The catastrophes that has befallen must be a turning point. We are making choices every day that determine our future. We must choose wisely and righteously.
This is an absolutely brilliant piece. I've been saying for months in response to various columns, that America will have to hit rock bottom before anything will change, that white American citizens will have to die needlessly in order to get people to wake up. It's starting to happen now. Rock bottom isn't there quite yet, but it's definitely in view.
Not to detract from the truth that on the societal whole we've go to come to some realizations but I will say that many a poor white kid has been sacrificed for the sake of some “noble” american agenda and i think Corbin tapped that.
I guess you must have touched on a real truth, Corbin. The vile and vitriolic responses you evoked are testimony to the strength of the picture you paint.
I can only hope you're correct that this is Step 1 on the path to a healthier future. But I have my doubts. Horrible as the Minneapolis incident was, I suspect it lacks the weight and heft needed to jolt Americans into corrective action.
Now, if you could convince all the disparate progressive groups to respond with a single voice and to flood the zone (airways, social media, billboards, magazines, newspapers, etc.) with that single voice, perhaps it could move the country to take constructive action. Even more effective if that "single voice" would use the same words and phrases to express its collective horror and outrage. Further, there needs to be a collective effort to name, shame, and shun every citizen who expresses support for the Administration's actions.
If that were to happen, perhaps the Minneapolis killing can be "Step 1." Otherwise, I fear it will take and much larger armed confrontation and resulting deaths to move the country in a more constructive direction.
Tonight we have two more people shot by ice thugs or as Steve Schmidt has accurately labeled american gestapo. What i dont want to see happen is a desensitizing, a "just another shooting by ice" business as usual the way shootings are viewed all the time in other context. The "oh well, its just where we are bow as a society". Thats when its over or that's when we plunge headlong into the abyss. I thought similarly to you John that it'd take some huge display for our people to rally but now I see that maybe even something as horrible as that might bot do it. God I hope we're not where I think we are.
I love this. I have long lamented the complacency of Americans regarding the hypocrisy of our ideals, considering our imperial reality. The wealth we gained from being the center of the empire helped to paper over the dysfunction. The global elite, dominated by Americans, including most Democrats, knew the liberal capitalist system couldn’t continue to sustain the American middle class, but they continued to enjoy the spoils until it got so bad Americans turned to an illiberal regime to try to preserve the empire.
I have wished for the demise of the liberal American empire for a long time. Decades ago I called for a new constitutional convention, but my friends were afraid the right would control it. I did not expect it to get this bad before we can replace the system, but I am heartened that influencers like you are joining the call to build something new and better out of the ashes of what used to be the United States.
We have a problem. As a lifelong American citizen who has benefitted from the working parts and has been able to ignore the crumbling parts at will, I know I am part of both the problems and the solutions. I won't leave my country, family, community. We have a lot to do. Thanks Corbin.
This is a perfect piece. It is refreshing to see this truthful perspective on the history of the last 40 years of the Democratic Party from the still powerful Clintons and Obamas laid bare. It is refreshing to see this boldly and baldly presented as the huge part of the problem that it is.
That Steven Miller declaration of what are "the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time" supersede the written laws of our time as justification to commit these acts is revealing of the whole fabric of the ethics of the current administration.
"Might is right", screw the weak because we are strong, what is valuable anywhere belongs to us ... at home and abroad. Poor and sick? We don't care. At the effect of systemic discrimination for all of history (women) or 200 years (people enslaved because they were foreign, black, and poor)? We don't care.
Everything is ours. Stand in our way and you will die.
This IS how America has behaved for decades while accusing others of "hating our freedom".
As for Pooty-Poot specifically, we've been lied to about him for exactly the same reason we're lied to about Maduro and Morales and Ho Chi Minh and anyone else who has the gall to suggest a nation's resources belong to its people and not to corporate predators:
You’re right - you didn’t. America did. It’s America’s debt, not yours personally.
You’re an American, aren’t you?
My paternal grandfather came over from England around 1880. There’s no way my family was involved in the slave trade, which ended before we got here. But I still support reparations for Black Americans, to make up for centuries of oppression and injustice. It’s not my debt - it’s America’s debt. I pay my debts and I expect my country to do the same.
you posed a question. are we one step one? I'd say yes we are and I'd be dishonest if I said I trust we'll do the hard thing, the right thing. I dont see people willing to do the hard thing in the easiest of times let alone when the hard time is come, like now. I hope im wrong. we've turned extraction and exploitation into a social value where the worst example garner the greatest profit and the most admiration. the more shameful the better. we won't t take take of the most vulnerable among us or well do it begrudgingly, compulsively but not out of true compassion, blaming the recipients for being vulnerable in the first place. do we even deserve to recover from this collapse?
I used to think that people in the USA had enough sense of community to start working on the defects of character reflected in the actions of the federal government (all three branches). But that sense of community only extends to their immediate community. The exception that I have seen is among supporters of Bernie Sanders. Unfortunately, he failed to transform his base in 2016 into a viable change agent. He didn't even really try. Given how the DNC actively prevented him from gaining the nomination, I can't believe he didn't take the opportunity to establish a progressive party.
It's not about oil because we don't need it. Venezuela started with Marco Rubio. It's his way to get to Cuba. He has wanted Cuba since he was born, which is why he is bending to Trump.
As far as the other nonsense? Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, etc. This is ALL Stephen Miller. Trump probably doesn't even know where Greenland is. Miller must be called out more and more. He is the "brains" behind this horrible immigration policy. He is the one that wants to do ethnic cleansing in the United States.
Corbin Trent is masterful when analyzing and communicating domestic problems and proposing solutions. And his solutions are brilliant. Clearly, he’s done in-depth, data-driven analysis.
But Corbin comes up woefully short in matters of foreign policy, though it’s beginning to look like the scales are starting to fall from his eyes. His comments on Venezuela hint at this. Still, his comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin betray a woeful ignorance of 21st century history in the foreign policy arena.
I strongly urge Corbin Trent to undertake a personal crash course in 21st century U.S. foreign policy by studying everything published, blogged or spoken in interviews by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center fir Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and to do the same with regards to Prof. John Mearsheimer, Distinguished Professor at the University of Chicago. If he takes the time and devotes the effort to educate himself “at the knee” of these two brilliant educators, he will soon sing a different tune.
This is brilliant, trenchant, and I think an excellent perspective on a positive, creative, practical, and positive way forward. I think many (most? all?) of us are Ameriholics who haven't realized it until now, as we hit bottom and the wheels are falling off. May we connect in healthier, more respectful, and more deeply compassionate and loving ways moving forward. Blessings onward.
This is an absolutely brilliant piece. I've been saying for months in response to various columns, that America will have to hit rock bottom before anything will change, that white American citizens will have to die needlessly in order to get people to wake up. It's starting to happen now. Rock bottom isn't there quite yet, but it's definitely in view.
Not to detract from the truth that on the societal whole we've go to come to some realizations but I will say that many a poor white kid has been sacrificed for the sake of some “noble” american agenda and i think Corbin tapped that.
I guess you must have touched on a real truth, Corbin. The vile and vitriolic responses you evoked are testimony to the strength of the picture you paint.
I can only hope you're correct that this is Step 1 on the path to a healthier future. But I have my doubts. Horrible as the Minneapolis incident was, I suspect it lacks the weight and heft needed to jolt Americans into corrective action.
Now, if you could convince all the disparate progressive groups to respond with a single voice and to flood the zone (airways, social media, billboards, magazines, newspapers, etc.) with that single voice, perhaps it could move the country to take constructive action. Even more effective if that "single voice" would use the same words and phrases to express its collective horror and outrage. Further, there needs to be a collective effort to name, shame, and shun every citizen who expresses support for the Administration's actions.
If that were to happen, perhaps the Minneapolis killing can be "Step 1." Otherwise, I fear it will take and much larger armed confrontation and resulting deaths to move the country in a more constructive direction.
Tonight we have two more people shot by ice thugs or as Steve Schmidt has accurately labeled american gestapo. What i dont want to see happen is a desensitizing, a "just another shooting by ice" business as usual the way shootings are viewed all the time in other context. The "oh well, its just where we are bow as a society". Thats when its over or that's when we plunge headlong into the abyss. I thought similarly to you John that it'd take some huge display for our people to rally but now I see that maybe even something as horrible as that might bot do it. God I hope we're not where I think we are.
I love this. I have long lamented the complacency of Americans regarding the hypocrisy of our ideals, considering our imperial reality. The wealth we gained from being the center of the empire helped to paper over the dysfunction. The global elite, dominated by Americans, including most Democrats, knew the liberal capitalist system couldn’t continue to sustain the American middle class, but they continued to enjoy the spoils until it got so bad Americans turned to an illiberal regime to try to preserve the empire.
I have wished for the demise of the liberal American empire for a long time. Decades ago I called for a new constitutional convention, but my friends were afraid the right would control it. I did not expect it to get this bad before we can replace the system, but I am heartened that influencers like you are joining the call to build something new and better out of the ashes of what used to be the United States.
Man I always look forward to your view of the world. You never disappoint. Thanks Corbin. I will share this.
I know it's been said already, but this is Brilliant.
We have a problem. As a lifelong American citizen who has benefitted from the working parts and has been able to ignore the crumbling parts at will, I know I am part of both the problems and the solutions. I won't leave my country, family, community. We have a lot to do. Thanks Corbin.
This is a perfect piece. It is refreshing to see this truthful perspective on the history of the last 40 years of the Democratic Party from the still powerful Clintons and Obamas laid bare. It is refreshing to see this boldly and baldly presented as the huge part of the problem that it is.
That Steven Miller declaration of what are "the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time" supersede the written laws of our time as justification to commit these acts is revealing of the whole fabric of the ethics of the current administration.
"Might is right", screw the weak because we are strong, what is valuable anywhere belongs to us ... at home and abroad. Poor and sick? We don't care. At the effect of systemic discrimination for all of history (women) or 200 years (people enslaved because they were foreign, black, and poor)? We don't care.
Everything is ours. Stand in our way and you will die.
This IS how America has behaved for decades while accusing others of "hating our freedom".
"We could rise as the worst version of ourselves. A naked predator. Putin’s Russia with better aircraft carriers...."
You still buy the Neocon narrative on Ukraine???
I'm disappointed. It's every bit as much a lie as Iraq, Vietnam, you name it - in fact, worse if anything.
Reams and reams can and have been said about this, but let's start here:
https://consortiumnews.com/2025/02/25/ukraine-timeline-tells-the-tale/
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/12/09/the-americans-started-the-us-war-with-russia/
https://worldbeyondwar.org/the-u-s-choice-not-to-end-this-war-is-fog-fact-1/
As for Pooty-Poot specifically, we've been lied to about him for exactly the same reason we're lied to about Maduro and Morales and Ho Chi Minh and anyone else who has the gall to suggest a nation's resources belong to its people and not to corporate predators:
https://thepostil.com/vladimir-putin-and-the-oligarchical-problem/
As for "better aircraft-carriers", if that's even still true, bet on anything BUT it staying that way:
https://indi.ca/how-americas-military-has-fallen-apart/
This is an extraordinary analysis. I agree with every word, except that I’m not sure we’ve quite completed step one.
“We didn’t do this!”
You’re right - you didn’t. America did. It’s America’s debt, not yours personally.
You’re an American, aren’t you?
My paternal grandfather came over from England around 1880. There’s no way my family was involved in the slave trade, which ended before we got here. But I still support reparations for Black Americans, to make up for centuries of oppression and injustice. It’s not my debt - it’s America’s debt. I pay my debts and I expect my country to do the same.
you posed a question. are we one step one? I'd say yes we are and I'd be dishonest if I said I trust we'll do the hard thing, the right thing. I dont see people willing to do the hard thing in the easiest of times let alone when the hard time is come, like now. I hope im wrong. we've turned extraction and exploitation into a social value where the worst example garner the greatest profit and the most admiration. the more shameful the better. we won't t take take of the most vulnerable among us or well do it begrudgingly, compulsively but not out of true compassion, blaming the recipients for being vulnerable in the first place. do we even deserve to recover from this collapse?
I used to think that people in the USA had enough sense of community to start working on the defects of character reflected in the actions of the federal government (all three branches). But that sense of community only extends to their immediate community. The exception that I have seen is among supporters of Bernie Sanders. Unfortunately, he failed to transform his base in 2016 into a viable change agent. He didn't even really try. Given how the DNC actively prevented him from gaining the nomination, I can't believe he didn't take the opportunity to establish a progressive party.
Bernie is a communist and is too busy raking in money to worry about nobodies like you.
Death is an evolutionary adaptation so that new life may arise and adapt. It may be the death of one America and the birth of another.
It's not about oil because we don't need it. Venezuela started with Marco Rubio. It's his way to get to Cuba. He has wanted Cuba since he was born, which is why he is bending to Trump.
As far as the other nonsense? Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, etc. This is ALL Stephen Miller. Trump probably doesn't even know where Greenland is. Miller must be called out more and more. He is the "brains" behind this horrible immigration policy. He is the one that wants to do ethnic cleansing in the United States.
Thanks for this Corbin. I can’t think of a better assessment of our current situation nor a better call to action!
Corbin Trent is masterful when analyzing and communicating domestic problems and proposing solutions. And his solutions are brilliant. Clearly, he’s done in-depth, data-driven analysis.
But Corbin comes up woefully short in matters of foreign policy, though it’s beginning to look like the scales are starting to fall from his eyes. His comments on Venezuela hint at this. Still, his comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin betray a woeful ignorance of 21st century history in the foreign policy arena.
I strongly urge Corbin Trent to undertake a personal crash course in 21st century U.S. foreign policy by studying everything published, blogged or spoken in interviews by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center fir Sustainable Development at Columbia University, and to do the same with regards to Prof. John Mearsheimer, Distinguished Professor at the University of Chicago. If he takes the time and devotes the effort to educate himself “at the knee” of these two brilliant educators, he will soon sing a different tune.
This is brilliant, trenchant, and I think an excellent perspective on a positive, creative, practical, and positive way forward. I think many (most? all?) of us are Ameriholics who haven't realized it until now, as we hit bottom and the wheels are falling off. May we connect in healthier, more respectful, and more deeply compassionate and loving ways moving forward. Blessings onward.