Failed State

Failed State 

 

A state can also fail if the government loses its legitimacy even if it is performing its functions properly. For a stable state, it is necessary for the government to enjoy both effectiveness and legitimacy. Likewise, when a nation weakens and its standard of living declines, it introduces the possibility of total governmental collapse. The Fund for Peace characterizes a failed state as having the following characteristics:

·       Loss of control of its territory, or of the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force

·       Erosion of legitimate authority to make collective decisions

·       Inability to provide public services

·       Inability to interact with other states as a full member of the international community

Common characteristics of a failing state include a central government so weak or ineffective that it has an inability to raise taxes or other support and has little practical control over much of its territory and hence there is a non-provision of public services. When this happens, widespread corruption and criminality, the intervention of state and non-state actors, the appearance of refugees and the involuntary movement of populations, sharp economic decline, and military intervention from both within and without the state in question can occur.^[1]

 

-       Failed state, Wikipedia

 

By Gregg Wall (5-28-2022)

 

One word:  Greed. 

 

It was all the rage in the 80s.  Reaganomics and the now infamous quip: Greed is good.  

 

But someone forgot to tell the boomers it was only a movie, and certainly not a principle by which rule an economy, let alone a nation.  Especially, a country that claimed to be a beacon of light, a Christian nation, a model democracy, and exceptional.

 

After the Texas massacre this week, and the Congress’ entirely predictable reaction, if this was once a Christian nation then Satan has won, along with his disciples and tools over at the GOP and the NRA. 

 

In America, we now eat our young… and our teachers.  But only after they make frantic calls for deliverance, the cops stand by – presumably blanketed in fear & sweat, and only after our babies are shot up and mutilated into unrecognizable pulp. 

 

We eat some of our finest black citizens, too… and then, quickly forget them, as another blood-soaked, horror show grabs hold of the nation’s news cycle. 

 

What a catastrophe… and all the politicians can do, the day traders in the Senate, is come up with excuses for the gun lobby & inaction, and raise campaign money on the division and terror.  It’s so bad, republicans now say they are fearful that if they pass gun reform, they’ll be fired by the right-wing fanatics, and gun nuts, in their base of support.  That’s cowardice pure and simple.  And if republicans are that fearful for their lives & jobs -- from a base of support that party leadership has played no small part in radicalizing for political gain -- then it’s time to resign and question the extreme, nihilistic tangent the party has spun off into. 

 

What could possibly make the people so angry, fearful, and prone to conspiracy theories … it couldn’t be the ruling ideology of libertarianism, an economy based solely on greed, the mentally defective oligarchy and senile politicians that run the nation (yes, it's true, America has a mental health problem... see her ruling elite), an economy and government that is sold out to the highest bidder and entirely rigged for billionaires?   Nah. 

 

Walk with me, let’s take a quick look into the abyss that America and her economy, presently, find herself in.

 

The once proud nation has been, hostilely, taken over by cartels and monopolies.  So much so, that when a single TBTF company fails, like Abbott (with a market share greater than 45%), the nation goes into shock.  Abbott, apparently, is too busy planning multi-billion-dollar stock buybacks, they have little time to manufacture their product safely, baby formula. This at a time when procreation and reproduction are rapidly falling out of reach for everyday Americans.  And yet, the GOP, the party of pathetic white males, dictates to American women, that they surrender their bodies, as chattel and reproduction machines.  Better have that baby, under penalty of law, but we are so sorry that you can’t feed your child… because of the greed - and failed libertarian ideology - surrounding the US economy and the baby formula utility, Abbott.  

 

But don’t you worry, Biden has the US military flying formula in now.

 

I already mentioned the daily horror show of Americans watching their fellow citizens gunned down, massacred, and mutilated… why?  Because greed and the gun lobby are more powerful than democracy and the majority of American people, who overwhelmingly support gun control, stronger background checks, and red flag laws.  If Americans watched, or saw, the aftermath and carnage of the Uvalde classroom, they’d never want to see or hear about an automatic or semi-automatic weapon again, let alone permit civilian use.  Meanwhile, Republicans come up with every excuse imaginable not to act, while the G7 looks on in wonder and amazement at America’s downward spiral.

 

Of course, our quick journey into the economic soul of America wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t stop by the gas pump.  Big Oil is doing what big oil does… restrict supply just in time for the peak summer driving season.  And Wall St is doing what Wall St does, pile into oil commodities to tack on an obscene and predatory tax.  The congress – the day traders in congress – are doing what congress does, and that is cash in on the entire greed based project.  And Americans – seven in ten, live hand to mouth – are doing what Americans do, max out their credit cards to stay alive.  No wonder the nation’s birth rate is in decline.  Americans are cutting back on the basics & babies, just to survive a tsunami of price gouging and record profit taking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could go on, and on, and on. 

 

It’s a such a problem -- American corruption, systemic mismanagement of the economy, political dysfunction (i.e. rising authoritarianism), endemic racism & misogyny, right-wing propaganda networks masquerading as legitimate news organizations, and the entire malaise surrounding a greed based economy -- that some of our closest allies, their analysts and advisors, are taking a hard look at their ties to the United States.  

 

As well they should. 

 

From a billionaire welfare state and a ruling oligarchy…. to a failed two-party system that merely serves as a prop for democracy, all the way to an economy based solely upon greed…

 

… the United Stated, increasingly, looks like a banana republic and has many of the hallmarks of a failed state. 

 

History doesn’t always repeat, but it often rhymes, and this is all very reminiscent of the Soviet Union’s collapse, back in the ‘the greed is good’ eighties and early nineties.  When an overleveraged empire, an aging gerontocracy (that was unresponsive to the needs of its citizens), a failing economy, with a war in Afghanistan, and a nuclear superpower, no less… crumbled into dust.  And was subsequently taken over by a dictator, who is presently the scourge of Europe. 

 

Or perhaps, if you need another analogous historical example, there’s always Weimar Germany.   

 

The irony can be lost on no one then, when Biden attempts to paint his shiny, new Cold War, a gravy train for US military contractors, as a courageous fight between democracy and authoritarians. 

 

Who precisely is the authoritarian or bad guy, Mr. Biden… when the US federal government constantly acts against the American people’s very real interests & needs? 

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2022

Fool the Nation Three Times…

Fool the Nation Three Times… 

 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

 

-       Declaration of Independence

 

By Gregg Wall (5-14-2022) 

 

These are extraordinary times.  Capitalism isn’t dying, it’s still a useful tool.  But untrammeled greed, oligarchy, and the two-party system look like proven losers.  How many times must cartel and monopolies fail the country (and the Dems’ & GOP’ support for cartels, monopolies, and unbridled Wall St consolidation and M&A), before Americans, finally, say ‘enough’?   

 

The latest is baby formula.  Crazy.  I forgot.  Is America a first world country, or just another banana republic?

 

How many times must the Washington duopoly fall on its pompous and prodigious keister before America, finally, says ‘enough’?  And if you follow the news, as I do, it’s so painful to watch.  Forty years of Reaganomics, Thatcherism, and Clintonism are blowing up right before our very eyes.  Americans, refugees, countries… that depend upon a responsible US government (if for nothing more, as a beacon of hope; if for something greater, as a real leader) … are suffering very real consequences from endemic corruption and failure in Washington. 

 

I long thought the GOP would be first to go.  It was their economic policies, after all, that have failed:  trickle-down, market rule, endless corporate welfare, and the suspension of disbelief and reliance upon billionaires, captains of industry, and Wall Street (despite an endless series of bailouts & catastrophic failures from the private sector).  But no, the real problem, certainly over the last thirty years, is the lack of formidable opposition to the Republican party or push back (to offer viable alternatives other than the diktats of the American oligarchy) … the problem, essentially, is the GOP’s wingman, the Democratic party. 

 

Neither party will even debate economic policy in public anymore.  It’s that bad.  Both parties plan on running on sixty-year-old culture wars and identity politics this November.  Nothing like a draft Supreme Court ruling that could have been written by a minister, from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, right out of the seventeenth century, to insight national despair and division.

 

Who benefits, certainly not Americans… and I’m not even certain the two-party system or its billionaire owners benefit anymore.  The donor class has used these tried-and-true tactics on the American people for so long, it’s readily transparent. 

 

How does it go? 

 

Fool me once?   Fool me twice?   

 

I wonder, how many times King George fooled the American colonists before they revolted?   How many times did the French people get the shaft before they marched on Versailles? 

 

Which brings us to Bill Clinton, who had to the grand vision to co-opt and triangulate Republican economic policies, and to abandon the New Deal and Great Society.  A legacy we are living with to this very day.  Bill signed onto Reaganomics hook, line, and sinker.  The Clintons advanced neoliberalism (aka libertarian economic policy) to the next level.  Only a Democrat could have gotten away with destroying labor, unions and embracing a globalist, free trade agenda on that scale (and to the complete deteriment of the American people, the economy, and the tax base). 

 

And then, there was the great opportunist, Obama, who ran as a socialist; and once safely in office, pivoted to Wall Street bailouts, corporate welfare – in the form of the ACA, more job killing free trade, did not really stop endless war, and doubled down on neoliberalism and trickle-down.  Ronald Reagan, the Clintons, & ironically, Big Oil, never had a greater champion.  Obama had all the oportunities.  A major crisis, the 2008 Wall St disaster… he could have remade the nation, as no one since FDR.  Instead, America received more billionaires, concentration, monopoly, and Wall Street. 

 

Which brings us to our current President… faced with multiple crises, Biden could use the DPA, and more emergency measures, from any number of angles, to rebuild the nation and remake the economy.  Like Obama, Biden ran as a progressive, and once safely in office, he abandoned the entire project, his campaign, Build Back Better.  Instead, it appears that the Dems gambled on containing & controlling the virus, and a surfeit of low paying, gig jobs that would somehow make it all better.  Like the economy or the jobs market was all that great before the pandemic.  Thirty-three percent of American labor doesn’t even earn a living wage.  That’s 33%!  Welcome to monopsony, neoliberalism, and robber baron rule Mr. POTUS!   And Biden’s poll numbers reflect his and the Democratic party’s failure to do anything, other than continue to co-opt right-wing, GOP economic policies.   

 

It gets even nastier for democracy and the American people.  In the ultimate betrayal, Dems have grown really soft on the January 6^th attack - and ongoing coup – launched and managed by GOP leadership.  Any GOP leadership prosecutions?  Nope, not a one.  In fact, the Speaker of the House was just saying this week how she missed the old GOP.  Despite hoping to run on abortion, the Speaker of the House and other Demo elites have been in Texas campaigning for an anti-abortion candidate.  Nice. 

 

And when the Dem leaders aren’t campaigning for anti-abortion candidates, they are busy destroying progressive candidates. There’s something very wrong about this party; something very manipulative.  They champion progressive polices during elections and turn their nose up at their base of support, the American people (you know, gays, labor, minorities, women and the youth), once in power. Dems control both houses of congress and the presidency.  

 

Repeat: Dems control both houses of congress and the presidency.  

 

If the GOP had a similar lock on power, presently, Mitch McConnell would have the entire GOP caucus barking – and singing the national anthem, in perfect harmony - like trained seals.  Dems want to, allegedly, achieve something for their base of support -- like federal codification of abortion or voting rights -- and there’s always a far-right, democrat politician to conveniently gum up the process (or party heads, like the POTUS, insist upon bipartisanship or obscure Senate rules to all but ensure the progressive agenda is crushed).  

 

The reality, Dems have no interest in helping their base.  The Dems only have interest in retaining power, cashing in, and making their billionaire donors happy (not necessarily in that order).  And given Dems abject failure on the economy -- thank you Clintons and fresh water school economics -- and, lately, attempting to lead the nation into yet another forever war, the SCOTUS draft on abortion was a godsend.  No, not to do right and correct the problem, but rather, to profit – just like the GOP – on the politics of division and potentially rally their base for November. 

 

How does it go? 

 

Fool me three times?  At this point if we are fooled three times, by the failed Dem Establishment, we are flirting with Einstein’s definition of insanity. That is, voting for the same lying, manipulative party, repeatedly, and expecting a different outcome.

 

Why does voting for, essentially, a right-wing party, the Dems, increasingly feel like a hostage situation, a biennial shakedown?  Nice country, or was a nice country, but it could get a lot, lot worse, if you - American voter - place those republicans back in power?  That appears to be the Demo mantra, every two years.  But notice, nothing ever really improves, for labor, minorities, and women.  In fact, Dem elites love to blame and sneer at their own voters, as the source of the country's woes.  Billionaires, on the other hand, only gain more and more power. 

 

And never debated, never questioned… because there’s always highly triggering culture wars, identity politics, and unresolved social issues on the front burner… the failed neoliberal economy and the latest and greatest, the new endless war.   Meanwhile, the billionaires, day traders in congress, and the oligarchy get richer, and richer, and richer off an entirely rigged system, while Americans face unprecedented consumer price gouging and lousy job opportunities. 

 

Americans, collectively, after forty years of Clintonian & Reagan economic policies, maybe suffering from a combination of PTSD and Stockholm Syndrome (a fancy term for being in a highly abusive relationship with the Democratic party).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what to do?  

 

The first thing to do is for Americans to take the emotion out of future elections and seek remedies and reforms, because if both parties are good at anything, it’s playing on emotions and more specifically, exploiting the fear card.  Both parties, Dem and GOP, thrive on emotions, fear, and manipulation. And here, it would be good to take a moment and give the GOP some credit.  It took forty years for them to take over governor’s mansion after governor’s mansion, state legislature after state legislature, and about a decade or less for McConnell to stack the Supreme Court. 

 

In short, it took forty years for the GOP, complicit Dems, and billionaries to turn this country on its head and destroy the middle class… progressives need to prepare themselves, it’s going to take some time to clean this mess up.  The mess being minority - white male - rule. 

 

Some of the ideas that immediately come to mind, involving a multi-pronged strategy: 

 

Don’t be a rubber stamp for either party, especially establishment Dems.  Only vote for true progressives. And if there’s no progressives, don’t vote.  When voter participation drops, the fraud that is two-party system will be revealed.  The government is rigged, the economy is rigged: do not abet this corruption further by supporting the failed duopoly.  The youth get it, they know the current arrangement is a sham, and it certainly isn’t working for them. 

 

Like Republicans, vote in the midterms, vote in local elections, but again, only if true progressive candidates are offered. 

 

Most important, create a third party or parties.  It won’t be easy; it will take time.  And there’ll be a ton of arguments from Dems on how it will place the GOP in power (Republicans also face the possibility of a third party challenger).  But I can assure you, it will not get better, America, until we have a healthy multi-party democracy. (One of the reasons, a key reason, why Canada is as progressive as it is: third parties and a healthy multi-party system.)

 

The country desperately needs structural economic and political reforms:  economically, major antitrust enforcement and serious and strong federal regulations and regulatory bodies. Billionaire, market and Wall St rule has been a catastrophe.  On the political side, America needs: term limits at all levels and branches of government; the elimination of the electoral college; SCOTUS – now revealed as nothing more than politicians – needs to be popularly elected; and, as for the US Senate, it would be best to abolish it and go unicameral…  but if it must exist, it needs to be reapportioned based upon population, period.  Support candidates that will fight for like and similar structural reforms at the state level. 

 

It's time to elect the chairman and the board of governors for the Federal Reserve.  The FED is the most powerful branch of government, the majority of Americans rarely hear of, and it's time to bring the Federal Reserve out of the shadows.  Screams about an independent FED are identical to the cries for an independent SCOTUS… are just that, the ravings of insiders that exploit theses institutions.  You guessed it, those who scream loudest are the predators at the top & their mouthpieces.  If you believe SCOTUS is political, rest assured your friendly neighborhood FED chair is equally political. 

 

In all instances, vote for champions of democracy and the popular will.  There may even be that rare libertarian and particularly, a civil-libertarian canadidate that is worth voting for.

 

Outside the political arena, support labor, organized labor, and unions.  Support a full suite of benefits for all workers and a living wage. Support an economic bill of rights, and guaranteed employment for anyone and everyone who wants to work.  Support always Medicare For All. 

 

Another means to rectify our current failed government stems from the Declaration of Independence, which states that the American government derives its power from the consent of the American people; and when our government no longer functions and serves in this manner, it is the right of the American people to insist upon a new government.  That, my friends, is the fail-safe. My guess is the majority of Americans no longer feel our current government serves them or their interests.  The DOI is much more than a political manifesto, it’s enshrined in America’s code of law.  Progressive groups and lawyers should be looking at this document carefully as a means of leverage to seek reforms, and if absolutely necessary, the creation of a new government of, by, and for the people. 

 

The goal, ultimately, is to end the duopoly’s - and their oligarchical ownership’s - reign of terror.  The goal is to end the tyranny of a government entirely captured by the billionaire class, not unlike monarchy. 

 

Know this: GOP rule, in the short run, will be miserable.  But fascism, ultimately, implodes.  Freedom is in the heart of all Americans, and the GOP, at its heart, is an insurrectionist party that has very little to offer but division and hate. Its rule will not last, unless Americans allow Establishment Dems to continue to prop up the GOP, via a cacophony of failures and the adoption of GOP economic policies.  We all know Reaganomics, Clintonism, neoliberalism, globalization – and oligarchy – are abject failures.  These are extremist ideologies, and a ruling body, based upon greed. 

 

Americans are surrounded by forty years of economic failure, and thirty trillion in national debt, accumulated directly as a result of the dominate laissez-faire economic ideology championed by both political parties.  Whereby greed is both the ends and the means.  It’s bad, really bad.  We cannot afford to let it grow worse.  We need to watch out for our children, and we need to insist upon change & reforms for future generations.

 

So really, for the disenfranchised American people & progressives, what’s to fear but the continuation of a failed duopoly… and a highly abusive relationship with the Dem establishment?  Once we recognize establishment Dems exactly for who they are, an impediment to real progressive change, we realize our continued support defeats our very own interests.  

 

It’s time to take democracy to the next level. 

 

Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2022