It is hard to think of greed as a disease. The reason is that people have a choice to be greedy or not. There are some definite psychological effects of greed that explain much about what our country is going through.
Scientists have discovered that greed is linked to the part of your brain’s reward center, leading to a pleasurable experience or sensation when a greedy person acquires something. That pleasurable sensation reinforces the greedy behavior.
So imagine buying an extra house. You are living in your dream home, and you add another home, fix it up, and sell it. You make a 60 percent profit on the house so you buy another one. Then you do the same thing. How many more times can you do this without wanting more? When you absolutely love the benefits, it’s hard to say no.
There is a part of greed that leads to social isolation. Most multimillionaire and billionaires experience this because they are so laser focused on making more money.
A greedy person will do almost anything to satisfy that urge. In most cases of greed, we see where manipulation and deceit have been repeatedly used to fulfill their desires.
Probably the worst thing about greed is that it lacks empathy and causes stress and anxiety. There are problems when you have a lot of money that many of us will never experience. When you are greedy, there is constant pressure to get more stuff. What’s worse is that you stop caring about the well-being of others as you pursue your prize.
A greedy person is never satisfied, and that is why it always ends in a crash and burn scenario. Typical of Republicans is that they always want to give tax breaks to the rich, believing that the benefits will trickle down to the other classes. This has never happened in the history of America, but it is still their talking point.
We saw ridiculous downsizing since President Trump has been in office, and already, he has reneged on his campaign promise not to touch Medicaid.
The problem is greed, and as long as Congress allows, Trump will be greedy. I just hope that the checks and balances kick in before the masses in America reach their breaking point.
President Donald Trump has a playbook. If we understood history better, we would have seen this coming. Trump has quoted Adolph Hitler and shown us that he is quite the fan of the dictator. At the end of his first term in office, he began to follow Hitlers actions to rise to power through the very system designed and created to keep people like Trump out.
Never in the history of US presidents have we had one like Trump. In the modern era, no other republican president in the last 50 years would have even voted for him. There is no other time in America after the Civil Rights Movement that the country would have elected such a man.
Hitler was quite radical in Germany, and his clear hatred of people labeled communists and Jews was apparent. Hitler was a part of the country that believed they lost World War I because of this group. There were three major events that led to the rise of Hitler, and there are also three major events that led to the rise of Trump.
As recorded in the Holocaust Encyclopedia, these are the events that led to the rise of Hitler:
June 28, 1919 The Treaty of Versailles is signed Germany loses World War I in November 1918. Germans are shocked and horrified. Many people, including Adolf Hitler, refuse to believe that the loss is real. They falsely blame Jews and Communists for Germany’s defeat.
This shock is intensified in June 1919, when Germany is forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty makes Germany accept responsibility for the war. Many Germans feel that the Treaty’s terms are too harsh. Germany has to make huge payments for damage caused by the war (known as war reparations). Also, according to the Treaty, the German army is limited to 100,000 troops. Finally, Germany is forced to transfer territory to its neighbors. The Nazi Party makes overturning the Treaty of Versailles a key part of its political platform. Many Germans welcome this Nazi promise.
November 8–9, 1923 The Beer Hall Putsch In the early 1920s, the Nazi Party is a small extremist group. They hope to seize power in Germany by force. On November 8–9, 1923, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party attempt to overthrow the government of the state of Bavaria. They begin at a beer hall in the city of Munich. The plotters hope to march on Berlin. But they fail miserably. The Munich police kill more than a dozen of Hitler’s supporters. Hitler and others are arrested, tried, and convicted of treason. This attempted coup d’état is called the Beer Hall Putsch.
The failure of the Beer Hall Putsch encourages Nazi leaders to change their strategy. Instead of using force, the Nazis focus on winning elections.
October 24 and 29, 1929 The stock market crash in New York In October 1929, the stock market crashes in New York and sparks a worldwide economic crisis. This crisis is called the Great Depression. The stock market crash impacts Germany almost overnight because the American and German economies have become closely intertwined. This economic connection is a direct result of financial negotiations relating to World War I reparations payments. Unemployment becomes a major problem in German society. Joblessness, homelessness, and begging are commonplace. These economic conditions make Nazi promises more attractive to voters.
In America, Trump was elected the first time for three major reasons: Many poor marginalized white Americans felt that they were forgotten by the establishment, and many benefits were going to blacks, Hispanics, and the LGBTQ communities; America was not ready for a female president; Hilary Clinton could not overcome her past and the perception the American people had of the Clinton’s overall.
Despite Trump proving that he was not fit to be president of the free world, parts of America wanted him to “shake things up” in Washington, and that’s what he did. There are people who can point out some good that he did, but it is hard to overlook the tens of thousands who died monthly during the pandemic. Under Trumps leadership, America was not prepared to deal with the pandemic, and what’s worse is that a couple of months before Covid-19 hit America, Trump thought it was something the democrats made up.
When Trump lost to Joe Biden, he attempted an insurrection just like Hitler in Nov. 1923, and it failed. The White Fear button was pressed during his second campaign as he began to prey on America’s prejudices. White people believed illegal immigrants were bringing drugs, particularly fentanyl, into our country as well as sending us all their worst prisoners. The democrats mishandled legislation regarding transgenders and some of their decisions were a bit ridiculous, particularly in how our tax dollars were being spent on transgender operations. Finally, the idea that DEI initiatives were unfair to white people. Add that to a very weak candidate in Kamala Harris and inflation, and Trump, the felon, returns to office.
Trump now spends his days writing executive orders to dismantel America, alienate our allies and side with world dictators with the hope that he can become like them. It is a harsh history lesson for American citizens, but spoiler alert: Hitler ultimately is defeated — fyi.
During slavery, house slaves were unique in that they could live in the Master’s house and always be in close proximity to the family. They would learn domestic skills like cooking, cleaning, and even child care. Sometimes, the slaves would be taught how to read. Definitely, these house slaves had greater benefits than being just a field slave that worked outdoors.
House slaves dressed better, did not have to work as hard, could get scraps, and other items considered trash by the Master. Life was definitely better.
But at no time did the house slaves have any influence over the Master, nor could they even express their opinions. When the Master did something that they didn’t like or agree with, they’d better just keep it to themselves. The wrong kind of expression on your face could end in a backhand by the Master if he thought he wanted to say something about his actions. So the house slaves were just that – a slave and they had no opinion or independent thoughts of their own that they could express.
In Congress these days, we have seemed to resurrect the house slave. Republicans in Congress, instead of serving at the pleasure of the people who elected them, are now serving at the pleasure of our new dictator, Donald J. Trump. He is never challenged, questioned, or advised even when he makes a decision that violates the constitution.
Now, let’s not be nieve and think that Democrats have no house slaves because they sat back and allowed Joe Biden to leave our border wide open. They didn’t wave or salute. Trump has been a bit outrageous with his latest decisions, and the recent town hall meetings in Republican districts have been very vocal about their concerns over Trump’s decisions.
The bottom line is this: We can not properly implement democracy if the checks and balances won’t hold the line. In other words, Congress has a job to do, and it is not to be the Congress for the president, but for the people. We voted for representatives who would be the voices of the people. Our country has lost sight of this. If we continue down the current path, it won’t be long before we are all house slaves or we really have an insurrection.
Two major things are happening today: Donald J. Trump is going to be sworn in as the 47th President of these United States of America, and there is also a national observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., birthday.
Some are devastated because they were looking forward to celebrating the King holiday with the inauguration of the first female president in Kamala Harris. Social media was in such a buzz before the November election that these events may collide. Well, that didn’t happen.
And no matter how much of the MAGA Trump world was exposed, Democrats thought that Americans would move away from Trump. They, the Dems, used their usual scare tactics to get us to vote for them. If Democrats had a better plan for America, then why did they spend so much time telling us how bad Trump was.
This may be a shock to you, but a vote for Trump was America’s way of lashing out at the status quo. The same way that minorities loot when an unarmed Black man is gunned down or shot by police. Both actions serve as the voice of the unheard.
Most Americans have real problems, and I’m not talking about the homeless and jobless. I’m talking about folks who did not advance their education or just went the blue-collar way. They didn’t get any of those good union jobs, and most of the time, they have to work two and three jobs to make ends meet.
They can’t afford to get sick, can’t afford not to go to work, and if they have a mental health breakdown, they better get over it because they can’t afford that either.
This is why so many celebrated the killing of the insurance CEO in NY. For the poor in America, there is always a battle. A battle with health challenges, taxes, even utility bills, and groceries. Gasoline, kid expenses, and rent. There is never a break from this. Our politicians, on both sides of aisle, are too rich to know these problems, and to be honest, they don’t care. Dems were supposed to be the party of the people, but why were the people looking elsewhere?
Let’s get some facts straight about Trump. He didn’t destroy America nor cause a war or break anything in the White House like folks said he would the first time. He is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is, but he is definitely not the worst president America has had — he’s not even in the top 10!
The majority of our president’s have been self-serving at some point in their administration. Some just hide it better than others. The American dream has never existed for all Americans, so with every president, some Americans are going to be marginalized.
I would imagine Trump will do what he did the last time. He will give a great tax cut for all his billionaire friends, and he’ll try to shake up things a bit in Washington, but that’s it. America will go into great debt like they did after the terms of the last four Republican presidents. Bottomline is you will survive this, especially if you are poor — Trump promises to leave you poor when he’s done. Just like Biden did.
ClydeStyle 