I’m in full agreement Bill and I think you’ve landed on one of the keys to the ultimate defeat of Donald Trump politically. Your essay should be produced as a TV ad complete with the original people or their friends and this ad should run on a continuous loop in the red and the blue states for weeks. We need to emphasize real effects on people, even if there are people we don’t like. Walking someone else’s shoes, if only briefly, and maybe some empathy will spring. Could lower the temperature on the blazing hot cultural divide. Well done.
Excellent essay depicting our predicament. There are so many interacting negative challenges for all but the wealthy in this country.
Cynicism is ingrained in our culture; it helps sell products for our entertainment industry.
The 2008 financial scandals had a Democratic administration. No one went to jail; Obama made the head of Goldman Sach’s the Sec. of Treasury to save the banks with citizens left hanging on.
The neoliberal democratic machine was never intended to help society except by trickle down.
We have made a few trips recently, to New Zealand and Singapore. The striking difference is the seeming « we » of the people. Fear seems absent, in large part because of social safety nets.
Our society as you illustrate is based on « me », and selfish. This is by intent, else why are we as we are, when other societies have better lives…?
The MSM keep telling the stories of greed and cynicism and struggling people cope and hope and vote for propaganda.
This national sickness has metastasized over generations. We never stopped fighting the Civil War.
We had one of those "crazy mortgages" in Maine in 2005. 1% interest for a year then 2% plus Libor from there. One nutty part was that the agreement didn't require full payment each month. Whatever you didn't pay was added to the principle!
The "broker" didn't have to be licensed in Maine. We sat at the kitchen table, gave our Social Security numbers and he said, I'll get back to you. "Don't you want our stats? Assets, income???"
He said "Nope, I'll fill all that in so it will work for us." It was called a "Stated income, no doc mortgage". Within a few weeks we had bought a new property that would be a small business without establishing any ability to pay. WE knew what we were getting into and were using it as a bridge loan. Within a few months we had sold another property and paid off this abomination.
But how many other people were sucked into loans that they never understood? Too many, of course. How many of these brokers were held accountable? None.
Re: "The striking difference is the seeming « we » of the people. Fear seems absent, in large part because of social safety nets." Yes, as in Finland where taxes are very high and the people are just fine with it because they know that their healthcare and education are covered. They are among the happiest in the world. Americans are failures at learning what works well in other countries. With all the communication tools to learn almost anything we want, we still live in darkness. Listening to lies from the Oligarchs.
To amplify a bit, Tim Geithner was also an admitted tax dodger who was put in charge of the "accountability" of the bankers who tanked the economy in 2008 and went on to bigger bonuses and higher salaries. At least one of the challenges the Democrats face is that they are every bit as culpable for the current situation as the Republicans, they just have a better current facade built. The current party would like us all to forget that Byrd and Thurmond, among others, were Democrats in good standing while they were high ranking officers in the Ku Klux Klan and burning crosses when they went on recess. There was at least as much opposition in 1960 to electing a "Papist" as President as there was to electing a member of the upper economic class.
"Fear seems absent, in large part because of social safety nets." Excellent point - it's the same in most (if not all) European countries. Why are Americans forced to struggle with some of the highest health care costs in the world? Why is a social safety net portrayed as "socialism" by so many U.S. leaders?
My sense of it is that the Oligarchs want to keep everything and make everything "privatized" - to keep the profits flowing to the rich. Medicare operates at an overhead cost of about 4%. Private insurers fetch 20% or more. That 16% comes out of our pockets! Why are there PBMs that set pharmacy and insurance reimbursement prices for drugs we depend on to stay alive? Why is the Covid drug Paxlovid $1000 in 2025 when it was covered by insurance at almost no cost to us in 2024? This is not capitalism. This is kleptocracy.
Perhaps it is long overdue for our leaders to say that for SOME things like healthcare, education, prison management, utilities are BETTER if socialized. That doesn't suggest that the government should run the means of manufacturing or all services. Just the basic ones that are HUMAN RIGHTS.
Hey Capitalists: make your money building phones and planes. But keep your grubby hands off my hospital and stop making the lives of doctors and nurses a living Hellscape.
I use the argument - that Medicare Advantage plans are only an advantage for the insurance companies - every time I run into a neighbor who says they have one and are happy with it. The insurance industry does not invest in things that do not have a high rate of return, and they learned long ago that the Medicare teat could be easily suckled. IBM switched from BlueCross to United Healthcare for its employee insurance one year; the UHC president got a $30M bonus. IBM switched back the very next year. IBM's president was only getting $20M/yr at that time, as I recall.
Great piece of work Bill, and a heart-rending story that is all too common and becoming more so. Your recognition of Jess Piper is also spot on and the Every State Blue idea is spreading thanks to her and Michele Harnish. "Forgotten Democrats" in mostly Republican states won't be forgotten much longer if we all work together and that's the only way we'll get through this mess.
Your essay is spot on. We all want the same things in the end, but we can't seem to bridge the gap. The link for the article your wife found is broken!
Bill, thank you, for putting the current situation in which many Americans find themselves into a relatable story. Speaking with my dental hygienist the other day, and mentioning the affect of the tariffs, I found she had no idea what tariffs were. She and her police officer husband are T**** supporters. She has no idea that her job is due, in part, to the social safety nets that her vote is helping to unravel. No idea of the connection. I'm in a blue area in MA, but even here, one third of the votes in the 2024 election were for T****.
Bill, thinking about your excellent essay all day:
The choices made by and upon your storied family reminds me of the dialog in « The Grand Inquisitor « by Dostoevsky. The desired freedoms but ignoring responsibilities.
Thank you. I had to dig. This from Wiki. The parallels are chilling.
"The Inquisitor says that under him, all mankind will live and die happily in ignorance. Though he leads them only to "death and destruction", they will be happy along the way, for he and his representatives in the church will relieve them of the terrible burden of freedom of conscience: "The most agonizing secrets of their consciences – all, all will they bring to us, and we shall resolve it all, and they will attend our decision with joy, because it will deliver them from the great anxiety and fearsome torments of free and individual decision."
I’m in full agreement Bill and I think you’ve landed on one of the keys to the ultimate defeat of Donald Trump politically. Your essay should be produced as a TV ad complete with the original people or their friends and this ad should run on a continuous loop in the red and the blue states for weeks. We need to emphasize real effects on people, even if there are people we don’t like. Walking someone else’s shoes, if only briefly, and maybe some empathy will spring. Could lower the temperature on the blazing hot cultural divide. Well done.
Excellent essay depicting our predicament. There are so many interacting negative challenges for all but the wealthy in this country.
Cynicism is ingrained in our culture; it helps sell products for our entertainment industry.
The 2008 financial scandals had a Democratic administration. No one went to jail; Obama made the head of Goldman Sach’s the Sec. of Treasury to save the banks with citizens left hanging on.
The neoliberal democratic machine was never intended to help society except by trickle down.
We have made a few trips recently, to New Zealand and Singapore. The striking difference is the seeming « we » of the people. Fear seems absent, in large part because of social safety nets.
Our society as you illustrate is based on « me », and selfish. This is by intent, else why are we as we are, when other societies have better lives…?
The MSM keep telling the stories of greed and cynicism and struggling people cope and hope and vote for propaganda.
This national sickness has metastasized over generations. We never stopped fighting the Civil War.
This essay from France today, fits the narrative. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/03/16/trump-s-war-on-science-is-the-terminal-phase-of-a-long-illness-whose-early-signs-were-ignored_6739209_23.html
Well said.
We had one of those "crazy mortgages" in Maine in 2005. 1% interest for a year then 2% plus Libor from there. One nutty part was that the agreement didn't require full payment each month. Whatever you didn't pay was added to the principle!
The "broker" didn't have to be licensed in Maine. We sat at the kitchen table, gave our Social Security numbers and he said, I'll get back to you. "Don't you want our stats? Assets, income???"
He said "Nope, I'll fill all that in so it will work for us." It was called a "Stated income, no doc mortgage". Within a few weeks we had bought a new property that would be a small business without establishing any ability to pay. WE knew what we were getting into and were using it as a bridge loan. Within a few months we had sold another property and paid off this abomination.
But how many other people were sucked into loans that they never understood? Too many, of course. How many of these brokers were held accountable? None.
Re: "The striking difference is the seeming « we » of the people. Fear seems absent, in large part because of social safety nets." Yes, as in Finland where taxes are very high and the people are just fine with it because they know that their healthcare and education are covered. They are among the happiest in the world. Americans are failures at learning what works well in other countries. With all the communication tools to learn almost anything we want, we still live in darkness. Listening to lies from the Oligarchs.
To amplify a bit, Tim Geithner was also an admitted tax dodger who was put in charge of the "accountability" of the bankers who tanked the economy in 2008 and went on to bigger bonuses and higher salaries. At least one of the challenges the Democrats face is that they are every bit as culpable for the current situation as the Republicans, they just have a better current facade built. The current party would like us all to forget that Byrd and Thurmond, among others, were Democrats in good standing while they were high ranking officers in the Ku Klux Klan and burning crosses when they went on recess. There was at least as much opposition in 1960 to electing a "Papist" as President as there was to electing a member of the upper economic class.
"Fear seems absent, in large part because of social safety nets." Excellent point - it's the same in most (if not all) European countries. Why are Americans forced to struggle with some of the highest health care costs in the world? Why is a social safety net portrayed as "socialism" by so many U.S. leaders?
Good questions.
My sense of it is that the Oligarchs want to keep everything and make everything "privatized" - to keep the profits flowing to the rich. Medicare operates at an overhead cost of about 4%. Private insurers fetch 20% or more. That 16% comes out of our pockets! Why are there PBMs that set pharmacy and insurance reimbursement prices for drugs we depend on to stay alive? Why is the Covid drug Paxlovid $1000 in 2025 when it was covered by insurance at almost no cost to us in 2024? This is not capitalism. This is kleptocracy.
Perhaps it is long overdue for our leaders to say that for SOME things like healthcare, education, prison management, utilities are BETTER if socialized. That doesn't suggest that the government should run the means of manufacturing or all services. Just the basic ones that are HUMAN RIGHTS.
Hey Capitalists: make your money building phones and planes. But keep your grubby hands off my hospital and stop making the lives of doctors and nurses a living Hellscape.
I use the argument - that Medicare Advantage plans are only an advantage for the insurance companies - every time I run into a neighbor who says they have one and are happy with it. The insurance industry does not invest in things that do not have a high rate of return, and they learned long ago that the Medicare teat could be easily suckled. IBM switched from BlueCross to United Healthcare for its employee insurance one year; the UHC president got a $30M bonus. IBM switched back the very next year. IBM's president was only getting $20M/yr at that time, as I recall.
Great piece of work Bill, and a heart-rending story that is all too common and becoming more so. Your recognition of Jess Piper is also spot on and the Every State Blue idea is spreading thanks to her and Michele Harnish. "Forgotten Democrats" in mostly Republican states won't be forgotten much longer if we all work together and that's the only way we'll get through this mess.
Your essay is spot on. We all want the same things in the end, but we can't seem to bridge the gap. The link for the article your wife found is broken!
Thank you! Now corrected. Here is the article.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/3/13/IOP-forum-Putnam-Democracy/
Bill,
I am grateful to receive and ponder
your insightful highly valuable essay.
Soooo constructive
Deborah
Bill, thank you, for putting the current situation in which many Americans find themselves into a relatable story. Speaking with my dental hygienist the other day, and mentioning the affect of the tariffs, I found she had no idea what tariffs were. She and her police officer husband are T**** supporters. She has no idea that her job is due, in part, to the social safety nets that her vote is helping to unravel. No idea of the connection. I'm in a blue area in MA, but even here, one third of the votes in the 2024 election were for T****.
Bill, thinking about your excellent essay all day:
The choices made by and upon your storied family reminds me of the dialog in « The Grand Inquisitor « by Dostoevsky. The desired freedoms but ignoring responsibilities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Inquisitor
Best regards
Thank you. I had to dig. This from Wiki. The parallels are chilling.
"The Inquisitor says that under him, all mankind will live and die happily in ignorance. Though he leads them only to "death and destruction", they will be happy along the way, for he and his representatives in the church will relieve them of the terrible burden of freedom of conscience: "The most agonizing secrets of their consciences – all, all will they bring to us, and we shall resolve it all, and they will attend our decision with joy, because it will deliver them from the great anxiety and fearsome torments of free and individual decision."