"The Unraveling of America: Is This the End of the American Empire?" | Amanpour and Company

[@mandyinseattle]

"Healthcare is about social solidarity" is beautifully said. Unfortunately, for-profit healthcare in the United States is extortion.

[@AzhidaReminiec9999]

mandy, then what do you propose on how to put an end to the HMOs ,which have both the Physicians & Hospitals in a Stranglehold ?

[@evedavis323]

@@AzhidaReminiec9999 Great question!

[@jeffreythemeditator]

@@AzhidaReminiec9999 mandy doesn't need to propose anything. pointing out difficult points is already a deed worth doing. solutions are not the burden of the one who points out problems.

[@bonnierobinson8684]

America will lose its standing if Republicans are in leadership!

[@AzhidaReminiec9999]

@@jeffreythemeditator Take it easy Jeffrey..It's only a question By the way have you read Mandy's comment ? When was the last time you went to the hospital?

[@pinkiepinkster8395]

As long as all lawmakers are allowed to be billionaires who live in the pockets of the big corporations, there can be no way for the U.S. to recover.

[@daphnesmith1686]

Eloquently STATED!!

[@dannypomeroy9255]

Amendment 2022 VOTEING STOPS ALL THE WINNING OF AMERICA DERMACACE BUT WE WILL ALL B POSTAL WORKERS ON VOTEING DAYS FOR A BEATER TOMARROW ps Child tax credit would be great right know Thank Mr Biden for that and Thank Mr West Virginia n Miss Arizona for taking it away so Democrats we won first round we just got hit with a cheep upper cut to everything ACA we must protect our Healthcare costs because it's being attack again and only way to keep it is VOTE !!!!!!!!

[@Gryphon_19]

Absolutely true!

[@josephwheeler6674]

@@Gryphon_19 I couldn't have said it better!

[@macsam8778]

True words!

[@EasyZee69]

His 'Safeway" analogy, is spot on. When I first went to the States and saw the people working in Wallmart, I was shocked. Exactly like he said, there is palpable divide between the workers there and the rest of the people, it's a racial and economic divide. Here in Canada, whether I am dealing with a checkout person at Wallmart or a rich real estate person, a burger flipper at mcDonalds or a televsion producer, you dont feel that divide. You feel a part of the same society. You both have the same health care, you both contribute to that health care, your kids may share the same schools, you both contribute to the public good which everyone benefits from. Sure, we have small pockets of lunacy, every country does, but overall,we feel more like a society than the US, where it's every man for himself, and the idea of the greater good seems to be lost.

[@kathyinwonderlandl.a.8934]

Zee Risek so true

[@kathyinwonderlandl.a.8934]

Ike Mike boy. You still haven’t had to have a talk with your child about how to do everything right so they don’t get murdered going to a store like Trevon Martin or like the young man that played the violin on his way to a store and he was choked to death and given too much drugs from medics.. you don’t have a clue, Sir

[@francoisbouvier7861]

We must travel in different circles. I'm doing alright but haven't witnessed the utopia you describe.

[@teresaburch23]

@Ike Mike you and your rant. Let's everyone know why you are hated. THANK YOU

[@johnfunk8086]

@Ike Mike you got played by a con man. All races can be racist and I have lived in downtown LA skid row so don't give me some BS about not being able to understand what you mean.

[@colingenge9999]

I love the interviewer style. Good questions, no butting in and showing what he knows. NO long preliminary comments. Just good interviewing. US mainstream media, take notice .

[@davidduffy2046]

He IS US media

[@joshuaciresoli2927]

The Public Broadcasting Service is U.S. media

[@mandyinseattle]

But what is maddening is the normalization that is inherent in his naive questions, and I don't know if he's presenting them in a naive way to speak for naive people and giving the guest a chance to explain, but it's maddening and to me it works to add skepticism to these ideas, which is the opposite of what we need right now. We need people to be looking at this soberly and being alarmed enough to take action.

[@davidmambrose4210]

just the opposite of a JUDY WOODWARD INTERVIEW

[@fredskiman6452]

W everyone was hag re with the

[@lynndenault4212]

I agree with him. He is telling it as an extended family member would, not in anger but with compassion. Look at yourself, America. You do not take care of your own.

[@fndngnvrlnd]

Good riddance! You embody the worst human values!

[@lydiabell6218]

Well SAID!!!

[@enditallrecords]

Non for all, and all for none.......

[@barbarawarren9443]

As an American who is disgusted with all of the pervasive trends so clearly and lovingly articulated in this summary, indicative of an empire poised to fall, with power and means controlled by a select, selfish few, I agree. When any nation or individual fails to understand their connection to all of humanity, they are doomed to fail and their very Soul is eclipsed.

[@andreamortimer2610]

@@enditallrecords Sounds like true individualism! Mind if I use that in arguments?

[@jeff6660]

Professor Davis hit the nail on the head with his comments on the person checking your groceries at Safeway and the customer. I lived in Iceland for two years and the people there all respect each other not matter what job they had. I lived in the same apartment as a member of the Icelandic government and while I worked in a furniture factor at a basic wage that member of Parliament only made about twice as much as I was paid. That is why the people there felt they had a common bond...because they were all essentially equal in an economic sense. No one felt better than anyone else because of money.

[@hillarycolen1163]

they're smart

[@skronked]

Iceland rules!

[@TheCBKgirl]

I WILL NEVER GIVE UP MY RIGHT TO EARN MY OWN MONEY - AS MUCH OR AS LITTLE AS I WANT. GO BACK TO ICELAND PLEASE AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE.

[@justsaying3729]

Steve, and nothing is farther from the truth in the U.S. The Rich vs the Poor, The Haves & the Have Not. Greed & Corruption is the Law of the Land.

[@mgsee]

@TheCBKgirl Do you really believe that your right to earn as much (or as little) as you please is more important than a just and fair society where everyone is a respected citizen? Or is it just that as an American you have been conditioned to react instinctively and emotionally without reason towards anything that appears to threaten your individual freedom?

[@k.d.5786]

So eloquently put, by a fellow a Canadian who, like this Canadian, has so much admiration for Americans. My heart goes out to my many wonderful American friends.

[@roncucchi3133]

Why would you admire America? I don't and I'm American

[@abjectt5440]

I don't consider the US a friend or an ally. I don't care what happens down there. It doesn't matter who gets in they'll still stick it to us. Russia is ahead of us on the list. Trump's cost us a lot of money for no reason other than he's pissed at Trudeau.

[@bonnierobinson8684]

No Nation can stand without standing for all the people.

[@deadave100]

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Abraham Lincoln America 1776 - 2030 RIP

[@RahubaatNeteru]

Why 2022?

[@deadave100]

@@RahubaatNeteru My bad....lol

[@anoldgryphon]

It's happening.

[@georgebellerose4988]

.....and Trump, family , cronies, & wealthy greedy parasites are in the forefront of the demise. "The Roman Empire" is the template for a demise.

[@adroitek3d940]

History throughout time has shown, Empires fall and crumble from within. When the people stop believing in their common purpose and in its leaders. Once a Nation lacks care for society and its people, it will reach a point of no return. Then all is lost. The cracks are starting to show. 🙏

[@wanderer85295]

exactly true. the writing is on the wall , sadly i fear that the fuckery thats been afoot has pushed us beyond the pale , and the ignorant who refuse to see whats been going on arrive in droves to Trump rallies and cheer for their own certain doom .

[@stellapatchouli6652]

So true.

[@Anthony-he3yn]

The US was never an empire... The Romans on the other hand...

[@bonnieprice9482]

As governments fall as they will.. from corruption and greed...WE THE PEOPLE will rebuild our nation NOT in Hate Anger and Division... BUT with love compassion kindness and empathy. In ETHICS co-oporation collaboration and true justice

[@nativetexan53]

@@bonnieprice9482 You forget. We were once a Christian society, and the Christians I've known since the 50's are no where near the same people I grew up with. There is NO charity, no kindness, no humanity whatsoever. I would take may chances on any one other than a "Christians" who do not worship God but Donald Trump. Trump is Satan and they can't get enough of him. Trumpsters would just as soon kill you if you don't fall down and worship their "dear leader". Americans are gone! 0

[@jimthompson4132]

Outstanding guest. He remembers America, and what America is about.

[@jmb3543]

was

[@kevincrady2831]

@@jmb3543 And (especially back in the "good old days") only if you were a white male.

[@skugglatron]

Nostalgia for an America that never existed.

[@staciasmith5162]

Nostalgia without honesty will always leave you thirsting for something that never was so you can never have it. I get so tired of these white men in particular wax nostalgic over an era that legalized segregation in jim crow laws and blatant sexism and misogyny. I have no respect for him because he's an intellectual fraud who can leapfrog over so much information whether it's positive or not. Whatever dude.

[@jimthompson4132]

@@staciasmith5162 Derision often indicates ignorance.

[@dannywimpey2487]

American exceptionalism has always been in the minds of Americans. The rest of the world experienced it as imperialism and domination.

[@tonirodriguez6649]

True enough...

[@thomasmuntzer684]

Exceptional propagandists.

[@claudermiller]

The Nazis believed in German Exceptionalism. They called themselves the master race.

[@mc-lb9dk]

.....and terrorism

[@lydiabell6218]

I COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER. You are soooo right. American 'greatness', American 'exceptionalism', American 'dream' = all NOTHING BUT A MYTH. A wealth industrialized country that has millions and millions of people without access to health care in the 21st century can claim "exceptionalism" in a bad way, not in a good way, same with the high cost of college, and high percentage of incarceration.

[@gremlinking5640]

16:30 I definitely felt this sense of community when I lived in Spain. The every man for himself mentality in the US is exhausting.

[@r.pres.4121]

The every man for himself mentality is destroying the US.

[@geekmeee]

True... it is exhausting. The History of the United States can be summoned up as: "How to get rich beyond your wildest dreams."

[@victoriameyers5870]

This is why New Yorkers are so loyal to NYC. In NYC I feel as if we all belong to one another. NYC has its own rules, and NY'ers talk about the 'rules' all the time. Like 'Standing On Line'. If you visit NYC and try to cut in line, don't be surprised if the whole line of NY'ers yell at you to 'Get On the Line!' meaning - you came last, go to the back of the line!

[@michaelramsey3643]

I've lived here my whole life, and it's exhausting for me. Americans grasp the power of teamwork with sports, but it's every person for themselves outside of that realm. People are deathly afraid that they may incur the cost and inconvenience of even the most minor social obligations, completely oblivious to the fact they themselves will almost certainly need help, in some form, before they die.

[@isidoreaerys8745]

Yes. I got reverse culture shock moving back from India. It was emotionally scarring to return to the wasteland of American life

[@bodybalanceU2]

great nations are judged by how they treat their weakest in society

[@davidking4779]

How would you suggest we treat the lazy, unmotivated and criminals of society or is that just forms of weakness.

[@davidking4779]

@NYC125street I have always dreamed of being lead by a weak lazy, unmotivated criminal who is motivated to take my assets for their own. I guess many Democrat voters have the same dream.

[@bodybalanceU2]

@@davidking4779 no you just voted him to be your president - you dope - i can see your not a christian with that hatred rhetoric - all i hear from you is hate hate hate - and the world wonders why america is crumbling before our eyes - as i said before "greed and hatred for their fellow americans has brought america to its knees"

[@davidking4779]

@@bodybalanceU2 Actually, the hate comes from the Marxist left. It is the left that is bent on tearing down the nation that freedom built. The greed and hatred is aimed at the successful hard working Americans by the lazy unsuccessful privileged children. The cure is for the lefties to learn how to provide something of value and get busy providing it , like we do on the right.

[@bodybalanceU2]

@@davidking4779 no you dont the right just hate hate hate as you have shown - the right is just full of hate and violence so spare me your bullshit

[@shangosankofa9560]

America has never been great for all of us. Visiting grandma as a child was like going to a third world country. There are places still like that to this day.

[@wolfgangk2824]

And he explains why in 3 minutes kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKSvZ6CBrdmCorM Too bad we are too stupid to listen

[@shangosankofa9560]

@Wolfgang K Carlin has always been one of my favorite truth tellers. Comedians tell the true news and news anchors are a joke! #Propaganda

[@tomasofaolain3117]

Thank you truth & honesty needed badly sooner rather than never

[@carolynforge8586]

@v x Tent cities.

[@shangosankofa9560]

@Luvanon, listening, my Chiricahua and African ancestors spoke of this

[@icebergrose8955]

It's over reach. No point in building houses in Egypt while Rome goes homeless. When a society spends more on war than programs of "social uplift" they approach moral bankruptcy. Martin L King. And here you are.

[@AngusMcToon]

This show has the most interesting and properly in depth interviews and discussion I’m seeing lately. Actual ideas, and strong interviewers - consistently. Thanks.

[@tekenieconomicdevnativebus7444]

This was a brillant interview. Every American needs to watch this.

[@lillyernst7300]

It is eye opening. Myself & other friends have been very concerned about where we’re headed. Sadly others don’t seem concerned and that worries me monumentally.

[@garyballard3484]

That's the problem,the people who need to see this won't.If it's not Fox or Trump it's fake news.

[@rockforester7908]

Why do you make a very ignorant & presumptive conclusion that we don’t know what’s going on here? That everyone here should watch this so we can get filled in. So we can wake up from our ignorant sleep? Lol. You clearly are uneducated of the long term & profoundly complex forces that create problems in nation-states. You seem sadly unsophisticated to say such a thing. Wow.

[@swimswithwhales]

It's the truth.

[@jayarava]

This resonated strongly for me. I think this in particular "The American cult of the individual denies not just community but the very idea of society. No one owes anything to anyone.". This is a fatal pathology for any social primate.

[@zackbarkley7593]

A fatal pathology for a social primate, but a useful pathology for the elites to indocttrinate those they want to control. Its why the Republicans care so much amount guns for their constituents...because they know it represents meaningless power in the modern world...while behind the scenes they strip their own constintuents of wages by destroying and sabotaging unions and strip them of political agency by voter suppression and Fox (and MSNBC) corporate propaganda and misinformation. Divided, the plebs FALL. The fatal flaw in their grift is if the rentier class elites actually succeed at destroying the foundation of their own house, THEY ARE NEXT.

[@louisedumais6496]

whenever a government forgets to look after it's people, there is a severe wealth gap and corruption at the top, it is the end of that empire

[@1reaper2]

@Rage Quit Actually you wont rise again, no empire ever has.. all the elite will move to the new empire and make sure america stays poor and defenceless so the peasants cant take revenge.

[@1reaper2]

@Rage Quit I'm not being ignorant it's just a fact of history, that's all. But i do believe you are right regarding the constitution so long as you can keep it..

[@palladin331]

Trump: "Constitution? What's that?"

[@kolyxix]

Yeah government is supposed to provides for the people. But, Unfortunately so many ignorant people see that socialism communism. People cant differentiate between socialism and communism!!!

[@kolyxix]

@Rage Quit like the whole of Europe, Japan, China. Got it

[@grazianalu76]

I hope all Americans watch and listen to what this Professor is unraveling.

[@jamesjpak]

lol. Americnas actually spending their time listening to facts or reason is about as rare as Trump supporters acknowledging them

[@NickSerritella]

Of course those who need to listen wont

[@miguelpazos2334]

How did we get here? By enshrining Greed and Selfishness.

[@charis128]

This is their plan ... using a fake pandemic.

[@kathyhansen2820]

Yes, greed and selfishness and not being willing to work for and earn it.

[@granudisimo]

@Ross Rain Being American Evangelicals (AKA the merchants of the temple and the pharisees taking over) the ones warring against Christianity by believing, through the actual heresy that is Prosperity Gospel, that the rich can buy their way through the eye of the proverbial needle through which the proverbial camel should have it easier than them. I'm not a Christian but that doesn't stop me from seeing these things.

[@dixonpinfold2582]

True. The US isn't doing capitalism right. It's wrong when no matter what sort of person you are you're widely considered a nobody and a loser if you don't have a real pile of money.

[@goodwolf866]

... and one policy - to rid USA of abortions .

[@DanFeldmanAgileProjectManager]

I've been arguing this for over 25 years, and now finally the case is getting a hearing in the middle of a pandemic.

[@lydiabell6218]

I have been arguing this ever since I was unfortunate enough to marry an American and come to this country, which has been a lot longer than 25 years. While I returned to my European home country, my children are stuck there.

[@briaf3370]

The Pandemic is like the Tsunami at the beach causing the tide to go out exposing those not wearing bathing suits. They have not worn suits for a long time, we just find out about it now.

[@DanFeldmanAgileProjectManager]

@@briaf3370 The pandemic might be the end of the beginning. This well written and clarifying article explains. "Humans can switch into crisis mode and switch back post-crisis. Only long-term environmental changes induce cultures to adapt. Human nature, however, will remain constant over very long periods of time." We need to overcome the polarization between the "somewheres" and the "anywheres". medium.com/@mnarberhaus/covid-19-might-be-the-end-of-the-beginning-de6e94381448

[@geraldarnoult]

living in Mexico as an American, I figure that out 40 years ago

[@henryhill3778]

Oh I knnnnnnnnnnnooooowwwww!!!!.... And you are?

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

Isn't Trump just the logical end to what's been going on in the US for 40 years?

[@emeraldlook8042]

America is dying because the people in control of the country’s wealth refuse to maintain a healthy economic system. Parasitic Capitalism in America is killing our infrastructure and social structure. Parasitic capitalism is a person, company, corporation, or group that doesn’t pay their workers a living wage. They tend to evade or avoid completely their tax obligation. These funds are critical in governing and maintaining our infrastructure. The very infrastructure they also require to conduct their business. The majority of the workers employed by these parasitic entities often suffer economic short falls created by insufficient wages. Many can not afford basic everyday necessities much less healthcare. These workers are often forced to seek out multiple jobs just to cover their basic needs. Meaning long hours working away from the home. And even with multiple jobs they still may not be eligible or able to pay for healthcare. These workers are then forced to depend on their local government assistance to fill the financial shortfall. This aid though necessary may often be ridiculed and derided by peers and coworkers. Which often causes a family stigma and added emotional stress on those recipients. Some refuse to ask for help because of this stress. These same parasitic companies will ask to reduce or avoid paying their taxes altogether. Monies that should go to repairing the infrastructure is lost. When the local government is filling a financial gap of those workers already. These parasitic companies are a clear threat to a balanced and maintained economic effort. Let me give you a for instance. Donald Trump and his group are perfect examples of a parasitic enterprise. They swoop in on a host city establish a base of operations. They announce a fundraising dinner calling many vendors and suppliers. They utilize local infrastructure even disrupt nearby commerce causing them to lose profits to accommodate them. They engage a venue staff with lots of local workers. Once the event is over and the monetary donations are pocketed. Donald Trump and his parasitic group leave the vendors, suppliers, and workers with their unpaid invoices in hand. In most cases the local economy is forced to eat a debt they can’t afford or file a lawsuit costing even more money and unlikely to be settled anytime soon. He may have bankrupted a small vendor, staffing company, or supplier. Trump and his crew prance away with the donation money in pocket without a second thought. But the city and its people could be spiraling down a financial black hole he and his buddies caused. Companies cannot solely profit from a local economy. If you use the local infrastructure you must help maintain it. Full time employees paid properly shouldn’t need to ask for financial assistance. If your work force consists of a majority of part time forcing workers to take second jobs ineligible for healthcare due to restriction of hours by you and they must apply for assistance your company is parasitic. We can no longer ignore the parasitic capitalist business model and its constant breakdown of local infrastructure and society to keep our country vibrant and healthy.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

@@emeraldlook8042 Well said. Here's how I see the overall picture. I basically like the capitalist idea: people free to use their abilities and resources how they see fit. And there's nothing wrong with seeking profit. The most talented and hard working should get more because they contribute more to an economy and a society. HOWEVER, there's a social contract at play that ensures a land of laws, not coercion. A business operates in an infrastructure of things and people. Those who make the most also have to contribute the most--taxes. That supports a civil society. That entire concept has been lost. Neoliberalism treats the entire world like a giant legalized brothel with bought politicians as its pimp. If it goes far enough, and it's getting close, you end up with a dictatorship--right or left--were the populace hands over its power to a strongman who keeps its oligarchs in check. That happens masses are too exploited: they prefer the bread to the circus. I get why people flock to Trump. It's easy to see their lost economy power and prestige as a result of immigrants, or minorities, or the Chinese. They've been conned into believing these forces have subverted a fair economic system. But the system wasn't fair. It hasn't been women or blacks or Mexicans or gays or the Chinese or any of the other demons that Trump conjures to explain their misery. It's the gamed corporate system that takes nearly everything and leaves them next to nothing.

[@emeraldlook8042]

nicholas schroeder I don’t see any problem with a healthy capitalist model. And I am not sure what you consider a neoliberalism threat. But I am in favor of a universal healthcare system paid by all working people regardless of station or rank. Most of the initial research to developing drugs is done using taxpayer dollars. No more price gouging and holding American lives hostage for critical life sustaining medications(insulin patent given by inventor to the public). No more guess how much your bills plural is gonna be from any Tom, Dick, and Harry who may have breathed in your direction when getting treatment. A single payer system administered by the hospital regulated by a health council with an accounting oversight body to audits hospitals. If they administer treatment of any fashion in that hospital from the E.R. to the top floor the hospital pays their salaries. The patient pays the hospital one single itemized bill upon release from hospital. No more super rides for politicians for the remainder of their lives. I think politicians help themselves enough on the job(recent insider trading incident) only during their time of service or a chronic disease manifesting during their service. This is more generous than any deal given to veterans I know who served in an active conflict zone that was medaled but didn’t serve twenty years or disabled in action. I am also for congress term limits no more than two consecutive terms of between the two bodies. I also want to dismantle lobbying. It’s nothing more than bribery given a pretty title so congress won’t feel bad for selling out the United States. I also want a new statute to allow the criminal indictment of future Presidents. I think we should have the immediate impeachment, dismissal, and disbarment of anyone in defiance of a direct congressional subpoena.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

@@emeraldlook8042 Neoliberalism--well look up the wiki and some good articles. Basically, it comes out of the Chicago school--Milton Friedman and such. The idea is that the more unfettered and deregulated the market, the better for everyone. Supply-side...trickle down...rising ship raises all boats. How it really works is that US corporations can range the entire globe--backed up by our ubiquitous military--in search of the cheapest labor and resources. While they're outsourcing, all the manufacturing jobs disappear here--your hardcore Trump base along with the straight up racists--and the corps dodge taxes through havens elsewhere. These are your Mitch McConnell/country club Republicans--they get rich while the population gets screwed. All measures to alleviate the inequality and suffering are dismissed as socialism.

[@emeraldlook8042]

nicholas schroeder I am severely not a fan of Moscow Mitch or his boy David Vitter a disgraced former senator from my state, Louisiana, he lobbied MM to release thevRussian sanctions in exchange for a plant built in his state via Putin's friend. And I absolutely loathe that noxious dribble spewed by Regan on bullshit trickledown economics.

[@dalethorson3653]

Winston Churchill when he led the Brits often referred to Americans as "the cousins". I am a Canadian descended from former Americans who voted with their feet at the time of the American Revolution and who were known as United Empire Loyalists. I have as many cousins in the U.S as I do in Canada. Watching and sharing the convulsions of the "Excited States" over race relations, divisive wars in the present and in recent history, is as hard on me as if I were American. (I do live in the largest American national entity by area, ergo Canada) One of Winston's quotes from that time period addressing his British countrymen regarding the "cousins" was that they were "able to be depended on", that they would always come through the maelstrom that we were all going through and "would always get it right in the end after they had tried all the alternatives"). Winston turned out to be right and I have hope and faith that the US will give itself a shake, pick itself up, reinvent itself as the flag holder of democracy and justice. Hopefully this particular convulsion will only be a recent but very serious and non-fatal "ALTERNATIVE".

[@kimmariefaber4636]

This interview was one of the most logical I have heard. Bravo.

America’s problem is the same as the high school quarterback. Spoiled, entitled, woefully uninformed, outta touch with reality and no intention of paying their piled up debts right before its decent into mediocrity

[@quiveringmoist7558]

And it could throw a pig skin a quarter mile

[@michaelseet9320]

spot on and totally ignorant of what is going on in the world..mexico to pay for the wall lol

[@elizabethk3238]

Well said! If you peak in High School, only place for you is down.

[@lindahorkey9391]

This country people are so self righteous and that what’s killing America....

[@moniqueloomis9772]

@ 😂 ❤

[@mhpt74]

Income inequality can be reversed, but when politicians are on the payrolls of the top 1% you do have a problem if you want to engineer change.

[@JK-gu3tl]

The 1% of 1980 isn't the same 1% of today. People rise up and fall out of 1% all of the time. Look at the Vanderbilts.

[@Waingro808]

@joel dong All you can do is buy some equities and get in on that action.

[@tesla416]

The people need to take over the government. If we vote on issues instead of people, we would give the president less power. We would vote in a congress that has one requirement, to have a combined family income of less than 100,000/yr. We need more common people in office. We also need to tax the rich at a much higher rate, with less tax loopholes.

[@mjones2564]

"An IMBALANCE between rich and poor is the oldest and most FATAL ailment of all republics" ... Plutarch, 1st Cent. Greek Historian

[@nickjohns6563]

"I want America to be the America of my dreams... that of Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln and The Grateful Dead" Wade Davis 2020

[@thegracienetwork7847]

We Deadheads are truly everywhere! plus Whitman, Honest Abe and Jerry all had awesome beards

[@elietsagkas6278]

Anyone who has no respect for an Elected U S RESIDENT must have something wrong or some problem My opinion

[@carlking6464]

@@elietsagkas6278 Assuming you mean President, many of us have respect for the office of the President, but at the same time, have little or no respect for the person in the oval office or the majority of his policies (most of which are geared to support Wall Street and not the economy as a whole).

[@anidadron]

That's now the "good old days." America is no longer #1 and we need to get used to it and move on.

[@johnvalentine3456]

I was hoping he was going to be very hip and say Duke Ellington, not the Dead. Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. And the Dead were pretty fun to trip to.

[@snakey973]

Answer: yes Did any one ever doubt that greed and violence would be the unraveling of the country?

[@normandolinic2044]

No it’s the lack of true free enterprise, it what is unraveling the country.

[@snakey973]

@@normandolinic2044 LOL uh huh, that's it

[@alkatmerc5156]

Theres alot more to it than greed and violence...

[@melliott3681]

THE most intelligent interview I've engaged in in months! Thank you Amanpour and Company! America is evolving and changing. The key statement in the interview is if we can't see ourselves what is happening that is a sure sign that danger is on the horizon. My fear--that too many Americans are blind to the needed change we must go through in order to come out on the other side. America needs to have good leadership in place, instead of the weak, selfish leadership we have had from both parties in place for years now.

[@katherinejones850]

I know it’s coming, the collapse, the fascism is permeating like carbon monoxide or other deadly gases! The shades will not be lifted nor the windows opened! “We must maintain our traditions”--filibuster, two major (corrupt & purchased) & that weak point, the electoral college! And also our strong traditional racism & misogyny! WTF! The country deserves to fall & fail, but only as regards all the patronage & catering to the wealthy of the Congress, courts, executive. If we really could be OF, BY & FOR the people--ALL THR PEOPLE!!!!!! Not just us stingy white folks! Neither Theocracy nor autocracy nor kleptocracy nor oligarchy are acceptable! Democratic socialism with huge campaign finance reform, ending ALL legal bribery would be a great start!

[@carmencortelyou9463]

Both parties? As a lifelong independent, I don’t think it’s both parties. I watched friends and family of mine, over two or three decades’ time, switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, and now It’s the Trumpists who want change, change back to the “glory days” of racial segregation and ingrained misogyny.

[@janinecarlos1718]

One of the most interesting interviews I have heard. I'm reading his article now. I have been hearing and reading many of these ideas in the last few months. Our way of life and politics is not sustainable. We have peaked but are blind to see it.

[@ohyeah3365]

It started in 1953 coup in Iran when the US became forever tied to trying to control the Middle East. Since then our military has been serving corporate interests and has become too expensive to maintain. The final nail in the coffin ( probably, hopefully not) was the election of Ronald Reagan and the rise of the silent majority, which in effect resulted in unbridled capitalism slowly destroying the middle class.

[@andreav318]

Reagan was a cancer to our society.

[@ohyeah3365]

Ulrich Esser It was not sugar coated in my American University education, although never mentioned in high school. A convoluted mess, Britons ruling class and its influence on the decision to align with Russia and France in WW1 was not based on morality, only self interest. The devastation in Germany that followed was in correlation to the rise of Hitler.

[@8675-__]

And Regan opened all the mental institutions and let the mentally Ill loose....that was the beginning of homelessness in America

[@jensonee]

i'm not trying to out do you but the usofa has always been an empire. remember it started as the 13 colonies and then spread across the continent. then in 1898 it began warring against spain; puerto rico, cuba, guam, the philippines add on hawaii.. in 1901 congress passed the platt amendment and we were officially a global empire.

[@andreav318]

Ann Oxley yes true!

[@zweibo]

The one most important quality America lacking is humility. Therefore, American is denying their own chance to learn from the others. When it's the highest and the greatest with nothing to learn, it's time to fall.

[@eileensullivan3676]

Yes--chossing the best from other nations would be such a healthy practice.

[@atohms]

America is selfish. Doesn’t work.

[@paulb7207]

As the saying goes: you are arrogant before you fail. But truth be told Chinese have this annoying quality too: "we know it all". No, you don't. Even when US collapses I wish you a lot of good luck with Russia. Like in you'll need it. They're even more humble.And really smart. You don't grow to this size on the map if you don't know how to survive and play games. That's for sure.

[@zweibo]

@@paulb7207 America is the main topic here. It wasn't about Russia or China. The only people who claim to know it all is the American. There's even a name for it, called American exceptionalism. Yet, American never goodwishs other country for doing better. Look what's happening with China... Chinese economy exceeds USA, time to start cold war, BTW not a hot war because US military never had good luck with fighting Chinese since Korean war. Chinese companies grow bigger than US companies, time to boycott them. Where's the American blessing when other succeed?!

[@zweibo]

@Rage Quit sorry about all the horse riding here. LOL

[@somebozo5800]

I have been saying that American society has been in freefall for decades. This statement about the "cult of individualism" is so true. Fighting to get to the top of the ladder turns out to be one of the most negative forces that pushes against our collective efforts. It winds up being "all about the money" for so many people......... Lack of self awareness is a bitch.

[@leonhenry4861]

Where have you been saying it? Show some proof.

[@TeaParty1776]

> collective efforts nazism

[@justinleon3509]

respecting Professor Davis and his accomplishments, he does reinforce to me, as a canadian, how we dont have a system to nurture our best and brightest. i hope, moving forward, we can keep our people here to succeed and thrive, as opposed to having to do it through going to the United States

[@lydiabell6218]

America is exceptional alright - millions of people with no access to health care, with no money for a university education, with the highest incarceration rate in the world, with the smallest amount of vacation and sick days, with 14 million of children going hungry - yes, it surely is exceptional for a wealthy industrialized country.

[@aprilturk1559]

so do something about it and stop winning

[@susannunes6196]

I am 72 years old and when I was growing up my father was in state and local politics and firmly believed in compromise which doesn't seem to exist now....

[@OttawaAndy]

God it's so refreshing to hear a reasoned, intelligent analysis.

[@Monk-Amani.]

Not enough is going to hear it.

[@SedatKPunkt]

After always seeing so-called political analysts and opinion "journalists", it's really refreshing to listen to a plausible and logical analysis... Public education creates ignorant citizens who were kept stupid by cable news.

[@chrisslater4053]

But what would Trump say about him? "Loser." That's where we've gotten to, a very polarized nation being conned into thinking we the middle class need to sacrifice more for the wealthy.

[@bidenhasdementia8657]

😄😂😂😄😂😄😂😄 🤡🌎👍

[@bidenhasdementia8657]

@MAE Gary "Quran 9;29, "Fight that who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibited what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of superiorty and they are in a state of subjection.". Quran(3:151)"Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority". Quran (9:123) "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness." Quran( 17:16) "And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction." Quran (25:52)" "Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness with it." Quran (33: 60-62)"If the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease (evil desire for adultery, etc.), and those who spread false news among the people in Al-Madinah, cease not, We shall certainly let you overpower them, then they will not be able to stay in it as your neighbors but a little while Accursed, wherever found, they shall be seized and killed with a (terrible) slaughter." Quran (47:3-4) "Those who disbelieve follow falsehood, while those who believe follow the truth from their Lord... So, when you meet (fighting Jihad in Allah's Cause), those who disbelieve smite at their necks till when you have killed and wounded many of them, then bind a bond firmly (on them, i.e. take them as captives)... If it had been Allah's Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you). But (He lets you fight), in order to test you, some with others. But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their deeds be lost." Quran (47:35) "Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost (Shakir: "have the upper hand") for Allah is with you," Quran (48:17) "There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom." Quran(48:29) "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves" Quran(61:4) "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His cause" Quran(61:10-12) - "O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you from a painful torment. That you believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad), and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know! (If you do so) He will forgive you your sins, and admit you into Gardens under which rivers flow, and pleasant dwelling in Gardens of'Adn- Eternity ['Adn(Edn) Paradise], that is indeed the great success. Quran(66:9) "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end." Quran(3:56) "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help." Quran(4:74)"Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."

[@lynb2039]

To My Fellow Americans: Always work to keep faith in God and in our great country, also keeping an open mind for the opinions of others. But do not let periods of self-doubt or fear dominate your life or curb your aspirations; PLOW ON AND DO SO WITH A GOOD HEART. To Speculators of Americans and America's continued greatness: Do not make the mistake of judging American's collective questioning of themselves, or America's frequent stumbles and bruises, as failures. In fact, these elements are the heart OF America, and part of what makes her great, indisputably unmatched, anywhere else in the world: 1. Our willingness and ability to consistently and openly, question ourselves, our national conscience, and our meaning in and of the world, and 2. Our ability to get up and dust ourselves off when we fall down. So we fell down and this time we broke a leg; BIG DEAL. Do you think that means we forgot the use of our other leg? It might be in a cast, but we'll be up and running again soon. Stop being such a doomsayer about the future of America. If you truly LOVE America, if you truly KNEW the heart and spirit of Americans, you'd have far more faith, and spew far less rhetoric; observe again, as she demonstrates her durability and talent for mending just about anything that's broken - both in this land and in many others. You've failed to mention, or herald, for that matter, at any time, in any of your "lectures", that Americans are the most GENEROUS people on the planet, despite any mistakes we've made. So for ONCE, it's nice to receive a few gifts from China, in particular, for our needs during a PANDEMIC. We're not embarrassed about THAT at all, thank you very much. Finally, you also failed to mention, at any time, that diverse people chose to immigrate here to educate themselves and to work and live in AMERICA, foremost, over any other country; the statistics speak for themselves. Like a good neighbor, Lyn from NY, USA

[@bodhidharma9363]

the minute any congressmember gets sworn in, they need to immediately start raising a minimum of $10,000 per day just to stay afloat. guess what kind of government that leads to?

[@connilady57]

Corrupt....

[@jayjonah83]

And they spend half of their tenure trying to get re+elected. It's a system that does not work for the people. Obviously.

[@lancethumel9277]

Why the get overpaid and there staff is funded by us so why would they need to be corrupt Term limits would nip it in the butt every 6 years we would get new ideas and greatful reps

[@tonyjones1560]

Government for sale...?

[@filrabat1965]

During the Cold War, high military spending did make a kinda-sorta sense. But with the USSR being dead for almost 30 years now, that excuse started wearing thin. Even Bush Sr. (Pres when the Wall and USSR itself collapsed) talked of a "peace dividend" (combo of reduced military, tax cuts, and infrastructure improvements). We all know how that turned out.

[@mrjdgibbs]

Oh, it's over for us. Our Hegemony is ending. We lack the depth, the discipline, the wisdom, and the intellect to maintain it.

[@chrisjones1127]

mrjdgibbs and sadly willing to take everyone down with us.

[@fndngnvrlnd]

You should leave that toxic place

[@mrjdgibbs]

@Baron Bar Your thoughts indeed echo my own. Though I disagree that we understand the cause of the bronze age collapse.

[@лукманбелло]

When wearing mask is seen as an infringement on human right. Then democracy is no longer rational.

[@fndngnvrlnd]

@ yes but its possible I think. My brother is in Florida and wish he came back to India.

[@jessejames4960]

Ended in the 80's when the corporate money bribed the politicians

[@albertroundtree8546]

The corporations took over America a long time ago. There is no real difference between the 2 main parties. A One Party State

[@markrobinowitz8473]

@Wayne Long The military coup of November 22, 1963. JFK called for scattering the CIA into a thousand pieces and the CIA scattered JFK into a thousand pieces.

[@copperhead9437]

@Wayne Long of all the Kennedy assasination theories out there the only one thoroughly investigated was that Oswald acted alone.

[@sebastianwatson1558]

That rifles discharge wasn't strong e ought to cause that damage.

[@DrDRE4391]

@@albertroundtree8546 Vote republican - help Wall Street. Vote democrat - help Main Street.

[@johnp.w.hudson7192]

Wade Davis is one of the most intelligent speakers I have ever heard.

[@ryerye9019]

When an American politician says, "I serve the public interests", they mean "I am getting mine."

[@elainesmith7512]

@Rye Rye: That's very cynical, but you might be right.

[@davidleaman6801]

" I serve the public interests of white people." oops. S***. Mr. President, you will have to retract that tomorrow. Tweet tweet.

[@henryhill3778]

"I serve the public interests" - Hunter Biden/Joe Biden - The Biden Way! LMAO Trump NEVER needed the job... Of course that LOGIC doesn't cross your mind...

[@swimlaps1]

it is so in ALL countries.

[@jorgosk.awgernos5694]

The decline started during the Reaganomics era...

[@poolman20001]

Dave Springer shit! That’s when we were the most powerful.

[@MrVader282]

so true . mental health does not exist, anyone can burn down California, too many of our citizens are suffering from MI with no relief

[@poolman20001]

@006pup The whole point of a county is economics. I hate dumb dumbs like you!

[@brucedickens1443]

AMERICANS ARE LAZY, THEY DO NOT VOTE!

[@e.priest8937]

@006pup i was going to like that comment but.. people stop listening when you get into personal insult type shit

[@prophetofpolitics6235]

Re-edited “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”. This is the USPS unofficial motto inscribed on the New York Postal Center building. What is noteworthy are the efforts members of this valuable institution display daily upholding and representing the meaning of those words. At a time when Americans are more dependent than ever on the important, essential, and currently irreplaceable services USPS provides, there is a sinister stratagem to undermine the operations of the Postal Service, thereby disrupting the ability to properly administer and execute the duties this valuable institution has admirably performed for many years. Unbelievably, the coordinated attack against this familiar, constitutionally mandated American institution, that has been a welcomed often comforting fixture in the hearts and minds of every American for generations…is being perpetrated by Treacherous Traitorous Treasonous Trump-the Usurper for his usual selfish reasons for doing anything…personal gain of money and power. This government-sanctioned offensive against USPS is part and parcel to corrupting and controlling essential institutions established in the Constitution as vital elements of our democracy. As with most other American institutions, USPS is a multi-faceted organization capable of rapidly adapting services to accommodate public demands in times of tranquility and peace or American needs in times of war and crisis. Not unlike certain branches of the United States Armed Forces, there is a real sense of pride and obligation. Trump wants to destroy that American value. Having already hacked into the holiday cake before dinner was served, he has gone well past the point of no return, and is all in. Officially labeled with good cause, as an autocrat intent on establishing a brand of Neofascism, Trump is acutely aware, as any current despot or authoritarian would be, that you probably will not be able to peacefully retire after leaving office, after ‘dictatoring’…retreating to a remote island with your pirated loot. Probably not an option after subjugating/victimizing a population, government/political corruption, violating the Constitution, and Rule of Law. There are very few surviving dictators, autocrats or tyrants that were not jailed, or worse, and the lesson learned is to stay in power at all costs, or it’s the guillotine. Nonetheless, the illicit profiteering by privatizing USPS has been always been his goal, but appointing crony DeJoy as Captain of the Postal Ship, who has financial interests in alternative services, is not only a conflict of interest, it is just criminal. Systematically dismantling USPS to hinder/suppress mail-in voting during a pandemic, is another attempt at ‘stealing’ the election to avoid the richly deserved public ass-whooping and perp walk to the ‘guillotine’ What about problems and delays created in delivery of medicines, supplies, checks, etc., to the many disabled, senior, international, vacationing, homebound, and all Americans that depend on USPS? There are some, not fully appreciative of all the services provided, nor the equalitarianism the post office has traditionally demonstrated in employment for all, location availability, service accommodations, pricing, and range of offerings that are often subsidized or cost-based priced. USPS is the only service in the world capable of picking up or delivering mail and packages from and to anyone, anywhere, connecting all of America. No other company currently has the capability, infrastructure, profit motive or desire to provide ‘one-stop-shop’ services, range of offerings, or access in remote locations, without significant price increases. USPS has a tough job, and despite all the love Americans give to and receive from postal workers nationwide, sometimes workers get a little edgy when provoked, treated unfairly, or taken advantage of by a greedy self-serving President Trump and his appointed partners-in-crime, none of whom has ever worn the uniform (or accessories), carried mail-laden bags, served and cared about the public, pushed the cart, endured the weather, sorted mail, drove amongst the inconsiderate, or ran from dogs. Never considered real people anticipating the arrival of a carrier, or accommodating an extraordinary request for a customer. Americans can not allow this unpatriotic, anti-American, criminal behavior, and illegal actions by wannabe autocrat and enemy of Democracy, our President Trump. The term ‘went postal/going postal’, has been redefined to signify any action, or event engaged in, for the purpose of representing or upholding the mission, standards, ideals, and integrity of the United States Postal Service and its dedicated personnel, or operating in defense and support of the enduring trust and goodwill bestowed by a grateful American public. The American public must ‘GO POSTAL” on the Trump Administration, enablers and supporters, to preserve and protect our USPS and our Country. When asked ‘what’s the big deal?’ Perhaps, it is the following: “Ways and means established over time, dedication and determination forged in national pride, commitment and cause instilled in hearts and minds”. Inscribed on the original Post Office building in Washington, DC. are the words: “Messenger of Sympathy and Love/Servant of Parted Friends/Consoler of the Lonely/Bond of the Scattered Family/Enlarger of the Common Life /Carrier of News and Knowledge/Instrument of Trade and Industry / Promoter of Mutual Acquaintance /Of Peace and of Goodwill Among Men and Nations”. These are the reasons every American who believes we can do better because we are better…should take action to defend and protect against ‘ALL ENEMIES FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC’, thwarting the assault against OUR United States Postal Service, against OUR right to free and honest elections, against OUR march “to a more perfect Union”, and against OUR right to be free of tyranny… from the President. Trump & Co., despite acquiring the Presidency, leader of the Free World, responsible for the Nation and all its people, does not seem to realize or care that Donald Trump is both his and Americas’ worst enemy. Suffering from diarrhea of the mouth, constipation of the brain, and severe moral deficiency, he operates only to make himself great, an anathema to the fundamental concepts represented by the Office of the President. Trump has forgotten, is ignoring, or simply ignorant to the history of triumphs, struggles, successes, and mistakes of this young Nation, and those it continues to experience. Americans will tolerate many things, but Trumps’ forays in autocratic rule and enigmatic control of institutions and citizens are not among them. Americans believe in the indomitable ‘Spirit of America’, that as the tide rises, all boats are lifted, and whether the presence upon American soil is Native or immigrant, involuntary or decisive, this is our America. Notwithstanding a blatant disregard for the blood spilled for hard-fought Freedoms, our Rights gained through protest and rebellion, a Democracy standing on souls from many battles, this Republic, born out of selfless sacrifice and spirit, shall endure. To paraphrase an Indian quote, "The basis of all systems, social or political, rests upon the goodness of ‘men and women’. No nation is great or good because ‘government’ enacts this or that, but that its ‘men and women’ are great and good." Trumps’ actions should offend everyone. Resist the rampant criminality imposed by Trump & Co., by any means necessary. Remove, replace. Now or in November. VOTE.

[@sheilascanlon4928]

Super Wow Writing!

[@valerieshafer4372]

I loved what you wrote❤. Thank you

[@douglaskay9959]

In America the USPS is considered a great service but compared the postal service in Britain for example it is very ordinary. For instance in Britain all mail is delivered to the house or building by hand by having a letter box in the front door. In America it is placed in a box at the side of the road or a collection of boxes some distance from the address printed on the article.In other words the USPS needs to get its' act together, the service is very poor.

[@davidleaman6801]

@@douglaskay9959 No one disagrees totally with you, but you'll have to agree that it is something that can be worked on and improved, not eliminated by Corporate giants. The Post Office is one of the few things left "For The People".

[@theoriginalkaro]

@D Folsom well said! You deliver tge truth with more thought, insight, and eloquence than the turd in chief in our White House.

[@jamesl9371]

Yeah Martin Luther King gave the I have a dream speech at the March for jobs and freedom. And people called him a socialist. America needs more socialism and equality. Racial and economic equality

[@frankellis9627]

King was a Socialist and we need Democratic Socialism desperately!

[@richiezhang4666]

A falling empire with the strongest military is dangerous. Let’s hope for the best!

[@freegatemy]

@Frederick Dorsey actually if you looked closer Trump is the ONLY president who has NOT started a war

[@freegatemy]

@Frederick Dorsey I am not Trump's supporter in any way, I am just saying comparatively he is the lesser of two evils

[@Eric-ye5yz]

@@freegatemy ..... "Trump is the lesser of two evils" you say ????? Trump is an evil narcissist. A system that allows a trump to be elected is evil. A land of 340 million people and he is the best choice!!! That indicates America is not a meritocracy. It is support for the claim even an idiot can become President.

[@lordlucan3241]

Strongest military? Lol. Do not kid yourself. It only takes a few nuclear bombs and many nations have that. Forget your planes and ships. Irrelevant.

[@lordlucan3241]

@@Eric-ye5yz China has 4 times your population

[@ongogablogian3431]

"The top 1% control $30 trillion in assets, but, the bottom half of the entire populous of the United States has more debt than assets." Democracy cannot stand on such economic instability.

[@chewacan]

A big part of America's decline comes from low educational standards. Schools became day care centers. Marketable and useful maintenance skills not taught. Blue collar labor skills took a back seat. Colleges growing more dependent on higher enrollment and becoming predatory. Personal responsibility for one's health. Many high school graduates never learned what compound interest is. A logical argument- forget about it.

[@ibot2352]

blame Hollywood and that try hard way of life modest living does not exist anymore unless you were born with humility which many weren't

[@rajshah9494]

One word? Selfishness and greed? Me me me ? Talk about community? Nobody’ knows their neighbors? Root cause religious brain washing of divisions?

[@ibot2352]

@@rajshah9494 when one dies that's the time they will get what they deserve 🤫

[@chewacan]

@@rajshah9494 👍At what age should a person be cognizant of being brainwashed?

[@24CiViC]

Some might consider this thought to be naive, but I truly believe that we are only as good as how we treat one another - empathy matters.

[@justmyopinion9883]

L AB, if I may elaborate, we are only as good as we treat the most vulnerable among us: the poor, the children, the elderly, sick and imprisoned. Empathy matters a great deal.

[@24CiViC]

@@justmyopinion9883 agreed!

[@labibbidabibbadum]

Australia here - very similar sense of the US from here. In fact could not agree more on most points. Really insightful piece. Thanks.

[@johnburns2510]

America has followed the Path Of Rome

[@frankellis9627]

All Empires fall!

[@lordlucan3241]

America never had an Empire. Britain had the biggest empire in history and America was one of our colonies.lol. America got their asses kicked by North Vietnam and couldn't even control little old Cuba.

[@frankellis9627]

@@lordlucan3241 You sound like another Brit that hates America! I just can't figure out why?! Because it doesn't make any damn sense!

[@frankellis9627]

@@lordlucan3241 You're just pissed because Britain doesn't run shit anymore! Britain lost their power a long time ago!

[@lordlucan3241]

@@frankellis9627 Not at all. At least we had an Empire,your new country was part of it buddy. You might have grown powerful but you never had an Empire and just a load of mostly British descendant rebels stole the land you now call the USA.

[@ardenkwong5299]

Safeway test in Canada=everyone knows everyone has the "same" medical coverage for minor and major illnesses. "Same" can never apply to the US as long as US Congress "pays back itself" with a "72% reimbursement" of its monthly health insurance premium. How would that Safeway checkout person like to be have a 72% discount or credit or sudsidy on his or her insurance premium every month? How would you? US Congress likes it a lot but they aren't giving it anyone any time soon. They pay 28%; everyone else pays 100%.

[@gregessex1851]

How would that Safeway employee like to walk into any public hospital and get treated without the mention of payment.

[@ingridlandberg8662]

re: MlLK saying his crusade was as much about economics as race. Doesn't racism exist so upper class can exploit the working class thru divide and conquer?

[@duncanvantongeren4646]

Wade Davis is absolutely right in his assessment of American society. He really should write and communicate more about it. More information: - The Assault on Intelligence - American National Security in an Age of Lies - Michael V. Hayden - 2018 - The Death of expertise - The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters - Tom Nichols - 2017 - A Generation of Sociopaths - How the Baby Boomers Betrayed America - Bruce Cannon Gibney - 2017 There is also a Brit with a good book on this subject. I will add it as soon as I remember the title. EDIT: I found the title: - The Pinch: How the baby boomers took their children’s future - and why they should give it back - David Willetts - 2015

[@roncucchi3133]

Thank you

[@duncanvantongeren4646]

@Ulrich Esser It was, and you guys are RUINING it.

[@wordsculpt]

@@roncucchi3133 Thank you. Although so many weigh in, there is so little thoughtful, intelligent commentary. I will look for these books.

[@roncucchi3133]

@@wordsculpt" When Heritage =Hate"is a presentation on u tube by a very intelligent black man,with a slide show, in front of a small audience,not a book. You may have been referring to another comment by Duncan van togeren that listed a number of books that look very informative.

[@emraldeyz1]

We were never as exceptional as we liked to believe.

[@emraldeyz1]

@Johnny Tramain Few or none perhaps; but we have long been proudly claiming how great we are even though in the last forty or so years we have been losing ground in many areas.

[@nikmills]

You need to read some history.

[@emraldeyz1]

@@nikmills you apparently misunderstood my comment. We have had great accomplishments but we have a tendency to blow those out of proportion to their actual importance.

[@leechap3]

American individualism is its strength and a great weakness at the same time. It was able to overcome it and unite to face down great crises in the past, but with a country divided, and a weak, incompetent leader America was poised to be flattened by Covid-19.

[@mwafrikahalisi2549]

@@emraldeyz1 True! Also, EXCEPTIONALISM is not necessarily a positive thing! Exceptionalism as with regard to being a pioneer and still clinging to being an *"apartheid"* nation is not anything to be proud of! Look at the luck of empathy and intolerance to the BLM for instance!!!

[@messybench]

His article is one of the most sober things I've read in years. I've read so much history of our law, and policies but none seem to point to our future or lack there of like this.

[@cher255]

Thank you for this video. I sincerely hope you are right. I have a degree in Anthropology, but now live as an expat in Central America. I did once years ago live in Victoria, BC when I was young. I am looking into becoming an immigrant into Canada, although I do want to go home. But, I have a family to protect, and still not certain it is a safe place to go. If the traitors within our government in America go unpunished, what message does it give to Trump cultists?

[@anight8661]

When your foundation/wealth, and power is built on the suffering of others, eventually your empire will fall. The Law of Cause and Effect is strict and impartial.

[@davidking4779]

No it is not, it is built on freedom of opportunity. It is compromised by the cronies of capitalism who have purchased Government intervention and our many corrupt Government officials.

[@அவானிஉயர்ந்தது]

Yup, you got it. You might have made a peace with Indians and you have been working on making a peace with black people but you’ll never able to find peace as a whole nation since you continue your brutal suppression of people around the world and try to dominate the world at any cost so you can guarantee your country’s existence . That bubble eventually crack sometime somewhat ( as it happens now)

[@davidking4779]

@@அவானிஉயர்ந்தது Oppression comes from lack of freedom which Governments are responsible for. The oppression in your own country comes from your own Government more than any outside influence. The USA is intervening in other countries around the world, which me and my Libertarian friends are against. We are free market capitalists, not imperialists, we support freedom and responsibility. You have the freedom to harm yourself and the responsibility to harm no others.

[@lazapololapolo9824]

@V Knighten....You Nailed It...!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@davidking4779]

@@lazapololapolo9824 Suffering and slavery, is that the way we built our wealth in the USA or was wealth built by customers voting with their dollars and people working in the best possible position available to them? Please don't discount private investment, hard work, innovation, advanced technology and efficiency by the company founders when assessing wealth.

[@bobbullethalf]

I agree with him wholeheartedly, we are our own best enemy. I have said it before we don’t have the discipline or the ability to adapt to handle any problems that face us. We care more for our own individuality than taking care of the totality of our nation. So you can see the writing on the wall, this virus has exposed a lot of what is wrong with this country.

[@myndfk]

Chalk it up to Identitarianism.

[@ianmorrison8722]

The slaves who build this country, up this day has not been taking care of and they are the most high God chosen people.So America is been judge for not taking care of his people.The bible is a true Hebrew book, Jesus is a Hebrew so he came and we hang him on a tree. Act 5- 30.

[@regisnyder]

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

[@myndfk]

Ian Morrison I am NOT a “slave”. Tsk. You really are self absorbed.

[@ianmorrison8722]

@@myndfk we know all slaves to the states,we live in and all over the world.But the most high God premise us the Israelites the new kingdom to come.

[@mytmouse57]

Chris Hedges has been saying the American Empire is over for many years now.

[@MichaelFlynn0]

he has indeed

[@rickstewart3584]

I suggest you research the conditions of the American people. Eye opening in the least. Over half the workforce makes low wages and fights the battle of what bills to pay. 75% of the American people can't afford to rent a place on their own. A 1/3 of the nation has no healthcare. Well over half of American people can't rake up $400 for emergency use. Well over half the people on Social Security (65 million) need Medicaid and Food Stamps...and then a vast majority of them need a f**king Food Pantry. READ UNITED NATION'S REPORT ON POVERTY IN AMERICA. Many, many American cities are close to and some have surpassed Third-World status. AMERICA = GAME OVER. He's been saying it for many years now because it was slowly happening..NOW.......BECAUSE IT IS HERE - NOW!

[@waltersjohn6339]

Yes! And his reward has been to be "blacklisted" by all of the outlets of the mainstream media

[@firstnamelastname9918]

@@rickstewart3584 "75% of the American people can't afford to rent a place on their own"? Where the fk are you pulling these numbers from!? When you throw out straw man crap like this, you HARM those of us _fighting_ economic inequality. "Vast majority of [people on social security] need a [...] Food Pantry"?! Bullshxt! EDIT: Can you please post links to back these assertions? Do that and I promise that if I'm wrong I'll eat crow. Otherwise, I would like you to amend these statements.

[@firstnamelastname9918]

The collapse of a nation is almost always a gradual process. It may appear painstakingly slow from the perspective of a lifetime or a couple of decades, but compare that to changes on a geologic time frame. Most mass extinctions (excepting the K-T extinction event) happen over hundreds of thousands of years. We're seeing the sixth great mass extinction event LIVE in front of us -- eh hehe, well because we're causing it ...(*sheepish grin*). Yet, on a geologic time scale, it's happening at a break-neck blink of an eye!

[@staralliancegoodwilleducat6837]

This is one for the ages - a sweeping commentary right on the mark. Pay heed, America. And Professor: We must soon connect for our “Highest Civic Ideals!” Hope is on the horizon, if they soon get the public exposure they deserve. 🖐✌️🖐🏾✌🏾🌈♥️💛🕊🌎🌍🌏🕊🌟✨

[@rossdavies8250]

I think the biggest thing to take away from this man's pronouncements is that the British Empire was at it's height in the 1930's. In effect, it had it's real heyday in the 1880's. All my life, and I am British, we have looked on the US as a champion of democracy and a bastion of freedom. This presidency has shown us that, frankly, it's democratic institutions are just as vulnerable to demagogues and charlatans as ours appears to be. No nation is an island, amusing coming from a Brit I know, and it stands or falls on it's reputation. You may have the biggest military establishment in the world, but that could be defeated by a bunch of rice farmers, if they have enough determination. What happened? Trump's America blackmails weaker nations to support them by withholding aid and a show of weapons. None of this does the slightest bit of good for ordinarly folks. All my ancestors got out of the British Empire was getting buried in exotic locations. Social Democracy is not Communism. It is about forging a true national identity and a sense of inclusion for all. Single race countries are the past. We need to live in the present and look to the future. A far more able man than I once said that the problem with current worldwide society is that the rich have forgotten that they need to fear the poor.

[@jennyadam2555]

Ross Davies well said!

[@chenguo8019]

the real danger to the world is these neo-feudal corporations that have the ability to hijack countries through the vulnerable election process. That's why the Chinese system is such an existential threat to the capitalist elites and tech-oligarchies. In China, the private sector can always be reset and the super rich fear the government, which is good.

[@romeojulya8270]

USA democracy is and always was ruled by money, and money looks after money. Money has no interest in education or the poor or race or justice.

[@helveticaification]

@ Ross Davies. How about a novel twist of being a bit nicer to the poor?

[@helenbaxter5270]

Well spoken. You seem very knowledgeable and thoughtful. I do believe we have to also look at the past in a truthful way too. If you do not remember your past you are doomed to fail or repeat itself.

[@radwulfeboraci7504]

The COVID virus exposed the pyramid scheme that is America. The richest, most powerful, most technologically advanced country in the world was brought to its knees in 60 days. Why? The concentration of wealth juxtaposed with the rise of ignorance which is by design. This is government by stupid. The poster boy for this is Trump.

[@elizabethk3238]

No it's Not. He's only been in office less than 4 years. America's downfall started over a decade ago. Obama did nothing to help.

[@moniqueloomis9772]

👍

[@davidleaman6801]

@Mark Johhson Hey, did you hear about the house parties in the Hamptons?

[@alexandramartin1243]

Elizabeth K that’s bc Mitch McConnell blocked time for progress made and used filibuster to do so among many other things. He is greatly at fault for many of the issues US faces now. Just wiki him.. see for your selfs.

[@davidleaman6801]

@AK Boatmann Ak is right. Elizabeth K - Are you going to be okay if you get Covid? Party in the Hamptons tonite.

[@arthousefilms]

I like how he says thriving countries have a "we" attitude instead of a "me" attitude.

[@myfoodishere]

China is a we culture. everyone put on masks and pulled together. there was no mandate, people just did it. i tell people here how americans believe the virus is a hoax and not wearing a mask is a mark of freedom and they are dumbfounded. they just dont think like that here. its not because of "communism" its just been engrained in them for ages. culture is so very important and it is a fabric that is thin

[@myfoodishere]

@Madam Meouff he didnt really have a choice imo. before him the government was far more corrupt. lots of those old school guys are still in the gov. if he retired with them still around they would just go back to business as usual. his job is to make sure the new generation of leaders follow the rules and not guanxi. i got here before xi was president. you could literally openly bribe a cop or official. cant really do that anymore.

[@myfoodishere]

@Madam Meouff if you say so. we can agree to disagree. i just look at how the american system works, or doesnt work. and i look at what works and doesnt work with the chinese system. as an american living in china for 8 years i can see things have changed for the better in a small amaount of time. i can see how america has slipped and de-evolved within the same amount of time. like it or not the chinese are doing far better than the united states right now. that could change. but i know for damn sure my quality of life is way higher here than it was in new york. shit lets take something like the subway. theyve been trying to build the second ave subway for how many years and its still not done. they built a high speed rail network over here from qingdao to rizhao in just a few years. same with the airport. i call home all the time. new york the self proclaimed greatest city in the world cant hold a candle to rizhao and this place was a back water village in 1990.

[@myfoodishere]

@Madam Meouff crime, civil unrest, high levels of incarceration, national debt, government shutdowns, the flight of the wealthy from urban centers, constant foreign wars. china is going to be around long after america falls apart

[@myfoodishere]

@Madam Meouff i hear ya. ive heard people say the nordic model could save us. my perspective is a bit different. i'm from brooklyn. i'm half puerto rican, i grew up around mostly latinos and blacks. i understand the economy needs to be saved but so does culture. you can build all the institutions you want but that wont change peoples values. i grew up and worked around, lived beside people who only valued violence. they didnt care about how to behave in public or doing the right thing. they only care about themselves. no dad at home, they glorify music that is only about materialism, violence and sexualizing its own women. i could rant but my point is about culture. if the culture is garbage it has no place in society. the chinese dont allow music or movies like that. people are bad enough on their own. it shouldnt be encouraged on a mass scale as it is in the states. even if the economy were to be sorted there would still be these underlying issues. i am aslo aware these exist in white communities and asian communities but i've never lived in one. just sharing what i know. its one of the reasons why i left. everywhere i lived in the states was full of ghetto people that didnt want to change. there was always violence. i had no choice but to leave

[@stellapatchouli6652]

The Host does a good job. He doesn't try to manipulate the guest's views.

[@steveschramko2386]

"My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings, Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair ! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. " P. B. Shelley (Ozymandius, Xanadu, Camelot, Babylon etc. etc.)

[@jasonvoss1984]

If we define "community" as the non-monetary exchange of value, we should not be surprised to see its erosion the more we monetize. The spread of a virus can teaches us that we are not simply individual islands but rather that our fate, individually and collectively, is intimately connected to the community we are a part of.

[@brian-beeler]

Former NY Times Middle East bureau chief and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Chris Hedges wrote "America: The Farewell Tour" two years ago about the end of the "American Empire." It's outstanding and spot-on. Well worth the read.

[@lalakuma9]

Yes! He also often says that people voting for Trump is just a symptom of the problems that have been going on in the US for a long time.

[@souldreamer9056]

It’s so strange to me that in the US, people can not provide factual, helpful criticism and feedback on the state of the nation without having to justify how much they love the country. OFF COUTSE they love the country, otherwise they would not bother providing the criticism and feedback.

[@Mmmyess]

My most strident "individualist" friends are all deeply involved in their own gangs...their own sub-cultures, cliques.

[@gado184]

The US has been in decline for years now. Coming to grip with our empire ending hits many harder than others.

[@davidking4779]

Young people don't know or understand the freedoms that we once had, so they see them as the problem. They don't trust us with our freedoms and the responsibility that we would exercise with them.

[@maryjeanjones7569]

gado184- The US was never an empire. The US has been a country divided since the onslaught of slavery in 1619 which held you back from becoming great. Hundreds of years of internal strife has come to a head. Time to pay the piper!

[@davidking4779]

@@maryjeanjones7569 Do you mean, time for the makers to pay the takers more? Remember, the makers are not tied down, they can move on to open arms. I live around many Venezuelans who fled the takers of their beloved country.

[@maryjeanjones7569]

@@davidking4779 - I guess that's one way of looking at the big picture. I am not certain that paying is the answer. I believe the answer is to create an equal society for all. From what I am hearing and seeing, all citizens want to be treated equal. Is that so difficult?

[@davidking4779]

@@maryjeanjones7569 In my 71 years I have never heard of anyone who does not want equality and equal treatment for everyone. That is the core of freedom and our country. It is the equal outcome despite the input that is an issue and the Government taking sides to unbalance the playing field. Give everyone a level playing field and let all have the freedom to do their best. It is so simple that I can't understand how the idea is lost. I want everyone to do good and some to do better, but lets play fair with rules that work for all. Too much to ask, I know.

[@thedeepdarkwebb]

American exceptionalism had been crumbling since the early 00’s. Really once we entered the Iraq war. The pandemic cemented the decline. Half of us don’t vote and most our politicians are corrupt.

[@johnvalentine3456]

The term itself is so obnoxious, if I never hear it again it'll be too soon.

[@tiffanywilliams1470]

In America, you're considered as a FAILURE if you need any type of assistance in life. God's WHOLE POINT of creating people who need assistance in life is 2 make us have 2 UNITE & show care 4 those He's blessed us 2 have more than. Its a way of UNITY...a show of LOVE. Which is who God is. Until this world gets out of the curse of greed, God will continue 2 have it crumble & re - create His masterpiece to HIS likings. God is the ONLY who holds the right 2 jealousy & final rule. And hates greed.

[@jackkiperman6866]

"Walt Whitman, Abraham Lincoln and the Grateful Dead." Now that's an America I can get behind.

[@nomaddave6555]

I'm with you Jack. Made me smile when Wade ended the interview with this. Great Americans all.

[@akheem7515]

Students of history and thoughtful and insightful people know this.

[@albertgates7441]

@akheem AKHI-GBADE are right America is waking up to the fact that things are not going to return back to what it was.stay safe my brother and take care all praises to the mosthigh and much much respect to our saviour the messiah. 🤔🤗😅

[@michellehutchinson9569]

Fantastic!!! This was a great clip. Having no emotional outbursts and just great facts!!! Loved it

[@anthrogurl4484]

Our downfall started in the 80s w/ GOP trickle down economics which jump-started income inequality & is responsible for the disappearance of the middle class. The GOP has carried on a 40 year assault on the middle class & working class. I’m not that surprised to find us at this point. Trump was just the end result elected by people who feel disenfranchised but who have ultimately been duped by the very party they profess to love. Public education, on a downward spiral for 40 years, has finally turned out the ignorant, easily led electorate the GOP wanted. And Dems sat back & let it happen.

[@antigravity6]

People in the West should know that Asia is back. It s not just China. And whoever criticises China of minorities problem, ask any minority living in the US. It s the same story. Those who have not lived in China for at least a year will never know how great the country is.

[@Badmanxl5]

I don't know who you are what you just said is true, there are Nations and countries who are just as accomplished as America. Some whites in American believe they're better than everybody else.

[@57Carlibra]

Thank you for interviewing an extremely intelligent person, Wade Davis, who puts things into a great hisorical perspective.

[@rozm8754]

The people in America know that the economy it's almost totally collapsed. We just don't know what to do about it.

[@Cyril_Squirrel]

Start with voting Trump out. Start listening to Bernie.

[@tesla416]

The problem is that we have the right to vote on some crook who is paid off. What we need is a way for the public to vote on issues ourselves, not depend on one person to make decisions. Like past presidents FDR, who put a 90% tax rate on the rich, to help the economy. Do you think a 90% tax on the rich would pass today? LOL Not, unless we the public were able to vote it in! If the rich people screw up our country they don't care, they can move anywhere.

[@rozm8754]

That is so correct.

[@benniecrawford6876]

Adject Bernie is not our candidate, get over it.

[@Cyril_Squirrel]

@@benniecrawford6876 Not worthy of response, too stupid!

[@johnnybjudah8889]

AMERICA IS FALLIN JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAID IT WOULD. IM GLAD TO SEE IT GO. THIS KINGDOM HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT HELL FOR MY PEOPLE!! APTTMH

[@richardbailey2718]

This is in fact the the end of US prominence.

[@infinitysteppingstone331]

What happened to all that winning? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@panchopuskas1]

@@infinitysteppingstone331 ...it's not only Trump....even if he loses the election the decline will continue....the USA needs a lot of very big changes and the big corps and big finance have no interest in letting that happen.....

[@infinitysteppingstone331]

@@panchopuskas1 So how do we save our country?

[@johnfalstaff2270]

@@panchopuskas1, exactly. Democrats created the base for rich American industrialists, who are predominantly republicans to outsource many good jobs to China and India. Now we have many unemployed without profession people on our streets. They create gangs and drug trafficking. The only position they can find is Walmart, McDonald's, Lidl or Aldi. Both, Democrats and Republicans destroyed our name as an industrial superpower. They have never loved this country. They used it only as a money making machine.

[@aw3821]

Who cares. I am tired of being The Big Bully On The Street

[@margarethawinarto3931]

What's mind boggling is the fact that someone like Trump still has so many worshipers.

[@squeezeracer]

👍💕😷💕👍

[@Boviss1Bovis]

Lots of people hate 'cleverness'. They're suspicious of experts and professionals and people with knowledge. In Trump they see a person theyre familiar with - a loudmouth and know nothing reactionary who doesnt care about minor things like facts - someone who is blatantly out for what he can get in life. They see an ordinary primitive man and they can relate to that. The boasting and the lying and the distractions that Trump deliberately creates means that they never have time to evaluate the worth of the things he is saying. He gives them something new to hate every day and keeps stroking his core support by his alignment with Israel and the 'Christian Right' and the white supremacists - all the while keeping the rich and the conservative middle classes on board by creating crises that he can blame on Socialists and Anarchists and people who threaten their way of life. They don't get a fix on him as a hereditary Oligarch and member of the elite. They think he's one of them, that he knows them and understands their grievances and their fears. He's a conman before anything else. He's been a grifter all his life. This is basic for him. He can play this in his sleep.

[@paulaanderson6478]

Worship this Margaret, freedom, a great economy, jobs for your kids and grandchildren and no thugs coming across the border with young girls. TRUMP 2020

[@margarethawinarto3931]

@@paulaanderson6478 I know what you mean. However, under his reign America is more divided than ever.

[@Boviss1Bovis]

@@paulaanderson6478 Dreamland. Are these the new promises, or the old ones he made that he never quite got around to delivering on yet? Under his presidency the US is drifting towards becoming a failed state. Administration incompetence has caused tens of thousands on needless casualties from Covid19 and with the start of autumn the second wave of this pandemic will soon be here. And Still he refuses to implement the measures that the experts are calling for. He started a trade war with China which cannot be 'won' and which will badly handicap any attempt at economic recovery when this pandemic is finally brought under control. And there is no vaccine coming this year. The Russian vaccine may be ready by spring next year (and thats the fastest possibility) IF stage 3 and 4 trials go well and the scientists have proven that it works. What about Chlorquinine? I thought that was the Trump cure - or maybe that Pillow guy's snake juice - who persuaded Trump that Labernum oil was just the thing. (maybe someone told Trump later on that the stuff was poisonous. He stopped advertising it a couple of weeks ago, didn't he?) You couldn't make this Trump stuff up. No-one would believe you (if it wasn't filmed and recorded). He has been publicly laughed at during his speeches at both the UN and at NATO meetings and brought the US into international ridicule by employing 2 of his dim witted and ignorant children (and one idiotic son in law) to carry out international diplomacy representing the US. Meanwhile, the US national debt is a couple of points off being the same as the GDP and is increasing every day. And at the same moment that the economy is tanking and the debt is reaching this unsustainable level, Wall St values have never been higher. Which proves that the US Stock Market has disconnected from the real world of markets and prices based on value and now exists only as a mutually supporting cartel operating the money roundabout of a Ponzi scheme. It's worse than a tinderbox. This combination is the economic equivalent of a Beirut warehouse. At the same time as all of this, the streets are in uproar because smartphones have revealed to the entire world that the US police forces haven't reformed their attitudes to race and skin colour since the days of their formation, when one of their primary tasks was to capture black people and send them to the slave markets of the south. The world is witnessing the police as they murder unarmed black people - and then expect to have impunity for doing so. Theyve been doing this since forever in the ghetto and then using well worn forms of words to claim self defence and get away with it - but everyone has a phone with a camera now - and the police have been revealed for what they are on the issue of race. We are also witnessing the shameful spectacle of the US police forces acting like an army of occupation in a hostile country as they beat and shoot and strangle people simply because they have a culture which presumes that the hammer is the only tool they need. And because the president has encouraged these tactics against people he views as his political opponenets. We have an administration that denies the reality of climate change being caused by human conduct and activity - even as the evidence piles up on the news every night in the form of catastrophic storms and flooding and wild fires. These are affecting every corner of the world and have become our new 'normal'. He can't be a statesman, or operate in the national interest over these issues, because the KKK wear MAGA hats these days and because his friends who own the corporations don't care about 5 years from now, or 20 years from now - they don't want to lose profits today and to Hell with the next generation. And so, he refuses to do what is right because it might upset people who support him - and he wants to be re-elected. Whats good for Trump is more important than the truth, or justice, or even saving this planet of ours. Leave the chores for the next guy. This is what the Trump administration has made. If they didnt create these problems they did at least make them worse. Trump is unfit. It is a matter of simple fact that he is a repulsive old pervert without interest in or curiosity about the world at large. He sees his task in simple short term matters over which he can declare victory and boast about. Remember, in April he declared victory over Covid19. Gone by July he said. He was going to build a wall and have the Mexicans pay for it. He was going to apply for a Nobel Peace Prize for 'solving' the problem in Korea. North Korea would be a great place for golf resorts and holiday developments.... remember? Re-electing Trump would be a greater disaster than electing him in the first place. Allies of the US have been holding their breath these last few years waiting for this species of madness to pass, waiting for the US to be a trustworthy partner again. Another 4 years of this will test many of these allies and friends of long standing to breaking point. The world will find ways of working around and ignoring the US - and that damage will be permanent.

[@KyokushinKichiKai]

As a country we have no single-mindedness as Americans! Take wearing masks as an example. We can't accept we should wear them to protect everybody because we have individual rights. We won't be dictated too. In Japan if the Prime Minister says," Everyone needs to wear a mask to prevent Covid-19." It would be done with little to no exception for the good of Japan.

[@jericheatum9474]

I want the U S of America to live up to it's pledge. Liberty and Justice for All. Social Justice and Liberty is NOT socialism because we help support each other with our government.

[@bobcourtier4674]

All the policies we fomented in central and South America over the last century are coming home to roost in the U.S.

[@carolynforge8586]

Everything the Divided States ever did wrong is bringing their chickens home to roost. What makes this country so bad is that they never repent or change. They are relentlessly evil.

[@macrospaticawen3611]

You have to admit it. America is a third world country where some of the richest men live.

[@LOSTONITALL]

No, I won't admit to a lie.

[@macrospaticawen3611]

@@LOSTONITALL Keep dreaming😁

[@vincentbright3488]

Learn to speak and write English before you enter the conversation.

[@aprilturk1559]

got in trouble with that when talking with millenials and genzs -- denial runs rampant when moms and pops protect the young beyond what is necessary

[@petert1692]

The decline started during the Vietnam War five decades ago. The attack on education for decades by the wealthy classes has hastened the decline.

[@newclaypottery7731]

As others have said below, Hari Shrenivasar Is by far the best interviewer on the air for th s

[@williamsmith3169]

The US has pegged its financial existence to oil, its embraced a wasteful approach to production and economics and its social system is inherently one that promotes inequality. Its like most other empires that came before it in other words and its declining for the much the same reasons.

[@wanderer85295]

right on . love the closing statement " I want the America I dreamed of as a kid , Walt Whitman , Abraham Lincoln , and the GRATEFUL DEAD!" WE ARE EVERYWHERE

[@generationofswine-ge5rw]

I noticed that too. How I miss going to dead shows in the US when Jerry was still alive. There is nothing else like it.

[@wanderer85295]

@@generationofswine-ge5rw you and me both . I mean after Brent died is was like a 9 mile skid on a 10 mile ride . after Jerry died it seemed like the world became flat ( not like flat earth flat I may be stoned but I'm not stupid )less brilliant , less colorful , less satisfying , just simply less. the only regret that I have of those years is that I only saw 100 shows....

[@babycakes2077]

While in graduate school in nyc, I noticed HOW TOTALLy smug and pompous most of the grad students AND profs were about their elevated social status. Conversely, years prior I had worked w a bunch of Canadians in outdoor education and was struck by HOW HUMBLE all my CA peers were about their education. So many of these wholesome young folks had parents w phd’s, teaching at uni level in CA and you *would never know it*. They’re didn’t market themselves w all the obnoxious bs we do down here. I’m w wade - bring back READING, LABOR, and the Grateful Dead 🤘🏽✊🏽❤️ kzbin.info/www/bejne/aISai6mXjLGmo6M

[@markbrownner6565]

splendid link to eyes of the world....what do you want me to do..??

[@henrysmommy7]

America of Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, and the Grateful Dead.. What a beautiful thought.

[@redthepost]

A needed love letter from someone who loves Whitman, Lincoln and the Dead. 4 stars for this interview. A morale booster, indeed.

[@bonnierobinson8684]

Republicans only want the middle class and the poor to have children to populate America as workers, if you are middle class they will screw you over to make it easy to live better lifes.

[@marylee4510]

I used to believe in freedom and democracy until last year when the protest and riots started in Hong Kong. How can a city who has so much freedom can be influenced to believe they have none. I live in Hong Kong almost 30 years and it is sad to see it become like this. How can US use their own brand of "Freedom and Democracy" as a license to cause divide and hate against its own in Hong Kong by spreading fear. And as you come to realize this is not the first, all along we have been led that US have the right to eliminate terrorism, it turns out not only they created terrorism at the first place but uses liberation as well as an excuse to go to wars to countries and stealing their resources all in the name of US's "freedom & Democracy." How many countries have US destroyed in these past decades and in the process destroyed their own country as well.

[@zylbygdfn6542]

Wow...I'm so glad you understand this. Cambodia became a communist country because of America and America is responsible for almost 2 million deaths.

[@realbarrs9290]

The Congress gave up on our way of life. Currencies are on life support. Businesses are being suffocated. Economies are in collapse. Government and Media will never tell anyone this, do what's the alternative? Gold, silver and Bitcoin. The next 4 years will either make or break people.

[@s.s.karena9886]

They are all for themselves and themselves alone

[@pietrofelix9497]

I'm convinced that if all the major US cities got nuked the stock market would still go up.

[@realbarrs9290]

No doubts the only way to be financially free in this country and period is through effective investments.

[@b.kingguntats4429]

@@realbarrs9290 I really can't agree less, with a lot of people still awaiting on the next check drop. Hope you don't mind me asking what do you invest in?

[@realbarrs9290]

I've a diversified trading Portfolio which cuts across the major financial markets, stocks, forex and recently crypto mining.

[@garthstewart6099]

Amazing to listen to this after the Capitol riots...