What we are discussing is a feature, not a bug. Cjm @ 13 correctly points out that things are far different now from the Carter years. Back then we were only at day 24 of the 30 day lily pad paradigm discussed in an earlier thread. Reagan could win us 25 more years because we were farther away from day 29.
I don’t know whether we are in day 27, or 28, or 29 but the clock is ticking and our resources, of all sorts, are either in a state of decline or decay. There I agree with Agoraphobic Plumber @ 19. Even back in the Carter years the father of a good friend pointed out that in the crisis of his era – the Great Depression – people were not only more self-sufficient, they were more patient and self-disciplined than they were in the 1970’s. And today, in agreement with erc rodson @ 27, things are even worse in that respect. LL-3 makes that point with reference to our financial weakness, but the character weakness and decades of educational relativism and deconstruction together with cultural entitlement make it even worse.
For griefer @ 31 – yes, the Andrew Roberts book is outstanding. So too is Paul Johnson’s Modern Times. Perhaps Niall Ferguson is channeling Mark Steyn’s book, America Alone. Ferguson is becoming too popular these days to be entirely trustworthy, I’m sorry to say.
Back to my opening sentence: Taken as a whole, the alarming debt/GDP ratio, the kowtowing to our adversaries (enemies?) and disrespect to our friends, the transformation of our economy with health care “reform” and other measures, the breaching of procedural precedents and Constitutional restraints, and the steady weakening of our military presence are not mistakes made by this administration. Nor are they the product of naïve theories they genuinely thought would make things better. They are not bugs. They are features. And sadly, most of my otherwise reasonable friends and colleagues, intelligent and skillful in their careers and in their personal lives, don’t see it.
If we are still at day 25 or 26 of our 30 day lily pad, then LL-3’s prescription @ 40 can work. But if we are in day 28 or 29, heaven help us.
