Hello freedomforall,
You are exactly right: it was (and is) not only the left. I believe it as an axiom: people get the government they deserve. We all have a significantly higher standard of living than we earn. For how long we had a government spending more than the people are willing to pay in taxes? I could go into a long presentation of how we do it. You all know it. I think people are generally "myopic". They think mostly about a year into the future. Until the next April 15 and the IRS reckoning. While we need to think in generational cycles. Education of our replacements, imagining not yet invented technologies changing our economic assumptions, accepting the acceleration of change and a life of continuous learning. Not to speak of corruption in the political system. Vast majority of people choose to look the other way.
I wish you all the best.
Maritimus

"Sanders continues to scare the hell out of me "
If some charismatic person figures out that Sanders and Trump are very similar, at least IMHO they are, and exploits it, we will have a dangerous situation. Maybe I should be happy Trump's antics are so transparent and Sanders pronounces the word "billionaires", who he wants to fund all kinds of handouts, with such contempt. It keeps people from realizing it's the same message: Someone who is different from you is evil and is to blame for your problems in life, and you need to give me power to fight them.

Sanders continues to scare the hell out of me whenever he opens his yap. He repeatedly fixates on other people's money. Did you hear the townhall meeting the other day when a guy asked him about tax breaks for the working middle class? He instantly went on a tirade about the rich and how they are the main benefactors of the estate tax breaks. He's wrong over and over and over... How does somebody get to that state of mind? I understand that he was a bad construction worker and poor provider for his wife and kids prior to politics (possibly false) but that might be related in someway.

The outrage on the Left over Clinton's failure to get elected can be seen deep in the American psyche. From liberal Democrats whose anger toward "straight, white, middle class men" enrages and/or emboldens the Alt-Right. The outrage over Obama's "success" explains the Alt-Right whose racist constituents enrage and/or embolden the Militant Left. There is no leadership available in either party to bring peace. Clinton has not provided any recourse, but makes matters much worse.

Both parties are in shock. Democrats call for donations as if Obama was still running for office, as if there was some "progressive" voice to hear... Republicans have been met with consistent failure in the legislature. And Trump, in all his divisive rhetoric, was heard around the world with his "both sides" comment, leading us to ask if he had known about the explicit anti-Semitic vandalism beforehand.

American psychology as I experience it is not about ideals. It is not even about values. It is about the squeaky wheels, the partisan road rage - if you will - and the incessant traffic on social media. Until Americans discover their morality, no lasting achievements are possible.

I just think it’s a bit too convenient that the government seems to further it’s own ends at the expense of the citizens to be just chance. I say government people are complicit in the evil they are doing. They cover over their acts with political Mumbo jumbo to make us think WE are the beneficiaries

"government today is designed "
I like the analogy of politicians as sales people for the gov't!
Saying it is designed to further its own goals implies intentional design. I think it is designed to be a limited gov't, but it has insufficient protections against it growing in power and cost, so it's not operating within its original spec.

Some people on this site say it's a run of bad politicians, which I categorically reject. ewv says it's bad philosophy among some citizens. That makes sense, but I wonder if it could be structured to be less dependent on citizens to contain it. This is why I'm open to CoS. To work it would have be only empowered to limit gov't. Everyone would have to be prepared to cut programs that make them honestly think, "oh no, but if you cut that people will die!": Federal drug law enforcement and prisons, nursing home care assistance, food stamps, military bases around the world, social security, cancer research, SBIR grants, school lunches. Politicians, for whom the status quo is working, will offer great arguments as to why the programs benefiting their constituents shouldn't be affected. For that reason, I think it's a long-shot that it will work. Instead we'll wait until a series of mini-crises over the course of decades forces incremental change.

I think that government today is designed to further its own goals, and enrich and empower its minions who work for it. Anything that happens for the benefit of the taxpayers (customers) is icing on the cake. The politicians are the sales people for the government, and are part of the "minion" group.

"leftists just try to get whatever they can"
I guess you can put it that way. But I think giving it a label and then generalizing to a supposed group that fits that label doesn't make things any clearer. I actually think it's a trick. I don't even think leftism or rightism are real things in the modern political world. If I am correct, it's all a trick to change the subject from actual policies, i.e. digging into if "billionaires" have enough money to send most everyone to college and if there are any limits one when it's okay to take other people's stuff. This grouping trick is not a conspiracy. It's just hard to get elected, and it's hard for commentators to get viewers/readers, and this formula of dividing people into named groups and inviting them to path themselves on that back happens to work.

I probably seem naive for taking at face value the investigations into the campaigns and elections, yet I completely reject the idea that politicians are at odds with one another ideologically. People on this site who are vocal about this issue mostly accept that politicians are engaged in an ideological struggle along some vague (to me) left/right continuum, but they think the investigations and gov't's institutions are governed by shadowing political machinations and are often pawns in an ideological battle. I have the exact opposite view.

I think the leftists just try to get whatever they can from whoever is least politically powerful, and when its over, its over. Look at Venezuela

Exactly. In Sanders speeches there were way more people supposedly needing a handout than supposedly paying fir them. The math doesn't work. "Billionaires" aren't a source of limitless wealth.

If the few really rich people gave their fortunes equally to the unwashed, it would hardly make a difference to them

Thanks for the tip. I downloaded the book and the premise is right on the mark. I just finished milo yiannopoulos’s book. “Dangerous’, which is pretty good too. Kindle for the iPhone is so convenient

Thanks fosterj717 Well said. The evil is dark and a little light can expose.

Get to know Hillary from Donald Trump and the joke indicating she's the $20 whore the $500/30 minutes whore Bill Clinton propositions in Central Park indicates.

It's a "low blow", but against the American people, not Hillary. The Clintons are in fact corrupt and personally sordid. There are no grounds on which to blame the American people for having the Clintons' "psychology". That is a gratuitous mass insult searching for a cause for her support while overlooking the political and ethical principles of pragmatism, statism and altruism that have been drummed into people's heads by the intellectuals, including but not restricted to education, for a century. Hillary got the political support she did from voters because they voted for her and the Democrats' policies regarded as the 'good' in spite of her personal corruption. Likewise for Trump -- they would even vote for a Trump in spite of his psychology and personal antics to keep out the Clinton-Lenin mafia.

So hang in there while this "system" crashes. Then we'll be guarding against a replacement either the same or worse. Only if we just stop worshiping a government of Force can we get what we ask!
Read "The Most Dangerous Superstition" by Larken Rose.

Promise the average person something for free and a great many believe they will get it with no strings attached. A fools errand however that is how the Establishments of both parties stay in power. The seamy underbelly of Democracy. This is why our founder designed the country to be a Republic.

" the goodies will come from OTHER people"
Yeah. From "billionaires".

You are judging by "Mainstream" America not by that "Never Never Land" known as Washington DC! There is little if any "reality" in that sewer, only greed, contempt for the American people and a desire to never leave its trappings of power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely!

Character also has little if anything to do with "serving" in that city. There may be a handful of representatives who went there with their constituents in mind and this handful has been able to retain their integrity. With that being said, evil does not well continence fidelity to one's true beliefs. To the contrary, the vermin that make up most of Washington loath such traits because they have already sold their souls for the trappings of power. By comparison, they realize that the good only make them look that much worse. Shine a light on cockroaches and watch them scatter to hide again in the shadows.

Welcome to Washington!

I think the establishment generally feels that the goodies will come from OTHER people like the rich or out of corporate "profits", and if they can "get" them, there are no downsides.

To a degree, they are right so long as the productive people keep working and put up with having their work stolen from them. The more the productive people work and allow their work to be taken, the more empowered the hillary/sanders group gets and the more they feel they are entitled to the goodies and should just take them if they are no longer available.

Pretty uninformed view I would say

She`s a communist. She does what communists do, carry her water or be removed - sometimes literally. Her supporters are from two camps, the stupid ones that want the free stuff and believe the liar, they are the ones that do the street work for the second camp. They are the ones that want to rotate in the proximity of the power fueled gas planet and evolve into their own little power systems. It has to come to a head and I think we are pretty close. Good work Obama.

" the left applied to Trump are in fact things that the LEFT itself is guilty of. Its psychological projection."
I agree completely, except I think President Trump is right in there with them.

BTW, I've never met the national candidates more than very briefly. I don't care about their rhetoric. I don't believe their public personas mean much. I am absolutely sure most of them do not start with philosophical beliefs and then try to sell them. I don't buy into the left/right thing. I think it's mostly theater, and I would not be shocked if they occasionally collaborated informally: "We're both sending out our last set of fundraising letters before this next filing deadline. I'm thinking about saying something about gun control that will get your people back in Fond du Lac fired up. Maybe you want say something about trans-gendered people to get my people here in Madison fired up. This quarter could be a bumper crop."

"means that sticking together will get a larger share of the government freebie pie. "
Like any politician's tagline, it's designed to mean whatever you want it to mean. I'm almost sure it doesn't mean gov't largess because people think the gov't grants, contracts, and programs they receive aren't really "gov't freebies". Although Sanders came pretty close to saying freebies for everyone, so I don't know; maybe some people are moochers and proud of it. I don't think so though. You hear it in their language. "We need reforms of the healthcare system," instead of "I want to some people to pay for other's medicine." I think when you put the naked truth out there, most people don't want handouts.

I know you are a hillary supporter, which I admit I have trouble understanding when she is such an obvious crook trying to sell government access in exchange for clinton foundation "donations". The divisive bent is definitely a leftist thing, not a Trump thing. Most of the negative claims the left applied to Trump are in fact things that the LEFT itself is guilty of. Its psychological projection. Trump wants us all to be americans, including immigrants who come here in order to join OUR culture. I stand by my comment as to what "stronger together" really means to the hillary people.

"Stronger together "means that sticking together will get a larger share of the government freebie pie.

If you really want to understand Hillary, read the book by Milo Yiannoupolis (sp) called DANGEROUS. Its a real eye opener. You probably wont want to read it, but its hard to argue with the facts contained therein

I think of the connection between America's puritan foundation and this self-sacrifice you point out here. Yeah, it looks cuck. It looks dumb as hell, too. So glad to see you delve into this confusing state we're in nowadays.

It reminds me of a woman I am very good friends with. Her husband cheated on her and lied to her and she stayed with them so their three daughters could learn to be obedient to bad men (that last part is my editorial). Well, her husband died a little over a year ago with cancer. Who is she with now? A guy who's rude to her, yells at her kids, bosses her around and took a "loan" from her from her kids' college fund. I'm so ticked off I don't want to even see her around anymore - which is tough because she's very good friends with my wife. Ugh.... When she caught her husband cheating she said she'd, "Just put it in God's hands..." ARGH!!!

" "Why?", I keep asking... Maybe they love it. "
I obviously don't know the answers, but I suggest trying to file it as an unknown. It's the way I think of the Vegas shooting. I read some articles, and didn't follow any rumination on it. If I'm going to focus my attention on something, more than the basic facts, let it be something positive and something I can do something about.