According to the former president, Americans are now experiencing “a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors.”
Toss in insider trading and we’re pretty much screwed. We the people can’t compete.
Toss in insider trading and we’re pretty much screwed. We the people can’t compete.
correct and idc but he was the last decent american president
He was the last 100% decent US president, there has been a few mostly decent IMO. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. I guess Joe Biden is mostly decent too.
Don’t be a boot licker.
I don’t know about Clinton. Guy was a sex pest who hung out with Epstein.
Obama and Biden are probably decent by politician standards, with both of them earning most of their money through books, salaries, and government bonds. Biden was famously poor for a Senator. While they themselves aren’t directly invested in big business and got most of their money from Labor rather than capital, they were still at the mercy of wealthy interests.
They wouldn’t have been able to raise money for their campaigns or had influence in Washington without their moderate views. They overall want to support the welfare state and regulate the worst effects of capitalism, but they’re pragmatic to a fault, stuck in the neoliberal mindset of the 80s and 90s, where welfare was a dirty word. They fully buy into the American mythos of hardwork paying off and meritocracy. They believe capitalism serves Americans best, but fail to realize just how much of that service was thanks to unions and limits on business.
Of course they support the American nationalism and imperialism that has contributed to many of our current problems, but they are better than Republicans. Most of their decisions are cold and evil, favoring selfish US interests, but Republicans are on a different level. They do unnecessarily cruel shit, even when it isn’t the most prudent thing for America. They fuck over everybody, including Americans, so long as it helps right wingers gain power. By the time Trump came along, they weren’t even serving the interests of the businesses that support them. They favor ludicrous ideas like blanket import tariffs or wars with Mexico that hurt regular people and business alike, but cynically help the party. Thanks to the leftward shift of Democratic fiscal policy from neoliberalism to standard liberalism, the don’t need to work as hard to be preferable to Democrats for rich people. They can make a few shitty economic decisions so long as they deregulate and privatize hard enough.
Fuck, another essay. Oh well. Biden and Obama believe they’re doing right by their country, even if they’re wrong, while Republicans only want to benefit themselves, and Trump only cares for Trump.
You’re trotting out Biden as an example of “decent president” in a thread about blatant political corruption and the willingness of politicians to sell Americans out for money?
Bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see how it works out for him
And Carter shares an enormous amount of blame. His deregulation of the airlines was one the single greatest catalysts for our financialized system that underpines this entire shit show.
Don’t treat him as anything other than another cog in the very machine he denounces now, when it doesn’t actually matter.
Fuck him.
Yup. He was the first neoliberal democrat president and his presidency was pretty shitty. On the other hand his post presidential time has been spent well, and his willingness to speak openly about this country is appreciated.
Willingness to talk truth to power only matters if you’ve had no power. Not when you had all the power, choose to use it to advance the goals of elites and the powerful, and screw over an entire nation.
Him regaining his “voice” now is worth nothing and people pretending otherwise is the same type of logic that allowed Dubya to be rehabilitated in the eye of public opinion.
Yes, his Habit for Humanity has helped thousands. His role as president hurt hundreds of millions. How do you justify those scales as anywhere close to being balanced, much less even being worthy of note?
I’m sorry, what did he do that hurt hundreds of millions as president?
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because Americans are too ignorant and proud to recognize con-men
Almost completely unaware of how to solve the problems meaningfully.
Disillusioned with the legal voting process as being completely ineffectual to solve the problems, or any important problem for that matter. Our politics feels like more of a distraction than anything.
Way too depressed and overworked and burnt out to try to think/work on any actual meaningful way to solve these extremely substantial and challenging problems.
So unfortunately, I just live one day at a time, enjoy the little things, and wait until it’s time to die.
I honestly don’t think we’re going to get any meaningful change without extreme violence, extreme longterm hardship, and lots and lots of death and pain. But what do I know?
Carter, correct as usual. I am surprised to hear this though, if only because the last I heard Carter was in hospice. And that was months ago. Dude just survives.
This is an old article, but Carter did recently visit a peanut festival or parade of some sort. I was surprised someone in hospice was well enough to go out for a drive. The people I knew that entered hospice weren’t well enough for that kind of outing except maybe the first week or so after they switched to hospice care from the regular prolong your life kind of treatment.
Based peanut farmer.
