tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post5802020960140393306..comments2022-12-12T02:22:42.378-05:00Comments on Not There Yet: PreoccupiedDavidShaghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02378015294494222646noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-36177296546564451222011-10-19T12:14:15.332-04:002011-10-19T12:14:15.332-04:00@Marge - Thanks for the compliments, but I can'...@Marge - Thanks for the compliments, but I can't tell whether you are prolific on your own site or not - you won't let me in! How does one achieve entry into that select group allowed to view your blog? I'd advise against a monastery, there is always some awful religious requirement - how about a remote spa?<br /><br />@Laoch - I think the outcome you mention is a possibility - in fact, I think we might be there and not notice it. People talk about totalitarian states as if life is somehow suspended for the ordinary people and they are somehow locked in their homes or something. I have been to totalitarian states, for most people life goes on - it is only the strivers and the unlucky who feel the pain. The difference between England and the countries you mention is that each time the rulers became too out of touch, somehow some reformer gave them just enough shove so that the pressure was released. It will be interesting to see if that happens for us. At least in the countries you mention, people knew who the powers were; people here mostly don't have a clue who has the power and even when they do know they think some are on their side, because they are gulled into thinking that winning on a moral issue or having the nation's money go to one group rather than another makes everything OK.DavidShaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02378015294494222646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-2154796299781331582011-10-19T10:51:59.794-04:002011-10-19T10:51:59.794-04:00I think the future here in the US is polarized. T...I think the future here in the US is polarized. The most likely outcome seems to me to be totalitarianism. There is a small chance of revolution and heads rolling ala the Russian Revolution or French Revolution.Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06506141014376919585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7854090250820154334.post-69309169998216253262011-10-18T13:51:52.876-04:002011-10-18T13:51:52.876-04:00Great essay, David; I tend to agree with you on mo...Great essay, David; I tend to agree with you on most of what you've written.<br /><br />I'm not up to offering more than my appreciation for some solid reading matter for my bedeviled brain to digest; I've burnt-out on politics and would just as soon ensconce myself in some remote Buddhist monastery somewhere, if they'd have me. <br /><br />Been awhile since I've been around to touch base with everyone; haven't had much to say and little inclination to share what I have had. Sad? Maybe. Permanent? Nope. <br /><br />I'll be back around when I start feeling the pangs of homesickness again; visiting you and the other good souls in the old neighborhood keeps me in touch with my own better angels.<br /><br />Hope you'll stick around a good, long while; when my brain is starving, this is one of the first places to which I run.<br /><br />Thanks for being here.<br /><br />Later...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com