Reading for the interested.
'Has America Strayed from Democracy?'
One of the paradoxes of the American Right, so called conservative, mostly republican supporters in America today is they pretend to be concerned with children education and Christian values but their actions are just the opposite. Trump, a convicted rapist, draft dodger, inveterate liar, Putin sympathizer, and failed president - accomplished nothing - has made cowards of the republicans with values. They fear his base, for that base fears democracy with its complications and respect for all people.
'Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%'
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2011...percent-201105
'Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World' by Anand Giridharadas
https://www.amazon.com/Winners-Take-.../dp/0451493249
Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.
"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire
stephenpe (02-28-2024)
Worth mentioning again. Read it read it read it..... and short too.
"...Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation." John Adams
https://www.theclassroom.com/did-joh...long-7843.html
Quoted in 'The Trouble With Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time' by Brooke Gladstone
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quote...ic-in-our-time
Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.
"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire
"Democracy is the road to socialism." --Karl Marx
Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler
I recently re-read 'Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance' By Robert Pirsig and found it interesting the second time around. So I had to check out 'Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals' also by Pirsig. A deep read so far and just as Zen opened your mind, Lila is all over the place, fascinating and worth your time in these crazy times.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/31093
"The world comes to us in an endless stream of puzzle pieces that we would like to think all fit together somehow, but that in fact never do." Robert Pirsig, Lila: An Enquiry into Morals
Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.
"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire
midcan5 (02-26-2024)
Re-reading parts of this collection, paper is turning yellow I hate that in publishing. For those online here, who think, it is worth your time covers a variety of topics thoughtfully.
"A human lifespan is less than a thousand months long. You need to make some time to think how to live it." A.C. Grayling
'The Mystery of Things' A.C. Grayling
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/581132
Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.
"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire
"Buy a man eat fish, the day, teach a man to a life time! "
"As one computer said, if you're on the train and they say 'PORTAL BRIDGE' you know you better make other plans."
- Joseph Robinette Biden -