redblack
welcome, PLS. good commentary, and i largely agree.
one part of your post caught my eye, and i think it’s at the crux of the matter here:
Russia and China, while antagonistic, do not create a clear and present enough danger to generate the overarching internal bond necessary to ignore our country’s political divisions.
as i see it, trump is correct regarding trade. laissez-faire economics has gutted our country’s manufacturing sectors. reaganomics removed tariffs and allowed american corporations to globalize, ignore labor rights in third-world countries, avoid or evade american taxation, skirt our environmental laws, etc., etc.
now, in order for the average american to agree with those assertions, he/she has to admit that reducing taxes on the wealthiest americans and their banks, hedge funds, and corporations is at direct odds with their own self interest.
now what?
i’m sorry, but as long as they keep telling me i’m a socialist and won’t believe that i don’t want big government to own the means of production and distribution, we’re going to fight. that is the argument of the 1% that owns everything, and they’re using the uninformed working poor to carry that argument for them. because they, the top income earners, don’t have “the numbers,” they buy media and control the debate and its terms.
funny how a little phrase like “progressive taxation” brings out red scare tactics, ain’t it?