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http://www.truth-out.org/bill-moyers-interviews-andrew-bacevich/1306971684

Opinions?

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these two quotes:

I think there’s a tendency on the part of policy makers and probably a tendency on the part of many Americans to think that the problems we face are problems that are out there somewhere, beyond our borders.


You write: “The pursuit of freedom, as defined in an age of consumerism, has induced a condition of dependence—on imported goods, on imported oil, and on credit. The chief desire of the American people,” you write, “ is that nothing should disrupt their access to these goods, that oil, and that credit. The chief aim of the U.S. government is to satisfy that desire, which it does in part through the distribution of largesse here at home (with Congress taking a leading role) and in part through the pursuit of imperial ambitions abroad.”

i fundamentally disagree with. see, to me, this is a reflection of the notion that many (mostly liberal, but not all) elites have, that it is the people who are the problem. it's the stupid people who force washington to make bad decisions. if our representatives truly represented us, and didn't try to lie to us (on both sides), then perhaps this would be true, but it's not. we are viewed by the elites as aimless, mindless sheep (which unfortunately in many cases has become true) and that we can't make our own decisions, we can't handle the truth, and that we need the government to determine everything for us. instead of being represented, we are governed, and all of the dependencies we have on the government now, are the result OF THE GOVERNMENT, and not the people. the only extent that it is the people's fault, IS that many have gone to sleep and refuse to hold the politicians feet to the flames. in this regard, it's a symbiotic relationship. the more government insulates us in the warm blanket of the nanny/police-state, the more accustomed we become to it, and the less we rely on ourselves to govern ourselves.

as for all this polluting and how bad the people are for expecting modern conveniences, and burning fossil fuels, i have one thing to say. it's called a modern existence buddy, and it's what people in all of the developed world do! perhaps if our politicians haven't fallen into the who eco-movement, where we can all live like peasant farmers, and if they allowed american business to go after american resources until a viable alternative to fossil fuels is widely available, and perhaps if they didn't stand in the way of american companies mass producing american goods to american consumers, then we wouldn't be in such an economic pickle. it's not the people who pushed manufacturing out of this country, and made us a dependent consumer nation. the politicians did that over decades of policies.

i could go on and on, but that's all i got right now.