The Horror of The US House Budget Bill

House budget bill would add $3.1T to deficit and debt over the coming decade

SECRET Provisions of Bill TO HIDE Trump Crimes EXPOSED

May Day: A Reminder That "We, The People" Must Hold Our US Government To Account

"May Day has two meanings, both of which are directly applicable to today. It commemorates the solidarity of the labor movement (139 years ago today, workers gathered in the streets of Chicago to demand an eight-hour day).

“'Mayday!' is also a distress signal used by pilots to indicate imminent danger or a life-threatening emergency (derived from the French phrase 'm’aider,' meaning 'help me').

"That about sums it up: Our solidarity is necessary to overcome the imminent dangers we now face, all from Donald J. Trump.

"I doubt we can wait until the midterm elections to contain him. Unless we stop the damage he’s doing to both our democracy and our economy before then, much of it will be irreversible. It’s not even clear what sort of election we’ll be able to have 18 months from now." (link)

Civil Servants: The Under-Appreciated Heros Of Government

"Michael Lewis, acclaimed author of The Big Short, Moneyball, and The Fifth Risk joins Lovett to discuss his most recent book, Who is Government? Lewis and his coauthors profile the civil servants whose thankless and unglamorous work prevents mines from collapsing, castaways from drowning, and rare diseases from killing people. He and Jon talk about why it’s so important to break down the 'bureaucrat' stereotype right now, why Lewis is convinced Elon Musk has no idea how to run DOGE, and what leads the people he writes about to stand up to Trump or succumb to their personal ambition."

Click on the link below for an enlightening podcast regarding the truth about the role of government in society:

Bravery in Politics 

How The USA Became A Dictatorship

"A sobering message from a history teacher about America turning from democracy to authoritarianism:
I teach both American and international government. 

"For years, I’ve been going over 'case study' states, from mostly democratic (UK), to democratizing-but-corrupt (Mexico, Nigeria), to illiberal-authoritarian (Russia), to theocratic (Iran), to traditional authoritarian (China).

"When it comes to the difference between democracy and authoritarianism, one thing Americans need to understand is that there’s never one single moment when you become an authoritarian state; no leader will stand up and announce, 'I am now a dictator'.”

Click on the link below for examples that point to how the USA got into its present political state:

 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18GiL37LpF/

The USA Is Now A Kingdom

"In Common Sense, when he made the argument against monarchy that would drive the colonists to create their own new form of government, Thomas Paine warned his neighbors that without the rule of law, the country belongs to a king. He urged them to turn away from a world that gave one man such absolute power. '[S]o far as we approve of monarchy,' he wrote, 'in America the law is King. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other.'"

Click here and here for evidence supporting the title of this blog post.

BOTH US POLITICAL Parties Will Not Stand Up

Everyone who has a functional brain and can objectively look at reality KNOWS that the present Republican Party is a piece of sh!t. 

Today, the DEMOCRATIC PARTY allowed the evil to have a clean pass into dictatorship. Folks, there are only two final blocks to it, and one is the justice system. Once the present blocks from such get to the Supreme Court, do you really think justice will be preserved with THIS Supreme Court? 

The bottom line? "We the people" have the final say in the voting process. Up to now, most of us have not even voted. Shame on us. Can we agree that we can do a better job?

Oh, In 1856, the anti-slavery party didn't cave (link).

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A Bribe Is A Bribe, No Matter What You Call It

The Truth About The USA

"Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan gave the Democratic rebuttal to President Trump's joint address to Congress on Tuesday night. She explained how to 'protect the middle class,' and also said, 'the president pits Americans against each other."

Watch: Sen. Elissa Slotkin refutes Trump's speech to Congress in Democratic rebuttal

The USA's Republic Is Over

 This is a message I sent to my 3 daughters this evening.

The USA Should Be Ashamed

"Ukraine is not - as the Russian ambassador said - a 'project'.

"Its statehood has a longer history than Russia. It has been a member of the UN longer than Russia. It has a history, language, identity, and its own aspirations. Poland supports peace, but stable and with respect for the rights of the victim of aggression."

Click here for a 8-minute video from the recent UN gathering to vote on support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the UN essentially unanimously voted against Russia's aggression. A few days ago, the US voted with Iran, North Korea, and Russia to NOT once again condemn them.

The speaker is from Poland and puts the present in the context of European history. Memo to the USA: Isolationism in the face of national aggression never works.

Yes, Another Political Post

To my loyal readers:

In recent months, I have drifted on this blog somewhat from addressing the main reason for such: anti-science. In the USA, we are in an existential crisis, thus, I must keep on top of what is happening politically and relate it to history and pseudoscience. After all, the word "science" is simply from the Latin for "knowledge." 

Below is a viable plan from the Democratic Party as a first step in attacking the evil and harm from the present Republican Party. The Democrats must attempt to bring the reasonable Republicans into its fold, as such have been shunned by the majority MAGA wing of the party. I do not agree with those talking about a 3rd Party alternative to the Republican Party, as it will further fracture the USA.

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Scott Orner (Facebook Post)

Favorites  · Srdseonotp8flm03tyFfbera1u11:0ai32t 3f31t4260a4 uP55 0 lirMt41t  · 

Written by Chris Murphy Senator from CT.

Please share as widely as possible.

“Last night in the Senate, something really important happened. Republicans forced us to debate their billionaire bailout budget framework. We started voting at 6 PM because they knew doing it in the dark of night would minimize media coverage. And they do not want the American people to see how blatant their handover of our government to the billionaire class is.

So I want to explain what happened last night and what we did to fight back.

The apex of Republicans’ plan to turn over our government to their wealthy cronies is a giant tax cut for billionaires and corporations. And they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on. Popular and necessary programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, are all being targeted.

In order to pass the tax cut, Republicans have to go through a series of procedural steps. Last night, they took the first step which requires them to pass an outline of their plan, but with it, any senator can offer as many amendments as we want. So my Democratic colleagues and I did just that.

Now, we knew that Republicans would largely unanimously oppose them, but we had two objectives here. One, Republicans were forced to put their opinion on record — many for the first time — on the most corrupt parts of Trump and Musk’s agenda. Two, as I’ve been saying, I am going to make every process and procedure as slow and painful as possible for as long as my colleagues choose to ignore the constitutional crisis happening before our eyes.

So what did we propose? We proposed no tax cuts for anyone who makes a billion dollars a year. We made them vote on whether or not Elon Musk and DOGE should have limitless access to Americans’ personal data. We made them vote on whether to protect IVF and require insurers to cover it.

Every single amendment Democrats proposed was shot down. On almost every single amendment, Republicans universally opposed it. Every Republican voted against our proposal to prevent more tax cuts for billionaires.

The corruption and theft is happening in the open here. The whole game for Republicans is taking your money and giving it to the wealthiest corporations and billionaires — even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children.

They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh and by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice.

Thanks to your pressure and support, many of my Democratic colleagues have joined my effort to do everything we can to make sure they cannot destroy democracy and steal your money in the dark of the night. We are being loud about what is happening. I’m going to continue to grind the gears of Congress down as much as possible to make it that much harder and slower to get away with this corruption. That’s why the votes lasted until nearly 5 AM.

This is a five-alarm fire. I don’t think we have two years to plan and fight back. I think we have months. It’s still in our power to stop the destruction of our democracy with mass mobilization and effective opposition from elected officials.

So we can’t miss any opportunity to take advantage of opportunities to put Republicans on the record and shine a light on what is happening.

And you have a role to play in this as well. I need you to amplify what’s happening, support the leaders who are fighting for you to make sure they can continue speaking truth to power against Musk and Trump’s billionaire cronies, and show up at rallies and town halls. Use every tool at your disposal to send a message loud and clear about how you expect my colleagues to lead and fight in this moment.”

Every best wish,

Chris Murphy

Two Spot-On Assessments Of The USA's Present Status And What We Should Do About It

They are at the second stage of Curtis Yarvin's Butterfly Revolution: Three years ago Curtis Yarvin laid out his plan for Trump's second term: 

https://www.thenerdreich.com/reboot-elon-musk-ceo-dictator-doge/ 

We are at step two of what Yarvin called "The Butterfly Revolution:" 

• 1. Delegitimize Institutions - Undermine public trust in the courts, the press Congress, and any system that can challenge executive power. Convince supporters that these institutions are corrupt, biased, or controlled by enemies We've already seen this with attacks on the "Deep State," the "Fake News Media, and the idea that courts are "weaponized" against conservatives 

• 2. Ignore Constraints - Once people no longer trust institutions, start disregarding them. Court rulings become optional laws only apply when convenient, and legal norms are treated as obstacles to be worked around rather than followed. This is where we are now, with figures like J.D Vance floating the idea of ignoring court rulings and Trump's allies preparing to defy legal limits on power. 

• 3. Crush Opposition - When protests and resistance emerge, use force to suppress them. Invoke emergency powers like the Insurrection Act to justify mass arrests, detain dissidents, and deploy law enforcement or military units to control unrest. Project 2025 lays the groundwork for this, calling for the detention of protesters in the same sites as undocumented immigrants.

• 4. Establish Autocratic Rule - With opposition neutralized and institutions sidelined, consolidate power into a single executive authority. Elections may still exist, but they'll be hollow formalities The new system will be framed as "restoring order" or "returning to the true Constitution," even as real democracy ceases to function.

Jason Sawyer

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For most of my adult life, I worked as a journalist in this country and credibly, factually, told the public thousands of stories at the Detroit News, New York Daily News and as head writer for a TV show on ESPN. None of the stories I have ever written is more important than the one I am writing now. 

If you will indulge me a lack of brevity this one time, I will explain. 

It begins with the three times I realized that the safety and security we so prize here in the United States of America is an illusion. It's not and never was true. It doesn't exist. We only believed it did. 

The first time I realized it was in the aftermath of 9/11. After I witnessed the World Trade Center towers crumble before my eyes little more than a mile from my New York City apartment, authorities posted police with automatic weapons and huge American flags at the entrance to every bridge and tunnel in the city. We felt safe seeing those images, but each time I ventured through those tunnels and over those bridges, I had a question: 'What's stopping that truck in front of me from being laden down with fertilizer and explosives? Who knows what's in the trunk of every car in front and back of me?' We weren't safe at all. Terrorists just didn't decide to blow us all to hell. 

The second time I realized there is no such thing as safety and security came when Donald Trump promised building a wall at the Southern border to keep illegals out. I thought, 'Mexicans are renowned for building tunnels from Mexico directly to homes on the U.S. side in Texas and California to smuggle in people and drugs. How can a wall prevent that?' A wall could not make us safe at all. We only believed it could. 

The third time I realized safety and security is an illusion was on January 6th, 2021, when Donald Trump's MAGA supporters overran the United States Capitol - the seat of power of the US government - injuring law enforcement officers and defacing the offices of cowering, terrified duly elected lawmakers. The ease with which they penetrated our most sacred symbols of the rule of law and order in America showed me that if this could be done by only a few thousand mostly-unarmed citizens, there really is no such thing as safety and security in this country. We only believed there was. 

The final time I realized there is no safety and security in the United States of America has come in the last three weeks, or rather, since Donald Trump returned to The White House. Under the guise of weeding out corruption and with South African-born Elon Musk as the tip of the spear, Donald Trump and his Republican confederates have turned every facet of American government upside down, installed inexperienced and unqualified loyalists in positions of power in every sector of government and thrown thousands of hard-working Americans - many of whom voted for him - out into the streets. While stunned, outnumbered Democrats were frozen to inaction, Trump, through executive order, made laws, changed laws and ignored orders from courts to stop in his tracks. While those of us who opposed him screamed that his actions and those of Elon Musk were tantamount to creating a fascist government and a dictatorship, we were only partially right. 

See, people, Trump's dictatorship has already begun. It is HERE. It is NOW. 

For those who don't believe this is true, what we all missed while focusing on the flood of executive orders and bizarre musings of taking over the Gaza Strip, annexing Canada as the 51st state against their will, purchasing Greenland to rename it Red, White and Blueland and taking over the Panama Canal is this: Trump was merely testing the waters to see how much power and authority he truly had.

The final step in his plan will be to ignore any and all court challenges aimed at stopping him. What should be clear to you now is that there was really only one barrier to Donald Trump taking over this country and remaking it in his image: The fact that the only thing that has kept our democracy in place since it was written in 1787 is a piece of paper called the U.S. constitution. That constitution only works if our politicians RESPECT the power within, the rule of law. Donald Trump clearly does not respect the constitution as have all other United States presidents before him. Worse, without respect for the constitution and our laws, THERE IS NO AUTHORITY LEFT TO STOP HIM. There is no police force who can rein Trump in. There is no military to rein Trump in. There are no lawmakers or judges to rein Trump in. And soon, as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer declared recently during a speech at Miami Dade College, Donald Trump will refuse to comply with all orders of the court - and his takeover will be complete - for there is no authority remaining to police him. 

Like Sotomayer, the American Bar Association just released a statement declaring that, 'Trump is not following the rule of law.' Now, the reason why the ABA sounds like a kid screaming, 'Charlie hit me!' is because they’ve reached the conclusion that there is nothing they can do about Trump not following the rule of law. 

This has never happened before in the history of this country, but it IS happening now. Hey, America, hey World, you can call it a monarchy, or fascism or a totalitarian government or a dictatorship, but whatever you call it, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are the law of the land now. Don't believe me? The 1,500 January 6th rioters who were tried and convicted in federal courts? Trump freed them. On Day 1. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was brought up on corruption charges after a decade-long investigation? He cozied up to Trump, who ordered his Department of Justice to drop the charges. If that's not enough, I think Donald Trump has one more trick up his sleeve, as I predict he is being lobbied at this very moment to grant clemency to an old friend who has been accused of pedophilia, drugging and raping male and female victims, physically assaulting others and possibly sanctioning numerous murders over the past 30 years. So what, pray tell, will you say when Donald Trump pardons Sean Diddy Combs? 

The lyrics to that song you sang in grade school has changed, folks: This land is NOT your land. This land is NOT my land. NOT from California. NOT to the New York Islands. NOT from the Redwood Forest NOR to the Gulf of America waters This land belongs to Trump and E. 

In less than a month back in office, all of the checks and balances have been removed. Republicans control the house and the senate. Every cabinet pick Trump proposes will be confirmed. No decision he makes, whether it's instructing the Treasury Department to stop making the penny or bringing back the plastic straw, is being denied. While his supporters cheer his every move, they have yet to see the cost cuts Elon Musk and his team of hackers make under cover of darkness are hurting American farmers, American workers and those in the poorest red states in the country who voted for him. For them, and us, it's already too late to realize it's too late. If you saw Musk recently in the oval office with his young son holding court while Trump sat idly by, you should have realized the richest man in the world controls the supposed most powerful man in the world. Only Elon Musk is holding Elon Musk accountable and Trump - who is likely paying Musk back for whatever he did to help him take the 2024 election - is allowing it to happen. 

As you read these words, it is likely that Elon Musk has already had his hackers place back doors into every major computer system across the US government, which gives him the power to shut down any program he chooses at any time on an app while sitting in the driver's seat of his Tesla. For those in the back or in the nosebleed section or under a rock, let me say it again: Elon Musk and Donald Trump are the law of the land. Today. Right now. The United States of America is no longer a democracy. We are now a dictatorship. 

In closing, let me say that I don't believe in presenting problems without offering solutions. There IS something we can do to fight this takeover and resist this bloodless coup that has stripped away the sense of freedom we have known all of our lives - but it will require of us a resolve and action most of us have never known or shown. It will require us to unite, fight, stand up, risk our lives and our liberty - because one thing dictators have never fully understood is that THE PEOPLE truly are the power. 

Think of it this way: if we don't want the price of an automobile in America to be $50,000, well, if nobody buys those cars, there won't be a $50,000 car in America. With that in mind, should Elon Musk and Donald Trump try to dump hundreds of thousands of federal employees out into the streets, simply refuse to leave. If forced from your offices, show up to work en masse the next day - and every day after - and make sure NOBODY goes into those offices. If Trump's new Department of Defense head Pete Hegseth makes a demand of the 3.5 million workers he now oversees, what can he possibly do if they disobey in the name of American democracy? The same goes for new national security director Tulsi Gabbard, who has never worked in security or run a department of ANY kind. The same goes for new secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, new Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. - or any other Trump appointee. None of these figureheads - not even Trump himself - can do anything without our complicity. 

Lastly, this battle is only just beginning. You must protect your physical and mental well-being. You don't have the time or energy to fight meaningless squabbles on social media against Trump's MAGA sycophants who believe every narrative they sell. No matter if they are friends or family or casual acquaintances on social media, SILENCE THEIR VOICES and influence. Block, snooze, delete or ignore them. For me, the purge begins TODAY! I’d love to tell the people going away that it isn’t personal, but their blind belief system is a direct threat to me, my friends, family, neighbors, fellow Americans, Canadians, Palestinians, and, well, you get the picture. Trust what your eyes and ears are telling you. Hope that they will catch up and join our fight against this power virus threatening our country and the world. Lastly, remember the words of philosopher Bertrand Russell, who said roughly this of how fascism begins: 'First they fascinate the fools. Then they muzzle the intelligent.' If you've gotten this far, it's because you're not a fool. We got here because all of our lives we believed in that concept devised by our founding fathers of "We The People." Well, the only way out from under the megalomania of Donald Trump, Elon Musk and their collaborators is to make every day January 6th. If you feel so moved, please share my post. If not, please act in some way. We need all hands on deck. If we want our democracy back, starting today, starting now, we must BE THE PEOPLE.

Michael James

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Authoritarianism: Two Podcast Episodes To Help In Better Understanding

"Authoritarianism and autocracies take many forms. So how do you know it when you see it? Our guide to the erosion of choice, rights, truth and power is Anne Applebaum, author of several books including, most recently, Autocracy, Inc."

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-authoritarianism/id1195657423?i=1000679860773

"We’re in strange times. In the U.S., we’re finding ourselves in a situation in which the possibility of genuine democratic retrenchment and some version of presidential authoritarian dictatorship is a real possibility. There’s a lot to consider as the liberal democracy we’ve become accustomed to could erode right before our eyes in the near future. Steve Levitsky is a professor of government at Harvard and serves as the director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies. Levitsky is also a New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including, “How Democracies Die” and “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” which he co-authored with Daniel Ziblatt. He joins WITHpod to discuss entering into a new era, the uncertainty of this moment, the process by which a democracy might backslide into something that's less democratic and resisting the erosion."

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-democratic-backsliding-happens-with-steve-levitsky/id1382983397?i=1000679858361 

The Republican Party: From Greatness To A Traitor Dictator

"Something seriously troubling has happened to the Republican Party. It’s become filled with wacko candidates for office who are being supported by large percentages of Republican voters.

"The trend started in the 1980s with Rush Limbaugh’s radio program, which attracted a wide audience with a toxic mixture of lies, conspiracy theories, fear-mongering, and thinly veiled racism.

"It accelerated in 1996 when Rupert Murdoch hired Roger Ailes to emulate Limbaugh with a new TV channel, Fox News. Additional media imitators followed.

"The growing supply of this poison offered the (predominantly) white working-class an easy explanation for why the wages and status of many blue-collar men had hit the skids: They could blame immigrants, Black people, Latinos, “coastal elites,” government bureaucrats, pedophiles, women, secularists, Muslims, liberals, Democrats, and Satan."

Click on the link below for a brief history of the failure of one of the two major US political parties:

How did the GOP become the party of cranks and crackpots?

Do Not Doubt It: Trump Wins, The USA Will Be A Dictatorship

 Following is a good sample of information clearly supporting the title of this post:

10 Ways Trump Is Becoming a Dictator (from the 2020 election period)

Could a Trump dictatorship be resisted?

Trump’s grand plans for the federal bureaucracy

Trump to have unprecedented power if he wins the White House

What a Trump Dictatorship might look like

This Is How Trump Becomes a Dictator

15 times Donald Trump praised authoritarian rulers

Trump is Plotting to Make Himself Dictator

Trump's Recipe for a Shockingly Raw Power Grab

Attacks On Education: The Base Of Dictatorships

"With democracy under threat around the world, author Jason Stanley warns that the fundamental danger lies closer to home: in the schools. In his latest book, the American philosopher argues that attacks on education empower authoritarian regimes by reshaping our understanding of the past. Stanley joins the show to discuss."

Click on the link below for the history of dictatorships in recent decades:

Russia, Nazi Germany, MAGA: The Dangers of Weaponizing History and Education

A Sober Look At The USA On The Celebration Of Its Birth

"While Americans grill burgers and hot dogs, enjoy a dip in the pool, and await the annual July Fourth fireworks display, I remain happily surprised that this day of communal patriotism is still widely accepted and generally celebrated," Lewis argues. "To be blunt, it feels like the country is coming apart at the seams and lacking some shared purpose. And I'm not alone in feeling this way." Click on the link > (America is 'coming apart at the seams' as the 'nationalist' far right goes full 'authoritarian': conservative)

History, Authority, Expert, And Growing Up

History: the study of past events.

Authority: the power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior.

Expert: a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.

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Human history began in ignorance, violence, and within small nomadic groups. As time progressed, humans became more organized and settled but ignorance and authoritarian control persisted. Democratic ideas evolved out of Greece but humanity at large was still ignorant of reality and under authoritarian control. Organized religion sprouted from persistent human ignorance of reality in attempts to explain the unexplainable, as well as to reinforce authoritarian control and to provide some comfort. Eventually, only a few hundred years ago, modern science and the Industrial Revolution sprouted. These phenomena exponentially expanded human knowledge, progress, and well-being. Democracy became a reality and knowledge expanded to the point where it caused the founding of institutions dedicated to creating expertise in specialized areas. 

The above growth in freedom, knowledge, and understanding of reality can be viewed as being analogous to a child growing up. However, there is a major immaturity from our ignorant and superstitious past holding humanity back and it is religion. Ironically, the most prominent religion has the following teaching but can't accept it as a reality:

• "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." ~ I Corinthians

ISN'T IT MORE THAN TIME FOR HUMANITY TO GROW UP?

 

Parental Rights And Responsibilities

There is a great deal of discussion, and disagreement, regarding parental rights and responsibilities in the political environment of the USA presently. While most legal sources agree that the parents are the prime sources of proper nurturing and protection of the child, they also agree that outside resources are necessary to aid in achieving the goal of a happy, healthy, and well-educated child. After all, the parent is not the "owner" of the child (and neither is the state). 

With that said, what happens when parents do not meet their responsibilities in child-rearing? There is little societal disagreement regarding not tolerating physical (exception: corporal punishment) or emotional abuse, and/or failure to provide food, clothing, and shelter. However, the areas of health and education can present situations ripe for disagreement, especially if one's ideology is based on claims unsupported by evidence:

• Health: circumcision? vaccinations? birth-control? hormone replacement therapy? gender reassignment surgery? abortion? alternatives to medicine?
• Education: religious indoctrination? secular morality? evolution, and other sciences? history (of racism, inequality,  colonialism, genocide, wars, greed, authoritarianism, individualism, communism, socialism, democracy, republicanism, tribalism, capitalism)?

What to do with all of this?

Economic Distress Can Lead To Fascism

"Today we take a look at the disruptions to society that can unfold in times of economic distress such as high inflation, price gouging, wage stagnation, and income inequality as well as some policy ideas for turning things around."

Click on the link below for an in-depth look at the dangers awaiting all democratic societies if authoritarianism isn't destroyed:

Mismanaging Capitalism Can Lead to Fascism