"Every time the government, the federal government especially, is used to expand rights and opportunities for people who are not previously included, there's a backlash.

William Lindsey :toad:

"A concentration of private power, unprecedented in our history, is growing unchecked. This concentration is not only impairing our economic effectiveness but also jeopardizing the essence of our democratic society.

We must remember that democracy is not safe if we tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than our democratic state itself."

~ David Pepper

#Trump #Republicans #EconomicElites #oligarchy #SuperRich #oligarchy
/16

"My Fellow Americans": What Would FDR Say Today?

An Inauguration Speech To Meet the Times

(davidpepper.substack.com)

William Lindsey :toad:

"This, in its essence, is the seed of fascism - the ownership of government by an individual, a group, or any other controlling private power.

Our nation was built on the principle that power should rest in the hands of the people, not in the coffers of a privileged few. Yet today, we see a small group of individuals and corporations wielding influence that rivals, and too often surpasses, that of our elected officials."

#Trump #Republicans #EconomicElites #oligarchy #SuperRich
/17

Pete

@wdlindsy That collection of quotes covers the spectrum of our current predicament. By “our”, I mean anyone not in the billionaire “in-group”. Stay strong, all.

William Lindsey :toad:

@petep44 Thank you. Yes, we all need to stay strong, and when we falter, to rely on someone next to us who's stronger at that moment to hold us up.

William Lindsey :toad:

@WobblyElmer Yes.

William Lindsey :toad:

@peterbrown Yes, definitely.

William Lindsey :toad:

@KuteboiCoder

William Lindsey :toad:

@GreenRoc I never read lists like this as total, comprehensive lists of every set of people who are marginalized — and so I don't play those who do happen to be mentioned in lists like this against those who don't happen to be mentioned. I give writers of lists like this the benefit of the doubt and assume they care about everyone who is marginalized.

officerripley

@wdlindsy

So true. And something else worrying me: even if we get lucky and trump dies in office, Vance has got "Puppet" written all over him in neon letters, so we'd still be screwed.

huntingdon

@wdlindsy

For the wealth elite, power is a zero sum game. Give political rights to those previously marginalized, and you take it away from the wealth elite.

But they falsely claim the power they fear losing is really being taken from the little held by the working and middle classes. It's an elite game the British Empire was famously good at playing - at home and abroad, on grass, clay or hard surface.

Green Roc Thoughts

@wdlindsy I can agree with you. I apologize for my post. I was in a different headspace earlier.

Badtux the Snarky Penguin

@wdlindsy Jay Gould proposed that if the working class ever revolted, he could hire half the working class to suppress the other half of the working class. Today's oligarchs have figured out how to weaponize the working class against itself without even having to pay them to suppress the other half. All it takes is control of the narrative and lots of propaganda.

William Lindsey :toad:

@badtux Yes, well-stated. This was a key point of the recent book by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman entitled White Rural Rage.

William Lindsey :toad:

@GreenRoc Please understand that I am understandably concerned about people in your situation, disabled people who can't work. I have been personally helping someone locally who lost her job due to her health condition, cannot pay bills, has almost become homeless, and has just now found a subsidized apartment to live. What is happening to her is obscene, all because of her ill health — and she is one of many.

Green Roc Thoughts

@wdlindsy Genuine compassion, I appreciate this compassion so much. We need more compassion like yours... which American leaders seem to completely lack.

William Lindsey :toad:

@huntingdon Very well-stated. I agree.

William Lindsey :toad:

@officerripley This is definitely worth being concerned about, I think — I agree.

William Lindsey :toad:

@GreenRoc The problem is, my friend's needs are so enormous, I feel I have never done enough to help her right now, though I keep trying. I have access to networks of people who know how to help better than I have, and I've called on those networks to offer her help, and they've done so — and have, of course, offered her my own help, too. When I think of how she's just one person of many living in that marginal space, I feel overwhelmed. But we have to keep on helping….

Green Roc Thoughts

@wdlindsy You can only do as much as you can, and sounds like you have done so much for her, I wish there was more help for people like her, and me, and countless others left to carry their own burdens and cant keep up with all the requirements society places upon us. We are all humans, and we would not exist without the help of other humans, like yourself. Thank you for all you do

William Lindsey :toad:

@GreenRoc Thank you. There's always more to do in a world of great need!