The Historical Cycle of Empires

Random rantings on politics, corruption, the pitfalls of racial dynamics, and American laziness: As the fissures in the economic empire continue to be exposed, the question arises as to if it is an appropriate time to assemble my fearsome hordes and purge the present social order in lakes of fire and streams of blood. Given the magnitude of the greed and corruption being exposed in both the private and public sectors of our society, the opportunity for social reorganization is approaching. Despite that fact, things have not yet deteriorated enough through all segments of the populace to fully enable transformation on the scale necessary to make a difference. People think that the coming election is so critical to the future of the nation. Hah! Complete fallacy because no matter which candidate wins they will not be able to effect the necessary change to address the fundamental issues. McCain is past his prime and would be completely hamstrung by opposition from the reactionary politics of the fascist conservative right and the vitriolic mania of the misguided political correctness of the far left. Obama's vision of change sounds good but it will likely amount to a bunch of nothing because of some realities that will limit his effectiveness. Some overtly racist elements of the existing system will simply not cooperate and will hole up in a bunker mentality to protect their privileged positions against any hint of social reorganization in terms of class/race/etc.... Despite Obama's purported vision for a post-racial dynamic in politics, the elements of society that apply racial dynamics to everything in the name of political correctness will be disappointed that Obama's election will not have fundamentally changed much of anything. Obama might well become the first minority president, but if he gets the position he will be forced to pursue moderate policies on account of the fact that the drastic changes necessary to fully address the situation will be extremely controversial and risky. Racial political concerns and the risk of too rapid a social transformation will force Obama to take a safe course on most issues. I contend the first minority president, due to racial concerns, will not be allowed by the powers that be to take risks that might risk the legacy associated with the first minority presidency. Image will supersede substance because of the present dynamics surrounding racism and racial politics in this country. Conveniently or insidiously, depending on your view, the present financial crisis provides a built in justification for limiting the pragmatic application of any real policy of change. There isn't any money left in the system to embark on large scale social transformations of any type - public sector or private sector. The industrial capacity of the nation is too much in ruins to adopt a modern version of a New Deal system, the population no longer has the industrial training, discipline, or scientific skill to produce manufactured goods or effectively rebuild infrastructure, the populace is too lazy and mollified to work through the difficult times in a meaningful way. People can no longer tolerate hard work and boredom as they demand instant gratification and entertainment. Difficult times are needed to retrain and cleanse our worthless society through suffering and despair. Only then will expectations be lowered to a point where the simple pleasures of life can be enjoyed. While this will likely happen over many years, it will not happen quickly. The present population of whack job conservatives and idiotic liberals must die off or be killed off to allow the proper change in society to occur. It will take a long time and US imperial power will continue to erode. By the time it is done, most people will be worse off anyway. Either McCain or Obama will preside over this continued deterioration as the empire falls and they will be attached to this decline. It's happened many times before, and it will happen many times in the future. At some point the system will fall enough for this empire to be overthrown by ravaging hordes, but I might be on my deathbed by the time the carnage ensues - we'll see. Forgive the incoherence of this rant. Have a nice day!