19

Revolution

Posted by Herb7734 7 years, 3 months ago to Politics
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According to Karl Marx, there can be no change without a revolution. But does that always need to mean the use of force? Trump claims that his win was a movement. That the "fly over country" people were tired of remaining unheard and taken for granted. In state after state they came out in droves to hear Trump, who spoke to the very things they wanted -- no, make that NEEDED to hear. Those big rallies turned into votes, first in primaries, then for President. Wasn't that that a revolution? Trump represents an entirely new type of candidate which translates into an entirely new kind of President. Not a lawyer, but an accomplished business man. Not a smooth orator, but a kitchen table speaker wearing his heart on his sleeve. Not a cautious person putting forth a careful agenda, but boldly announcing what his plans were and confidently telling the people that, not only will it be done, but it will be done quickly.

Is he just a good actor? Is this another "All The King's Men?" Will he become a dictator? Or is he an honest revolutionary who truly is, "what you see, is what you get?" If he carries out even half of what he claims, I think history might just call it the "Trump Revolution."


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  • Posted by coaldigger 7 years, 3 months ago
    He was, is and will be attacked by both sides throughout his term(s) because he is not a member of the political order. He has established that he will go to the people to apply pressure for his ideas. He will probably have more town halls than anyone else ever and send out tweets every day. The critters in the swamp might be able to cling to the trees but they will be nervous because he will be pumping water out and exposing their dirty deeds. He got little help from the right, nothing but bile from the left and few donations from cronies. He is an unencumbered and dangerous man to let see the crud from the oval office. The secret Service better be on their toes.
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  • Posted by Dobrien 7 years, 3 months ago
    My take is that if the extremely qualified people he has recommended for Cabinet posts drag their feet on implementing his plan they will be shown the door. Regarding him becoming a dictator , has any dictator been a billionaire already and then seized power? they usually are broke and become rich by looting.
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  • Posted by term2 7 years, 3 months ago
    I say it is a peaceful revolution. Look at the intense hatred of Trump by the "other half" of the populace. They had their way for 8 years with Obama's racism, liberalism, muslim pandering, and inefficient overspending government. They know their game is under attack.

    Not that I am a fan of mob rule, at least revolution is somewhat peaceful here in the USA (except for the riots of the entitled people).

    I see Trump circling the wagons in the republican party to stave off the attacks by the liberals that are coming. The swamp NEEDS to be drained, and I hope he is able to do it.
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    • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
      It could go either way. At present if he keeps his word(s) a peaceful revolution could ensue. However it could turn from revolution to rice pudding, or it could turn to revolting if Trump gets dictator-ish or if the far left gets too rabid and vicious.
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  • Posted by mia767ca 7 years, 3 months ago
    Trump is a pragmatist...he will tell you what he thinks you want to hear and then do what he wants to...

    the vote was a rejection of the last 8 years...not a revolt towards anything...you need a consistent, logical, rational philosophy for that...current politicians are devoid of that...

    we slide 10 steps toward fascism...we back away 3 steps...eventually you find yourself in an irreversible situation...prepare...
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  • Posted by $ blarman 7 years, 3 months ago
    I wouldn't put too much stock in any kind of "mandate" talk. This election was the prime example of choosing the lesser of two evils and the lesser of the two worst candidates either party could have put forth. I don't trust Trump to do anything more than attempt to use his new power to enrich himself. My only hope is that he will actually empower his Cabinet to make decisions based on their expertise and won't just hire them to ignore them like Obama.
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    • Posted by strugatsky 7 years, 3 months ago
      In general, people that are already very rich, are not interested in further monetary gain. Doing what he thinks is right, making an impact and leaving a legacy would be more important to someone who has already earned billions. I, for one, have no concerns whatsoever that Trump will be selling influence to the Saudis (or anyone else) to gain another $10M. His semi-socialist outlook is a concern, but enriching himself monetarily at the expense of his legacy or values? I don't think so.
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      • Posted by $ blarman 7 years, 3 months ago
        You hold a distinctly different view of both Trump and rich people than I do. My personal experience with those of affluence is that they aren't satisfied with what they have - they want more. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, unless they use their position rather than their invention and value-creation to generate that wealth. Trump has entertained scores of business ventures over his career - of varying success levels - but he's never sat on his laurels. I give him credit for taking the risks. But to say that his ambitions have changed in the blink of an eye? You'll have a long ways to go to persuade me of that, as it goes against human nature.

        Am I concerned that Trump is going to be selling his influence? Not like Hillary Clinton was doing, no. But I would love for someone to explain to me why Trump's children need security clearances and why they need to be in on briefings and cabinet meetings (as Trump desires) when they will hold no official positions and will still be running his companies. It is no small secret that many who acquire office as elected Representatives leave office much wealthier than they started because of insider information. Presidents are by no means exempt from this, but instead seem to be the most conspicuous examples.

        I am more than happy to wait to see what President Trump does. And I would be thrilled (up my leg, even ;) if Trump never did a dishonorable thing while in office. I'm just going to remain highly skeptical given what a narcissist he is.
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        • Posted by strugatsky 7 years, 3 months ago
          It is precisely because he is a narcissist that I don't think that he will risk his reputation to gain a few million dollars due to insider information. Other millionaire politicians, including previous presidents, stole a few million (or a few tens of millions) through a life of bribery; that is their way of life. Trump earned his billions - another few millions will not make any difference, but put his reputation and legacy at risk. If anything, he's not stupid. Little people, like career politicians, who have always lived from one lie to another and from one theft to another, will continue on the same path, but for a billionaire like Trump, further monetary acquisitions cannot be of such great value as to jeopardize more important things in life - like self-actualization (to bring back Maslow). He must know that all illegal acts and all covert acts, will be uncovered, especially in his case, being under the microscope that he will surely be forever.
          As to his children essentially being in his cabinet - that makes perfect sense. Whom else can he totally trust? And given the caliber of his children, I would entrust them more (much more) than career politicians.
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          • Posted by $ blarman 7 years, 3 months ago
            I don't attribute ignorance to Trump. But narcissism has a way of blinding even the most brilliant. I look at the slights Trump endured during the campaign - most notable Marco Rubio's "small hands" comment - and how Trump responded: he couldn't talk about anything else for two weeks on Hannity. True wisdom comes in knowing when to drop such things. Furthermore, Trump himself admitted to bribing politicians in order to get some of his casinos and golf courses built - to think that he is immune to such things is a blind faith that I simply don't have.

            "He must know that all illegal acts and all covert acts, will be uncovered, especially in his case, being under the microscope that he will surely be forever."

            And I hope that realization drives him to be open and honest in his dealings as President. I truly do. I would like nothing more than that President Trump lives under a wholly different formula of administration than his predecessor. Time will tell if this is the case or not. But as the phrase goes: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

            "As to his children essentially being in his cabinet - that makes perfect sense. Whom else can he totally trust?"

            They are not part of his Cabinet. That would require Senate approval as it is an appointed position. Trump wants them to participate in official government business when they are neither elected nor appointed representatives. He wants them privy to confidential and secure communications they have no business or part in. I don't care whether he trusts them or not - they need to be approved as members of government or they are nothing more than Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, and Valerie Jarrett all over again. There was accurate criticism of Hillary for disclosing information to Chelsea via email regarding Benghazi. Trump would do well to learn from this tale. There is a proper procedure that Trump should make it a point to follow especially now. He isn't getting off on the right foot here and to me that is a warning sign of what will happen down the road.
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            • Posted by strugatsky 7 years, 3 months ago
              I share your concerns about Trump, even if our specific concerns as somewhat different. The underlying problem, I think, is that Trump is not an intellectual and does not have a fundamental philosophy behind him. For the moment, his path is somewhat similar to my views, so he is acceptable. Certainly in a much better direction than the anti-American Left. He was a Democrat before and he gave bribes, because that was the only way to survive and prosper in this corrupt system. But given the fact that he already has billion and at his age, being re-elected and leaving a good legacy is hell of a lot more important than taking a miserable (by his standards) bribe.

              I don't share your concern about his very capable children in his administration. After all, all the members of the administration are not elected, but appointed. Yes, they require confirmation, but that is essentially rubber stamped. In any case, the president can and should choose the staff that suits him. Don't we all rely on our families for certain work-related issues?

              Interesting that you have mentioned Trump's "memory" with regard to insults. I think that it's quite convenient that his enemies are so stupid as to openly advertise themselves. Today I read that D.C. Transit Authority has issued inauguration cards with Obama's picture and no mention of Trump. How long do you think these vermin will keep their tax-payer subsidized jobs?
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              • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
                Most people go through life without the benefit of a coherent philosophy. They may act in correspondence with certain philosophical tenets, but for the most part they live by biblical rules, what they were taught in school or by parents. They'll be rational until they veer off to Neverland.
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 7 years, 3 months ago
    "Trump claims that his win was a movement."
    Yep it was...it was a bowl movement inwhich we shit liberal crap, therefore cleansing the body of stupidity.

    As for "revolution", well I guess we have completed one, only to find ourselves here again.
    Maybe it's time to trade in those 13 inchers for some 22's...maybe we can lengthen the cycle a bit.
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    • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
      My point was that something can be revolutionary without being bloody. Many new paradigms are revolutionary in concept and action. My former publications were revolutionary in that no one had ever done anything like them before. Trumps's revolution is just that. Our electoral system has become mired in the same performance to the point where both parties acted like some kind of pre-ordained Kabuki theater, and nothing was being done for veterans, etc. and increasing monies spent on things when the only reason for it was to pander to various groups in order to get re-elected.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 7 years, 3 months ago
    Marx was wrong and a loony. Many of us here have mentioned the long, slow march over the cliff this nation is taking. That's change without revolution. Regarding this last election. People need to understand that the hard-left is imbedded into our system like an Alabama tick. Frankly, unless I see people doing the perp walk in shackles I'll not consider any of the recent events real change.
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    • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
      Nobody can disagree with you about Marx. His writings are, in fact, the ravings of a child who felt unable to compete. I do believe he was psychologically disturbed. His reliance on Kant, Hegel and others reflect his inability to reason properly.

      And yet, the malignancy of his idiotic philosophy infected the 20th century with the most vile acts in the history of mankind, all stemming from the belief that any individual person has no value apart from any value he has attached to another person.
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      • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
        So.....it wasn't Harpo?
        Seriously, I never understood the influence of Karl Marx. When I read his Das Kapital at 18 I thought you gotta be kidding. However as a freshman, my instructors took it seriously. I thought there was something I didn't get. Trouble was I got it, it was the instructors that didn't get it.
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        • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
          Well, actually it was Groucho, with a cigar.

          What year did you graduate, if you don't mind me asking?
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          • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
            '55,
            I am very old.
            The big deals in my time were Catcher In The Rye and Existentialism.
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            • Posted by $ Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
              Oh, I thought you said you WERE 55. I graduated in 1961 (high school) and have never quit going to school. I've seen how the curriculum has changed over the years, tests and homework becoming easier, that sort of thing. But I haven't been in College since 2003 and that was a Business School, so I haven't really been exposed to the horrific infusion of Leftism in the universities.
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              • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
                82 and amazed that I'm still around and agitating.
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                • Posted by $ Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
                  Congratulations. Agitating from the Right, of course.
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                  • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
                    The lefties seem pretty much to be aggravated by me. Most cousins live in Mass. What does that tell you?
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                    • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
                      I think they become agitated/aggravated simply because there is still a vast number of people who despise their idiotology.
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                    • Posted by Flootus5 7 years, 3 months ago
                      That tells me a lot. I grew up in Massachusetts, and by late high school (1973) and with Ayn Rand self education, I knew I was outta there. I was heading west. However, New Hampshire was quite different back then and when I got into UNH I started college there. So, in 1977 off to Arizona. After many many years in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming I have been in the west far longer than in the east.

                      Sad, because I have ancestors that were part of the momentous events of the late eighteenth century. One guy, old Job Shattuck participated in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War at Concord, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, and then a leader in Shay's Rebellion. He was convicted of insurrection, sentenced to death, but then was pardoned by then governor John Hancock.

                      And look at the people there now. How embarrassing.
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            • Posted by Seer 7 years, 3 months ago
              So you graduated about the middle '80's---before the Left got its tentacles firmly entangled in American universities. You were still able to disagree without fear of retribution. I'm not sure, but I wonder if today's students are taught to accept without thinking all that they are taught at university.
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              • Posted by 7 years, 3 months ago
                I graduated in 1955
                That's when the "Lone Ranger" was still on the radio being broadcast from the Maccabees Building across the street from the Wayne University campus and the guy who played Tonto was teaching acting and elecution. Frankly, I don't understand what is being taught nowadays. My school experiences are so different than the way things are done today that I feel like a visitor from Neverland.















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  • Posted by GaryL 7 years, 3 months ago
    I am mildly depressed! If this is in fact the revolution it is not the one I have been prepping for but I certainly have been rather cheery these days. It is a hell of a thing watching CNN and all the others with such sadness and LMAOROTF!
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    • Posted by $ CBJ 7 years, 3 months ago
      Yup, the revolution has arrived and was successful. It's now time to get rid of the ammo and trade in your gold for good old American fiat! :-)
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  • Posted by strugatsky 7 years, 3 months ago
    In which way is Trump's win a "revolution"? I agree that several of his policies are radically different from the America hating Liberals/Progressives and their Terrorist-in-Chief, but those policies are really just a return to common sense and national self-preservation. The restriction of illegal immigration that is draining the public treasury, the end to importation of Muslims whose openly declared goal is the institution of Sharia in the US, the ending of environmental self-circumcision - those are not revolutionary theories; they are a last-gasp effort prior to our total collapse and becoming one huge Venezuela. Perhaps that is precisely why the self-loathing Progressives are so upset - they practically tasted the long awaited collapse and it escaped from their choking grasp. But in terms of economic policy or real human, e.g., personal rights, Trump is no revolutionary. He is a product of Big Government, he intends to keep socialized medicine (not as bad as Obamacare, since that one is geared only for the benefit of his voting contingent) and he does not believe in free trade. To be fair, his declared stance on the Second Amendment is refreshing.

    Compared to the steady slide into the socialist abyss that arguably began with Bush I (arguably, since we should really go back to FDR and LBJ, if not Wilson), for a drowning man any gasp of air is refreshing, even if it is permeated with socialist stench. But, really, Trump is no revolutionary and certainly not in the class of the Founding Fathers. But I do welcome him after the Muslim terrorist leaves the White Castle, especially if he also puts the Evil Witch in jail.
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    • Posted by GaryL 7 years, 3 months ago
      None of us really know just how good or bad Trump could be so I have to accept some of what you say. On the other hand, the Hope and Change fool we are bidding good bye to never gave me either while at this point with Trump I do have some hope.
      Just basing my hope on the people he is appointing to his cabinet, actual real winners who have been highly successful in their private and in their military lives gives me a thrill. Pretty faced politicians elected on their popularity do squat for none of us and most have never even held a real job or signed the front of a payroll check. I just can't see how a Trump could be any worse than the bozo or Hillary so I am fine right now.
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  • Posted by $ Abaco 7 years, 3 months ago
    Read "The Stones Cry Out" (book about a Cambodian childhood) and listen to Stefan Molynioux's podcast "The Truth About Carl Marx"...and be enlightened about what this is all really about...
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  • Posted by wiggys 7 years, 3 months ago
    unless trump policies can actually start a major change in the country which will take a few years, but if it does take hold revolution is not going to happen. however, if ultimately the way things are in the country now continue regardless of what is said by him and his cohorts revolution is possible. hungry people like hungry animals in the wide can and do get violent as can be observed in countries around the world where people are not able to fend for themselves. of course that is the direction our illustrious government has been working towards as can also be observed. now can trump cause a change of direction? only time will tell.
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