In a message dated 9/29/2008 11:36:57 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: "All because most Americans no longer have
the energy to do anything but lie back and allow ourselves to be jacked
off by the calculating thieves who run this grasping consumer paradise
we call a nation." Similarly: No Longer masters of our own fate?
Consumerism, Affluenza? Andrew Bacevich has described himself as a
"Catholic conservative" and initially published writings in a number of
traditionally conservative American political magazines. (Wiki) From
transcript here http://tinyurl.com/4need5 <http://tinyurl.com/4need5>
or watch here http://tinyurl.com/3no33h <http://tinyurl.com/3no33h>
(Bill Moyers Journal) ANDREW BACEVICH: I think there's a tendency on
the part of policy makers and probably a tendency on the part of many
Americans to think that the problems we face are problems that are out
there somewhere, beyond our borders. And that if we can fix those
problems, then we'll be able to continue the American way of life as it
has long existed. I think it's fundamentally wrong. Our major problems
are at home
."Physician, heal thyself," and you begin healing
yourself by looking at yourself in the mirror and seeing yourself as you
really are
. We want to be able to pump gas into our cars
regardless of how big they may happen to be, in order to be able to
drive wherever we want to be able to drive. And we want to be able to do
these things without having to think about whether or not the book's
balanced at the end of the month, or the end of the fiscal year. And
therefore, we want this unending line of credit
. What neither of
these candidates will be able to, I think, accomplish is to persuade us
to look ourselves in the mirror, to see the direction in which we are
headed. And from my point of view, it's a direction towards ever greater
debt and dependency
. Well, we don't live within our means. I
mean, the nation doesn't, and increasingly, individual Americans don't.
Our saving - the individual savings rate in this country is below zero.
The personal debt, national debt, however you want to measure it, as
individuals and as a government, and as a nation we assume an endless
line of credit.
As individuals, the line of credit is not endless, that's one of the
reasons why we're having this current problem with the housing crisis,
and so on. And my view would be that the nation's assumption, that its
line of credit is endless, is also going to be shown to be false. And
when that day occurs it's going to be a black day, indeed
.
Americans are no longer masters of their own fate. Our negative trade
balance with the world is something in the order of $800 billion per
year. That's $800 billion of stuff that we buy, so that we can consume,
that is $800 billion greater than the amount of stuff that we sell to
them. That's a big number. I mean, it's a big number even relative to
the size of our economy.
Do we get balanced budgets? Do we get
serious as opposed to simply rhetorical attention to traditional social
values? The answer's no. Because all of that really has simply been part
of a package of tactics that Republicans have employed to get elected
and to - and then to stay in office. =============================
Andrew Bacevich speaks truth to power, no matter who's in power, which
may be why those on both the left and right listen to him. Perhaps it's
also because when he challenges American myths and illusions, he does so
from a patriotism forged in the fire of experience as a soldier in
Vietnam.
After 23 years in the army, this West Point graduate has been teaching
international relations and history at Boston University.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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