Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

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LarsMac
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by LarsMac »

A friend posted this earlier.



nplusonemag.com/issue-30/politics/Goodbye Cold War

An interesting perspective here, and a history lesson.

It seems that we are trying to shrug off the advances of civilization that were a result of the end of the global war, and the building of a "New World Order" spawned by the Cold War.

Would we have actually gone to the Moon if the Russians had not put up Sputnik?

I remember reading in the later 80s that the collapse of the Soviet Union would lead to the downfall of Western Civilization. I remember the idea being criticized by many of the pundits of the day, and yet, in the second decade of the new Century, I suspect that the author of that piece may be feeling a bit justified.

I wish I could find that article, now, just to see how much seems prophetic now.

An interesting bit:

But as pre-cold-war reformers understood, American political institutions actually require precisely the opposite to work: a near-angelic degree of social cohesion (if not agreement on political ends) among empowered elites. The cold-war order had in fact been forged on two related facts. The first was an organized working class that helped deliver the supermajorities needed to defeat barriers to mass democracy in the 1930s, and then mustered enough electoral strength in the decades that followed to expand, or at least protect, the social safety net their efforts had secured. Just as essential, the confrontation with the Soviet Union fostered cohesion among political elites in ways that produced the conditions for compromise, most dramatically evidenced during the period of 1960s civil rights legislation. When the Republican senator Everett Dirksen helped break the Southern filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, declaring, “The time has come for equality of opportunity. . . . It will not be stayed or denied,” he was speaking the same liberal universalist language as Lyndon Johnson and was motivated, regardless of the partisan divide, by much the same vision of the country and its global mission.
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gmc
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by gmc »

LarsMac;1519365 wrote: A friend posted this earlier.

Goodbye Cold War

An interesting perspective here, and a history lesson.

It seems that we are trying to shrug off the advances of civilization that were a result of the end of the global war, and the building of a "New World Order" spawned by the Cold War.

Would we have actually gone to the Moon if the Russians had not put up Sputnik?

I remember reading in the later 80s that the collapse of the Soviet Union would lead to the downfall of Western Civilization. I remember the idea being criticized by many of the pundits of the day, and yet, in the second decade of the new Century, I suspect that the author of that piece may be feeling a bit justified.

I wish I could find that article, now, just to see how much seems prophetic now.

An interesting bit:


We don't really have either liberal capitalism or liberal democracy in play at the moment. Be interesting to see if the US survives donald trump with it's constitution still in play. If iran or north korea donald trumps bluff and they are both likely to do so we are all in deep ****. Don't forget israel also had nuclear weapons. How is it saudi arabian terrorists attack america and ends up the most powerful country in the middle east? You couldn't make what is happening up could you
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tude dog
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by tude dog »

Several times I read the quote you posted and can't seem to make much sense of it.

What you wrote:

Would we have actually gone to the Moon if the Russians had not put up Sputnik?

I remember reading in the later 80s that the collapse of the Soviet Union would lead to the downfall of Western Civilization.


I can relate to.
What happened to Kamala Harris' campaign?
She had the black vote all locked up.
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LarsMac
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by LarsMac »

tude dog;1519374 wrote: Several times I read the quote you posted and can't seem to make much sense of it.

What you wrote:



I can relate to.


Probably should read the entire article. That quote was one paragraph in a much larger conversation.
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tude dog
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by tude dog »

LarsMac;1519377 wrote: Probably should read the entire article. That quote was one paragraph in a much larger conversation.


I thought I mentioned I read it three times, and I did read it again. Not saying anything one way or the other cause I just don't get it. That's on me.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll read more on it.

WELL INTO THE 2010S

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



MY BAD I didn't notice the link at the top of your post and searched for it.:-5:-5
What happened to Kamala Harris' campaign?
She had the black vote all locked up.
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LarsMac
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by LarsMac »

tude dog;1519379 wrote: I thought I mentioned I read it three times, and I did read it again. Not saying anything one way or the other cause I just don't get it. That's on me.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll read more on it.

WELL INTO THE 2010S

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



MY BAD I didn't notice the link at the top of your post and searched for it.:-5:-5


Sorry. I should make it more clear. It is quite a comprehensive piece, I think, and well worth the read.

not saying I agree with everything the author wrote. But I believe it gets to the core of the last 70 years of Western History.
The home of the soul is the Open Road.
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tude dog
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by tude dog »

LarsMac;1519380 wrote: Sorry. I should make it more clear. It is quite a comprehensive piece, I think, and well worth the read.

not saying I agree with everything the author wrote. But I believe it gets to the core of the last 70 years of Western History.


Actually, you did.

I read till THE UNITED STATES is in a remarkable place: for the first time,


I'm just tied. I hate reading off the computer screen. I felt like taking notes on a pad and pencil.
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tude dog
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by tude dog »

I finally read the whole thing.

The bulk of the long history lesson I just let it pass. It was when he got to lament the demise of the labor movement I finally got his problem.

To move past the moribund legacies of the cold war, we need to invest in new democratic reform efforts across the American institutional landscape.

Most obviously, this means harnessing mass anger at the corporate corruption of the political process and at the undemocratic implications of political features like voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the electoral college.


I see Donald Trump isn't the only crybaby in politics.
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She had the black vote all locked up.
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LarsMac
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Are we trying to return to those days of Cold War Glory?

Post by LarsMac »

tude dog;1519412 wrote: I finally read the whole thing.

The bulk of the long history lesson I just let it pass. It was when he got to lament the demise of the labor movement I finally got his problem.





I see Donald Trump isn't the only crybaby in politics.


So you are OK with the big corporations and churches running the country, and letting the rest of us settle for the Trickle Down Economy?
The home of the soul is the Open Road.
- DH Lawrence
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