This country doesn't even make sense to me any more. Can anyone help me?

[begin_within]

The socitey we live in in the U.S. doesn't seem to even have a shape or order or meaning, to me. At least compared to other, smaller societies around the world which are far more easy to grasp and explain. The minute you figure out some aspect of of American society, then you realize there's something behind that that you didn't take into account, then when you work that into it, you realize again that there's another aspect behind that which changes everything... Does anyone have a grip on what American society is about, or how it works at all? Or is it really just a chaotic whirlpool of random energy charges with no interrelation at all?
Thanks

[MissWaverly]

1. It's about spin and blame

but I think that is changing, read the Bush haters handbook by Jack Huberman, Bush was elected in 2000 with the most money of any
presidential candidate, 100 million in hard money, 93 million in soft. From day 1, he initiated a policy course that was not supported by 70% of the American people. That is why everybody is so alienated now. The Dems are picking and choosing their battles right now since they still do not have a veto proof minority in the Congress right now. I think Bushco is more interested in making political hay out of this war than in winning it or helping the Iraqi people and then there's the benchmark of giving US oil companies a controlling interest in Iraq's oil. Even after 9-11, he nixed requests for beefing up our security, in favor of
keeping his trillion plus tax breaks for the wealthy.

[wildhorses]

2. the lack of sincere and honest conversation

human touch is politcally incorrect
forgiveness has been forgotten
communication is a soundbyte
tolerance is no longer tolerated

and on, and on, and on.

amen

[bemildred]

3. All I can say is it sure reminds me of the 1970s.

I go around feeling half sick all the time because I remember what this sort of rotten leadership does to the country, and is doing to the country, and I don't see any reason to think it's going to get better soon.

[Nimrod2005]

4. I am not sure of it is one word or two

Cluster-Fuck!

[wildhorses]

6. or perhaps ---

circle-jerk :shrug:

[L. Coyote]

5. Read GORE's Assault on Reason, turn off your T-V, eat more carrots, and

start working on someone's campaign. Pick a "Culture of Corruption" player to oust.

Oh, the carrots. To see thru the BS better. :rofl:

And, please add a scandal here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x899312

I know I've missed a few.

[The River]

7. Read a Few Joe Bageant Essays

America has become a media driven holographic simulation of what
we think it is/was.
The essays are on the left side of the page.
Reader replys in the center
http://www.joebageant.com/joe/

[Wiley50]

10. I spent the night at joe bageant's house last night

and we had long conversations both last night and this morning
about these very issues. I got to flip through an unproofed paperback copy of "Deerhunting with Jesus"
The hardbacks should be in any day and he's mailing me a couple of copies as soon as he gets them.

Joe is looking so much better since he spent Jan-April in Belize and
hates to have to come back to promote the book. He can't wait to get it all done so he can go
back down to his blue mango tree

Release date is June 16th and he's got a whole slew of radio, internet and TV appearances
coming up.

Sure was great to spend some time with he and Barb again

[Karenina]

18. Next time you see him

tell him he'd got a fan on the other side of the Big Pond! LOVES ME SOME JB!

[Wiley50]

21. Will Do.

He's got lots of fans over there. Sometimes I think you appreciate him more
over there than folks do here. Hope that will change

[kenny blankenship]

8. Sure it has a shape.

It's just not a single contiguous figure. Notice the disconnect between the base and the apex? That's a permanent feature designed in from the beginning.
It's SUPPOSED to be mysterious! You couldn't confuse people into numb submission if the shape of things were crystal clear and self-evident. They have to be tricked.

[pscot]

9. I sure don't recognize

the country I grew up in. The Boomers have remade the place in their own image. It's not a very attractive picture. Seems to be mainly about marketing, whatever that is. And stuff. Stuff is really important.

[Swamp Rat]

11. Yes, 'property' and 'owner's rights'

if you don't own anything significant, you are NOBODY and have NO RIGHTS.

[LWolf]

12. I can't come up with an answer.

I don't think the nation as an entity has ever made sense to me. It's always about ideals that reality don't meet; about expounding on the ideals while cynically smirking at them at the same time.

It's about empire. Manifest destiny. Growth, money, power, greed, competition. Shopping, spending, status. Getting ahead at the expense of those left behind. Lies, propaganda, nationalism.

If our country were about reaching for, and grasping the highest ideals that humans can aspire to, rather than the lowest common denominator, it would make more sense to me.

I was born in 1960. I grew up in the age of the civil rights movement, the viet nam war, watergate, bob dylan, joan baez, pete seeger, arlo guthrie, the beatles, women's "liberation," and more. Powerful ideals. It was a long time before I realized that those ideals did not come forward with the nation as she moved forward in time; that perhaps those idealists I was raised by and among were always a small minority.

I don't think I've ever really "fit" the shape or order of the nation, unless I was supposed to live out life as one of the working poor exploited for others' gain.

[begin_within]

24. Same year I was born. March 3, 1960. It seems like a far different place now.

It seems more like a third-world country now, and I think that started with Reagan. Ideals are gone and everything is about just getting what you want for yourself and to hell with anyone else. We've become a nation of strangers, of "bubble people" that arent aware of anything that is happening outside a 6-foot radius of ourselves. And I think this is by design of the right-wing ruling class - to erode away and eliminate the conept of social ideals completely, and turn it into merely a "free-for-all" where self-interest is the only motivation for anything that happens.

[LWolf]

35. I'm 31 days younger than you,

and I agree. The Reagan era ushered in a new mentality that has diminished our culture in many ways.

[welshTerrier2]

31. idealists are not a small minority

we are everywhere ... just as one example, i go to folk music concerts where the energy, the values, the desire for greater meaning and less materialism, it's all there ... it flows through everyone ... there are great forces at work carefully fragmenting our society ... with an overlay of desperate capitalism, it's hard to look beyond the "every man for himself" mentality ... money is pure poison ...

but fear not ... we are all out here ... planning, plotting, seeking a path to return ... we know that what has been built is bankrupt and we know there is more to life than what is possible today ... be patient ... find the others ... work for change in your own way ...

here are the lyrics to a song your post brought to mind:

Brother Warrior by Kate Wolf

Gentle warrior, with your heart like gold and a rainbow in your eyes
Brave companion, do you see a world shining in the sky ?
With your body dancing like an arrow, spreading joy beneath your feet,
And your hands that wave like tall grass in the wind as you speak.
With the shyness of a small child and the wisdom of a sage,
I tell you now, there is no reason to be afraid.

Brother warrior, there are none of us who walk this path alone.
Spirit healer, it's the only life that we have ever known.
I see your smile in the sunlight, I hear your songs in the rain,
I hold you here inside me, I feel your love, and know your pain.
At this time when the earth is waking to the dawn of another age
I tell you now, there is no reason to be afraid.

We are crying for a vision that all living things can share
And those who care are with us everywhere.

[LWolf]

36. That is beautiful,

and uplifting. Thank you.

[applegrove]

13. The cold war left you hyper afraid of socialism and thus against the good that comes

from some government programs where the market fails .. like health care. So your poor are even poorer. And being the biggest market in the world for a time..your rich..richer. The powers that be made deals and got organized to make there lot better. Everyone does that. A very narrow group of rich people won in your country. And away we go with a rolling stockmarket which is due in part to this war. And that convinced the other rich people for a bit.

Nothing fundamentally evil about you all. You are just unlucky for now. Bad utopians run the show today. The sun will shine again. When the adults get back into power and everyone realizes they have to sacrifice at least something to be part of a democracy or they will end up looking like the countries in the Middle East...where people have not yet learnt to sacrifice for the common good and a narrow group of leadership gets all the rewards.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

14. Nope. I got nothin'

[blues90]

15. It never made sense to me , never all

I know is to succeed you must put on a front and be someone you are not and play the games . Be a good bullshitter and salesman and laugh at what is not funny to you .

What sort of life is this , certainly it was never for me . All I ever wanted to do is make enough money to get through life and have a small home and play my guitar and be with my wife . that's all .

I have never had success because I cannot play the games or pretend to like people or agree when it is against my being .

I was watching tv today for the first time in years , I must say the adds were startling and surreal , I fully realize these are all actors and corps looking to sell you some thing , in every case i asked myself , would I want to know or be around these people with their false sense of reality and in each case the answer was HELL NO !

It's not reality , it's not hopeful and it's not where I belong , not anymore .

I see this war machine and the political sell out and I can hardly breath yet it continues to become worse and worse with no way out in sight .

This is not like the 50's or 60's or 70's skip the 80's and the 90's was a small glimps of a hope and then the 21st century came to be and now I feel we are finally and truely fucked .

[FreeStateDemocrat]

16. This country is all about GREED,

[Disturbed]

17. There are many books that help with understanding.

Go to the non-fiction area of DU and you will find a lot of them. Short articles and sound bytes are not adequate. America is in great peril.

[KoKo]

19. Maybe...we are just Redefining what it MEANS to be an American

now that the MSM is defining us as just part of a GLOBALIST COG in a BIG WHEEL!

Once we separate ourselves from the Corporate Media and how THEY are defining us...maybe we can make some sense of it. But, how does one define oneself without the Mainstream Corporate Network/Cable doing it for us?

I don't know. But, we should try...some of us who can do it..should try. :shrug:

[UTUSN]

20. This country *always* makes sense, YOU have to WORK at fixing it n/t

[leftofthedial]

22. more like a cesspool than a whirlpool

money is chasing more money in a spiral. At the bottom of the spiral is the hole in the bottom of the cosmic toilet.

[sanskritwarrior]

23. You said a lot without saying anything.

Could I get some specifics please?

[begin_within]

26. Who has the power? What are the prevailing principles this society runs by?

What is at least one point of reference that is grounded in truth or reality?

[sanskritwarrior]

34. Again you are using words, but not telling me anything

examples, please.......

[bbgrunt]

25. did it ever?

[begin_within]

30. It kind of worked when I was growing up - while in the background, there was tumultuous

conflict - race riots, protests over the Vietnam war, rapid social change - while the immediate little suburban society in southern California I lived in still operated based on predictable and understandable principles.

[bbgrunt]

32. well, perhaps it is your

awareness of the insanity that has increased since then, rather than the level of insanity. That is probably a good thing--not a comfortable thing, but a generally good thing.

[bbgrunt]

33. check out this 1978 dylan tune:

Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)

First Release
Street Legal
Street Legal
1978


Senor, senor, do you know where we're headin'?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before.
Is there any truth in that, senor?

Senor, senor, do you know where she is hidin'?
How long are we gonna be ridin'?
How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door?
Will there be any comfort there, senor?

There's a wicked wind still blowin' on that upper deck,
There's an iron cross still hanging down from around her neck.
There's a marchin' band still playin' in that vacant lot
Where she held me in her arms one time and said, "Forget me not."

Senor, senor, I can see that painted wagon,
I can smell the tail of the dragon.
Can't stand the suspense anymore.
Can you tell me who to contact here, senor?

Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field.
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
Said, "Son, this ain't a dream no more, it's the real thing."

Senor, senor, you know their hearts is as hard as leather.
Well, give me a minute, let me get it together.
I just gotta pick myself up off the floor.
I'm ready when you are, senor.

Senor, senor, let's disconnect these cables,
Overturn these tables.
This place don't make sense to me no more.
Can you tell me what we're waiting for, senor?

[StarryNite]

27. We're in the Twilight Zone

If you look closely you can see Rod standing over there, cigarette in hand.

[cigsandcoffee]

28. American society is whatever you want it to be.

Want a fast paced life with hip friends and lots of culture? Live in a large metropolitian city. Want something quiet and rural with time to stop and smell the roses? We've got that too. Something inbetween? No problem.

One of the benefits of America is that it's large and diverse enough so that a person can live just about any kind of life they want, at least in terms of friends and culture.

[upi402]

29. Nope, can't help

No clue here OP