AIC is correct...

Our country will be destroyed in 12 years, most likely less......but not from global warming.

 

Alice in Chains?

 

I never understood how Spain devolved into a conflict between fascism and communism. I always wondered "where were the people who wanted to live in a democracy with rights?"Now I fully understand how that happened (sadly).

I do not think America will suddenly break apart. I think at some point there will be a conflict between fascists and communists in this country. Just like what happened with Rome, we'll go from republic to dictatorship. Then a gradual decline will begin that may take 100 years or 400 years. Rome was not built in a day and it did not decline in a day. It was gradual.

The interesting thing about nowadays is that people do not realize you cannot kill an idea. England subdued Scotland 250 years ago, but the Scottish nationalists eventually forced an (unsuccessful) vote and now control Scotland. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc have been persecuted many times and all have returned (see the Soviet Union vs. modern Russia). Communism was mostly vanquished 30 years ago, but now is coming back full force in america incognito as "social justice", "political correctness" and, most prominently, "anti-racism".

Right now there is a communist movement to kill free speech and our democracy. It has started with erasing confederate statues and now has moved on to US presidents and other americans with "threatening" ideas. It wants to kill the ideas of sectionalism, rebellion, conservatism, freedom to dissent, etc. It is going after Texas pride and nationalism as well, which will be difficult but not impossible, as they are already assaulting the Eyes of Texas and had the Texas Ranger statue removed at Love Field. Ironically it is using our spineless populous's greed as its weapon. People are afraid to sacrifice their jobs/social standing to stand for ideals... so I know they surely will not actually fight for their freedom when the time comes. However, just like you cannot kill off communism as an idea, you cannot kill off freedom either. God had the jews wander the desert for 40 years until a worthy generation was born. It will not be our current generation, but one day, freedom will rise again.

I will add the most delusional people in history are the ones that think they can control the future or build anything, good or bad, that will stand the test in time. Whatever is built by man, good or bad, will eventually be destroyed.

 

The interesting one is China. Modern China is the perfect successor to the Third Reich in nearly every way. They are a true fascist state masquerading as communist. They are set to rise and become the new evil world power. However, I think they have the "germany problem", something Bismarck commented on. Napoleon ultimately had the same problem as well. If they ever really wanted to expand, they would have to fight Russia, Japan, at least half a Korea, Vietnam, India, probably the U.S. and Australia, the Philippines and Formosa at the same time. I am not sure they could pull that off. We will see.

(this seems to be the prognostication about the future thread)

 

A lot of truth here, but I don't think China is as concerned with territorial expansion as the Third Reich was. Nazi Germany didn't have a big overseas empire, because the Kriegsmarine couldn't compete with the Royal Navy, so conquering the relatively primitive Eastern Europe made the most sense. China has plenty of land, even for a country of over a billion people and plenty of resources. I don't see a lot to be gained by trying to seize land from Japan or Russia. I could see them going after Taiwan, but that isn't about acquiring land as much as it's about destroying an enemy of their regime that's so close.

I think China wants to expand by making countries economically dependent on them. They have a ton of cheap labor and are good at developing (and when necessary, stealing technology), and they leverage that to expand their influence in the West.

Long term I think they also want overseas military installations so they can project military power when they want to. Obviously the US stands in their way on that. However, as we scale that back, they will fill the void. I got a feel for that when I lived in the Azores. The USAF leases the right to use Air Base No. 4 (commonly referred to as Lajes Field) and has since the early '40s. It used to have a few thousand airmen at it, but it has gradually drawn down to about 180. Its use is less obvious to us now, and US military commanders prefer locations in mainland Europe. Well, guess who's chomping at the bit to move in if we leave? China. While I was there, the Chinese premier showed up and toured the place. They want it, and if we ever leave, they'll take over.

 

I thought I had edited this to AOC. Guess didn’t work. Nonetheless, great comments guys. Frighteningly I agree with you 77 and it angers and scares me at the same time.
And Deez I think China can steal all It needs to accomplish its goals. Except for taking Taiwan, etc which it can do without recourse whenever it decides.

 

I think you are right and wrong about this at the same time. I think in general, that is what the Chinese leadership wants. Without Xi, I think that is what China would do and, even with Xi, they may continue to do this.

However, the issue is the Xi factor. When China had a strongman (Mao), they cared about territorial expansion. When China did not have a strongman (post Mao and pre Xi), they cared more about economic power. The care for economic power has not gone away, but since Xi took over, China has made a push in the South China Sea, increased conflict with Japan and Vietnam, repudiated the Sino-British Joint Declaration regarding Hong Kong (funny how fascists never care about treaties), increased military conflict with India over disputed territory, and have become more active in having North Korea test the waters.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Xi cannot sit still and wait to win the long game. He keeps testing the waters and he may go a bridge too far sooner than later (possibly in the already volatile India-Pakistan situation). Unlike Putin, who I do not believe is interested in matters beyond Russian influence over its direct neighbors (we disagree, but that's a separate discussion we have already had), I think Xi has far, far greater aspirations if he has an opportunity to act on them. Hopefully he never gets this opportunity.

What scares me is how many Americans (far greater traitors than any southerner ever was) are willing to sell out this country to China for their own greed. Businesses are willing to send everything to China and do China's bidding. Our wonderful marxist universities are giving secrets to china left and right and admitted Chinese students over americans.

Has anyone noticed right when Trump cracked down on China's involvement in our universities, BLM began and took the attention away from all the malfeasance of China? Does anyone find it interesting that the media has pushed from day one to shift blame over Coronavirus from China to us? I am not a conspiracy theorist... but I fear the constant attention shifting from China's bad actions is not an accident.

 

Conservatives have their work cut out for them. We are up against a lot more than just hippie punk BLM and antifa. It is now looking like FBI, CIA and even NSA are all in on it with the Left.

 

Hail Hydra.

 

Let’s roll.

 

The bigger problem is leftist corporate America. It is funny, the left always warned us of corporate America becoming too powerful.... but who knew when they did they would be the biggest drivers of liberal social policy and political correctness? Conservatives need to start hitting the rich in their pocketbooks. Until that happens, we'll continue on the path we are on.

 

That movie whether they meant it or not was a perfect metaphor for the Communist takeover of American culture over the last 50 years. Gramsci's long march through the culture is done, and we didn't ever do anything about it until it was too late. Still aren't really doing anything about it.

 

I posted that in jest but also because I think its really happening. There just isn't a real Captain America to save us.

 

This is all true, but is this really about actual territorial expansion or putting on a show of force against hostile nations? If China had the ability to easily hustle some land, I'm sure they'd take it. However, are they willing to go to war with Japan or India to take land? I'm not so sure.

For Nazi Germany, territorial expansion was everything. They couldn't be a dominant global power without it, and that's why they were willing to engage in a massive war and lose millions of lives to do it. Like I said, I think China would expand if they could do so easily. However, they are a global power with the massive territory they already have. Even Xi probably isn't willing to go to war to take a little piece of India or Japan.

I agree 100 percent with this. The biggest problem we have with China is domestic. Our large business, universities, and media are overwhelmingly in the sack with them. It's disgusting and dangerous.

Yes I've noticed this. I don't necessarily think China created Covid-19 to deploy a biological weapon against the West. However, once it got out, do I think they were willing to act in bad faith to let it cause a lot of mayhem in the West? Yes.

And it is remarkable how much worse the American media treats Russia than China, even though the latter is worse and far more dangerous. By the way, I'm no less of a Russia hawk than I've always been. Putin is a bad hombre, but China is worse and five times as dangerous.

 

I think, with so many people, at some point territorial expansion will have to be on China's agenda.

I agree with you. I actually do believe covid came from the wet markets (bats or some other animal that people should not be eating). I think it had a longer time to show symptoms than most plagues, and once it got out, China did everything wrong ever since. I do think it is possible China has helped stir up the racial strife though to deflect attention on them. I notice a lot of unproductive replies to tweets on twitter regarding BLM in general that often seem to be the same and like they may not be coming from Americans. Trump may be incompetent, but at least he is aware China is the enemy. It scares me to think how much more the Democrats will sell us out to China if Biden wins.

Putin is a bad hombre. You may have hit the nail on the head in our disagreement. I do not worry about him, a regional threat, relative to the worldwide threat that is China. People need to keep in mind for all their attempts at friendship, Russia and China are mortal enemies. I think China has more of an influence in keeping the US and Russia at odds than anyone realizes. A united front of the US, Russia, Japan and India would put China in a difficult position economically and politically. I also fear that both the EU and UK seem to think China does not threaten them. They are kind of like America when Nazi Germany was on the rise... not the immediate target, but not realizing they are still very much threatened.

 

Possibly, but I looked them up, and their population density isn't spectacularly high. It's higher than the US or Russia but well below most of Western Europe.

I have every confidence that they do this sort of thing. We freak out about Russia doing it, but only a fool would think that China doesn't.

He certainly understands this better than most. It's a shame there has to be a trade-off. We can have competence or understanding that China is a major threat but not both.

In addition, worrying about China has been politically intertwined with Trumpism. That's very unfortunate.

Well, he represents the bipartisan political establishment that has been selling the US out to China for decades. What else would we expect?

And thisd dynamic is what really makes dealing with China hard. During the Cold War, Democrats and Republicans certainly had disagreements on how to deal with the Soviet Union, but there was broad agreement on some basics.

1. The USSR was bad and dangerous.
2. The US had to be militarily capable and willing to deter them if necessary.
3. The US was not going to help make the USSR rich through any means, even if it cost us something in the immediate term.
4. The US was not going to help the USSR improve its technology, especially on strategic matters.

We don't have that same kind of agreement on China. That's frightening.

I agree. I don't think Putin necessarily wants to play ball with China. I think he works with them, because of the common enemy. However, China doesn't care if he screws with Ukraine and the Baltics. We do, and that's probably the big factor. He'd have to give that up forever to play ball with the West.

It would, especially if the EU also joined the effort. They suck.

The UK is better than the EU, but you're basically right. Europe never sees anyone to be as big of a threat as we do, and they're concerned with making money and being politically correct. They can afford to have that mindset, because they know we'd show up to help if things really got ugly.

 

Like Deez, I tend to see China's rise tied to economic expansion/domination rather than through territorial expansion. Once the United States territorial expansion reached the Pacific and the Rio Grande, and later Hawaii and Alaska became States, the US basically began using the dollar, financial systems, and political muscle to achieve dominance rather than territorial expansion. When the US invades or sets up bases in other countries, it isn't for the purpose of expanding territory, but rather to maintain the status quo. Our military presence isn't really about protecting freedom here nor is it about expanding democracy (look at all the dictators we support) but rather about maintaining economic hegemony and political control as much as possible throughout the empire.

As the economic might of the US wanes, China is poised to fill the void. China has limitations in terms of both energy and food security. The plan seems to be to exchange its economic clout (building infrastructure, high speed rail, 5G technology, etc. on foreign soil) in exchange for energy, food, and other natural resources which are in short supply at home.

Domestically, the political structure which was established in the late 1700's is rotting from corruption and apathy. Presidential candidates have been reduced to criminal sociopaths (Hillary for example), narcissists (certainly Trump), and incompetent marionettes (Biden for sure). The Supreme Court is arguably compromised and obviously politicized, the Federal Reserve has unlimited power and almost no accountability. As inequality grows within the population, it tends to steer disgruntled people toward liberal or anti-authority movements. In short, society is breaking down while trust in government is evaporating.

 

This Supreme Court's interpretation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act may be the most obviously incorrect interpretation of any of their decisions in history, yet no one even cares. They basically clarified words are meaningless and everything can mean anything... as long as they declare it so.

 

My list of dysfunction and accountability issues mentioned above (Presidency, Supreme Court, Federal Reserve) is far from complete. We've got enormous State Departments and Intelligence Agencies that basically run their own version of foreign policy. Its abundantly clear that factions of each have not worked with the President, but in fact conspired against the President. Whether one believes Trump is the right man for the job or not, the action is dysfunctional at best and likely criminal and treasonous. But even before Trump, Hillary Clinton was illegally using private email in order to escape oversight. These bureaucracies are headed by power seeking sociopaths who believe themselves to not only be above the law, but actually act as if they are the law.

 

Haven’t heard you in awhile Mus. Haven’t ever agreed with you this much.

 

I've always tried to be consistent. I think most of the disagreement on this board with me has been on the difference in my takes on foreign policy and what I think it should be vs what most here think it ought to be. But now, the focus isn't so much on ideology of the government but on functionality. And both me and the majority of those who think different than I do about what the correct course of action might be with respect to troop deployment, defense expenditures, sanctions, and so forth we are all pretty much in agreement on the fact the government has become increasingly dysfunctional. And for that matter, maybe that's now true for much of the general population.

 

Going further, we have a convergence of crises. First, there is the Covid-19 situation which puts a strain on personal income, hospitals, and economic activity in general.

Then you have a cascading effect.

1. Education. Public education has to plan ways to adopt to social distancing, remote learning, classroom size (with limited space and budgets). Universities have to reconfigure their models from one that is campus oriented to on-line oriented. Multi-million dollar sports budgets, programs, and jobs could be on the cutting block.

2. State and local budgets are largely funded on sales tax and in some cases income taxes. Both will fall off a cliff. This means either a reduction in services (more layoffs), possibly federal bailouts and probably both.

3. Social fissures. Racial tensions, abetted by the media and also anti-establishment radical and progressive entities will further divide the nation. Big city police forces will continue to see morale drop and in some cases withdraw from duties.

4. Defaults. Mortgage payments, leases (commercial and rental), and car payments are increasingly delinquent. We’ve seen this movie before. This is extremely deflationary and potentially points toward future money printing in the trillions of dollars to “offset” deflationary pressures.

The momentum is heading the wrong way and its going to be near impossible to reverse it if the pandemic determines all decisions. From a leadership standpoint, opening or closing the economy is a no-win decision. You open it up, the contagion spreads, and fear halts economic activity anyway. You shut it down, and suddenly supply lines shut down, income halts, the (phoney) markets crash, and the system blows up. There may be a way out, but I don't see it. And even if there is, I don't see the leadership capable of getting us out of the predicament. Certainly not from Trump, and even less so from the Democrats.

 

Even if Trump could wrestle us out of this (not saying he, or anyone could) no way is he going to be allowed by the other party to do so. No way.
Naive though I might be accused I will always contend - and I said it when it happened - Taking God out the schools was the beginning of the end.

 

Yes. That goes back to systemic corruption and dysfunctionality. And it's not just the DNC, although that's perhaps the biggest player. Their allies in the State Department, Media, and the Intelligence Agencies are going to oppose anything presented. The swamp not only isn't drained, its been spilling over the moat and flooding the surrounding landscape.

 

Heart of Atlanta and Katzenbach were ******** decisions - no question about that. However, they were basically ********, because they gave a laughably broad interpretation of the commerce clause. I'm not diminishing the bullshittiness of those decisions, but they have done worse.

For starters, every substantive due process case is worse (including those that incorporate the Bill of Rights), because they all run directly counter to the actual written law. Every one of those cases is blatant result-driven abuse of judicial power. Second, every case that upholds affirmative action is worse for the same reason. Third, the recent case interpreting "sex" to mean chicks-with-dicks is worse.

And of course, the Texas Supreme Court frequently does worse. For example, FFP Operating Partners v. Duenez (on rehearing) is full-blown judicial sodomy - might be the worst court decision I've ever read in my life. In re McAllen Medical Center is pretty raunchy as well.

 

AOC should be cancelled------her last name is Cortez and he was the conqueror of Tenochtitlan and murdered thousands of innocent, peace loving Zen environmentalist Aztecs and she stands in honor of him. Shame on her. This racist bs must stop and on every level. I guess

 

@Mr. Deez I think it is more that the Supreme Court really seems to have just straight abandoned going with the actual meaning. These cases used to be outliers, but I fear they are the norm now.

I think what makes the civil rights case so bad is you do not even need to be a lawyer and it is not difficult. Everyone knows that "sex" in 1964 meant man or woman and NEVER meant "homosexual, etc". One cannot argue honestly or sincerely that it meant more than man or woman. If Congress wanted to change it, they could change it. I am surprised by Roberts. It appears being able to play Ayatollah has corrupted him. Ultimately, Court is sewing the seeds of its own illegitimacy. Maybe some state will make nullification great again. #MNGA... is not catchy though.

 

Ok, so you weren't talking about the early commerce clause cases about the Civil Rights Act. You were talking about the chicks with dicks case that got handed down recently. I agree with you there. That was disgusting. In a sane world, those cases would have led to frivolous pleadings sanctions. I'm not shocked at Roberts though. He is getting the Ayatollah complex that Kennedy had. I am surprised at Judas Gorsuch. He should know better.

 

@Mr. Deez Actually, by bringing up Heart of Atlanta, you point out that the Supreme Court has made the 1964 Civil Rights Act the "Inception" of wrong judicial interpretation. Constitutional, statutory... words are meaningless!