Hardkill

At the same time, the working class, middle class, and working poor in western societies have become increasingly angry and resentful about their financial situation and their country's economies, especially in the US. Carter was actually the very first neoliberal US president, but Reagan really took the rise of neoliberalism into overdrive and every president after him has followed suit. Obama was the least neoliberal president we had before Biden. Biden actually became the most left-wing president ever since LBJ in the 1960s. He really had our economy transitioning away from neoliberalism into more of a social democracy. Now, we are really going to be in a second Gilded Age, and the working class, middle class, and working poor in western societies have become increasingly angry and resentful about their financial situation and the economies they are in. We probably are going to have another severe recession as bad the 2008 financial crisis or COVID-19 recession were within the next 10 years. I actually wouldn't be surprised if in the next 10 to 20 years, we have an economic depression that is as bad as the Long Depression during the late 1800s was or as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s was. Years-long violent labor strikes and historic civil unrest across the country will happen within the next 30 years.

I don't think the neoliberalism of today is the same as it was from the late 70s/early 80s to the 2010s We are now in a new age of unchecked capitalism that involves a resurgence of a certain amount of protectionism and the rise of technofeudalism in the Western world, particularly in America.

So, I've been contemplating about that YouTube vid you did years ago called 'How Society Evolves.' From what I understood, you said that a society evolves by developing various key factors, including infrastructure, economy, population density, education, technology, etc. Once these factors are sufficiently developed, then that society can become more free, just, and tolerant of diversity. At that point, it can also better accommodate people from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, religions, and more. However, what you didn't mention in that video, but have said before on this forum is that real progress in government often requires a catalyst, and unfortunately, that catalyst is usually a major crisis or disaster that occurs under the watch of a conservative-led administration. This is because most voters tend to be reactive and less intelligent, only demanding change when they're directly impacted by a problem. Until then, they generally don't think critically about the long-term consequences of their decisions. Furthermore, I've noticed that a lot of times when America is actually in a time of peace, prosperity, and stability the country goes back to electing conservatives into power such as the election of Bush in the year 2000, the election of Trump in 2016, and in some ways with Trump and MAGA regaining power after this 2024 election. So, just to make sure I understand this. Is it not enough for a society to develop a strong foundation in areas such as its infrastructure, economy, and level of education? Does significant social progress, particularly in the way of liberalism, also require the catalyst of a crisis or disaster, to occur and be exacerbated by conservative policies or leadership? Does it also movement require a movement that shows how much those who have been victims of some kind of injustice have been suffering?

Very sad.... We really are living in a Second Gilded Age.

All of these TechBros should terrify everybody. They could all ruin the whole world.

I see what you're saying. All of these factors ultimately determine how and when there will be setbacks, stagnation, or progress. So, it is that sometimes progress happens from a society developing various key factors, including its infrastructure, economy, population density, education, technology, etc. and other times progress can come from disasters or crises under the watch of conservative rule? Or sometimes due to current media trends and ideologies? Or due to any combination of the above factors? Could a right-wing media ecosystem that perpetually dominates the entire media landscape cause all progress to stop forever by influencing the masses to no longer vote for liberalism/progressivism ever again? Or is that truly impossible?

I fear that the Washington Post is already on its way to being corrupted by Jeff Bezos just like how X was massively corrupted by Musk.

As if things weren't bad enough right now. If right-wing billionaires buy all of the mainstream media then all of truth will be gone and if that happens, then democracy will truly die in America.

Oh.....Wait, I think I got it. So when the conservative party is in charge and the country is in a serious crisis, the people will get desperate enough to prioritize stability over ideology by electing competent liberals like Obama or Biden into power, even if most voters are normally moderate or lean conservative. Is that how it goes?

So, what exactly does it take to cause an uprising against the rich and the corporations like what happened with the labor movement during the end of the Gilded Ages or what happened with the labor movement during the New Deal era? Another economic depression? The major economic inequality we have in our country cannot continue forever. Otherwise, the whole country will fall apart really badly.

Do you think that most Americans hate rich people and corporations in this day and age with the rise of populism? Or are they still so conflicted about them?

Even progressives such as FDR and LBJ had to make compromises with lobbyists. It's just corporate lobbyists have had too much influence in politics since the 1970s, especially ever since the 2010 Citizen United case.

Yeah, and of course every time they lose they always blame the mainstream media for not providing them fair media coverage, which I don't see is true. Other times they would say that it was because their progressive candidate wasn't enough of a firebreather or just wasn't a strong enough progressive candidate. And of course, they blame the corporate donors for giving corporate Democrats an unfair advantage in the race, which is true. Though, I think that kind of explanation is too simplistic.

Yeah, corporate Dems have that unfair advantage, but it also depends on the political environment of the specific district they are running in. Some of those justice Democrats have lost their seats.

Sam Harris really hit the nail on the head! I am glad he called out Musk. We need more public intellectuals like him out there.

I just read Leo's blog "The Devil Wrote The Bible" and it reminded me how I've lately been thinking that all religions have been based on conspiracy theories. What if Abraham's claims about God were based on his own persuasive abilities rather than divine revelation? What if Jesus was simply a deluded charismatic individual who persuaded others he was the Son of God? What if Muhammad was a charismatic leader who convinced his followers he was a prophet divinely inspired by Allah?

His presidential campaign was so laughable. Btw, the whole TYT crew now think that progressive populism is now going to be even more popular than ever before:

Cenk believes that one day progressive channels like their's will dominate the media environment. Btw, Pod Save America, which is also a progressive channel has gotten many major politicians on their shows even though they don't have anywhere as many subscribers or viewers as TYT does. Is that because they aren't fringe?

You know what? You're really getting on my nerves. People, like you are really getting sucked into this stupid anti-mainstream populism.

They were too leftist for them and Cenk has criticized MSNBC often. MSNBC is a center-left corporation.

That's what I've been saying. Cenk claims that he's not a far leftist. He's says that he's a mainstream progressive: While I believe that he's not a Marxist or as far to the left like his nephew Hasan is, I am now not so sure about him being a mainstream progressive.

So, then what’s was the point of having a political awakening about all of the grosteque levels of inequities ever since Trump first rose to power in 2016 if the sobering reality is that nothing more can be done about any of these things for the foreseeable future, especially now that Trump and MAGA will oppress the 90+% of Americans until probably we’ve all passed away?

Still much better than CNN and other mainstream media outlets and infinitely better than Fox News and every other right-wing media outlet.

Very dismaying.....

I hope you're right, but his plans of warping more than half the country's minds is working. It's also not just him. Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post and forced them not to endorse Harris over Trump. Several other billionaires have been buying and corrupting more and more and more mainstream media outlets and big tech outlets like X, Facebook, Meta, etc.