Reflections On The American "Character"

As regular readers are aware, Chaos believes that there are many and varied technical "solutions" to the current set of converging catastrophes that confront citizens of the planet Earth, but the will to accomplish these is lacking. Further, different geographic regions evince different levels of awareness regarding the said catastrophes; hence, one may reasonably forecast that those who are most aware of the problems and have taken steps to mitigate the same will be the most comfortable in the years ahead. To that end, the continuing study of the character of the citizens of the US has become the primary focus of this blog. The current presidential election provides here a most salient example: two of the three "candidates" for US Emperor have endorsed, enthusiastically, the idea of suspending the miniscule 18 cents/gallon federal gas tax for the summer. It is most essential to note that the success or failure of any such initiative is not at issue here; what is salient is the fact that the majority of those running for the most important office in the nation believe that taking this (completely bogus and counterproductive) position has a reasonable chance of earning votes, which in turn speaks volumes of the American character, which is to say, infantile, ignorant, and completely self-indulgent. Need more? More than several states have taken up the issue; the quote which rings in Chaos' mind is this one from Florida governor Charlie Crist, who, in response to a NY Times reporter's question, answered thus: “I’m supposed to respond to the people and try to make them happy.”

Indeed. Chaos has not much to add, save that it is and will continue to be, quite interesting at the twilight of the Empire...