interiors

Responding to the NYT article Hunter S. Thompson Would No Longer Recognize San Francisco : Not that NYC ever had a heart, other than for business, although it has been a cultural center, but fighting each other does not win this 'war'. On some level, I would be part of the barbarian invasion, in that I work for financial firms using technology, have a high income, and am relatively immune to the invasion of the 'plutocrats'. I work for them. That said, the problem is not so much an us against them, but as us against an electorate that has allowed money to gain disordinate power, to control and ruin the lives of most people. San Francisco might be the poster child for this inequality, but it is happening everywhere. Bernie Sanders is a step in the right direction; I don't wholly agree with him, but we need something more. Our country needs to move in a better direction, one in which people's lives matter, where a higher quality of life matters, where our li...

Responding to a NYT article by Russ Douthat : Sure, blame the victim, and accuse Obama for the rise of a racist, xenophobic right-wing populace. Hard to see how he actually created this problem. It is like saying gays and lesbians caused hate crimes. Trump's followers are disenfranchised and authoritarian in ideology, and although the extremism of Trump's followers is a reaction to Obama's race and calm, Obama did not cause their extremism. In fact, the Republicans themselves do that. The GOP is to blame for the ongoing economic crisis impacting much of our country, and that, along with Republicans' racist and hostile rhetoric, drives Trump's followers.

Responding to the NYT article Is the Era of Big-Program Liberalism Over? : Being concerned about the welfare of people, I see big government programs as the only viable alternative. Ceding control to the wealthy and corporations, essentially what the anti-government focus of Republicans has done, has only led to decreases in the quality of life for most Americans. For some of us, the favored few, the educated, those with technical skills, the wealthy, life has improved under corporatization and increasing plutocracy, as we've accumulated much of the prosperity of the last few decades. Universal programs are the only real, time-proven, option.