John Roberts knew what he was doing, and made it clear what we need to do

[maxrandb]

Roberts was put on the court to destroy the Voting Rights Act.

He knew exactly what he was put there to do. Anyone who was surprised when the court ripped up the VRA was not paying attention to the last 50 years of Retrumplicans propaganda and policy.

With the courts rulings on Voting Rights and corporate money in political campaigns, they set the stage for where we are today.

Look, it's pretty fucking simple...

"None of this will ever change. The racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy...NONE OF IT will change, unless and until we make racism, fascism, misogyny, hatred and white supremacy unprofitable to the corporations that fund it, and the people that enable it."

How long did those "woke" corporations in Georgia wait before going from "we are so pissed about these Retrumplicans backed voter suppression efforts, 'MY GOD WE WON'T STAND FOR IT'", to funding Retrumplicans politicians that supported them?

Was it even more than 5 minutes?

But, that is not the question to ask.

The better question is, "how long did it take for people who care about Democracy to start spending their hard earned money on goods and services provided by the very same corporations that fund racism and fascism".

If it continues to be "business as usual", then nothing will change.

N-O-T-H-I-N-G

The "supreme" Court made it clear just who the fuck rules 'Murika.

So make sure you book your flight with Delta, get your supplies at Home Depot, pick up some groceries at Kroger, or have it all shipped by FEDEX and Amazon, because you don't want to miss the Super Bowl broadcast on an affiliate of a destructive, fascist propaganda channel.

Just make sure we have all the comforts of home and a great seat to watch the end of American Democracy...brought to you by Exxon Mobile, et al.

It's going to be a great show. Don't you dare miss it.

[NoMoreRepugs]

1. Righteous Rant.

[Doc Sportello]

2. K&R

Great rant.

Best and most true lines: "If it continues to be "business as usual", then nothing will change.

N-O-T-H-I-N-G

The "supreme" Court made it clear just who the fuck rules 'Murika."


The only way it changes is through the economic power the majority in this country has. Are people willing to cut back on the materialism that rules this country in order to save democracy? I don't know.

[PatSeg]

4. The excessive consumerism of many Americans

is like an addiction or a disease. The more they buy, the more dissatisfied they become, so they buy more. Changing the values of an entire society does not happen easily or overnight, but as long as people continue to be mesmerized by the constant swirl of tempting new "stuff", I don't see things changing. In the 20th century it took The Great Depression to get people a little more grounded and down-to-earth.

Meanwhile, big corporations and ad companies keep reminding consumers that there is something out there that they don't have and it will make everything better. I don't know if people will cut back on their excessive materialism either. Many might choose it over democracy, as the addiction runs very deep.

[HUAJIAO]

11. Most Americans have no idea what you are even talking about.

Unfortunate..

[PatSeg]

22. I know

They are mesmerized by all the shiny new stuff flashing about them all the time. It is a culture, a way of life. For many people, shopping is actually a sport, even a challenge. For others it is an anti-depressant, albeit a very short lived and ineffectual one, but it can temporarily ward off the blues. We live in a quick-fix society - pop a pill or buy a new smartphone, worry about the deeper problems tomorrow.

A lot of people tend to see how pointless it all was when they get older and death is around the corner.

[mountain grammy]

13. Exactly!

My inlaws saved LIFE magazines from 1942 through 1943. Among the horrific stories of war, destruction and death were the incessant ads.. washing machines, cars, etc.. So while reading a first hand story direct from the front lines, turn the page, there's the typical American housewife dressed like she's going out on the town, loading laundry into her brand new Maytag.

[PatSeg]

23. What a startling and revealing contrast

People were bombarded with tantalizing ads everywhere they turned. Someone was always selling something and it was an easy trap to fall into, especially during the war when people needed an escape.

I am fascinated by those old magazines. It is like time traveling.

[maxrandb]

25. I am fortunate to still have my 91 year old mother

Last edited Thu Jan 20, 2022, 05:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Sometimes she still has all her faculties.

She was 10 when WWII came to America.

It is remarkable to talk to her about that time in America.

Look, no one is describing the 1940s as a golden age of enlightenment. Racism and greed ran rampant. Women were harassed and discriminated against. Misogyny ruled the day in most places, but...

There were city and state-wide blood drives.

There were steel and sheet metal drives.

My mom used to talk about the one time a month they got a sweets ration.

There were vouchers for meat and dairy. Having chicken was a luxury.

Heating, cooking and automobile fuel was rationed.

I can only speak for my mom, but in her family, they knew it was tough, but they understood that what they gave up was going to the effort to defeat fascist.

I knew we were in trouble as a country when we were attacked on 9/11, and one of the things our leaders asked us to do was "please go shopping".

It's the same with this God Damned Pandemic. Instead of being asked to sacrifice, we were told we must get back to work so that the Stock Market wouldn't tank.

We simply could not take the steps and make the sacrifices that needed to be made to keep us safe, because the wealthy and corporations demanded we "get back to work".

We have truly lost our way as a country.

[mountain grammy]

27. Yes, we have truly lost our way as a country..

My father in law died in 2012. He was a hard core Fox watcher and definitely would have loved the orange asshole.

We took care of him that year, his final year. He constantly bashed Obama and Democrats. Once I reminded him that he had told me his very first vote was for FDR in 1944. He had already served 2 years in the Marines and turned 21 in 1943. He said to me "hell, everyone voted for Roosevelt!"

Once again I agree, we have truly lost our way as a country.

[maxrandb]

30. It's fascinating

Almost the entire nation put their lives on hold for more than half a decade to save Europe and defeat fascism.

We couldn't even wear a fucking face covering for 15 minutes in Walmart to keep our next door neighbors safe.

[Cosmocat]

38. Yep

We are lost.

Its a choice, too.

I have never understood how our 1/3 sees all of this so plainly, while their 1 / 3 fully embraces the bullshit rage machine and the "middle" 1 / 3 babbles sbout both sides being the same.

Its just way bigger than us.

[Doc Sportello]

15. Yes, it is a symbiotic toxic relationship built on addiction

In our current economic system, where corporations rely on quarterly reports that require ever increasing and therefore unrealistic profit margins, the corporations become drug dealers feeding the addiction you are talking about. And it is an addiction, just like with drugs or those people pulling the one-armed bandits over and over in search of the "reward" that comes with the sounds of ringing bells and coins clanging into the metal troughs.

"Shopping" gives a short term dopamine reward that is later followed by the comedown that other addicts recognize know so well. So what follows? More shopping and the cycle repeats, bringing no joy ultimately but more profits to companies whose overseers care not one iota for the damage they are doing. One of my favorite books on the subject is called Consuming Kids, which details the sordid lengths corporations (meaning the people who run them) knowingly go to in luring children to their products. The title is great because it turns the term consumer on its head, showing the true relationship, which is that we are not consumers, but rather the consumed.

[PatSeg]

24. Very well said

"We are not consumers, but rather the consumed."

And yes, I see corporations as the drug dealers and advertisers as the pushers. There was a time when businesses primarily provided needed goods and services for a profit, but with the help of "Madison Avenue", they started to create the need for their products. People often bought things they did not need, didn't know they wanted, and often could not even afford. As with addictive drugs, when they could not afford certain items, their misery was compounded and their addiction intensified.

The worst I think is the way they advertised to children. I found that flat out sinister. That has improved somewhat, but children still are exploited for money and conditioned for a lifetime of consuming.

[harumph]

3. This is all true (I enjoy your posts) but often people don't

have a choice which grocery store or airline to use. In my town it's
either Home Depot or Lowes and I shop at Lowes - but I doubt
that is doing anything at all to alter HD's corporate governance.

[jaxexpat]

7. From the POV of an average individual, there is no "way out"........

that will not result in catastrophic and personally painful economic turmoil.

There is no way these Megas are going to change their MO. No way they'll take the hit without first exacting their revenge. No way they or their business plans can survive a correction that allows societal equity derived from a judicious sharing of resources in an environmentally sustainable mean. They can't even tell the public their essential truth which is that they are the modern-day hamlet raiders, hearthside pillagers, slaving colonialists and robber barons.

What kills me is how so many in the general public have witlessly enlisted into their political enterprises.

[Cozmo]

9. Make no mistake Boycotts Work

Check out the post today about Emily's List. We are in a fight for our lives now and every dollar we don't spend at Home Depot, er. al. can make a difference, especially if the corporate giants know why we're not supporting them. I take my inspiration from Stacey Abrams. This fight for voting rights is everybody's business and everybody's responsibility.

[Cozmo]

10. You can always order your goods online. We the people have got to act

[DBoon]

33. yes - from Amazon.com

[Cozmo]

37. Sorry did I miss something in my won post? I don't recall advocating for amazon.

We do have many vendor choices. I try to be mindful of who I support as we all have that option available to us.

[Lonestarblue]

5. I have been feeling for quite some time that we are nearing the end of democracy.

What will happen after that remains to be seen. Authoritarians usually try to create the appearance of democratic elections, as Putin does in Russia though they are nothing but show, while they literally steal everything they can and collect a group of enforcers around then so they can stay in power forever. Meanwhile, it takes years for the populace to notice that everything costs a lot more, but they aren’t earning more or that suddenly there are shortages where none existed before. And then the crackdown starts on any protests, with people “disappeared” and the fear of government retaliation sets in. At some point, the authoritarian may becomes a brutal dictator. We have what has happened in Belarus over the last year of so as a perfect example.

Meanwhile, the general US populace is more concerned about what is happening on their favorite TV show or with their favorite pop star or sports team than they are about the future of this country. I don’t know how to get their attention because some aren’t smart enough or educated enough to make connections and others are just too “busy” living to care. The people who know what is happening are the ones who are funding the decline while buying escape homes in countries like New Zealand.

[Evolve Dammit]

17. Wouldn't disagree at all. Sadly, you nailed it. Canadians are already worried about a flood from US.

[Whiskeytide]

6. I think the dynamic in the republican party ...

… is more complicated. Corporate America supports republican leadership because of their economic policies. Corporate interests give $ to republican politicians and they enact laws and policies that allow corporate interests to make a lot more $. It’s a pretty simple quid pro quo.

The racial and misogynistic shit has seemed to come to the front of the line in recent years because there is a huge demographic that agrees with those views. I think republicans figured out sooner than we did that there are a lot of racist assholes in this country. Obama’s presidency (and the backlash from a black president) likely helped clue them in more than we realized. They saw it. We didn’t.

They had already married themselves to the religious right, so taking in the racists with open arms was the next step to bolster their numbers at the polls and grow their voting block to win elections.

I don’t think Home Depot has racist policies for the most part - at least not at the corporate level. In fact, I think they don’t like such policies - but not for moral reasons as much as because it’s bad for business. But they’re willing to put up with it if it gets them the economic policies they want.

What the MAGATS and Christo Fascists don’t realize is that if they can effectively do away with true elections and install an oligarchy, ALL policy will be based on corporate economic interests. If republican politicians no longer NEED votes, they will no longer pretend to care about abortions, or the 2nd A, or the border. They will no longer care whether you’re black, brown, white or purple - just so long as you’re a worker class consumer and your $ keeps flowing up.

[JT45242]

8. My family says - Oh another company on your boycott list

We haven't used Hardies, Home Depot, Arby's and as many of the insurrectionist supporting companies that we can find out about.

Wrote to Home Depot as to why I cancelled my account with them. When customer service called, I told them I was boycotting their company forever because of their CEO's support of fascism. (Have renovated 3 houses over the last 15 years -- used to spend lots of money there -- now going to Lowe's).

We can all do our part and ask our friends and family to do the same.

If enough of us put economic pressure on things we might be able to cause changes -- it worked with putting pressure on South Africa to end apartheid when businesses who did work there in the late 80s took PR and financial hits.

[wnylib]

16. A problem with boycotts is

that, in today's corporate world, several individual companies are intertwined with corporations and are subsidiaries of them. Add to that the fact that parts made by one company are used on the goods for another company.

It is nearly impossible to sort them out. Or to remember which product in which store is something we want to boycott.

But we can do more buying from smaller and local businesses to support them vs. corporations. We can boycott media that have corporate sponsors.

Regarding changes in society and culture, there is a place where change can come and be effective in influencing people's views and values. Some at DU will remember how music, books, and films promoted social consciousness and change in the late 1950s, the 60s, and the 70s. Much of that was due to a large segment of the population coming of age in those years and going through the natural rebellion against previous generations to establish themselves as the next one.

Many of those young people were sincerely aware of needed social changes and dedicated themselves to bringing them about, or to cooperating with leaders who were doing that. For others, it was just the hip social thing to be supportive of change, and they easily gave up their "values" as they matured. They became just as materialistic as the generation that they had accused of materialism.

But, during those years, social change and progress did develop. The Voting Rights Act was passed. Legal segregation ended, although it continued (and still does) unofficially in many places. Education opportunities increaased for women and minorities, and both were elected into offices more often.

Simultaneously, music, films, books, and even clothing and hair fashions promoted and reflected changes. MUSIC - If I Had a Hammer; Blowin' n the Wind; The Times They Are A-changin'. FASHION - long hair; natural fabrics and the natural look in clothing and hair. FILM - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (and many other Poitier films). TV - All in the Family. Just a few examples.

We can't relive the past, or spend our lives imitating it, but we can learn from it. Cultural expressions both influence and reflect change. What do music, film, books, TV reflect today? What directions are they taking us in?

[former9thward]

28. South Africa was completely different.

First, they were relatively isolated by the developed world. Second, governments placed economic sanctions on them -- not individuals. Boycotts by individuals won't work because there are 330 million people in the country and those boycotting a product are replaced by countless other consumers. What boycotts have worked?

[JT45242]

29. Chick Fil A changed because of boycotts and lost renewals because of protests

Chick Fil A stopped corporate sponsorship of anti LGBTQ activities and stopped their firing of LGBTQ employees where it was still legal when boycotts and colleges kicking them out of food courts hurt the bottom line.

it took a long time, but it did work.

[maxrandb]

31. The Montgomery Bus boycott comes to mind

I seem to recall something about some tea boycotts in Boston.

It's so easy to just throw up our hands and say "it is just too hard and won't work".

One of the reasons, if not the most important reason that the Union was able to defeat the Confederacy was the economic power the Union employed to crush the Southern economy.

Corporations that supported Retrumplican insurrectionists should be treated like Confederate cotton brokers.

There needs to be consequences for the destruction of American Democracy.

[llashram]

12. wow

AmeruiKKKa in a nut$hell...scathing and true

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

14. Try to stay out of debt,

grow your own food (if possible) and RESIST!
It's all very dis-heartening but that is part of their plan. The nation is really composed of about 75% who only pay attention during elections, then go back to burying their head in the sand. About 12.5% on either the left or right side of the political spectrum do most of the 'work'. How this nation ever got lucky enough to have FDR is beyond me. Still, I can't yet give up. By the way, the revolution will not be televised.

[Ponietz]

21. +1

[fightforfreedom]

18. Rich people have always fucked over the poor.

Always have and always will.

[Evolve Dammit]

19. Time for George Carlin's "American Dream" viewing. He nails it.

[Ponietz]

20. Capitalistic consumerism and democracy are now antithetical

These disembodied “people” are propelling us into fascism since perpetuating the lies is the only way for them to survive. Corporate persons are posturing to survive even if humanity goes extinct, and as more people die the lies will become even more brazen—if that’s possible.

[MichaelSoE]

32. More. Buy more.

Our feline overlords have ordained it.



Also a spot on analysis.

One of my pet peeves is the fact that even though I am judicious when I purchase items, the planned obsolescence really burns me up. I can remember something as simple as a toaster. If you had a bad element you could get it repaired or even do it yourself. Now days it's toss it out and buy a new one. Etc. Etc. and don't get me started on mobile phones or cloud services.

[DBoon]

34. Once again, the Hippies were right

Make it yourself, grow it yourself, live simply and own only what is essential

[DBoon]

35. Once again, the Hippies were right

Make it yourself, grow it yourself, live simply and own only what is essential

[maxrandb]

36. I think the solution lies somewhere in between the extremes

It could be as simple as not living like hippies, but demanding ethical behavior from corporations and the politicians they fund.