The Changing World Order

This topic has wandered far off course. We have a New Year (2023! Woot) and we are still moving quickly towards a New World Order. I've read Rays book now, and can understand his main points. He is a Conservative White Male to be sure, and I discussed him with one of my many customers, who knew of him. We both agreed that he knew what he was talking about and that he had a large ego, as do many in his profession. But he does have a grasp of history from an economic perspective in ways that an ivy league academic who has never taken a risk in their life apart from deciding which argyle sweater to wear and which pipe to smoke.I am unimpressed with dry academics. Book learning and real world experience differ greatly, and I'll take advice from a self made man who earned his money honestly rather than a stodgy egoist who gets paid by the government to lecture us endlessly on where the economy is going and why. The only difference that I have noticed between the intellectual elite and the conservative businessmen is not so much the degrees on the wall as it is the political affiliation. the businessmen are often either republican or libertarian (as is Ray). The stodgy intellectuals, such as Jerome Powell(Republican) and Janet Yellin(Democrat) likely never rolled their sleeves up in their lives. My Father grew up poo,worked hard on a farm, joined the navy and liberated the United States and the West from communist authoritarianism, and built houses during the post war boom.
And Jerome Powell? Jerome Hayden "Jay" Powell (born February 4, 1953) is an American attorney and investment banker who has served as the 16th chair of the Federal Reserve since 2018. Interestingly, he was appointed by Barack Obama and reappointed by Joe Biden. And Trump? Of course Trump was no expert in finance, as he had been bankrupt numerous times...so it appeared that the Democrats knew what they were doing in appointing him. The jury is still out, however, on how effective the Fed policies are ultimately going to be. Dalio has his own explanations for the future course of the United States.

Lets think about money and wealth creation for a moment. I remember years ago of another book I read called The Third Wave. In the book, futurist Alvin Toffler discusses the three great "waves" of civilized progress. Wave One was the agricultural revolution. Wave two was the industrial revolution. Wave three is the information and data technology amplified through computers and the internet.Consider Dalios statement about people who have wealth also having and/or controlling the means of wealth production. Apply it to each of Toffler's Waves. Wave One? Feudalism and landowners. Wave Two? Industrial captains such as Carnagie and Rockefeller. Now think about Wave three.We need to ask ourselves what wealth is and how it is now created through giants such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. We then need to ask ourselves if fiat money itself is in the end a giant ponzi scheme. Hard assets such as gold used to back the digits. Could people be considered a hard asset? How about a durable asset? Finally, how about a stable asset???

Toffler and his ideas did not age well. He had some hits but lots of misses. The solutions he presented were wide of the mark.As a matter of fact recent scholarship is putting into question the whole idea that there was an agricultural revolution and what impact it actually had on societies. Human history is not as simplistic as many people want it to be.
The Dawn of Everything - Wikipedia
You asked what I read. This is a book I read in the last year.

That's what racists always say. THEY are the victims. "Those damn black people getting their lawns in the way of our burning crosses." "Those damn Jews getting their synagogues in the way of our swastikas." Racists never do. Conspiracy much?

You called Kamala Harris and Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez "harpies" - without even knowing what the word means. Harris is of African-American descent and Ocasio-Cortez is of Puerto-Rican descent. When you call white Republicans "harpies", you might sprout a leg to stand on. (FYI "harpies" can be white males too.) Racism is typically against a marginalized minority group. Go ahead and get marginalized and I'll get back to you. You might have a long wait. I've been waiting for an argument from you for almost 20 years.

As I mentioned somewhere, Jim Keegstra and his anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists had us arriving there more than 20 years ago. What happened?

what a fucking fragile snowflake you are Phat

I wonder is he a homophobe too?

BTW. If you think feudalism and landowners have anything to do with the agricultural revolution then you need to just shut up now. You really need to read some basic books about the subjects you feel like discussing. So far you have shown us that you know absolutely nothing about anything. Atheists even know more about your religion than you do. Maybe you should reconsider posting about subjects you know nothing about. So that would be everything.

What we are hearing from Phat seems to be group-think. He is giving us a window into his group, which is likely a group of evangelicals.

So most likely yes.

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This topic has wandered far off course. We have a New Year (2023! Woot) and we are still moving quickly towards a New World Order.

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Thats true.The New World Order that we're marching toward is the rise of fascism, globally. Led chiefly by Donald Trump and the American Republican Party in general.I'll note that you never replied to my message about the 14 characteristics of fascism.It's happening right now. The fascists are gaining ground. More of them have been elected to the House (granted, it was a miracle that even more fascists weren't elected, but the fact remains that they are gaining ground). Authoritarian right-wing christian-nationalists promoting a mythic past and demonizing liberals, immigrants, and (most especially lately) the LGBT community and their allies.What we see is so amazingly close to pre-WW2 Germany that it can only be denied by the ignorant or the dishonest.So which are you, Phat?

Phat likes to start inane discussions but quickly abandons them to move on to start another inane discussion. There are a number of comments I made that he has not replied to.
Same as it ever was.BTW, I think he is both.

I know, it seems not much has changed since I was last active here. But with the rise of fascism, I feel the need to push the message as hard as possible.The general apathy of the public was another thing that pre-WW2 Germany saw as well, as the fascists took over."Hitler Tamed by Prison" was, without looking it up, I believe a direct headline quote after he was arrested for his version of Jan 6...

Lets examine them, shall we? I'll add my own comments about each characteristic and whether I think it applies today or not.For the record, I'm not too worried about Trump ever getting into office again. He barely got in the first time when nobody knew how nuts he was, and now that we the people know, how on earth could the guy get elected again? (If it were to happen, I would be convinced that the world was ending! )

Dr. Lawrence Britt:

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1)Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

Phat writes:

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I do not yet see excessive patriotism, but expect it to flair up once the economic reset takes full effect around the globe. We Americans do not want to take a back seat to anyone, yet as Ray Dalio succinctly points out in his book I read, the American Empire is on a decline and the Chinese Empire is rising up. More on this later.

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2) Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

I say guilty as charged. We have had a fear of attack from foreign terrorists and have treated them (and other immigrants) with less dignity than we should be doing.

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3) Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

I think that this will happen after the next global economic correction when the dollar loses its stranglehold on global financial dominance. The populists in particular will clamour for unity and patriotism as they see their country losing its global reserve currency advantage and they themselves lose buying power in the marketplace.

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4) Supremacy of the Military
Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

I also see this as an ongoing concern.
Aren't we strong enough? Why is Eisenhower's military industrial complex still chewing up so much of our national budget?

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5) Rampant Sexism
The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Opposition to abortion is high, as is homophobia and anti-gay legislation and national policy.

I may be bigoted in this area, but I strongly believe that gender is not open to how a person "feels" that their gender identification should be. If we showed more love to people struggling with identity issues and less judgement and scorn, the problem would not be so large (in my opinion)

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6) Controlled Mass Media
Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

This is a huge problem for not only America but the world. AI(artificial intelligence) and social media are driving everyone towards global control and the rise of the antichrist. My main gripe about the progressives is that they unwittingly feed this system by rejecting conservative authoritarianism.

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7) Obsession with National Security
Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

I would say that fear is generated more through the news media and social media than it is used by our government.

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8) Religion and Government are Intertwined
Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

As a Christian, I see this in a different way than the secular masses, but agree that religion and politics should be kept seperate. I am not in favor of mandatry authoritarian oversight on such an issue, however.

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9) Corporate Power is Protected
The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

I may be naive, but I dont see us as a fascist nation! We have too many checks and balances and a good 30% of our people are actally quite moderate and sane.

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10) Labor Power is Suppressed
Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed .

I see this happening now as the company I work for is being sold off by a large private equity firm (Cerebus) and the union is fighting them toe to toe. I fear Cerbus will eventually win, for even if the merger is blocked, Cerbus will squeeze the profits out of our company before dumping it off on a buyer who will have to close it within a year. Cerbus is known for such pirating tactics.

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11) Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

Art and music will save us from a technocracy and the rise of big data.

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12) Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

While I don't want the police to be too powerful, I dont want them defunded either. We recently needed to hire security officers in our store who could actually stop people and force them to lay down part of the $3000.00 a day that is stolen from our store. I see this issue as a complex social issue. These shoplifters should not get the idea that their need outweighs our rights as a business. Thou shalt not steal! End of story.

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13) Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

This does not just occur with conservative leaders. This whole tendency to paint the Democrats as some sane and saintly party is a false narrative.

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14) Fraudulent Elections
Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.

We really need better control and oversight of the voting process.

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