Despite the horrendous failure of President Lyndon Johnson’s ‘Great Society’ war on poverty programs to solve the challenges of the 1960s, the socialism virus is catching again in our day. It’s the perfect time for Amity Shlaes’, The Great Society: A New History []
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Bill Whittle Network · Socialism Virus Spread Accelerates Despite 'Great Society' War on Poverty Failure
23 replies on “Socialism Virus Spread Accelerates Despite ‘Great Society’ War on Poverty Failure”
In the mid-1960s LBJ’s Great Society had two MAJOR functions. First it was an attempt to “enslave Blacks to become Dependent upon the tit of the government both Federal and State. Second, was to manufacture VICTIMS where Responsibility and Accountability would become MEANINGLESS words.
$22,000,000,000,00 (TRILLION) later, the Program in its many manifestation has been a FAILURE. The Poverty rate has not changed. BUT, in 2020, the Victimization of American citizens and the Gaggle of ILLEGALS has reached the heights of VICTIMHOOD.
The EXPECTATION in the 21st Century is that America is a Racist country with the sole Purpose and Intent of squashing the Life out of those that disagree with THE IDEOLOGY and the {“fundamental transformation of America.”
The roadmap of the manufacture of a myopic, delusional, corrupt and very destructive Utopian vision is NOTHING more than a disguise for DYSTOPIA. Reading either or BOTH 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
The “fundamental transformation of America is real and on going for The NEW Democratic Socialist (OXYMORON) with ever GREATER emphasis on MORON is now most definitely ventured into the IDIOT category and completely jumped over Neurotic into a deep state of Psychosis Party. The Party has finally lost their handle on SANITY. The Party of INSANITY is even becoming MORE INSANE in word and deed and their Ally in Media, FakeNEWS. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) attempts to destroy Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) Rejects out of hand Reality when Reality REFUSES to accept its absolute INSANITY. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) embraces the “fundamental transformation of America.” Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) sees America ALWAYS a the Problem and NEBVER as a Solution. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON is TRIBLE as the means to divide and conquer through the acquisition of Control and Power. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) DENIES Responsibility and Accountability for the individual Family and GOD. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) is constantly scouting for Activists and the Educational System as now configured has become its GREATEST reservoir of the Activist entrenched totally in THE IDEOLOGY. Democratic Socialism (OXYMORON) cannot co-exist with a Constitutional Republic.
The Battle Royale has and continues to be under way. The Left/Progressive/Modern Liberal/Democratic Socialist (OXYMORON)/Statist/Marxist and lets NOT forget FakeNEWS will not take prisoners BUT it will completely destroy them when possible when the situation warrants such drastic decision making.
Donald J. Trump is on the battlefield and has for the entirety of his administration confronted and vigorously fought the Usurper head on.
WILL you join him in a time of intense CRISIS?
In the 90s, I agreed to be the secretary of our local high school’s sports fundraising effort, SOS (Save Our Sports). I firmly believed that our sports programs were operating with substandard equipment, and wanted to help out. I don’t have kids, but I wanted to serve since sports were an important part of my high school years. And at the time I was working as a communications manager at a well-known nonprofit, and thought I could come up with some new ideas to fundraise.
Well, at one meeting the president of SOS said he’d received a glowing letter and generous donation. Rather than read the letter, he asked me to read it aloud. I declined, simply assuming he would want the accolades of his position, and my job was simply to record the letter in the minutes. Little did I know that this man (a decade younger than me), the owner of a prominent local roofing company, was barely literate.He stumbled through the letter, and blamed it on not having his glasses. Everyone in attendance was embarrassed. I was gobsmacked.
Big wake up call for me. We are now several generations into what the progressive educrats have foisted on millions of children who have been denied the very basics that could lead them out of poverty. Or, at least, get them thinking.
Finishing high school is a noble goal, as it supposedly requires certain attendance and discipline; but don’t assume that a diploma indicates a mastery of essential life skills. I’ve interviewed dozens of potential interns, and the “their-there-they’re” is totally alien to them. I have little hope.
Some people think that going to college, getting a good job, providing for your family, etc., is “trying to be white”. I don’t understand this attitude because this isn’t a “white” thing, it’s taking responsibility for your life and those you love. It’s a “human” thing.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In real life…
The GIGO truism applies to all models, whether they be virus spreading and mortality ones or social behavior concepts. People aren’t ones and zeroes and if you do not program in various wants, desires and happy/sad factors (like Civilization and SimCity games did..though admittedly long after this and with hindsight possibly helping them) you will get the depression and downward spirals that the projects did.
Of course, the usual problem with models is you cannot really create one, test it, correct it and run it again when you’ve only got the one country/one world situation. That means you’ve got to be a little more careful and that means doing your homework… ie, working and looking at people’s homes, not just sitting in your ivory tower waving your magic wand (because really, as Men Of Science, you know there is no such thing as magick. )
Excellent commentary all around guys. Recently someone on an FB page mentioned that it seems to be the ‘seniors’ objecting the most to what is happening today. I assumed that seniors meant Boomers. My reply was that US senior Boomers were on the forefront of what was going down in the 60s. Some went south to march with MLK. Several were murdered by the KKK. (so much for ‘white privilege’).
I also mentioned that billions of taxpayer $$$ have been poured into the ’cause’ since the dawn of ‘The Great Society’. And here we are again with the ‘show me the money’ ‘give me your vote’ crowd. Well, I guess you know where I mean to go with my comment.
There has been no accountability over the years.
The biggest lesson of the F-111 program was if you are designing an aircraft to replace fighters AND bombers; it will be a bomber.
Somewhere along the line, compassion got turned on its head. In the 60’s we began to be told that we shouldn’t expect poor people to have the luxury of following that simple plan of finishing high school, getting a job, getting married and having kids. We were told it was our fault that they made the bad choices they made. Not only was it our fault, somehow, we should make up for our sins by sacrificing a little of our wealth to make up for their inability to make good choices due to their poverty which was caused, somehow, by our relative wealth. Once personal accountability went out the window in favor of ‘victimology’, the situation we see today was inevitable. White Guilt was subtly ingrained in all of us. 9 times out of 10, before we talk about any of this stuff, we preface our argument with, “Before I get to my point, let me just state that I think racism is wrong, wrongful death is wrong, etc, etc.” We apologize first. It weakens the truth that we are trying to put forward, and removes any personal accountability among the mob. There is no expectation that they will do the right thing. And when you don’t expect people to behave responsibly they won’t. Why should they? Delayed gratification is hard. The truly compassionate thing to do is to expect people to behave responsibly, and hold them accountable when they don’t.
“Delayed Gratification is hard” This is correct.
Or as I have often told my daughter, just yesterday for the umpteenth time: It’s good to want things. It makes you work harder.
Anyone who says that to me will get a response of “If you want me to be your father and take responsibility for your mistake, then you’re gonna have to do what I say. Now take out the garbage.”
If I have responsibility for you, I have power over you. One without the other just leads to pain and suffering.
Press a button? What are you, Scott? An animal? I either press a touch screen or yell orders at the machine.
“Alexa, solve poverty.”
Scott, I like your idea. But I don’t see where the opportunity for graft and the accumulation of power fits in.
Oswald shot the wrong person.
Wow, Steve. You sound just like Larry Elder
Oh, that won’t go to his head at all! 😉
Certainly not a bad thing.
The word for what Bill was describing is modelling. For the last 10 years of my wife’s teaching career she taught “at risk” pre-school. At-risk was the new euphemism. It generally meant low income, single parent (or no parent) being raised by grandma or great-grandma. Born with a drug issue, etc. You get the idea. This class came with some interesting stipulations. First, the parent(s) or guardian had to commit to coming in several times a year for their own class work. These were parenting skill classes, budgeting, healthy eating, resume prep, how to take classes to advance yourself. The inducement to attend was generally a meal.
The success rate was quite low for the parents.
But there was something else for the kids. Each of these classes had two kids who did not qualify for the class. They were there to model behavior. They were advanced kids whose parents were on board with the concepts. This worked out very well as kids want to do the right thing, they do need to know what that is.
But as Scott pointed out, this was the local solution to the local problem. I would not recommend that it get nationalized.
I have a slightly different perspective.
All progressive programs implemented by a progressive government are intentionally DESIGNED to fail. That way, the politicians are able to claim the failed program did not go far enough, spend enough, and did not use enough government coercion. So they double down on the program that was designed to fail and create an even larger more costly failure. Rinse and repeat until society completely breaks down in to chaos.
In which case the politicians will claim that they did not intend it to happen and beg for forgiveness because they had the “best of intentions”. I say they did willfully intend it to happen in every bloody detail of failure. If we value our lives we must refuse to give them forgiveness.
Once upon a time, the politicians who fail would loose their heads. Today, we vote them for another term of office so they can repeat the same old same old. Thus ballots won’t save us from the chaos and, very likely, bullets won’t either.
Have a nice day.
“Solving” teh problem is never the objective of Leftist policy – the only goal is to make Leftists feel good about themselves. And by that measure, in Leftsists’ eyes every program of theirs is a massive success!
Many good points, Lionell.
Politicians (and bureaucrats) are not asked if the plan worked. They are only measured on the intentions (if they have a D at the end) of a plan. Never on if the plan worked or the results were what was expected.
Here in the real world we get measured on results not intentions.
I would certainly agree with your idea for some of the massive boondoggles we’ve had over the last long while, but not all of them. In some cases, the poor idiots do actually believe what they are trying to do will work and to avoid the cognitive dissonance that they are idiots and were taught by idiots, fall back on the “evil other side” arguement and claim sabotage, or cry about their intentions.
Would be a good time to pull out Sean Connery’s line from The Rock “Losers whine about doing their best, winners go home and bang the prom queen.”
Along the same lines the incentives are perverse, poverty and need are valuable so more children are valuable as long as no father is in the house, work would decrease ‘needs and the bureaucrats have no intention of ending proverty either because that would mean ending their jobs so both sides have no incentive to ever end the gravy train.