Unraveling of America? Is the decline of our "empire" a given at this point?

[KEW]

This is a video of interview with the (anthropologist) author of a Rolling Stones article on this topic.
The term "unraveling" is well chosen because he is fundamentally pointing out the lack of cohesiveness among our people/society/culture as the reason for the decline.
On the surface, it looked like some type of "BS rant" article and I did not expect to listen past 30 seconds, but in retrospect, it is the title (and even the introduction) of this interview that is a bit sensationalized. The content seems sound!

I want to address "the elephant in the room" - please note that the main premise is that neither party is responsible for the decline. The author believes Trump's election indicates the extent or degree of decline, but denies that Trump is responsible for the decline. I just wanted anyone to recognize that the extent of tribalism in the article is not as expected from much of today's news.

In any case, I found it worthwhile enough to want to share it with my friends here:

 

[Ponzio]

Must see TV. Thanxs.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision to allow foreign contributions to federal state/presidential elections was the beginning of the end for me.
https://theintercept.com/2016/08/03/citizens-united-foreign-money-us-elections/

To this day I am completely dumbfounded on why this was allowed and no one batted an eye.

Throw in the unintended chaos of internet news web sites and other reasons which have polarized us to the extent that we are today and our politician’s active wink & nod to this behavior and you have a recipe for disaster.

Trump’s election is not the cause but just another symptom of the rot from within.

I’ve posted this quote before by Isaac Asimov but it still rings true.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

 

[panteragstk]

Interesting. I read something today that was on this exact subject. The decline started in the 80's and has just gotten fast tracked by Trump and COVID. It isn't Trumps fault totally, but he escalated the pulling back of the curtain that shows how bad so many facets of American life are. Most of us don't notice these things until they are staring us in the face, but everything that has happened this year has exposed how fragile and unchecked a lot of our systems are.

We need to treat the government like a business and fire any employee (congress, the house, executive branch, etc.) that isn't performing. How can congress still have jobs with a ~20% approval rating? What company survives when 80% of the population doesn't like them?

 

[lovinthehd]

I think drumph is media savvy enough to manipulate it to his advantage. Too bad this is where is mental energy goes....

As to government being a business, no, not really. Being managed better, certainly....neither party has addressed actual management/administration issues in forever.

 

[JStewart]

There’s good points made in the video. But the surface can only be scratched in 18 min.

I recently read this series https://waitbutwhy.com/2019/08/story-of-us.html
Since then I’ve felt compelled to pass it along.

Ok, I know your first thought was “no way am I going to read a dull dry paper recommend by some stranger when I could be listening to some sweet tunes while helping a friend out on Audioholics.” You can put that thought aside though because despite the subject it’s humorous and fun.

Oh, and since this is an audio forum, check out this cool article on sound by the same author

Everything You Should Know About Sound

We all know what sound is. Except actually, no we don't. Let's fix that.

waitbutwhy.com

 

[Ponzio]

There’s good points made in the video. But the surface can only be scratched in 18 min.

I recently read this series https://waitbutwhy.com/2019/08/story-of-us.html
Since then I’ve felt compelled to pass it along.

Ok, I know your first thought was “no way am I going to read a dull dry paper recommend by some stranger when I could be listening to some sweet tunes while helping a friend out on Audioholics.” You can put that thought aside though because despite the subject it’s humorous and fun.

Oh, and since this is an audio forum, check out this cool article on sound by the same author

Everything You Should Know About Sound

We all know what sound is. Except actually, no we don't. Let's fix that.

waitbutwhy.com

Oh goody, there's pictures

 

[Alex2507]

Oh goody, there's pictures

I was hoping for the bouncy ball sing-a-long.

 

[Ponzio]

I was hoping for the bouncy ball sing-a-long.

Yeah, they kind-a dropped the 'ball' on that.

Hey, I made a funny

 

[TankTop5]

I’m sure most people here will disagree with my politics but I have good news, the hunt for the worst of the worst did not end with the demise of Epstein. Some of the monsters created by America through the war on terror are now working privately and well funded and there is no place on earth for this scum to hide. America is quietly cleaning up a mess and doing a good thing in this regard.

As an added note, if human trafficking bothers you Netflix should probably get cancelled.

 

[Ponzio]

I’m sure most people here will disagree with my politics but I have good news, the hunt for the worst of the worst did not end with the demise of Epstein. Some of the monsters created by America through the war on terror are now working privately and well funded and there is no place on earth for this scum to hide. America is quietly cleaning up a mess and doing a good thing in this regard.

As an added note, if human trafficking bothers you Netflix should probably get cancelled.

Ghislaine Maxwell wholeheartedly agrees with you, thanks you for your support and 'wishes you well'' too.

Now, let's start getting distracted.

 

[TankTop5]

Ghislaine Maxwell wholeheartedly agrees with you, thanks you for your support and 'wishes you well'' too.

Now, let's start getting distracted.

I have no clue what you’re trying to infer but people I know and support are hunting human traffickers inside the US and around the world. Maxwell and Epstein are just a piece of the problem.
Why did you make that statement?

 

[Ponzio]

I have no clue what you’re trying to infer but people I know and support are hunting human traffickers inside the US and around the world. Maxwell and Epstein are just a piece of the problem.
Why did you make that statement?

'Cause of the Netflix statement, that they should be cancelled. Are you saying they're actively/passively condoning it?

And yes I'm inferring I disagree with your politics.

 

[TankTop5]

'Cause of the Netflix statement, that they should be cancelled. Are you saying they're actively/passively condoning it?

And yes I'm inferring I disagree with your politics.

Yes Netflix has been accused of actively supporting human trafficking.

On the other hand I thought sharing that Americans are actively hunting human traffickers around the world and at home. I thought that would be unifying good news regardless of personal politics.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... Too bad this is where is mental energy goes....

...

Where else could it go? He knows nothing beyond that. A person asking about WW I something like which/what sides knows nothing.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Yes Netflix has been accused of actively supporting human trafficking....

Tell us more.

 

[Ponzio]

Tell us more.

Yeah, this is news to me too. Please share.

Am I gonna regret that request?

 

[Ponzio]

Again here we are getting distracted 'again' from the thread, which KEW was nice enough to share.

Sorry KEW.

 

[KEW]

Yes Netflix has been accused of actively supporting human trafficking.

On the other hand I thought sharing that Americans are actively hunting human traffickers around the world and at home. I thought that would be unifying good news regardless of personal politics.

What evidence is there that Netflix is supporting human trafficking?
One problem is there are a lot of smear campaigns going on and I worry that something like this is the result of a conspiracy theory promoted by someone who does not like Netflix.
Social media seems to allow for any plausible conspiracy theory to go viral (if it is exciting/upsetting enough) without ever being held to any standard of accuracy!

Again here we are getting distracted 'again' from the thread, which KEW was nice enough to share.

Sorry KEW.

No worries, I'm right there with you lol!

 

[Kvn_Walker]

What evidence is there that Netflix is supporting human trafficking?

Well, when I'm chilling on my Wayfair living room set, I do seem to gravitate more towards Netflix than other streaming services.

 

[its phillip]

Yes Netflix has been accused of actively supporting human trafficking.

QAnon nonsense I’m sure