{"id":1495723,"date":"2024-10-12T03:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T07:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1495723"},"modified":"2024-10-12T03:25:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T07:25:00","slug":"america-in-the-age-of-nero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/america-in-the-age-of-nero\/1495723\/","title":{"rendered":"America In The Age Of Nero"},"content":{"rendered":"

America In The Age Of Nero<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClearPolitics<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

Americans are like members of a quarrelsome family, so intent on arguing their petty grievances around the kitchen table that they don\u2019t smell the rising smoke from the oven.<\/strong> As our nation fumes and the world burns, neither major party presidential candidate is addressing the lapping flames around us.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not simply ignoring our frightening national debt<\/strong> \u2013 both vow to ramp it up<\/a>. Neither candidate has a serious plan to respond to the threats posed by China, Russia, or Iran.<\/p>\n

The strangling costs of health care, the sharp decline in mental health, the disintegration of our public schools \u2013 which is sharply tied to the breakdown in the family \u2013 are all ignored in a race marked by gauzy references to policy and sharp personal attacks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Harris and Trump \u2013 our leadership in Washington has long refused to face up to the growing threats to our republic. Their empty promise is that everything is the other side\u2019s fault. Help us annihilate the other guy and everything will be peaches and cream<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A third-grader wouldn\u2019t fall for this nonsense. <\/strong>Neither side can vanquish the other. A Harris victory will not be the death knell of Trump\u2019s populist message; Trump\u2019s win will not defang progressivism\u2019s leftward lurch. Whatever the outcome, we will continue to be a divided, angry nation. And yet, seemingly thoughtful Americans have bought this line hook, line, and sinker.<\/p>\n

More importantly, even if one side did seize absolute power, they have no legitimate plan to right the ship of state. <\/strong>Sixty years of Great Society programs have shown us we can\u2019t spend our way out of problems. The 44 years since the Reagan Revolution show us that tax cuts can only set the stage for reforms that have never come \u2013 a task that nears the impossible as ever more Americans become dependent on government aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

America is in a second Age of Nero \u2013 our leaders fiddle as the country burns.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In past crises, the strength, resilience, and ingenuity of the American people have saved us from the depths of want and war. It is not clear we retain that grit.<\/p>\n

Instead of demanding leadership, we seem content with the bread and circuses of mindless politics more akin to the gladiatorial battle of Rome than the edifying debates of ancient Greece. The broad embrace of victimhood and grievance on both sides has replaced any question of sacrifice for the common good with the desire to demonize our imagined tormentors. If anything, we savor the fight. It makes us feel important, alive \u2013 it gives our lives meaning.<\/p>\n

Although we have serious problems, we are no longer a serious people. Hence our choice between Donald J. Trump and Kamala Harris.<\/strong><\/p>\n

They are not the disease, however, but a symptom. The first step toward a treatment, if not cure, is obvious: we must reject our empty politics of diversion in order to identify and address our urgent crisis<\/strong>. Honesty really would make a difference. It might also make us happier as we re-channel our energies from angry partisanship into thoughtful partnership.<\/p>\n

Still, that would only get us so far. Life teaches that identifying one\u2019s problems is the relatively easy part of change \u2013 we all know what\u2019s wrong with the other guy and, sometimes, ourselves. Finding the will and discipline to do something about it is far harder.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We are sinking before that challenge because it still seems possible to ignore the building fire. Many of us have it pretty good; our fears are mitigated by our confidence in escape. It won\u2019t get me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the fact that much of the rest of the world is crumbling imparts a false sense of security. Instead of seeing those problems as canaries in the coal mine, we think, Hey, we\u2019re still doing okay. <\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that history confutes the doomsayers.<\/strong> The world does get better in the long run. But that is little consolation to those whose one short life is spent during the ebbing flow.<\/p>\n

History also teaches that judgment for past failure often comes with sudden swiftness, like a thief in the night. As we think about the immense problems we are allowing to smolder, recall Ernest Hemingway\u2019s pithy warning from \u201cThe Sun Also Rises.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did you go bankrupt?\u201d one character asks a friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo ways. Gradually, then suddenly.\u201d<\/p>\n

J. Peder Zane is a RealClearInvestigations editor and columnist. He previously worked as a book review editor and book columnist for the News & Observer (Raleigh), where his writing won several national honors. Zane has also worked at the New York Times and taught writing at Duke University and Saint Augustine\u2019s University.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 10\/11\/2024 – 23:25<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/america-age-nero<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America In The Age Of Nero Authored by J. Peder Zane via RealClearPolitics, Americans are like members of a quarrelsome family, so intent on arguing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1495724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1495723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1495723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1495723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1495724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1495723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1495723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1495723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}