What happened to the idea behind the Social Contract? As a society, we are better off pooling our resources to help one another than selfishly going it alone. Do these folks not need the fire brigade, the police force, schools to educate their grandchildren, hospitals when they get sick? How discouraging it is to hear these kinds of blin…
What happened to the idea behind the Social Contract? As a society, we are better off pooling our resources to help one another than selfishly going it alone. Do these folks not need the fire brigade, the police force, schools to educate their grandchildren, hospitals when they get sick? How discouraging it is to hear these kinds of blinkered, selfish arguments being given credence in courts of law!
Malignant narcissism sees other people and the world itself as objects to be used as one pleases, to be manipulated, subjugated, or destroyed. It's what is under the hood of evil.
And all this on the same day that the Obamas went back to the WH and gave such an inclusive, uplifting speech at the unveiling of their portraits. Their view of society includes EVERYONE!
Courts of law elected or appointed by narcissists, who think that legitimate government serves them and enforces their wishes, and no one else's. Judge O’Connor's decision reeks of it, to the point of sociopathy. exactly what justice isn't.
JL I am reminded of the first American fire departments. Homeowners subscribed and had a plaque on their homes. Were there a fire and they hadn’t paid for a plaque, the volunteer firemen arrived, then left, without fighting the fire.
Today both for individuals and for our society, there are programs that provide broad insurance. (Have you ever read the specific details of your homeowner’s insurance policy?)
The idea that individuals can unilaterally reject specific items in a government health/insurance policy I find anathema to the broad interests of the American society.
Next month I will be 89. I imagine that there are aspects of my Medicare coverage that are no longer applicable to my personal situation. HOWEVER, there are some from which I am fulsomely benefitting. That Judge O’Connor and other rogue judges seek to open this Pandora’s Box I find counter to the concept of the common good.
Thank you for providing such encouragement to everyone younger, by simply being yourself at nearly 90 and sharing your rich experience and the understanding you've gained from it.
The devil is in the details of these laws that are passed that elevate society as a whole (e.g., Social Security, ACA, Medicare, Medicaid). They have to have ironclad rules as to their universal application and universal participation. And courts and judges, like this O'Connor misfit, have to be rebutted when they make an attempt to overrule the will of the people.
James Spot on!. I was thinking about finding a rogue judge to complain that my Medicare gynecological coverage is unnecessary for an 88-year-old man. Then I remembered the Act of God provision in my homeowner’s insurance. Hmmm, you never know. On reflection I am delighted to have gynecological coverage. (Just in case).
Exactly, Keith! Nobody has to prove need: it's just there, so that nobody has to jump hoops or get tangled up with red tape to get the care they need. That's what insurance does: pool the resources so that we all have access when and if. You don't need gynecological care, but I might. I will never need prostate care, but you might. Happy to help out on that. We're both old, and likely share a whole bunch of things that Medicare was created for to keep us healthy as long as possible. I am immensely grateful, as I am finding this part of my life extraordinarily rich. I'm glad I'm able to enjoy it.
A kid in the 1950s I had to memorize the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble of the Constitution for school. We got inspirational stories about Lincoln, occasioned by Lincolns Birthday, which is no longer celebrated. Both recitations involved a recognition of the legitimate seat of power in the aggregated "people" of the republic, "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" seems as though the primary focus of the mission statement of the document is all about "the common good".
J L Four score and seven years ago we had the first Republican president who the MAGAS today would reject as a RINO.
Lincoln believed that government was of the people, for the people, and by the people. Also, when he had problems with a Supreme Court Chief Justice who treasonably supported the Confederates in the Civil War, Tawny was placed under virtual house arrest in Maryland.
After Democrat Stephen Douglas lost to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election, Douglas then worked in support of Lincoln’s efforts to maintain the union against the Southern secessionists.
Lincoln, like Jesus, would find Trump and Mafiosos revolting.
Anyone who care about abuse of power and the fate of the power deprived would, will condemn what "Republicans" are up to. Back in that day Republicans weren't flying the Confederate flag.
Federal Judge Connor; her judicial career is over if not her seat on a civil Trial Court 70 miles north of MAL. Hearing on Connor's missive on this FRIDAY. Thursday Afternoon Update: The DOJ has done (two) actions: (1) the U.S. has filed a "protective appeal" that expires on SEPTEMBER 15. (2) the U.S. has also filed a motion in Cannon's court to give her a way out to correct a botched "part" of her ruling. Tfg has no possessory interest in "classified" documents whatsoever nor does anyone else! By definition "classified" documents are not attorney client documents. Manifest Court error, serious & dangerous error.
Fox Noise--exactly. That's all some in my family watch (not in this house, thankfully). I blame Murdoch, Carlson, Hannity, et al for their large part in creating the place where we are now as a nation. They have spewed so many falsehoods, so much misinformation, so few facts. Propaganda works, apparently. (Not letting the MSM off the hook, either, as I have posted here many times.)
Suz As a former history/economics professor I can imagine many current students being befuddled by a Constitution that they have never studied and a vocabulary more appropriate for Twitter than what can be garnered by reading good books.
THINKING requires an understanding of history and an appreciation of humanitarianism that, in part, comes from rigorous mental discipline. As Senator Moynihan phrased it “You are entitled to your personal opinions but not your personal facts.”
The idea of a Social Contract was never adhered to by Southern States and probably not much by northern states.
However, FDR and Eisenhower managed, through some lucky and skilled leadership and a completely devastated economy, to lead Americans who did want that approach to it.
Most folks want to believe that what they have is from their own efforts. And, the "American narrative" encourages imagining that one's hard work has led one to a good outcome. I like to imagine myself in this catergory, but, I know better (now).
But, really, without even looking very close, those who manage to build a little wealth or a lot of wealth usually have a LOT of luck in the pathway OR just rich parents who have had money in the family for generations. One must also be white. Being male goes a long way too and being a tall white male is the holy grail to be promoted in corporations.
So, the concept that America had a Social Contract? It is kind of a myth.
The Republicans who controlled the government from 1918 to 1928 just managed to so disastrously kill the economy that desperation led folks to follow FDR then Eisenhower.
IF, instead of doing a "soft landing" of the economy through massive deficity spending in 2009, Obama had just let the economy crash and burn for three years like it would have, people would not have voted for a Republican again for a generation or two.
But, unfortunately, we spent 10 Trillion dollars making sure that after Obama was done, Trump would get elected.
What can I say except I am a Scot, a beneficiary of the Social Contract that was implemented after the Second World War who received free tertiary education and became a teacher of literature, imbued with the wonderful
Ideas from the Enlightenment. I know the US has its tradition of rugged individualism and that the UK is now rapidly becoming a third world country, but I still, somewhat idealistically, adhere to the idea of a Social Contract!
Isabel, we all adhere to the Social Contract. That is why this Letter exists. Our ‘rugged Individualism’ will be our downfall in the United States. My parents were communists and I grew up in the fifties and sixties as a radical, activist, pro all human rights woman. I am still that woman and cannot let this happen on my watch. I’m 73. My great grandmother, who birthed 17 children came to America and lived to 96. My Irish great grandmother had 17 children also. I think I have a long life ahead of me.....
Mike The ‘famous’ Horatio Algers books, that purported to support the rags-to-riches myth, were in fact quite false. Ditto with the ‘rugged cowboy,’ the majority of whom were Hispanic or Black, since the job was tough and poorly paid. [How many Hispanic and Black cowboys and soldiers did you see in Hollywood movies? The first movie featuring an admirable Black soldier was SERGEANT RUTLEDGE in, I believe, 1960.]
John Wayne [a student of mine said ‘The Duke makes me puke’] symbolized this rugged individual myth, as exemplified in his Vietnam film glorifying our ‘marvelous military success.’
Mike S, I think you are right that Hollywood rode the "rugged individual" meme for all it was worth, but the meme came right out of the Euro-American culture and is well-documented all the way back to the first Euro-settlers, as you allude to. Those "rugged individualists" were subsidized first by the "companies" that funded the colonies (and lost money on it, debt never repaid). The western bound were societies rejects in many ways, and were happy to take the freebies handed them by the new nation, whose interest lay in expansion. The irony is that Europe matured and gradually discarded the notion of individualism as a primary construct (though their various forms of a Social Contract are still works in progress, as they always will be). America got hung up on individualism (which never really existed in the way we think it did). We're in the midst of trying to become unstuck, as so many cling to the idea that they exist in a social bubble.
Totally agree with your determination to save the Social Contract! I do get disappointed and discouraged at times, but then people like Heather keep pointing us all in the right direction-onward!!
A couple of things, Mike: first, thank you for the reality-check that “the Social Contract” is a myth. It’s easier to operate when I’m not tripping myself up by wondering “Why people don’t go back to that”. Our efforts are in hopes of moving towards that, a social contract.
“Woudda, shouldda, couldda” on the soft-landing of the economy in 2009. Wishing a full blown worldwide depression to teach the gop supporters a lesson, would have been a toug-love choice indeed. But to be the first African-American President AND allow a worldwide depression without trying your damnedest to NOT allow that to happen? Could you have made that decision? I doubt I could. Who do you listen to at a time like that? And how do you judge the trajectory when you are not an economist yourself? And most of all, Wallstreet and its ilk are like an organized crime syndicate. How much “Could” Obama really choose to do without their undermining him immediately? Market manipulations and the spin they are allowed to give to MSM, keep us misinformed constantly as it is in normal times, let alone in a death-spiral. Perhaps we would be in a better place. But man! What a road to get there it would have been.
Michele: During the soft landing two things happened that we do not, yet, know the consequences of -
1) The Fed "purchased" worthless mortgage derivatives and $5 Trillion of those and put them on their "books" for the very first time in history. Note: Those worthless securities are STILL on th books. Because, the Fed cannot sell them.
2) The Federal government spent another $4 Trillion in debt, raising our total debt to around $12-15 Trillion.
All of this was NOT to help Americans who had lost their homes. It was to help AIG and America's largest banks.
MANY Americans on the ground remained/remain permantently unemployed after that Republican disaster (caused by the legalization of derivatives under Bush in 2001).
So, the real question is: "Would I have have made the choice to saddle my children with the sins of Republicans from 2001 to 2008".
The answer is: NO.
I would NOT have dug the US so much further in debt, reducing my children's future quality of life to make sure Jimmy Dimon could still be in charge of JP Morgan.
Mike, we are in agreement that in hindsight better deals could perhaps have been struck. The CBO’s 2021 report on the TARP action reads that it was a reasonably successful action considering the intent was to stabilize the markets and unfreeze them. No credit flowing held everyone hostage. The thought of banks failing enmasse as they did in the Great Depession was a very real consideration, and a the very outcome to be avoided. The Dems tried to put banking regulations back in place but immediately on returning to legislative majority at the midterms, the gop rolled those back. So, if Obama let the whole world crash to prove a point about gop malfeasance, and the fallout happened immediately on his watch, with him only doing…..what?…….now we are in a world-wide-mega-depression, with an African-American at the helm. And you believe the country would still have stayed the course with dem leadership in congress at the midterms? My point is, if you were Obama, at that moment in time, without a crystal ball, with seeming “experts” advising you, on an area you are not deeply schooled in, with the fallout of the Great Depression as your closest, major historical context, would your choice have been to let it all crash? You say confidently, yes. I simply say, if there was a straight forward, guaranteed, tough-love choice, that American’s would have understood was to teach the gop, the banks and investment houses a lesson, AND would make life better for average Americans in the end, Obama would have chose it. But the tricky-whicket part of “getting American’s to understand it was best for them” always sways the best decision-making to be less than it could be.
It has for some, who want to replace it with edict, by them, of course; or allegedly by order of their version of a God that thinks exactly as they do.
Here, Here. Those people who purport to eschew any help and support from the federal government are the first to cry “help” to the same government when disaster strikes. They want FEMA on the spot to help them. Take away all federal support from states and you have disaster. We are The United States, not every state for itself. I am weary of hearing about states rights. “One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for ALL.” This motto seeks to unite not divide.
I agree with Biden’s speech. We must stand for justice and the rule of law, and against selfish partisan politics. And we must take back our country from those who seek only power and money. We must vote. My neighbors and l have a group that will send letters and post cards to get out the vote. Big change comes from individual efforts.
We human have a dual nature, individual and social. We learn to be what we are from experience and from others. Neither is dispensable. Unlike many animals (such as baby sea turtles) we are born nearly helpless, which is to say, in dire need of help. Helping is a human species survival trait. The US Constitution addresses individual rights as well as responsibilities. E Pluibus Unum is printed on our most valued tokens.
What happened to the idea behind the Social Contract? As a society, we are better off pooling our resources to help one another than selfishly going it alone. Do these folks not need the fire brigade, the police force, schools to educate their grandchildren, hospitals when they get sick? How discouraging it is to hear these kinds of blinkered, selfish arguments being given credence in courts of law!
Malignant narcissism sees other people and the world itself as objects to be used as one pleases, to be manipulated, subjugated, or destroyed. It's what is under the hood of evil.
And all this on the same day that the Obamas went back to the WH and gave such an inclusive, uplifting speech at the unveiling of their portraits. Their view of society includes EVERYONE!
Egalitarians vs supremacists.
Right vs wrong.
Thank you for making the action of malignant narcissism so clear.
This is the form that evil has taken today.
And grifted - defrauded.
Courts of law elected or appointed by narcissists, who think that legitimate government serves them and enforces their wishes, and no one else's. Judge O’Connor's decision reeks of it, to the point of sociopathy. exactly what justice isn't.
JL I am reminded of the first American fire departments. Homeowners subscribed and had a plaque on their homes. Were there a fire and they hadn’t paid for a plaque, the volunteer firemen arrived, then left, without fighting the fire.
Today both for individuals and for our society, there are programs that provide broad insurance. (Have you ever read the specific details of your homeowner’s insurance policy?)
The idea that individuals can unilaterally reject specific items in a government health/insurance policy I find anathema to the broad interests of the American society.
Next month I will be 89. I imagine that there are aspects of my Medicare coverage that are no longer applicable to my personal situation. HOWEVER, there are some from which I am fulsomely benefitting. That Judge O’Connor and other rogue judges seek to open this Pandora’s Box I find counter to the concept of the common good.
Thank you for providing such encouragement to everyone younger, by simply being yourself at nearly 90 and sharing your rich experience and the understanding you've gained from it.
The devil is in the details of these laws that are passed that elevate society as a whole (e.g., Social Security, ACA, Medicare, Medicaid). They have to have ironclad rules as to their universal application and universal participation. And courts and judges, like this O'Connor misfit, have to be rebutted when they make an attempt to overrule the will of the people.
James Spot on!. I was thinking about finding a rogue judge to complain that my Medicare gynecological coverage is unnecessary for an 88-year-old man. Then I remembered the Act of God provision in my homeowner’s insurance. Hmmm, you never know. On reflection I am delighted to have gynecological coverage. (Just in case).
Exactly, Keith! Nobody has to prove need: it's just there, so that nobody has to jump hoops or get tangled up with red tape to get the care they need. That's what insurance does: pool the resources so that we all have access when and if. You don't need gynecological care, but I might. I will never need prostate care, but you might. Happy to help out on that. We're both old, and likely share a whole bunch of things that Medicare was created for to keep us healthy as long as possible. I am immensely grateful, as I am finding this part of my life extraordinarily rich. I'm glad I'm able to enjoy it.
Anne Whether its gynecological assistance for me or a vasectomy for you, its reassuring to have all possible bases covered.
ABSOLUTELY!
A kid in the 1950s I had to memorize the Gettysburg Address and the Preamble of the Constitution for school. We got inspirational stories about Lincoln, occasioned by Lincolns Birthday, which is no longer celebrated. Both recitations involved a recognition of the legitimate seat of power in the aggregated "people" of the republic, "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" seems as though the primary focus of the mission statement of the document is all about "the common good".
J L Four score and seven years ago we had the first Republican president who the MAGAS today would reject as a RINO.
Lincoln believed that government was of the people, for the people, and by the people. Also, when he had problems with a Supreme Court Chief Justice who treasonably supported the Confederates in the Civil War, Tawny was placed under virtual house arrest in Maryland.
After Democrat Stephen Douglas lost to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election, Douglas then worked in support of Lincoln’s efforts to maintain the union against the Southern secessionists.
Lincoln, like Jesus, would find Trump and Mafiosos revolting.
Anyone who care about abuse of power and the fate of the power deprived would, will condemn what "Republicans" are up to. Back in that day Republicans weren't flying the Confederate flag.
Federal Judge Connor; her judicial career is over if not her seat on a civil Trial Court 70 miles north of MAL. Hearing on Connor's missive on this FRIDAY. Thursday Afternoon Update: The DOJ has done (two) actions: (1) the U.S. has filed a "protective appeal" that expires on SEPTEMBER 15. (2) the U.S. has also filed a motion in Cannon's court to give her a way out to correct a botched "part" of her ruling. Tfg has no possessory interest in "classified" documents whatsoever nor does anyone else! By definition "classified" documents are not attorney client documents. Manifest Court error, serious & dangerous error.
T: thank you for the Link to Robert Reich's piece,
They just hate the libtards, my wonderful nephew is now a MAGAt, lured by the local fire department morons. You ask “what are they thinking?? Not much
So was the lure for him to be apart of that Bro-hood? Can’t belong unless you “get along”?
Fox Noise--exactly. That's all some in my family watch (not in this house, thankfully). I blame Murdoch, Carlson, Hannity, et al for their large part in creating the place where we are now as a nation. They have spewed so many falsehoods, so much misinformation, so few facts. Propaganda works, apparently. (Not letting the MSM off the hook, either, as I have posted here many times.)
Suz As a former history/economics professor I can imagine many current students being befuddled by a Constitution that they have never studied and a vocabulary more appropriate for Twitter than what can be garnered by reading good books.
THINKING requires an understanding of history and an appreciation of humanitarianism that, in part, comes from rigorous mental discipline. As Senator Moynihan phrased it “You are entitled to your personal opinions but not your personal facts.”
AWWRK!
The idea of a Social Contract was never adhered to by Southern States and probably not much by northern states.
However, FDR and Eisenhower managed, through some lucky and skilled leadership and a completely devastated economy, to lead Americans who did want that approach to it.
Most folks want to believe that what they have is from their own efforts. And, the "American narrative" encourages imagining that one's hard work has led one to a good outcome. I like to imagine myself in this catergory, but, I know better (now).
But, really, without even looking very close, those who manage to build a little wealth or a lot of wealth usually have a LOT of luck in the pathway OR just rich parents who have had money in the family for generations. One must also be white. Being male goes a long way too and being a tall white male is the holy grail to be promoted in corporations.
So, the concept that America had a Social Contract? It is kind of a myth.
The Republicans who controlled the government from 1918 to 1928 just managed to so disastrously kill the economy that desperation led folks to follow FDR then Eisenhower.
IF, instead of doing a "soft landing" of the economy through massive deficity spending in 2009, Obama had just let the economy crash and burn for three years like it would have, people would not have voted for a Republican again for a generation or two.
But, unfortunately, we spent 10 Trillion dollars making sure that after Obama was done, Trump would get elected.
What can I say except I am a Scot, a beneficiary of the Social Contract that was implemented after the Second World War who received free tertiary education and became a teacher of literature, imbued with the wonderful
Ideas from the Enlightenment. I know the US has its tradition of rugged individualism and that the UK is now rapidly becoming a third world country, but I still, somewhat idealistically, adhere to the idea of a Social Contract!
Isabel, we all adhere to the Social Contract. That is why this Letter exists. Our ‘rugged Individualism’ will be our downfall in the United States. My parents were communists and I grew up in the fifties and sixties as a radical, activist, pro all human rights woman. I am still that woman and cannot let this happen on my watch. I’m 73. My great grandmother, who birthed 17 children came to America and lived to 96. My Irish great grandmother had 17 children also. I think I have a long life ahead of me.....
As Dr. Richardson writes in her "History of the Republican Party" book, the "rugged individual" is a myth created by Hollywood.
Duropean immigrant Americans in rural environments heavily relied on each other from their earliest killing of local natives to steal their land.
Mike The ‘famous’ Horatio Algers books, that purported to support the rags-to-riches myth, were in fact quite false. Ditto with the ‘rugged cowboy,’ the majority of whom were Hispanic or Black, since the job was tough and poorly paid. [How many Hispanic and Black cowboys and soldiers did you see in Hollywood movies? The first movie featuring an admirable Black soldier was SERGEANT RUTLEDGE in, I believe, 1960.]
John Wayne [a student of mine said ‘The Duke makes me puke’] symbolized this rugged individual myth, as exemplified in his Vietnam film glorifying our ‘marvelous military success.’
Mike S, I think you are right that Hollywood rode the "rugged individual" meme for all it was worth, but the meme came right out of the Euro-American culture and is well-documented all the way back to the first Euro-settlers, as you allude to. Those "rugged individualists" were subsidized first by the "companies" that funded the colonies (and lost money on it, debt never repaid). The western bound were societies rejects in many ways, and were happy to take the freebies handed them by the new nation, whose interest lay in expansion. The irony is that Europe matured and gradually discarded the notion of individualism as a primary construct (though their various forms of a Social Contract are still works in progress, as they always will be). America got hung up on individualism (which never really existed in the way we think it did). We're in the midst of trying to become unstuck, as so many cling to the idea that they exist in a social bubble.
Totally agree with your determination to save the Social Contract! I do get disappointed and discouraged at times, but then people like Heather keep pointing us all in the right direction-onward!!
It is good to dream!
A couple of things, Mike: first, thank you for the reality-check that “the Social Contract” is a myth. It’s easier to operate when I’m not tripping myself up by wondering “Why people don’t go back to that”. Our efforts are in hopes of moving towards that, a social contract.
“Woudda, shouldda, couldda” on the soft-landing of the economy in 2009. Wishing a full blown worldwide depression to teach the gop supporters a lesson, would have been a toug-love choice indeed. But to be the first African-American President AND allow a worldwide depression without trying your damnedest to NOT allow that to happen? Could you have made that decision? I doubt I could. Who do you listen to at a time like that? And how do you judge the trajectory when you are not an economist yourself? And most of all, Wallstreet and its ilk are like an organized crime syndicate. How much “Could” Obama really choose to do without their undermining him immediately? Market manipulations and the spin they are allowed to give to MSM, keep us misinformed constantly as it is in normal times, let alone in a death-spiral. Perhaps we would be in a better place. But man! What a road to get there it would have been.
"Could you have made that decision?"
Michele: During the soft landing two things happened that we do not, yet, know the consequences of -
1) The Fed "purchased" worthless mortgage derivatives and $5 Trillion of those and put them on their "books" for the very first time in history. Note: Those worthless securities are STILL on th books. Because, the Fed cannot sell them.
2) The Federal government spent another $4 Trillion in debt, raising our total debt to around $12-15 Trillion.
All of this was NOT to help Americans who had lost their homes. It was to help AIG and America's largest banks.
MANY Americans on the ground remained/remain permantently unemployed after that Republican disaster (caused by the legalization of derivatives under Bush in 2001).
So, the real question is: "Would I have have made the choice to saddle my children with the sins of Republicans from 2001 to 2008".
The answer is: NO.
I would NOT have dug the US so much further in debt, reducing my children's future quality of life to make sure Jimmy Dimon could still be in charge of JP Morgan.
Mike, we are in agreement that in hindsight better deals could perhaps have been struck. The CBO’s 2021 report on the TARP action reads that it was a reasonably successful action considering the intent was to stabilize the markets and unfreeze them. No credit flowing held everyone hostage. The thought of banks failing enmasse as they did in the Great Depession was a very real consideration, and a the very outcome to be avoided. The Dems tried to put banking regulations back in place but immediately on returning to legislative majority at the midterms, the gop rolled those back. So, if Obama let the whole world crash to prove a point about gop malfeasance, and the fallout happened immediately on his watch, with him only doing…..what?…….now we are in a world-wide-mega-depression, with an African-American at the helm. And you believe the country would still have stayed the course with dem leadership in congress at the midterms? My point is, if you were Obama, at that moment in time, without a crystal ball, with seeming “experts” advising you, on an area you are not deeply schooled in, with the fallout of the Great Depression as your closest, major historical context, would your choice have been to let it all crash? You say confidently, yes. I simply say, if there was a straight forward, guaranteed, tough-love choice, that American’s would have understood was to teach the gop, the banks and investment houses a lesson, AND would make life better for average Americans in the end, Obama would have chose it. But the tricky-whicket part of “getting American’s to understand it was best for them” always sways the best decision-making to be less than it could be.
Thank you. Sometimes the navel contemplating is frustrating.
Sadly, it seems (may not be true) that the Social Contract left the building a good while back.
It has for some, who want to replace it with edict, by them, of course; or allegedly by order of their version of a God that thinks exactly as they do.
sadly true
Here, Here. Those people who purport to eschew any help and support from the federal government are the first to cry “help” to the same government when disaster strikes. They want FEMA on the spot to help them. Take away all federal support from states and you have disaster. We are The United States, not every state for itself. I am weary of hearing about states rights. “One nation indivisible with liberty and justice for ALL.” This motto seeks to unite not divide.
I agree with Biden’s speech. We must stand for justice and the rule of law, and against selfish partisan politics. And we must take back our country from those who seek only power and money. We must vote. My neighbors and l have a group that will send letters and post cards to get out the vote. Big change comes from individual efforts.
We human have a dual nature, individual and social. We learn to be what we are from experience and from others. Neither is dispensable. Unlike many animals (such as baby sea turtles) we are born nearly helpless, which is to say, in dire need of help. Helping is a human species survival trait. The US Constitution addresses individual rights as well as responsibilities. E Pluibus Unum is printed on our most valued tokens.