30 years ago Americans saw everything as a new opportunity and were rich. Now they see everything as a threat and are poor

A government's duty is to protect it's people from any harm that others might do.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights specifically says that this is the Federal governments ONLY duty.
All other functions of government, e.g. in setting economic or social policy are specifically the remit of STATES governments.

The government at all levels has completely abandoned the Rule of Law.
The government at ALL levels has ABSOLUTELY FAILED in it's primary purpose of protecting the people.

This protection is on two levels :-

Domestic Protection

Protection of the weak from the strong who would otherwise prey upon them, human nature being what it is.
This protection is the strong, vigorous, fair and equal application of the Rule of Law and Property Rights.

The degree of application of the Rule of Law and Property Rights is THE PRIMARY factor in determining economic growth rates and thereby the wealth and prosperity of all of the people.

The truth of this statement is simply demonstrated by looking at different countries around the world. Let us take Africa as an example.

Where there is a strong Rule of Law, e.g. in Botswana, the people are relatively prosperous. Botswana has far less wealth in terms of Natural Resources than many other African countries. But this inherent disadvantage has been far outweighed by good governance and the strong application of the Rule of Law.

Where the Rule of Law is non-existent for all practical purposes there is extreme poverty, e.g. in Zimbabwe - the immediate neighbor of Botswana.
Zimbabwe used to be the bread basket of Africa, it used to have the Rule of Law.
But the Rule of Law and Property Rights were discarded. Very soon the people were forced to eat grass and the bark off of trees in order to just stay alive and avoid starvation.

Any international study comparing the relative wealth of different countries with the relative strength of the Rule of Law finds an extremely strong correlation - the strongest correlation of all.
The strength or otherwise of the Rule of Law is often measured by it's opposite and reverse - the level of corruption within different countries.

Protection from Foreign Enemies   

The second duty of a government is to protect it's citizens from foreigners.
Principally it is to protect a country from foreign invasion by another country.

But it is also to protect a country from foreigners who would otherwise do harm to it's citizens.
This is the reason why the United States of America was formed in the first place.

The best method of protection from Foreign Enemies is not to have Foreign Enemies in the first place.
Switzerland has grown very wealthy over the centuries by staying out of international affairs and not making enemies. Switzerland has no natural advantages in terms of Natural Resources or geographical location, in fact it has several inherent disadvantages and yet it has grown wealthy and strong. Switzerland was surrounded for hundreds of years by aggressive and bullying neighbors.
Switzerland spends very little on National and Civil Defense. It doesn't need to - it is very safe as it is. It tries very hard NOT to make enemies and have friendly relations with other countries.

America was founded upon and grew wealthy by adopting the same Foreign Policy principles as Switzerland.
"Trade and friendly relations with all nations, entangling alliances with none."  
Unlike Switzerland, the fledgling nation of America was attacked during the 1800's.
Where this was the case, e.g. by Barbary Pirates or by Britain - the response of the American government was swift and sure.
Other countries and foreigners soon learned that it was not worth attacking America - it was not productive or effective and there were easier targets.

The ABSOLUTE FAILURE of the American government in it's PRIMARY duty to protect it's citizens 

The absolute failure of American Foreign Policy
 
America now goes out of it's way to make foreign enemies.
It antagonizes those in the Middle East by it's numerous military bases, unquestioning support of Israel and numerous interventions in Middle East countries.
It antagonizes other countries too, by interfering in their domestic politics, military interventions including invasions and arranging coups.
America has bombed 60 countries since the end of WW2.
No one else even comes close to this level of military aggression.

The growth of Muslim antagonism towards America from about 1995 was principally due to the American military bases in Saudi Arabia and it's on-going unquestioning support of Israel and it's abuse of the Palestinians.

The Saudi Arabian government was forced to kick America out of it's Saudi military bases in the early 2000's as the only way to quell and control the very significant levels of domestic terrorism that was taking place in their country.
The Americans relocated to other Middle East countries like Qatar and Kuwait and the domestic terrorism in Saudi Arabia mysteriously stopped.  

The Iranian antagonism towards America stems from the CIA's 1953 coup in that country.
The legitimately elected Prime Minister of Iran who wanted to take control of Iran's Natural Resources (oil) and to use that natural wealth to enrich his people was replaced by the authoritarian Shah who was willing to enrich Western oil companies (and himself) instead of his people with the natural resource wealth of his country.
American intervention in Iran has since suffered massive blowback with the Iranian Revolution of 1979 to install the mad mullahs into the Iranian government.
The vast majority of people in Iran are moderate and it has a large proportion of relatively wealthy middle class (or it did before American sanctions).
The people of Iran haven't changed - they still want to see a moderate government ruling their country with policies that enhance the wealth and prosperity of their country instead of impoverishing it.
The mad mullahs had to fix the election of 2009 and violently suppress the subsequent Green Revolution in order to remain in power.
The opposition in Iran have now been very effectively suppressed by American policy.
The majority of the people have coalesced around a common foreign enemy - America.
     
The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 antagonized a lot of moderate Muslims around the world and led to further major terrorist attacks - in Bali, in London and in Madrid.
It actually supplanted support for Israel for a while as the principle recruitment tool for existing enemies of America. In this it was extremely successful and dramatically enhanced by the atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the use of white phosphorous and depleted uranium in Fallujah, the 500,000+ civilians killed during the Iraqi civil war, the use of torture, illegal kidnappings (extra ordinary rendition) and indefinite detention without trial (Guantanamo Bay) by the Americans.
It helped to consolidate the mad mullahs hold on power in Iran and to strengthen Iran as a regional power.

The currently favored tools of the American government to recruit more enemies of America are now drone strikes.
In this too, America has been very successful. 50 million more Pakistani's now consider the American government to be their enemy because of the drone warfare program. There are countless millions of moderate Muslims that have been converted to more extremist views as well - the results can be seen in the installation of Islamic Extremist governments in Libya and Egypt and the civil war now raging in Yemen.

It is not difficult to see why the Islamic Extremists use the drone warfare program as one of their main recruitment tools.
Around 80% of those killed by American drone strikes are innocent civilians, most of the rest are low level fighters and only about 2% are Jihadist commanders.
It only takes one picture of a small child or baby butchered by an American drone strike with half of it's brains hanging out.
These pictures are passed around the Arab world and published in their media to engender more hatred of the American government.
There have been at least 176 children killed by American drones in just Pakistan - 176 recruitment tools for the Islamic Extremists.    

These pictures are of course suppressed in the American and Western media to hide the truth from the American public, but they are common place in the Middle East.
The pictures are very similar in their effect on public opinion as the little girl running, burnt and naked away from an American napalm strike in Vietnam. Those pictures were shown on/in American media. It helped end the Vietnam war. The atrocities committed by America in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen should be shown too. America would have far fewer enemies if they were - it would force the American government to change policy.

American Foreign Policy makes all Americans LESS safe by recruiting more enemies.
It makes ALL Americans less safe by increasing the likelihood of another major terrorist attack against America or Americans. We have just witnessed a small one in Algeria where 37 foreigners died, including several Americans. The number of American deaths is being suppressed from the public.

The government continues to spill the blood of American youth in foreign wars which serve no purpose and which are actually counter productive.
It continues to spill the blood of American Veterans, the suicide rates are even higher than during Vietnam. The Veterans have seen at first hand the utter pointlessness and brutality of it all.
 
America should get out of ALL of their military bases in the Middle East - there would be a DRAMATIC reduction in the number of America's enemies if that were to happen.
America should immediately withdraw from Iraq - contrary to American media reports it still has a substantial military presence in the shape of 7,000 mercenaries costing $105bn a year in Iraq.
America should immediately withdraw from Afghanistan - Afghanistan was never going to be conquered, American leaders are no Alexander The Great's.

What if America's wars of aggression were never about making Americans safe - they were always about money and Corporate Greed.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/what-if-wars-were-never-about-terrorism.html

The ABSOLUTE FAILURE of America's domestic policy

The Rule of Law no longer applies in America.
The vigorous application of the Rule of Law is THE principal driving factor in a country's wealth and prosperity.

There are numerous examples where the Rule of Law is no longer applied in America - far too many to name all of them here.

There is one law for the rich and one law for everyone else.
That system of government is called Kleptocracy or Oligarchy, which is EXACTLY what America has now become.

America is now ruled by and for the large Corporations and not for the people.
That system of government is called Corporatism or more commonly Fascism, which is EXACTLY what America has now become.

Examples

Banks
No senior bankers are in jail for their multiple mortgage frauds, major drugs and terrorist money laundering, LIBOR manipulation, lying to Congress, bribery of government officials, outright blatant thefts such as the $1.5bn in the MF Global collapse etc.
No senior bankers have even been prosecuted and Barack Obama has specifically stated h does not intend to do so.
The Rule of Law no longer applies to large banks - they are above it whatever future crimes they choose to commit.
If you encourage bad behavior by not applying the Rule of Law and deterrent penalties you will get more of it. In this the large banks are no different from a 5 year old child.
Glass Steagal should be immediately reinstated so that taxpayers are no longer on the financial hook for banks speculation and misbehavior.
The CEO's and board members of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan (and other large banks) should be given 30 year stretches of hard labor - that would certainly have a deterrent effect on future misbehavior.
It would do a wonderful job to start cleaning up Wall St.
The recent Treasury Secs should join the bankers in jail. Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner should also be given at least 30 years.
Bernie Madoff got 102 years for stealing $8bn in his Ponzi scheme and that was mostly from wealthy people. These people have stolen far larger amounts than that and it was from countless millions of ordinary Americans.
They will continue to steal from the American people unless they are deterred from so doing.
They are still stealing $1tn a year in bank bailouts from the Federal Reserve. The American people will pay for all of it - sooner or later.
They have already started paying a small part of the price.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-2tn-of-excess-bank-reserves-is.html

The Poor
Large numbers of poor people are incarcerated for minor non violent offences.
There are 1.5 million people in American jails - by far the highest incarceration rate in the world.
More than 1 million of them are poor and in jail for non violent offences.
A lot of them are in jail for no crime at all - harmless pot smoking.

The rich don't go to jail. They hire a good lawyer and do a deal. Many don't even get prosecuted at all.

There is no justice system in America - there is no Rule of Law.
The penalties for misbehavior depend on your wealth - not the degree of the harm you have done to others.

Large Corporations

The Rule of Law does not apply to large Corporations.
Large Corporations are able to bribe politicians and the government with campaign donations and lucrative post politics jobs.
Jack Abramoff described the system perfectly and absolutely nothing has been done to change it.
Quite the reverse "Citizens United" has made the situation much worse.

The large Corporations now have a system going whereby well over $1tn a year is taken from ordinary Americans by the government and given to large corporations and thence to rich elites in the form of Corporate Welfare.

Large multinationals make billions of profits AND get billions of Tax Refunds.
You try getting that sort of result from your tax return.

The large Corporations continually lobby politicians to get favorable lines inserted into innocuous bills.
Monsanto and Goldman Sachs have gone even further - they have installed their ex-employees into positions of influence within the government.

It is very to cut government spending by well over $1tn a year - just by cutting Corporate Welfare.
This money should be returned to the people it actually belongs to - ordinary Americans and small business owners.
Here is a list of items that add up to well over $1tn a year.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/it-is-very-easy-to-cut-1tn-from-federal.html

(As an aside, have you ever noticed that bad bills get a title that is the EXACT opposite of their actual effect?
The Patriot Act shredded the 4th amendment and was extremely unpatriotic.
The Affordable Care Act makes Healthcare more expensive and less effective.
The Fiscal Cliff "Taxpayer Relief Act" stiffed the middle class with a $200bn annual tax hike while keeping ALL of the well over $1tn a year of Corporate Welfare.
Beware of bills that have nice warm comforting titles.)

The Federal government    

The Federal government now acts entirely unconstitutionally (the Executive Branch, Congress and the the Supreme Court).

They pass legislation and Executive Orders that are directly against the interests of 99.9% of Americans and to the benefit of the large Corporations.
A very recent example is the Fiscal Cliff deal.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/fiscal-cliff-deal-obamas-corporate-sell.html

They pass laws that are entirely against basic human, civil and natural rights, let alone illegal,  in order to better control the general population.
There are numerous recent examples.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/obamas-civil-rights-violations.html

Americans now have less rights than Anglo Saxon people have had at any time since 1214, with the passage of NDAA and indefinite detention without trial or a lawyer of anyone who might upset the government in some way.
(1214 was the year that Magna Carta was signed. the rights contained in this charter have now been taken away in America.)

The Federal government is now a Fascist institution, the leaders of both parties are ALL Fascists who pursue Fascist policies.

The States governments

The State's governments have all abdicated their responsibilities to protect their citizens.
They have abdicated their responsibility to hold the Federal government accountable to the Rule of Law.
The 10th amendment specifically states that any right not specifically mentioned in the preceding amendments is the remit and right of the States and NOT the Federal government.

This abuse by the Federal government is a on a chronic, endemic scale.
There have been small pushbacks against unconstitutional, illegal laws by the Federal government such as the pursuit of the nullification of NDAA in particular states.
But it hardly constitutes protecting the people in the face of numerous illegal abuses by the Federal government.

The United States was founded upon and grew rich by, a system of competition between relatively small economic units - Europe did the same thing from the Middle Ages.

The genius of the United states is now dying, if it is not already dead, by a Corporate takeover and the institution of monopolistic government.
A Corporate monopoly that resides in Washington DC on Capitol Hill and in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-case-against-barack-obama.html

The end of American prosperity and wealth draws closer by the absence of the Rule of Law.
American global hegemony is drawing it's short lived, last breaths.
Unless of course the people rise up and protest about it - but the people have grown lazy, ignorant and fat. That's what the people of Rome did too.
It is currently a million to one shot that it will be prevented - be one of the 10 million people that need to protest and actually DO something to CHANGE it.

Write to your Congressman and the White House in letters and emails and phone calls to object about EVERYTHING they are doing against your interests.

SOPA got stopped because about 1 million people spent a few minutes of their time DOING something.
The number of complaint emails was so large that the Congressional network seized up from the traffic.
SOPA approvals changed from +66% to -66% overnight.

Rise up off your FAT, LAZY, IGNORANT ASSES and DO something to completely turn things around or condemn all of your children and all of america's children , except the top 0.1%, to mind numbing poverty.

These are some of the first things that need to be done to start changing things for the better.


Cut over $1tn a year from Corporate Welfare.
Break up the Corporate cartels that now exist in each major industry.
Increase the disposable incomes of ordinary people instead of making them plummet. I advocate raising the income tax thresh hold from $8,700 to $45,000 - that would cost $500bn a year.
Stop the Federal Reserve bailing out the big banks to the tune of $1tn a year and making EVERYONE except the big banks worse off.
Take the massive pig trough away from DC. The Founders never envisaged a system whereby nearly half your income was stolen by the Federal government - they would be horrified if they could see what America has become.
Restore States rights, repeal all unconstitutional laws and restore the system that set a new global record for the fastest economic growth and rise in prosperity anywhere in the world, EVER.


http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/a-global-economic-summary-why-paul.html