The military has only one option if the services hope to survive in any form they now resemble; remove Donald Trump and his cronies to Guantanamo before he takes office. There is very little chance of that happening and this is almost certainly the end of America.
Elon Musk wants to end most of the legacy programs like human-crewed combat aircraft and armored vehicles so that money can find it’s way into his own pocket. As the principal launcher for Space Force, his company SpaceX and militarized Starlink satellite megaconstellation could take over a huge share of the defense budget.
11:40 “American power is still the most dynamic force in the world game – powers, great powers don’t fall because of military defeats or economic defeats, they fall because of psychological defeats.”
12:20 “The loss of cohesion, of solidarity, of values, that hold together a society in a common goal – this brings us to (Fukuyama)- an over-qualified, over-entitled population, etc. etc. – which of course, these are things that are stopping democracies from behaving with confidence-“
The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama David Macintosh reaches The End of History. Francis Fukuyama is a conservative political philosopher and economist. He was politically active during the Reagan administration, when he worked for the State Department, and also during the Clinton years, mainly through Washington think tanks. During the earlier years, Fukuyama was interested in US foreign policy, later becoming increasingly interested in broader, long-term political goals in the hope of providing solutions to problems on a global scale. He wrote The End of History and the Last Man in 1992 as an attempt to solve some of these problems. His contention in this book is that liberal democracy is the final form of government for the world, and the end of human ideological struggle.
The History of The End of History The core of the book came from a paper written by Fukuyama in 1989 entitled ‘The End of History’. In it Fukuyama noted that Western liberal democratic traditions have maintained their place in politics over the last hundred years despite the successive rise of alternative systems of government: liberal democratic government has outlasted monarchism, fascism and communism. In fact, it can be said that liberal democracy has survived to increasingly become the choice of political system for all nations. Fukuyama’s central thesis in The End of History and the Last Man is that human history is moving towards a state of idealised harmony through the mechanisms of liberal democracy. For Fukuyama, the realization of an ideal political and economic system which has the essential elements of liberal democracy is the purpose behind the march of history. ‘Liberal democracy’ does not necessarily mean the exact type of constitutional democracy found in the United States. It can manifest itself in a number of ways, but its consistent features are freedom of speech, free and fair elections, and the separation of powers. Fukuyama argues that there are no ‘contradictions in human life’ that cannot be resolved within the context of liberalism; or more generally, that there is no longer an alternative political and economic structure that can offer solutions to problems such as the need for freedom, protection, and human rights.
In making his claim about history having a process and a goal, Fukuyama is following in the footsteps of the early Nineteenth Century German philosopher Georg Hegel (1770-1831). This famous philosopher saw a ‘dialectical’ process as the driving force behind human history that will eventually achieve a final goal for humanity. This Hegelian dialectic is a logical process manifest in the events of history and unfolding over time. Hegel maintained that the operation of this Idea or ‘Spirit’ (Geist) in history will continually produce opposite, and conflicting, ways of thinking, thesis and antithesis: once the thesis has been formulated there will eventually be an antithesis opposing it. The result is a conflict of beliefs that somehow must be resolved. The resolution takes the form of a compromise between the thesis and antithesis. Thus a synthesis provides a temporary solution, until it too becomes the new thesis, or in the historical sense, the new ideological state of society, which in its turn is also opposed; and this dialectical process continues until the development of the ultimate society.
For instance, as Fukuyama agrees with Hegel, human beings are alike in the sense that they have basic needs, such as food, shelter and self-preservation, and that the human spirit also demands a recognition of our worth. We instinctively want to say to others, “I am greater than you, I want you to look up to me and give me respect.” Peoples’ desires taking the form of wanting other people to recognise their superiority creates conflict with their fellow beings. This is, in essence, a struggle for dignity. Because all people desire dignity, no party is initially prepared to give ground, so a struggle for superiority ensures. Hegel refers to this struggle as the master-slave dialectic or relationship. There will always be a winner and loser; so someone will be master, and someone is always going to be delegated to the status of slave. According to Hegel, people will eventually attempt to overcome their subservient status and fight for the sake of their self-importance, their highest ideal being the desire to make the enemy respect their abilities, and so recognize their humanity. (It’s the regaining of self-consciousness too.)
These and other conflicts are played out through history as dialectical processes. But Hegel believed that at the last stage in history, every human and every country will achieve a final synthesis. Fukuyama similarly believes that all humanity will shortly arrive at the final goal of history – liberal democracy. Fukuyama cites evidence that over time, more and more countries are turning to a liberal democratic system to solve their problems.
Like Hegel, Fukuyama believes this process towards the end of history will not be smooth and linear. Some countries will continue to fall in and out of democracy; but in the end they will return to the democratic style of government because it is the only form of government than can satisfy the human need for dignity.
For Fukuyama, ideals such as the need for dignity represent important pillars upon which liberal democracy has been built; and this struggle for dignity and recognition is universal to humanity. Like Hegel, Fukuyama believes the striving for the full expression of our humanity is the driving force behind the progress of history. This striving manifests itself in the form of the nation state, since not only is there a need for individual recognition dictated by this psychological impulse, each cultural group must realize the same needs. But Fukuyama doesn’t ignore the importance of economics in the historical process, so he adds another pillar to his theory. Human progress through history can be explained in terms of ideas; but other advantages of liberal democracy are that it nurtures economic development, the rise of an educated middle class, and high levels of scientific and technological achievement. Fukuyama would perhaps say that countries such as Russia and China have not yet reformed their systems to incorporate both liberalism and capitalism because there is reluctance amongst the ruling elites to completely abandon communist ideals, although at the same time they do see the need to participate successfully in the global market. The problem for both Russia and China is the attractiveness of liberal ideals, which appear to go hand in hand with a free market economy
One problem for Fukuyama is that his thesis leads to a paradox; one he is happy to acknowledge. The end of history will be an age where liberal democracies will meet the economic and psychological needs of everyone in every nation. There will no longer be a need to struggle for respect, dignity and recognition. However, what makes us human is our desire to be recognised as something more than just creatures with basic needs to be met. This leads to a paradox because when we will have finally arrived at the end of history, our basic needs are satisfied, and there will no struggle by which our superiority to animals can be recognized. As Fukuyama writes:
“The end of history would mean the end of wars and bloody revolutions. Agreeing on ends, men would have no large causes for which to fight. They would satisfy their needs through economic activity, but they would no longer have to risk their lives in battle. They would in other words become animals, as before the bloody battle that began history… Once our physical and mental states are satisfied we no longer have any use for one of the things that has been driving us toward an historical end. We no longer need to impose our dignity upon others.” (p.311)
David Macintosh is a professional educator in New South Wales, Australia, and a regular participant in philosophy forums. He wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Andrew Macintosh, who provided a historical perspective.
Why is there is there so much war in your history (about Montefiore’s histories)?
13:41 “The reason why liberal democracy was so successful, why everyone wanted to have a system that looked like a liberal democracy even if it wasn’t a liberal democracy, was because of the victory of World War II, of ’45.
Our military is so far being placed under the control of a tattooed rapist as Secretary of Defense and an art collector as secretary of the Navy. Our spy services under the control of an apologist for dictators, our health department under the control of an anti-vaxxer, and so on. Advisor to Trump and richest man in the world Elon Musk has stated manned aircraft and tanks are no longer appropriate. These appointments are in themselves a “psychological defeat” and another proof that America is over.
An ominous portent of new era that will visit chaos and destruction on the Earth.
They will say FDR stayed in for multiple terms so Trump should be able to also.
“The fact that they are trying, doesn’t mean they will succeed.”
As much as I love Rachel, the only thing that can save us now is an unlikely pro-democracy military coup. The military arresting Trump and his cronies and taking them to Guantanamo where they will never try to end America again. And that is the proverbial snowball. And if you don’t believe what I just wrote, watch this, and remember they can call any protest a riot. The guy who controls all the money will defund anything that might be an obstacle to Trump’s regime. Money is the god of this world.
Vought plainly states they will traumatize and paralyze the government so there is no government, there is only Trump, who lied about project 2025 of course…it is the plan.
The only question in a democracy is how much a person gets to keep, which depends on how much the rest of us are empowered to keep other people from keeping everything.
Americans seem to have forgotten where the left and right come from. The French Revolution had the overtaxed poor on the left side of the room and the untaxed rich on the right side.
The only hope for a “New America” after Trumpism is somehow defeated is taxing and regulating the rich. It is as simple as that. Without first limiting the power of obscene wealth a representative democracy must inevitably die as America just did. A new party would not be a “worker’s party”, it would be a party with one prerequisite to any project they attempt: limit personal and corporate wealth. Limitarianism.
4:20 “My God…you’re anticipating the end of America as people know it.”
It is the end of America.
The double-digit IQ half of the country just destroyed democracy. It really is the end of America. There is no going back, no hope now. 248 years thrown in the garbage because of a con man and the price of eggs. I am a hard-ass old man that has seen alot…and I wept.
9:05 “If you are talking about democracy over the dining room table, it’s probably because you are not worried about the cost of the food on the table-”
10:40 “We are here to help you become more like us, – we’re going to help you go to college, we’re going to help you get a job like us-“
11:11 “You people who care for us, you folks are less than us, – it’s not what we say, it is not even what we consciously think, but that is the message-“
12:51 “When the pandemic was over, they sort of faded again in our consciousness, they became part of the woodwork again – we as a party and we as a country need to value every person and their role and their place and understand that there’s dignity in that work, it is essential work; we ought to stop being that sort of metropolitan college-educated smarty-pants party, and live our values-“
39:00 “What Victor Orban has done as prime minister of Hungary has turned Hungary into a zombie democracy- he has basically ended an independent media in that country, he has co-opted the courts in that country- it’s Trumps model and he’s going to do that cause he’s going to be as corrupt as he can be. I think, it’s interesting about Donald Trump, he has a different way of looking at the world – he thinks the world is dishonest – he does not have a concept of right and wrong – people who abide by rules and laws and norms and institutions are suckers-“
Abby is right. As a young lady once told me, “the struggle is real.” Everything is a joke except money. Money is the god of this world, what makes the rich richer, the only meaning. The reality is that wealth concentrates upward in a pyramid and to get higher the base must bear more of the burden and get smaller. That essentially means work harder and let the weak die. Eventually this turns into showers and ovens to get rid of those who do not serve the master race. The dream is the last chapter of the Turner Diaries, with all non-whites, jews, and useless eaters exterminated leaving about a billion people on a “White Planet.”
“The Democrats would rather have Trump than an FDR platform, so, they are going so far right because they have no other choice.”
“-the only thing that has ever pushed politics left is the social movements in the streets, the masses that shut down business as usual-“
Democrat/Republic Institutional Politics is over, and that is the end of America. What comes next is either going to be some form of Trumpistan or, hopefully, after a brief and horrible reign of fascism, a “New America.” What would that New America mean? I can think of three things:
No more billionaires. Rich enough to satisfy those with the narcissist genius disease enough to restrain them from overthrowing democracy as they just did. But no more obscene wealth, morbid wealth, whatever you want to call extreme inequality. And…as I wrote not long ago, “The only question in a democracy is how much a person gets to keep, which depends on how much the rest of us are empowered to keep other people from keeping everything.” This means taxes.
Money out of politics. Regulation kept big money out of politics until recent decisions and that brought America to an end. The rule of law is actually the communism the right has always been screaming about…because they know if they can buy elections, they can eventually end the rule of law over them and all taxation and regulation on them, which is, by the way, the ground of democracy. The money to buy media, which turns “free” speech into “paid-for-their-speech” and the money to buy corrupt judges just ended America. Unless money in politics ends, whatever comes next will end again, perhaps in the same cycle in a hyper-accelerated version seen in banana republics.
A mixed economy. The Nordic Model is essentially a continuation of The New Deal. These countries are the best places to live on this planet…what America was at one time. They walk that tightrope between allowing capitalists to create wealth and enabling socialists to redistribute that wealth. The result is a pyramid with a base that encompasses all citizens with none discarded and a capstone that innovators can aspire to ascend to without frustration.
11:25 is where the truth-telling about fossil fuel interests and climate denial really kicks into high gear. “Among the biggest donors to Trump’s campaign.”
Elon Musk called Space Solar Power “the stupidest thing ever.” The reason Musk hates Space Solar Power is because he cannot own it. In a 2012 interview: One thing we learned today: While Musk loves electric cars and spaceflight, there’s one thing he hates: space solar power. “You’d have to convert photon to electron to photon back to electron. What’s the conversion rate?” he says, getting riled up for the first time during his talk. “Stab that bloody thing in the heart!” His vision is a million people on Mars in a libertarian paradise. He will own that and wants no distractions from how he will pay for this; his starlink megaconstellation of 42,000 pieces of space junk in LEO…which he owns.
Gerard K. O’Neill was the true prophet of space colonization and in 1976 popularized space colonization with his book “The High Frontier.” The military and fossil fuel interests and political parties with their own agendas wanted nothing to do with it. It would be an immense multi-national multi-trillion-dollar state-sponsored energy project. That does not appeal to entrepreneurs looking to emulate the richest narcissist on Earth. Who this should appeal to is Climate Change activists seeking a permanent solution to the greatest threat civilization faces in the coming century. O’Neill mentioned Space Solar as preventing industrial activity from “overheating” Earth in 1976.
The concept is to build orbital Space Solar Power stations using lunar material. Effectively relocating the entire energy industry off-world into space. Hydrogen burning super-rockets causing the least damage to the atmosphere would send the factory tooling Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO). When the stations are in place in Geostationary Earth Orbit, essentially hovering above receiver antennae fields on Earth, they would power civilization. The entire world. This solves the feedback loop of trying to provide a western standard of living to a peak population of 10 billion. The industrial activity necessary to provide the renewable energy is self-defeating. Unless it never happens on Earth and instead in space. Nobody wants Space Solar to happen, and it is not discussed. Why is that?
The naive theory of information: Most information is not truth, it is fictions and fantasies and delusions and errors and lies. Truth is a very rare and costly kind of information…a small subset. Flood the Earth with information and the truth sinks to the bottom. Fiction is very cheap, no research, fact-checking. Truth is complicated because reality is complicated. Fiction can be as simple as you wish. The truth is often painful and unattractive. Every nation has skeletons in it’s closet people are not happy about. Fiction is far more attractive. If we don’t help the truth along with mechanisms to support and promote the truth you get a flood of fiction and fantasies and lies, and the truth sinks to the bottom.
Democracy is a system for deciding desires and not deciding truth. Democracy relies on trust; a dictatorship relies on terror. By sowing mistrust, the path is made for dictatorship. Marx and Trump would agree that the only reality is power, all human relations are power struggles. The truth does not matter, only who gains power by protecting their privilege and interests. Journalists, scientists, Judges, etc. are only concerned about preserving power and this cynical view of humans destroys trust.
To some extent people want power but they also want truth, because the truth is actually what makes you happy. Populism, which does not trust in their intelligentsia, is bound to end in dictatorship. The term populist is from the Latin, the populace, the people. The argument that only “we” are the people, that is, the people in the populist group, is dangerous because the single will of the people defaults to the leader. The mystical connection to the leader is deified and that leader embodies the will.
A democracy is pluralistic, with many different “wills” and discussions between people.
Democracy is a conversation and right now the editors are the algorithms on social media. The algorithms promoted the most powerful triggers of outrage and fear and are manipulating us for profit. This breaks down trust and is destroying democracy.
These algorithms and primitive AI’s are not tools…they are agents. They can create new things. How do we enable the positive side of AI and avoid the destructive side?
We are about to enter a new age of an alien intelligence that we create a non-human culture that all humans will live in. Money as the god of this world has value only because humans share and believe the same story about the dollar. Crypto currency has the potential of collapsing the most successful story ever told. It is just a story.
If everyone stops believing in my god I am in trouble. If everyone stops believing in my money I am in trouble. Money came along and replaced an economy based on personal relationships and favors to strangers not having to trust each other and only to trust money.
America had a good run of 248 years but January 20th that ends. Nothing can save us now short of the military stepping in. The Trumpists are fine with dumping democracy and the Democrats are not going to stop them. Democracy is essentially committing suicide. That the richest man in the world, who grew up in apartheid South Africa, played a major role in ending America is no surprise. As for his dream of saving the human race by building a city on Mars, his shiny rocket is not built to do anything but flood LEO with satellites. His dream is to take over the internet and make himself god-emperor of cyberspace, and in his weird brain, the ruler of the universe.
The more I find out about the cabinet the crazier it all becomes. Insane. I had a bad dream last night about taking my car to a shop and the person was talking unintelligible gibberish and I kept asking him to repeat just the first couple words he was saying because I could not understand, and he kept stepping away. He finally walked away a short distance and stood and looked at me blank-faced. I tried to walk over to him, and he walked away again and stood there and looked at me.
I thought about the dream and how othering works became crystal clear. When I was doing executive protection, the principal was the job. Keeping anybody from getting close to that person was all that mattered. If someone was talking to you it did not really matter what they were saying as long as it did not get that person past you. When fascists other a person or group the purpose is to make anything they do meaningless. I went to the car shop to accomplish something, but the person was simply not going to do it. He would not tell me anything except nonsense and waited for me to leave. Why didn’t he just say he would not help me and tell me to leave? As another human being it would be right to tell me. No right…. just nothing, if I am not another human being. It is the absolute disconnection from another human being or group.
Ice on the Moon 