The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled. All this is common knowledge, but because it dribbles out in news stories about this specific incident or department, the reports never adequately describe an administration sabotaging the functioning of the federal government and also trashing the global economy, international alliances and relationships, and the national and global environment in ways that will have downstream consequences for decades and perhaps, especially when it comes to climate, centuries…
…Across the branches of government, the services that are supposed to protect us – nuclear stockpile monitoring, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism – are being undermined, understaffed or trashed. A different kind of protection that consists of public health, vaccination programs, food safety, clean air and water, social services, civil rights and the rule of law is also under attack. The federal government that serves us is being starved while the federal government that serves the Trump agenda and the oligarchy is glutting itself on taxpayer money…
…It’s the antidemocratic weaknesses in our system that created the vulnerabilities that let this happen…
I used to be a Libertarian. The first time I voted, I voted Libertarian down the line. I did grow up a Republican since I am a white male from a middle class background and it’s traditional for white males to be Republican in this country. However, like you said, I liked smoking weed and drinking, plus I hated cops and came to view war as a tremendous waste of money, resources and human life. My Republican upbringing had me believing that taxes were strangling the economy as well. So I figured gubmint bad. Republicans may say that too, but they love war and hate human rights when applied to people they don’t like. They want a “strong” government to hold down undesirables and conquer and control the rest of the world. Fascists. That is the difference. I’m very liberal now. I have lived through a lot of things in the real world and now realize that those veiwpoints are unrealistic and awful respectively.
Hey! I’ll give you credit that sounds like you might have been one of the rare unicorns on it when you were one. Honestly with Republicans I’ve heard the same “hate cops” unless the cops are going after people they like then they love them. Republicans treat cops like soldiers, they say they support them… riiiiiiiiiiiight up until supporting them individually. But yea, definitely on the war front is a nice change of pace.
I agree on the unrealistic and awful… I in a lot of theoretical ways like the libertarian concept, I’m very much a “leave me alone” type, I just know too many that didn’t have the support when they were growing up that if there is nothing to help them… it feels cruel to do the “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” mentality.
And I definitely understand where you’re talking about on growing up and the expectations. I’m a white middle class guy, grew up in the area surrounded by confederate flags that is the exact area where “God and guns” is aimed at so expectations of me being a Republican. I just was raised by an old school bleeding heart liberal so like my dad and I talk I comment it’s funny I’d hear “You’ll be more conservative” as you get older and I’m over here going man… I was WAY more conservative when I was in high school and college.