Civil Rights” know not of what they speak.
Those damn spell-checkers!
Well, OK. It's none of my business. But what if you are wrong in your prediction that the US will become a third world country in 30 years?
Also, I know that you are not talking about abortion here, but some women who have abortions make the same sort of argument. Life will be bad enough for the kid that it will be better if he is never born. My response is to propose that as good, pro-2nd amendment types, we conservatives offer to loan a loaded gun to the kid when he reaches 18, if the mother will just forego the abortion and let him survive until then. Is the mother better able to decide the value of her child's life, than the child himself will be at age 18? Of course not. What percentage of kids would then commit suicide with the gun? Very low. Most people choose living over dying, even in Somalia. Having kids is a gamble, but it's still the only game in town.
I have a feeling that this might offend you, and I don't intend it to. Again, this is none of my business. I just think that you are making an odd choice.
We all use FR as a release, like shouting back at the television; but it hasn't changed many (any?) things.
Clinton rode out his eight years despite all the convincing evidence presented here to his malfeasance.
PC is rampant to the point of ridiculousness, etc.etc.
I'm 64 and for all the advances in the quality of life that I've seen from Jet passenger planes, medical technology and the Internet; I've seen the deterioration in Education, Drug use, an overwhelming increase in the Welfare Class and Crime against persons.
She is probably correct that the wheels are coming off everything in the context of her age and her life. But for those in their twenties,there's a new vehicle being built that absorbs all the change and benchmarks it for their life.
My youngest, at 22, will have the memory of the 2000s as one thing and the experience of 40 more years in her "trolley" and will probably write a similar article in 2040.
And to think ........... "A Seperate Peace" was a very good book.
And to think ......... it is all being done consciously.
And some--well, I will mention and end with America's elites. Our recent debate about elites has had to do with whether opposition to Harriet Miers is elitist, but I don't think that's our elites' problem.
This is. Our elites, our educated and successful professionals, are the ones who are supposed to dig us out and lead us. I refer specifically to the elites of journalism and politics, the elites of the Hill and at Foggy Bottom and the agencies, the elites of our state capitals, the rich and accomplished and successful of Washington, and elsewhere. I have a nagging sense, and think I have accurately observed, that many of these people have made a separate peace. That they're living their lives and taking their pleasures and pursuing their agendas; that they're going forward each day with the knowledge, which they hold more securely and with greater reason than nonelites, that the wheels are off the trolley and the trolley's off the tracks, and with a conviction, a certainty, that there is nothing they can do about it.
I suspect that history, including great historical novelists of the future, will look back and see that many of our elites simply decided to enjoy their lives while they waited for the next chapter of trouble. And that they consciously, or unconsciously, took grim comfort in this thought: I got mine. Which is what the separate peace comes down to, "I got mine, you get yours."
****
So very true!
To me, I feel our "officials" know it, it's too far gone, and they are really doing NOTHING to correct things.
And, to make it even worse, much of the destruction of America is a conscious ongoing effort.
much worse, imo.
Exactly right!
The old established/liberal/socialist media is America's most ruthless, relentless, and destructive enemy.
***
Wrong .............. different weapons and technology today! You, hsalaw, just don't see "the worse days" coming.
You're dreaming. Time will educate you.
Excuse me, but this kind of comparison is pure foolishness and only clouds reality!
***
Thank you. Well said.
SO VERY TRUE.
It drives me nuts to hear FReepers proclaiming that the old lying socialist media is irrelevant, dying or dead. I sincerely wish that were true, but it is either complete foolishness or just wishful thinking!
It is true that the liberal newspapers are losing readers, it is also true that ABC, CBS, NBC, and the rest are losing viewership, but they still have the majority of influence over most Americans.
***
The old established/liberal/socialist media is America's most ruthless, relentless, and destructive enemy.
***
So true.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.