I agree with you completely. "Do we have leaders who can stand up to domestic opposition to lead America into that new international posture?"
Absolutely not. As you said, if we chose to let that privilege go and planned the escape route then we would be better off. The privilege being ripped away because of incompetent leadership will lead to the pound of flesh being hard to bear.
Yea the question about politicians is mostly rhetorical (though if any are reading, consider it a challenge.)
Even if they start out well intended, elected officials inevitably become slaves to fools. It takes a lot of spine to avoid falling into that trap and I don't think there is one vertebra among them.
Ken, fully agree on the woeful lack of calibre and integrity in the political arena to do the right thing in many countries in the West, not just the USA. Positive change in this area is surely challenged even further by the fact that the USA is a two party system where both parties have worked to erect barriers to prevent new parties emerging.
I love how you point out that the connection between the hollowing out of the middle class/loss of manufacturing jobs and the increasing popularity of rather polarizing political figures.
One of my great frustrations is that amongst many of the people I know and love, there is ZERO understanding of how someone like Trump has come to be. They think half the country just lost its mind and voted for the orange man, because...? Well they have no interest in finding out.
I think that's a shame because Trump and other leaders like him clearly recognized some of these issues, and instead of talking about them we've just decided to demonize people who vote "the wrong way."
100 percent. Thought bubbles are real. Coastal elites who work in highly paid jobs don't generally talk to middle class Americans from manufacturing and industrial towns. They only see a cartoon version of each other on social media which Trump was able to amplify and harness.
Yep, spot on. A big thing I'm on about is that if we're going to survive this century we're going to have to find a way to stop hating each other. A bit of understanding would go a long way.
I agree with you completely. "Do we have leaders who can stand up to domestic opposition to lead America into that new international posture?"
Absolutely not. As you said, if we chose to let that privilege go and planned the escape route then we would be better off. The privilege being ripped away because of incompetent leadership will lead to the pound of flesh being hard to bear.
Yea the question about politicians is mostly rhetorical (though if any are reading, consider it a challenge.)
Even if they start out well intended, elected officials inevitably become slaves to fools. It takes a lot of spine to avoid falling into that trap and I don't think there is one vertebra among them.
Ken, fully agree on the woeful lack of calibre and integrity in the political arena to do the right thing in many countries in the West, not just the USA. Positive change in this area is surely challenged even further by the fact that the USA is a two party system where both parties have worked to erect barriers to prevent new parties emerging.
I love how you point out that the connection between the hollowing out of the middle class/loss of manufacturing jobs and the increasing popularity of rather polarizing political figures.
One of my great frustrations is that amongst many of the people I know and love, there is ZERO understanding of how someone like Trump has come to be. They think half the country just lost its mind and voted for the orange man, because...? Well they have no interest in finding out.
I think that's a shame because Trump and other leaders like him clearly recognized some of these issues, and instead of talking about them we've just decided to demonize people who vote "the wrong way."
100 percent. Thought bubbles are real. Coastal elites who work in highly paid jobs don't generally talk to middle class Americans from manufacturing and industrial towns. They only see a cartoon version of each other on social media which Trump was able to amplify and harness.
Yep, spot on. A big thing I'm on about is that if we're going to survive this century we're going to have to find a way to stop hating each other. A bit of understanding would go a long way.