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Philip Mollica's avatar

Hear, Hear!

Now to remind ourselves of this every time we want to engage a conversation about candidates.

I'm particularly thinking of the "left" media when they start talking about it. It simply does not matter who is elected.

The only way out of this mess is to stop making these people, this system important.

Stop voting and offering your support to a broken and corrupt system.

Stop making it our "Authority."

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Renee Marie's avatar

EXACTLY! And that’s what I’m doing. I’m not playing the game anymore.

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Jun 21, 2023
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Patrick Powers's avatar

How effective has your vote, or anything else for that matter, been at averting this?

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Beli Tsari's avatar

LOTE-ing in ever more openly corrupt, neoConfederate, WEF selected, senile kleptocracts. Midterms had Koch's DCCC & Israeli oilgarch's United Democracy Project crush REAL, Black, female, proletarian representatives, many of whom were life-long loyal Democrats (to install more sneering criminals or "good" neocon, Republicans!) DNC flipped Fetterman (and a BUNCH of Squad/ DSA phonies) to funding Biden's prodding a war & killing a half million more (WHITE!) people to rescue OUR party's planet destroying FRACKING pyramid & mass infection, debilitation & excess mortality on sero-naive Chinese & re-re-reinfected poor US essentials (the new Black). Petit-bourgois PMC, yuppie & Congress' NASDAQ portfolios plateaued after Biden had to short or crush AGW-mitigating equities, so... yeah, we're all actually WORSE than a psychopath, orange Hitler fan-boi? See Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas' brillant montage on Protection Schemes?

https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-chris-hedges-report-podcast-with-4c9

https://mronline.org/2020/09/12/the-insidious-workings-of-the-political-ratchet/

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Nancy in NC's avatar

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

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Tereza Coraggio's avatar

So funny, I was going to start with the same two words!

I was trying to make this point to vanessa beeley, who kindly responded to my comment:

"I've long been an admirer of your research, Vanessa, which I've come across from other journalists but this is the first I've read directly. And I'm with you on two things here: I'm 100% pro-Palestinian and US politics will not change anything, no matter who's elected. I've written my own post critical of Kennedy for a person he supports, who I and others believe to be covertly at the heart of the damage inflicted by the 'pandemic': https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/kennedy-and-malone.

"I didn't hear the interview by Glenn but listened to his thoughts on it for his Locals broadcast. He was in agreement with you that Bobby is ethically inconsistent in his position on Israel and that's a major--not just problem--moral failing of his platform. But what Glenn followed with is saying that he heard something that was unprecedented in any politician he knew: Bobby saying, your points make sense, you may be right and I may be wrong, I need to think about that. I also believe that he's quietly disassociated from the person I write about, though I may be wrong.

"I've written that a person who changes their mind is the second greatest power in the world. First is two people who share the same purpose. I don't think any person can make decisions for 330M people and pretend it's self-governance, aka democracy. I think the only strategy that will work, eventually, is decentralization. That's not going to come from the top down but it may be the only way we, in the US, survive after the hegemony of the dollar crashes and burns. So, with or without our influence, things are changing in a way that, ultimately, I believe will restore the Palestinians as owners of their lands and their lives.

"In the meantime, this is what I'm looking for in a Presidential candidate: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/what-do-i-want-from-a-president."

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Philip Mollica's avatar

One thing I never hear discussed in our politics is the idea of a "quorum."

"The minimal number of officers and members of a committee or organization, usually a majority, who must be present for valid transaction of business."

So what happens if they hold an election and no-one shows up?

This is why in some countries, mostly totalitarian, voting is REQUIRED.

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Vonu's avatar

More importantly, self-educate yourself in ways that the public fool system miseducated you.

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NebraskaFilly's avatar

Sounds great! And replace it with what? And how?

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Philip Mollica's avatar

I understand your fear. And my answer is that we replace it with TRUST.

Trust that we can create something better.

The how will become apparent when we trust that we CAN.

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Starry Gordon's avatar

Unfortunately this medium does not indicate a question from, or reply to, a specific posting or person. However, in general, if people can organize themselves in one way they can organize themselves in another. What ways are desirable or even tolerable is something they might want to discuss, not just submit to.

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Jun 21, 2023
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Jun 21, 2023
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William Jeffreys's avatar

Voting implies consent. There should be some choice on the ballot that expresses the voter sees no value in any of the available candidates. At least then the public and the winner of the election would know the winner didn't have a clear mandate, but was seen as the least psychopathic of the choices.

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NebraskaFilly's avatar

What's the point when our elections are corrupt and fraudulent?

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Vonu's avatar

That is their goal.

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Starry Gordon's avatar

It may be useful, as a sort of theatrical or ceremonial enterprise, to remind the ruling class that their power comes from the consent or at least submission of the people. Although our electoral systems are almost completely suborned (that is, bought and paid for) there is a thread of popular sovereignty running through them that, at some moment, might become active and even significant. Of course it's a long shot, and I'm not recommending that anyone depend on it. If you want to change anything you probably should be doing other things. But I like having it there even if only in the background.

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NebraskaFilly's avatar

I do what I can as a retired veteran; I spend my days, besides my gardening, sharing info and passing it on, trying to wake people up, contacting my reps on a regular basis - they really need to set up a hotline for me! I also got active in my state politics, actively working for a true Constitutionalist running against compromised Deb Fischer. Of course, he lost - doesn't have the big $$$'s she's got...alternative news is the only place to find the real truth - there is NO TV news that is completely true and factual since $$$ compromises all of them.

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Jun 21, 2023
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Vonu's avatar

In what way does voting imply consent of anything else but your slavery?

libertymaniacs.com/products/voting-the-slaves-suggestion-box-poster?

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William Jeffreys's avatar

It seems to me voting is a de facto agreement to be bound by the outcome. By voting you are essentially giving validity to the government and the process. Big subject. Have you read “Constitution of No Authority” by Lysander Spooner?

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Vonu's avatar

I've read everything by Lysander Spooner I could find.

The Constitution doesn't address voting, so how would his arguments against it, which are based on totally different criteria than voting, have to do with it?

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Kojo's avatar

“….Exit the voting arena and allow Fascists to consolidate power…:”

This is your take on a country that has had Biden and Obama in power, both in the pockets of the finance-military-industrial complex of endless war for profit, and both overseeing an ever expanding surveillance state and “homeland security” takeover?

Looks to me like two flavours of fascists is the “choice” you are getting at the ballot box….

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Jun 22, 2023
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Kojo's avatar

“….The Democrats are pro-war, pro-censorship, pro-national security state, pro-empire, pro-surveillance, pro-police state, and corrupted by corporate money. But they still adhere, at least rhetorically, to the principles and practices of liberal democracy and rule of law. …”

OK, so a reality check is in order.

The “Democrats” have just as much as the GOP, used the DOJ and IRS to persecute dissents and further their partisan agenda. What “rule of law”?

Case in point “Russiagate”, a whitchhunt aimed at silencing those who exposed the DNC’s….rigging of primary elections. What “rule of law” and what “democracy”.

Furthermore, the head Democrat and his family member have been exposed as having their hand in the till in Ukraine, to the tune of millions. Again DOJ and IRS used to put a quick slap on the wrist and seal the lead on acts which if they were undertaken by the president of Guinea or Cambodia and his son, well you sir would call this gross corruption. What rule of law”.

You are asking people rubber stand your fiction.

No.

Vote for Cornel West and begin a real change in this country.

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Jun 23, 2023
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Vonu's avatar

Would it be better to let communists consolidate power instead of fascists?

Conservatives think I'm a liberal.

Liberals think I'm a conservative.

I think both are socialists because they both believe in socialistic financing of government.

As a libertarian, I think they are both pretty ignorant for having abandoned the political philosophy of the founders, classic liberalism.

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Jun 21, 2023
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Vonu's avatar

And they have finally gotten you to convince yourself that you are correct.

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Phillip Badger's avatar

I'm pretty shocked that anyone here is still pushing the quaint and idealistic view that our votes are counted in the US. They aren't. They can keep track of the tiniest little thing, but can't count votes. Since 2000 when our vote tabulations we're all done on computer, computers that could be hacked by smart 10-year olds, voting ceased to be real. SO STOP ALREADY. The old joke is "if voting could change anything it would be illegal". Now it doesn't have to be illegal, it's simply fiction. Case in point: 2016 and Jill Stein of the GP was actually relatively popular. There were so many counties where people voted for her, but the county totals for Stein were zero. Yes zero. So right there we know that Stein's votes were simply deleted and handed to (most likely) lovely Hillary. Doesn't matter because your votes aren't counted. It's all fiction. STOP WASTING YOUR TIME AND ENERGY ON THIS STUPID SHIT.

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CarbonCopy's avatar

Right on the money! And then to top it off this criminal filth (both republicans & democrats in charge of an "Independent System"!) forced her to return the money which she was rightly owed for her campaign contributions! It doesn't get any more criminal then the system in place in this country! Every aspect is designed to control and extract the wealth out of even the poorest of us!

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Fran's avatar

Perhaps Glen Greenwald's nightly show on rumble can help, "Neocon Monster: The Ruinous Lies & Crimes of Bill Kristol, Now a Major Foreign Policy Thought-Leader in the Democratic Party | SYSTEM UPDATE #102" He emphatically states that Bill Kristol and other neocons have aligned themselves with the democratic party, and refers to them as monsters, since they push death and destruction and have been very instrumental in doing so in our middle eastern wars and now in Ukraine and will continue to do so.

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Mikhael's avatar

I continue to be impressed by Greenwald & Co.. There seems to be a base of good independent reporters developing online. Greenwald though, IMO, is at the top. Clean & professional set, good lighting, tie...starched shirt, (and most importantly, damn well thorough). He has all the great attributes of a great journalist. I could see one of the MSM networks trying to bring him into the fold. He'd be a great asset to any of them. Would he go? Would it be the right thing? Just thoughts...

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Feral Finster's avatar

No MSM network would touch Greenwald, for he resists being controlled.

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Fran's avatar

I think he is a great journalist and many consider him to be one. He even had the integrity to leave the Intercept when they wouldn't allow him to publish a report on Hunter's laptop and Biden in Ukraine, and went to Substack and now Rumble. You have to look up the work he has done, and the recognition he has received.

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Jun 21, 2023
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Fran's avatar

Well, according to Greenwald and what I have observed they have a greater support system in the democratic party now then in the republican party, although there are certainly quite a few republicans that support their disgusting mindset. However during the Trump years and no wars they really gravitated over to the democrats. They were looking for a Clinton win, and as Assange said she is a sick woman in her love of war and desire for power. Amen. I couldn't believe how emphatic he was about how disgusting they were. It's a worth a listen, and I love Greenwald and trust him.

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James Filbird's avatar

Question #16: Why is it that every US elected official that represents the American populace is a criminal, corrupt POS, incompetent idiot, nation divider, a negative detriment to society and a greedy scumbag?

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Patrick Powers's avatar

Because honest people are a threat to the system and vigorously excluded.

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Literally Mussolini's avatar

To mix two metaphors:

Diogenes's lamp is running low on oil; he's going to need a bigger barrel.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Because power is to sociopaths what catnip is to cats.

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Literally Mussolini's avatar

And over the last 250 years, incredible amounts of power have accumulated within the US federal government.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Yup, which is why it is pretty much Catnip Mountain.

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Starry Gordon's avatar

George Carlin answered that question.

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David Mitchell's avatar

That's the type of shite that rises to the top of our political sewer.

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Kojo's avatar

Because the American populace is vapid and easily manipulated and politicians deliberately play on this.

Read Drew Westen’s book “ The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation”

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Jonathan's avatar

Over the past few months I've known of a few ways to help others question their assumptions on voting but this list definitely helps.

Thank you. The day is coming when I'm asked by my friends and family who I'm voting for and I'll need to break it to them.

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Neil Larkins's avatar

I remember the bumper sticker from the late 80s to early 90s ... "Still voting?" Or the pithier, "What if they held an election and no one came?" Powerful idea that never caught on but should have.

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Literally Mussolini's avatar

I liked that last one, too.

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Patrick Powers's avatar

If it ever happens I suppose I'll say, "I'm going to vote for what I believe in. I think the system is so biased that any energy I put into it beyond that is wasted. So I'm not going to talk about it any more than this." Then maybe I'd switch the topic to gardening.

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Jonathan's avatar

This is good as well.

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William Jeffreys's avatar

The systems we have currently are tailor-made for psychopaths to rise to power and prominence. Anyone who desires power and control should never be given power and control. Since that is a fundamental truth, anyone who actually wants to run for office is immediately a bad choice. Are there a few who actually want to do some good? Sure, but I do not see them as anything other than a small minority. The system has become hopelessly corrupt and the logical conclusion of the current trajectory is a return to feudalism with a select few on the top and everyone else living hand to mouth asking the select few for permission to live. If the courts had actually protected and enforced the Constitution and the ideas it contains we wouldn't be here, but we are. As we see in Ireland, TPTB are quickly working to make speaking ill of government policies a "hate" crime. Coming to a country near you. There's no voting out of this mess.

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DomeLord's avatar

We should not concentrate power into a few hands. That is begging for trouble. Electoral politics is well past its use-by date. Share the power out as in Direct Democracy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy

Before the psychopaths & their NATO killing machine crushed Libya in self defence(!) it's informative to see what Libya's people organised for themselves under Gaddafi's guidance, namely 'Jamahiriya': Peoples' Congresses everywhere!

https://twitter.com/DomeLord/status/1671432547262255104?s=20

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Feral Finster's avatar

All systems eventually come to be ruled by sociopaths.

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djean111's avatar

And - those of us who are well aware of the answers to those questions are likely considered to be domestic terrorists.

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martin's avatar

it's simple, nice americans should vote for cornel west or any other 3rd party candidate. it won't help, he won't win, but at least it's a possibility to count those that don't agree with the duopoly. when you don't vote, they'll rightfully consider that as consent, which it is.

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T. Paine's avatar

Indiscriminate murder of non US citizens around the world while claiming moral superiority will end with all US citizens being blamed not just those initiating these policies of war and domination.

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Kojo's avatar

The country ALSO indiscriminately murders US citizens in the country itself. They have a rampant govt-affiliated but unaccountable milita they call "the police" that does it.

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Elisabeth's avatar

I would HOPE SO!!! This empire of the good 'rules based international order' has to fess up to their CRIMES (I know: will not happen soon, and we are lucky if humanity survives this long - the war machine is racing along ...)

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Lisa Savage's avatar

Brilliant set of questions. Should have been accompanied by a repeat share of that picture of the two big brothers who've given the little brother the unplugged game controller so he can "play" too.

Also, why did I know the comments would be filled with people arguing for their particular candidate. Almost like they did not read the post.

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T. Paine's avatar

All 15 questions can be answered by accepting two things. The public is easily manipulated and bureaucrats are in charge and Fauci is their poster child. Even Putin knows this.

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Feral Finster's avatar

Nobody talks about Fauci any more. COVID is ancient history, Ukraine is The New Hotness.

Otherwise, you are generally accurate.

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Neil Larkins's avatar

The Ukraine war was allowed to happen as a diversion to take our minds off Fauci and the elites' pandemic crimes. It continues to go on to take our minds off the Biden crime family and what China is doing, etc. Crimes committed to cover up past crimes of the criminal Deep State. Thus it has ever been and thus it ever shall be unless We the People finally get our heads together and defeat this foe of Liberty. (Nice sounding words, eh? I don't have a clue how to do that, either.)

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TrumpFan's avatar

Wow, a lot of negativity about voting, and I get it. But I do not believe that we should stop. It feels like that is exactly what they want. We absolutely need to make our voices heard even though all the while they are trying to silence us. Or more to the point, do not submit to their game.

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Phillip Badger's avatar

Their GAME is to keep us "VOTING" even though voting is now 100% bogus. Seriously. 2 years out of every 4, we go through this again and again. How abjectly STUPID are Americans that they fall for this over and over and over ... it's so pathetic.

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jamenta's avatar

You submit to their game by participating in the scam.

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Jun 21, 2023
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jamenta's avatar

Yeah no country is perfection. It seems to have gotten a lot worse here over the decades. One wonders what any of it is all about? All the trillions of dollars wasted on war. Billions spent on elections. Billions siphoned off the backs of hard working Americans. Billions of profits made in the health care industry - sucking the life and financial welfare of ordinary Americans - being the #1 cause of bankruptcy. Ecocide on the agenda. So what was it all about? What is any of this about? Life seems more and more like a road to nowhere. And when you realize you may have just 1 or 2 decades left of life yourself - you realize just what a flash in the pan it all is - if you're lucky to even live as long as you have. Is there anything more - or is it all just a weird farce?

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Elaine's avatar

Bilbo'sBitch Well said!

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Neil Larkins's avatar

Votes don't always have to be one side or the other (which is no choice). Where possible, write in who you want, or NOTA - "None Of The Above". Just so you do the one single thing that is still left us. It won't throw out the evildoers, but it will show that you're still here.

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Renee Marie's avatar

That’s exactly why I’m not voting. I don’t want to be a part of their game. It’s bad enough living in Commifornia and not having any voice.

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Jun 21, 2023
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CarbonCopy's avatar

I believe the "curtain" as you and "Frank" have referred to has been dropped. This filth commit crimes of treason right out in the open and just keep going saying to just get over it and all the empty heads bob in unison.

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Jun 21, 2023
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CarbonCopy's avatar

I think he is dead on the money there with one exception being his reference to Rothschild and he does not seem to understand how much Rothschild owns which is practically everything! Monsanto is another big part of this equation. Thanks for sharing this I have never heard of this guy and every bit of light always illuminates!

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Kojo's avatar

Nice post, but here's the problem: the defining feature of American culture is to never ask yourself any questions, and if they keep raising themselves, well squelch them. Don't try to know anything, and if anyone knows squelch them.

Isaac Aasimov caught on to this a long while ago, when he noted:

“...There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge...”

So that there is one big reason why things have gone wrong for so long over there. Like for several hundred years now. And why their politics is what it is: a gregarious race to the bottom of the barrel.

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37's avatar

16. What happens if CBDCs take root to control our entire economy? (Should be #1)

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Vonu's avatar

The two major political parties constitute a bipartisan dictatorship that is anchored by a shared guaranteed ballot access arrangement where both function as a controlled opposition for each other while preventing third parties from getting on the ballot to compete with both of them.

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Lotus Martini's avatar

- Good morning, Karl Center speaking...

- I have a problem

- Your problem is due to Capitalism. Anything else I can help you with?

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