A Gloomy Prediction For This Country
I was discussing this in another forum, and it just sort of grew from some of the really depressing predictions I've been having for this country, stemming from my interpretations of Fiorina's Divided Government and Jacobson's The Politics of Congressional Elections. While neither text says exactly this, I combined the two (utilizing projections from Jacobson's first edition of the book combined with the latest edition of the same book) and came up with a belief that the Democratic Party is doomed, specifically due to access to PAC money by incumbent players (Democrats can't get access unless incumbents while Republicans can). So, this is what I wrote as part of my follow up to one of these arguments:
I think we're moving towards an aristocratic type government that will for a long time pretend to be what the United States used to be. We will claim to be the country of freedom, even as we move to remove freedoms in the name of security and stability. We will respond to criticisms against our country with hostility towards other countries by claiming they are in opposition to this free country we have. Meanwhile, we will continue to move towards one party control of our government. I doubt it would move towards communism, as that would be a direction in the opposite direction. I can see us moving to a pseudo facist government style, but again under the trappings that indicates that we are still a democracy. The moment ANYONE moves to start calling ourselves anything but a democracy will be the spark that causes revolution, and nobody is stupid enough to make that happen.
Instead, we will start to see little moves that make it happen anyway.
We will see the media start to be curtailed in the name of patriotism and bad journalism.
Morality police will continue to push forward agendas of "cleansing" America of those that threaten to destroy our moral values.
Opposition parties will be scoffed at and given opportunities to influence policy ONLY if they sign onto the Republican platform of major reform only.
Education will become less funded because education is a "local" issue and money is needed to handle much more important things.
Corporations will become extremely powerful and become pretty much the only influential voice to the main political party.
Eventually, the political party itself will split into a two-party system so that you will see an opposition emerge, but it will be unlike what we have today. Instead, you will see two conservative groups emerge, one much like we have today, and one EXTREMELY conservative. Liberal policies will be rarely focused upon by either party, and the public will accept it because if they see opposition, they will join one or the other side, thinking anyone that wants outside of the two party system is obviously a person who doesn't deserve to be part of the system in the first place.
All during this process, people will deny it is ever happening. Those who deny it in public will pretty much be the apologists for the actions that will happen. People are so scared of instability that they will believe whatever it takes so that they can continue with their natural lives. One little freedom here or there isn't going to bother them. A lot of freedoms at one time would, which is why it will happen slowly so that no one group has time to mount any type of opposition.
That's what I predict. Those who are all happy with the way things are moving will deny anything is happening at all and look at these projections as gloom and horror predictions, laughing it off. I don't care anymore. I even thought of writing my disseration on this particular subject because of how important I know it is. Then, I realized that no one cares, including academia, so I decided to write my dissertation on the demise of the third party movement instead. I'll sit in an ivory tower and watch the events take place and mourn the democracy we once had, but sadly, not care. Why care for something that no one else wants to even try to save? To even bring it up means becoming a partisan target, and I'm so tired of being lumped in with groups of people I'm not a spokesperson for.
Stumble It!
I was discussing this in another forum, and it just sort of grew from some of the really depressing predictions I've been having for this country, stemming from my interpretations of Fiorina's Divided Government and Jacobson's The Politics of Congressional Elections. While neither text says exactly this, I combined the two (utilizing projections from Jacobson's first edition of the book combined with the latest edition of the same book) and came up with a belief that the Democratic Party is doomed, specifically due to access to PAC money by incumbent players (Democrats can't get access unless incumbents while Republicans can). So, this is what I wrote as part of my follow up to one of these arguments:
I think we're moving towards an aristocratic type government that will for a long time pretend to be what the United States used to be. We will claim to be the country of freedom, even as we move to remove freedoms in the name of security and stability. We will respond to criticisms against our country with hostility towards other countries by claiming they are in opposition to this free country we have. Meanwhile, we will continue to move towards one party control of our government. I doubt it would move towards communism, as that would be a direction in the opposite direction. I can see us moving to a pseudo facist government style, but again under the trappings that indicates that we are still a democracy. The moment ANYONE moves to start calling ourselves anything but a democracy will be the spark that causes revolution, and nobody is stupid enough to make that happen.
Instead, we will start to see little moves that make it happen anyway.
We will see the media start to be curtailed in the name of patriotism and bad journalism.
Morality police will continue to push forward agendas of "cleansing" America of those that threaten to destroy our moral values.
Opposition parties will be scoffed at and given opportunities to influence policy ONLY if they sign onto the Republican platform of major reform only.
Education will become less funded because education is a "local" issue and money is needed to handle much more important things.
Corporations will become extremely powerful and become pretty much the only influential voice to the main political party.
Eventually, the political party itself will split into a two-party system so that you will see an opposition emerge, but it will be unlike what we have today. Instead, you will see two conservative groups emerge, one much like we have today, and one EXTREMELY conservative. Liberal policies will be rarely focused upon by either party, and the public will accept it because if they see opposition, they will join one or the other side, thinking anyone that wants outside of the two party system is obviously a person who doesn't deserve to be part of the system in the first place.
All during this process, people will deny it is ever happening. Those who deny it in public will pretty much be the apologists for the actions that will happen. People are so scared of instability that they will believe whatever it takes so that they can continue with their natural lives. One little freedom here or there isn't going to bother them. A lot of freedoms at one time would, which is why it will happen slowly so that no one group has time to mount any type of opposition.
That's what I predict. Those who are all happy with the way things are moving will deny anything is happening at all and look at these projections as gloom and horror predictions, laughing it off. I don't care anymore. I even thought of writing my disseration on this particular subject because of how important I know it is. Then, I realized that no one cares, including academia, so I decided to write my dissertation on the demise of the third party movement instead. I'll sit in an ivory tower and watch the events take place and mourn the democracy we once had, but sadly, not care. Why care for something that no one else wants to even try to save? To even bring it up means becoming a partisan target, and I'm so tired of being lumped in with groups of people I'm not a spokesperson for.
Stumble It!
posted by Duane @ 9:01 AM
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