The Coming Storm - BBC Podcast Series

The USA is a wonderful country and I love visiting the place, but it's also one the the most ****ed-up places on the planet, huge areas of the country are neglected and isolated, some of the less-travelled places like going back in time 50 years.

Their standard of education is also poor, when compared to similarly wealthy nations. Add that to the feeling of disenfranchisement from large parts of the country and you've got the perfect political storm.
 
I read an article the other day about how Western democracy is on the verge of imminent collapse and / or descent into fascism. I know this has being been said for years now, but the signs are there. Extreme individualism and libertarianism has seriously taken root and collective responsibility is just seen as socialism, which is a dirty word in the USA. Where this all ends and what happens is anyone's guess, but we are certainly living in those interesting times of the Chinese curse.

I'd like to give the podcast a listen but it might not be good for my mental state...the never ending battle between wanting to stay informed and wanting to stay sane... 😓
 
Jonny Ingbar said:
Their standard of education is also poor, when compared to similarly wealthy nations.
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Think that's more a question of how rich you and and where you live.

The one thing that living in the US has taught me is that it's such a huge country (really just a collection of 50 states) that making any sweeping statements about it are largely pointless, as the difference between say metropolitan California and rural Arkansas is like comparing chalk and cheese.
 
The_Lizards_Jumpers said:
Think that's more a question of how rich you and and where you live.

The one thing that living in the US has taught me is that it's such a huge country (really just a collection of 50 states) that making any sweeping statements about it are largely pointless, as the difference between say metropolitan California and rural Arkansas is like comparing chalk and cheese.
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As an outsider and occasional tourist only, I do get the same impression - a very disunited states of america, in a number of different ways.

We have friends in northern California and they said they actually felt scared of the Trumpites, running up to the last election; a very overtly macho and aggressive attitude in public, bordering on intimidation.
 
Jonny Ingbar said:
The USA is a wonderful country and I love visiting the place, but it's also one the the most ****ed-up places on the planet, huge areas of the country are neglected and isolated, some of the less-travelled places like going back in time 50 years.

Their standard of education is also poor, when compared to similarly wealthy nations. Add that to the feeling of disenfranchisement from large parts of the country and you've got the perfect political storm.
Click to expand...
We did a Florida drive tour and pretty much followed the tourist trail down to the Keys. I said the mrs we'll take a different route back to Orlando airport across country to see a bit of the 'real' Florida.
Some of it was as rough as anything over here. Huge swathes of trailer parks and massive abject poverty. Shocked, not what I was expecting of Florida.
I also know how utterly insular they are with a massive ingnorance of the rest of the world.
I've worked with them quite a bit over the years overseas in the O&G game but they tend to have more about them than I guess the average American.
I'm still properly confused and fascinated at it all.
How will it end?
 
Littlejimmy said:
I read an article the other day about how Western democracy is on the verge of imminent collapse and / or descent into fascism. I know this has being been said for years now, but the signs are there. Extreme individualism and libertarianism has seriously taken root and collective responsibility is just seen as socialism, which is a dirty word in the USA. Where this all ends and what happens is anyone's guess, but we are certainly living in those interesting times of the Chinese curse.

I'd like to give the podcast a listen but it might not be good for my mental state...the never ending battle between wanting to stay informed and wanting to stay sane... 😓
Click to expand...
It's not too bad Jimmy. Quite a few tenuos links to drive the narrative and as usual with a study like this it there's as many questions as answers.
Give it a go.
 
I thought about drawing a parrallel between Trump and the election and the lies and the brainwashing and 9/11 and the Muslim world.
In the years after 9/11 I was working in Tunisia working closely with the locals, many being University educated intelligent professionals. Almost all of them believed that 9/11 was carried out by Mossad. Several of them actually stated that 'no Jews were killed' in 9/11. Even when I showed them the names, which were so clearly Jewish type surnames, they still wouldn't believe it.

Both huge swathes of the population, different cultures, different continents, believe in something that is so palpably untrue it beggers belief.
The power of collective brainwashing.

See Hitler!
 
The_Lizards_Jumpers said:
Think that's more a question of how rich you and and where you live.

The one thing that living in the US has taught me is that it's such a huge country (really just a collection of 50 states) that making any sweeping statements about it are largely pointless, as the difference between say metropolitan California and rural Arkansas is like comparing chalk and cheese.
Click to expand...
As somebody who lives in the States, do you think that should either Trump or one of his acolytes get in next, several States (notable California) will leave the USA and go out on their own?
 
I give it 5 years tops before daily low level political violence breaks out in US. If Dems are in power then Reps won't allow it. If Reps are in power then they won't let go and will put opposition down violently. There is no way out now as neither side will accept any election result as fair. Welcome to Gilead.
 
NZBoro1 said:
As somebody who lives in the States, do you think that should either Trump or one of his acolytes get in next, several States (notable California) will leave the USA and go out on their own?
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As a long time California resident (>25 years), while it makes sense for California to think about breaking off from the rest of the USA I think there is a huge inertia to overcome. People are (quite reasonably) wary of big changes that might have other risks and things people are worried about. Such as: what to do for a currency, will everyone have to reapply for citizenship, how will we police a border, will it be much harder to visit relatives in what is now another country, what will we do about all the US military bases in CA, what will happen to all the federal employees (I am one of them - I work for the US Department of Energy)? I also think that there is a fair amount of concern about what would happen in other states that heavily depend on the support of the wealthier states, either because of personal connections or basic empathy. It is also worth bearing in mind that the individual states have a lot of independent authority - so that California can do a lot of things not approved at the federal level - such as act on climate change, and do not need to leave the republic to do so.
 
Fascinating place America. I've been to New York and Orlando as a tourist and spend a bit of time working in Louisiana. All three States were completely different. I was in Louisiana in 2014 and one day drove into New Orleans for some fire fighting training. I was genuinely shocked at how bad parts of the city looked. To me, it seemed some areas hadn't recovered from Hurricane Katrina (which was a few year before then).

I've worked with a few Americans too and the difference between those from the South and those elsewhere is massive. The lads from Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and places were religious, gun owning and ultra-conservative. Those from further north were also gun owning, but much more liberal minded and closer to Europeans.

When in Florida I remember being in a shop with my family one day. I was stood to the side with my kids while the Missus waited to pay. There was an American lady stood near and hearing our accent struck up a conversation. She'd drove from Wisconsin for a family holiday (why leave the country if you have Florida). She was really pleasant, but I'll always remember the girl behind the till's reaction when the lady asked my Missus if we had our own money in England!
 
Jonny Ingbar said:
The USA is a wonderful country and I love visiting the place, but it's also one the the most ****ed-up places on the planet, huge areas of the country are neglected and isolated, some of the less-travelled places like going back in time 50 years.

Their standard of education is also poor, when compared to similarly wealthy nations. Add that to the feeling of disenfranchisement from large parts of the country and you've got the perfect political storm.
Click to expand...
I think, as others stated , it really depends upon where you live. There is some of the best education in the world here & also some of the worst for a 1st world nation . Thus , the bigger issue is , imv , the massive wealth gap.
 
Nero said:
Fascinating place America. I've been to New York and Orlando as a tourist and spend a bit of time working in Louisiana. All three States were completely different. I was in Louisiana in 2014 and one day drove into New Orleans for some fire fighting training. I was genuinely shocked at how bad parts of the city looked. To me, it seemed some areas hadn't recovered from Hurricane Katrina (which was a few year before then).

I've worked with a few Americans too and the difference between those from the South and those elsewhere is massive. The lads from Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and places were religious, gun owning and ultra-conservative. Those from further north were also gun owning, but much more liberal minded and closer to Europeans.

When in Florida I remember being in a shop with my family one day. I was stood to the side with my kids while the Missus waited to pay. There was an American lady stood near and hearing our accent struck up a conversation. She'd drove from Wisconsin for a family holiday (why leave the country if you have Florida). She was really pleasant, but I'll always remember the girl behind the till's reaction when the lady asked my Missus if we had our own money in England!
Click to expand...
I used to think the same. Just look at the size of the USA compared to the UK & don't forget most people are lucky to get 10-15 days paid leave here . Not easy to travel esp with intense distances. That said , it is an American-centric culture
 
zzzzz said:
For anyone interested in USA Politics and the growth of conspiracy theories it's fascinating.
www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 - The Coming Storm - Downloads

Podcast downloads for The Coming Storm
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Despite there being NO evidence some 40% of Americans believe that Biden really lost the election.
Astonishing how tens of millions of people can be so stupid.
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Just listened to the first one on my drive home , cheers .
 
The USA is a complex place. Anyone with an interest in the 'back-story' I would suggest reading " American Republics' - Alan Taylor . He talks about the USA between 1780-1850 & it is a good overview on the sense of Statehood & different views in various locations.
 
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