[QatzelOk]

Back when the lie that is the United States was only killing the First Nations, most of the world could just sit back and tsk-tsk, or worse yet, collaborate in order to make money.

Back when the lie that is the United States was only kidnapping thousands of people in Africa in order to displace them and use them as cattle, it was controversial, but acceptable to do this.

But now that the lie that is the United States is putting the survival of everyone and everything on the planet in peril, acting as the ultimate manifestation of Doctor Evil (as a group of greed-driven cronies), threatening the extinction of all in the name of status symbol consumption and vanity, the lie that is the United States of America can no longer go on.

The lie that is the United States of America must be eradicated if humans and other animals are to survive another century.

It's time - in this thread - to drive a silver spike of truth through the heart of the lie that is the United States of America.

soundtrack

[Suntzu]

Bring it on!

[Thomasmariel]

Nationalism is an obvious fiction, but not recognising it at all would mean no money, no status of any kind

I don't think the majority of people are ready for that kind of compromise

[Atlantis]

Bbbut, but, Quatz, what about your middle class income when the empire collapses? Are you ready to tighten the belt, use public transport and turn down the heating? Will you cope without the latest Smartphone and large flat screen TV? When will you start cutting down on consumption? And what about the millions of Trump voters? Can you convince them to give up some of their parasitic habits?

[Suntzu]

Bbbut, but, Quatz, what about your middle class income when the empire collapses? Are you ready to tighten the belt, use public transport and turn down the heating? Will you cope without the latest Smartphone and large flat screen TV? When will you start cutting down on consumption? And what about the millions of Trump voters? Can you convince them to give up some of their parasitic habits?

Never considered the middle class/working class to be parasites. Welfare slugs on the other hand . . .

[Crantag]

Bbbut, but, Quatz, what about your middle class income when the empire collapses? Are you ready to tighten the belt, use public transport and turn down the heating? Will you cope without the latest Smartphone and large flat screen TV? When will you start cutting down on consumption? And what about the millions of Trump voters? Can you convince them to give up some of their parasitic habits?

This is a process which is already happening, and will happen whether people like it or not. There are lots of indicators of changing lifestyle habits in response to economic pressures. Rising interest in gardening is an example of this.

Personally, I've been pretty much living out of a suitcase, for quite some time now. I could use some additional luxuries like a secondary computer monitor; in fact the last one I bought came from Wall Mart and is a pain in the ass to configure each time I plug it in, so I'm rolling without.

I do have a cell phone and a car, but these things are sort of necessary to be employed. I also have a skateboard, a blowgun, some fishing gear, several axes, and a few extra knives. But eh, that's just me.

Another big indicator of the changing lifestyles in America is the huge rise in mobile home purchases, both among the young and among the retiring.

[Suntzu]

Amazing how little one needs to survive. I lived out of a backpack for 6 months that only weighed 10 lbs without food. Wore the same shorts and T-shirt for 6 months. I was happy most of the time. Can you imagine a pint of Ben and Jerry's icecream being the ultimate luxuty?

[Libertarian353]

Amazing how little one needs to survive. I lived out of a backpack for 6 months that only weighed 10 lbs without food. Wore the same shorts and T-shirt for 6 months. I was happy most of the time. Can you imagine a pint of Ben and Jerry's icecream being the ultimate luxuty?

Where did you do your survivalist regime at? Did you hunt for food and using what weapons? I also done some survivalist training in forests but never that extreme.

I actually want to know was this during your age or when you were a younging?

[Suntzu]

U.S. Army Airborne Ranger 20 years. SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) Instructor JFK Special Warfare School.

2012 thru hike of Appalachian Trail 2,200 or so miles Georgia to Maine, took about 6 months, of that slept outdoors probably 5 months carrying all food, tent, bag, etc. Into towns every 3 - 5 days to resupply.

2009 paddled kayak the length of the Mississippi River, Lake Itasca to Gulf of Mexico, around 2,400 miles resupplied by mail every two weeks or so, slept outside everyday but one in abandoned building.

[Torus34]

The United States of America has, since its inception, done much good* and much evil. That statement's based in the present-day standards which would be accepted by those in the advanced democracies.

We're** presently going through an interesting period. We've a President who's rather far out on the end of the bell curve of presidential deportment and, perhaps, philosophy. This in turn exacerbates our political discourse. As an American, I place my faith in the sheer inertia of our culture and political system. Our ship of state answers her helm slowly.

Meanwhile, our country is pursuing its usual pro-business course abroad*** and the imposition of 'conservative'**** strictures on government at home. It makes for a curious mix. The slogan 'America First!' doesn't necessarily mean 'Americans first', as our poor and huddled masses are discovering.

* This observer points to the end of WWII as arguably our finest hour. Unscathed by the destruction of the war, the United States of America stood fully armed with the capability of reducing major cities anywhere in the world to rubble. We were in a position to dictate a Pax Americanum. We did not do so.

** We, the people of the United States of America.

*** Yes, that includes drones. Do you think we went into the Philippines to bring Christianity to 'Our little brown brothers'?

**** This decrepit scribe has difficulty distinguishing what serves as conservatism in these United States from populism.

[Libertarian353]

2012 thru hike of Appalachian Trail 2,200 or so miles Georgia to Maine

Oh yea, I did that in 09 too. Not as far as you, I started it during my visit to New York and went as far as through Pennsylvania. I also hunted some game too, did maybe 2 weeks at the time. I did some in Columbia River Gorge, National Scenic Area, Silver Falls State Park, and Mt. Hood National Forest.

As for military experience my father and uncles fought in ww2 and the Korean war, besides their training I did join the Oregon national guard in 1986. Did it for 5 years then got honorably discharged. I do some voluntary work around the Americorps Organizations in Eugene time to time.

Were you ever drafted in Vietnam?

[Atlantis]

This is a process which is already happening, and will happen whether people like it or not. There are lots of indicators of changing lifestyle habits in response to economic pressures. Rising interest in gardening is an example of this.

Personally, I've been pretty much living out of a suitcase, for quite some time now. I could use some additional luxuries like a secondary computer monitor; in fact the last one I bought came from Wall Mart and is a pain in the ass to configure each time I plug it in, so I'm rolling without.

I do have a cell phone and a car, but these things are sort of necessary to be employed. I also have a skateboard, a blowgun, some fishing gear, several axes, and a few extra knives. But eh, that's just me.

Another big indicator of the changing lifestyles in America is the huge rise in mobile home purchases, both among the young and among the retiring.

In Germany too, there are people who advocate zero growth, sustainability, reduced consumption, self-sufficiency, etc. But it is a minority phenomenon. From my youth, I remember that even in the 60s and 70s, there were many young people opposing consumerism. In fact, the left-wing terrorist group Red Army Faction (RAF) started it's activity by setting fire to a department store (when it was empty at night) as protest against consumer society. But the violence escalated soon enough.

Today, the European left is in a basic contradiction: one the one hand, they advocate sustainability and the fight against climate change, on the other hand, they are obsessed by economic growth, which they want to achieve by any means, including excessive debt spending.

Personally, I quit the corporate rat race more than 20 years ago. I live in a small rammed Earth hut without running water. I grow most of our food and work as self-employed to pay the bills. I would never move back to the comfort of the city. Even on 20% of my former income my life is far richer than what I could possible afford in the city. Waste not want not!

Never considered the middle class/working class to be parasites. Welfare slugs on the other hand . . .

Per person, the US emits 2.5 times more green house than Europeans and 8 times more than Indians. So yes, you are the parasites on the body Earth sucking more than your fair share of resources. That's what you need your global military empire for. To keep the rest of us down.

[Hong Wu]

Back when the lie that is the United States was only killing the First Nations, most of the world could just sit back and tsk-tsk, or worse yet, collaborate in order to make money.

Back when the lie that is the United States was only kidnapping thousands of people in Africa in order to displace them and use them as cattle, it was controversial, but acceptable to do this.

But now that the lie that is the United States is putting the survival of everyone and everything on the planet in peril, acting as the ultimate manifestation of Doctor Evil (as a group of greed-driven cronies), threatening the extinction of all in the name of status symbol consumption and vanity, the lie that is the United States of America can no longer go on.

The lie that is the United States of America must be eradicated if humans and other animals are to survive another century.

It's time - in this thread - to drive a silver spike of truth through the heart of the lie that is the United States of America.

soundtrack

I personally don't believe in a global warming/man-made climate change apocoalypse. Which is not to say that environmentalism is completely lacking in good arguments. But in terms of sustainability, you want to preserve the resources that allow for a modern way of life why, if you are against the modern way of life? It'll last until certain key resources have diminished and then people will have to live in a different way. This isn't unprecedented, such as the bronze age collapse. So it seems to me that from what I can understand, the things you don't like are by definition temporary...

[Libertarian353]

I personally don't believe in a global warming/man-made climate change apocoalypse.

So you just kiss ass to what ever opinions the white republicans tells you just cause they're white conservatives.

[RhetoricThug]

Back when the lie that is QatzelOk was only posting memes, most of the world could just sit back and tsk-tsk, or worse yet, collaborate in order to make irreverent threads.

Back when the lie that is QatzelOk was only kidnapping thousands of cats in order to displace them and use them as caturday prompts, it was controversial, but acceptable to do this.

But now that the lie that is QatzelOk is putting the survival of everyone and everything on the forum in peril, acting as the ultimate manifestation of Politicsforum.borg (as a group of dogma-driven cronies), threatening the extinction of all threads in name of post count, the lie that is QatzelOk can no longer go on.

The lie that is QatzelOk must be eradicated if pofo posters and other animals are to survive another thread.

It's time - in this thread - to drive a brown spike of opinion through the heart of the lie that is QatzelOk.

[Rancid]

I don't understand this thread.

[QatzelOk]

I personally don't believe in a global warming/man-made climate change apocoalypse.

FAITH

The early settlers to the lie that is the United States of America came with lots and lots of faith to unpack. This faith was adaptable enough to be amended to serve the ever-changing needs of the founding business pirates of the lie that is the Great Nation.

When it was necessary to genocide the First Nations to steal land, the faithful were able to believe that "these people have no soul and they threaten Christians."

When it was necessary to consume nutritionless and semi-toxic fast food to make a handful of merchants filthy rich, the faithful were able to believe "We do it all for you" and "I'm lov'in it!"

Every war to steal resources, even in the secular age, has its own amendments to the Bible, Torah and Quran to match.

Just ask Darwin and Machiavelli: It's all about adaptability.

[Suntzu]

When the Europeans arrived in the New World they found stone age savages, no metal tools, no beast of burden, no written language, practicing cannibalism on a grand scale. We started a relationship by trading, they gave us syphilis, we gave them smallpox.

[Libertarian353]

When the Europeans arrived in the New World they found stone age savages, no metal tools, no beast of burden, no written language, practicing cannibalism on a grand scale. We started a relationship by trading, they gave us syphilis, we gave them smallpox.

You tell a lie a long enough it eventually becomes curriculum.

[QatzelOk]

You tell a lie a long enough it eventually becomes curriculum.

And when powerful people tell a lie long enough, it becomes a state religion.

(from The Church of America)
One myth that Americans live by is the separation of church and state. Some like the idea; others hate it; but the irony is that church and state were not separated at the founding of the United States and are not separate now. In fact, they were united in the sense that the state is a church — the Church of America — and you can’t separate a thing from itself. The religion this church administers is not Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, or anything else that comes to mind when most people think the word religion. It’s Americanism, a species of nationalism. Nationalism and religion are cut from the same cloth.
...
...This is all true, but it doesn’t fully capture the religious aspect. (of the State of the Union address)

The State of the Union affair goes along with the many other secular rituals — the pledge of allegiance; the rules for handling the flag, the national anthem at sporting events with its required decorum; the reverence for military might, the national holy days, er, holidays — not to mention the dogma and catechism (America is the exceptional, indispensable nation; America is a force for good in the world; America is the world’s last best hope; America and its president are the leaders of the free world), all calculated to awe the citizenry, lest the people remind themselves that those who rule them — for deep down they know they do not rule themselves — are a bunch of mediocrities, posers, and usurpers — misleaders, misrepresentatives, and public self-servants, as I call them. Even if they dislike the particular person who holds the presidency at the moment, their reverence for the church-state and its offices persists.

Part of the religion of the lie that is the United States of America (the LTITUSA) involves watching commercial media and feeling all the opinions and desires that it has been calculated to make you feel.