Without them, he would be nothing but a failed businessman and a has-been reality TV personality.

Of course, he "loves" only himself.

Roger Freeman
Advisor to Ronald Reagan
Oct 29, 1970

It’s been downhill ever since

And a threat to fascists & oligarchs

Read the whole thing, makes sense.

Two more quotes:
"All this nonsense, this Ssturm und Ddrang – the Liberation Day tariffs, threatening to annex Canada and Greenland, sending migrants to prison in El Salvador, crushing state capacity with DOGE, laying siege to elite universities etc, etc – is Trump speed-running all other possibilities because he, and the rest of America, knows that the right thing is too little, too late, too difficult and might not work even if attempted."

"And, of course, Trump’s exploration of all possible follies includes rampaging through the crown jewel of America’s education system – its world-class research universities. Eradicating the woke mind virus from higher education may be a justifiable political goal, but to do so by holding research funding hostage and demonizing international students is the height of madness."

Food for thought.

No it isn't. Empathy and egalitarianism are not viruses, they are human traits that strive for peace and justice.

eom

"Eradicating the woke mind virus from higher education may be a justifiable political goal"

There is nothing justifiable about a made up significance for a common word. This is BS republicans have made into a meme that people with very little brain repeat to think they are being smart. Not even the people who have written about "woke" have a consensus of what it means, besides of course "just having woke up".

Its going to get worst because republicans goal is to make the USA a very ignorant country, it already is, but they want more, 30% is not enough for them.

Outsourcing is part guilty for what is happening, the USA has exported technology and knowledge to other countries just to make more money, but eventually it would byte because once you loose the "know-how" you are at the mercy of those who know. The "Pan-Am Effect", fly now, pay later...well, now China, India, etc. have began charging more and the "savings" are no longer what they used to be.

Thomas Friedman wrote a book in favour of outsourcing a few years ago, and to me it was ironic how he could not understand the conversation he had with a man from India who owned a Tech company that was making a ton of money from USA outsourced projects, he spelled it out for him. The man said "at this time India is behind the USA in technology, but we are learning fast and the time will come when we will be ahead, and then the real money will begin to pour in." I am paraphrasing, of course but, you get the idea.

I have seen outsourcing at work, and for the most part it is a nightmare, the code has to be cleaned up when it is delivered back to USA, the cost, and time of the resources needed to do that sometimes outweighs the "savings" expected from it. I have seen companies close their outsourcing efforts because in the long run, it becomes too expensive, and some people do understand that it drains the brain power from the USA.

during the Clinton years, when free trade was being examined, about 50% of product innovation ideas or manufacturing improvement came from the shop floor.
When a manufacturing facility is outsourced, 50% of the innovation and improvements go with it. In another country that doesn't respect patents or intellectual property, it gets hijacked, stolen, etc with little recourse.

So, for a short time, the numbers looked good - big cost savings, etc. But now, reality is setting in. Pandora's box got opened. It is between very tough and impossible to get it back.

Last edited Tue May 20, 2025, 11:21 AM - Edit history (1)

it's inevitable that China will outdistance us in work product/inventiveness/creativity in the not so distant future...especially with trump/musk/miller cutting educational funding at every turn.

As military equipment and innovation are largely engineering problems. The emerging hypersonic missiles and high speed drones are remaking war. Our doddering multiship carrier groups are soon to be obsolete and we wont be as able to loot and plunder. I want all those profits the wealthy reaped on this selfish self serving war economy repossesed. Military spending is a type of welfare for the wealthy and it creates a group of voters who vote for their jobs against their class interests.

just about obsolete and trump with his tariffs are making China even more of an enemy in war matters, not to mention the bond and economic markets.

One was on PBS's Wall Street Week, and the other as a segment on CBS (news, I think).

((Maybe it's sponsored by those claiming "our current technology is NOT obsolete"??))

this was coming.

and my other brother traveled to Hyderabad, India for his (unrelated) work. They both came back with the same reaction: "We're screwed!"

Folks have been saying this for some time

... then proceeded to assault it with trickle-down economics and sack it on behalf of the Greedy Oligarchs and Plutocrats.

propaganda by their governments and media for many decades regarding the rest of the world.

Of course they're wrong, & they don't understand how Trump & Musk are causing a US "brain drain," with researchers & engineers leaving for other countries, but MAGAts seem dedicated to being wrong & not understanding things.

and calling tariffs a "strategy" to make us all rich. He is the personification of an idiot-asshole.

Even if tariffs could work it would only be short term gain. Throwing a tantrum and dumping over the chessboard will not solve a thing. The USA's "empire" days have been slipping for years. We need to be competitive and investing in our people, schools, colleges, technology and infrastructure to name a few. Not trying to wring out every last nickel from graduates who have insurmountable debt and giving tax cuts to billionaires to buy their 4th yacht. Trickle-down is complete bullshit; it doesn't work.

Weakening the country and its people is not going to make us competitive. Ever.

This is a very sobering article, with enough links to large groups of facts backing it up. TSF and his wealthy cohorts have done this to us over decades. The pace has only picked up. Now we are galloping towards that calamity.

Han Feizi:
https://asiatimes.com/author/han-feizi/

now. Countries that have guaranteed that their work will be funded and they will be treated well. South Korea, Japan, China, even Switzerland are all pushing forward and many US elites are being offered positions in Europe.

The dumbing down of America is escalating at warp speed

To me, so much of America wanted, for so many scores of years, to deny Black Americans the benefits of our society that they wound up denying the benefits to almost all, or at least far more than what was intended.

...its worst.

The states started cutting support for education at the same time.

The Chinese made higher education a major goal of their nation. We on the other hand thought that education just happens. After all, we are No. 1 and that will go on forever - well - just because.

We have now reached the point where the Republicans just want to get 'em stupid and keep them that way.

giggled in a few spots, held my breath in others. This part

To me, so much of America wanted, for so many scores of years, to deny Black Americans the benefits of our society that they wound up denying the benefits to almost all, or at least far more than what was intended.