Quote of the day

How did America get to our present situation?  What can we do to reform it?  This series poses question and provides few (if any answers).  The discussion in the comments are often far longer — and more interesting — than the posts themselves.  Often heated, the different views clash discordently.

Contents

1. About the Constitution and our government
2. About the American spirit, the American soul
3. A look at America’s past and present
4. A look at America’s future
5. A look at American politics
6. America’s broken observation-orientation-decision-action loop (OODA loop)
7. Some solutions, ways to reform America

1.  About the Constitution and our government

1. Forecast: Death of the American Constitution, 4 July 2006
2. The Constitution: wonderful, if we can keep it, 15 February 2008
3. Congress shows us how our new government works, 14 April 2008
4. See the last glimmers of the Constitution’s life…, 27 June 2008
5. Remembering what we have lost… thoughts while looking at the embers of the Constitution, 29 June 2008
6. A report card for the Republic: are we still capable of self-government?, 3 July 2008
7. Another step away from our Constitutional system, with applause, 19 September 2008
8. What comes after the Consitution? Can we see the outlines of the “Mark 3″ version?, 10 November 2008
9. Are Americans still willing to bear the burden of self-government?, 27 March 2009
10. “Lights, Camera, Democracy” by Lewis Lapham, 24 May 2009
11. “The Constitution that I interpret and apply is not living, but dead.” – Supreme Court Justice Scalia, 9 June 2009

2.  About the American spirit, the American soul

1. America’s Most Dangerous Enemy, 1 March 2006
2. Diagnosing the eagle, chapter IV – Alienation, 13 January 2008
3. Americans, now a subservient people (listen to the Founders sigh in disappointment), 20 July 2008
4. de Tocqueville warns us not to become weak and servile, 21 July 2008
5. A philosphical basis for the Batman saga, 23 July 2008
6. The American spirit speaks: “Baa, Baa, Baa”, 5 August 2008
7. We’re Americans, hear us yell: “baa, baa, baa”, 6 August 2008
8. The intelligentsia takes easy steps to abandoning America, 19 August 2008
9. Symptoms of a fever afflicting America’s culture, 5 November 2008
10. All we have to fear is our optimism, 12 November 2008
11. The corruption of a nation is usually hidden, but sometimes becomes visible, 21 November 2008
12. The war for America’s soul, 23 December 2008 — Our changing attitudes to “It’s a Wonderful Life”
13. This crisis will prove that Americans are not sheep (unless we are), 8 January 2008
14. About security theater, a daily demonstration that Americans are sheep, 25 January 2009
15. We close our eyes to torture by our government. The Brits are stronger., 9 April 2009
16. Sources of inspiration for America’s renewal, 23 April 2009
17. Are we citizens? Or peasants?, 21 May 2009
18. A famous guest speaker visits the FM site to tell us that we are not weak — we are strong, 8 June 2008

3.  A look at America’s past and present

1. An important thing to remember as we start a New Year, 29 December 2008
2. American history changes direction as the baton passes between our political parties, 18 May 2008
3. Is Obama running for the office of Chief Shaman?, 6 June 2008
4. Does America need a charismatic President?, 15 July 2008
5. More about charisma, by Don Vandergriff…(#2 in the “getting ready for Obama” series), 16 July 2008
6. A must-read for every American citizen: “The Fannie Mae Gang”, 25 July 2008
7. Can Americans pull together? If not, why not?, 29 July 2008
8. General Franks and Max Boot provide a valuable insight for all Americans, 13 August 2008
9. The World’s biggest mess, 22 August 2008
10. “Elegy for a rubber stamp”, by Lewis Lapham, 26 August 2008
11. What happens next? Advice for the new President, part one., 17 October 2008
12. “What to do? Advice for the new President, part two.“, 18 October 2008
13. Dr. Gulliver explains why America has become so fearful of the future, 23 October 2008
14. A sad picture of America, but important for us to understand, 3 November 2008 — Our low social mobility.
15. “A shattering moment in America’s fall from power”, 19 November 2008
16. Quote of the day, by P. J. O’Rouke, 19 December 2008
17. Inequality in the USA, 7 January 2009
18. Does this economic crisis make the State stronger – or is it another step in the decline of the state?, 16 January 2009
19. America passes a milestone!, 20 January 2009 — More working in government than manufacturing plus construction.
20. America reaches a tipping point as Washington becomes its heart and soul, 29 January 2009
21. Observations about America by Lewis Lapham, 8 March 2009
22. A great, brief analysis of problem with America’s society – a model to follow when looking at other problems, 4 June 2008

4.  A look at America’s future

1. Forecasts – Why wait? Read tomorrow’s news … today! (part I), 11 July 2006
2. The Future of America – Why wait? Read tomorrow’s news … today! (part 2), 17 July 2008
3. Forecasts – Why wait? Read tomorrow’s news … today! (part 3), 17 July 2006
4. Forecasts – Why wait? Read tomorrow’s news … today! (part 4), 17 July 2006
5. Our futures seen in snippets of the past, 16 June 2008
6. A soft despotism for America?, 22 July 2008
7. The transition between Imperial reigns: what will it mean for America?, 16 December 2008
8. America reaches a tipping point as Washington becomes its heart and soul, 29 January 2009
9. A look at America’s future – grim unless we get smart and pull together, 12 March 2009
10. “American capitalism gone with a whimper“ by Stanislav Mishin, 30 May 2009

5.  A look at American politics

1. The USA *after* this financial crisis – part I, about politics, 13 October 2008
2. What happens to the Republican Party after the election?, 2 November 2008
3. Migration from the south into America: new people, new foods, new political systems, 4 November 2008
4. America’s elites reluctantly impose a client-patron system, 5 November 2008
5. Immigration as a reverse election: our leaders get a new people, 6 November 2008
6. R.I.P., G.O.P. – a well-deserved end, 7 November 2008
7. America gets ready for new leadership (or is it back to the future?), 14 November 2008
8. Conservative reflections about America – starting to use their time in the wilderness to think, 15 November 2008
9. Lilliput or America – who has a better way to choose its leaders?, 19 November 2008
10. Conservatives should look back before attempting to move forward, 5 December 2008
11. The Democrats believe we are stupid. Are they correct?, 19 December 2008
12. President Bush gets in a few last blows on America before he leaves, 13 January 2009
13. Are the new “tea party” protests a grass roots rebellion or agitprop?, 1 March 2009

6.  America’s broken observation-orientation-decision-action loop (OODA loop)

1. News from the Front: America’s military has mastered 4GW!, 2 September 2007
2. The two tracks of discussion about the Iraq War, never intersecting, 10 November 2007
3. Another cycle down the Defense Death Spiral, 30 January 2008
4. Quote of the day: this is America’s geopolitical strategy in action, 26 February 2008
5. What do blogs do for America?, 26 February 2008
6. Everything written about the economic crisis overlooks its true nature, 24 February 2009
7. The housing crisis allows America to look in the mirror. What do we see?, 8 March 2009
8. The magic of the mainstream media changes even the plainest words into face powder, 24 April 2009
9. The decay of our government, visible for all to see, 3 June 2009

7.  Some solutions, ways to reform America

1. Diagnosing the Eagle, Chapter III – reclaiming the Constitution, 3 January 2008
2. Obama might be the shaman that America needs, 17 July 2008
3. Obama describes the first step to America’s renewal, 8 August 2008
4. Let’s look at America in the mirror, the first step to reform, 14 August 2008  
5. Fixing America: shall we choose elections, revolt, or passivity?, 16 August 2008
6. Fixing American: taking responsibility is the first step, 17 August 2008
7. Fixing America: the choices are elections, revolt, or passivity, 18 August 2008
8. What happens next? Advice for the new President, part one., 17 October 2008
9. What to do? Advice for the new President, part two., 18 October 2008
10. How to stage effective protests in the 21st century, 21 April 2009
11. The first step on the road to America’s reform, 29 May 2009