The Grand Illusion
Just who’s behind all the talk and poll figures about Joe Biden being too old or the cause of higher prices? While some Republicans have mentioned it, they’re too smart to mention it, because Trump’s certainly no spring chicken, only three years younger than Biden. Nor are the rock-solid Democrats saying much. According to various polls, the people behind the ageism and ignorance that’s torpedoing Biden are largely unaffiliated voters or sometime Democrats who don’t understand economics or history.
They complain about inflation and blame it on Biden, but he didn’t start it. And, as I discussed earlier, the largest single component behind inflation is the massive increase in corporate profits and high executive pay. But those who oppose Biden and vote for the Republicans are voting for the interests and actors who caused the inflation they hate, as well as for the politicians who don’t want to give women the rights to their own bodies.
Because he’s actually going against his own party, Biden hasn’t said much, but in fact he’s done more to reduce illegal immigration than Trump ever did, and he’s done more to start revitalizing basic industry than any president in years.
But people are angry about high prices, even though inflation has moderated, and they’re going to blame the President, despite the fact that he’s not the one who triggered it. Some Republicans, like Nikki Haley, actually admit that Republicans share the blame, but most of them blame it on Biden, because it’s easier.
And, as for energy, the only real energy Trump shows is to blame everyone else at high volume. He still doesn’t have a practical plan for anything.
But almost half the country swallows his high-volume non-stop blame game, just like they feast on mass-produced “music” that features high -volume percussion and endless repetition of unintelligible lyrics. A certain similarity, perhaps?
Who is responsible for this narrative? It’s the “horse race industrial complex” that passes for mass media these days. It’s been seized on as “the thing” for the traditional “Democrats in disarray” framework they used to describe politics, because they desperately need something to fill that role as Biden is pretty middle of the road or otherwise anodyne.
(I’m not at all saying that he isn’t old, I’m just saying that’s why it is “the thing.”)
Sound Bite News: like a finger into one’s chest, with exactly the same result; in your face 21rst Century.
But … “music” that features high – volume percussion … Living so near to Las Vegas and having an interest in music, you must have gone to hear the ‘Blue Man Group’. Those percussion thrusts to your chest were rejuvenating: were they not? Well then – resuscitative!
I saw/heard the Blue Man Group. Once was enough.
This made me laugh hard enough I almost spilled my malbec.
Luckily, none escaped.
Blue Man Group isn’t for everyone… just like rap, broadway, country, jazz and opera have their detractors.
The danger with democracy is that it can also be dumbocracy.
“…just like they feast on mass-produced “music” that features high -volume percussion and endless repetition of unintelligible lyrics.”
Tastes differ, of course. I am forced to admit that my opera experience, if you can call it that, goes no further than “Kill the Wabbit.” (I’m sure that made you shudder, LEM – sorry!!)
But I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a friend years ago, when I said I didn’t do movies much, vastly preferring to read a book. He was okay with that, till I disclosed what kind of books.
“You read [horrified tone] *genre* literature?!”
Yeah, I do. So maybe I shouldn’t listen to percussive and repetitive music, but I listen to what transports my soul, same as what I read. I’ll take fantasy & sf, including of course our host’s work, any day over what my English teachers pushed at me.
“Kill the Wabbit”. Best ever!!!!
I like opera, even “Kill Da Wabbit”, but this variation is better;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OYr7psTNpos
I wouldn’t care if Biden was 100; I know someone that’s 98 and as sharp as ever. Biden isn’t. He always had trouble putting together sensible sentences that didn’t go wrong, but that’s definitely gotten worse with time.
But as a practical matter, none of his VP or cabinet are likely to pull a 25th Amendment section 4 (never been done before) on him; and he could cancel that by sending a letter to the President pro tem of the Senate claiming he was fit to serve, making that moot anyway. So whether he’s fine or at best marginally functional (and there can certainly be different opinions there, that need not be based on ageism or even partisanship), we’re stuck with him until he either doesn’t run again or is voted out.
Blaming inflation on corporate profits and executive pay is a bit simplistic. I would think the massive amounts of money governments around the world poured into their respective economies in the face of the pandemic, coupled with continued huge spending programs such as the U.S.’s misleadingly named “Inflation Reduction Act” may have had just a teensy bit to do with it.
You’re kidding, right? About Mr. Modesitt’s thinking is simplistic? Wow, that takes some chutzpah.
Mr. Modesitt has a point that economic trends occur over years and have multiple factors. This allows for people with preconceived notions to place blame according to their political bias. Like you just did, Darcherd.
First, I didn’t blame all inflation on excess profits. I originally pointed out a study showing that the single largest component, roughly half, of the most recent U.S. inflationary wave came from corporate profits, and I figured that massive CEO and high executive pay might have added just a bit. That leaves plenty of room for other factors, but when half of this latest wave came from the corporate sector it’s worth noting. After all, is the CEO of GM really worth $29 million annually and a 40% increase in pay, when GM is only offering workers something like 25% and reinstating their cost of living adjustment that they gave up for something like a decade?
Although neither mentions very specific causes I found these sources to be of some help in understanding present day inflation. The monetary manipulations necessary to correct the economic chaos caused by Covid Pandemic and the violence (‘wars’) we have not got out of our system.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/Series/Back-to-Basics/Inflation#:~:text=Long%2Dlasting%20episodes%20of%20high,power%20falls%20and%20prices%20rise.
INFLATION: PRICES ON THE RISE by CEYDA ONER (a deputy division chief in the IMF’s Finance Department). BACK TO BASICS.
… What creates inflation?
Long-lasting episodes of high inflation are often the result of lax monetary policy. ….
January 2023. What caused inflation to spike after 2020? Summary written by: Richard Hernandez
https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2023/beyond-bls/what-caused-inflation-to-spike-after-2020.htm
… As the labor market tightened during 2021 and 2022, core inflation rose as the ratio of job vacancies to unemployment increased. This ratio is used to measure wage pressures that then pass through to the prices for goods and services. As workers bargain for better pay, firms begin to increase prices. So, from this research, the authors find that three main components explain the rise in inflation since 2020: volatility of energy prices, backlogs of work orders for goods and service caused by supply chain issues due to COVID-19, and price changes in the auto-related industries. …