[ZNPaaneah]

Originally Posted by zeek

I appreciate your perspective. Like too many today, you've lost faith the institutions of free society.

disagree. There will always be liars, cheats, and scam artists. What we need are leaders like TR that can rise above that.

Originally Posted by zeek

The question is whether the future belongs to the new populists like Donald Trump or to the free societies that began to be built in the 18th century and that have gradually developed and strengthened—with many imperfections and hypocrisies and backsliding—in the 250 years since?

Don't agree that this is the question. The question to me is how can a free society survive when they have this huge cancer of the CIA growing in their midst with secret budgets, secret programs, and they laugh at elections and who is "in power".

Originally Posted by zeek

During the Cold War the most important challenges to free societies came from Communism. More recently the most important challenges came from Islamic extremists.

disagree, that is ridiculous. Communism never threatened free societies, that was simply a scam used to scare people to support flawed policies. Likewise with the new bogeyman, Islamic Extremists. These people are responding to atrocities committed by these evil entities -- CIA, Military industrial complex, Big Oil. They are the cause, Islamic extremists are simply the symptom.

Originally Posted by zeek

Today, the greatest challenge comes from the "populists". This challenge comes from within. Will the free societies be able to able to survive and thrive against the threat of populism that seeks to divide and destroy it?

Disagree that this is where the greatest threat is from. Greatest threat is from the disinformation campaigns run by this huge intelligence agencies (Russia, China and the US) and by corporations.

Originally Posted by zeek

The new populism is a scam and a lie that exploits anger and fear to gain power. It has no care for the people it supposedly champions and no respect for them. It will deliver nothing—not only because its leaders are crooks, but because they have no plans except to pad their own pockets.

Anger is an excellent motivator, hence all politicians have used it. Nothing new here. The "abuses" perpetrated by Trump are trivial compared to the abuses perpetrated by the Continental congress. Things are getting better, not worse.

Originally Posted by zeek

Since the economic crisis of 2008 and the euro-currency crisis that began in 2010, the so-called populists have won election after election in this country and in Europe. Countries that formerly seemed secure against populism, like Germany, are trending in ominous directions.

But hope is not lost. With the midterm elections, the American electorate set a limit: It looks like the tide is beginning to turn.

That's funny. You think a Democratic congress will have any influence at all? You seriously think that is a harbinger of the tide beginning to turn?

Climate change is impacting the world. It will be a drag on the Economy and there will be a growing number of climate refugees, growing exponentially year after year. Gang violence in these countries is not the cause, it is a symptom of economic and political collapse.