This article correctly points out so many truths about our society. It highlights the way we sometimes gravitate towards conflict where none exists just to make ourselves feel relevant.
But the real tragedy illustrared by this article is that the exact same human failing this article correctly identifies, is the thing our mass media, including the New York Times, including (and ESPECIALLY) THIS VERY ARTICLE exploits to attract attention and readership.
Go back and read the first paragraph, at the arm-waving hysteria and demagoguery it displays towards President Trump. Sure, there is a valid component of objective fault finding in the message - all good propaganda is seeded in truth. But it goes so much further to insult and demogogue the president, that any reader who even remotely supports Trump would surely give up on the effort to find anything constructive after that first paragraph.
What's worse, is the rest of the article is actually pretty objective and insightful. Lots and lots of conservatives - especially moderates like myself - could agree with much of what's said here.
This article could be used as an object lesson in why the corporate media has lost the trust of the American people. It's a Master's course in how to create the very false divisions, fault finding and pugnacious attitudes it complains about.
Solving problems is not a team sport.
But the real tragedy illustrared by this article is that the exact same human failing this article correctly identifies, is the thing our mass media, including the New York Times, including (and ESPECIALLY) THIS VERY ARTICLE exploits to attract attention and readership.
Go back and read the first paragraph, at the arm-waving hysteria and demagoguery it displays towards President Trump. Sure, there is a valid component of objective fault finding in the message - all good propaganda is seeded in truth. But it goes so much further to insult and demogogue the president, that any reader who even remotely supports Trump would surely give up on the effort to find anything constructive after that first paragraph.
What's worse, is the rest of the article is actually pretty objective and insightful. Lots and lots of conservatives - especially moderates like myself - could agree with much of what's said here.
This article could be used as an object lesson in why the corporate media has lost the trust of the American people. It's a Master's course in how to create the very false divisions, fault finding and pugnacious attitudes it complains about.
Solving problems is not a team sport.
3
we have seen this movie before, only as a black and white silent: the shift from a society mostly comprised of small family farms to an urbanized, industrial economy of wage earners. manifestations of that social upheaval : the first world War, the roaring twenties, and the rise of fascism.
now, we have in all its 3d, cgi glory, the same old story being remade with a new cast: migration of money and jobs to suburban office parks, industrial workers made obsolete and set lose in a world they can't navigate, social upheaval and escape seeking behaviors, the rise of enormous new wealth... and fascism and its ugly stepsister, racism once more ascendant.
excuse me if I leave before the last act; this popcorn is rancid.
now, we have in all its 3d, cgi glory, the same old story being remade with a new cast: migration of money and jobs to suburban office parks, industrial workers made obsolete and set lose in a world they can't navigate, social upheaval and escape seeking behaviors, the rise of enormous new wealth... and fascism and its ugly stepsister, racism once more ascendant.
excuse me if I leave before the last act; this popcorn is rancid.
1
Roger
Please read "A Stranger in their own Land" by Arlie Russell Hochschild. She indicates that the following scenarios have occurred throughout Appalachian, the Rustbelt and the South.
Citizens United allowed a rich man's "economical agenda" paired with the "bait" of social issues, abortion, gun rights and school prayer. These red necks are persuaded to embrace economic issues that hurt them.
Reaction to a strongman who emboldens these lesser individuals to feel better than the "others" in society, although in reality they are harmed more by the strongman and Republican policies.
Here is America in 2017, the realization of Trump, the total Republican Legislature, and Judicial. What could possibly go wrong for these red necks?
Then you mention, the military built up for a possible Iranian war before the next election. How stupid can we all get!
Please read "A Stranger in their own Land" by Arlie Russell Hochschild. She indicates that the following scenarios have occurred throughout Appalachian, the Rustbelt and the South.
Citizens United allowed a rich man's "economical agenda" paired with the "bait" of social issues, abortion, gun rights and school prayer. These red necks are persuaded to embrace economic issues that hurt them.
Reaction to a strongman who emboldens these lesser individuals to feel better than the "others" in society, although in reality they are harmed more by the strongman and Republican policies.
Here is America in 2017, the realization of Trump, the total Republican Legislature, and Judicial. What could possibly go wrong for these red necks?
Then you mention, the military built up for a possible Iranian war before the next election. How stupid can we all get!
2
.
There is a culture war on in this country: matriarchy vs. patriarchy – and all that that entails. The stakes are high.
Maybe you can “cuppa” your loins and use your megaphone to help define it, parse it and set the country back on course – when you stop complaining about petty issues.
There is a culture war on in this country: matriarchy vs. patriarchy – and all that that entails. The stakes are high.
Maybe you can “cuppa” your loins and use your megaphone to help define it, parse it and set the country back on course – when you stop complaining about petty issues.
2
No world wars since 1945. That's aproximately 70 years ago. How come now we have Shicklegruber 2.0? It's the mass media. It's the Internet. This is a great new opportunity to build a new wall, a social wall that keeps "them" out. On the other side of that wall are the "enemies of the people." I say tear down that wall. Open it up to day light so that we can get a good look at where we are and who we are.
3
Great column. I would add: Fox news and the rest of the right wing propaganda machine has played a role in fomenting this anger. Inactive, overweight, under or unemployed white men watch and listen to this fake news all day long. Many of the broadcasters act angry all the time, and employ language and behavior that would have been unacceptable in even casual interaction just 15 years ago. They have normalized repugnance. They gave implicit permission to their audience to behave in the same way. Then along came a demagogue who not only acted like the people on Fox etc, but also reinforced that it was okay for his supporters to be obnoxious. And now the dam has broken. Their fleshy, angry, unpleasant faces surround us as they have lead us to the folly of trump. What these folks will do with their anger when he disappoints them will to some extent be dependent upon how the same propaganda machine tells them to react. I heard a trumpist on a normal radio show here in liberal nor-cal that "in a national emergency, I would count on Breitbert rather than CNN." With this kind of ignorance holding large sway in the country, America may have jumped the shark.
18
As social primates human beings are hard wired to abhor unfairness and resent it. Many of us are also attracted to strong,charismatic leaders. It seems an odd paradox that Donald trump ,a man in my opinion to be an unfair,unjust human being ,should be elected president.
3
Yes Virginia, this is what happens when the survival instinct is supplanted by the profit motive! The Banksters never lose. And don't underestimate the pervasive and insidious siren call of racial hatred and fear that Trump invoked to catapult himself to the Oval Office. Yet Silent majority whites felt exploited like folks of color and look what they came up with! Michelle Obama exhorted the people to "go high" and 77K of them didn't. Sad statement of politics and culture.....maybe it's just a phase........
3
It's worth noting that in the present system, there is no "last cent." There's always the next last cent, at least for larger companies. They are compelled to grow or be pronounced as dying. So there must always be a next round of cost cutting or price hikes. A pound of cookies now weighs 12.7 ounces.
2
People are angry, and they should be.
The Democrats had a potential nominee who could have harnessed the passions of the moment to actually make life better for the common man instead of the oligarch, but instead Democrats offered more of the same.
Sad!
The Democrats had a potential nominee who could have harnessed the passions of the moment to actually make life better for the common man instead of the oligarch, but instead Democrats offered more of the same.
Sad!
6
Until we get private capital out of election campaigns, things will never change, ever, ever.
4
End citizens united!
Roger, now you appear to praise obama's no drama common sense. But before you dumped on him and his ways-- in short you contributed to putting bogus potus in office.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
3
And yet those same working people don't utter a peep when Trump stacks his administration full of Goldman-Sachs executives--five or six at last count. What hypocrisy.
7
Not only that, but Trump will insure that education for these people will be weakened and worsened while propagating his brand of fake news.....this is the gift that's supposed to keep in giving.
2
it's for their own betterment: Trump loves the uneducated ; he said it himself, so it must be true.
this silk stocking playing Archie Bunker gives the outer boroughs a bad name.
this silk stocking playing Archie Bunker gives the outer boroughs a bad name.
Trump gained power, in part, by granting his followers permission to hate certain groups (dark-skinned Mexicans and Muslims, but also journalists), and to express their rage. To shout, "Go back to your own country!" Hatred can be a visceral pleasure, since it makes a person feel simultaneously righteous, dangerous, and liberated ... and patriotic, and sometimes Godly.
But Trump doesn't stand alone as a weird political phenomenon. He stands alongside Mike Pence (the silver fox, Christian pro-gun pro-"family values"), Paul Ryan (the merciless huckster who calls himself an economist), Mitch McConnell (thug), and all those GOP state reps and governors who have turned the Midwest and South solid red.
If the voters who've elected Republicans are frustrated because they've lost their unions and sense the New Industrial Order is mechanical, cold, cruel, why do they keep choosing reps who want to make things even more sharp, more cruel ... cut Medicare, cut Medicaid, cut access to affordable contraception, eviscerate teachers' unions, expand the military?
Racism helped elect Trump. Yup.
And so did American machismo, the widespread (self-destructive) allegiance to the idea that true blue Americans (both male and female) are physically self-reliant, independent, will defend their homes against invaders with firearms, and don't mind a fight. They know the land. They ain't city folk.
Our politics. Our myths.
But Trump doesn't stand alone as a weird political phenomenon. He stands alongside Mike Pence (the silver fox, Christian pro-gun pro-"family values"), Paul Ryan (the merciless huckster who calls himself an economist), Mitch McConnell (thug), and all those GOP state reps and governors who have turned the Midwest and South solid red.
If the voters who've elected Republicans are frustrated because they've lost their unions and sense the New Industrial Order is mechanical, cold, cruel, why do they keep choosing reps who want to make things even more sharp, more cruel ... cut Medicare, cut Medicaid, cut access to affordable contraception, eviscerate teachers' unions, expand the military?
Racism helped elect Trump. Yup.
And so did American machismo, the widespread (self-destructive) allegiance to the idea that true blue Americans (both male and female) are physically self-reliant, independent, will defend their homes against invaders with firearms, and don't mind a fight. They know the land. They ain't city folk.
Our politics. Our myths.
9
Reality check.The Donald--is not only a "study in immorality" he's,to put it mildly--nuts.No,I mean a man-child with a "severe" personality psychoses.In layman's terms---mentally ill.Up here in The Great White North--Canada--a National Poll has produced the following.One half of Canadians will boycott Trump brands or venues.40% of Canadians will boycott,any store selling Trump products.1 in 3 Canadians will cancel any trip to the US. 75% of Canadians--disapprove of Trump.That hits 90% in British Columbia.Eric and Don Jr. are in Vancouver opening a new Trump International Hotel and Tower.Protestors have swarmed to the site.Myself,personally,I will not venture across the border as long as that buffoon occupies the Oval Office.I will boycott any fruit from California or Florida.Instead---I will support our hombre's to the south----Mexico.Of course,for years we have taken a winter vacation in Cuba.My wife and I toured Ireland and Scotland for three weeks.Shot by,what was once,one of my favorite golf courses---Royal Tron,Western Scotland.Trump owns it -now-zapped from my list of places to play golf.By the way---most of the locals----hate his guts.I hope every day,that American's will come to their senses and apply the Articles of Impeachment to this walking disaster area---before it is too late.The clock is ticking,and the rest of the "civilized world" waits with bated breath.Will it be sanity or chaos!It's your call?The future of "your country" hangs in the balance?
7
Inciting the faceless crowd on phoney grounds and false promises is easier than mobilising and enlisting popular support through rational appeal to their common sense. Therein lies the distinction between a populist demagogue who thrives in chaos, and a popular leader who is committed to nurturing the system built up by the founders. The world is currently witnessing the phase of democratic decline heading toward the worst nature of mobocracy to which the Greek political thinker Aristole had hinted at more than two millennia ago.
This is a strong pro-Sanders article without mentioning his name and a year late.
Sanders was the strong man in the race in terms of having a strong heart and being willing to work within the tremendousness of the law and the constitution, but not with quid-pro-quo's here and pay-for-plays there and swamp dwellers everywhere.
Now your paper points to the struggle inside the WSJ, but when the rubber met the road, there was strong collusion of your paper with the Clinton campaign as has been shown meanwhile to painful extent in leaked emails; by Matt Taibbi in the Rolling Stone showing how your redaction quickly edited an article over time clearly aiming to diminish Sanders; and by the simple fact that voters on the Democratic side split roughly even, but (opinion) articles fairly (re)presenting Sanders's positions versus articles supporting Hillary's positions were splitting zero to countless, while smears of Sanders were to be found on a near-daily basis.
In a recent daily Michael Barbaro launched the conspiracy theory that Republicans want to promote Elizabeth Warren as the face of the opposition, since they see the Democrats weakened by her too radical image to be palatable for voters at large. This gives me pause to engage the conspiracy theory of Mr. Barbaro as a guy who is placed inside the Times by the oligarchy to bring the rot from within.
It seems the Times is struggling with being strangled all of its own, all the while calling out death strangulations elsewhere
Sanders was the strong man in the race in terms of having a strong heart and being willing to work within the tremendousness of the law and the constitution, but not with quid-pro-quo's here and pay-for-plays there and swamp dwellers everywhere.
Now your paper points to the struggle inside the WSJ, but when the rubber met the road, there was strong collusion of your paper with the Clinton campaign as has been shown meanwhile to painful extent in leaked emails; by Matt Taibbi in the Rolling Stone showing how your redaction quickly edited an article over time clearly aiming to diminish Sanders; and by the simple fact that voters on the Democratic side split roughly even, but (opinion) articles fairly (re)presenting Sanders's positions versus articles supporting Hillary's positions were splitting zero to countless, while smears of Sanders were to be found on a near-daily basis.
In a recent daily Michael Barbaro launched the conspiracy theory that Republicans want to promote Elizabeth Warren as the face of the opposition, since they see the Democrats weakened by her too radical image to be palatable for voters at large. This gives me pause to engage the conspiracy theory of Mr. Barbaro as a guy who is placed inside the Times by the oligarchy to bring the rot from within.
It seems the Times is struggling with being strangled all of its own, all the while calling out death strangulations elsewhere
7
Sanders would not have won the general election. He is a socialist and that would not have played well here. (even though our best institutions-- social security, medicare and public education are of course all socialist entities) Elizabeth Warren can't win-- the democrats need to give up on the idea of a woman US president, especially one as to the left as she is. (and I say that as a die-hard HRC fan) Sanders was a pox in the 2016 election. A true loyal American would have given his all to help get HRC elected. He was too little, too late.
2
please do not forget Bernie's other unpardonable original sin: being Jewish, which is worse than being a woman. he has not been washed, as Pence has, in the blood,of the lamb and could not carry any state that has no ocean beaches, plus Alaska.
2
"Prior to the Reagan era, the newly rich aped the old rich. But that isn't true any longer. Donald Trump is making no effort to behave like Eleanor Roosevelt." ~ Fran Lebowitz
"Donald Trump is "a poor person's idea of a rich person," Fran Lebowitz recently observed at The Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit.
"Donald Trump is "a poor person's idea of a rich person," Fran Lebowitz recently observed at The Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit.
12
A source of the incoherent anger swirling around us is the sheer size of everything now, its bigness and remoteness -- or, perhaps I should say everyone's remoteness from it, or any center of power. It's a gut reaction to acute feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness that verges on open rebellion. Hatred of "Washington" is certainly that.
UK citizens residing outside Greater London rail against "Brussels", the Belgian capital that hosts an impotent deliberative body called the European Parliament that's become a symbol of everything gone wrong in their overpopulated country, their lives, and their own limited economic prospects. They feel alienated and resent it. "Brussels" makes a good target because it's distant and vague. But prior generations felt just as dispossessed, angry and alienated -- just not against "Brussels". In the 1930s they marched with the Communist Party or BUK, the British Union of Fascists.
All of us confront immense immovable objects in our daily lives: university bureaucracies if we're students or academics; city bureaucracies if we're builders or landlords; the IRS; the travel industrial complex if we fly anywhere; all for-profit institutions. We pay the piper, dance to his tune and get little in return. Only scofflaws like Trump -- powerful men who seem to defy regulation and restraint and get away with it -- seem to prosper. What we conveniently ignore is how they do it. They rob Peter to pay Paul and destroy without giving it a second thought.
UK citizens residing outside Greater London rail against "Brussels", the Belgian capital that hosts an impotent deliberative body called the European Parliament that's become a symbol of everything gone wrong in their overpopulated country, their lives, and their own limited economic prospects. They feel alienated and resent it. "Brussels" makes a good target because it's distant and vague. But prior generations felt just as dispossessed, angry and alienated -- just not against "Brussels". In the 1930s they marched with the Communist Party or BUK, the British Union of Fascists.
All of us confront immense immovable objects in our daily lives: university bureaucracies if we're students or academics; city bureaucracies if we're builders or landlords; the IRS; the travel industrial complex if we fly anywhere; all for-profit institutions. We pay the piper, dance to his tune and get little in return. Only scofflaws like Trump -- powerful men who seem to defy regulation and restraint and get away with it -- seem to prosper. What we conveniently ignore is how they do it. They rob Peter to pay Paul and destroy without giving it a second thought.
5
"Bread and circuses". Nothing has changed.
1
Actually, three bucks for a cup of tea on BA is pretty reasonable.
.
Think of the the time the steward has to spend serving you plus the nominal cost for the tea and the equipment to brew it. After all, the total cost in materials and labor to give you that tea is about the same as Starbucks charges you for a cup of coffee.
.
Stop complaining.
.
Think of the the time the steward has to spend serving you plus the nominal cost for the tea and the equipment to brew it. After all, the total cost in materials and labor to give you that tea is about the same as Starbucks charges you for a cup of coffee.
.
Stop complaining.
3
Was the steward's salary raised when the price of tea was? Not likely.
3
I strongly believe that much of the anger has been ginned up by the real "fake news," aka Fox News. The right-wing propaganda machine has been pumping venom nonstop into the minds of hapless Middle Americans to the point where now, most Americans don't even grasp basic facts, such as the fact that the US economy grew under President Obama. If these people would detach from Fox (and other muckraker outlets), they might arrive at a more optimistic view of the state of our country.
5
The economy never exceeded 3% the first president ever. The stock market was just buoyed by the stimulus and a 401k. it is a Ponzi scheme ready to bust. The other news in fact all news has not relay this message. Now what is fake it what is lying to the American people
Insightful analysis, Mr. Cohen--one of the best pieces I've read recently. My sense is that In our current moment, people need, not just want, to be angry. It's a way of giving significance, a sense of moment, to our lives; I feel somehow more important if I think of the world as one that's in crisis, or when I feel like someone's out to get me. In that way I give my life moral purpose, and I think that's our biggest problem right now (and I'm not the first to make this point): our anger is grounded in moral outrage. But that's why it's so confusing and outrageous that many basically moral people have strangely turned to a man who has never given his life moral purpose and who seems to move through the world without any kind of moral compass.
4
I believe it is more about the 'other' than anything else. It is really not about economics at all, for those who voted for Brexit, those who voted for Trump and those who are going to vote for Marie LePen, are not voting for pocketbook issues at all, rather because of their loss of the familiar. Their sense of place - they think - is violated by the presence of a brown person, by one wearing a hijab, by one eating vindaloo. Perhaps it has been this way since the days of the cave man. We who travel, who migrate, who see nuance or pathos in 'other' people's lives think that a mere intervening ten thousand years has changed this basic animal nature of defining one's rooted area but I have come to think this is not so. Recently I received a letter from a friend who had migrated to Australia wherein he wrote "we should all learn to live where we are born for every place else is foreign and you end up dying in a foreign place." Until Trump got elected, I thought America was different. Now I am not so sure. As someone else put it recently, I don't know if I belong.
3
It is not the brown person but the culture that tries to change the native country that they have migrated into. This is slimy culture is a conquering culture if you review history already back to 680 you'll notice that they have killed over two hundred million people in the Conquering and they have come all the way to Europe into England and now they are in the Americans. They are not hear for peaceful Protest they are here for conquering.
Please review history
Please review history
3
Maybe, after the demise of the USSR and Cultural Revolution in China, the totalitarian forces got much smarter in disguising themselves as pseudo-capitalist alternatives to the free enterprise democracy, and the West is simply losing propaganda war?..
2
Mr Cohen you nailed it except for one critical detail: it's not at the fringe, it's at the center
3
If you haven't seen the German documentary, the infamous "Triumph of the Will", made of a Nuremburg rally by Leni Riefenstahl, showing the speeches of the Fuhrer, the stage craft, the adoration of the crowds, you should. It should be seen by every citizen, I think. It's available on Youtube. I saw it just Monday there, and stopped the film now and then to look at scenes, gestures, faces. I found myself asking, "Do you know her?" of this woman with the ecstatic face, or "Do you know them?" of those along the route with uplifted arms and smiles of welcome--and I do, you know. They are not hard to find. Sure, in Oklahoma--but what about where you live? Look just a little, and you'll see.
3
They are even here in CA. A tragedy, really.
1
Mr. Cohen,
I have "enormously--beyond what words can express" enjoyed your commentary. And especially, a system that "tries to squeeze the last cent out of you" .... is ripe for the furies. I could write on this.... but may be ...I will in the near future.
I have "enormously--beyond what words can express" enjoyed your commentary. And especially, a system that "tries to squeeze the last cent out of you" .... is ripe for the furies. I could write on this.... but may be ...I will in the near future.
1
It's only 13 years since publication of "what's the matter with Kansas". It just seems like far more. But the citizens of the state still choose the same schlubbs to lead themselves to a bad end.
Just how are we to repair the damage that Trump and his crew are doing?
Just how are we to repair the damage that Trump and his crew are doing?
Roger Cohen - Good insight. Etienne I agree with you absolutely.
1
You had me - right up to the cup of tea.
1
Repeal the 17th amendment. Curtail populist power. Return power back to the states.
The states don't have enough power to control the multinational corporate entities that rule our lives. The ALEC program of Koch enterprises has shown that except for New York and California the corporations control our states.
Legalize insider trading; you develop and interior way to weaken businesses. Shorten patent/copyrights to maybe 5 years and you also undermine them there as well.
I think Roger is trying to say that the capitalist system is off the rails again. For liberals who correctly believe that socialism as a twentieth century phenomenon has been a failure, they must admit that monopoly capitalism practiced in its unrestrained and highly unequal way today will lead the world to catastrophe. We need to come up with a global system that is based on free enterprise, but is respectful of our planet earth in its beauty and diversity, and provides basic human nees for everybody. Special taxes on the richer segments of the world population should protect the earth and the wretched of the earth. A scheme should also be devised to prevent for profit propaganda and lies industry. Needless to say, militarism should be drastically curtailed.
4
Your point regarding the tea on a flight is effective, but not wholly explained or fillled out. Yes, there is a reason for a lot of charges and profits today, and that reason is simple greed.
However, the simple fact is a lot of people won't admit is that WE are the problem with capitalism. What we see happening to the economy today is the result of consumer demands. We constantly demand our products become cheaper, we don't care how.
Shareholders/owners aren't going to give up profit to make products cheaper for us, and they know if a competitor does it cheaper the customer will have no loyalty and switch. So, the business cuts price the only way it can, and that's automation, firing/outsourcing, and charging premium price for what used to be free, or at least much cheaper.
We all say "cheaper cheaper cheaper" with no idea of what the true cost of what we were buying really was.
We didn't know that to save 5 cents on a tube of toothpaste meant it would stopped being produced by our neighbours, that our desire for a cheaper big screen would help send electronics jobs over seas.
We didn't know our lust for savings would help destroy our unions and local economies.
Now we know and we're angry at our government for letting it happen, when really we should be angry at ourselves.
P.S. Yes, you're tea cost you three dollars on your flight, but I bet you were happy with your cheap plane ticket.
However, the simple fact is a lot of people won't admit is that WE are the problem with capitalism. What we see happening to the economy today is the result of consumer demands. We constantly demand our products become cheaper, we don't care how.
Shareholders/owners aren't going to give up profit to make products cheaper for us, and they know if a competitor does it cheaper the customer will have no loyalty and switch. So, the business cuts price the only way it can, and that's automation, firing/outsourcing, and charging premium price for what used to be free, or at least much cheaper.
We all say "cheaper cheaper cheaper" with no idea of what the true cost of what we were buying really was.
We didn't know that to save 5 cents on a tube of toothpaste meant it would stopped being produced by our neighbours, that our desire for a cheaper big screen would help send electronics jobs over seas.
We didn't know our lust for savings would help destroy our unions and local economies.
Now we know and we're angry at our government for letting it happen, when really we should be angry at ourselves.
P.S. Yes, you're tea cost you three dollars on your flight, but I bet you were happy with your cheap plane ticket.
4
That the Amercian people were essentially "duped" into their fit of anger - and I blame the Independents more than anyone because they put him in office - is really an unjustified overreaction. They "believed" they had been shafted, but actually, it was the capitalist monster cannibalizing itself.
It is really the reaction of babies: the harcore Trump supporters are the biggest whiners about nothing. Look at the rising median income if you think those supporters were genuine in their Trump vote. Look at the millions receiving ACA who still voted for Trump. Look at the hatred for a black president who was about as Centrist as a Democrat could be, and then the disdain for a "shirll" woman - as if Trump lacks shrillness himself.
No, this anger was planted as a vehicle to motivate voters, which Trump had a big hand in creating. Sad to admit, he successfully calculated this sense of outrage could be part of a wrecking ball to momentarily satisfy those wishing to throw a hand grenade into the system.
It is really the reaction of babies: the harcore Trump supporters are the biggest whiners about nothing. Look at the rising median income if you think those supporters were genuine in their Trump vote. Look at the millions receiving ACA who still voted for Trump. Look at the hatred for a black president who was about as Centrist as a Democrat could be, and then the disdain for a "shirll" woman - as if Trump lacks shrillness himself.
No, this anger was planted as a vehicle to motivate voters, which Trump had a big hand in creating. Sad to admit, he successfully calculated this sense of outrage could be part of a wrecking ball to momentarily satisfy those wishing to throw a hand grenade into the system.
4
Cohen is very good at accusing people who disagree with him of stupidity. Unfortunately he seem to have little idea what is going on. The article is more elitist nonsense of the "let them eat cake" variety. Warren Buffett says everything is fine and he should know? The economy continues to grow but the problem is that the standard of living of ordinary people is falling. Working class Americans have not had a pay rise in real terms since the late 1970s. The benefits of a growing economy are not being passed through to them. The major parties have also forgotten about the bottom 30%. When ordinary people get angry watch out. Marie Antoinette had her head cut off and the Germans elected Hitler in 1933.
As a Brit who lives in the US, the Trump phenomenon, and Brexit are different. Nigel Farage is a fringe politician and has never been able to win a seat in the British parliament. His party has one seat in parliament. Cohen misrepresents his influence. The truth is that the EU has never been popular in the UK, which is why politicians of both major parties have lied about its aims and objectives. Had they told the truth that the EU's aim was a United States of Europe there would have been a rebellion years ago.
As a Brit who lives in the US, the Trump phenomenon, and Brexit are different. Nigel Farage is a fringe politician and has never been able to win a seat in the British parliament. His party has one seat in parliament. Cohen misrepresents his influence. The truth is that the EU has never been popular in the UK, which is why politicians of both major parties have lied about its aims and objectives. Had they told the truth that the EU's aim was a United States of Europe there would have been a rebellion years ago.
2
With all due respect ,if you believe trump is the greatest president yet, it says much more about our current education system then it does about you.If you think more about yourself and your thoughts and less about others it might surprise you!
Life in America has become routinely adversarial and way too difficult. From purchasing health insurance, paying taxes, buying and selling real estate, to even just buying a car, or going to the doctor. It's way too hard. I get weary just contemplating any one of those actions, but it seems like they are relentlessly lurking in my near future landscape. Trust is gone. Simplicity is gone.
My parents started married life with all their important papers in a shoe box, even through having five children in seven years. By the time they retired, they maintained a four-drawer legal file cabinet, for two people. What the heck?
My parents started married life with all their important papers in a shoe box, even through having five children in seven years. By the time they retired, they maintained a four-drawer legal file cabinet, for two people. What the heck?
3
Forrest Trump. Stupid is, as stupid does.
1
The charge for oxygen??? Trump 02. Filtered and scented. Classy.
2
Reckless capitalism brought us the Great Housing Bubble and, with it, the Great Recession. Reckless capitalism also brought us the Great Depression. Both were devastating, with the former being substantially less so thanks to federal interventions. Wages for many jobs have been stagnant for decades, thanks partly to the decline of worker bargaining power. Meanwhile, the spoils have mostly gone to those at the top, many of whom fund campaigns for Republican politicians eager to enact anti-worker policies designed to benefit business interests. The vast majority of those benefits flow to - you guessed it - people who are already well off.
So, while unions and pro-worker Democrats could help alleviate inequality and ensure that there are plenty of jobs (private sector jobs have been created 135% faster under Democratic administrations compared to Republican administrations), Republican voters have been indoctrinated to vote against the interests of workers and non-wealthy Americans, perpetuating the cycle of discontent. The end result? The party of reckless capitalism is back in power, ready to do what they can to increase inequality, kill off unions and deregulate the financial sector. Shame on Republican voters for being so ignorant of history and so easily duped.
So, while unions and pro-worker Democrats could help alleviate inequality and ensure that there are plenty of jobs (private sector jobs have been created 135% faster under Democratic administrations compared to Republican administrations), Republican voters have been indoctrinated to vote against the interests of workers and non-wealthy Americans, perpetuating the cycle of discontent. The end result? The party of reckless capitalism is back in power, ready to do what they can to increase inequality, kill off unions and deregulate the financial sector. Shame on Republican voters for being so ignorant of history and so easily duped.
7
What ever the reason!!! , an angry person has no place in decent ,civilized society.
That is the bottom line.
That is the bottom line.
As Cohen adequately frame the issue? problem is the population of World and in that respect US population.
Ordinary people's demise ripe and waiting harvest , a world war.
then
We build a new world and that will get rotten.
cycle repeats.
Ordinary people's demise ripe and waiting harvest , a world war.
then
We build a new world and that will get rotten.
cycle repeats.
The torches and pitchforks should have come out in the 80s with talk of 'shareholder value' being the ONLY value to be recognized and pursued by companies and CEOs. Too late. We sleepwalked into destruction. Now it will take a couple decades to fix. Maybe worse.
11/8 was the last firewall. Now the fire is in the house. There's going to be damage regardless Trump's fate. A nation can't make a mistake that bigly and get out unscathed.
11/8 was the last firewall. Now the fire is in the house. There's going to be damage regardless Trump's fate. A nation can't make a mistake that bigly and get out unscathed.
3
"They notice that the attempt to squeeze the last cent of profit out of any operation has also squeezed the last trace of sentiment out of what passes for human interaction." Yes!
Employees are reduced to interchangeable widgets and any innovation, intelligence, initiative is frowned upon as going outside the parameters.
And the insatiable desire to increase our armaments can only end in war--just who are we preparing to fight? We now spend 1/3 of the entire world's money on arms--we outsell every other country in weapons and we sell to 1/2 of the entire globe's country. War is economic--while our infrastructure collapses --this means food and water for most of us. And Congress is blind, deaf and dumb--except for wanting to gut all social programs in the name of fiscal responsibility.
A nation out of control? Trump is out-of-control personified--but there doesn't seem to be any checks remaining.
Employees are reduced to interchangeable widgets and any innovation, intelligence, initiative is frowned upon as going outside the parameters.
And the insatiable desire to increase our armaments can only end in war--just who are we preparing to fight? We now spend 1/3 of the entire world's money on arms--we outsell every other country in weapons and we sell to 1/2 of the entire globe's country. War is economic--while our infrastructure collapses --this means food and water for most of us. And Congress is blind, deaf and dumb--except for wanting to gut all social programs in the name of fiscal responsibility.
A nation out of control? Trump is out-of-control personified--but there doesn't seem to be any checks remaining.
1
We all feel like we are running faster and faster in a treadmill while work becomes less and less meaningful. Two people now need to work to support a family--but society assumes one of those two can put family first over work without consequences. We are now asked to be our own medical experts, insurance consultants, and retirement investment advisors--to have skin in the game. At the same time we are also pumping our own gas, no longer have choices like narrow or wide shoes--just the homogenized median. And our politicians are clearly seeing themselves as the representatives of their donors--the electorate is simply a necessary evil. Lies are okay, speaking without content is preferable, and --the Buck doesn't stop here--it stops anywhere else Trump and Congress can spit out.
4
I think we need to point out the justifiable recipients of that anger: Ayn Rand for devising a doctrine of cold capitalistic selfishness, MBA programs for generating degree holders who are trained that profit is the goal, and workers are the impediment to profit, and the Republican Party - beholden to the wealthy; they bait the populace with Christianity and switch their allegiance to the plutocracy as soon as they are elected.
6
The best analysis I've seen of the rural vs. urban tribal division in the US is Katherine Cramer's "Politics of Resentment." She points out there is a sense of victimhood in the rural, unemployed areas---some of it justified, most of it not---which is then exploited by politicians and the likes of Rupert Murdoch, the Koch brothers, Fox (so-called) News, etc. It's been a long time developing and it's not going away anytime soon.
9
I understand the anger. Before the recession I made good money. After the recession I struggled to find anything other than part time or temp jobs and they didn't offer benefits until the ACA made them. Even though things are better now that anger still simmers beneath the surface.
Thankfully I still do my research and am turned off at hate speech. I recognize that Obama kept us from going over the cliff. But there is a segment of the American people who are still being impacted by the recession and Trump gave them someone to blame. Even though we are doing better the scars are still there.
Hitler did the same thing after the German people were devestated economically by the treaty of Versailles after WWI. He gave them the Jewish people as an enemy so they would have someone to blame. His beliefs were only followed by a fringe group of the German people but once he came to power the lines kept moving. Pretty soon the German people were commiting unspeakable horrors and Hitler got his war.
We like to tell ourselves that it won't happen again especially not here. But when people are making decisions from the racist part of ourselves it can and will.
Thankfully I still do my research and am turned off at hate speech. I recognize that Obama kept us from going over the cliff. But there is a segment of the American people who are still being impacted by the recession and Trump gave them someone to blame. Even though we are doing better the scars are still there.
Hitler did the same thing after the German people were devestated economically by the treaty of Versailles after WWI. He gave them the Jewish people as an enemy so they would have someone to blame. His beliefs were only followed by a fringe group of the German people but once he came to power the lines kept moving. Pretty soon the German people were commiting unspeakable horrors and Hitler got his war.
We like to tell ourselves that it won't happen again especially not here. But when people are making decisions from the racist part of ourselves it can and will.
9
Dear Mr Cohen, The anger you experienced by the charge for tea on BA is based on the belief that you are entitled to have tea on a fight at a cost you deem 'fair'. By what process or principle did you obtain this entitlement? Perhaps it goes like this: You want it therefore you 'need' it, therefore it's yours. So BA is ripping you off by demanding a payment they deem 'fair'
The crowds you refer to are motivated by a similar belief. They are 'entitled' to have what they want - so those who have it must be thieves etc. Some of those who have what the crowds want are thieves indeed but not most as a group. Bigotry driven by envy of class or wealth is no different the bigotry driven by skin color, ethnic origin, religion sex etc. By the way - notice that the supposedly economically oppressed crowds are mostly angry at those different from them on identity and class dimensions - not wealth. They reward the wealthy (who you claim became so by exercising greed and ruthless/immoral deal-making) by giving them more power to become even more wealthy on the backs of the crowds.
The crowds you refer to are motivated by a similar belief. They are 'entitled' to have what they want - so those who have it must be thieves etc. Some of those who have what the crowds want are thieves indeed but not most as a group. Bigotry driven by envy of class or wealth is no different the bigotry driven by skin color, ethnic origin, religion sex etc. By the way - notice that the supposedly economically oppressed crowds are mostly angry at those different from them on identity and class dimensions - not wealth. They reward the wealthy (who you claim became so by exercising greed and ruthless/immoral deal-making) by giving them more power to become even more wealthy on the backs of the crowds.
Donald Trump is not THE problem.
He is a symptom of a much deeper problem that is an existential threat to this country and democracy in general. There are really only two reasons for voting to make Trump President. You are either a hater, a racist, bigot, xenophobe, Islamophobe, misogynist, or you are preternaturally stupid. Anyone that could listen to the incoherent, hateful, sophomoric drivel that Trump spewed during the campaign and conclude he would be a good President is deplorable. The 63 million people that voted for this buffoon are directly responsible for what comes next. The people who either didn't vote or cast a "protest" vote are equally responsible.
The United States has entered our version of the Dark Ages. Reason, facts, truth, logic, science, morality no longer matter. Whether or not there is a Renaissance will be determined at the 2018 mid-terms and the 2020 Presidential election. It will take decades to undo the damage that Trump and his clown posse will do. It is questionable if our reputation can ever be rebuilt.
Miss Obama yet?
He is a symptom of a much deeper problem that is an existential threat to this country and democracy in general. There are really only two reasons for voting to make Trump President. You are either a hater, a racist, bigot, xenophobe, Islamophobe, misogynist, or you are preternaturally stupid. Anyone that could listen to the incoherent, hateful, sophomoric drivel that Trump spewed during the campaign and conclude he would be a good President is deplorable. The 63 million people that voted for this buffoon are directly responsible for what comes next. The people who either didn't vote or cast a "protest" vote are equally responsible.
The United States has entered our version of the Dark Ages. Reason, facts, truth, logic, science, morality no longer matter. Whether or not there is a Renaissance will be determined at the 2018 mid-terms and the 2020 Presidential election. It will take decades to undo the damage that Trump and his clown posse will do. It is questionable if our reputation can ever be rebuilt.
Miss Obama yet?
12
OK, I see that people have a reason to get mad.
However, after the intial impulse, they may want to sit down and think a little bit about things.
Here is a thought.
All the so-called angry people linking up with Trump were, for the most part, republicans. They voted republicans up and down the ticket, thinking that any liberal is to be eviscerated. They did not pay attention to gerrymandering or, if they did, were all for it. They were all for running over Bill Clinton, Gore,
Kerry, Obama, Hillary while supporting Gengrich, Bush, Cheney, and others. They were so busy worrying about abortion, Obamacare, guns and bibles that they forgot the 1% was helping themselves at the trough in the meantime.
And now I am supposed to feel empathy toward all the people who voted for Trump.
I have anger too and it is directed at all those undeducated "deplorables".
One thing is for sure. In 30 years from now a lot of these unhappy people will be gone, me included. Until then, I hope that this country will weather the idiocy that is upon us.
However, after the intial impulse, they may want to sit down and think a little bit about things.
Here is a thought.
All the so-called angry people linking up with Trump were, for the most part, republicans. They voted republicans up and down the ticket, thinking that any liberal is to be eviscerated. They did not pay attention to gerrymandering or, if they did, were all for it. They were all for running over Bill Clinton, Gore,
Kerry, Obama, Hillary while supporting Gengrich, Bush, Cheney, and others. They were so busy worrying about abortion, Obamacare, guns and bibles that they forgot the 1% was helping themselves at the trough in the meantime.
And now I am supposed to feel empathy toward all the people who voted for Trump.
I have anger too and it is directed at all those undeducated "deplorables".
One thing is for sure. In 30 years from now a lot of these unhappy people will be gone, me included. Until then, I hope that this country will weather the idiocy that is upon us.
11
The last time the angry crowd took over, we got Hitler, Mussolini, and Joseph McCarthy. Many peoples lives were ruined, many people died the last time. This time we got Putin, May, and Trump. How many peoples lives will be ruined, how many people will die this time???
6
Here we go again... A Republican president inherits a growing economy and converts that potential widespread prosperity into a big payday for his wealthy benefactors. Last time Bill Clinton eliminated the deficit and in comes George Bush insisting on a tax cut rather than paying down the debt. Now it is Trump who will convert the hard won economic gains of the Obama presidency into a bigger military. Republicans are bad for the debt. I can hear the oligarchs salivating.
12
Thank you Roger.
I would like to suggest everyone get a copy of John Ralston Saul's 1994 dictionary A Doubter's Companion (A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense) as America takers a four to eight year well deserved TIME OUT.
I have been asking myself two questions lately that I cannot answer. Does the World need the USA or does the USA need the rest of the World?
This headline from today's Guardian made me say maybe we need a wall for at least the next four years.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/berta-caceres-honduras-mil...
I would like to suggest everyone get a copy of John Ralston Saul's 1994 dictionary A Doubter's Companion (A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense) as America takers a four to eight year well deserved TIME OUT.
I have been asking myself two questions lately that I cannot answer. Does the World need the USA or does the USA need the rest of the World?
This headline from today's Guardian made me say maybe we need a wall for at least the next four years.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/berta-caceres-honduras-mil...
1
Nice encapsulation of phenomenon. Make no mistake Allecto,Tisiphone, and Magera are salivating over the ripening fruits of hubris. Why else would silicone valley types be buying remote isolated properties in New Zealand.
2
Maybe not anger, but certainly a sense of being left out of the loop. Bankers, hedge fund managers, private equity pirates, corporate executives, earn billion-dollar pay packages while millions struggle to keep food on the table. It's great work if you can get it!
6
Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof, explains it all in the song "If I Were a Rich Man":
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
"If you please, Reb Tevye..."
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye..."
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes!
And it won't make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you're rich, they think you really know!
The most important men in town would come to fawn on me!
They would ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise.
"If you please, Reb Tevye..."
"Pardon me, Reb Tevye..."
Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes!
And it won't make one bit of difference if i answer right or wrong.
When you're rich, they think you really know!
8
Sums it up. Thank you.
No, Mr. Cohen, you do NOT understand this species of anger because BA charged you three dollars for a cup of tea -- and probably charges $25 for checking bags and nonetheless yells at you for bringing more carry-on luggage than will fit into the overhead bin.
Sure, people hate phony intellectuals, fear for their future in an uncertain world, and resent the arbitrary use of power when that power is directed against them. But some angry people vote for Trump, some dress in black and attack police who were trying to keep the peace, some organize rallies for Bernie Sanders, and some take it out on friends or family or on neighbors who look different or worship differently.
I don't think you understand what's going on any better than any of the rest of us do.
Sure, people hate phony intellectuals, fear for their future in an uncertain world, and resent the arbitrary use of power when that power is directed against them. But some angry people vote for Trump, some dress in black and attack police who were trying to keep the peace, some organize rallies for Bernie Sanders, and some take it out on friends or family or on neighbors who look different or worship differently.
I don't think you understand what's going on any better than any of the rest of us do.
3
Who above median IQ considers Trump an intellectual?
Let us not forget that the plurality of voters wanted Clinton. Trump has no mandate, he lost the election by the traditional standard of one person one vote. What he has at the moment is the power of his Republican enablers, who, in spite of their hatred for him, could not figure out how to stop him from nabbing the nomination, and now intend to use his little hand to sign bills and nominate friendly rightward thinking administrators. They have Pence as insurance to claim the White House if he messes up so badly that they have to get rid of him by impeachment or more probably by convincing him to resign.
The Democrats can limit the damage Trump will do to the country and to the array of international agreements our distinguished former President negotiated. They must stand their ground with the same determination and ruthlessness that the Republicans used to steal a Supreme Court seat and cut the legs out from under the Affordable Care Act's full implementation.
The people will do as they usually do, sit back and watch TV.
The Democrats can limit the damage Trump will do to the country and to the array of international agreements our distinguished former President negotiated. They must stand their ground with the same determination and ruthlessness that the Republicans used to steal a Supreme Court seat and cut the legs out from under the Affordable Care Act's full implementation.
The people will do as they usually do, sit back and watch TV.
24
I was with you until the $3 cuppa - really? Is this what you are squandering your moral outrage on? Please - there are real consequences to real people, including to 45s many exec orders, and you are crying about $3... If this is what got you to notice how people might feel, get a grip on how the rest of us live.
12
Thank you Mr Cohen, thank you. I will pass it on and refer back to it often.
4
I can easily relate to Cohen's statment about be ripped off on an airplane. A few years ago, while walking in Midtown past a succession of over-priced stores that wanted 500 dollars for a pot or 2000 for a pair of pants, I said to myself, "Pretty soon Blumberg will levy tolls every time you cross the street."
Of course, the sad, sad truth of the matter is that Trump will make the lives of his blue collar supporters so much worse. The fine print in so many articles show that from telecommunications to labor to health care there will be more and more rip offs hitting working people. And most of the media never covers the fine points.
I always said: Intellectuals tend to be left of center because they know more, and if you know more you know that the essential of the capitalistic transaction is taking something for 20 dollars and convincing a poor shnook that it is worth 50 dollars. Harvard did a study, in 1968, which showed that the variable which correlated most strongly to making money was the ability to look someone in the eye and lie at the same time.
And Trump has been a successful capitalist because he is great liar.
Of course, the sad, sad truth of the matter is that Trump will make the lives of his blue collar supporters so much worse. The fine print in so many articles show that from telecommunications to labor to health care there will be more and more rip offs hitting working people. And most of the media never covers the fine points.
I always said: Intellectuals tend to be left of center because they know more, and if you know more you know that the essential of the capitalistic transaction is taking something for 20 dollars and convincing a poor shnook that it is worth 50 dollars. Harvard did a study, in 1968, which showed that the variable which correlated most strongly to making money was the ability to look someone in the eye and lie at the same time.
And Trump has been a successful capitalist because he is great liar.
21
Good point: "the variable which correlated most strongly to making money was the ability to look someone in the eye and lie at the same time."
You've just described politics:
"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." Obama, 2013.
"…NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't support this agreement.” Clinton, 1993
"They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference". (Of course, it was the majority party in the White House and Congress who passed it; appears the MIT math genius was too stupid to understand that.) Gruber, 2013.
Then there's the other side of politics - the occasional truth: "You can't get rich in politics unless you're a crook." Truman, 1954.
And Trump supporters, including white / black / brown / ivory are hoping he's wealthy enough to think he has enough wealth...........and actually wants to make America great again. History will decide.
You've just described politics:
"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor." Obama, 2013.
"…NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't support this agreement.” Clinton, 1993
"They proposed it and that passed, because the American people are too stupid to understand the difference". (Of course, it was the majority party in the White House and Congress who passed it; appears the MIT math genius was too stupid to understand that.) Gruber, 2013.
Then there's the other side of politics - the occasional truth: "You can't get rich in politics unless you're a crook." Truman, 1954.
And Trump supporters, including white / black / brown / ivory are hoping he's wealthy enough to think he has enough wealth...........and actually wants to make America great again. History will decide.
1
If anyone believes that Trump is "wealthy enough to think he has enough wealth", they don't know much about Trump.
First, I doubt he's anywhere close to being as wealthy as he claims.
But even if he were, he's made it clear by word and deed that no amount of wealth is "enough" for him. He sees everything as a zero-sum game--there isn't enough to go around, and there are only winners & losers--and he is a winner. He must continue to win, & dominate others, no matter how much he already has.
Now he has been given the ultimate opportunity to cash in. And no one will be the wiser, as he's kept his finances hidden. After all, the president doesn't have to worry about conflicts of interest--simply because he's the president. Or so they say.
(Wonder how much Trump will make from the Arctic drilling deal negotiated in 2013 by Putin & Exxon/Tillerson? It's said to be worth $500 Billion to a $1 Trillion, so once Trump & Tillerson get those sanctions lifted, they'll be sitting pretty.)
First, I doubt he's anywhere close to being as wealthy as he claims.
But even if he were, he's made it clear by word and deed that no amount of wealth is "enough" for him. He sees everything as a zero-sum game--there isn't enough to go around, and there are only winners & losers--and he is a winner. He must continue to win, & dominate others, no matter how much he already has.
Now he has been given the ultimate opportunity to cash in. And no one will be the wiser, as he's kept his finances hidden. After all, the president doesn't have to worry about conflicts of interest--simply because he's the president. Or so they say.
(Wonder how much Trump will make from the Arctic drilling deal negotiated in 2013 by Putin & Exxon/Tillerson? It's said to be worth $500 Billion to a $1 Trillion, so once Trump & Tillerson get those sanctions lifted, they'll be sitting pretty.)
Kevin Phillips, a strategist on Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign observed, that "the secret to politics is understanding who hates who". More recently, Ed Rendell, former Governor of Pennsylvania, said "hate is a far greater motivator than love in politics".
Trump gets that. Its amazing that Hillary didn't.
Did she really think she could take $275,000.00 per speech for three speeches from Goldman Sachs and say, with a straight face, that GS would have no special call on her attention? Did she really think that whole scene didn't arose the anger of working people making less than $50,000.00 per year in places like
PA, WI and MI?
Trump gets that. Its amazing that Hillary didn't.
Did she really think she could take $275,000.00 per speech for three speeches from Goldman Sachs and say, with a straight face, that GS would have no special call on her attention? Did she really think that whole scene didn't arose the anger of working people making less than $50,000.00 per year in places like
PA, WI and MI?
23
OxyContin addicts aren't angry at the system that made them that way. That thought would never occur to them. They only care about having enough pills, and they never have enough pills.
As for the rest of the people supposedly angry at corporate raiders and anti-unionists, that is also nonsensical. Right-wing media celebrates those make their money by gaming the system as geniuses. Trump is a billionaire who brags about not paying taxes. He has appointed corporate raiders and financial fraudsters to positions of power, and the people you claim to speak for applaud it as "draining the swamp."
The real reason these people were so angry is because an uppity upstart black man became the leader of the free world while they sat around wasting their white lives. How dare such a thing be allowed to happen? The system must be destroyed!
As for the rest of the people supposedly angry at corporate raiders and anti-unionists, that is also nonsensical. Right-wing media celebrates those make their money by gaming the system as geniuses. Trump is a billionaire who brags about not paying taxes. He has appointed corporate raiders and financial fraudsters to positions of power, and the people you claim to speak for applaud it as "draining the swamp."
The real reason these people were so angry is because an uppity upstart black man became the leader of the free world while they sat around wasting their white lives. How dare such a thing be allowed to happen? The system must be destroyed!
34
One must not ignore the paranoid and disorganized nature of Trump's thoughts. Trump himself is the source of much madness, and he legitimizes it in others. He is the reincarnation of Joe McCarthy, or rather his direct political descendant, and is working straight out of the demagogue's playbook.
We're going to wake up one morning and discover we are at war.
We're going to wake up one morning and discover we are at war.
15
Don't forget. Roy Cohn was Trumps mentor.
2
Roger,
Let's start a list of books to pile on our so-called president's desk that we think he clearly has not read and needs to soon.
First in the pile is your suggestion, "The United States Constitution," although it may well be above his reading level.
Allow me to add William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," perhaps the most perfect description of what is now going on in the White House, with many of the players exact character matches.
Perhaps other readers could add to the pile.
Let's start a list of books to pile on our so-called president's desk that we think he clearly has not read and needs to soon.
First in the pile is your suggestion, "The United States Constitution," although it may well be above his reading level.
Allow me to add William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," perhaps the most perfect description of what is now going on in the White House, with many of the players exact character matches.
Perhaps other readers could add to the pile.
5
He reads?
1
when you're scared, it always feels powerful to be mad at somebody else
16
Globalists/leftists like Mr. Cohen like to belittle and vilify people who value their freedom and their nations' sovereignty and independence. The One World/New World Order has been a catastrophe for most people in the Western World and is quickly disintegrating. Brexit and Trump are just the start. The globalist Mafia composed of a White Collar Mafia whose headquarters are in New York and London are beginning to grow uneasy that the victims of their schemes are finally waking up and are very angry. They have seen their countries de-industrialized as the super rich owners of big business have shipped thousands of factories and millions of jobs to the Third World for slave labor, low taxes, and no regulations. They have seen their nations overrun with the surplus population of poor and backward lands creating ethnic conflict, terrorism, lowered wages and living standards in the Western homelands as the global elite 0.1% have sneered and disdained their fellow countrymen for being patriotic and loyal to their own nations since the "fat cats" loyalty is only to themselves and their fortunes. Their worthless political henchmen see the hand writing on the wall from Washington to Berlin to Athens and are beginning to panic fearing their loss of position as puppets for the super rich gangsters. The criminal IMF, World Bank and WTO will soon be cast on the scrap heap of history along with the EU and euro. The horrible nightmare of globalism is hopefully rapidly drawing to a close.
11
To be replaced with what? Hierarchies of county-based fiefdoms?
Now it is possible to fly around the world in less time than it takes to ride a horse around many US county lines.
Now it is possible to fly around the world in less time than it takes to ride a horse around many US county lines.
9
Your sarcasm and condescension are just the sort of attitudes by the 0.1% which have led to Trump, Brexit and the patriotic parties rise in Europe. No one is talking about going back to feudal fiedoms and you know that. What is going to return is national independence, sovereignty, and freedom for each nation to maintain its language, culture, religion, etc. in a homogeneous society with peace, prosperity and fairness. This mean Britain for the British, France for the French, Japan for the Japanese, Kenya for the Kenyans, etc. I know it is hard for globalists to conceive but most Western nations do not want to become polyglot boarding houses of quarelling nations to paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt nor do they want to become lands of the haves and have nots. Being able to fly around the world on a jet plane has nothing to do with this. Also most of the little people who have been oppressed and exploited all around the planet cannot even afford such jet set travel. As Ann Landers used to say: "Wake up and smell the coffee" or is it the mansion being set afire by the peasants?
1
Steve
"to be replaced with what"? Describing a problem like Diogenes did is not equivalent to demand an immediate and absolutely opposite solution as you suggest. Life does not have to be either -or.
"Now it is possible to fly around the world.... " Unfortunately most people do not have the luxury of turning the "possible" into a reality. And I am no referring to flying only
"to be replaced with what"? Describing a problem like Diogenes did is not equivalent to demand an immediate and absolutely opposite solution as you suggest. Life does not have to be either -or.
"Now it is possible to fly around the world.... " Unfortunately most people do not have the luxury of turning the "possible" into a reality. And I am no referring to flying only
1
The Trump phenomenon has been developing for a long time, and is best understood as a volatile mix of legitimate grievance and our growing inability to distinguish reality from reality t.v.
In the 1970s, recession caused millions of working people, who had hitherto been able to rely on good union jobs, to resort to things like collecting scrap iron in order to get by. In time, the economy began to roar along again, but many never regained the lifestyle they'd once enjoyed. Fear and anger slowly turned to blind rage.
Add to this the power of reality t.v. and the larger-than-life personalities it has spawned. The phenomenon of the angry entertainer who parlays his popularity into political power was perfectly portrayed in the 1950s movie "A Face in the Crowd," about an Arthur Godfrey-like demagogue. I recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it. You will instantly recognize Donald Trump, minus the guitar.
This final piece of the puzzle began with the enormous ratings of "Survivor," followed by its progeny, shows like "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," and, of course, "The Apprentice." During the period when these shows were becoming the preferred viewing of millions, I often asked people exactly what they saw in such obviously phony stuff. They either insisted that the shows were authentic or essentially said they should be taken seriously, but not literally. Sound familiar?
l
In the 1970s, recession caused millions of working people, who had hitherto been able to rely on good union jobs, to resort to things like collecting scrap iron in order to get by. In time, the economy began to roar along again, but many never regained the lifestyle they'd once enjoyed. Fear and anger slowly turned to blind rage.
Add to this the power of reality t.v. and the larger-than-life personalities it has spawned. The phenomenon of the angry entertainer who parlays his popularity into political power was perfectly portrayed in the 1950s movie "A Face in the Crowd," about an Arthur Godfrey-like demagogue. I recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it. You will instantly recognize Donald Trump, minus the guitar.
This final piece of the puzzle began with the enormous ratings of "Survivor," followed by its progeny, shows like "The Bachelor," "The Bachelorette," and, of course, "The Apprentice." During the period when these shows were becoming the preferred viewing of millions, I often asked people exactly what they saw in such obviously phony stuff. They either insisted that the shows were authentic or essentially said they should be taken seriously, but not literally. Sound familiar?
l
11
When I was growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had presidents of New York banks living on both sides of us. Our neighborhood was located in a highly desired area with middle-class homes. Today you wouldn’t even be able to see our home because of the McMansions on either side blocking out the sun. That’s how much it has changed.
10
It really looks like very soon op-ed columnists will have nothing to write about. A cup of tea? Seriously? Trump must be bad, very bad.
5
"A lot of people are pretty sure they're getting cheated." Pretty snide remark for someone who has a home, a great job, and a savings account. There are plenty of reasons for most Americans to be angry. But, then, MOST people are not wealthy, or even well-to-do. When the problems of income inequality, and affordable health care, are mitigated, the anger will cool. Most of us don't necessarily want to be rich, we just want some security. By the way, immigrants do not threaten that. If anything, they will eventually help with solutions. Donald Trump, and Congress, are on a path to bankrupt the country. They only "care" about "irresponsible spending" when Democrats are in charge. And, by "irresponsible" I mean education, arts, infrastructure, health care, and a decent life for everyone. When THEY have the ball the deficit means nothing. But deficit or not, half our population will not flourish under this administration. You can bet that Trump will grow richer, as will all his buds. Good reason to be really, really angry.
14
Everyone should find reprehensible the idea that Trump and American citizens who agree with him could only hold certain views and positions if they are collaborators, bribees, or dupes of a foreign power, especially when these self-appointed Right-Thinking Patriotic Americans themselves might be accused of supporting policies of a globalist agenda that might strike many as more in the interest of other nations than squarely in the interest of the American people. (This is a bad road to go down, one which, regrettably, is not unfamiliar in American history.) Take it seriously—or at least, pretend to.
2
"They [the angry mob] note that good unions, retirement benefits, manufacturing jobs, overtime and health care get eliminated or curtailed in pursuit of that last cent."
Of course part of the problem is that the angry mob doesn't work to elect people who will restore those things, but rather elect people who promise to see to it that other people cannot have those things. "Right to work" -- for less and without benefits.
Of course part of the problem is that the angry mob doesn't work to elect people who will restore those things, but rather elect people who promise to see to it that other people cannot have those things. "Right to work" -- for less and without benefits.
19
Mr. Cohen does not mention one crucial factor - resentment and fear of people who are different in ethnicity and religion. Trump leveraged the birther slander against President Obama. He focused rage on Hispanic immigrants (criminals, rapists, maybe some good people - according to him), and Muslims (nearly all potentially terrorists in his rhetoric). People who are angry "want to take their country back" from somebody, the feared and hated other. The rhetoric ignores facts, but Trump's currency is fear, not policy. Anger fueled his rise and he manipulated it to get to the presidency.
9
The belief—a “scientific” belief—in intellectual superiority combined with economic advantage was the justification for slavery. What may be “rational” for an individual may be the opposite for a society.
4
Two points:
A- A war against Ran will be prodded, urged, welcomed and possibly joined by Israel and for the very same reasons as the criminal war on Iraq!
That is something Mr Cohen chose to ignore!!
B- the number of of people who voted for Trump and Britexit cannot be summarily ignored nor marginalized.In the former case Trum had a valid ground in attempting to make obsolete the Establishment while for the latter its is Britain's inborn neocolonialist ambitions for a European leadership hitherto blocked by both Germany and France !
Both are doomed but a new vision of anti colonialism ,in all its forms, and anti racism should be instilled in the American and British people's !
A- A war against Ran will be prodded, urged, welcomed and possibly joined by Israel and for the very same reasons as the criminal war on Iraq!
That is something Mr Cohen chose to ignore!!
B- the number of of people who voted for Trump and Britexit cannot be summarily ignored nor marginalized.In the former case Trum had a valid ground in attempting to make obsolete the Establishment while for the latter its is Britain's inborn neocolonialist ambitions for a European leadership hitherto blocked by both Germany and France !
Both are doomed but a new vision of anti colonialism ,in all its forms, and anti racism should be instilled in the American and British people's !
1
The madness of the crowds was first seeded during the Great Recession. That is where the lack of trust started and what gave fuel to Trump's vitriol. People now want to make sure they never get taken again. Trump is rogue enough to appeal to the cheated and displaced, but he is cut from the same cloth as the schemers who crafted that great fall. Obama dug us out, but the people were not convinced, and that is perhaps his only real failure: not selling his success, leaving the door open for a bigot to play on race and xenophobia and spin his hard work as incompetent. Some people bought it, just enough to win the electoral college.
7
It's not that they were not convinced. It's the sense that the government was picking winners and losers, though that was inevitable. The bankers and failing corporations were rescued and even got bonuses. The middle class got some lousy service jobs and some unaffordable health insurance. The anger is directed at the State which shields the capitalists from their own risky schemes. Now all those angry people who voted for "deconstruction of the administrative state" are betting that they won't be the ones left holding the bag when the next crisis hits.
Beside incessant Republican propaganda, a cause of this "anger" is justified frustration at Obama administrations getting so little done. But what was the reason for not getting more done? It was blind Republican scorched-earth opposition to everything the president proposed, because the president was 1) black and 2) a Democrat. He enjoyed majority Congressional support for only one of his eight years.
13
The problem lies in a system that systematically disarms the working class in its battle with corporations. Disarming unions, conferring human rights to corporations and treating money as protected speech are but a few of the ways the working class has been disarmed. Reverse these missteps and the problem will correct itself after a time.
6
Education is the answer. My grandson was just informed that with his good grades and his ACT score, he will be able to attend college for $21,000 a year. Mom and dad will need to come up with $1750 a month, every month for the next four years. (Does not include spending money.) This is what families are going through --- your George Orwell doesn't have a clue.
7
I think we would be better served by looking at what isn't angering Trump voters.
A record high number of threats against Jewish institutions, and two horrific desecrations of Jewish cemeteries within two weeks. Bomb threats in numbers never seen in this country, just since the first of January.
A young Indian man who was shot to death last week, with the killer shouting "Go back to your own country." And a president who hasn't said one word about this despicable hate crime.
Countless Middle Easterners in this country (both Christian and Muslim, both native born and immigrant) targeted in record high numbers of hate crimes, since Trump was elected.
The spectre of literally millions of undocumented residents being rounded up and put into camps of some type before mass deportation, separating children from their parents, whose only crime was to want to have a better life for their families. Their real crime, of course, according to Trump voters, is working while brown.
None of these actions concern Trump voters in the slightest. This tells us what their true interests are. Don't let them take cover with the tired refrain that they just want good jobs. Not one of these people would last eight hours doing most jobs done by the undocumented. And they've shown no interest in targeting undocumented whites in this country, a sizable portion of this group.
It looks to me like Trump voters are getting the America they very much want, and what they knew they were voting for.
A record high number of threats against Jewish institutions, and two horrific desecrations of Jewish cemeteries within two weeks. Bomb threats in numbers never seen in this country, just since the first of January.
A young Indian man who was shot to death last week, with the killer shouting "Go back to your own country." And a president who hasn't said one word about this despicable hate crime.
Countless Middle Easterners in this country (both Christian and Muslim, both native born and immigrant) targeted in record high numbers of hate crimes, since Trump was elected.
The spectre of literally millions of undocumented residents being rounded up and put into camps of some type before mass deportation, separating children from their parents, whose only crime was to want to have a better life for their families. Their real crime, of course, according to Trump voters, is working while brown.
None of these actions concern Trump voters in the slightest. This tells us what their true interests are. Don't let them take cover with the tired refrain that they just want good jobs. Not one of these people would last eight hours doing most jobs done by the undocumented. And they've shown no interest in targeting undocumented whites in this country, a sizable portion of this group.
It looks to me like Trump voters are getting the America they very much want, and what they knew they were voting for.
18
This is a build up for war with Iran. Ramping up ICE, police, and military, to get everybody on board before the US strikes Iran.
3
One of the things we often (always?) forget is how fragile order in society is.
It takes only a tiny percentage of people committed to whatever moves them, to create chaos and rupture. Consider the question of crime. What percentage of people is involved in violent crime and how fearful we are of it? Or take terrorism with its miniscule number. Or take any revolution, even the biggest, and the number of participants is, at best, a tiny percentage. Now take the fact that there is always an irreducible number of people disposed to violence or ready to follow any hothead who promises riches or glory, and you have a pool ready for mayhem or revolt. And when you have someone who spurs them on, the number is increased by otherwise aloof persons, and made strong by the passivity of the majority that wants no trouble. That is always the danger and what must be stopped before it's too late.
It takes only a tiny percentage of people committed to whatever moves them, to create chaos and rupture. Consider the question of crime. What percentage of people is involved in violent crime and how fearful we are of it? Or take terrorism with its miniscule number. Or take any revolution, even the biggest, and the number of participants is, at best, a tiny percentage. Now take the fact that there is always an irreducible number of people disposed to violence or ready to follow any hothead who promises riches or glory, and you have a pool ready for mayhem or revolt. And when you have someone who spurs them on, the number is increased by otherwise aloof persons, and made strong by the passivity of the majority that wants no trouble. That is always the danger and what must be stopped before it's too late.
6
Enabled vandalism always snowballs.
1
Thanks for the headline.
A book still in print worth reading
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay published in 1941. I can only believe that this book is still relevant today. How else to explain the blind followers of Don the Con. Maybe he read the book but I doubt. Maybe if it becomes a tv series?
A book still in print worth reading
"Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay published in 1941. I can only believe that this book is still relevant today. How else to explain the blind followers of Don the Con. Maybe he read the book but I doubt. Maybe if it becomes a tv series?
2
Oops published in 1841 not 1941 sorry
3
Before the Industrial Revolution, there was the 1% who were filthy rich. The rest were impoverished, starving and dying of disease. Life was nasty, brutish and short. The Industrial Revolution created a middle class, and all of a sudden the average Joe had a voice. The Internet has given those with an opinion a way to find others who feel the same anger. Any social psychologist will tell you a crowd, a mob operates differently, with more anger and aggression, than the individual. Also, as more people leave rural areas for cities, where there is little oversight, or sense of community, or moral code, you're going to get the worst of human nature.
11
you think mobs began with the industrial revolution? talk to julius caesar about that. pericles.
5
From my perspective I saw that the social contract began to disintegrate with a good downward jolt in the seventies and has continued incrementally to this day. Avarice and greed have insinuated their selves into practically every nook in this fair land and it is incredibly hard to extract them from the body. There once was reasonable means toward employing agreed upon solutions to problems. I hope that we can find those means again.
10
I wonder if George Orwell realized some would struggle all of their lives and never reach comfort, safety, short working-hours, hygiene, birth-control, and in general, common sense. It's like Paul Krugman and universal healthcare --- Paul set up with the finest of healthcare, but when it came to time for others, he turned his back. That's gratitude!
2
I think George Orwell was well aware of the struggles of the working class, from personal experience.
Paul Krugman? I think he's lost the plot...
Paul Krugman? I think he's lost the plot...
People tend not to think clearly when they're angry, and they often make dumb decisions they later regret. You can probably see where I'm going with this, if you're not that guy in the blue tie screaming your head off.
7
This captures why people are angry so well! As said, "the fix is in" in the form of driving shareholder value at the expense of everything else including country. The limits and flaws of unfettered capitalism are now coming home to roost. Trump has been such a golden opportunity but it looks like he's going to blow it.
4
Instead of being angry over the price of tea on an airplane, I find mind more of my anger rooted in the media calling leaders a "windy buffoon" or saying their knowledge of history and the constitution couldn't fill a Post-It Note. Perhaps they're right, but when we start insulting each other (there are many people who voted for Trump to be their president) all we're doing is throwing more fuel on the fire.
7
George Michael's 1990 song "Praying for Time" still resonates today:
So you scream from behind your door
Say what’s mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much
but I’ll take my chances
‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score
So you scream from behind your door
Say what’s mine is mine and not yours
I may have too much
but I’ll take my chances
‘Cause God’s stopped keeping score
2
"Never underestimate the power of a large group of stupid people" George Carlin. The rise of 45 is proof positive that the education systems in flyover country has failed period. Only fools and cowards can be made so afraid that they can delude themselves into believing the obvious Narcissist is their savior.
9
What's up with this photo? The one person in focus is not at all representative of all those out of focus. I guess we're just supposed to gobble this up - along with the article pretending that all anger is coming from the right.
7
Good news:
German online money magazine Focus reports Dutch parliament investigating the possibility of leaving the Euro
The house of cards is collapsing
German online money magazine Focus reports Dutch parliament investigating the possibility of leaving the Euro
The house of cards is collapsing
6
Anarchy is good news? Thanks, Johnny Rotten!
6
Is parliamentary activity anarchy?
An orderly exit from the Euro and the "EU" would be great for the Dutch and everybody.
When the Twin Towers were burning people were told to stay at their seats.
Some were sensible enough to get up and leave.
An orderly exit from the Euro and the "EU" would be great for the Dutch and everybody.
When the Twin Towers were burning people were told to stay at their seats.
Some were sensible enough to get up and leave.
The anger of the masses and Trump are symptoms and not the cause of the problem. I was born in Europe and moved to the US 20 years ago. During all those years, I have been wondering why most of my fellow Americans keep voting against their own best interests and why there hasn't been a revolution within the US. Now, after 20 years, this revolution has come. Most Americans have understood now that our two-party system doesn't work for them. They have understood that we have actually only one party, namely the business party. The business party has two wings: the Republican wing and the Democratic ("Republican light") wing. For decades, both wings of the business party have perfected the manipulation of the gullible masses. Now the business party has gone too far: it took only a bizarre, anti-establishment showman with a vocabulary of a 12-year old school-year bully to blow away 16 Republican competitors and to win against Hillary Clinton, whom the Democrats would not have nominated had they not entirely lost touch with reality and with the American people. During the coming months, we will see how things will play out. Trump and his puppet-master Steve Bannon appear to be willing to actually deliver on their campaign promise to "make America great again," whatever that means. We will see to what extent Congress (i.e., the business party) and the American people will play along.
117
Andreas Muschinski,
For China, the USA, Canada, Greece, Russia, or any city, state, or nation (or any family) to support and sustain a Republic, Democracy, Theocracy, Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Dictatorship, Kingdom, Principality or any other form of government that they select and/or is imposed upon them, that nation still has to have their (usually privately owned) businesses continuously create sufficient new taxable national wealth (and jobs) in their nation so that there is enough available wealth in that nation for that nation's government to confiscate a portion of that new taxable national wealth and/or profit that was created by the private sector businesses
plus additional amounts confiscated through income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, tariffs, etc., and other taxes by the government tax collectors to pay for their wealth consuming government activities and government services.
This can only be accomplished by Austerity which is limiting government spending (including debt repayment) to less than the government collects in taxes!
For China, the USA, Canada, Greece, Russia, or any city, state, or nation (or any family) to support and sustain a Republic, Democracy, Theocracy, Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, Fascism, Dictatorship, Kingdom, Principality or any other form of government that they select and/or is imposed upon them, that nation still has to have their (usually privately owned) businesses continuously create sufficient new taxable national wealth (and jobs) in their nation so that there is enough available wealth in that nation for that nation's government to confiscate a portion of that new taxable national wealth and/or profit that was created by the private sector businesses
plus additional amounts confiscated through income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, tariffs, etc., and other taxes by the government tax collectors to pay for their wealth consuming government activities and government services.
This can only be accomplished by Austerity which is limiting government spending (including debt repayment) to less than the government collects in taxes!
2
I'm a democrat. I'm the American people. I vote FOR Hillary in the primary and the general.
If you still think there is no difference between the Rs and the Ds, you must be one of the stupids.
If you still think there is no difference between the Rs and the Ds, you must be one of the stupids.
4
Sorry, the Democrats are definitely NOT GOP-light! On the contrary, they have moved FAR to much to the left to be electable by the majority of Americans, that's precisely why they lost against - what - Trump!?!?!. Hillary had no political acumen at all to realize this. I am surprised Bill did not advise her better.
Europe is merely experiencing a lull in terror activity right now, the moment there is one major terror act, Marine LePen will sail to victory, as will Wilders.
I am only half-joking when I say that Theresa May is praying for ISIS support, too! And probably so does Angela Merkel.
Europe is merely experiencing a lull in terror activity right now, the moment there is one major terror act, Marine LePen will sail to victory, as will Wilders.
I am only half-joking when I say that Theresa May is praying for ISIS support, too! And probably so does Angela Merkel.
2
I firmly believe that Trump's election was the reflection of a well-thought out desire to put the United States on a one way path to self-destruction, with the childish hope of something 'purified' and chastened emerging from the rubble.
Just look at the utter emptiness of American society today -- no grand goals, such as the Apollo mission, nothing to unite the disparate masses for the greater good. America has devolved into a pit of nihilism and endless irony, where trust and mutual aid are now scorned as qualities for losers and wimps.
Just look at the utter emptiness of American society today -- no grand goals, such as the Apollo mission, nothing to unite the disparate masses for the greater good. America has devolved into a pit of nihilism and endless irony, where trust and mutual aid are now scorned as qualities for losers and wimps.
9
Barely mentioned (and quickly glossed over) is that there's a visceral drive for change for its own sake.
The moral arc of this country in particular has been the underdog throwing off its shackles and rebelling against a smug, overbearing elite. From the revolution against George III, to the World Wars with America overcoming tyranny and eclipsing old europe, to the civil rights era with its revolution against entrenched powers and bigotry, the shared ethos of this nation is righteous rebellion. (Throw in the civil war or the alamo or myriad other examples depending on your geography and political philosophy)
You don't have to be some poor, white drug addict in middle america to want to fight the power--it's a drive ingrained in every American since birth. On the right, you can rail against a cultural-financial-Washingtonian elite that favors international trade over jobs, favors unions over their members, and smugly mocks those who dare live somewhere in-between LA and NYC. On the left, you can rail against regressive-plutocrats who reject diversity and economic justice, and smugly mock "losers" who struggle to make ends meet.
An entrenched two party system helps provide ample fodder for both side's anger. But if you hope to make real progress, start by understanding that the other side feels just as much righteous indignation as you, and that they probably have many credible points too, if you try for just a minute to understand their perspective.
The moral arc of this country in particular has been the underdog throwing off its shackles and rebelling against a smug, overbearing elite. From the revolution against George III, to the World Wars with America overcoming tyranny and eclipsing old europe, to the civil rights era with its revolution against entrenched powers and bigotry, the shared ethos of this nation is righteous rebellion. (Throw in the civil war or the alamo or myriad other examples depending on your geography and political philosophy)
You don't have to be some poor, white drug addict in middle america to want to fight the power--it's a drive ingrained in every American since birth. On the right, you can rail against a cultural-financial-Washingtonian elite that favors international trade over jobs, favors unions over their members, and smugly mocks those who dare live somewhere in-between LA and NYC. On the left, you can rail against regressive-plutocrats who reject diversity and economic justice, and smugly mock "losers" who struggle to make ends meet.
An entrenched two party system helps provide ample fodder for both side's anger. But if you hope to make real progress, start by understanding that the other side feels just as much righteous indignation as you, and that they probably have many credible points too, if you try for just a minute to understand their perspective.
20
PH Wilson, yours is a well-thought-out comment and I agree with many of your points. I must quibble with you though about this description of leftists making fun of suckers trying to make ends meet. Those could be liberals but they are not leftists. As a lifelong leftist, Union steward and blue collar worker, I can say with certainty that a genuine leftist is concerned only with uplifting the conditions of the poor and oppressed and not a lot of the Side Tracks that Liberals are so obsessed with and that upset the people in flyover country so much. I hope to stand beside and fight for the poor and working people till my dying day. This makes it possible for me to have conversations with socially conservative people who want the same things class wise. That is our only hope to bring this country together and everything else is a distraction when trying to bring people together on the basis of their class interests. Considering the incredible income disparity, that would be most people. This is not to minimize the individual types of extra oppression that form the basis for identity politics, but we must start with the basics and then work our way outward once we are somewhat United. Again, thank you for your thoughtful comment.
The one thing missing from making this a pretty spot-on analysis of Trump voters is that it isn't "angry people" it's "angry white people." The GOP has used racism for decades to divide lower income people from each other, and it came to its (so far) climax in the election of Donald Trump. Any analysis about the election that doesn't discuss race and racism is incomplete.
18
There's little doubt that Trump actively campaigned for and pandered to a racist core--that's how he distinguished himself in a field of 16 in the primaries--but it is absolutely ridiculous to claim that the majority of Trump voters are racists.
I guess that kind of lazy-thinking and name-calling makes some progressives sleep better at night, rather than accepting that not everyone 100% buys into their political philosophy (and possible for good reasons).
I guess that kind of lazy-thinking and name-calling makes some progressives sleep better at night, rather than accepting that not everyone 100% buys into their political philosophy (and possible for good reasons).
7
True, as far as the Trump voters are concerned. The angry black people line up behind leaders such as the virulently anti-Semitic Reverend Sharpton, who hates the Jews even more than Mr. Trump hates the Mexicans.
5
PH: how is "actively campaigning for and pandering to a racist core" different than winning with those same folks if they were not the majority of his voters?
2
I think that the author's anecdote about British Airways now charging for a cup of tea is more significant that it may seem. I think recently everybody has experienced this kind of "indignity" not as an isolated event but repeatedly. One feels ripped off and feeling ripped of is really a bundle of emotions that collectively yield a lot of anger. When people feel ripped off, they also feel betrayed, and they tend to feel they allowed it to happen and powerless at the same time. That all yields a lot of anger and disgust. Most people likely also appreciate that the pennies pinched from these rip offs are what is making the "elites" fabulously wealthy. The anger compounds.
Everyone seems to be in a race to the bottom... we see this in our politics, our governments, the businesses we deal with, our work places, our language. We need leadership in every sphere to aim up not down. Raise the bar for what is fair, just and decent; so that doing is yields a greater reward for both the individual and society.
Everyone seems to be in a race to the bottom... we see this in our politics, our governments, the businesses we deal with, our work places, our language. We need leadership in every sphere to aim up not down. Raise the bar for what is fair, just and decent; so that doing is yields a greater reward for both the individual and society.
90
I found the tea anecdote profound as well.Having a cup of tea is innately British-- it defines and divides their days, it is part of the veneer of civility that fuels polite interaction, tea is part of what it is to be British, as opposed to being some other nationality. For a British airline to charge 3 bucks for something which previously was gratis stabs at the heart of being British. I just heard that Wendy's and Panera Bread are going to auto-order kiosks. I for one will never eat at an establishment like that, which strikes at the heart of the very American experience of a friendly smile and a pleasantry while taking a food order.
As always, Roger Cohen provides an incisive analysis of the mood of our times. Here he correctly analyzes what is driving so many people in Europe and America to behave and think the way they do.
I believe that what he foretells at the end of this piece is, unfortunately, very likely to happen.
I believe that what he foretells at the end of this piece is, unfortunately, very likely to happen.
2
They are ANGRY about the CEOs of corporations squeezing the last cent out of middle class consumers??? Yet, they are fine with an infusion of Goldman-Sachs personnel infusing the Trump administration?
14
Are you not aware of Goldman Sachs, Citibank, other Wall Street infusions into the Clinton and Obama administration, and into the Clinton's bank accounts:
"The speech in 2013 was one of three Clinton made on behalf of Goldman Sachs. According to public records, Clinton gave 92 speeches between 2013 and 2015. Her standard fee is $225,000, and she collected $21.6 million dollars in just under two years. Clinton made 8 speeches to big banks, netting $1.8 million, according to a CNN analysis."
Bill as well: "The Democratic power couple earned just over $6.7 million in speaking fees last year, according to their 2015 tax returns released on Friday. It's their top money-making activity by far. Over 60% of the Clintons' $10.6 million income comes from speeches."
And hear the words of Elizabeth Warren on Wall Street: "As Warren pointed out in an earlier editorial, both the Clinton and Obama administrations have been dominated by a “Citigroup clique” of bankers whose institution wouldn’t even exist in its present form had it not been for the assistance of President Bill Clinton economic team (some of whom later enriched themselves working at that institution)."
"The speech in 2013 was one of three Clinton made on behalf of Goldman Sachs. According to public records, Clinton gave 92 speeches between 2013 and 2015. Her standard fee is $225,000, and she collected $21.6 million dollars in just under two years. Clinton made 8 speeches to big banks, netting $1.8 million, according to a CNN analysis."
Bill as well: "The Democratic power couple earned just over $6.7 million in speaking fees last year, according to their 2015 tax returns released on Friday. It's their top money-making activity by far. Over 60% of the Clintons' $10.6 million income comes from speeches."
And hear the words of Elizabeth Warren on Wall Street: "As Warren pointed out in an earlier editorial, both the Clinton and Obama administrations have been dominated by a “Citigroup clique” of bankers whose institution wouldn’t even exist in its present form had it not been for the assistance of President Bill Clinton economic team (some of whom later enriched themselves working at that institution)."
Roger Cohen asked why those who voted for Trump voted against their own interests. That's the wrong question to ask. Whites voted exactly for their best interests. As a result of the 2008 recession, many lost their jobs, homes, pensions, etc. At the same time, from their perspective, they saw people of color and immigrants getting those jobs and access to health care via Medicaid. So, they may not get their pensions, jobs, or homes back. But they'll feel a sense of fairness and justice that immigrants won't be getting these jobs as they are deported. At least poor minorities will lose access to Medicaid. And to them, that's what really matters.
7
Nihilists are bitterly jealous of all who appear happier than they are They live in a state of lonely bitterness that craves company.
4
More poor whites will lose access to Medicaid than minorities and immigrants combined. Fair enough, don't you think, Aimee?
8
And Trump's 100-day plan includes, as a bullet point, deregulating the banks. Entirely.
So, a deep recession caused by Republican-driven deregulation causes someone to lose his home. After eight years of painstaking recovery under a Democrat, which would have been faster and less painful but for the intransigence of the Republican congress, that person votes for....a Republican who's stated goal is to roll back regulation of the banking system. Oh, and who by the way is also going to take away his health care, and said on the campaign trail that he thinks a minimum wage of $7 an hour might be too high.
Yep, I'd say that voter pretty much voted entirely against his own self interest. Unless he likes living and dying on the street.
So, a deep recession caused by Republican-driven deregulation causes someone to lose his home. After eight years of painstaking recovery under a Democrat, which would have been faster and less painful but for the intransigence of the Republican congress, that person votes for....a Republican who's stated goal is to roll back regulation of the banking system. Oh, and who by the way is also going to take away his health care, and said on the campaign trail that he thinks a minimum wage of $7 an hour might be too high.
Yep, I'd say that voter pretty much voted entirely against his own self interest. Unless he likes living and dying on the street.
8
Many experts economists and historians have talked for years now about Income Inequality and the anger and instability that was likely to result. So, I understand the anger. What is truly amazing is that the angry people have elected someone who is not just immoral, but amoral and put into power the party who's primary goal has been and continues to be to produce income inequality.
178
These folks have been drinking the hair of the dog that bit them so for so long that they're addicted to it.
2
And the other one wasn't?
2
Somehow Bernie Sanders has been left out of this equation. He could have beaten Trump and represented the values you seem to embrace but John Podesta and his magic Rolodex said no. Trump saw a rigged system and played it for all it was worth; you have to hand at least that to him.
6
"No big deal, except that the system that produces such rip-offs is ripe for the furies." An irony is that many of those raging against their world, each and every day, themselves inflict on others what they protest having inflicted on them.
Coincidental to anger, at least in the U.S., is that Americans are in most ways better off than ever they have been. When my father was born in 1916 the average white male at birth could reasonably expect to live 56 years. He's over 100 largely because of the discovery of antibiotics, which have saved him on 2 occasions, surgical procedures that saved him once, and vaccines, all of which he has received when they became available. His father died from pneumonia in 1928 at age 48. As of 2011 the average life expectancy for a white male at birth was 76 years.
Now parents anger against vaccines and even antibiotics.
The strife of our world is typically not about the shared, exterior world, but the private, interior world of ideas that demand specific explanation of that exterior world.
Unfortunately for the human race there are those among us who have gone from apprentice to journeyman to master at manipulating citizens toward the end of getting our world arranged as the masters see fit.
In James Jones' novel "The Thin Red Line" 1st Sgt Walsh observes about the fate of his men, "We're living in a world that's blowing itself to hell as fast as everybody can arrange it..."
The reader understands that's because the world chooses to.
Coincidental to anger, at least in the U.S., is that Americans are in most ways better off than ever they have been. When my father was born in 1916 the average white male at birth could reasonably expect to live 56 years. He's over 100 largely because of the discovery of antibiotics, which have saved him on 2 occasions, surgical procedures that saved him once, and vaccines, all of which he has received when they became available. His father died from pneumonia in 1928 at age 48. As of 2011 the average life expectancy for a white male at birth was 76 years.
Now parents anger against vaccines and even antibiotics.
The strife of our world is typically not about the shared, exterior world, but the private, interior world of ideas that demand specific explanation of that exterior world.
Unfortunately for the human race there are those among us who have gone from apprentice to journeyman to master at manipulating citizens toward the end of getting our world arranged as the masters see fit.
In James Jones' novel "The Thin Red Line" 1st Sgt Walsh observes about the fate of his men, "We're living in a world that's blowing itself to hell as fast as everybody can arrange it..."
The reader understands that's because the world chooses to.
13
For most, enablement to kick down on someone else is adequate compensation for having to kiss up the enabler.
12
When humanity commits a crime against humanity, what should we call it?
3
mass psychosis?
2
A: The Trump Presidency
7
Politics as usual? The party changes but the money never goes away.
Trump is a dream weaver...he presents glorious dreams of change and success to people who are fearful of just about everything and everyone.
But dreams are only dreams and the reality of the nonsense he is feeding to the fearful will someday revealed when reality strikes. Lets see his wonderful healthcare plan and his brilliant trade deals and the return of all those jobs , the ending of terrorism and all the other great and glorious things he promised. Will his followers realize then or are they forever in dreamland?
But dreams are only dreams and the reality of the nonsense he is feeding to the fearful will someday revealed when reality strikes. Lets see his wonderful healthcare plan and his brilliant trade deals and the return of all those jobs , the ending of terrorism and all the other great and glorious things he promised. Will his followers realize then or are they forever in dreamland?
8
He's Professor Harold Hill, without the charm or the singing voice.
5
The reasons for what we are experiencing are multitudinous, complex and do not lend themselves to simple solutions. We are all driven by our appetites and instantaneous, ever present communication, especially graphic visuals have interrupted our ability to moderate our desire(s). What we see is mob mentality on an almost unbelievable scale. Who, or what can stand before the mob?
Leave your zone of comfort and speak with your adversary, from your heart. Reconnect with one another, identifying common bonds of humanity. If we don't do this, those that seek to manipulate us will find some outrage, with which to unite us, against a common foe; "the other."
Leave your zone of comfort and speak with your adversary, from your heart. Reconnect with one another, identifying common bonds of humanity. If we don't do this, those that seek to manipulate us will find some outrage, with which to unite us, against a common foe; "the other."
5
Trump's supporters seems to be of many kinds. Do not underestimate the ones for whom logic is useless, but don't pretend you don't see the problems festering over the last 40 years of center-left consensus. Just take a simple issue: you tell people they live in a democratic country and their vote makes all the difference, but in reality they never get to decide over issues like immigration, because the left has already decided that it's a "fundamental human right" for anybody to come here. Yes, people do get angry, sometimes actually for good reasons. Take it from an immigrant.
25
Isn't it a "fundamental human right" to have as many children as one can anywhere?
5
Yeah, that Ronald Reagan (amnesty in 1986) was such a center left bleeding heart!
7
Tax cuts for the wealthy, decline of labor unions, charter schools, private prisons, lexus lanes, poor doors, yes. That's it exactly. 40 years of center-left consensus.
9
and the world has known a solid quotient of peace for way longer than is usual — and yet there is enough anger
Wait a minute what about the war in Syria and the Middle East?
Wait a minute what about the war in Syria and the Middle East?
7
And Afghanistan, Sudan, Yemen, etc.
4
Trump is a blessing in disguise. He is the incentive to shake up your life and change everything you've wanted to change, like which country you're living in.
I had this same shake up in 2003 after Bush invaded Iraq and changed my life all the way to Provence in the south of France.
So get started making arrangements for the beginning of the rest of your life.
Bonne chance!
I had this same shake up in 2003 after Bush invaded Iraq and changed my life all the way to Provence in the south of France.
So get started making arrangements for the beginning of the rest of your life.
Bonne chance!
6
How immensely tone deaf.
1
The truth hurts doesn't it? We Americans have allowed our country to deteriorate to the degree that a major poorly publicly educated voter group elected a dangerous president controlled by a brilliantly destructive advisor.
I invested a 30 year career in helping the disabled community with career counseling after obtaining a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling. I ran for the board of supervisors as a way to support my community in Marin County. While I was doing these activities, my fellow Americans were grabbing off whatever they could for themselves and ignoring the deteriorating educational system that was spewing out millions of uneducated citizens.
The result is Donald Trump. Don't be surprised if he has a war in mind after he expands the department of defense. Look to Iran for a likely target!
Is it any wonder that I and others would opt to save what's left of our lives as expats in a more sane country?
I invested a 30 year career in helping the disabled community with career counseling after obtaining a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling. I ran for the board of supervisors as a way to support my community in Marin County. While I was doing these activities, my fellow Americans were grabbing off whatever they could for themselves and ignoring the deteriorating educational system that was spewing out millions of uneducated citizens.
The result is Donald Trump. Don't be surprised if he has a war in mind after he expands the department of defense. Look to Iran for a likely target!
Is it any wonder that I and others would opt to save what's left of our lives as expats in a more sane country?
1
That the Oligarchy has convinced the mob to act against their own interests never has ceased to stun me.
The mob is terrifying. It's a good time to stock up on survival supplies and ammunition while building a community with sensible people locally. A Crash of Trumpian proportions is coming. Where will you be? What are you doing to be ready for it?
The mob is terrifying. It's a good time to stock up on survival supplies and ammunition while building a community with sensible people locally. A Crash of Trumpian proportions is coming. Where will you be? What are you doing to be ready for it?
5
Many Trump supporters have been prepared for the Rapture since the turn of the millennium.
2
They might only find tribulations ahead, Steve.
People do really dumb things when they believe that anything else would be an improvement on where they are at the moment.
1
We have created this rapacious class by encouraging our brightest youth to obtain an MBA in order to be successful . That is successful in the neoliberal sense of success where a mans worth or success is measured as his wealth, where as Wordsworth said in their “getting and spending.” Where a mans success is only valued as a measurement of his activity in the marketplace. In obtaining an MBA one learns as Milton Friedman stated famously in an op-ed, The Social Responsibility of Business is to maintain Profits. This has become the overriding tenet in MBA school do good for the shareholders at any cost to society. If its not illegal (push that term as close to the edge as possible) the ethics need not be considered, do what generates the most profit, it doesn’t matter if that profit is unseemly The bottom line is utmost and who is hurt obtaining a maximum to that line does not matter. I’m sure there are some MBA schools which make a stab at teaching ethics but the proliferation of this degree (27,000 MBAs in 1980 versus 195,000 in 2012) at such a rapid pace has made any oversight impossible . Many of the problems within our society are the result of educating such a great number of individuals whose conscience has been enervated if not completely eradicated by the holy grail of seeking the bottom line. We have created a great number of well directed sociopaths by encouraging pursuance of such an education.
18
Finally, a column that is really getting to the heart of the issue. Why are people angry? They aren't imagining that the future is looking bleak. When the wealthy keep getting wealthier, that money is flowing out of the middle and lower classes and that makes our future more bleak. As climate change progresses, our futures become more bleak, there will be more and more climate refugees, wars, food crises, and impacts on nature...this is a future that looks bleaker and bleaker.
Unlike the future I had to look forward back in the 1960s when I was a child and technology had given us a bright future to look forward to...space flight, robots to help humanity, cheap and safe birth control, antibiotics and vaccines, better health care, open heart surgery, solar panels, it seemed that the future would only be better. But now, we are reaching limits and our political system is not even capable of addressing them...
Unlike the future I had to look forward back in the 1960s when I was a child and technology had given us a bright future to look forward to...space flight, robots to help humanity, cheap and safe birth control, antibiotics and vaccines, better health care, open heart surgery, solar panels, it seemed that the future would only be better. But now, we are reaching limits and our political system is not even capable of addressing them...
98
Nah! The white men who voted for Trump are mostly in the upper middle class.
They're just worried their white priviledge is being threatened.
The vast majority of americans have NEVER had it better!
It's the progress paradox fueled by a dangerous sociopath who is just like his suporters - Greedy - racist and basically devoid of compassion!
They're just worried their white priviledge is being threatened.
The vast majority of americans have NEVER had it better!
It's the progress paradox fueled by a dangerous sociopath who is just like his suporters - Greedy - racist and basically devoid of compassion!
12
Dave Nelson, you have a point about some privileged white males being Trump voters. I don't think that is the whole picture though. Some Americans are doing well, but so many are unemployed, working multiple minimum wage jobs trying to survive, choosing between rent and food or rent and Medicine, unable to even think about sending their children to college. The fabric of society, Community, which gave support and friendship to our neighbors that we had when I was growing up has been fragmented and almost destroyed. People think that a friendship exists in a smartphone and are losing their ability to connect with their fellow humans. Environmentally, we're in a bad place and under this Administration you know it's going to get worse. I think many people are frightened and lost, and not all are just hardcore racists and haters. We will have to stand against the racists, but the other people who voted out of desperation are still our fellow citizens and they can be reached and MUST be reached.
Valuables points, now that we have to eat our mistakes, swallow the lies that demagogue Trump so freely gave us...in exchange for our vote, so he could assault the presidency...before he could assault our pockets and our sanity. By electing such a shallow, and dangerous, charlatan, does it say anything about our wits....or lack thereof?
5
I personally believe that envy is an important factor. Even I fantasize what I would do if I were to win a large lottery payout. I don't play, though. Fundamentally, people believe that as winners, they would be able to offer more to their children, make their lives easier, create the potential to be generous to special causes or family members. All day long average people are being bombarded with luxury images in media as they work shifts in two or more fast food places. The Oscars edition of People Magazine showed stars in elegant, if not downright tacky, outfits that the average person could never hope to afford. One actress was draped in $20,00 worth of jewelry. This stuff is being dangled in front of average people all day long. Fundamentally, people are sick of scraping by in their daily lives in which the idea of the so-called American Dream is unreachable. These media images have no relationship to real people's lives
yet, because of the ubiquity of such images, they must be processed somehow.
I don't mean this to criticize the envious but it is time for a serious potlatch.
yet, because of the ubiquity of such images, they must be processed somehow.
I don't mean this to criticize the envious but it is time for a serious potlatch.
7
Some of the actresses are wearing $100,000 dresses, made for them and given to them.........and then they are paid to wear the dresses. As for the jewelry. I expect they have to return the jewels the next morning.
1
I don't buy it. the brexit vote was motivated by anti-immigrant sentiment. the vote for trump was based on xenophobia, racism and misogyny. how did he start his campaign-not by copying Bernie Sanders. by calling Mexican immigrants murderers racists and drug dealers. those attitudes have always been there but there has been an unwritten agreement that there were lines that you could not cross. you could use euphemisms and advocate policies that were consistent with those attitudes, but not actually express them . that would give you deniability when the actual policies did not coincide with them. Trump violated those rules and not only got away with it. he profited from it.
10
The New York Times had article after article quoting Mexican women about their lives in in Mexico and other Central American countries, the beatings and rapes they endured, their fear of being returned.
Did you not read any of these articles?
It appears Donald Trump did, and believed what the Times published.
Go back and read a couple of the articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/the-refugees-at-our-do... and https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/a-refugee-crisis-not-a...
Did you not read any of these articles?
It appears Donald Trump did, and believed what the Times published.
Go back and read a couple of the articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/the-refugees-at-our-do... and https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/13/opinion/sunday/a-refugee-crisis-not-a...
1
I don't consider myself to be angry right now, but fool with my Medicare and SS and I'll be up in arms.
7
You do know that Obama offered to cut both (and Clinton said it sounded "reasonable"?
We are all lucky the Republicans were too mired in their hatred of him to take him up on his offer.
We are all lucky the Republicans were too mired in their hatred of him to take him up on his offer.
Mr Cohen states; “…on a short British Airways flight the other day from Amsterdam to London …BA in its brilliance wanted to charge me about three bucks for a cup of tea …Next there will be a charge for oxygen.” Down here on the ground there has long been an industry imposed charge for “air”! Ironically, London originated the trend, see: http://www.history.com/news/the-killer-fog-that-blanketed-london-60-year.... There is carry over to this day as exemplified by the restriction of vehicular traffic in “The City”.
More acute, extant and persistent examples are found in Delhi, Beijing and elsewhere. In these loci, for reliable access to breathable air (one hesitates to employ the adjective “clean”), one must supply ones own means of purification: masks on the street (soon to be respirators); HEPA equipped HVAC systems in well sealed buildings; “Bioweapons Mode” type capability in vehicles a la the Tesla X model; and so on.
These are externalizations of costs for the fossil fuel industry for which the masses pay via tax breaks for them and a degraded environment, health-status and quality-of-life for us. This profits the few who in turn do all in there power to stifle the growth of now cost competitive, clean, renewable energy sources which would benefit the many. But then again, that depends upon ones perception of “cost”.
More acute, extant and persistent examples are found in Delhi, Beijing and elsewhere. In these loci, for reliable access to breathable air (one hesitates to employ the adjective “clean”), one must supply ones own means of purification: masks on the street (soon to be respirators); HEPA equipped HVAC systems in well sealed buildings; “Bioweapons Mode” type capability in vehicles a la the Tesla X model; and so on.
These are externalizations of costs for the fossil fuel industry for which the masses pay via tax breaks for them and a degraded environment, health-status and quality-of-life for us. This profits the few who in turn do all in there power to stifle the growth of now cost competitive, clean, renewable energy sources which would benefit the many. But then again, that depends upon ones perception of “cost”.
3
If you tell ignorant people that they have a right to be angry, they will become angry. If you give permission to closet racists to open the door to their most base anxieties, they will find scapegoats to blame for every dissatisfaction they harbor.
This is called working the mob. Mobs are brainless, exploding emotions seeking an outlet for aggression. trump is the conductor manipulating this madness for the sole purpose of expressing his insatiable desire to rule.
We are going in a very dangerous direction unless he is stopped by the only power that can, the GOP.
This is called working the mob. Mobs are brainless, exploding emotions seeking an outlet for aggression. trump is the conductor manipulating this madness for the sole purpose of expressing his insatiable desire to rule.
We are going in a very dangerous direction unless he is stopped by the only power that can, the GOP.
11
Sure, "a lot of people are pretty sure they’re getting cheated." I blame civic ignorance. If you know nothing about how government works or who is to blame when things go awry, then the huckster's promise to fix everything sounds pretty good.
The underlying question is why have we sacrificed public education in science and civics and critical thinking in order to save a few bucks in taxes? Is that mere coincidence? or is it a plan to keep people ignorant and make more Republicans?
I don't know the answer.
The underlying question is why have we sacrificed public education in science and civics and critical thinking in order to save a few bucks in taxes? Is that mere coincidence? or is it a plan to keep people ignorant and make more Republicans?
I don't know the answer.
11
I agree wholeheartedly. The education of a vast majority of people in the U.S. is terrifyingly inadequate. It is crucial to the maintenance of democracy to include in the education of every person, at the very least, a solid grounding in civics, starting in first grade, including what characterizes a democracy and the responsibilities of citizens in democracies; ways to separate fact from opinion and truth from falsehood; some knowledge of geography; the basics of science; how to think logically; and even a basic understanding of polling and statistics and why they often cannot be trusted.
2
Trump supporters know better than to take his words literally. But they do think he's serious about helping the working class - and they're willing to roll the dice with him (since they are desperate). It's all quite rational. Public education is clearly pitiful throughout the country. But what's worse, even our educated seem to be easily manipulated by the media and political establishments. Instead of questioning globalization, the real issue, we are hysterically attacking Trump for being a xenophobic autocrat.... taken hook, line and sinker.
4
Yes, the man with a long history of cheating the people who work on his projects cares deeply about the plight of the working class.
Look at those flying pigs!
Look at those flying pigs!
2
The anger of Trump's mob comes from frustration with their own ignorance and bewildering lack of skills.
Their ignorance comes out of right-wing know-nothings who have degraded public education and made training inaccessible for those who lost jobs to technology.
Public education has been degraded by tax cuts for the rich and right-wing scorn for public schools, making it hard to keep buildings in repair and to hire and keep enough good, smart teachers.
There is a large mob of people who got dealt a short stack, and they know something is wrong, but they don't know exactly who to blame.
It's educated elites, snobs who advocate education for all and denigrate those who got out-educated, out-globalized, and out-sourced. Those smarty pants who think they know more than Trump's mob just because they do.
It's foreigners took advantage of them, took their jobs, made technology that bull dozes right over their maybe high school education.
Then there are women and off-white people, immigrants and assorted others who have taken their jobs and trashed their country with ideas of diversity and inclusivity.
But the GOP, Trump and his similar counterpart con men and women in Europe have all the answers: screw the middle class, they don't seem to mind it much. Prey on people's irrational and unfounded fears, and for laughs, promise them the moon.
If they were angry before, wait until it dawns on them that they have been had. I wouldn't like to be the object of that wrath.
Their ignorance comes out of right-wing know-nothings who have degraded public education and made training inaccessible for those who lost jobs to technology.
Public education has been degraded by tax cuts for the rich and right-wing scorn for public schools, making it hard to keep buildings in repair and to hire and keep enough good, smart teachers.
There is a large mob of people who got dealt a short stack, and they know something is wrong, but they don't know exactly who to blame.
It's educated elites, snobs who advocate education for all and denigrate those who got out-educated, out-globalized, and out-sourced. Those smarty pants who think they know more than Trump's mob just because they do.
It's foreigners took advantage of them, took their jobs, made technology that bull dozes right over their maybe high school education.
Then there are women and off-white people, immigrants and assorted others who have taken their jobs and trashed their country with ideas of diversity and inclusivity.
But the GOP, Trump and his similar counterpart con men and women in Europe have all the answers: screw the middle class, they don't seem to mind it much. Prey on people's irrational and unfounded fears, and for laughs, promise them the moon.
If they were angry before, wait until it dawns on them that they have been had. I wouldn't like to be the object of that wrath.
9
You're worried about a cup of tea. Try no paid vacation, no paid sick days and no paid holiday, that is what many workers are facing everyday.
8
Seriously; such an absurd, elitist complaint he manages to work in here.
1
I think perhaps you are missing the point. He surely can afford the $3. It's the fact he mentioned in the beginning - that companies nowadays squeeze every cent out of us. I'm old enough to remember when companies didn't do that. Even in the richest corporations, there was some sense of decency. A line they didn't cross, for no other reason than human decency. Not only do they gladly cross it now, the line doesn't even exist. When I mention this to 30 and 40-somethings, they give me a curious look. I don't know if we'll ever go back to those times, but the fact that so many younger people don't even know what I'm talking about when I mention it is not a good sign.
6
"They ask what the deal is when job numbers are pretty good"
They're not. That is why they can't understand the deal.
They don't see the places where the numbers are not good at all. They have very low standards for "numbers are pretty good" and the American voters rejected that.
We have horrible numbers for long term unemployment, for under employment, for good jobs for recent grads and for those with experience. Flipping burgers is not "jobs" as in pretty good numbers for someone who went to college.
Wages have been stagnant for decades, meaning there is not enough job opportunity to get wages moving.
"Better" is not good, when it started at Great Recession levels and took a decade to crawl just this far.
They're not. That is why they can't understand the deal.
They don't see the places where the numbers are not good at all. They have very low standards for "numbers are pretty good" and the American voters rejected that.
We have horrible numbers for long term unemployment, for under employment, for good jobs for recent grads and for those with experience. Flipping burgers is not "jobs" as in pretty good numbers for someone who went to college.
Wages have been stagnant for decades, meaning there is not enough job opportunity to get wages moving.
"Better" is not good, when it started at Great Recession levels and took a decade to crawl just this far.
15
Yes, referring to "job numbers" or "jobs added" is trickery. Besides the issue of job quality the numbers would need to go up just to keep even since our population is increasing. (But I'd guess you know this already.)
6
So in response you vote for the party that caused the Great Recession, and wants to take away your health care and gut SS and Medicare, and for a man who said he thinks a minimum wage of $7 an hour might be too high...
Smooth move.
Smooth move.
4
But the Great Recession was largely caused by politicians and community activists who insisted that mortgages be made to people who had no way to repay the money loaned to them. The bankers said - and rightly - that they would be sued by their shareholders, that they would be jailed for not doing their jobs. So the Congress said, "Okay, we'll buy the mortgages and you will not risk your own money". Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought the mortgages, millions of mortgages......creating the housing bubble before the housing crash.
It's a bit more complex than that - but the Great Recession started with Congress insuring that millions of mortgages would be made to people who could not afford to repay the loans.
Simple economics.
It's a bit more complex than that - but the Great Recession started with Congress insuring that millions of mortgages would be made to people who could not afford to repay the loans.
Simple economics.
1
I think there is an added component. I recently read a column (can't find the link - sorry) about how the imMoral Majority colluded with the Republican party for forty years to delegitimize sources of documented, verifiable, and analyzed information: schools, universities, legitimate news sources, subject matter experts, etc. They have built up their own alternative sources of (dis)information: Fox News, bible colleges, etc. As a result you have a significant portion of the electorate who lack critical thinking skills and have a visceral distrust of "elites" who employ such skills. These people can be easily manipulated by stirring up emotions - anger, fear, distrust of the brown/black/immigrant "other" in our midst. The vote for Trump is all the evidence you need that the Republican/evangelical ploy worked. Trumpsters voted with their emotions, despite all the verifiable facts that indicated Trump would be a disastrous president.
13
"As a result you have a significant portion of the electorate who lack critical thinking skills and have a visceral distrust of "elites" who employ such skills."
Let's drop the PC language and translate this into English: Stupid people resent smart people.
Let's drop the PC language and translate this into English: Stupid people resent smart people.
6
"Bible college" - an oxymoron to the highest degree.
He's got it. Buckle your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
3
Nail on the head
5
I like Roger Cohen- and I get his anger point. However, I don't believe bullies, killers and demagogues arise from the daily flow of petty anger and abuse. Anger may motivate. It may invite temporary thoughts of revenge- but true human beings- regardless of social station, economic level and background- rise above it. They transform it into constructive, compassionate action. Nor are they necessarily saints. But they lack the anger based on entitlement, fear and pathology. Their empathy teaches them to refrain from revenge.
Bullies are always cowards. And they must be opposed. Their fitful anger can sometimes be ignored knowing that the greatest harm they inflict is self inflicted- until and unless they cause undue suffering upon others. At which point, they must be stopped. There is no other choice. Their hatred is fed by a pathology that defies the facts of their circumstances.
Bullies are always cowards. And they must be opposed. Their fitful anger can sometimes be ignored knowing that the greatest harm they inflict is self inflicted- until and unless they cause undue suffering upon others. At which point, they must be stopped. There is no other choice. Their hatred is fed by a pathology that defies the facts of their circumstances.
6
Mad King Donald's cuts in social spending will help drive jobless and minority youths into his expanded military. There's a madness to his method.
8
Didn't Einstein, and I'm paraphrasing here, say that you cannot both prepare for war and prevent it? Keep in mind that a pillar of Republican "philosophy" is all war all the time isolationism. Wait until the Trump voter's kids are dying by the hundreds, or annihilation by the nuclear holocaust. We seem to forget that Trump has the nuclear codes. It's already too late.
5
The US war machine keeps humming whether there are neoconservatives or neoliberals in office. Isolationism would hopefully lead to a reduction in foreign wars.
4
Forever tilting at windmills. The human dilemma!
Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished.
Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."
Just then they came in sight of thirty or forty windmills that rise from that plain. And no sooner did Don Quixote see them that he said to his squire, "Fortune is guiding our affairs better than we ourselves could have wished.
Do you see over yonder, friend Sancho, thirty or forty hulking giants? I intend to do battle with them and slay them. With their spoils we shall begin to be rich for this is a righteous war and the removal of so foul a brood from off the face of the earth is a service God will bless."
1
And what do they want, this angry crowd?
Who knows. While the pundits sift through the anger and the madness to find the common thread, the only thing 'common' seems to be that being angry is in vogue. We have all been given license to be victims and to bemoan the woe (real or imagined) that has somehow befallen each of us.
If you publish a thought in this comments section, you will be immediately set upon by trolls taking issue with your very humanity. The free expression of ideas I understand. The unbridled expression of every emotional urge or current not so much.
We are an undisciplined, fractious group of humans with less common purpose than at any time I can remember. That is an invitation to mischief and real woe.
Who knows. While the pundits sift through the anger and the madness to find the common thread, the only thing 'common' seems to be that being angry is in vogue. We have all been given license to be victims and to bemoan the woe (real or imagined) that has somehow befallen each of us.
If you publish a thought in this comments section, you will be immediately set upon by trolls taking issue with your very humanity. The free expression of ideas I understand. The unbridled expression of every emotional urge or current not so much.
We are an undisciplined, fractious group of humans with less common purpose than at any time I can remember. That is an invitation to mischief and real woe.
6
It is the Democrats that have brought this on us. Bill Clinton repealing Glass-Steagall and putting entire families on the street. Then doubling and tripling the prison population. It is Obama and his deportation schedule. It is a minimum wage that consistently falls in buying power. Thus the poor are becoming poorer and what do you say? "wealth-making miracle" Wake up.
9
Whoa, there. You seem to have forgotten the entire term of GW Bush, who, even though he had a Republican Congress, failed to fix any of the problems you state were created by Clinton. And Obama pushed for an increase in the minimum wage and he was stymied by a Republican Congress.
There's plenty of blame to go around there, sport.
There's plenty of blame to go around there, sport.
4
Trump's and the GOP's brilliant strategy was and continues to be the diversion of anger away from the 1%. By channeling the anger of those in the "99%" on the right against those on the left, the ultra rich continue to profit without regard to the health and welfare of others. By promoting fear and hatred based on race, religion, gender, education, and national origin, Trump and the GOP create such an explosive environment among us that the 1% continue to win.
13
I'm angry as newspapers that pretend to provide me with news and i only get opinions disguised as news. . I'm surprised that the NYTimes simply stops its pretense at being fair journalism (or what I learned journalism might and should be at the University of Missouri School of Journalism) and simply puts Mr.Cohen's articles on the front page marked as news. Then again. maybe we are back to an era of Yellow Journalism , or maybe we just never grew out of it.
6
Mr. Shyres: The NYT clearly marks opinion pieces, such as Mr. Cohen's, as such - see "The Opinion Pages" - appearing just over the tile of the piece. Likewise on the front page - the link is under the heading "the opinion pages." I believe your anger is misdirected.
4
Not to quibble, but Cohen's column is clearly marked as part of "The Opinion Pages", not as news.
Like all opinion pieces, I'm not sure they identify the total problem, but they do offer a perspective to interpret current news and events. I'm having difficulty explaining how Trump got to where he is, who are the people who voted for him and what motivated them, and now ... how is it possible that he still has high approval ratings among self-identified Republicans! If it's anger ... in what way do Trump's actions so far alleviated that anger?
Like all opinion pieces, I'm not sure they identify the total problem, but they do offer a perspective to interpret current news and events. I'm having difficulty explaining how Trump got to where he is, who are the people who voted for him and what motivated them, and now ... how is it possible that he still has high approval ratings among self-identified Republicans! If it's anger ... in what way do Trump's actions so far alleviated that anger?
5
You must have gone to a rather poor school of journalism--or not paid any attention in class--if you didn't learn the difference between news stories and editorials. Perhaps you should sue your alma mater.
6
What is really screwed is the Democratic Party and their move to neoliberalism. They are as much in the pocket as Republicans. They successfully espouse enormously significant rights to equality of opportunity and protection of the law for oppressed minorities of every possible type. But they surreptitiously concede to consumerism.
But Bernie supporters were right. Far too much power has gone to far too few people.
But Bernie supporters were monstrously wrong in giving up the long term for some short term righteousness.
But Bernie supporters were right. Far too much power has gone to far too few people.
But Bernie supporters were monstrously wrong in giving up the long term for some short term righteousness.
8
HT if we can survive this catastrophic Administration maybe this is what it will take for people to wake up and understand about the 1% and about the two so-called parties being both sides of the same coin. We made a big change in this country in 1776 and Thomas Jefferson said that it would be a continuing struggle to have a democracy that lasts; ( not in those words, but that was the idea.) Hopefully most of our citizens will understand that before it's too late. People who do feel that way have to just keep organizing and speaking with our fellow citizens the best we can. (On another posters' comment about population growth, it is of course the Republicans that fight against birth control or sex education. So that's definitely not going to get under any better under this Administration. Just more children going to bed hungry every night.)
It takes a lot of effort to study our issues and problems. For many of us who make the effort we find that after all the work we find even more problems and no solutions. It is not anger that troubles me. It is the laziness. Being a citizen is hard. Anger is not the result of elites taking advantage of us. The anger comes from the desire for a simple solution. What if no simple solution exists? What is going to happen to us when much of our country (both left and right) is convinced that a simple solution exists and it really does not exist? More anger?
4
When I read about the genuine anger that propelled Trump into the White House, I muse about how King Louis of France must have gone to bed on July 13, 1789, thinking everything was under control. He woke up to Bastille Day...
Maybe pitchforks-and-torches couldn't happen here, but --then-- maybe it could.
Maybe pitchforks-and-torches couldn't happen here, but --then-- maybe it could.
8
The quote from George Orwell is an excellent description of people's mood.
But the anger of men and women is more than irrational hormonal reaction to the exernal world. It is an expression of atavistic aggressiveness and cruelty of the human species. In a society that is more or less based on the Ten Commandments, the anger is a physiological problem or disease that can only be treated by medically efficaceous chemical compounds.
But the anger of men and women is more than irrational hormonal reaction to the exernal world. It is an expression of atavistic aggressiveness and cruelty of the human species. In a society that is more or less based on the Ten Commandments, the anger is a physiological problem or disease that can only be treated by medically efficaceous chemical compounds.
1
We should be frightened. Very very very frightened.
"...yet there is enough anger for a shallow con man to get elected who says he’ll make America great again with 'one of the greatest military buildups in American history.'"
"...yet there is enough anger for a shallow con man to get elected who says he’ll make America great again with 'one of the greatest military buildups in American history.'"
9
Millions of us are terrified. The question is, how can the Republicans be made to think about anything except the money filling their pockets and those of their cronies? I would really, really like to know how to wake them up: it is their children and grandchildren who will have to live with fouled air and water, to name just one of the horrendous outcomes of the vile plans of the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress.
2
"Mr. Trump gave himself a grade of A for his presidency so far in an interview broadcast Tuesday morning, but he added that he would only give himself a C for communicating how great he has been"
A more humble and self effacing President we could not have. (yes, sarcasm)
I suggest Mr. Trump forego the daily wardrobe of suit and tie and go directly to a Superman suit. With cape
A more humble and self effacing President we could not have. (yes, sarcasm)
I suggest Mr. Trump forego the daily wardrobe of suit and tie and go directly to a Superman suit. With cape
18
A is for awful, C for catestrophic.
8
At the Joint Sessions speech by Trump a courageous Congressperson should shout out "You are a liar!!". It would be fair and accurate.
17
That would be great because Trump, unlike Obama, would probably go after the heckler and heckle right back. And Trump's supporters would say "Well, he has the right to defend himself," which is the essence of white privilege since Obama could never have gotten away with such a response or defense.
1
Far better for all the Democrats to walk out at the first attack on the press or blatant lie of any kind.
2
I suspect that much of the anger noted by Mr. Cohen is the result of the failure to prosecute the banksters who were behind the fiscal meltdown. I understand the reasons why the Obama administration decided to prioritize protection of financial institutions over prosecution of individuals ("if we prosecute, who will manage the banks?"). But the result was toxic and the poison has put our democracy at risk.
Obama was an excellent President, but I'm afraid that this one error has fatally compromised his legacy. The current administration and its allies in Congress offer no hope of changing the policy of letting the rich run riot: they are owned by, and subservient to, the same individuals who created the fiscal crisis and who have tremendously profited in its wake.
Obama was an excellent President, but I'm afraid that this one error has fatally compromised his legacy. The current administration and its allies in Congress offer no hope of changing the policy of letting the rich run riot: they are owned by, and subservient to, the same individuals who created the fiscal crisis and who have tremendously profited in its wake.
29
Retrospect.
Would have been successfully trashed as anti-capitalist/anti-American. They didn't even want Dodd-Frank, and I don't hear any great outcry from the country for chipping away at it now
Would have been successfully trashed as anti-capitalist/anti-American. They didn't even want Dodd-Frank, and I don't hear any great outcry from the country for chipping away at it now
3
I agree that it was a terrible error not to prosecute the responsible individuals.
1
You need to read "Too Big To Jail" by Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone; year 2011.
With the crooked banksters who laundered money for drug kingpins, President Bush (43) was afraid the banks would fail, and gave a big fine and said, "Don't do it again".
When they did it again, President Obama said, "Don't do it again, again".
And when they did it again, again, President Obama said, "Don't do it again, again, again".
What's a country to do?
With the crooked banksters who laundered money for drug kingpins, President Bush (43) was afraid the banks would fail, and gave a big fine and said, "Don't do it again".
When they did it again, President Obama said, "Don't do it again, again".
And when they did it again, again, President Obama said, "Don't do it again, again, again".
What's a country to do?
1
As usual, Mr. Cohen is wrong - he mis-perceives what is happening. There is not generalized angst out there about change, technological disruptions, greedy corporations, fat bankers.
The anger is much more specific: the so called elites have screwed our country up and it's time for them to go.
Namely:
Immigration (why we tolerate 11 mm illegals defies common sense); the 2007/8 massive screw-up (nobody ever paid for that, the poor got poorer because of it, and the rich came back - why did Goldman get dollar for dollar on its debt from AIG); terrorism and our ninny-like response to a violent ideology that wants to dominate the world; the federal government running amok with taxes, regulation and sticking its fingers where it's none of its business; conduct that we are supposed to obey cooked up in some "United Nations" forum; free trade where nations are allowed to cheat with impunity - except us; a bi-coastal culture that seems to care more for foreigners and fringe elements than the average citizen; a SCOTUS whose torturings of the Constitution for politically preferred meaning have made the Constitution unrecognizable; a failed public education system that doesn’t serve its customers, at astronomic costs; and a governing cadre of squatters who hang around like a bad smell for decades.
Trump said he would fix all of these. He didn’t say “Awwww, change is hard, but we all must go through it”. He said I will fix it.
And you still wonder why he won?
The anger is much more specific: the so called elites have screwed our country up and it's time for them to go.
Namely:
Immigration (why we tolerate 11 mm illegals defies common sense); the 2007/8 massive screw-up (nobody ever paid for that, the poor got poorer because of it, and the rich came back - why did Goldman get dollar for dollar on its debt from AIG); terrorism and our ninny-like response to a violent ideology that wants to dominate the world; the federal government running amok with taxes, regulation and sticking its fingers where it's none of its business; conduct that we are supposed to obey cooked up in some "United Nations" forum; free trade where nations are allowed to cheat with impunity - except us; a bi-coastal culture that seems to care more for foreigners and fringe elements than the average citizen; a SCOTUS whose torturings of the Constitution for politically preferred meaning have made the Constitution unrecognizable; a failed public education system that doesn’t serve its customers, at astronomic costs; and a governing cadre of squatters who hang around like a bad smell for decades.
Trump said he would fix all of these. He didn’t say “Awwww, change is hard, but we all must go through it”. He said I will fix it.
And you still wonder why he won?
8
We wonder why he won since no matter what he said he would do, he had already made it clear that he is ignorant, uninformed, vulgar and incapable of organizing a two car parade. He won in large measure because he is an overt racist and bigot, and the Christian fundamentalists were told it would be a sin not to vote for him and Pence.
7
And he just said this morning in regards to health care: Awwww, change is hard. So maybe healthcare won't be "fixed". And you believed it when he said "I alone can fix it." I don't wonder why he won. You just showed me. YOU believed him.
9
No, I wonder why you still think Trump and his cadre of right-wing billionaires are going to fix anything, unless you mean "the fix" in the grifter sense of the phrase.
3
There is no military build up.
The increase in the military budget is not there to increase he size of the military.
It's there because the military budget was not high enough to pay for the existing level of the military.
To save money the military has not budgeted the amount of money needed to buy weapons systems that are needed to fight all the wars that Obama was fighting.
This is therefore not a increase in the size of the military.
It's funding the military so it can do the job it is doing now.
The increase in the military budget is not there to increase he size of the military.
It's there because the military budget was not high enough to pay for the existing level of the military.
To save money the military has not budgeted the amount of money needed to buy weapons systems that are needed to fight all the wars that Obama was fighting.
This is therefore not a increase in the size of the military.
It's funding the military so it can do the job it is doing now.
7
Maybe so, and that's a sound argument, except I REALLY object to having a President who expresses himself or explains what he is doing so poorly that I have to find out in the Comments section of the newspaper what he means.
2
The INCREASE requested in "defense" spending is greater than the entire State Department budget. The military industrial complex thrives on waste and mismanagement.
4
Perhaps the trump supporter's unconscious agenda was something like this: We will never have a life like the 1%. So, let's ruin it for everyone! Go Trump!
16
The angry masses who elected Trump are not nearly as angry as they'll be when he gets finished with them. Along with their annoyance at him for not having delivered to them a mythical "great again" America, they'll be enraged at themselves for having been taken in by someone whose fraudulence they were warned about.
11
Much as I dislike everything Trump, I have to give him credit to call out Islamic terrorism, the way it should be called out. Equating Islam on par with other religions is a costly and irreversible mistake. It's goal is to convert or kill the rest of us. Do you see people openly praying in Churches in Saudi Arabia? Or temples? Muslims (atleast the lumpen element even in western countries) think that women belonging to other religions is fair game, even deserving of merit, but their women must be clothed head to toe. I laud Trump for calling out their hypocrisy. Also, have you noticed the soul-searching that is now coming out of muslims, as a result of the travel ban. If they can't freely travel to the land of water parks and ice-cream, they get very upset.
7
And have you read that his new National Security Adviser, General Mc Master has refused to use the term "Radical Islamic Terrorism," stated clearly why it is counter productive to implicate Islam as a whole, and in so doing implicitly called out Potus 45. Do you believe that General Mc Master, supposedly the smartest general in the military, knows less about Islam than you do? What he knows from in depth intelligence, which you do not know, is that a huge majority of real Muslims in the real world just want to go about their everyday lives in peace and security and have no interest in converting or killing anyone.
3
Cohen makes a mistake in assuming that people are rational actors. They will place higher value in feeling in control over actual economic benefit. Similarly, people will always evaluate they success relative to others, not in absolute terms. The pecking order rules, something that Liberals seem to want to forget. We are fundamentally rules by our biological selves, and nothing will ever change that.
2
rage at life in the richest country in the world at the richest moment in history; we collectively invest in teaching everyone how to read for a minimum of twelve years ... after which many never read a book again.
many never learn that "free" television isn't "free," and that if you are not paying for something you are the product - your attention is paid for by someone else to sell you something (rage is a good motivator). the fact that a great deal of it is fake news that benefits a class of hoodlums is rarely conceived.
intellectual laziness comes at this cost, we are drowned in ignorance; Sean Hannity and Trump.
we have at our fingertips the libraries of the world, English translations of newspapers from virtually every country ... yet my neighbor, laboriously taught by a generous society to read, believes Obama is a Muslim still succeeding at subverting the world.
many never learn that "free" television isn't "free," and that if you are not paying for something you are the product - your attention is paid for by someone else to sell you something (rage is a good motivator). the fact that a great deal of it is fake news that benefits a class of hoodlums is rarely conceived.
intellectual laziness comes at this cost, we are drowned in ignorance; Sean Hannity and Trump.
we have at our fingertips the libraries of the world, English translations of newspapers from virtually every country ... yet my neighbor, laboriously taught by a generous society to read, believes Obama is a Muslim still succeeding at subverting the world.
16
Roger Cohen poses an interesting question connected to the ongoing social upheaval in some western nations, particularly the US. The issue is the anger. What does it come from?
The political economy answer for such question is not too complicated.
For a short period of time after WWII, the American Dream became reality for the working men/women. The largest middle class in the world was created and prospered.
By the late 70s and two major energy crises, things started to change. The political system's response to the oil price shocks and increasing international competition was not in favor of the working men. Laws, financial regulations, and free trades were enacted in favor of corporations and wealthy investors. One example is NAFTA. Unions were demolished.
At the dawn of the 21st century, America's income distribution was very much similar to Latin America. That is, the 1% versus the 99%.
In sum, the source of ANGER is a middle class turned poor. Anger is the social response to the highly unequal distribution of money, wealth, and power among members of society. A classical phenomenon described by Karl Marx.
The political economy answer for such question is not too complicated.
For a short period of time after WWII, the American Dream became reality for the working men/women. The largest middle class in the world was created and prospered.
By the late 70s and two major energy crises, things started to change. The political system's response to the oil price shocks and increasing international competition was not in favor of the working men. Laws, financial regulations, and free trades were enacted in favor of corporations and wealthy investors. One example is NAFTA. Unions were demolished.
At the dawn of the 21st century, America's income distribution was very much similar to Latin America. That is, the 1% versus the 99%.
In sum, the source of ANGER is a middle class turned poor. Anger is the social response to the highly unequal distribution of money, wealth, and power among members of society. A classical phenomenon described by Karl Marx.
13
Uzi Nogueira,
Ex-President Bill Clinton could have said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I signed NAFTA into law and that caused your manufacturing job to relocate to Mexico because you would not agree to work for the same wages that Mexican citizens would work for."
Then President Clinton could have also said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I created PNTR for Communist China and this caused your manufacturing jobs to relocate to China because you would not agree to work for the same wages that Chinese citizens will be glad to work for."
President Bush then could have said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I created fourteen additional Free Trade Agreements (with Jordan, Morocco, and other young democracies of Central America) and this caused your manufacturing jobs to relocate to these third world nations because you would not agree to work for the same wages that citizens in these third world nations will work for."
And then President Obama could have said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I created a bunch of multiple new Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Peru plus several other Asian and South American nations and this caused your manufacturing jobs to relocate to these third world nations because you would not agree to work for the third world wages."
Ex-President Bill Clinton could have said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I signed NAFTA into law and that caused your manufacturing job to relocate to Mexico because you would not agree to work for the same wages that Mexican citizens would work for."
Then President Clinton could have also said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I created PNTR for Communist China and this caused your manufacturing jobs to relocate to China because you would not agree to work for the same wages that Chinese citizens will be glad to work for."
President Bush then could have said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I created fourteen additional Free Trade Agreements (with Jordan, Morocco, and other young democracies of Central America) and this caused your manufacturing jobs to relocate to these third world nations because you would not agree to work for the same wages that citizens in these third world nations will work for."
And then President Obama could have said, "Once you were employed and were able to feed your family, so I created a bunch of multiple new Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Peru plus several other Asian and South American nations and this caused your manufacturing jobs to relocate to these third world nations because you would not agree to work for the third world wages."
6
Gerald,
And so it shall be until some sort of parity in wages is achieved between us and these other countries. Not a pretty idea.
And so it shall be until some sort of parity in wages is achieved between us and these other countries. Not a pretty idea.
2
mgaudet,
Sad but true!
I do not have the answers.
Maybe new jobs for US workers could be created in the USA to design, manufacture, build, operate, maintain, and repair the future manufacturing robots for worldwide sale, but these jobs will require STEM education and knowledge if US citizens are to be employed in the creating of these future robots.
Without a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) human database in the USA, the artificial intelligence and hardware for any of the future robotic and automation machines for manufacturing products will NOT be designed, developed, manufactured or built in the USA.
The USA would need a STEM educated technical workforce that has the critical thinking skills and concentrated focus abilities that will be required to design, develop, operate, maintain, and repair these robotic manufacturing systems after they are created by the Engineers and Scientists.
I do not believe that the USA has sufficient numbers of technically STEM educated people that would be required to design and develop any robotic manufacturing machines.
The US education system is now producing large numbers of graduates that are not educated in the subjects that would even help them to even learn how to design, develop, create, manufacture, operate, maintain, and repair these robotic manufacturing systems, so maybe robotic manufacturing businesses will not ever even be located in the USA.
Sad but true!
I do not have the answers.
Maybe new jobs for US workers could be created in the USA to design, manufacture, build, operate, maintain, and repair the future manufacturing robots for worldwide sale, but these jobs will require STEM education and knowledge if US citizens are to be employed in the creating of these future robots.
Without a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) human database in the USA, the artificial intelligence and hardware for any of the future robotic and automation machines for manufacturing products will NOT be designed, developed, manufactured or built in the USA.
The USA would need a STEM educated technical workforce that has the critical thinking skills and concentrated focus abilities that will be required to design, develop, operate, maintain, and repair these robotic manufacturing systems after they are created by the Engineers and Scientists.
I do not believe that the USA has sufficient numbers of technically STEM educated people that would be required to design and develop any robotic manufacturing machines.
The US education system is now producing large numbers of graduates that are not educated in the subjects that would even help them to even learn how to design, develop, create, manufacture, operate, maintain, and repair these robotic manufacturing systems, so maybe robotic manufacturing businesses will not ever even be located in the USA.
2
The angriest person of all seems to be Mr Cohen.
I live and work in the UK and I can tell you:
Nobody is hurling themselves over cliffs metaphorically or not.
Nobody is attacking Poles.
No major banks are leaving London - they are simply setting up subsidiaries in the EU.
No right (or left)-wing nutjobs are being elected into Parliament.
Nobody is kicking out EU citizens. Those already in the UK will be able to live and work here indefinitely - exactly the same as if in the EU.
Granted, there area a few multinationals who are delaying investment decisions but, in general, socially and economically, the UK is very much the same as it was this time last year. (And I voted to Remain.)
The sooner Mr Cohen can accept that this is a slight change in direction and not the end of the world then the sooner we can once more start to enjoy his more positive contributions.
I live and work in the UK and I can tell you:
Nobody is hurling themselves over cliffs metaphorically or not.
Nobody is attacking Poles.
No major banks are leaving London - they are simply setting up subsidiaries in the EU.
No right (or left)-wing nutjobs are being elected into Parliament.
Nobody is kicking out EU citizens. Those already in the UK will be able to live and work here indefinitely - exactly the same as if in the EU.
Granted, there area a few multinationals who are delaying investment decisions but, in general, socially and economically, the UK is very much the same as it was this time last year. (And I voted to Remain.)
The sooner Mr Cohen can accept that this is a slight change in direction and not the end of the world then the sooner we can once more start to enjoy his more positive contributions.
6
Discussing the anger of the proletariat while complaining about the cost of a cup of tea on a BA flight to London is so stereotypically Elitist that you just lost the crowd you are trying to empathize with.
5
The current pendulum swing started with Reagan. Breaking up the unions stole the voice and the leverage of the workers. At the same time "nothing matters but Wall Street". Trickle down will give enough crumbs to those being trickled on.
It took thirty plus years to come to this culmination. Like a totally masochistic society, instead of fighting back and removing the cancer from our leadership, we have refused the arduous Obama led route to recovery and decided to follow a huckster into a dark hole. Now we try to jump off the train.
It took thirty plus years to come to this culmination. Like a totally masochistic society, instead of fighting back and removing the cancer from our leadership, we have refused the arduous Obama led route to recovery and decided to follow a huckster into a dark hole. Now we try to jump off the train.
10
Greed! Everyone is into greed. Honesty, morals, ethics, common sense, humanitarianism be damned. Politically correct is out. Anger is in. I want mine and yours. t-rump is a lot of blow and no go. He wants to be on the top of the greed heap and constantly adored. Fools elected him and fools will have to deal with his idiocy. The rest of us will try to cope until we can be rid of him.
22
Mackay's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" jumped off my bookshelves at me when I woke early this a.m. (but that's what I get for failing to thin out the herd of my home library, which is starting to look like something out of "Where the Wild Things Are").
What Mackay -- and Cohen -- describe is something akin to a virus, and while sunshine and lollipops may not be enough to fight the infection, giving in to hysteria hardly seems the best antidote. Americans are a good and giving people, and this is our greatest strength -- I don't want to say weapon -- against those who would divide and demean us.
With "The Glass Menagerie" back on Broadway, I have found myself revisiting other Williams' works as well, and always find myself circling back to Streetcar, in which Blanche DuBois gets to deliver the following lines:
"Maybe we are a long way from being made in God's image, but Stella -- my sister -- there has been some progress since then! Such things as art -- as poetry and music -- such kinds of new light have come into the world since then! In some kinds of people tenderer feelings have had some little beginning! That we have got to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag! In this dark march toward whatever it is we're approaching. . . . Don't -- don't hang back with the brutes!"
And while some might say that Blanche's ending undercuts this message, I'd say that's just her story, not history. So what's your story going to be?
What Mackay -- and Cohen -- describe is something akin to a virus, and while sunshine and lollipops may not be enough to fight the infection, giving in to hysteria hardly seems the best antidote. Americans are a good and giving people, and this is our greatest strength -- I don't want to say weapon -- against those who would divide and demean us.
With "The Glass Menagerie" back on Broadway, I have found myself revisiting other Williams' works as well, and always find myself circling back to Streetcar, in which Blanche DuBois gets to deliver the following lines:
"Maybe we are a long way from being made in God's image, but Stella -- my sister -- there has been some progress since then! Such things as art -- as poetry and music -- such kinds of new light have come into the world since then! In some kinds of people tenderer feelings have had some little beginning! That we have got to make grow! And cling to, and hold as our flag! In this dark march toward whatever it is we're approaching. . . . Don't -- don't hang back with the brutes!"
And while some might say that Blanche's ending undercuts this message, I'd say that's just her story, not history. So what's your story going to be?
10
Both political parties and their genuflecting acolyte voters have created over the past 40 self-serving years all the messes the U.S. is in. The rubber has finally met the road in every arena of society and governance, while the politicians worried only about themselves and getting re-elected to feather their own nest. The Democrats are the party that failed to make good on their agreement with Reagan in 1986 to pass immigration reform in exchange for amnesty. The Republicans are the party that failed in 1999 to protect the nation when replacing the sane financial industry firewall of Glass Steagall with the GOP toxic Gramm, Leach, Bliley that gave Big Banking an HOV lane to spawn investment + commercial banking mutant mortgage products that brought down every 1st world economy. The Democrats in 2009 then failed to protect the citizenry and very core of the country by refusing to down throttle Big Banking's levers of power, choosing instead to reward them with taxpayers' billions, while Europe sensibly instituted bona fide reforms that forces banks to responsibly hold stable liquidity levels to their debt ratio. i.e. some skin in the loan game.
Back and forth it goes, with both parties a cancer on the U.S. and on the citizenry. The madness is the blatant, corrupt rip-off we call government. From that has sprouted the typical American minority of voters who do little more than elect a high school prom king and then need constant confirmation they chose wisely - but never do.
Back and forth it goes, with both parties a cancer on the U.S. and on the citizenry. The madness is the blatant, corrupt rip-off we call government. From that has sprouted the typical American minority of voters who do little more than elect a high school prom king and then need constant confirmation they chose wisely - but never do.
16
When you gather many small groups, each with its own self interests, together in a tent, the tent becomes very large. It is not only the disgruntled worker that helped get Trump elected. Add to that group the religious right who wanted a right leaning Supreme Court, the paranoids who thought every muslim had a bomb hidden somewhere, the bigots who could finally say what they thought out loud. the oligarchs who put money first because they can afford to move anywhere if the US fails and those who consider themselves Republicans no matter what the platform; and the tent becomes big enough to use the electoral college system to elect a president.
9
more families have been crushed by the shibboleth of efficiency than any disease, opiate, religion or political party.
1
Roger, I think you underestimate how much is manufactured by Fox and Limbaugh etc. Successful mind and emotion manipulation over an extended period has ensnared so many, and boxed them into an echo chamber. When I interview the Trump people, I see evidence of short-circuited powers of reason, pseudo-logic, and installed beliefs---very troubling
11
There are plenty of people who want to blame someone for their problems and Trump went down the least of usual scapegoats. Add in the usual mix of republican culture and religious warriors who want state rights but would prefer to force the rest of on how to live via the supreme court.
2
Mr. Cohen is swift to dismiss the feelings of about 50% of the British electorate who were, and are, extremely annoyed with the current state of their country. If Brexit had not passed the referendum, there would still have been 50% minus a few who were discontented. Sure the 50-minus-some who wanted to remain are now annoyed as well. That's for the country to work out, with or without the advice and consent of the New York Times.
And of course, let's remember that the Electoral College was put in place to forestall the "madness of crowds" electing a dictator. So it didn't go the right way for the Times this time. Oh well.
And of course, let's remember that the Electoral College was put in place to forestall the "madness of crowds" electing a dictator. So it didn't go the right way for the Times this time. Oh well.
2
Last point first. The CEO of a company is installed, in a capitalist system, to expand the bottom line profit, not to add philanthropism. So, the British Airways chief has to extract the last ounce of profit to pay for other services, astronomical among them is the burden of providing security to each flight and passenger. Secondly, the Trump crowd is enraged for many reasons, principal among them is the realization that the United States can no longer rule the roost. Internationally, the USA had more or less been used to shaping the world in its own image or according to its own preference. No longer true. Domestically, it thinks it's rendered weak because the depleting jobs and industry have moved away from its shores. The middle class shrunk. Moreover, in the glaring every day image of swarming refugees on the TV screen entering Europe coupled with a series of incidents of terrorist violence from England, France, Belgium to San Bernardino or Orlando in the USA (leave aside Denmark, Sweden or Norway), the emergence of a populist leader like DT was just a matter of time. The North Americans also watch in horror almost every day the ferocity with which one sect of Muslims is killing another sect in the Muslim world. They don't wish that blood bath to come to their door. By sitting on its hands in the case of Syria, by acquiescing in to France in the removal of Gaddafi in Libya, and by taking the side of the Saudis, the Obama administration also caused more blood to spill.
15
Binoy Shanker Prasad,
Doesn't everybody realize that President Obama, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton have achieved “Peace In Our Time” with their Iran Nuclear (Peace) Treaty.
But only for the next ten years and then Iran can build as many nuclear weapons as Iran wants in accordance with this treaty.
Ten years from now Iran will be manufacturing nuclear WMDs in accord with President Obama's Nuclear Treaty with Iran and selling them to the various Islamic terror groups that can afford them .
Iran, ISIS and the other Islamic groups do not have intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems, but they can afford to rent a U-Haul van for a WMD suicide bomber to drive a Nuclear Device to Times Square in NYC instead.
The USA, France, Germany, England, Etc., did all get together and then all agreed in essence to "Give away everything that Iran wants in return for a ten year pause before Iran is allowed to have nuclear weapons with the capability to destroy the USA and Europe" including releasing Iran from Iran's previous Nuclear Treaty.
Why did John Kerry and President Obama also agree to release Iran from Iran’s treaty obligations under the existing non-nuclear-proliferation treaty that Iran previously signed.
Why did President Obama also agree to lift trade sanctions against Iran that were implemented against Iran for Iran’s capture of the US embassy in Iran and Iran's failure to comply with Iran’s previous non-nuclear-proliferation agreement treaty obligations.
Doesn't everybody realize that President Obama, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton have achieved “Peace In Our Time” with their Iran Nuclear (Peace) Treaty.
But only for the next ten years and then Iran can build as many nuclear weapons as Iran wants in accordance with this treaty.
Ten years from now Iran will be manufacturing nuclear WMDs in accord with President Obama's Nuclear Treaty with Iran and selling them to the various Islamic terror groups that can afford them .
Iran, ISIS and the other Islamic groups do not have intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems, but they can afford to rent a U-Haul van for a WMD suicide bomber to drive a Nuclear Device to Times Square in NYC instead.
The USA, France, Germany, England, Etc., did all get together and then all agreed in essence to "Give away everything that Iran wants in return for a ten year pause before Iran is allowed to have nuclear weapons with the capability to destroy the USA and Europe" including releasing Iran from Iran's previous Nuclear Treaty.
Why did John Kerry and President Obama also agree to release Iran from Iran’s treaty obligations under the existing non-nuclear-proliferation treaty that Iran previously signed.
Why did President Obama also agree to lift trade sanctions against Iran that were implemented against Iran for Iran’s capture of the US embassy in Iran and Iran's failure to comply with Iran’s previous non-nuclear-proliferation agreement treaty obligations.
2
The way things are going, Trump could have the whole world done and dusted in well under ten years.
And what makes you think the (possibly, never admitted) nuclear Israel is just going to sit by and let Iran be the Walmart of nukes?
And, even more to the point, Trump has already said that nuclear proliferation is not a bad thing.
And what makes you think the (possibly, never admitted) nuclear Israel is just going to sit by and let Iran be the Walmart of nukes?
And, even more to the point, Trump has already said that nuclear proliferation is not a bad thing.
2
Nicely put, Gerald.
2
Ironically and sadly, the one group Putin/Bannon/Trump won't go after is the large corporates, especially after exacting their "cut."
2
This is brilliant. Thank you.
2
We didn't used to have so much access to information about the rich, their lifestyles, and how they wealth comes often at the expense of those who struggle to send their kids to college. When people in America are frightened of getting sick because it could bankrupt them, while so many actually PROFITED from the devastating anti-regulation Republican financial debacle of George Bush's administration (an event Americans have indicated with their votes that they apparently want to see again)... what can anyone expect? Regardless of where the anger is turned, or how the propaganda misleads the angry to false targets (Bannon is expert at this), it doesn't change the real cause. Why should any working American struggle in an economy that has been building billionaires? Why should anyone in America not be able to rely on decent health care? And for all the advantages that the wealthy receive in this country, why shouldn't they pay the taxes that would support this? Why shouldn't they send their children to the wars that will also line the pockets of many Republican "leaders?" We've come to wag the dog again. Everyone knows something is very wrong, regardless of who points us at what.
11
The middle class in America has undergone a slow mugging since 1981 and the Reagan administration; to quote Willie Sutton, "That's where the money was."
6
To me, the Orwellian quote about human beings 'who at least intermittently, want struggle and self-sacrifice, not to mention drums, flags and loyalty-parades' means that boredom is just as much at the heart of this popular revolt as anger. Using the (a)social media, popular discontent can be aired in many foul and instantaneously exciting and satisfying ways - but with hardly any real effect. Politicians who promise to hear it and do something about it will win the day. Vox populi vox dei.
It's obvious to me that we are in an era where capitalism has overcome all of our moral traditions. The Golden Rule today has nothing to do with human interactions but to the goal of squeezing every single cent possible out of every single financial transactions. Business managers are being forced to meet the demands of their stockholders and executives or start looking for another job.
You see it everywhere you go. Department stores no longer employ people to assist customers, they are only there to restock the shelves. I ran into a store employee who didn't even speak English. I felt bad for her because she was the only one working in her department.
Airlines no longer offer meals, they offer peanuts (literally and figuratively). You even have to do your own baggage handling or wait on a system that hasn't changed in decades.
The worst are our state and local governments. They have sat by while bridges and roads have crumbled because they know that if they take people's money by raising taxes (God Forbid!!) that they will lose their jobs.
I know that people are angry because I am angry. I am more than the amount of money I have in the bank. I have a right to be treated at all times with respect and dignity, not only when I'm spending money. I believe it's time that we start thinking about upgrading our economic system to serve people instead of ruling them.
You see it everywhere you go. Department stores no longer employ people to assist customers, they are only there to restock the shelves. I ran into a store employee who didn't even speak English. I felt bad for her because she was the only one working in her department.
Airlines no longer offer meals, they offer peanuts (literally and figuratively). You even have to do your own baggage handling or wait on a system that hasn't changed in decades.
The worst are our state and local governments. They have sat by while bridges and roads have crumbled because they know that if they take people's money by raising taxes (God Forbid!!) that they will lose their jobs.
I know that people are angry because I am angry. I am more than the amount of money I have in the bank. I have a right to be treated at all times with respect and dignity, not only when I'm spending money. I believe it's time that we start thinking about upgrading our economic system to serve people instead of ruling them.
12
Joseph Thomas,
Unions for Employees of Tax-Supported Organizations?
Almost all of the money to pay federal, local, state, city, county, school districts, and other local government employees comes from the property taxes, sales taxes and utility bills that are paid for by the local taxpayers.
How much money can these governments take from the taxpayers before those taxpayers move their businesses to the suburbs or to a foreign nation as required to take advantage of less expensive government and lower taxes?
I believe that the USA needs new national federal laws that will outlaw all unions and other organizations representing employees that are working for any federal, state, county, city, school, hospital district, flood control district, and/or any other tax supported organization from financially supporting elected officials because these organizations are bankrupting our local governments.
Public service organizations representing government employees have an unfair advantage when they are negotiating wage and benefit contracts with the same elected politicians that the same unions helped to elect with campaign contributions from union member’s dues!
These government employee's unions negotiate with the same elected politicians that they financially contributed money (union dues) to in the elections for the union member's requests to have the politician vote to take more money from the taxpayers and then give that tax money to the government employees!
Unions for Employees of Tax-Supported Organizations?
Almost all of the money to pay federal, local, state, city, county, school districts, and other local government employees comes from the property taxes, sales taxes and utility bills that are paid for by the local taxpayers.
How much money can these governments take from the taxpayers before those taxpayers move their businesses to the suburbs or to a foreign nation as required to take advantage of less expensive government and lower taxes?
I believe that the USA needs new national federal laws that will outlaw all unions and other organizations representing employees that are working for any federal, state, county, city, school, hospital district, flood control district, and/or any other tax supported organization from financially supporting elected officials because these organizations are bankrupting our local governments.
Public service organizations representing government employees have an unfair advantage when they are negotiating wage and benefit contracts with the same elected politicians that the same unions helped to elect with campaign contributions from union member’s dues!
These government employee's unions negotiate with the same elected politicians that they financially contributed money (union dues) to in the elections for the union member's requests to have the politician vote to take more money from the taxpayers and then give that tax money to the government employees!
1
It seems to me that capitalism, inspired by greed, is destroying democracy. I just don't know if it is possible to separate the two.
1
Gerald, you simply do not understand that unions create contracts with municipalities and other governments through a process if collective bargaining.
And here in liberal New York, the ultimate union weapon, the strike, is legally prohibited by law. That law not only sanctions the union, but penalizes every striker two days pay for every day on strike.
Unions are not the problem. Cowardly, incompetent politicians are the problem.
And here in liberal New York, the ultimate union weapon, the strike, is legally prohibited by law. That law not only sanctions the union, but penalizes every striker two days pay for every day on strike.
Unions are not the problem. Cowardly, incompetent politicians are the problem.
4
Ah yes, and to think that we could have had Hillary.
2
Yep, makes me really sad. We could be just dealing, competently and rationally, with the normal dramas of the world, rather than watching Mango Man create them.
Sigh.
Sigh.
1
I'd hazard a guess that after everyone experiences the lies, charades, stupidity and missteps of trump and company and his looting of the treasury we are ripe for a violent revolution.
4
Cohen: "The issue is the anger."
Agree with comment about anger, but believe the problem for many of those who are angry is their belief that they are expressing a righteous anger, so it becomes justified.
Agree with comment about anger, but believe the problem for many of those who are angry is their belief that they are expressing a righteous anger, so it becomes justified.
3
One can argue persuasively that the tendency to wars in the wakes of military build-ups is counter-productive and messy, but others in this forum (liberals most stridently) might argue as well that we need SOME means of reducing the fatal increase in mankind’s numbers without resorting to the REAL ending Dan Brown wrote for his “Inferno”, rather than the one that Ron Howard concocted as a more comforting one for his movie.
One can argue persuasively over anything, instead of generating material economic activity, which is what, in the end, feeds people and buys them their Band-Aids. But the arguments don’t seem to have much impact on the madness of crowds, and never have.
We’ve been complaining forever about the inherent unfairness of Life, the Universe and Everything, an inequality of life-outcomes that existed when our distant forbears first swung out of trees at the edges of African savannahs and started making SERIOUS nuisances of themselves, right through to this very day; with as little real effect on the reality almost all must get up, shower and shave to confront every workday.
The madness of crowds, including those on BA flights charged three bucks for a cuppa Taylor’s Builder’s, is nothing more than the nutrient agar ANY opportunistic bacterium seeks to multiply – whether a name is Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, or Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn. The difference is that usually only one is successful at exploiting that agar, while others … aren’t.
One can argue persuasively over anything, instead of generating material economic activity, which is what, in the end, feeds people and buys them their Band-Aids. But the arguments don’t seem to have much impact on the madness of crowds, and never have.
We’ve been complaining forever about the inherent unfairness of Life, the Universe and Everything, an inequality of life-outcomes that existed when our distant forbears first swung out of trees at the edges of African savannahs and started making SERIOUS nuisances of themselves, right through to this very day; with as little real effect on the reality almost all must get up, shower and shave to confront every workday.
The madness of crowds, including those on BA flights charged three bucks for a cuppa Taylor’s Builder’s, is nothing more than the nutrient agar ANY opportunistic bacterium seeks to multiply – whether a name is Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, or Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn. The difference is that usually only one is successful at exploiting that agar, while others … aren’t.
3
If it's population control you're looking for, Richard, I think most people would agree that war is not the ideal answer. Contraception is more practical and infinitely less expensive (if only all organized religions would get on board). And I would venture that many people who oppose abortion would find it a preferential alternative as well.
5
D Price:
It's an oft-noted truism that people rarely bend to the rational. That's a big reason why we HAVE wars, apart from reducing the numbers of what so MANY liberals in this forum have described as the "superfluous".
It's an oft-noted truism that people rarely bend to the rational. That's a big reason why we HAVE wars, apart from reducing the numbers of what so MANY liberals in this forum have described as the "superfluous".
2
Maybe, rather than getting all riled up about paying $3 for a cup of tea, just don't have tea?
8
Brilliant. You really stretched ...
3
Maybe instead of just getting riled up about jobs, shelter and food, just don't have them?
4
That's good start, but it's not quite enough.
1
Great article but you were all in for the party that wanted the status quo of all the rip offs and received $200,000 an hour for a speech to the founders of this mess. Of course, congress under Reagan Clinton, Bush and Obama gave them the looseness to rob the American taxpayers along with fossil fuel, pharma, military industrial complex, medical industrial complex, the killing chemical industries i.e. Monsanto, Dupont et al who sell their killing wares to the big agricultural conglomerates.
For how many years have they not been held accountable for unleashing these greedy sycophants upon us. Both parties have given them the keys to coffers.
For how many years have they not been held accountable for unleashing these greedy sycophants upon us. Both parties have given them the keys to coffers.
16
$200,00 a speech vs. $200,000 PER MEMBER to hobnob with Trump at his private, elite whites-only club. You want to stop elites from running the country so you now have more billionaires than at any time in history running the government - three of whom made their fortunes by profiteering on the poor.
9
Mr. Cohen, the public has been complaining for a long time about the country being looted at their cost, but the money lords have been tone deaf. When you don't pay attention and take it for granted that they are just 'whiny losers', this is what you get.
How long did you think people will continue reading about CEOs taking home 10s of millions a year, and hedge fund managers taking 25 Billion a year and put up with it? You do realize that those so-called hedge fund profits are coming out of mutual funds, pension funds, essentially public's assets and going straight into the pockets of thieves who don't even pay taxes. Let's put it this way, if the elite don't get the message again, next time it will be much worse, and much more violent.
How long did you think people will continue reading about CEOs taking home 10s of millions a year, and hedge fund managers taking 25 Billion a year and put up with it? You do realize that those so-called hedge fund profits are coming out of mutual funds, pension funds, essentially public's assets and going straight into the pockets of thieves who don't even pay taxes. Let's put it this way, if the elite don't get the message again, next time it will be much worse, and much more violent.
28
So the solution would be to elect the party of the 1% and a man who has lived his entire silver spoon, selfish life ripping people off.
4
So you voted to put the looters in charge? What moronic logic. One who exploits sub-minimum wage labor, churning his work force to make sure none qualify for medical benefits or unemployment insurance, another who made a billion dollars foreclosing on mortgages held by the poor - one who owed only $68, another who spent his years out of the army making millions per year advising the Soviet era government of Vladimir Putin, another who lobbied for a dictator attempting to suppress democracy in Ukraine, another who spent her vast - inherited - fortune trying to make sure that no black child in Detroit ever receives an education....this is your solution after eight years of prosperity, growth, unprecedented job creation and an expanding world influence and restored credibility. Stupidity obviously knows one party in particular and it is the Republican party.
8
Mnuchin, Ross, mcMahon, and the withdrawn Army and Navy Secretaries and maybe the President are all billionaires.
So those are the guys you trust to put the little people first? Those guys, westsider?
So those are the guys you trust to put the little people first? Those guys, westsider?
3
There is nothing that elites like more than watching one powerless group directing its anger at another powerless group.
Follow the money -- and don't be distracted by hate fomented by those who are exploiting you.
Follow the money -- and don't be distracted by hate fomented by those who are exploiting you.
28
" There is nothing elites like more than watching one powerless group directing its anger at another powerless group. Follow the money--and don't be distracted by the hate fomented by those who are exploiting you.
"
This is the most important comment I've read on any piece related to the current American situation.
"
This is the most important comment I've read on any piece related to the current American situation.
So it seems that at bottom the anger stems from capitalism run amok. Three bucks for a cup of tea extorted from a captive audience, insurance (most notably pre Obamacare health insurance) that is ubiquitous until you need it then it's like pulling teeth, easy credit via Visa, Mastercard and the like on good terms until you're trapped then 29% interest while you get 0.1% back from your savings, prescription drug prices through the roof (but maybe Big Pharma can help - until you're hooked).
Ad yet somehow politicians, mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well, extol the virtue of this unfettered behemoth that, of course, feeds their Super PACs. Imagine if it had been Bernie instead of The Donald, the Democrats had the opportunity to be the broom and instead they conceded the point to Pig Pen personified.
It's going to take a long time to clean up this mess - and the right says with complete lack of irony - Thanks, Obama.
Ad yet somehow politicians, mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well, extol the virtue of this unfettered behemoth that, of course, feeds their Super PACs. Imagine if it had been Bernie instead of The Donald, the Democrats had the opportunity to be the broom and instead they conceded the point to Pig Pen personified.
It's going to take a long time to clean up this mess - and the right says with complete lack of irony - Thanks, Obama.
7
Maybe you could have found a less elitist example than being charged $3 for a cup of tea?
7
Ah, but you forget. Mr. Cohen IS an elitist. In fact, I think that's how he defines himself in all sincerity. At least he is honest about it.
1
There is anger out there, but Trump is primarily a salesman who convinced many of the "poorly educated" (people he loves) and a lot of others, that he was a businessman turned magician who would "make America great again"--whatever that means--by bringing back jobs that will never return, shaking a fist at allies, bullying enemies, deporting millions of immigrants, and winning at everything. He predicted we would get tired of winning. I wait with ever increasing alarm at the ignorance, alternate facts, and downright lies coming from of the Russian in the big White House.
6
Your $3 tea on BA, sums it up.
Buffet makes billions buying and selling stocks.
Private equity kingpins make billions off companies they often strip out, or that sometimes recover of their own accord (but the PE guys take the glory anyway).
Company executives make hundreds of millions regardless of how their companies do, and even when the companies do well, the executives and shareholders capture almost every bit of gain.
Where does that leave the "average" person?
Paying $3 for tea on airplanes.
Without health insurance.
Not making enough to support a family.
Etc, etc., etc....
No reason, really, to be angry!!!
Unfortunately, as with crackpots through history, understandable yet misdirected anger of the people has put a loony into our Presidency.
And the misdirected who put DonT into the White House have been doing the same with Republicans, election after election.
"Want my vote? Wrap yourself in an American flag, talk about patriotism. What do I care if you destroy every program that helps me and my family or will help take care of me as I dodder off into old age?"
Who to blame? "We the people."
Buffet makes billions buying and selling stocks.
Private equity kingpins make billions off companies they often strip out, or that sometimes recover of their own accord (but the PE guys take the glory anyway).
Company executives make hundreds of millions regardless of how their companies do, and even when the companies do well, the executives and shareholders capture almost every bit of gain.
Where does that leave the "average" person?
Paying $3 for tea on airplanes.
Without health insurance.
Not making enough to support a family.
Etc, etc., etc....
No reason, really, to be angry!!!
Unfortunately, as with crackpots through history, understandable yet misdirected anger of the people has put a loony into our Presidency.
And the misdirected who put DonT into the White House have been doing the same with Republicans, election after election.
"Want my vote? Wrap yourself in an American flag, talk about patriotism. What do I care if you destroy every program that helps me and my family or will help take care of me as I dodder off into old age?"
Who to blame? "We the people."
12
Short attention spans, a preference for simple explanations, and the wish to be "comforted" (even if that means lied to) by promises and generalizations that we can mold to fit our own prejudices and world-views. These are the characteristics that have led to a Trump being elected. Years of media catering to the lowest common denominator, relying on anecdotes rather than statistics, pursuing simplistic morality plays, and serving up pictures and one-sentence explanations have brought us to this state of affairs.
Was the start of our trend against intellectualism when we chose Eisenhower over the "egg head" Adlai Stevenson? [and, compared to Trump or GWB, Eisenhower was an intellectual giant!]. Perhaps the pendulum swing we're on now is away from serious thought and analysis and toward believing, against all evidence, in hucksters and con men. The only good news is that, from Trump, we can only go back up, because we can't get lower. Or so I hope.
Was the start of our trend against intellectualism when we chose Eisenhower over the "egg head" Adlai Stevenson? [and, compared to Trump or GWB, Eisenhower was an intellectual giant!]. Perhaps the pendulum swing we're on now is away from serious thought and analysis and toward believing, against all evidence, in hucksters and con men. The only good news is that, from Trump, we can only go back up, because we can't get lower. Or so I hope.
9
Just take a look at any photo of the crowds at Trump's rallies--it's all white people.
12
Ditto, those at Bernie rallies. Both extremes were scary and bad for the U.S. Yet, the boys club is what was left standing amid the mud wrestling of 2016.
2
Amen! Thank you. I saw great and scary similarities between the angry faces at a Trump rally and the angry faces of a gauntlet of Bernie supporters shouting abuse at hillary supporters as they attempted to enter a fundraiser for her.
Two angry old white male demagogues, whipping up anger and viciousness with simplistic slogans and scapegoating - the slogans and scapegoats were different, but the emotional feel was the same.
Two angry old white male demagogues, whipping up anger and viciousness with simplistic slogans and scapegoating - the slogans and scapegoats were different, but the emotional feel was the same.
Go ahead Mary, try to slag Sanders on race.
Because while Sanders was co-chairing the Congress on Racial Equality and getting arrested fighting housing discrimination, Clinton was campaigning for Barry Goldwater and running for President of the College Republicans. Then she was on the Board of Directors for Wal-Mart, a paragon of racial and gender justice (sarcasm).
I do believe you've been suckered.
Because while Sanders was co-chairing the Congress on Racial Equality and getting arrested fighting housing discrimination, Clinton was campaigning for Barry Goldwater and running for President of the College Republicans. Then she was on the Board of Directors for Wal-Mart, a paragon of racial and gender justice (sarcasm).
I do believe you've been suckered.
I just do not buy the anger story. If people are constantly told about how angry everyone is (started in the media) then eventually a large swathe of people fee that they are SUPPOSED to feel angry. This is a self fulling prophecy. Millions have been empowered, by racism (Trump and Brexiters knows exactly what buttons to press).
If political spin doctors repeat this mantra enough times then it becomes a fact. 'Crooked Hillary' Little Marco', 'fake news', Obama not being an American, etc, etc, etc,
Historians are over analyzing why Trump won until the cows come home. Comey lost Hillary the elections. He demolished her 12 point lead, and there was no time for her to recover. Despite her disastrous campaign she was still well on track to win. Trump was not in a winning position at all until Comey sabotaged her lead.
Yes, people are frustrated, and disillusioned. That's part of life. I am angry how Trump and the Tories are now destroying our countries. I am fearful of Trump as our President.
Obama left office with unemployment at a record low. Jobs were being created. Democrats need a FAKE TRUMP mantra, day in and day out. It is truly dangerous how much influence this President has on utterances that are complete lies.
If political spin doctors repeat this mantra enough times then it becomes a fact. 'Crooked Hillary' Little Marco', 'fake news', Obama not being an American, etc, etc, etc,
Historians are over analyzing why Trump won until the cows come home. Comey lost Hillary the elections. He demolished her 12 point lead, and there was no time for her to recover. Despite her disastrous campaign she was still well on track to win. Trump was not in a winning position at all until Comey sabotaged her lead.
Yes, people are frustrated, and disillusioned. That's part of life. I am angry how Trump and the Tories are now destroying our countries. I am fearful of Trump as our President.
Obama left office with unemployment at a record low. Jobs were being created. Democrats need a FAKE TRUMP mantra, day in and day out. It is truly dangerous how much influence this President has on utterances that are complete lies.
16
So you are saying that the "political spin doctors" that work for Trump spread "fake news" although they insist they are spreading truth! I agree! the pot continues to call the kettle black!
1
Read Crowds and Power by Elias Canetti. Or Wilhelm Reich's People in Trouble. The first is a scholarly examination of the crowd phenomenon through history. The second is Reich's first hand account of what people in crowds were like in 1920s Germany before Hitler came to power. After you finish these books, start praying.
14
Thank you for citing Reich. I am re-reading the Mass Psychology of Fascism. He saw clearly.
I've unearthed my copy of Bernard Baruch's "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds."
A psychological researcher named Robert Lifton has devoted his life to studying tyrannical regimes, from Hitler to Kim Jong Un. One tool all of them use is called the "thought stopping cliche." The TSC short circuits further thought on any subject and shuts down debate. Trump has used these to great effect, starting with "Make America Great Again." The term "law and order" is a TSC, as is "the law is the law." Declaring EVERYTHING that he didn't do himself a "disaster," is, I believe, another form of that.
27
"Hope and change" is another one, except that it's even a greater TSC: it's entirely devoid of meaning.
2
Drain the Swamp, an oxymoron in this administration.
1
To complain about a $3 cup of tea 'ripoff' while wanna-be authoritarian fascist lunatics work to deconstruct our democracy seems as narcissistic as a Trump tweet.
11
People who are angry and clueless end up cutting off their nose to spite their face.
22
This is a powerful little essay. The idea that reason can be turned into the primary guide for most human beings is preposterous, but somehow, despite the evidence, many very good people and very profound thinkers not only believed in it, but promoted it as the way toward progress.
How blind we've all been to the truth: Pride and the misery that comes with humiliation drive human beings far more than reason.
How blind we've all been to the truth: Pride and the misery that comes with humiliation drive human beings far more than reason.
12
Mr. Cohen, one can also argue that under eight years of President Obama's reign of calm, cool, intelligence, and common-sense, by not inflaming and calling ISIS as Islamist terrorists has not appeased nor contained ISIS, but allowing it to spread from Iraq to Syria and beyond. The intelligence and common sense of not calling out Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, etc., in accepting Syrian refugees did not do much good either (of course, it's a lot more complicated than that, it's a Sunni versus Shiite ideology born from Wahhabism). The list goes on. Common sense also indicates clearly that President Obama was not responsible for any of these problems. In all fairness, Trump has only been in the White House for a little more than a month, but the daily exaggerations and gloom and doom forecasted by the media are exasperating. Do you still remember that the stock market was supposed to collapse if Trump were to become the President of the United States of America? Probably not for you have already moved on to forecast greater doom and gloom such as a war with Iran by Trump's mid-term or perhaps sooner. What have happened to your intelligence, calm, and common sense, Mr. Cohen?
3
Americans have been fighting things since our nation began. The British, slavery, Indians, the Germans, booze, the Germans again, communism...But, once we "beat" communism, we basically ran out of enemies. "Global Islamic Terrorism" doesn't count because everyone knows it is basically a joke akin to the U.S. military trying to pacify a bunch of Pacific island nations. So, in lieu of a real enemy, we created the biggest, baddest enemy we could think of: ourselves. We have awesome power that could be used for "good", whatever that means to you. Taming ourselves will be a long arduous struggle worthy of WWII type footage. In this war, everywhere is the battlefield and everything is fair game. Is it any wonder why half the country wants to be on drugs?
1
One thing is certain the NYT helped Trump get elected in the same way as the President helps the NYT in readership an an odd way I call it oxymoron. One may ask are the assumptions of Cohen true??? Are so many Americans potato heads ?? Many might conclude the depth of Roger Cohens analysis can not fill a Post-it Note. For starters how many Jobs moved overseas in the last eight years the doubling or our national debt to the tune of 20 trillion dollars in just eight years how we were lied to in Obamacare it was supposed to be better healthcare for less and our foreign policy were our allies were treated as enemies and respect was granted to our foes.
2
There will be an increasing amount of anger as the world's population grows. When more and more mice are added to a 10 x 10 cage with fixed inputs of food and water, the inmates become increasingly aggressive. The weaker ones will be eaten; the stronger ones will battle to death.
1
Why are people so angry today in the Western world, why the tension even though things are arguably better than they have ever been historically, what is the meaning of this contradictory/paradoxical situation?
The feeling is somewhat like a balloon having been blown up past the point at which we are comfortable; we gingerly touch it wondering if it will pop. It seems the West is overloaded with too many people of differing type, that administration is overloaded, that coherence in the round as historically understood is no longer workable but no better balloon can be imagined.
Maybe a dirigible is a better analogy. A dirigible having difficulty getting off the ground, a lead Zeppelin. Too many people with too many possessions in a highly flammable machine and administration, captaincy of such is getting more and more concerned, just telling people to be calm, pretending freedom, democracy as previously understood still exists even though people are aware every aspect of their lives is more and more "confine yourself to cabin until liftoff".
It would seem technological/administrative advancement (political/economic) over the past couple hundred years has been both idealistic yet uncontrollable, the belief that all people can have hopes realized yet the dirigible crashed a number of times, most notably as WW1 and 2. Now the same idealism exists but systems have grown wary after previous disasters and control is being applied to keep dirigible at least above tree top.
The feeling is somewhat like a balloon having been blown up past the point at which we are comfortable; we gingerly touch it wondering if it will pop. It seems the West is overloaded with too many people of differing type, that administration is overloaded, that coherence in the round as historically understood is no longer workable but no better balloon can be imagined.
Maybe a dirigible is a better analogy. A dirigible having difficulty getting off the ground, a lead Zeppelin. Too many people with too many possessions in a highly flammable machine and administration, captaincy of such is getting more and more concerned, just telling people to be calm, pretending freedom, democracy as previously understood still exists even though people are aware every aspect of their lives is more and more "confine yourself to cabin until liftoff".
It would seem technological/administrative advancement (political/economic) over the past couple hundred years has been both idealistic yet uncontrollable, the belief that all people can have hopes realized yet the dirigible crashed a number of times, most notably as WW1 and 2. Now the same idealism exists but systems have grown wary after previous disasters and control is being applied to keep dirigible at least above tree top.
"They ask what the deal is when job numbers are pretty good and Warren Buffett, no less, says the American economy will continue to perform its wealth-making miracle."
Mr. Cohen, I am somewhat astounded by this. There is no doubt that the numbers are good and Warren Buffett will certainly continue to make a
profit. Many people will continue to make a profit. The problem, as has been pointed out by Thomas Piketty in mind-boggling detail, is inequality in the sharing of that profit.
Many are angry because they do the same as their parents, but are far worse off. That stellar economy which will continue "to perform its wealth-making miracle" will pass them by. They work just as hard as their parents but take home "less". F. Scott Fitzgerald is credited with the saying, "the rich get richer and the poor get-children".
That is why people are angry. The middle class is the new poor in terms of inequality.
Is Donald Trump the answer?
Time will tell.
"BA in its brilliance wanted to charge me about three bucks for a cup of tea."
As for the $3.00 cuppa on BA, see below the prices of tea at a well-known US cafe franchise. How much does a tea bag cost? (yes I know only non-British philistines would use a tea bag). Skip the tea. Income inequality is not so easily skipped.
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Tall $2.45
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Grande $2.95
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Venti $3.45
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Trenta $3.95
Mr. Cohen, I am somewhat astounded by this. There is no doubt that the numbers are good and Warren Buffett will certainly continue to make a
profit. Many people will continue to make a profit. The problem, as has been pointed out by Thomas Piketty in mind-boggling detail, is inequality in the sharing of that profit.
Many are angry because they do the same as their parents, but are far worse off. That stellar economy which will continue "to perform its wealth-making miracle" will pass them by. They work just as hard as their parents but take home "less". F. Scott Fitzgerald is credited with the saying, "the rich get richer and the poor get-children".
That is why people are angry. The middle class is the new poor in terms of inequality.
Is Donald Trump the answer?
Time will tell.
"BA in its brilliance wanted to charge me about three bucks for a cup of tea."
As for the $3.00 cuppa on BA, see below the prices of tea at a well-known US cafe franchise. How much does a tea bag cost? (yes I know only non-British philistines would use a tea bag). Skip the tea. Income inequality is not so easily skipped.
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Tall $2.45
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Grande $2.95
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Venti $3.45
Teavana® Shaken Iced Black Tea Lemonade Trenta $3.95
3
When ordinary people, mostly quite decent, believe that someone like Donald Trump is their salvation, you can be quite sure that something pretty bad is coming down the pike. In fact, their potential victims are starting to be lined up.
4
I am sure all the Wall Street executives who have moved into the Trump administration will solve all of these problems. Then there will no more anger. Believe Him.
3
People are angry and for good reason. Unfortunately, the powers that be don't want to deal with the real reasons that why we have TRUMP. dealing with the real problems would upset their friends and paymasters. When a mayor of NYC who is being investigated for pay to play corruption, snears and says of course I help my friends and feels assured he will maintain his progressive mantel and the mayor's office, you know we have a problem. We should all be very angry.
2
Network, 1976 film. Read the plot synopsis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_(film)
Howard Beale (Peter Finch) mobilising the angry population with
"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
And here we are again.
Howard Beale (Peter Finch) mobilising the angry population with
"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
And here we are again.
2
Can we hear a little Nietzsche here? He had both a diagnosis and a prescription. He told us that ressentiment is the narcotic we cannot help desiring to deaden pain of any kind and summed up his vision with the line, "That mankind be delivered from the spirit of revenge, that is the bridge to the highest hope for me and a rainbow after long storms." We need to include ourselves in the number of angry men and get interested in this unifying disease. As Bill Wilson told us, resentment is the source of all forms of spiritual disease and when this spiritual malady is overcome we straighten out mentally and physically.
3
Here's why some might be angry.
Back in 2008 to 2011, some very wealthy people should have gone to jail.
Back in 2009 to 2011, some very politically powerful people should have gone to jail, or at least been seeing the inside of a courtroom.
That didn't happen.
All attempts at repairing the calamity caused by those persons were thwarted.
The world was allowed to forget that business and government is meant to serve HUMAN BEINGS. Everything was supposed to be organized around that.
It wasn't.
People are now mad.
Back in 2008 to 2011, some very wealthy people should have gone to jail.
Back in 2009 to 2011, some very politically powerful people should have gone to jail, or at least been seeing the inside of a courtroom.
That didn't happen.
All attempts at repairing the calamity caused by those persons were thwarted.
The world was allowed to forget that business and government is meant to serve HUMAN BEINGS. Everything was supposed to be organized around that.
It wasn't.
People are now mad.
8
So you vote for the guy whose 100-day plan includes deregulating the banking system.
Yep, that'll do it.
Yep, that'll do it.
1
"So you vote for the guy whose 100-day plan includes deregulating the banking system."
Not at all. I didn't vote for Mr. Trump. My candidate was Mrs. Clinton. I was just trying to illustrate why there might be some justified anger abroad in the public from near the end of Mr. G.W. Bush's 2nd term up to now.
As I commented previously, anyone who was paying attention just couldn't support the Republican candidate. And I think it is now clear why.
Not at all. I didn't vote for Mr. Trump. My candidate was Mrs. Clinton. I was just trying to illustrate why there might be some justified anger abroad in the public from near the end of Mr. G.W. Bush's 2nd term up to now.
As I commented previously, anyone who was paying attention just couldn't support the Republican candidate. And I think it is now clear why.
Not surprising since Trump is a capitalist who is a predator, which means he does not care about anyone else; neither do the capitalists who are predators who support and who control Trump.
And also, Trump and they believe that because they have amassed so much unnecessary and obscene amounts of money and wealth at the expense of others; and that Trump and they believe that their piles of dough demonstrate that they are the most fit of the human animal species.
We must confront Trump regularly to keep him from ripping Americans off. Four, 4. years in office is 208 weeks, (some of which has passed), 208 weeks to do all that those who do not believe in capitalists being predators can do to stop him from his destructiveness.
As Eisenhower warned we need to beware of the military industrial establishment.
And also, Trump and they believe that because they have amassed so much unnecessary and obscene amounts of money and wealth at the expense of others; and that Trump and they believe that their piles of dough demonstrate that they are the most fit of the human animal species.
We must confront Trump regularly to keep him from ripping Americans off. Four, 4. years in office is 208 weeks, (some of which has passed), 208 weeks to do all that those who do not believe in capitalists being predators can do to stop him from his destructiveness.
As Eisenhower warned we need to beware of the military industrial establishment.
2
A person or group that ruthlessly exploits others is a predatory person and predatory people.
Thank you, Mr. Cohen.
Sober & frightening.
Maybe ostriches have developed a rather adaptive coping mechanism.
Sober & frightening.
Maybe ostriches have developed a rather adaptive coping mechanism.
4
Between the myth of America and the reality lies the corruption. We the people...don't think so. Ask Jamie Diamond or Donald Trump what that means? Suckers. The only answer I can see is to get serious about educating your citizens as the United States of Central North America did after WW11.
6
People are angry because the 'American Dream' has evaporated. The US started life blessed with cheap food, cheap energy, cheap labor and acres of empty space - thanks to vast fertile plains, vast amounts of fossil fuels and vast numbers of immigrants. It really was a place where a hard-working person could take advantage of opportunity while enjoying the privilege of political and religious freedom (African-Americans excepted, of course).
That's all changed with 'globalization', as improved communications enable other countries to offer goods and services, delivered in the US, at lower prices.
We must accept that the world is different now, educate our citizens accordingly, and adopt policies that help accommodate society to this reality.
That's all changed with 'globalization', as improved communications enable other countries to offer goods and services, delivered in the US, at lower prices.
We must accept that the world is different now, educate our citizens accordingly, and adopt policies that help accommodate society to this reality.
2
People are squeezed and when they read the news (if they read the news) it's a stream of stories about profit taking, party loyalty, obstruction and campaign contributions. People feel as though the system is rigged because it is. This anger, however, is misguided. Technology eliminates jobs, Wall street guts companies in search of profits, big banks crash the economy, corporations move work and headquarters overseas to avoid taxes. All the while, Washington is stuck in inertia.
The irony, of course, is that the masses elect republicans. The very people who are responsible for the majority of the problems in this country. Banks crash the economy? The gop wants to repeal Dodd-Frank so they have the ability to do it again. Healthcare costs spiral out of control and people can't get coverage? The gop wants to eliminate the ACA. You want clean air and water? The gop wants to eliminate the EPA. Want greater voter participation? The gop backs voter suppression. Want strong education? Betty DeVos. etc, etc, etc. Name one positive thing that republicans have done in this country over the last 8 years. They are slaves to corporations, the 1% and, most importantly, greed. They only thing they are good at is scaring the public and getting elected.
The irony, of course, is that the masses elect republicans. The very people who are responsible for the majority of the problems in this country. Banks crash the economy? The gop wants to repeal Dodd-Frank so they have the ability to do it again. Healthcare costs spiral out of control and people can't get coverage? The gop wants to eliminate the ACA. You want clean air and water? The gop wants to eliminate the EPA. Want greater voter participation? The gop backs voter suppression. Want strong education? Betty DeVos. etc, etc, etc. Name one positive thing that republicans have done in this country over the last 8 years. They are slaves to corporations, the 1% and, most importantly, greed. They only thing they are good at is scaring the public and getting elected.
4
Re: your "cuppa"...have you tried flying "economy class" lately? Pay extra for a seat next to your spouse? Pay extra for 4 more inches of leg room? Pay extra to check in without a line? Pay $100 for an extra checked bag?
We are living in that bottom-line intoxicated state you see. Now place yourself in the shoes of the day to day working stiff. Not only the gardener, the housemaid, the Way-Mart clerk, but the office pool secretary, the department store clerk, the insurance salesman...or the coal miner, the construction worker, the railroad maintenance worker et al. They, not all, are the trump voters. And by golly, I sympathize with them. They have been ripped off, cheated. And now they ar3 being bamboozled by the so-called President. Our great American capitalist system combined with rigid, ideological politics, has reaped what is sowed.
We are living in that bottom-line intoxicated state you see. Now place yourself in the shoes of the day to day working stiff. Not only the gardener, the housemaid, the Way-Mart clerk, but the office pool secretary, the department store clerk, the insurance salesman...or the coal miner, the construction worker, the railroad maintenance worker et al. They, not all, are the trump voters. And by golly, I sympathize with them. They have been ripped off, cheated. And now they ar3 being bamboozled by the so-called President. Our great American capitalist system combined with rigid, ideological politics, has reaped what is sowed.
1
At whom are Trump supporters angry? From what I can glean, this seems to be a partial catalog:
Corporations and the 1% who they perceive have rigged the system in their favor.
The GOP leadership who they perceive as being interested only in serving the wealthy.
Government workers who still enjoy what they once enjoyed before their unions and jobs were destroyed.
People in their community who abuse opioids while receiving government benefits paid for by their taxes.
The leadership of the Democratic Party who they believe exist to look out for the interests of those in government, in the LGBT community and Black Lives movement, but not their interests.
Corporations and the 1% who they perceive have rigged the system in their favor.
The GOP leadership who they perceive as being interested only in serving the wealthy.
Government workers who still enjoy what they once enjoyed before their unions and jobs were destroyed.
People in their community who abuse opioids while receiving government benefits paid for by their taxes.
The leadership of the Democratic Party who they believe exist to look out for the interests of those in government, in the LGBT community and Black Lives movement, but not their interests.
3
Convincing people to vote against their self-interest is apparently not all that difficult. Cloaking your true intentions with maudlin patriotism, offering up villains to blame for all problems, and promising solutions that don't stand up to the slightest scrutiny -- these are all tried-and-true methods. Nothing new under the sun here.
7
In America white nationalist politics will lead us into another stupid war or wars. I once heard Peter Mattheson comment about how "men go off in their heads and do the most terrible things." The US has never been more prosperous and safe, yet 60 million plus voters were willing to put this monster in the White House. The US already consumes 25% of the world's resources, but that is not "enough." Never have been more ashamed to be an American.
4
Trump's grotesque vulgarity and mendacity, (#2 in the "Would you buy a used car from this man? category) and seeming total free-float from governance has generated a rage on the left and also among Republicans I know and can talk to comfortably, at the idea that Our Still Great America has been kidnapped by a buffoon in manner, instinct, and drive.
This has been called snobbism, which it is, but its roots are in the same Great America heart that beats in the Left (if rarely acknowledged). The presidents who have been almost adulated, JFKennedy, Ronald Reagan, FDR, the Founders, were all outwardly gentlemen and made for a kind of general pride that coexisted with policy disagreements both mild and ferocious.
If Trump carried himself like JFK or Reagan, how would we all be adjusting?
This has been called snobbism, which it is, but its roots are in the same Great America heart that beats in the Left (if rarely acknowledged). The presidents who have been almost adulated, JFKennedy, Ronald Reagan, FDR, the Founders, were all outwardly gentlemen and made for a kind of general pride that coexisted with policy disagreements both mild and ferocious.
If Trump carried himself like JFK or Reagan, how would we all be adjusting?
"the system that produces such rip-offs is ripe for the furies": Hey, Roger, you're finally beginning to get it. Congratulations!
2
This has some good information but is written with such a smug attitude that I stopped reading it.
4
And yet, you're a Trump supporter.
1
Do you know this from something previous or is it just an overstated assumption, Trump-fashion?
2
Well lots of people grow up in dysfunctional families and if there is anything that typifies the Trump beginning it is that lies enrage people.
"Mexico will pay for the Wall", I mean "The US taxpayer will pay for the Wall"
"I know the best people". Betsy DeVos?? Pudzer? Kellyanne/Spicer/Miller??
"Healthcare will be a seamless transition to something better" "uh, we got nothin"
Our reps came home, hid out, and then told their own constituents they were paid to call in. Mine was spotted in Las Vegas - the speculation was Sheldon Adelson told Cory Gardner to get over there.
Lies makes people mad.
"Mexico will pay for the Wall", I mean "The US taxpayer will pay for the Wall"
"I know the best people". Betsy DeVos?? Pudzer? Kellyanne/Spicer/Miller??
"Healthcare will be a seamless transition to something better" "uh, we got nothin"
Our reps came home, hid out, and then told their own constituents they were paid to call in. Mine was spotted in Las Vegas - the speculation was Sheldon Adelson told Cory Gardner to get over there.
Lies makes people mad.
6
It may be "a small thing" but it is an absolutely perfect example of the extraction process. This, of course, after you have bought your ticket and then are offered the opportunity to "buy" a seat with microscopically more leg room "to enhance the comfort experience of your trip".
3
The full title of the book you allude to in your title is Extraordinary Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. You discuss the madness of the crowd. I'd like to focus on the extraordinary delusions.
Mr. Trump is notorious for spinning these extraordinary delusions, assisted by a host of surrogates who clutter the media landscape. They employ every logical fallacy in the book plus shameless, endless lying to create and maintain the madness of the crowd. Contemporary America is described in black, white and red for carnage. There is no middle ground and there are no confusing qualifications. Trump and company are marketing a satisfyingly simplistic either/or situation polarized by generalized good/bad judgments. Pesky facts are ignored and replaced with beliefs buttressed not by science or objectivity but by religious faith, a faith that's fueled by fear piled on fear. The audience is incited to fear everything that is "the other," from undocumented immigrants to Muslim refugees to Hillary Clinton and her voters. The audience is incited to distrust everyone as "they" are all out to rip "us" off. Everyone we thought we could trust is lying to us.
It is a mean, mean, negative and paranoid vision of the world according to Trump. No wonder the crowd is mad. So much is sad!
Mr. Trump is notorious for spinning these extraordinary delusions, assisted by a host of surrogates who clutter the media landscape. They employ every logical fallacy in the book plus shameless, endless lying to create and maintain the madness of the crowd. Contemporary America is described in black, white and red for carnage. There is no middle ground and there are no confusing qualifications. Trump and company are marketing a satisfyingly simplistic either/or situation polarized by generalized good/bad judgments. Pesky facts are ignored and replaced with beliefs buttressed not by science or objectivity but by religious faith, a faith that's fueled by fear piled on fear. The audience is incited to fear everything that is "the other," from undocumented immigrants to Muslim refugees to Hillary Clinton and her voters. The audience is incited to distrust everyone as "they" are all out to rip "us" off. Everyone we thought we could trust is lying to us.
It is a mean, mean, negative and paranoid vision of the world according to Trump. No wonder the crowd is mad. So much is sad!
5
Iran. 3 to 6 months. Bet on it. What better distraction, and to " prove " the need for massive increase in military spending? Old men and their military erections. So sad.
4
" Next there will be a charge for oxygen."
Ah, Yes, sir, one round trip ticket New York to London. Will that be breathing or non-breathing, sir?
If today's savvy business men could figure out how to meter the air we breath, we would get a monthly bill, plus taxes and "handling charges."
Ah, Yes, sir, one round trip ticket New York to London. Will that be breathing or non-breathing, sir?
If today's savvy business men could figure out how to meter the air we breath, we would get a monthly bill, plus taxes and "handling charges."
4
"Now maybe Alex Cruz, the BA chief executive, is a smart guy, but whoever came up with the notion of charging BA customers for a “cuppa” is a fool intoxicated by the bottom line. Next there will be a charge for oxygen."
That wouldn't surprise me. It wasn't all that long ago that the CEO of Nestle seriously declared that people have no inherent right to clean drinking water, which is obviously valuable and should have a value placed on it in the market.
Coincidentally - or not - Nestle sells bottled water.
That wouldn't surprise me. It wasn't all that long ago that the CEO of Nestle seriously declared that people have no inherent right to clean drinking water, which is obviously valuable and should have a value placed on it in the market.
Coincidentally - or not - Nestle sells bottled water.
4
"No big deal, except that the system that produces such rip-offs is ripe for the furies."
The system will adapt to the furies. In fact, they have already counted all that in, I'm sure.
As for the military build-up, I don't see how that matches with Trump's campaign which he ran on taking the US out of military adventures. What do you need a huge military for, if your plan is to isolate the US from the rest of the world?
The system will adapt to the furies. In fact, they have already counted all that in, I'm sure.
As for the military build-up, I don't see how that matches with Trump's campaign which he ran on taking the US out of military adventures. What do you need a huge military for, if your plan is to isolate the US from the rest of the world?
4
"What do you need a huge military for, if your plan is to isolate the US from the rest of the world?"
Yes, good question. We should be ready for war talk just before midterms, and luckily we're learning to resist on all fronts already.
Yes, good question. We should be ready for war talk just before midterms, and luckily we're learning to resist on all fronts already.
1
Ultimately, we were sold down the River by the Mitt Romney types. They could have invested to make American factories more modern and efficient and competitive, but instead got the same lower costs by moving production to low wage countries. And now, Asian investors are investing in Asian factories, to make them more modern, efficient, and competitive. So say goodbye to those American factory jobs forever. Americans won't be making things, for the most part, anymore.
The kinds of people who read the New York Times can't get too self righteous. Our investments made money from the sell-off of American industry. We got a nice 20 years, and can look forward to less-miserable retirements. Now, the world is paying the price.
The kinds of people who read the New York Times can't get too self righteous. Our investments made money from the sell-off of American industry. We got a nice 20 years, and can look forward to less-miserable retirements. Now, the world is paying the price.
3
I have little hope for humanity and I think that lack of hope is a good thing. We have colonized nearly every square inch of the planet that is habitable and are destroying everything about this world that gives us life. The oceans, the forests, air water and soil are all being degraded at a startling rate. The human population has exploded over the past 250 years and we talk about a planet of ten billion by the end of the century. What is our response to the problems that face us? Massive military build up. Greed out of control. Religious wars. Growth. More.
Prometheus gave us fire and we have set the world aflame with it. It makes me think that the worst possible outcome is that we continue. We are chimpanzees with weapons of mass destruction. There is nothing that we have done, no music, art, literature or science that justifies what we have taken.
There was an episode of Star Trek back in the 80s where an immortal being from another dimension challenges captain Picard to justify the continued existence of humanity. Of course Picard succeeds and we are not destryed. That was the part that seemed most like science fiction. If we truly wish to justify our existence on this planet we must begin to give back to the life we share it with.
Prometheus gave us fire and we have set the world aflame with it. It makes me think that the worst possible outcome is that we continue. We are chimpanzees with weapons of mass destruction. There is nothing that we have done, no music, art, literature or science that justifies what we have taken.
There was an episode of Star Trek back in the 80s where an immortal being from another dimension challenges captain Picard to justify the continued existence of humanity. Of course Picard succeeds and we are not destryed. That was the part that seemed most like science fiction. If we truly wish to justify our existence on this planet we must begin to give back to the life we share it with.
7
We are witnessing the result of the decades-long politics of spite from the right. The incessantly diversionary message of resentment has taken hold among the country's voting public.
Such resentment licenses us to avoid the personal challenge of adaptation to change. It's so easy to blame the pointy-headed "know-somethings" of George Wallace fame for the inevitable disruptions of social change.
The left may be guilty of a certain dismissive insouciance, but it hasn't blanketed the nation's media with endless bile. Such bile has been bought and paid for by right-wing bankrollers.
This has produced voters that, while elevating an outright charlatan to the White House, also sends them out onto the streets armed and dangerous.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
Such resentment licenses us to avoid the personal challenge of adaptation to change. It's so easy to blame the pointy-headed "know-somethings" of George Wallace fame for the inevitable disruptions of social change.
The left may be guilty of a certain dismissive insouciance, but it hasn't blanketed the nation's media with endless bile. Such bile has been bought and paid for by right-wing bankrollers.
This has produced voters that, while elevating an outright charlatan to the White House, also sends them out onto the streets armed and dangerous.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
10
Interesting comments, but people have not noticed the huge increase in gun ownership in this country. Some of my relatives, formerly rabidly anti-gun have armed themselves. Bomb shelters are coming back. This can't be good. Get ready to hunker down, folks. The shooting will start soon.
3
In the Country of Men's Souls
In the country of men's souls
there is a Ganges;
And beneath his fatal clouds
Man knows when he is brave
He is born free,
But becomes too soon afraid;
Stricken and sore with his brambles
Impatient of his labors
And unfaithful to his Gods
He shrieks too much;
That he would not weep, he flails;
That he would not see,
Man walks his wary, motley
Through the loam and spirit shadings,
To the next hill and the next well;
Wanting ever to palm and touch
To rub and hold and pinch
To physically collect.
So chained, he courts a wonder
And a birthing;
And in the country of men's souls
There is a Ganges.
David X Sharpe
An unknown Korean war veteran who was a poet.
http://michaelslevinson.com
In the country of men's souls
there is a Ganges;
And beneath his fatal clouds
Man knows when he is brave
He is born free,
But becomes too soon afraid;
Stricken and sore with his brambles
Impatient of his labors
And unfaithful to his Gods
He shrieks too much;
That he would not weep, he flails;
That he would not see,
Man walks his wary, motley
Through the loam and spirit shadings,
To the next hill and the next well;
Wanting ever to palm and touch
To rub and hold and pinch
To physically collect.
So chained, he courts a wonder
And a birthing;
And in the country of men's souls
There is a Ganges.
David X Sharpe
An unknown Korean war veteran who was a poet.
http://michaelslevinson.com
3
Yes, Trump tapped into and fanned the flames of populist anger, and that was a major factor in his election. But don't forget about the evangelicals, who went for Trump in vast numbers. That he was able to frame himself as the more moral of the candidates - opposing the "great sin" of abortion, and relentlessly assailing Clinton's "lies" - led to the almost surreal spectacle of Bible-thumping, fundamental Christians supporting a man who is very nearly amoral. At least around here, that was a "huge" factor in his election.
6
Yes it's amazing to me - my bible-thumping sister voted for Trump. Maybe it's all the practice they've had in denying reality and using pretzel logic.
If Donald Trump had been one of my first graders and incited as much anger as he does now, I would have referred him to the school psychologist.
7
There is another fact of humanity that dominates all else, forcing divisions and increasing all existing problems, as in warfare, pollution, climate change, politics, racism, economics, religion and, just about everything actually. We are so grossly overpopulating (7.5 billion) this finite planet with people that resources and the competition for them is now approaching a breaking point.
So many people just do not want to care, or cannot be convinced to care, about others. Those who try are often mocked and threatened. Politicians who agree hide behind their "base" because even within a minority there are millions of like minds. Just try to recommend population control with the careful planning of children or the "choice" to even have another child, and the outcry from one constituency or another can have dangerous consequences.
Maybe it really is all so much biology and Malthus was right, and this resource gobbling oligarch politician Trump with his weird anger represents the highest order of our species.
No. I don't think so.
So many people just do not want to care, or cannot be convinced to care, about others. Those who try are often mocked and threatened. Politicians who agree hide behind their "base" because even within a minority there are millions of like minds. Just try to recommend population control with the careful planning of children or the "choice" to even have another child, and the outcry from one constituency or another can have dangerous consequences.
Maybe it really is all so much biology and Malthus was right, and this resource gobbling oligarch politician Trump with his weird anger represents the highest order of our species.
No. I don't think so.
1
"It led a generally cautious people, the British, to hurl themselves over the White Cliffs of Dover last year in a successful attempt to break from the European Union and satisfy an urge to get their country back (whatever that means)."
This "throwing themselves off a cliff" analogy appears to be the latest agreed propaganda squirt from the "EU"-fanatics. I have now seen it used a number of times by them. They seem to get some briefing paper telling them "vot to say two or about ze schtupd Engländer who dosn't like our beloved EU".
This "throwing themselves off a cliff" analogy appears to be the latest agreed propaganda squirt from the "EU"-fanatics. I have now seen it used a number of times by them. They seem to get some briefing paper telling them "vot to say two or about ze schtupd Engländer who dosn't like our beloved EU".
1
Let's see how angry the crowds get when they realize that they've been conned. The moment will come. For sure. When they cut Medicare? Social security? When the treasury secretary gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar? When the jobs don't come back to coal country? When your water has chemicals leaked in from deregulated drilling? When we see his leaked tax returns? When they send your kid to fight Iran? When they get caught staging a terror attack to gin up an agenda? When they order the national guard to shoot protesters? When? It will come. For sure. And Will it be our American Marie Antoinette moment?
6
All too true. I agree about the military buildup which comes before war. All we can hope for is that this madness is over swiftly and mercifully. Keep writing, keep talking, keep shining a light on the lies, bigotry, lack of logic and sheer craziness of the rogue president and his chief advisor.
4
So tired of hearing about angry white working class men.
Even more exhausted from the denigration of intellectuals, and now I keep Hofstadter's "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" handy.
I'm sorry, Mr. Cohen, but anger is not a reason to elect a manic illiterate. Anger may be legitimate, but what people do with that anger is what matters.
Sixty million Americans -plus those who didn't vote -- decided they'd feel better voting for a man who spewed rage and hate. Bloodlust and bloodletting, to relieve anger and pain. Now many of them have buyer's remorse. It felt good to cast that vote, but they didn't think beyond the ballot box, did they?
Yes, he's president, and once again, the real election narrative is being lost in
the fact that 77,000 votes and the Electoral College put him there. Along with Comey, Russians, and even Bernie Sanders and his "brothers."
But Secretary Clinton won the popular vote by a wide margin. What does that tell you about anger? It tells me blue collar anger didn't actually win.
What do you have to say to me about my anger at the GOP and what they did to President Obama? My anger at their refusal to govern, to compromise, to shut down the government, to steal a Supreme Court seat, to kill the ACA, to reduce women to powerless vessels, control the vote by ID laws, to have such contempt for all Americans that they are destroying our country?
My anger elected Hillary Clinton. I wasn't alone.
If anger is your issue of the day, use your intellect.
Even more exhausted from the denigration of intellectuals, and now I keep Hofstadter's "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" handy.
I'm sorry, Mr. Cohen, but anger is not a reason to elect a manic illiterate. Anger may be legitimate, but what people do with that anger is what matters.
Sixty million Americans -plus those who didn't vote -- decided they'd feel better voting for a man who spewed rage and hate. Bloodlust and bloodletting, to relieve anger and pain. Now many of them have buyer's remorse. It felt good to cast that vote, but they didn't think beyond the ballot box, did they?
Yes, he's president, and once again, the real election narrative is being lost in
the fact that 77,000 votes and the Electoral College put him there. Along with Comey, Russians, and even Bernie Sanders and his "brothers."
But Secretary Clinton won the popular vote by a wide margin. What does that tell you about anger? It tells me blue collar anger didn't actually win.
What do you have to say to me about my anger at the GOP and what they did to President Obama? My anger at their refusal to govern, to compromise, to shut down the government, to steal a Supreme Court seat, to kill the ACA, to reduce women to powerless vessels, control the vote by ID laws, to have such contempt for all Americans that they are destroying our country?
My anger elected Hillary Clinton. I wasn't alone.
If anger is your issue of the day, use your intellect.
8
Anger is one thing, anger coupled with ignorance is a toxic combination.The ignorance we have to deal with today is much more nefarious that the old "know nothings".Today's media (social and conventional) offers a barrage of misinformation, nonsense and opinion masquerading as fact.Blaming those who act within the system to profit and fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities is no wiser than blaming China, immigrants and Big Government for society's ills.
3
"So why should people not conclude that there’s no moral code any more"
And how much of the moral code was there when crowds burned and looted stores in Ferguson?
Democrats tie morality with religion and they hate religion so they are dubious about morality as well.
Trump is not exactly a paragon of morality either. But it does not seem that America is currently capable of electing a pragmatic but moral leader.
To set America on a straighter path you need to address the fact that 88% of Republicans support Trump. As long as you keep bashing Trump and his supporters, there can be no progress because you are leaving too many people out in the cold.
It is inevitable that they will retaliate and leave YOU out in the cold.
You must accommodate their notions of morality and ask them to accommodate yours. Then there will be progress.
And how much of the moral code was there when crowds burned and looted stores in Ferguson?
Democrats tie morality with religion and they hate religion so they are dubious about morality as well.
Trump is not exactly a paragon of morality either. But it does not seem that America is currently capable of electing a pragmatic but moral leader.
To set America on a straighter path you need to address the fact that 88% of Republicans support Trump. As long as you keep bashing Trump and his supporters, there can be no progress because you are leaving too many people out in the cold.
It is inevitable that they will retaliate and leave YOU out in the cold.
You must accommodate their notions of morality and ask them to accommodate yours. Then there will be progress.
2
"Democrats tie morality with religion and they hate religion so they are dubious about morality as well."
That is patently false. Morals and ethics are derived from within, religion is just many ways of listening to one's inner voice.
Liberals are by their nature accommodating, Trumpians see it as a weakness to be mocked.
TCW?
That is patently false. Morals and ethics are derived from within, religion is just many ways of listening to one's inner voice.
Liberals are by their nature accommodating, Trumpians see it as a weakness to be mocked.
TCW?
1
" Morals and ethics are derived from within, "
That can't really be true because if we each had out own individual morality we simply would not be able to live together in society.
That is not an argument for "one size fits all" but limiting the amount of individual leeway.
For instance some people are vegetarians and some are not. But even meat eaters are not allowed to eat human beings.
So we can all play different games but within the same courtyard.
And it is true that many liberals or progressives are hostile to religion. Also, "you can't legislate morality" is a liberal slogan, not a conservative one.
So there is some truth to my charge against liberals.
That can't really be true because if we each had out own individual morality we simply would not be able to live together in society.
That is not an argument for "one size fits all" but limiting the amount of individual leeway.
For instance some people are vegetarians and some are not. But even meat eaters are not allowed to eat human beings.
So we can all play different games but within the same courtyard.
And it is true that many liberals or progressives are hostile to religion. Also, "you can't legislate morality" is a liberal slogan, not a conservative one.
So there is some truth to my charge against liberals.
Welcome to capitalism, Roger!
1
The Republican Texas school board took the critical thinking course out of their school's curricula in 2012. Their main argument was that critical thinking would turn their kiddies into rebels against their parents, and they would not accept their parent's authority.
It is quite clear that Trump and his base have abandoned all critical thinking, turning lies into facts, facts into lies, and infected the whole nation with a nationalistic fever not seen in the Western world since the 1930s.
In violation of the Versailles treaty, a dangerous demagogue created millions of jobs for the formerly jobless by building a large military and the famous Autobahn which had landing strips in regular distances for military purposes.
This country does not need to repair its highways and bridges to shuttle tanks and troops to foreign countries, when a mentally deranged man has the nuclear football right next to him in a restaurant he owns.
It is quite clear that Trump and his base have abandoned all critical thinking, turning lies into facts, facts into lies, and infected the whole nation with a nationalistic fever not seen in the Western world since the 1930s.
In violation of the Versailles treaty, a dangerous demagogue created millions of jobs for the formerly jobless by building a large military and the famous Autobahn which had landing strips in regular distances for military purposes.
This country does not need to repair its highways and bridges to shuttle tanks and troops to foreign countries, when a mentally deranged man has the nuclear football right next to him in a restaurant he owns.
5
So Mr. Cohen writes an article suggesting that Trump supporters are addicted to opioids yet he doesn't have the insight to see that these kinds of baseless insults are part of what is driving the division and anger in this country?
1
There IS an epidemic of drug use in the Midwest.
Mike Pence himself precipitated a health emergency in Indiana by shutting down the Planned Parenthoods where one could be tested for HIV. Addicts began sharing needles and spread an epidemic. This was in white rural Indiana.
Mike Pence himself precipitated a health emergency in Indiana by shutting down the Planned Parenthoods where one could be tested for HIV. Addicts began sharing needles and spread an epidemic. This was in white rural Indiana.
6
"It led a generally cautious people, the British, to hurl themselves over the White Cliffs of Dover last year ... and satisfy an urge to get their country back (whatever that means)."
Far from hurling ourselves over the cliffs, the UK is doing rather we well and we haven't even got very far in liberating ourselves from our "EU"-prison. Presumably it will be better still when we are totally free.
"urge to get their country back (whatever that means)." The NYT needs to give more space to opponents of the "EU" so that they can explain carefully and slowly what it means to the likes of Roger Cohen and David Brooks. They might have to draw them some pictures.
Getting our own country back includes getting our own fishing grounds back so that there will be less illegal fishing by boats from countries with a tradition and a habit of corruption.
It will include not having to pay for an organisation which is an amazing waste of money, not having to let continental criminals in, not being harrassed at the cheese counter by having to use an inferior system of measurements, not having to have an "EU"-passport and thus being forced to carry the symbol of a despised dictatorship around, not having to see the flag of the "EU"-dictatorship flying over public buildings, and not having to tolerate having an "EU"-border force operating in the UK including police officers from countries with a history of fascist violence amongst their poilice officers.
There is more.
"
Far from hurling ourselves over the cliffs, the UK is doing rather we well and we haven't even got very far in liberating ourselves from our "EU"-prison. Presumably it will be better still when we are totally free.
"urge to get their country back (whatever that means)." The NYT needs to give more space to opponents of the "EU" so that they can explain carefully and slowly what it means to the likes of Roger Cohen and David Brooks. They might have to draw them some pictures.
Getting our own country back includes getting our own fishing grounds back so that there will be less illegal fishing by boats from countries with a tradition and a habit of corruption.
It will include not having to pay for an organisation which is an amazing waste of money, not having to let continental criminals in, not being harrassed at the cheese counter by having to use an inferior system of measurements, not having to have an "EU"-passport and thus being forced to carry the symbol of a despised dictatorship around, not having to see the flag of the "EU"-dictatorship flying over public buildings, and not having to tolerate having an "EU"-border force operating in the UK including police officers from countries with a history of fascist violence amongst their poilice officers.
There is more.
"
1
Let's not forget that Trump had plenty of help. The corrosive drips of the Limbaughs, Coulters, Hannitys and O'Reillys tenderized a lot of the folks you saw at those rallies (O say can you see....all those white faces)?
13
Barbara Ehrenreich wrote eloquently on this in these pages very recently: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/magazine/american-working-class-futur...
and in her seminal book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed
and in her seminal book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1869.Nickel_and_Dimed
The furies indeed - nihilism is in vogue. Marx correctly observed the negative impact of workers becoming alienated from their own work (and the product of that work). But now, people are alienated from their very existence: awed and confused by the market's invisible hand, cynical about government, and lonely in a world bristling with screens. Sometimes a clear slate is more appealing than the difficulties of trying to talk with your neighbors. The noise Trump makes sounds a lot like white noise.
7
As the Buddha says - holding onto anger with the intention of throwing it at someone only burns your hands.
7
Let's not underestimate the anger of those who were cheated out of a leader who got the most votes. We must remember there are more of us than not who think Trump is unqualified & too corrupt to be our president. His form of populism will turn on him as more & more people get cheated...out of health care, education, clean drinking water, SS, Medicare, and world peace. Resist.
26
Yes. Good reminder, which we should frequently repeat to ourselves. For many of us, alarm/anger were the catalysts, and now we're creating positive, workable alternatives, including brighter, less corrupt or uncorrupted individuals running for office. Soon, those who enjoy government positions will either respond to the majority or lose their seats. The people united hold decisive power.
1
ok, i was with you until the tragic story of your flight from amsterdam to london. you're right: it is a small thing - a first-world problem, as the phrase has it - and almost embarrassingly out of place after the honest-to-god hardships of the people you just described.
Good column. I've often wondered why, when money gets tight, people on the right call out the incompetence of government and not the greed of private enterprise.
1
The media's preoccupation with readership and ratings certainly helped elect this conman. If he had been ignored he wouldn't have been elected. And now that he has conned his way into the White House, he has got to keep stirring up the ignorant, unaware, anti-science, anti-education, anti-elite rabble to distract them from his incompetence. Sooner or later the snake oil will wear off and then the rage he has so cleverly fanned will be turned against him.
Nah, most Trump voters here in Texas aren't all that mad, just complacent, you might even go so far as to say brainwashed by Fox News and/or the Wall Street Journal. I don't feel sympathetic with them for inflicting this administration, foreseeably cruel, on the world, and I'm tired of being asked to put myself in their shoes.
5
There were plenty of angry Germans in the 1930's. Angry populations are dangerous and ultimately self-destructive.
1
Right you are Roger. Including smart immigration policies for existing societies.
What is with the obsession with Iran?! Iran has done nothing to the U.S. since rejecting the U.S.-installed Shah (and the resulting hostage crisis, of course) in 1979. War with Iran is pointless, will be fruitless, and will destabilize the region further.
2
Douthat recommended an article the article that was excellent in explaining, as Mr. Cohen does here, why people are so angry. A lot of it stems from economic anxiety which of course is very different from GDP per capita. People fear that they are going to lose their jobs or suffer some illness and get knocked out of the game. Trump, for all his idiocy, does seem to be able to read the emotional pulse of average Americans, or maybe he just sort of focus groups random comments at rallies and checks the applause meter. But his point that the unemployment rate that we use is wrong is a good one. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the official unemployment rate. Jack Welch famously alleged to guffaws that Obama cooked the numbers. What is wrong is the innterpretation of the unemployment rate. It fails to capture all of those working class folks who have seen their jobs disappear and who have elft the economy. A shocking number in the millions have given up looking for very real reasons. Whille they would like to work, they cannot find work. Their dispair has led them to seek solace in prescription opiods, alcohol and drugs. This has of course torn the social fabric.
Trump cannot fix this. Despite his claims that he is a fixer, he can do nothing more than exploit the problem. His comment yesterday, "Who knew that healthcare was so complex? Nobdy knew it was so complex." Wrong. Everybody knew it was complex. Trump is dangerously ignorant.
Trump cannot fix this. Despite his claims that he is a fixer, he can do nothing more than exploit the problem. His comment yesterday, "Who knew that healthcare was so complex? Nobdy knew it was so complex." Wrong. Everybody knew it was complex. Trump is dangerously ignorant.
4
Trump has tapped into the essence of Eric Hoffer's "true believers" - passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to empty lives.
4
War "with Iran"? Your bet is probably pretty good. Think "annexation of Judea" as 1967 redux.
"They notice that the attempt to squeeze the last cent of profit out of any operation has also squeezed the last trace of sentiment out of what passes for human interaction."
At what point do the people who are doing the squeezing come to the conclusion - seen clearly by Mr. Cohen - that their M-O is unsustainable and likely to bring down the entire ediface?
At what point do the people who are doing the squeezing come to the conclusion - seen clearly by Mr. Cohen - that their M-O is unsustainable and likely to bring down the entire ediface?
3
I love the last point about the $3 cuppa tay. The last line crossed, huh? Reminds me of a joke from old country people of my youth: A fiery preacher gave a sermon raging against whisky-"Amen!" said the congregation in unison; against talking dirty, "Amen"; and dipping snuff---Silence. After the service, as the oldest lady in the congregation walked by the preacher, she spoke without looking at him, "You've quit preachin' and gone to meddling."
1
We are, simply, just another species. Difficult to deal with, but there it is. Our artifacts are impressive, among which are the inventions of God and sliced bread, but let's not get carried away. So is the creation of our oxygen provided for initially by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). And it looks like we're going to have an equally disastrous or beneficial effect (depending on your outlook) on the globe.
1
Historically, such anger abated and people came back to their senses after they had gone through a bitter fruitless war and deprivation associated with it. As Mencken famously said ““No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.”
As a practical matter I think, I will give the Trump country a miss for a while. Although I am a naturalized citizen who has been here since 1975, I am from India and someone like the Kansas killer may mistake me for an an Iranian and decide to exercise his second amendment rights.
As a practical matter I think, I will give the Trump country a miss for a while. Although I am a naturalized citizen who has been here since 1975, I am from India and someone like the Kansas killer may mistake me for an an Iranian and decide to exercise his second amendment rights.
1
Yes, anger produces a lot of energy---but short-term energy...Calmness, predictability, routines, is what people really desire in the long-run. Time and the predictable failures of whatever Trump comes up with---a war with Iran---will turn that short-term anger towards him. The first wave of a revolution---as Trump likes to term his presidency---always eats its own.
Roger, I have to say I am proud of you. Lest you be criticized for having a Trumpian moment, I congratulate you for having the, pardon the expression, courage to speak truth to cowardice, in telling this man directly what he is doing to destroy this country of ours.
On a positive note, I should say that his election may have contributed to an uptick in the numbers of attendees at my local swimming pool, perhaps new administration youth seeking lower rent housing in this area.
And let's not forget pay toilets on the airlines, where an urgent need is met with a slot for a credit card.
Philip Sedlak
Washington, DC
On a positive note, I should say that his election may have contributed to an uptick in the numbers of attendees at my local swimming pool, perhaps new administration youth seeking lower rent housing in this area.
And let's not forget pay toilets on the airlines, where an urgent need is met with a slot for a credit card.
Philip Sedlak
Washington, DC
1
Mr. Cohen, you have nailed it. I am pretty sure Teddy Roosevelt and FDR would have tried something dramatic to address the growing wealth gap, the top 1% owning an enormous percentage of the wealth in this country, the enormous gap between CEO and worker pay, and all the issues that you address in this column regarding the financial system that has benefited the extremely wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class. As much as I admire Obama and his accomplishments, he did not come close to changing this, although the CFPB was a good start. And he did save our economy after irresponsible tycoons blew it up.
How sad that the people most hurt by these fundamental shifts in the structure of our economy (there are numerous scholarly articles documenting its beginning in the 1970's) have voted for a person who is not going to take steps to address this enormous structural problem, but whose policies will only make it worse. What we need is a bold,courageous president in the manner of Lincoln, TR, and FDR. With a bully pulpit and moral courage, I believe the right President could rally the people to force the intransigent Congress to pass laws to reform the financial system,although we might have to wait for another financial meltdown before that can happen.
How sad that the people most hurt by these fundamental shifts in the structure of our economy (there are numerous scholarly articles documenting its beginning in the 1970's) have voted for a person who is not going to take steps to address this enormous structural problem, but whose policies will only make it worse. What we need is a bold,courageous president in the manner of Lincoln, TR, and FDR. With a bully pulpit and moral courage, I believe the right President could rally the people to force the intransigent Congress to pass laws to reform the financial system,although we might have to wait for another financial meltdown before that can happen.
5
It's called killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. The consumer economy is what pays for the 7-figure salaries -- excuse me, "executive compensation" -- and, with the consumers making 0.1 percent of those salaries, you have to try to get every dime out of them that you can. Doesn't seem sustainable to me, but heck, what do I know.
4
You are not quite correct Mr. Cohen, Donald Trump does know something about history! He saw that George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004 because he started a war in Iraq which was in no way a threat to American interests. Now, as you predict, why not start a war with Iran, even if that becomes another military boondoggle (which history has proven it would) with millions of lives destroyed, not to mention trillions of $$$$$ wasted? So with this budget as you predicted Trump is beginning his re-election campaign. More young Americans will die on foreign soil, not to mention innocents abroad, in order for the military to spend all of this lucre stolen from the American people. This is your tax dollars at work, My Fellow Americans. Vote for Trump in 2020 and then weep.
3
Hey, I'm in the middle of the country and really angry about the same things, the destruction of human relationships and morality by a grasping class, the crony capitalism, socialized costs, privatized profits and all the rest. But. I'm not ignorant. I can read advertisements and propaganda for what they are. What's scary is how many people can't. The battle is going to be waged in the media, education, and consciousness raising. Anger is the symptom, not the problem.
2
A very thoughtful and accurate piece. Anger is such a strong emotion it can cloud reason and truth.
I teach in a business school. I am ashamed at what we have wrought. (I am not in finance...that's the belly of the beast).
1
In regard to the closing complaints of this column, finding ever more clever, or more devious, ways to make profits is a product of our enterprise system. Profits must always go up to keep the stockholders, and share traders, happy. Going up means either getting more customers, charging more or finding ways to cut costs. There is no magic to it.
As for the larger problems, there is genuine despair about the future across much of America that might be difficult to see from an aircraft flying from Amsterdam to London. If you don't have time to visit and see for yourself, I suggest a course of reading.
J.D. Vance..."Hillbilly Elegy" (He blames people in backwoods areas for a considerable degree of their plight as well as other factors.)
Chris Hayes...Twilight of the Elites (If Hillary and company had read this 2012 published work, she would likely be president.)
Arlie Russell Hochschild..."Strangers in Their Own Land" (the title says it all)
David Maraniss..."Once in a Great City" (The story of Detroit's rise and fall)
These would be a good start. Part of America is doing great. Another part isn't. Bosses take away millions, employees get part time work and low pay. People can see others all around them doing well while relatives and friends fall victim to drug addiction. More than 12% of Americans have a felony conviction. Hope often dies on the vine. Still...
...millions voted for Trump simply because they had been convinced that Hillary would be a disaster for them.
As for the larger problems, there is genuine despair about the future across much of America that might be difficult to see from an aircraft flying from Amsterdam to London. If you don't have time to visit and see for yourself, I suggest a course of reading.
J.D. Vance..."Hillbilly Elegy" (He blames people in backwoods areas for a considerable degree of their plight as well as other factors.)
Chris Hayes...Twilight of the Elites (If Hillary and company had read this 2012 published work, she would likely be president.)
Arlie Russell Hochschild..."Strangers in Their Own Land" (the title says it all)
David Maraniss..."Once in a Great City" (The story of Detroit's rise and fall)
These would be a good start. Part of America is doing great. Another part isn't. Bosses take away millions, employees get part time work and low pay. People can see others all around them doing well while relatives and friends fall victim to drug addiction. More than 12% of Americans have a felony conviction. Hope often dies on the vine. Still...
...millions voted for Trump simply because they had been convinced that Hillary would be a disaster for them.
1
To tie your & Brook's columns together - The 'Enlightenment Project' has run aground on the self-centered Greed enabled by the Free Market and as manipulated by the venal Republicans.
3
Term limits for congress and Supreme Court NOW. We are a sorry excuse for a representative democracy. Professional politicians focused on reelection and subservient to donors, prosper while failing to be representative of constituents. End result is apathy and amusement/attraction to extremes (and buffoons) on the national front.
3 $ for a cup of tea on a flight ? An expresso is 7 $ at Untitled the Whitney cafe .
You dont measure the cost of life at the price of a coffee or tea,Because If that guy had a bit of education ( and respect ) outside of his shallow anglo culture ,he would know that mexicans or africans or palestinians pay much more for a glass of water .What Farage came to say in Bruxelles is an exact replica of the words of Hitler " you were laughing ,you are not laughing anymore " Reality is that the British are notoriously cheap . Germany pays 29 billion euro contribution to the EU ,France pays 22 billion annually, Italy pays 16 billion,the UK pays only 13 billion euros participation. At which we also know they are liars .The EU gave Ireland 100 billion euros to save its banks after 2008 and regulate their offshore banking system .The Irish took the money sand did nothing. On the contrary inviting US corporations to settle in the EU like a rojan horse and pay zero taxes while invading the European markets and creating a 1 trillion fiscal fraud per year equivalent to the EU deficit annually .It is exactly as it was for Hitler,behind the crooked ideology is an economy of crooks.Who hide behind a false ideology of straightness .
You dont measure the cost of life at the price of a coffee or tea,Because If that guy had a bit of education ( and respect ) outside of his shallow anglo culture ,he would know that mexicans or africans or palestinians pay much more for a glass of water .What Farage came to say in Bruxelles is an exact replica of the words of Hitler " you were laughing ,you are not laughing anymore " Reality is that the British are notoriously cheap . Germany pays 29 billion euro contribution to the EU ,France pays 22 billion annually, Italy pays 16 billion,the UK pays only 13 billion euros participation. At which we also know they are liars .The EU gave Ireland 100 billion euros to save its banks after 2008 and regulate their offshore banking system .The Irish took the money sand did nothing. On the contrary inviting US corporations to settle in the EU like a rojan horse and pay zero taxes while invading the European markets and creating a 1 trillion fiscal fraud per year equivalent to the EU deficit annually .It is exactly as it was for Hitler,behind the crooked ideology is an economy of crooks.Who hide behind a false ideology of straightness .
The ascendant racism and xenophobia is rising on the foundation built block by block by those in government and those perceived as elites. They put down a block of pension elimination, they mortared it in with job insecurity, then sprinkled in Venture capitalism (now Private Equity) who destroyed their workplaces and left their companies littered with debt and bankruptcy. They lost their jobs, sometimes their homes, or, if they were slightly more fortunate, were stuck with unsalable homes in hollowed out burgs where with the children, gazing upon bleak futures, drowned their disillusionment in dope. Looking out from their despair, they saw their lawn mower and country club dishwasher still slogging away for the elite who has destroyed their hopes and dreams, and they blame that browner face for all their ills, while the neobillionnaires smile from their towers and gated enclaves and invite each other for golf.
1
Cohen's essential complaint is that, in a neo-liberal order, human interactions not only are based on corporate pricing moving from costs-plus-a-reasonable- profit to "because we can," for luxuries and life-saving drugs as well. I took his point about the cup of tea (which I agree was indulgent) to represent that the least bit of nurturing is gone from commercial interactions.
On the left, correspondingly, "because we can" is manifested in the endless regulations propounded by the highly credentialed and disdainful scolds of the nanny state.
On the left, correspondingly, "because we can" is manifested in the endless regulations propounded by the highly credentialed and disdainful scolds of the nanny state.
Trump is a very appealing type for a lot of people. He is against all those guys with their big words and fancy suits. And he is a white guy with a very, very white family. He is not against non-whites, he is so white that he doesn't know anything about them. He thinks Frederick Douglass is still alive. So Trump is perfect. He is an angry, anti-intellectual, wealthy, white guy who cannot even be accused of racism. If something has gone wrong it is because of overeducated dopes being in charge for too long. A little common sense and a little rough stuff and we will be OK.
2
I suggest reading Soren Kierkegaard's "The Present Age" to get a better understanding of the madness of crowds and the current American condition.
Responsibility begins at home. All those angry white people, both here and abroad, never stop to ask themselves how they have contributed to the mess. Voting Republican, even when said member of the GOP does everything in his/her power to pull the rug out from you economically, is certainly one way. Another is indulging in circuses instead of focusing on the actual nuts and bolts of civic life. Pulling the lever for Trump is an easy fix. Educating oneself about politics, society, culture...well that's a different matter. While I empathize with those who feel that they are getting worked over, my feelings are tempered by the fact that they will always find someone else to blame for their problems: immigrants, gays, feminists, Muslims, etc. They'll find out who their real foes are when the GOP passes its first budget.
4
Anger yes, but also a generous dollop of oh so thinly veiled racism and white supremacy.
So in Trump-land, the problem isn't free-rein capitalism, 'trickle-down' tax policy, and the crippling of unions leading to the highest level of income inequality in almost a century. It isn't drug companies and pharmacies looking the other way (and profiting royally) while a generation of mostly white Americans become addicted to opioids, then to heroin or meth. It isn't the fact of climate change that demands that we move away from greenhouse gas generating sources of power. It isn't the reality that we have two distinctly recognizable criminal justice systems in this country - one for whites, especially the well-to-do ones, and another harsher one for minorities. It isn't that the NRA dictates against the enactment of any common sense gun control laws, even though the vast majority of Americans favor them. No, the real problem is 'them': Blacks. Mexicans. Muslims. Liberals. The press. Feminists.
Divide and conquer is the oldest tactic in the book. And nobody ever went poor underestimating the gulability of voters.
So in Trump-land, the problem isn't free-rein capitalism, 'trickle-down' tax policy, and the crippling of unions leading to the highest level of income inequality in almost a century. It isn't drug companies and pharmacies looking the other way (and profiting royally) while a generation of mostly white Americans become addicted to opioids, then to heroin or meth. It isn't the fact of climate change that demands that we move away from greenhouse gas generating sources of power. It isn't the reality that we have two distinctly recognizable criminal justice systems in this country - one for whites, especially the well-to-do ones, and another harsher one for minorities. It isn't that the NRA dictates against the enactment of any common sense gun control laws, even though the vast majority of Americans favor them. No, the real problem is 'them': Blacks. Mexicans. Muslims. Liberals. The press. Feminists.
Divide and conquer is the oldest tactic in the book. And nobody ever went poor underestimating the gulability of voters.
3
I think your proposed charge for oxygen on an airplane is a good idea. The airlines will combine to offer an oxygen savings account where you contribute on a monthly basis. Your account will provide a card to insert into the oxygen mask holder over your seat when you enter. In the event that you are on a flight in which an oxygen mask would be needed, if you have enough money in your account, the mask drops and the fees are deducted from the account. Those without an account must to go to the back of the aircraft and use one of the three oxygen masks available to those without an oxygen account. Access to oxygen will be widely available, if you have an account. If you don't, then you can take your chances. The current alternative has been inefficient and an unnecessary expense for the airlines.
2
"My bet would be with Iran, possibly before the midterms."
You are correct. Russia needs crude oil above $75/bbl. in order for their offshore and arctic reserves to be viable. Just ask Rexy Baby.
Bombing Iran achieves that. Sorry Iran!
You are correct. Russia needs crude oil above $75/bbl. in order for their offshore and arctic reserves to be viable. Just ask Rexy Baby.
Bombing Iran achieves that. Sorry Iran!
2
Wonderful.Thank you.
2
People are angry at God, especially the Christians. But they're told to bow down and submit. So the evil Id needs to find another authority to be angry with and that authority is the government.
5
Human stupidity is nothing new . Remember Mussolini or Hitler or Gaddafi or Peron . Those people also had their loyal base that followed them .
9
Good article, as so often from Mr Cohen.
Why so many comments critical of this outstanding commentator? Can't we recognize quality & honesty?
Trump rides the wave of crowd anger -- dangerously, for "democracy" and "the Republic."
Why so many comments critical of this outstanding commentator? Can't we recognize quality & honesty?
Trump rides the wave of crowd anger -- dangerously, for "democracy" and "the Republic."
13
I'd often wondered what would be the apex, the crescendo, the defining moment in a society consumed in a Narcissistic frenzy of greed, avarice and self-interest. Above all in self-interest.
All up and down our societal ladder rich, poor or somewhere in-between, from selfies to social media and all the rest, we dwell within a hazy bubble of self. It is all about ME above all else. There is little We. Nothing else matters.
Given this is our societal reality I am little surprised that we have the POTUS that we now have. Leaving aside the angst clearly stated in this op-ed he is the apex definition of America.
Here's the thing, though. As Trump appears to some American's a bit more thoughtful than the rest, America appears to the rest of the world. An Empire riven by narcissistic elf-interest, greed and avarice. They see we are coming off the rails and are even now setting their courses to mitigate what appears to be an onslaught of collateral damage.
I have no idea where all of this is going, but I'll bet the train-wreck will be impressive so long as the arc of all of it proceeds apace. Indeed the history of Man guarantees it.
So it goes.
John~
American Net'Zen
All up and down our societal ladder rich, poor or somewhere in-between, from selfies to social media and all the rest, we dwell within a hazy bubble of self. It is all about ME above all else. There is little We. Nothing else matters.
Given this is our societal reality I am little surprised that we have the POTUS that we now have. Leaving aside the angst clearly stated in this op-ed he is the apex definition of America.
Here's the thing, though. As Trump appears to some American's a bit more thoughtful than the rest, America appears to the rest of the world. An Empire riven by narcissistic elf-interest, greed and avarice. They see we are coming off the rails and are even now setting their courses to mitigate what appears to be an onslaught of collateral damage.
I have no idea where all of this is going, but I'll bet the train-wreck will be impressive so long as the arc of all of it proceeds apace. Indeed the history of Man guarantees it.
So it goes.
John~
American Net'Zen
8
Notice the way people earn money today opposed to generations past. I remember growing up, shunning the guy who cut corners. The neighborhood shyster, they'd call him and everyone looked down upon them. Today? Just the opposite holds true. They revere them.
The one thing missing in this Country is law enforcement. People do what they do because they can. There's no doubt if everyone played by the rules, rather than circumvented them, we'd live in a better society. But we judge everyone on success and wealth rather than morals and integrity. It's as though it's solipsism on steroids.
There was a time there were 3 car companies in this Country who made a great durable product that actually lasted. And then money and greed took over and they exploited the automobile industry just as they've done with everything else. Clothing etc. Workmanship in addition to our work force, ethics and American quality has hit it's nadir.
I think to myself perhaps the day will come where we revere those who do play by the rules and revert to the good old days of castigating the shyster. They shouldn't be chanting lock her up but rather, lock them ALL up. We've become nothing more than a crime syndicate.
The one thing missing in this Country is law enforcement. People do what they do because they can. There's no doubt if everyone played by the rules, rather than circumvented them, we'd live in a better society. But we judge everyone on success and wealth rather than morals and integrity. It's as though it's solipsism on steroids.
There was a time there were 3 car companies in this Country who made a great durable product that actually lasted. And then money and greed took over and they exploited the automobile industry just as they've done with everything else. Clothing etc. Workmanship in addition to our work force, ethics and American quality has hit it's nadir.
I think to myself perhaps the day will come where we revere those who do play by the rules and revert to the good old days of castigating the shyster. They shouldn't be chanting lock her up but rather, lock them ALL up. We've become nothing more than a crime syndicate.
I have to disagree with you on this particular point"
"There was a time there were 3 car companies in this Country who made a great durable product that actually lasted. And then money and greed took over and they exploited the automobile industry just as they've done with everything else."
I would take even the worst car produced in the last 20 years than most of the best cars produced during the previous 40. Reason: you simply get more of a better car. Full Stop.
"There was a time there were 3 car companies in this Country who made a great durable product that actually lasted. And then money and greed took over and they exploited the automobile industry just as they've done with everything else."
I would take even the worst car produced in the last 20 years than most of the best cars produced during the previous 40. Reason: you simply get more of a better car. Full Stop.
Only Roger Cohen could whine and complain that BA had the unmitigated chutzpah to charge him three dollars for a cup of tea in a Times OP ED piece. Well, Roger, BA knows it has a captive audience and they think that gives them the right to charge whatever they want for even a normally inexpensive commodity like a simple cup of tea.
Revolutions have been started over food. American patriots dumped crates of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the unfair tax on the colonies' favorite beverage. When French peasants demanded that the monarchy do something about the high cost of bread Marie Antoinette famously replied "Let them eat cake."
Roger, since you were on a short flight from Amsterdam to London, couldn't you make do without that cup of tea? That way you could stick it to BA by keeping your money in your wallet. Don't give in to these evil capitalists who want to rip you off every chance they get. Three Dollars for tea? Will these outrages never cease?
Revolutions have been started over food. American patriots dumped crates of tea into Boston Harbor to protest the unfair tax on the colonies' favorite beverage. When French peasants demanded that the monarchy do something about the high cost of bread Marie Antoinette famously replied "Let them eat cake."
Roger, since you were on a short flight from Amsterdam to London, couldn't you make do without that cup of tea? That way you could stick it to BA by keeping your money in your wallet. Don't give in to these evil capitalists who want to rip you off every chance they get. Three Dollars for tea? Will these outrages never cease?
5
You must be young. Back in the day you used to get a really good meal included in your ticket, had plenty of space, and you dressed up to get on the plane. Paying 3 bucks for a tea bag would have been considered the death knell. Now it is just a cynical reality check that you are just an ATM until you can free yourself from your tiny pen.
3
Sharon5101, the British take their tea very seriously so certainly Mr Cohen's comment would resonate with them. The point isn't whether a CEO has the right to approve the culture of excessive charges to captive individuals, rather whether to make more money is always the best course of action. The people we've given power to have no thoughts other than more for me and mine and Mr Cohen's example is "spot on" in that regard.
1
Pure poetry. Thank you.
6
"Next there will be a charge for oxygen."
Great last line.
One easily imagines the air host or hostess reciting:
"Should there be a drop in cabin pressure, oxygen masks with drop down from a bin above your seat. Pay quickly, to activate your life-saving oxygen supply! On your armrest or in the back of the seat in front of you, notice you can settle with either a valid bank card or with cash. We accept both bills and coins! That done, grasp the oxygen mask and..."
Great last line.
One easily imagines the air host or hostess reciting:
"Should there be a drop in cabin pressure, oxygen masks with drop down from a bin above your seat. Pay quickly, to activate your life-saving oxygen supply! On your armrest or in the back of the seat in front of you, notice you can settle with either a valid bank card or with cash. We accept both bills and coins! That done, grasp the oxygen mask and..."
17
Trump is a fool. (See, e.g., "Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”)
Mr. Cohen is ill-informed. (See, e.g., "Just for the record, massive military buildups tend to precede a war." Compare, Post WWII US military buildup: the Strategic Air Command and the nuclear triad of manned aircraft, land-based missiles, and submarine-based missiles )
Mr. Cohen is ill-informed. (See, e.g., "Just for the record, massive military buildups tend to precede a war." Compare, Post WWII US military buildup: the Strategic Air Command and the nuclear triad of manned aircraft, land-based missiles, and submarine-based missiles )
1
Ever heard of Korea and Vietnam?
5
See Korea. And Vietnam
4
Nobody in history ever built up an army and then didn't use it.
21
Angry people make decision based on anger rather than facts and logic. That is why Trump ginned up the anger in his rallies. And why he did nothing to stop the heated and hateful rhetoric of his crowds.
So now we have a man who was elected based on his ability to rouse the crowd to anger. How will he control that rage?
So now we have a man who was elected based on his ability to rouse the crowd to anger. How will he control that rage?
79
I see two pillars that support the madness. One is good old fashioned racism and its rejection of multiculturalism. Intellectuals underestimate the power of our genes. We are all born racist. We are born to reject the other. Culture binds us into separate groups. These motivations are the result of tribalism. We are this way because tribes compete for resources to survive.
We can learn to accept each other. We do it all of the time. This requires integration. Trump and Farge and the rest of the ultra-nationalists are using these dangerous and primal motivations to sway the electorate. All demagogues are expert at this type of manipulation.
The second pillar is the lie of supply side, trickle down economics. Vast numbers of people firmly believe that unrestrained capitalism will help all. So they reject any efforts to rein it in. They call such efforts socialism which is perceived as economic slavery. Consequently, they vote for policies that make the rich richer because that's better than taxing them more because that is socialism. Like Mr. Cohen said, people are not logical.
Add it all up and we have mob rule. Plato figured this out. The founders feared it. We have succumbed to it.
We can learn to accept each other. We do it all of the time. This requires integration. Trump and Farge and the rest of the ultra-nationalists are using these dangerous and primal motivations to sway the electorate. All demagogues are expert at this type of manipulation.
The second pillar is the lie of supply side, trickle down economics. Vast numbers of people firmly believe that unrestrained capitalism will help all. So they reject any efforts to rein it in. They call such efforts socialism which is perceived as economic slavery. Consequently, they vote for policies that make the rich richer because that's better than taxing them more because that is socialism. Like Mr. Cohen said, people are not logical.
Add it all up and we have mob rule. Plato figured this out. The founders feared it. We have succumbed to it.
470
Well said
"We are all born racist. We are born to reject the other."
Oh, speak for yourself. Lots of us judge others not on their color but on their behavior. Inconsiderate, loutish, crude behavior and talk make people trashy. White trash, black trash -- really, I don't care.
Thus, I consider our new president (from the bustling borough of Queens) a good example of trash -- except that he's rich: a man with no thought of anything beyond his own celebrity, making a splash, hustling, partying, womanizing, and talking trash even to the point of sexualizing his own daughter. In that way, he is no different from some men from, say, East Flatbush, or from poor hamlets in South Carolina or New Hampshire, for example, whose scorn for education. history, and even civility debases and threatens their neighborhoods.
Only now we have an entire country that is being debased and threatened.
Oh, speak for yourself. Lots of us judge others not on their color but on their behavior. Inconsiderate, loutish, crude behavior and talk make people trashy. White trash, black trash -- really, I don't care.
Thus, I consider our new president (from the bustling borough of Queens) a good example of trash -- except that he's rich: a man with no thought of anything beyond his own celebrity, making a splash, hustling, partying, womanizing, and talking trash even to the point of sexualizing his own daughter. In that way, he is no different from some men from, say, East Flatbush, or from poor hamlets in South Carolina or New Hampshire, for example, whose scorn for education. history, and even civility debases and threatens their neighborhoods.
Only now we have an entire country that is being debased and threatened.
1
I would strenuously dispute the "born racist" statement. I grew up in apartheid South Africa where children of all races happily played with one another before being indoctrinated by their upbringing to disdain the other. Yes, there is evolutionary benefit to fear of the unknown, but children don't exhibit that with respect to race before learning from their elders.
1
It's the rallies. Any good speaker, or showman in the case of the current POTUS, that can rile up an arena full of people, can also get them to believe whatever he says--no matter how outrageous, and gin up the anger. Aldous Huxley wrote about this in the early 1950s. A group psychological event occurs at such rallies. This is how Hitler succeeded with a completely horrendous policy, how Sun Yung Moon gathered his followers into an unlikely cult of the Unification Church, and how Donald Trump managed to get elected against all odds and with multiple scandals and no actual policy plans. He simply described the anger and his crowds ate it up.
180
The problem with your theory that a good speaker can rule up a room and gain power is that Trump is not a good speaker and only a tiny percentage of his tens of millions of voters have ever been in a room with him.
The bottom line: greed. Add the materialistic tendency to want to "keep up with the Jones'" and there you have it. It began in earnest in the Reagan years, when the "voodoo economics" became the norm, and the compensation for CEO's and their top echelon grew way out of proportion to the workers producing the goods. However much Carly Fiorina, for example, was paid when she was running HP, did she really deserve (or need) the $20 million when they let her go? That money would have give a nice boost to the "regular joes" at the bottom of the ladder.
So, people see that the few are getting the gold mine, while majority are getting the shaft. Never mind that Trump will play the people all over again. Oh sure, he can talk the populist talk, but walk the populist walk? Fuhgeddaboudit.
So, people see that the few are getting the gold mine, while majority are getting the shaft. Never mind that Trump will play the people all over again. Oh sure, he can talk the populist talk, but walk the populist walk? Fuhgeddaboudit.
21
There are some legitimate reasons to be angry, but the real culprit is the fear stoking media, Fox,Limbaugh, et al. They are designed to get Republicans in power,as if they ever do a damn thing for the working man. Trump is the culmination of years of fear and hate mongering, by design, of the right. The "know nothings" have taken over, and the Republican party is a sham.
23
Well said, Roger.
I don't like Trump and I didn't vote for him, but as time goes on, the more happy I am that Clinton didn't win.
Let's be clear, I'm not happy about Trump either.
But the last person to put Social Security on the table for cuts was Barak Obama. And Clinton said cuts were reasonable.
The last Democrat prosecuted no bankers.
The last Democrat deported 500,000 people a year.
The last Democrat did nothing with the federal minimum wage.
The last Democrat left a surveillance state so pervasive that if Trump wanted to listen to every phone call you've made for the past decade, he could probably do so.
The last Democrat pursued leakers and journalists who were just doing their jobs.
The last Democratic candidate derided single payer health insurance and free public college as pie in the sky and unattainable.
The last Democratic candidate couldn't find it in herself to talk to white men who weren't holding million dollar fundraisers for her in the Hamptons or paying her hundreds of thousands to praise them on Wall Street.
The last Democratic candidate supported every military intervention we've embarked on in my memory.
And now we have Pelosi, Schumer, and a Clinton/Obama ally for DNC chair.
Honestly, it seem the Democrats didn't lose badly enough.
Yup. Burn it down.
I don't like Trump and I didn't vote for him, but as time goes on, the more happy I am that Clinton didn't win.
Let's be clear, I'm not happy about Trump either.
But the last person to put Social Security on the table for cuts was Barak Obama. And Clinton said cuts were reasonable.
The last Democrat prosecuted no bankers.
The last Democrat deported 500,000 people a year.
The last Democrat did nothing with the federal minimum wage.
The last Democrat left a surveillance state so pervasive that if Trump wanted to listen to every phone call you've made for the past decade, he could probably do so.
The last Democrat pursued leakers and journalists who were just doing their jobs.
The last Democratic candidate derided single payer health insurance and free public college as pie in the sky and unattainable.
The last Democratic candidate couldn't find it in herself to talk to white men who weren't holding million dollar fundraisers for her in the Hamptons or paying her hundreds of thousands to praise them on Wall Street.
The last Democratic candidate supported every military intervention we've embarked on in my memory.
And now we have Pelosi, Schumer, and a Clinton/Obama ally for DNC chair.
Honestly, it seem the Democrats didn't lose badly enough.
Yup. Burn it down.
21
Best articulation I've seen of what so many of us feel. Thanks.
2
Burn what down? Western civilization? With a 54 billion dollar increase in defense spending, reduced availability to affordable healthcare on the horizon, and the removal of regulations to protect the environment, we are headed for major harms that would never have occurred during a Clinton presidency. Abortion goes back to the states and back alleys, Russia has a historic level of leverage in our government, and we are inhumanely cracking down on rounding up and deporting the most vulnerable of undocumented residents here. I sure don't see any policies that are actually good for those white men without the money to hold fundraisers. Hillary may have run a flawed campaign, but she was still the better candidate. That's being proven every day to our great detriment.
2
ur off your rocker, up the dosage baby
1
Yes people are getting angry and mostly with good reason, but 1) they are still voting against their own best interests by voting with their emotions and against all evidence and 2) this may sound very 80's, but not taking responsibility for their lack of education and/or willingness to change.
So, they voted for Trump even though he displayed NO evidence of ever caring about anyone else but himself whether it is scamming contractors, charities, "students" of Trump U, creditors and investors. The evangelicals voted for a guy who has no morals. And story after story of WWC Trump voters showed people unwilling to adapt to the new economy. I know it's hard to move from one's home town or change one's "life plan," but those of us who aren't getting screwed constantly have been willing to adapt. I went back to school. I moved when I was laid off
Bottom line: Trump will accomplish NOTHING for these people. The only mystery going forward is who they will blame.
So, they voted for Trump even though he displayed NO evidence of ever caring about anyone else but himself whether it is scamming contractors, charities, "students" of Trump U, creditors and investors. The evangelicals voted for a guy who has no morals. And story after story of WWC Trump voters showed people unwilling to adapt to the new economy. I know it's hard to move from one's home town or change one's "life plan," but those of us who aren't getting screwed constantly have been willing to adapt. I went back to school. I moved when I was laid off
Bottom line: Trump will accomplish NOTHING for these people. The only mystery going forward is who they will blame.
33
Americans are throwing a tantrum and that feels good to get it off your chest. Then you elect a man like Trump and have to live with the consequences. The nation is about to undergo one of the most regrettable hangovers in its history.
26
the other day from Amsterdam to London and BA in its brilliance wanted to charge me about three bucks for a cup of tea.
I may be wrong but, I heard Ryan Air already charges passengers 1 Euro for using the lavatory?
I may be wrong but, I heard Ryan Air already charges passengers 1 Euro for using the lavatory?
2
You are very wrong. Ryanair does NOT charge to use the lavatory. Though BA (and the hoard of other bankrupt major European airlines) would be glad if you believed that. And yes, it is fake news, and nothing new--despite democrats whinging about losing an election. And if Roger Cohen was anything but a phony, lying, liberal apologist, he could have flown Nijmegan to London for a third of the price that BA would charge--and be flying with an airline that has REALLY, TRULY cared for its customers by providing the cheapest airfare since they started business. And arrive on time. But that would be too much honesty (and sacrifice) for Roger. This disjointed column proves he has nothing really to tell anyone. Picture of a trump supporter looking passionate and possibly angry (always one of Roger's cheap gimmicks) and complaints about expensive tea from an airline that has been in bankruptcy for the past 10 years.
Trump will fix everything, "trust me" he says.
Sorry at 85+ he has only proved to me he is a fraud, not a very smart fraud.
Only interest in enriching himslf and family. And every now and then be President of which he is ill qualified.
Roosevelt made some mistakes but he was my generation HERO.
Sorry at 85+ he has only proved to me he is a fraud, not a very smart fraud.
Only interest in enriching himslf and family. And every now and then be President of which he is ill qualified.
Roosevelt made some mistakes but he was my generation HERO.
19
What this column cries out for is a followup NYT report about the (alleged) relationship between buildup of defense spending and war. There might well be one - or not. I have no idea. Cause and effect would probably be hard to disentangle. But if there is a war around the corner, I'd guess Trump - bully that he is - will pick the weakest country to pounce on, and probably one in the Western Hemisphere (anybody care to guess which one?).
I agree with most of his points ... but his $3 cup of tea is a terrible example because one can choose to decline that transaction - whereas too many people are getting screwed over in today's society who have few choices.
(one can argue that their choice of who to vote for can matter .. except that you rarely know what you really voted for until it's too late).
I agree with most of his points ... but his $3 cup of tea is a terrible example because one can choose to decline that transaction - whereas too many people are getting screwed over in today's society who have few choices.
(one can argue that their choice of who to vote for can matter .. except that you rarely know what you really voted for until it's too late).
6
Identity politics and entitlement expansion push back. A fair amount of people don't like being called names and told to line up for their medicine but there's no room in the democratic agenda for those who don't want to stand in line. Can we allow for the possibility that many people don't need or want their food, shelter, jobs and health ministered? Even when they "need help".
Thankfully there is still a sense of self reliance in this country. Trump is a poor response as pushback but maybe the only one when a president (Obama) and a body politic (Perez democrats) push the country in a direction not shared by all Americans.
Thankfully there is still a sense of self reliance in this country. Trump is a poor response as pushback but maybe the only one when a president (Obama) and a body politic (Perez democrats) push the country in a direction not shared by all Americans.
When you get a cancer diagnosis your life changes. One of the first things to go is the "self reliance" talking point.
Yes, anger abounds.
People see life as more precarious, less rule-bound, more inhuman in just about all ways under the icy faux-warmth of all-pervasive technology. The machines are now everywhere and are everything. Things seem out of control. People behave in new norms of ignorance and incivility, on both sides of the political divide.
Enter the news. In all this, the madding masses are smart enough to know that the last election was good for business. We endured and were enthralled by a serio-comic circus which generated untold millions for those invested in whipping it up and purveying it. Them wheels of advertising they just kept going around. Name something financially better for this paper or CNN or MSNBC or Fox News and all the rest than what we just went through (and continue to go through) and I'll pay for your three-dollar tay.
There are a number of ways to have been had. Selling 'I'm more outraged and morally violated than you are' in a sponsored frenzied drumbeat has been (and will profitably continue to be) one of them.
Blame the media, all stripes? You bet your cuppa.
People see life as more precarious, less rule-bound, more inhuman in just about all ways under the icy faux-warmth of all-pervasive technology. The machines are now everywhere and are everything. Things seem out of control. People behave in new norms of ignorance and incivility, on both sides of the political divide.
Enter the news. In all this, the madding masses are smart enough to know that the last election was good for business. We endured and were enthralled by a serio-comic circus which generated untold millions for those invested in whipping it up and purveying it. Them wheels of advertising they just kept going around. Name something financially better for this paper or CNN or MSNBC or Fox News and all the rest than what we just went through (and continue to go through) and I'll pay for your three-dollar tay.
There are a number of ways to have been had. Selling 'I'm more outraged and morally violated than you are' in a sponsored frenzied drumbeat has been (and will profitably continue to be) one of them.
Blame the media, all stripes? You bet your cuppa.
6
Trump voters are basically stupid people who don't think critically.
If they did, they'd have voted for Clinton as she would have done more to protect their interests than this Charlatan will.
She would not have been perfect, but again, would have been more to their economic interests.
However, they voted against themselves basically.
Part of me will be delighted to watch them wallow in even more misery.
If they did, they'd have voted for Clinton as she would have done more to protect their interests than this Charlatan will.
She would not have been perfect, but again, would have been more to their economic interests.
However, they voted against themselves basically.
Part of me will be delighted to watch them wallow in even more misery.
46
"It led ... the British, to hurl themselves over the White Cliffs of Dover ... in a successful attempt to break from the European Union..."
Successful?
The anger is partly a by-product of post-Cold War neoliberal economics. Capitalism, prior to Eastern-European "Communism's" collapse had learnt to restrain its urges, through regulation.
Unregulated laissez-faire had earlier proved disastrous, spawning successive speculative-investment bubbles, inevitably resulting in overheated markets' bursting. The last, most gullible investors lost the most shirts.
Following COMECON's crack-up, Soviet Union's vanishing and China's post-Tienanmen decision to bet on "command" capitalism (hey, put a "Communist" adjective in front of a free-market noun, why not? Eager industrialists WERE knocking down the door with specifications sheets and turnkey-factory designs. Return of Hong Kong's financial behemoth WAS in the works for 1997!).
The foolish West threw the baby out with the bathwater, but have never been able to admit what a mistake that was.
The watchword overnight became (though certain university economics schools and state governorships had long been preparing the patent nonsense:
"Total deregulation enables 'intelligent' market forces (in their aggregate statistical omniscience?) to 'autoregulate' markets. More efficient than whatever mere 'thinking' humans might come up with!"
Since then, enough folks in and out of power cling to this pipe dream.
"Market forces. SAD!"
Successful?
The anger is partly a by-product of post-Cold War neoliberal economics. Capitalism, prior to Eastern-European "Communism's" collapse had learnt to restrain its urges, through regulation.
Unregulated laissez-faire had earlier proved disastrous, spawning successive speculative-investment bubbles, inevitably resulting in overheated markets' bursting. The last, most gullible investors lost the most shirts.
Following COMECON's crack-up, Soviet Union's vanishing and China's post-Tienanmen decision to bet on "command" capitalism (hey, put a "Communist" adjective in front of a free-market noun, why not? Eager industrialists WERE knocking down the door with specifications sheets and turnkey-factory designs. Return of Hong Kong's financial behemoth WAS in the works for 1997!).
The foolish West threw the baby out with the bathwater, but have never been able to admit what a mistake that was.
The watchword overnight became (though certain university economics schools and state governorships had long been preparing the patent nonsense:
"Total deregulation enables 'intelligent' market forces (in their aggregate statistical omniscience?) to 'autoregulate' markets. More efficient than whatever mere 'thinking' humans might come up with!"
Since then, enough folks in and out of power cling to this pipe dream.
"Market forces. SAD!"
14
You are onto something in noting the deeply demoralizing effect of the pursuit of the last cent. It's not just the nickei-and-diming of workers. It's forcing employees to "upsell" every customer, and it's forcing customers to minutely question everything they are told. It's the monetization of what used to be relationship.
My very friendly and accommodating regional bank was taken over by a larger bank. At that new bank, when I want to cash in rolled coin, they weigh each roll, and they open and count any roll whose weight is off.
I used to trust completely the place where I get my car serrviced, because when they notice something that need attention, , I could ask, "Can it wait?", or , "Is it unsafe?", or "Can you just do A and not B?", and I'd get a frank answer. Now they've been trained to tell me "You need this, this and this.", and sometimes I know they're selling snake oil.
These things ARE a part of what is making people angry, resenntful and suspicious.
My very friendly and accommodating regional bank was taken over by a larger bank. At that new bank, when I want to cash in rolled coin, they weigh each roll, and they open and count any roll whose weight is off.
I used to trust completely the place where I get my car serrviced, because when they notice something that need attention, , I could ask, "Can it wait?", or , "Is it unsafe?", or "Can you just do A and not B?", and I'd get a frank answer. Now they've been trained to tell me "You need this, this and this.", and sometimes I know they're selling snake oil.
These things ARE a part of what is making people angry, resenntful and suspicious.
73
Upselling has been Rule #1 in salesmanship for decades. This is not new. It allowed small businesses to remain in business back in the day when people actually supported their local businesses and didn't run first to the big boxes and now to Amazon for their needs.
But yes, all the stupid nickel and diming done by large corporations (baggage fees, charging you for minute services at the bank ike printing out your own statement, etc.), and the overall poor customer service experience is part of what produces an angry consumer. However, what little protection the consumer had in the way of federal regulation is about to get tossed into the rising swamp.
But yes, all the stupid nickel and diming done by large corporations (baggage fees, charging you for minute services at the bank ike printing out your own statement, etc.), and the overall poor customer service experience is part of what produces an angry consumer. However, what little protection the consumer had in the way of federal regulation is about to get tossed into the rising swamp.
1
I agree and this is amplified by everyone being asked to rate each and every encounter they have. Every business gives a web address on their receipt asking for your feedback. Each time you place a call to a business the phone tree first asks if you want to complete a survey at the end of the call. I get continuously trying to improve but I dont feel these surveys accomplish that at all. Instead, everyone becomes an instant critic and expert on all topics. I believel that this had lead to a less tolerant society, as everyone demands excellence and total satisfaction in every exchange. I wish people were required to rate themselves at least once a day on a kindness and courtesy scale
1
Yes, Mr. Cohen has hit the nail on the head. I have no problem with capitalism when it is exercised in a fair and moral way; people have a right to make money. But we have Toxic Capitalism now, and most of us have been thoroughly trampled upon by the one percent who think they should literally have it all. Human decency, common courtesies, compassion for each other, lending one another a helping hand, having a chat with the stranger sitting next to you on the bus - these things make life richer. But when the guys with the money (usually men; apologies to the good guys) just take and take and take to support their excesses, while the rest of us worry about how to put food on the table or pay for the next doctor's visit.... The immorality of what they have created is breathtaking.
1
Another hysterical, unfocussed rant, full of basic factual errors.
Farage was not at any point the leader of the EU Leave campaign. The economy has not 'gone over the white cliffs of Dover'), and BA still provides free drinks for medium and long haul flights - the air time between London and Amsterdam is 45 minutes, barely enough time to provide refreshments. If you can't manage that without a hot drink, get a grip.
Yet again, this is dismally written, hopelessly biased journalism that bears no relation to reality. Since you have been in London, you have consistently and deliberately misinformed the American left, Cohen, perpetuating childish myths and propagating American ignorance to stupefying levels.
This only weakens the Left and strengthens Trump. For shame, Cohen.
Farage was not at any point the leader of the EU Leave campaign. The economy has not 'gone over the white cliffs of Dover'), and BA still provides free drinks for medium and long haul flights - the air time between London and Amsterdam is 45 minutes, barely enough time to provide refreshments. If you can't manage that without a hot drink, get a grip.
Yet again, this is dismally written, hopelessly biased journalism that bears no relation to reality. Since you have been in London, you have consistently and deliberately misinformed the American left, Cohen, perpetuating childish myths and propagating American ignorance to stupefying levels.
This only weakens the Left and strengthens Trump. For shame, Cohen.
13
Wow. Talk about making stuff up. Roger Cohen does not assert "the economy" has gone over the White Cliffs of Dover; he uses the phrase metaphorically to describe the referendum result. He doesn't say Farage was leader of the Leave campaign itself. Wanting a cup of tea on a short-term flight isn't a "factual error."
But your rage is authentic, that I can tell.
But your rage is authentic, that I can tell.
2
For the 11 millionth time, this is not "biased journalism." This is an editorial. For shame on your inability to distinguish between an opinion piece and a straight news article. Also, you can attempt to deflect from Nigel Farage's front and center role in the leave campaign, but it's not working. Maybe there should be fewer opinion pieces about Trump, but quite frankly it is clearly the case that Trump is sailing on a sea of anger, with much of it misguided and unlikely to produce a safer or better world.
3
Hiding blatant bias behind 'just an editorial' is part of the reason why US news journalism, on both print and electronic, is in such a dismal state.
US news journalism, on both print and electronic, being in such a dismal state is part of the reason why somehow so laughably ill-qualified as Trump was elected.
Stop apologising for appalling standard in journalism.
US news journalism, on both print and electronic, being in such a dismal state is part of the reason why somehow so laughably ill-qualified as Trump was elected.
Stop apologising for appalling standard in journalism.
1
I hate to sound condescending (I really do), but how to we arm The People against self-serving demagoguery? I can only think of one answer. Education. Oh, wow, the Republicans AND Democrats have (in different ways) caused our education system to spiral down the crapper. I have no other earthly idea how to protect the body politic from itself.
64
MHW, you have the answer: Education--but maybe not in the ways you think. Most teachers, especially in the sciences and the humanities, would love to spend more of their class time teaching students how to think rationally, how to recognize propaganda and demagoguery, and how to speak and write with clarity and coherence.
As a long-time (now retired) educator, I came to see that the classroom teachers often knew how to solve problems more efficiently and to deal more wisely with students and issues than did higher-paid consultants from the county office--consultants who came into the classroom, walked around taking notes, and then proceeded to tell the instructors exactly where and how they went wrong. And the docile classroom teachers listened and struggled to incorporate the new ideas into their already crammed programs of study--while dealing with a student body whose shortened attention spans and addiction to electronic devices mirrored the afflictions of their elders.
But nobody listened to the classroom teachers.
If they had, those "soldiers in the trenches" would have suggested smaller class sizes, fewer administrative tasks, more support from the principal's office, and less time spent in meetings. Not much to ask for, really--but granting those requests would allow some time to teach thinking skills.
As a long-time (now retired) educator, I came to see that the classroom teachers often knew how to solve problems more efficiently and to deal more wisely with students and issues than did higher-paid consultants from the county office--consultants who came into the classroom, walked around taking notes, and then proceeded to tell the instructors exactly where and how they went wrong. And the docile classroom teachers listened and struggled to incorporate the new ideas into their already crammed programs of study--while dealing with a student body whose shortened attention spans and addiction to electronic devices mirrored the afflictions of their elders.
But nobody listened to the classroom teachers.
If they had, those "soldiers in the trenches" would have suggested smaller class sizes, fewer administrative tasks, more support from the principal's office, and less time spent in meetings. Not much to ask for, really--but granting those requests would allow some time to teach thinking skills.
3
That's not condescending, it's a fundamental truth. And now we have DeVos, (DeWorse) Better education is part of what we must now again support return of public schools, and create curriculum fortified by critical thinking, the arts (not coloring in line drawings please), financial management, sex, family and childrearing, and citizenship classes so that students are prepared to survive and thrive in our corporatist, over-monetized culture.
1
Many good points made by Mr. Cohen. I believe he undermined them all when he whined about the three buck cost for a cup of tea on 'a short British Airways flight from Amsterdam to London.' That complaint makes no sense to a farmer in Alabama or a welder in Ohio. And that complaint is an example of how to lose an election by poor communication with unemployed, uninformed voters.
50
Mr. Cohen is on the right side in spite of his salary.
I don't agree. When working class people fly to visit their families, and take their kids, how much do you think they like having to pay $100 for luggage?
He could at least have referred to the most profitable US airline Spirit- water costs $2 on board.
The advertising industry tells struggling Americans every day their wellbeing and worth is linked to new cars, big houses, beach vacations, golf courses, etc. Trump's flimflam world is entirely consistent with that opioidic mirage.
60
No kidding.
That it's obvious, or should be, is the point.
Mobs were perfectly defined in Life of Brian with the witch trial.
Mobs are dumber than the dumbest person.
Mobs are antithetical to history.
Mobs are dumber than the dumbest person.
Mobs are antithetical to history.
44
Mobs are not antithetical to history. They make it. They need manipulators to ensure the right result of course.
Examples: the fall of the Roman Republic was a mob action.
The crowd cried : Release Barrabas
The Paris Mob: storming of the Bastille, supporting the Terror
The 1905 rising in Russia
The two revolutions in Russia in 1917
Kiev - you must remember that.
Examples: the fall of the Roman Republic was a mob action.
The crowd cried : Release Barrabas
The Paris Mob: storming of the Bastille, supporting the Terror
The 1905 rising in Russia
The two revolutions in Russia in 1917
Kiev - you must remember that.
2
It would be great comic relief to see a "Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah!" sign at a Trump rally.
1
The capitalist system, as it is practiced today, is the underlying cause it seems to me. I call this "rapacious capitalism", because it does precisely that to the consumer in an attempt to wring the "last cent" out of them. If you could trust big business and the banks to deal with their customers in an ethical and moral way there would more equity and less anger. This is why we have government...to regulate business, protect the public and provide a level, competitive playing field. Unfortunately, neither the banks nor big business will regulate themselves as we have seen numerous times in the past, and more recently in 2008. The government itself has been infiltrated by the very same people it seeks to regulate...the fox in charge of the hen house. The one type of organization that works for the benefit of the middle class is the union. Since Reagan and people like the Koch brothers declared war on the unions 30 years ago we have seen the decline of the middle class accelerate.
Of course the average person is angry and strikes out blindly at the most obvious target...the government. A brainless twit like Trump, propped up and directed by people like Bannon will not fix the problems, they will make it worse because they represent the very thing the citizenry is angry about.
This problem has been brewing for many years and it will take a concerted effort on the part of all of us to pull the country back from the brink.
Of course the average person is angry and strikes out blindly at the most obvious target...the government. A brainless twit like Trump, propped up and directed by people like Bannon will not fix the problems, they will make it worse because they represent the very thing the citizenry is angry about.
This problem has been brewing for many years and it will take a concerted effort on the part of all of us to pull the country back from the brink.
321
What was Marx's observation, that in the end stages of capitalism, money will be concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer people? What worries me is what is happening now and what comes next.
1
Very well put. thanks
1
Nail on the head: capitalism, in the current form, is the problem. You just can't have 1% enriched at the expense of all others. It's not sustainable.
2
It's not just about anger. Trump was elected by being a great con man, while the media fanned the flames, allowing itself to get conned as if it were born yesterday.
Roger Cohen is trying to make sense and logic out of something that has been a scam since it started, and will remain so until it's over.
Roger Cohen is trying to make sense and logic out of something that has been a scam since it started, and will remain so until it's over.
123
Dont forget to throw in some Russian interference and anger takes an even further seat to the back. I agree with the above post, Racism is alive and well and a great part of what we have observed over the last eight years should be attributed to racism. As for the normally cautious Brits, it seems their Brexit choice is also not on such solid ground. Another vote result tied to the back of racism
1
It is said that the founder of Scientology bragged that he could start a religion and get rich on the fools who followed. I have no doubt that a black bible could be built, or has been built, outlining how to create fear and distrust and thus make yourself a political leader who has millions of followers.
Of course, millions have to die, but hey, what is a little "shock and awe" in the grand scheme of things.
Problem is, when you refer to "God" in the phrase "God help us" you are referring to one of the greatest and most dangerous crowd manipulators ever, religion.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
Of course, millions have to die, but hey, what is a little "shock and awe" in the grand scheme of things.
Problem is, when you refer to "God" in the phrase "God help us" you are referring to one of the greatest and most dangerous crowd manipulators ever, religion.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
89
Watching a documentary on Scientology recently I was struck how similar to how Trump operates this organization masquerading as a religion is. Right down to how they keep their people brainwashed with carefully chosen mis information.
67
Bill Maher said the only difference between Trumpism and Scientology is that Scientology has better celebrities.
3
Some of us New Yorkers remember the ubiquitous subway advertisements for L. Ron Hubbard's science-fiction books, the forerunners to Scientology. Why the United States recognizes it as a tax-exempt religion is beyond me. Germany does not.
2
The real question is whether there are pragmatic solutions to problems. Politicians use fear and emotions to garner votes, not solutions. As to business and the economy, the system is rigged to extract every last cent in profit, at the expense of the workers.
5
Cohen asks an important question: Why do people vote against their self-interest and elect hucksters? In answering this question he misses an important point - education, or to be more precise, the lack of it.
By education I do not mean a high school or college degree, although those are helpful. By education I mean awareness and knowledge of one's location in the universe and our impact on the surrounding micro and macro ecosystems. If only people paused to think about these matters, we'd be more thoughtful in our actions and elect sensible folks to be our leaders. Unfortunately pettiness rules and is being peddled and provoked. Evreryone is asked to think of none other than oneself. We believe we are an island.
Sadly and scarily this leads to all the outcomes Cohen talks about.
By education I do not mean a high school or college degree, although those are helpful. By education I mean awareness and knowledge of one's location in the universe and our impact on the surrounding micro and macro ecosystems. If only people paused to think about these matters, we'd be more thoughtful in our actions and elect sensible folks to be our leaders. Unfortunately pettiness rules and is being peddled and provoked. Evreryone is asked to think of none other than oneself. We believe we are an island.
Sadly and scarily this leads to all the outcomes Cohen talks about.
4
What a sales job. The tremendous anger to be seen right now is coming from the left. Whether it's justified or not is another matter, but denying it would be lunacy.
The real issue at play is globalization. Anti-globalization is the basis of Trump and Bernie's success and Brexit. This paper is clearly a defender of globalization and it, along with the other mainstream news sources. have successfully gotten many liberals to angrily chase the Red Herrings of racism and xenophobia. Since professional and investor classes benefit from globalization, it's not surprising that THEY have become conned by the media and political establishments. The great losers from globalization are the working class and the environment. Even the working class of off-shore countries suffer because the cheapest labor force is always changing, leading to a trail of cultural degradation. The mass production of globalized products leaves a trail of environmental degradation - often in sensitive habitats of high species diversity and evolutionary heritage. Free-market capitalism (globalization) depends on unfettered immigration of the workforce. (75% of CA agric. workers are illegal.) It's a shame that many educated liberals can't see past their own self-interest. It would serve them well to consider the big picture before acting out self righteously.
The real issue at play is globalization. Anti-globalization is the basis of Trump and Bernie's success and Brexit. This paper is clearly a defender of globalization and it, along with the other mainstream news sources. have successfully gotten many liberals to angrily chase the Red Herrings of racism and xenophobia. Since professional and investor classes benefit from globalization, it's not surprising that THEY have become conned by the media and political establishments. The great losers from globalization are the working class and the environment. Even the working class of off-shore countries suffer because the cheapest labor force is always changing, leading to a trail of cultural degradation. The mass production of globalized products leaves a trail of environmental degradation - often in sensitive habitats of high species diversity and evolutionary heritage. Free-market capitalism (globalization) depends on unfettered immigration of the workforce. (75% of CA agric. workers are illegal.) It's a shame that many educated liberals can't see past their own self-interest. It would serve them well to consider the big picture before acting out self righteously.
4
carl
How about an administration that can't tell the truth and only give us lies to cover up their deplorable actions ( fake news). Everyone should be upset with that not just the enlightened educated. Stupid people only sound dumber when they repeat lies.
How about an administration that can't tell the truth and only give us lies to cover up their deplorable actions ( fake news). Everyone should be upset with that not just the enlightened educated. Stupid people only sound dumber when they repeat lies.
Well, when the collective temper tantrum has run its course the Democrats will be there to pick up the broken china, as usual.
The results of last November's election don't fall into the "don't get mad, get even" bucket. They fall into the "cut off your nose to spite your face" bucket. So while intellectually I understand the plight of the Trump voter who is now staring the loss of the ACA in the face, s/he may expect no tears or sympathy from me.
What the Trump voters still fail to understand is that the "elite" always have a way out, a Plan B, and that "deconstruction of the administrative state" - Ayn Rand writ large - will devastate not the "elite", but themselves. Might as well spit at the wind.
Stupid is as stupid does.
The results of last November's election don't fall into the "don't get mad, get even" bucket. They fall into the "cut off your nose to spite your face" bucket. So while intellectually I understand the plight of the Trump voter who is now staring the loss of the ACA in the face, s/he may expect no tears or sympathy from me.
What the Trump voters still fail to understand is that the "elite" always have a way out, a Plan B, and that "deconstruction of the administrative state" - Ayn Rand writ large - will devastate not the "elite", but themselves. Might as well spit at the wind.
Stupid is as stupid does.
5
Crowds are fairly easy to manipulate, as any marketer or politician knows.
The problem is the combustion of
1- the pent up anger accumulated of living in a -yes- very unfair system that has enriched the likes of many, including of Trump & co., with
2- the very malicious intent, that seemed to be a no-go zone before, but now it’s all out.
Until now, no-one in America had exploited the crowd to this extent and with so much immorality.
We do know, though not remember very well (obviously) last time that happened in Germany, to say one.
The problem is the combustion of
1- the pent up anger accumulated of living in a -yes- very unfair system that has enriched the likes of many, including of Trump & co., with
2- the very malicious intent, that seemed to be a no-go zone before, but now it’s all out.
Until now, no-one in America had exploited the crowd to this extent and with so much immorality.
We do know, though not remember very well (obviously) last time that happened in Germany, to say one.
2
Do not overlook the blind worship of corporations, disguised as the free market system. Everything is measured by profit. Serving the public interest is not a factor -- even for the government, hospitals, universities, and other arenas supposedly providing service. If the FDA's purpose is to serve the public, how could it approve drugs that are not proven to be safe, only effective against a disease. When there is no value in serving the public, the public feels cheated.
4
As the WSJ reported Sweden (truthfully) its crime, hatefulness and most other problems have been shown to be done by large numbers of immigrants who do not want and refuse to assimilate with them. Here in the U.S. we have too much hatred perpetuated by daily slander, lies, disrespect, riots and marches about nothing (as Trump has just gotten started). One is either naïve or stupid as to not think this angry radical left is not the cause of the problem. They are and their hatred will draw more people against all of them.
2
Fish rots from the head down, Roger Cohen. Angry low-brow, low-info people in red caps believed the carney-barker con-man's "Make America Great Again!" and elected him - the most misfit "unpresidented" - President in American history. Intelligence, empathy and compassion aren't Trump's strong suits. Mean Tweets, bullying, demagoguery, xenophobia, misogyny and relying on the messages whispered into his ears by his malign hench-people, Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway and others have brought us - the people who did not vote for Trump or want him as our leader - to this very sorry pass in American history. Trump's "Tremendous" military build-up ($54 billions!) presages war. Angry Brits, examples of the "madness of crowds" you call it, have cut off their noses with BREXIT to spite their faces. Europe and Nato are rumbling across the pond. In the US, anger will curtail manufacturing jobs, health care, retirement and other benefits. The Trump fix is in. George Orwell said humans want common sense - and they also need "drums, flags and loyalty-parades". Bread and circuses. The "system", whether BA's silly $3. cuppa, or other rip-offs is ripe for anger, for "the furies", for the "madness of crowds".
5
There is a lot of truth to this column. I have been taking a fascinating course about leveraged buyouts and the whole modus operandi is to buy well run company. Borrow a lot of money, look for inefficiencies (code for fire a whole bunch of people) pay off the debt and sell the company to another company or through an IPO.
Its a soulless and vicious process. The people who gave their whole lives to building the company suddenly find themselves out of a job on the street with little or no future. Meanwhile the CEO and the officer's get golden parachutes worth millions of dollars.
However, the tragic irony of the situation in the Untied States is that Hillary Clinton, who does believe in social justice would have done something about that. On the other hand the guy they voted in, Trump, is the worst example of these shenanigans.
What baffles me is that vast amounts of information on each candidate was out there and available to everybody. If you can't be bothered to read and take responsibility for your own actions (i.e. who you vote for), then really those voters only have themselves to blame.
Its a soulless and vicious process. The people who gave their whole lives to building the company suddenly find themselves out of a job on the street with little or no future. Meanwhile the CEO and the officer's get golden parachutes worth millions of dollars.
However, the tragic irony of the situation in the Untied States is that Hillary Clinton, who does believe in social justice would have done something about that. On the other hand the guy they voted in, Trump, is the worst example of these shenanigans.
What baffles me is that vast amounts of information on each candidate was out there and available to everybody. If you can't be bothered to read and take responsibility for your own actions (i.e. who you vote for), then really those voters only have themselves to blame.
14
I think many people knew what Hillary's website said she'd do. They just didn't believe she'd actually do what it said. Based on, you know, her flipping and flopping on various positions (e.g., TPP is the gold standard to not supporting it).
2
Here's the thing. The TPP was GOOD for America, but Bernie Sanders and Trump forced her to back track. The reality is that if you are a politician, quite often you can't just do what you want to or what's good for the country. In any event Trump killed the TPP and anybody who really understands what it was about has only one question: Why!? Now we are all in a crazy mixed up acid trip called the Trump Presidency.
The problem is over the past few decades voters have felt they haven't been listened to by polititians on the left and the right. They got fed up with it and so when a chance came to vote for something or someone different came along it was taken, hence Trump and Brexit. If politicains had listened to voters concerns in the years prior to these events then they probably would not have happened. The fault for these events lies with polititians and to some extent mainstream media who ignore valid voter concerns.
1
Newton's third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. I for one, am hopeful that the anger being expressed by those who, with good cause, are feeling left behind will be countered by a new anger by those of us "elites" who are now learning a hard lesson about our fellow citizens and are outraged by the extent to which they have been manipulated.
3
"the attempt to squeeze the last cent of profit out of any operation has also squeezed the last trace of sentiment out of what passes for human interaction." Well said, Mr. Cohen! As a business school professor, I was wondering when people would realize that running a country as though it is a for-profit corporation will just not work. And that too, not a widely traded for-profit, but one with a small set of residual claimants. A for-profit corporation does not care about the vulnerable who are too young or too weak to contribute to the objective function of profit maximization. It does not care about long term growth and development of the country's citizens. It does not care whether people who are not contributing to its profit live or die and how they live or die. A for-profit corporation is a feasible organizational system only when there is little information asymmetry about what it produces and how it produces it. A country cannot be run like a for- profit corporation. It will be a disaster to its citizens.
11
“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” – John Adams
The madness of crowds -- on both the right and left -- has made us deaf and blind to the heartfelt feelings of the other and erected an iron curtain across pathways to compromise.
The natural outcome of such self-righteousness -- on both the left and right -- will have its say this evening before a joint session of a bitterly divided congress.
The madness will abate only when compromise begins.
The madness of crowds -- on both the right and left -- has made us deaf and blind to the heartfelt feelings of the other and erected an iron curtain across pathways to compromise.
The natural outcome of such self-righteousness -- on both the left and right -- will have its say this evening before a joint session of a bitterly divided congress.
The madness will abate only when compromise begins.
5
Democracy commits suicide because there must be compromise. A halfway measure between bad and good. Often, compromise is not useful or wise.
Take a ladle of healthful broth and a ladle of cesspool sludge and serve it up as soup. That's your "compromise," Gluscabi.
Take a ladle of healthful broth and a ladle of cesspool sludge and serve it up as soup. That's your "compromise," Gluscabi.
1
"For whom the bell tolls..."
That "wealth making miracle", truly is a miracle- it's most often logic free! Free money, Zirp divides by zero for some, but multiplies by zero for others. That's just one of a million issues.
This column hits the nail on the head, but few will really understand it. Even less will fathom my mathematical metaphor. My father used to tell me that only a scant number of people can really "think passed their belly button".
That "wealth making miracle", truly is a miracle- it's most often logic free! Free money, Zirp divides by zero for some, but multiplies by zero for others. That's just one of a million issues.
This column hits the nail on the head, but few will really understand it. Even less will fathom my mathematical metaphor. My father used to tell me that only a scant number of people can really "think passed their belly button".
5
I agree with you, but you mean "think past" not "think passed." Try spelling correctly while you write.
2
Our culture has been brutalized by the "profit first" mantra. When my family and I went on a vacation to South Africa we were pleasantly surprised that the price of a bottle of water was the same no matter where you were. You weren't gouged because they could gouge you.
Compare that with a local outing to say a Tigers baseball game where the local taxpayers subsidize a stadium but are charged $3-$4 for water that you must have, especially for children, on hot July days. It can be very stressful for someone on a budget who just wanted a little family fun.
I think working Americans are abused this way in many areas by folks who really don't need anymore money but have been given a license to steal by local and national politicians.
Crony Capitalism is really the worst system and unfortunately many of these people have unwittingly elected someone who will only make it worse.
Compare that with a local outing to say a Tigers baseball game where the local taxpayers subsidize a stadium but are charged $3-$4 for water that you must have, especially for children, on hot July days. It can be very stressful for someone on a budget who just wanted a little family fun.
I think working Americans are abused this way in many areas by folks who really don't need anymore money but have been given a license to steal by local and national politicians.
Crony Capitalism is really the worst system and unfortunately many of these people have unwittingly elected someone who will only make it worse.
10
As programs like the National Endowment of the Arts are soon to be slashed in favor of increases in defense spending, a reflection of Trump and Company's preferred warmongering over ballet, we might turn to literature and the arts to seek understanding for the unfolding phenomena that we see unfold.
Mr. Cohen's quote from George Orwell is not coincidental. It parallels a surge in readership of 1984. I have just begun re-reading my once high school assigned novel and it is eerily prophetic.
As I witness Trump's rallies, I see him sign travel bans and watch Americans attach themselves to the hate and negativity promulgated by this Bannon/Breitbart puppet, I think of the film, "Children of Men."
Soon, if the White House allows the credibility of the press to diminish in the Public's mind and paranoia to reign amongst public servants, Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" might resurface in popularity.
When defense spending trumps foreign diplomacy and PBS and museums and the arts, the masses lose perspective and as Orwell might suggest "The Ministry of Truth" (the White House) determines everything--our information, our emotions and our relations with the world.
Mr. Cohen's quote from George Orwell is not coincidental. It parallels a surge in readership of 1984. I have just begun re-reading my once high school assigned novel and it is eerily prophetic.
As I witness Trump's rallies, I see him sign travel bans and watch Americans attach themselves to the hate and negativity promulgated by this Bannon/Breitbart puppet, I think of the film, "Children of Men."
Soon, if the White House allows the credibility of the press to diminish in the Public's mind and paranoia to reign amongst public servants, Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" might resurface in popularity.
When defense spending trumps foreign diplomacy and PBS and museums and the arts, the masses lose perspective and as Orwell might suggest "The Ministry of Truth" (the White House) determines everything--our information, our emotions and our relations with the world.
9
Add to your reading list:
Huxley Brave New World
Orwell: Road to Wigan Pier (not a novel)
Jack London: The Iron Heel
These are all worth reading, and outline different kinds of tyranny, but the Orwell book presents the face of poverty in really grim terms (1930s Britain). If there is a comparable book about poverty in the deindustrialised parts of the US I don't know it.
Lastly, a light hearted look at Muslim rule in pre-1914 England (it's not a new scare)
Chesterton, G K: the Flying Inn
I'm afraid this newspaper diminished it's own credibility in my eyes during the campaign by its news coverage of Sanders. Not only were editorials dismissive of his proposals but news coverage always inserted a few zingers too. Trump was not taken seriously until very late, but by then credibility was lost. The ammunition and slurs had all been used on Sanders.
Still, on election eve the paper gave Hillary an 89% chance of winning, so all was well.
Trump could not do anything to diminish media credibility. Once lost it will take time to rebuild. Continuing non-stop denunciation does not help.
Huxley Brave New World
Orwell: Road to Wigan Pier (not a novel)
Jack London: The Iron Heel
These are all worth reading, and outline different kinds of tyranny, but the Orwell book presents the face of poverty in really grim terms (1930s Britain). If there is a comparable book about poverty in the deindustrialised parts of the US I don't know it.
Lastly, a light hearted look at Muslim rule in pre-1914 England (it's not a new scare)
Chesterton, G K: the Flying Inn
I'm afraid this newspaper diminished it's own credibility in my eyes during the campaign by its news coverage of Sanders. Not only were editorials dismissive of his proposals but news coverage always inserted a few zingers too. Trump was not taken seriously until very late, but by then credibility was lost. The ammunition and slurs had all been used on Sanders.
Still, on election eve the paper gave Hillary an 89% chance of winning, so all was well.
Trump could not do anything to diminish media credibility. Once lost it will take time to rebuild. Continuing non-stop denunciation does not help.
2
Richard, that's a good list. I would note that everyone is talking about 1984, but I see far greater parallels in Brave New World...
You make a good point about the Times' coverage of Sanders. It did a lot of damage to its credibility through the unnecessary and unprofessional zingers in its news coverage and dismissive attitude. So when Trump came along, what else was there to say?
You make a good point about the Times' coverage of Sanders. It did a lot of damage to its credibility through the unnecessary and unprofessional zingers in its news coverage and dismissive attitude. So when Trump came along, what else was there to say?
It's not the so much economy stupid, as it is the corruption stupid. How about educating the electorate? How about making the buying of our so-called representatives front and center in editorials and the public debate? How about publicizing the correlation of their voting records with the sources of their campaign contributions versus the promises they ran on and what the voters who elected them want and thought they were voting for? How about discussing integrity, promoting candidates who have integrity and exposing the shills?
Bernie Sanders called for a revolution. He should have called for a counter-revolution because there's been a revolution going on in America for a long time now to take down our democracy. It's being fought with money and mendacity instead of guns so you don't see the blood and it doesn't get splashed across TV screens and the front pages of newspapers every day. It's working, and it's almost won. It's time to out it. It's long past the time to out it! Hopefully it's not too late!
Bernie Sanders called for a revolution. He should have called for a counter-revolution because there's been a revolution going on in America for a long time now to take down our democracy. It's being fought with money and mendacity instead of guns so you don't see the blood and it doesn't get splashed across TV screens and the front pages of newspapers every day. It's working, and it's almost won. It's time to out it. It's long past the time to out it! Hopefully it's not too late!
12
The British Airways story is a metaphor for how stupid corporations and people in business can be. It always makes me laugh when I hear that we needed a businessman for president. I worked for a very successful retail company for 25 years. We sold a quality product for a very reasonable price, and our commissioned sales staff made a ton of money through volume sales. If British Airways cut the price for a cup of tea in half they'd sell five times as many cups. But they're too obtuse to realize that, and if you gave them this suggestion they'd reject it and tell you it wouldn't work.
11
My view is that a certain brutal ruthlessness appeared in American culture starting in the 1980s. Perhaps this element had always been there, but it seemed to come out of the woodwork and grow more widespread. You could see it in business, politics, social interactions. It was as if all constraints and civility were thrown out. Outrageous and over-the-top political discourse and a totally Darwinian approach to social and economic life came to be acceptable -- even among people who would vigorously deny that they accepted it. Lee Atwater's ads for Bush No. 1 were a notable milestone. Other milestones were the damage to unions, a contempt for public education, dismissal of regular working Americans as irrelevant, the elevation of "business success" to the point where if someone has a lot of money that automatically means they are admirable. (Not!) Obsession with profits damaged journalism. Applying a business model in universities led to the crazy costs of higher education -- which then blocked economic mobility. I hope American culture can get its act together.
33
I don't think that there is only one explanation for Trump. I think that is part of the simplistic thinking that got Trump elected. I think Trump is a perfect storm. So many variables went into his victory that it is staggering, Russia, resentment, bigotry, desperation, the right-wing bubble, left-wing division, the weakest democratic presidential candidate in a generation - remove any of those things and Trump would not be sitting in the oval office.
It is nice to have a single, neat answer for things, but that is not the way the world actually works.
It is nice to have a single, neat answer for things, but that is not the way the world actually works.
8
Venezuela, here we come. Economic disparities are becoming greater, with wealth concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and the US elects Trump, a complete nincompoop as a statesman, whose idea of an infrastructure program appears to be giving billions of dollars to contrators and the military industrial complex. SAD.
8
Absolutely spot-on column. Your encounters with anger dovetail with my own. Truly frightening times.
3
We have always had surface thinkers. Those that accept simple solutions to complex problems. But this time they are multiplied by tweets, bumper stickers, facebook one liners, and a simple message that can be put on a hat.
The master of the one liner with no clue for problem solving is the leader of the free world.
His awakening is happening. He said "who knew health care was so complex? " yesterday.
Unfortunately the ruling republican party is full of the surface thinkers among the congress. Those in leadership know better but are willing to use the others to keep their power seats.
Mr. McConnell and Mr. Ryan are the guilty parties in this crime against Democracy and Enlightenment. (credit Mr. Brooks. for the last thought.)
The master of the one liner with no clue for problem solving is the leader of the free world.
His awakening is happening. He said "who knew health care was so complex? " yesterday.
Unfortunately the ruling republican party is full of the surface thinkers among the congress. Those in leadership know better but are willing to use the others to keep their power seats.
Mr. McConnell and Mr. Ryan are the guilty parties in this crime against Democracy and Enlightenment. (credit Mr. Brooks. for the last thought.)
100
I think the Iraq war is a possible outcome and this time the U.S. will keep the oil. Might take nuclear weapons to kill off the entire population because governing them would be so costly and difficult. And how long before the radiation dies down enough to resume oil production? I can't believe my country could go there but with Trump it is surely a possibility.
16
Mr. Cohen errs only in his timeline.
For people in general have loved to be persuaded by demagogues of all stripes.
The insipid nationalism dullards like our current president wants to stoke is really nothing new.
Think of the millions of Europeans who over a century ago happily shed all class distinctions to march off to their deaths in France, Belgium, and Russia.
Americans are certainly not immune to the siren song of a hazily and inaccurately remembered "greatness".
Trump has a portrait of Andrew Jackson on his wall. I suggest Donald replace Jackson with Theodore Roosevelt, who was "deelighted" to fight in Cuba, approved the annexation of Hawaii, and eventually presided over the mass killing of Philippine "rebels".
War has always been a toxic "cure" for economic anxiety and a surefire way to channel public disgust at the excesses of our capitalist system into another vessel.
For people in general have loved to be persuaded by demagogues of all stripes.
The insipid nationalism dullards like our current president wants to stoke is really nothing new.
Think of the millions of Europeans who over a century ago happily shed all class distinctions to march off to their deaths in France, Belgium, and Russia.
Americans are certainly not immune to the siren song of a hazily and inaccurately remembered "greatness".
Trump has a portrait of Andrew Jackson on his wall. I suggest Donald replace Jackson with Theodore Roosevelt, who was "deelighted" to fight in Cuba, approved the annexation of Hawaii, and eventually presided over the mass killing of Philippine "rebels".
War has always been a toxic "cure" for economic anxiety and a surefire way to channel public disgust at the excesses of our capitalist system into another vessel.
91
Kevin, I wish our country could celebrate the return of our young men and women from war as energetically as they do when they're sent off. And I don't mean just parades but providing them with the proper tools to re-assimilate healthily in civilian society.
BTW - I'm sure you meant to write . . . approved *of* the annexation of Hawaii. I know you know it was annexed under President McKinley in his first term while TR was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
BTW - I'm sure you meant to write . . . approved *of* the annexation of Hawaii. I know you know it was annexed under President McKinley in his first term while TR was serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
1
The inventors of our digital age wants constant disruption. They mistake rationality with what is reasonable. That is - the technology will also reinvent the peoples mind. But with diruption follows chaos and uncertainty. And with that follows nationalism, border-protection and suspicousness of anyone who isn't of your own religion or ethnicity.
16
Venezuela, not Iran. Much easier. Lots of in-country support. "My God, the people there are starving. The country is being run by drug traffickers Someone needs to rescue them."
13
Tempting, but there is still an unresolved conflict in a theater much closer to our shoreline. Think Bay of Pigs Redux. And while there a few Muslims, though we could always import more, for Bannon's holy war, there is a huge potential for hotels, casinos and golf resorts, a strategy mapped out 60 years ago. Trump may be an opportunist, but he is also a coward and Venezuela would be a quagmire of unsolvable problems. It does have pertoleum, but the Clown in Chief steals land, not oil.
1
My vote is for Grenada--worked for Reagan.
Yes, people are angry. Yes, people are getting screwed. But they're angry at the wrong people (immigrants, Muslims, minorities, women) who they think are "taking over" their country. And they're getting screwed (and about to get even more screwed) by the buffoon they elected to office. Britain is already having buyers remorse over Brexit. By the time the people in this country open their eyes to what is happening, it might very well be too late. Beware of huge military expenditures -- usually means a war is in the near future.
325
Not only the Brits have already buyers remorse.
According to the latest news even the Kremlin has buyers remorse. They have instructed the Putin state controlled press to stop fawning about the victory and not to show any of his speeches on the tele.
During the age of Trump, up is down and down is up. It can't get any weirder.
According to the latest news even the Kremlin has buyers remorse. They have instructed the Putin state controlled press to stop fawning about the victory and not to show any of his speeches on the tele.
During the age of Trump, up is down and down is up. It can't get any weirder.
1
People getting screwed? They ain't seen nuthin' yet. Post-Brexit & post-Trump, the great ripoff will have left the vast majority with nothing and with little or no recourse, as liberal democracy will be dead & buried. Just watch the GOP here, the Tories there, and their billionaire owners, they're partying like there's no tomorrow.
391
Because, if they continue to succeed in getting their way, there will be no tomorrow.
4
It might take 10, 20 or 50 years, but when the reckoning comes and the 99% say, "Enough" and "Off with their heads," I will not shed a tear.
6
People in the upper 20 percent of the income distribution, or the upper middle class, have gained enormously from globalization, freer trade, and labor-replacing technological advance.
They have not shared the new bounty with people in the lower part of the income and wealth distribution. This is often blamed on Republican polticians, who certainly deserve a lot of blame.
My suspicion, however, is that the upper middle class has itself been quite opposed any downwardly directed sharing of real economic benefits. Thus it is claimed that President Obama’s proposed removal of tax breaks on savings plans for college was derailed by liberal Democrats representing affluent districts:
https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/wealth-inequality-and-the-me-im-not-r...
Supporting the right of transgender people to use the bathrooms of their choice, as I myself do absolutely, and similar cultural gestures, allows people to feel righteous, but with relatively low cost to one's personal economic well-being.
Education of chldren from lower income families is now so bad, and their chances for success in life consequently so low, that swathes of people have been brutalized, in the literal sense of being turned into aggressive brutes.
Sending Trump to Washington could perhaps be seen as a warning. Sending that message, on this interpretation, could even be a highly rational move on the part of the disenfranchised. Maybe the biggest question is, will the warning be heeded?
They have not shared the new bounty with people in the lower part of the income and wealth distribution. This is often blamed on Republican polticians, who certainly deserve a lot of blame.
My suspicion, however, is that the upper middle class has itself been quite opposed any downwardly directed sharing of real economic benefits. Thus it is claimed that President Obama’s proposed removal of tax breaks on savings plans for college was derailed by liberal Democrats representing affluent districts:
https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/wealth-inequality-and-the-me-im-not-r...
Supporting the right of transgender people to use the bathrooms of their choice, as I myself do absolutely, and similar cultural gestures, allows people to feel righteous, but with relatively low cost to one's personal economic well-being.
Education of chldren from lower income families is now so bad, and their chances for success in life consequently so low, that swathes of people have been brutalized, in the literal sense of being turned into aggressive brutes.
Sending Trump to Washington could perhaps be seen as a warning. Sending that message, on this interpretation, could even be a highly rational move on the part of the disenfranchised. Maybe the biggest question is, will the warning be heeded?
36
How do the rich share? Through taxes. Who has kept taxes low? The GOP! What party is Trump's party? The GOP.
54
Hmmm. And the message is we're sending a guy who is firmly against a higher minimum wage, who is for reduced tax liability for high wealth individuals and a reduction of the corporate tax liability, who is anti-public school, who regards health care as a market problem, considers environmental protections a unnecessary burden on business, and filled the ranks of his administration with the richest and fattest cats in the land. What exactly is the warning?
As the majority of states are GOP controlled, the decimation of the national cultural landscape as a state-by-state campaign must surely be Obama's fault. And those the failing schools, run by state and local school boards must also be Obama's doing. And all that union busting in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, yep. That Obama.
I will accept you feel you've sent a message. It may be a warning, but if it is the warning is when we allow the fringe to have control bad things happen. But only one lost in delusion and ignorance would think it rational.
As the majority of states are GOP controlled, the decimation of the national cultural landscape as a state-by-state campaign must surely be Obama's fault. And those the failing schools, run by state and local school boards must also be Obama's doing. And all that union busting in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, yep. That Obama.
I will accept you feel you've sent a message. It may be a warning, but if it is the warning is when we allow the fringe to have control bad things happen. But only one lost in delusion and ignorance would think it rational.
4
People are honestly too comfortable and have forgotten how bad things can get. WWII is just a bunch of Oscar-winning movies. Going to war with a country like Iran will quickly put today's "malaise" in context.
3
One part of the general theory of the Chinese dynastic cycle was the observation that corruption started at the top of the social structure and worked down, while the punishments for crime were most severe at the bottom of the social structure; this would become greater over time and more extreme late in a dynasty, as it trended downward. The salvation democracy offers is correction without the necessity of revolution and overthrow, but that doesn’t mean we’re immune to the trends noted by the Chinese philosophers.
People see those at the top, the 1-percenters and those nearing the top, plundering the system, gouging huge profits, while many are in dead-end situations and folks in general are feeling almighty ripped off and/or want their share of the plunder.
The greed and anger are real, accompanied by xenophobic fears unscrupulously stoked by those sporting conspiracy theories to promote political agendas. Fear, anger and greed are a lethal mix.
So where do these emotions go when Trump’s and the GOP’s actions fly off the rails? The Dems would like to think that logic will prevail. Roger suggests we think again.
Perhaps we should.
People see those at the top, the 1-percenters and those nearing the top, plundering the system, gouging huge profits, while many are in dead-end situations and folks in general are feeling almighty ripped off and/or want their share of the plunder.
The greed and anger are real, accompanied by xenophobic fears unscrupulously stoked by those sporting conspiracy theories to promote political agendas. Fear, anger and greed are a lethal mix.
So where do these emotions go when Trump’s and the GOP’s actions fly off the rails? The Dems would like to think that logic will prevail. Roger suggests we think again.
Perhaps we should.
136
This comment is right on target. We do need to think again. Yes, American and Americans are exceptional, but that does not mean we are immune to the cycles of history or human emotion. Robert Reich has spoken about talking with people in the 1% to explain that leaving the vast majority of the population nothing but crumbs (my paraphrase) will inevitably lead to catastrophe for everyone, especially them. Is anyone paying attention?
3
If we had job security and a sense of place, and some trust that not everyone is out to rip us off, we would likely go back to complacency about immigrants and terrorists. The center has not held for thirty years now.
1
Steve
These people are too greedy for money and power. Did the French Royalty think that their heads would roll or did they just party and get drunk. No one is paying attention and that is how the 1% wants it to stay. Just get the masses mad about Benghazi or some other made up tragedy - Boiling Green anyone - and you control these simple minded folks.
These people are too greedy for money and power. Did the French Royalty think that their heads would roll or did they just party and get drunk. No one is paying attention and that is how the 1% wants it to stay. Just get the masses mad about Benghazi or some other made up tragedy - Boiling Green anyone - and you control these simple minded folks.
1
One wonders whether all the shortcomings of life in the 21st century can be laid at the door of Trump Tower, the obtained-by-eminent-domain location of this now jaundiced journal, atmospheric and inner-ear disturbances due to repetitive supersonic travel or the continuing use of the DH. One flight of fancy is as good as the next.
1
H
I would lay it on the door of Koch brothers that own the republican politicians. trump is only rich enough to buy a few politicians like his buddy the governor in NJ.
I would lay it on the door of Koch brothers that own the republican politicians. trump is only rich enough to buy a few politicians like his buddy the governor in NJ.
People are angry because the last eight years, for many, have been a smoke and mirrors sham recovery involving low wages and higher taxes in the form of Obamacare. Couple that with the insistence by the media that things are better than ever, make these people look around and say, "that's a lie, except for the smug elites of this country." On top of it, these people are doused with snarky comments about guns and religion, and words like deplorable and irredeemable. Worse yet, the presidential choices include the two worst presidential candidates in recent history, Trump and Clinton, and these people are told by the NYT that Clinton has a 89%-92% probability of winning, and when she loses, even the people who love Clinton get angry. The country's people and most importantly lets not forget, its media, especially the NYT, are now angry.
20
You should direct your anger at Mitch McConnel and the Republicans who no interest but the interests of Koch Brothers and other 1% of rich and wealthy. The republicans and cons like Trump have been successful in demonizing anyone who proposed higher taxes on the 1%, to restrain defense budget, to provide guaranteed income for middle America who has lost jobs due automation and trade, and refuse to invest in education, training for these displaced workers.
7
I know people who are alive today only because the "higher taxes sham recovery" Obamacare made possible a visit to the doctor (and not just the ER!).
One of the saddest realities of our time is that a slim technical (electoral) majority couldn't understand that people with the bad luck to get cancer without a trust fund had a little hope, for a little while.
One of the saddest realities of our time is that a slim technical (electoral) majority couldn't understand that people with the bad luck to get cancer without a trust fund had a little hope, for a little while.
6
Any wonder the credibility of the media is going down the drains? If that is bad news for every one, just watch how the media doubles down on what it has been doing. It is tragic if it were no so utterly stupid.
Trump knew exactly what would sell - after all the US perma-election 'cycle' is really just a sales contest. He won 'Best in Show' by the narrowest of margins and now we have to live with this con-man and his ennobled minions.
111
--- until the next election! As you say it's a perma-election and the next cycle has already begun. This could be the greatest era in America when many people are waking up to what are the issues, how the system functions, how policies affect their lives. It's a way to get the people well-informed, and the louder it is done the better. Technology helps, even Twitter.
2
We wouldn't be having this conversation if their had been just a little bit more...
Just a little bit more honesty with the Democratic nominee
Just a little more spotlight being shone on the republican nominee
The vacuum that was created within the confluence of those things happening simultaneously was for people to lay blame on all manner of things, like gouging for a cuppa, the top needing to be destroyed or anger\fear of the other.
Things will correct themselves, now that people realize what they have done and there are very real world consequences like death, pain and suffering.
Just a little bit more honesty with the Democratic nominee
Just a little more spotlight being shone on the republican nominee
The vacuum that was created within the confluence of those things happening simultaneously was for people to lay blame on all manner of things, like gouging for a cuppa, the top needing to be destroyed or anger\fear of the other.
Things will correct themselves, now that people realize what they have done and there are very real world consequences like death, pain and suffering.
24
Way too much free spotlight was shown on the Republican nominee. He looked like just the guy for blowing things up.
6
This is the paradox about Roger Cohen. At first, his writings tend to show a good height of view and a fair common sense. And then, they bog down to his being charged three dollars for a cup of tea, or that the French wear berets and walk around with a loaf of bread while endlessly repeating “c’est impossible”.
30
He's just illustrating how unhinged people can get over something trivial. And that the sense of getting screwed doesn't take much.
35
Yes, the transition from opioid addiction to being charged for tea on a BA flight -- in just two grafs -- is the most excruciatingly and inadvertently funny Times op-ed moment in quite a while.
2
Mr. Cohen, disgruntled Americans wanted something different and they got it. Struggle and self-sacrifice do add meaning to one's life but comfort, safety and short working-hours alone won't make for a bowl of cherries either. Anger does not excuse experimenting with America's democratic way of life the way voters did last November. Who were the crowds mad at? President Obama? Hillary Clinton? The News media? The crowds seemed to adore the outsider who promised to fix what was wrong with America who now seems to be in way over his head in the Oval Office. The madness of the crowds gave America the swamp at the White House. It's called life in the Everglades.
315
SEEMS to be in way over his head? The dude doesn't know how to WORK! He instructed the insurance companies to get together and fix the ACA! Seriously!
10
All the while Roger and his cohorts were supporting more of the same Clinton and now appointed more of the same Perez to head their party.
The people are tired of more of the same and no accountability to those that have stolen the taxpayers coffers to enrich themselves. The people are tired of only policies that created more of the same corruption and enrichment.
The people are tired of more of the same and no accountability to those that have stolen the taxpayers coffers to enrich themselves. The people are tired of only policies that created more of the same corruption and enrichment.
1
45 does not see, to be in way over his head he is in fact adrift and under water.
3
One of the issues that's maddening the crowds is the sense that the media are far too cosy with the elite. The example you give of the price of tea on a BA flight is excellent -too many people feel they are being ripped off from every direction and no-one challenges the idea that maximising profit is not only justifiable but is actually a moral imperative.
Excessive profits by the large companies, rather than the provision of a good service at a reasonable price, is the side of globalisation that most people come in contact with and it just makes life feel shabby. Hence the preference for main street over Wall St. and the lack of empathy for those who are genuinely deprived or discriminated against.
It is this sense that everything is getting worse in a shabby, crumbling way that has so many people yearning for a time when things were better; Even though they were actually worse off, they were treated with more respect by the organisations serving them and sometimes that's more important.
Excessive profits by the large companies, rather than the provision of a good service at a reasonable price, is the side of globalisation that most people come in contact with and it just makes life feel shabby. Hence the preference for main street over Wall St. and the lack of empathy for those who are genuinely deprived or discriminated against.
It is this sense that everything is getting worse in a shabby, crumbling way that has so many people yearning for a time when things were better; Even though they were actually worse off, they were treated with more respect by the organisations serving them and sometimes that's more important.
239
That only was true if you were white and a man. And for some white men that was only true to the extent you had blacks and Hispanics to kick around and look down on when you were PO'd.
2
Corporate greed has always been there. What has changed is politicians and their mouthpieces (reporters, pundits, entertainers) dismiss ordinary people for their justified sense of indignity and call them all sorts of names ""deplorables," "stupid", and here "maddening crowd") for daring to exercising their right to vote for a leader not approved by the elites. The working class are not to be praised for being democratic when they vote and choose their leaders.
1
Most people who are working class in Britain and America and who live outside the urban megalopolises cannot even afford a ticket on British Airlines much less "an overpriced cup of tea" in flight. This did give me a good laugh though.
Sooner or later, we will grow tired of being lied to...I hope.