Some things to think about

This is something that will cause anyone to engage in serious thought...  Quote: "The more I read, the more likeness I see to Sir John Glubb’s essay, The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival. (It’s only 24 pages and you should definitely read it – it’s brilliant.) Sir Glubb wrote this outstanding work when he was 79 years old, after a lifetime of being a soldier, traveling the world, and analyzing history. It’s well worth a read as he goes into detail about the fall of empires past.  The final stage of the end of an empire is the Age of Decadence.   https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017/10/23/depravity-frivolity-and-dissent-are-we-watching-the-end-of-an-empire/

This item closely aligns with the previous one. Quote: "Washington is a parasite that sucks the rest of the country dry. The counties surrounding Washington, D.C., have the highest per capita income of any metropolitan area in the country including New York, Hollywood and Silicon Valley. The unemployment rate is also the lowest of any large region in the country. At least New York, Silicon Valley and Hollywood all produce something we need or enjoy. Washington produces red tape, taxes and new ways to handicap innovation on a daily basis."    https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017/10/24/washington-is-the-new-rome/

This item shares the litany of damage done to our country by the political left inside and outside government. Quote: "The American leftwing has been transmogrified. The left, which formerly stood for “peace and bread,” today stands for Identity Politics and war. The working class has been redefined as “the Trump deplorables” and splintered into separate “victim groups”—women, racial minorities, homosexuals, transgendered. The oppressors are no longer oligarchs who own the means of production. The oppressor is the sexist, misogynist, homophobic, heterosexual, fascist, white supremacist male working class. The rise of Identity Politics has brought with it politically controlled speech. Primarily white people, especially heterosexual white males, are subject to this control. The limits on their free speech are growing ever more severe, and no one has to be concerned about white heterosexual males being offended by offensive or threatening speech. White males can be called anything and they are."  And, "If husband and wife, mother and father, can’t stay together, how does society stay together?  How does society stay together when Identity Politics teaches hate and inflames social divisiveness? How does society stay together when thugs claiming to be offended offend others by destroying historical monuments that are associated with the memory or identity of others? How does society stay together when its history is erased, its schools, streets, and public buildings are renamed? As George Orwell said, “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” The next monuments to be removed are those of the Founding Fathers, racists all who adopted a Constitution that permitted slavery, an inherited institution that they had no power to reform. In the United States history is being rewritten and language corrupted in order to foster hatred of white “oppressors,” especially white heterosexual males. Little wonder Russia responds diplomatically to Washington’s aggression. No need to reply in kind when an enemy is destroying itself."   https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017/10/24/the-american-left-rip/

This is a most thoughtful piece. It's focus is on a thing called Civic Religion.  Well worth the read.  Quote: "That said, it is doubtful Lincoln or anyone alive at the time would have embraced the idea of civic religion. The first guy to talk about America having a uniquely religious quality was Alexis de Tocqueville, but he did not think Americanism was a civic religion or anything close to it. He thought America’s uniquely Christian nature is what allowed for a diverse people to form a single nation. For a 19th century American, especially in the aftermath of the Civil War, the idea of a unifying creed would have been laughable. The earliest mention of America having a unique civic life, held together by something resembling a religion, is by Chesterton. He wrote that America was “the only nation founded on a creed” and was “a nation with a soul of a church.” This observation was probably not unique to Chesterton. Europeans have always viewed Americans as being moralistic and impractical, with regards to the affairs of state. This is something our rulers encourage. Just look at the war on terror. It’s entirely framed in moral terms."  And, "This cult of Lincoln promoted by our betters has another defect and that is they are compelled to impose it on the world. This seems to be another problem with all civic religions. The French exported radicalism around Europe. The Soviets exported Bolshevism around the world. The American empire is the story of imposing the American creed on every nation of the world, always against their will. Civic religions, like all religions, don’t seem to play nice with other religions, seeing them as competitors."  And, "The best you can say about the supposed civic religion of America is that it is what the ruling class uses to keep the plates spinning. There is something to say for economic progress and domestic peace. It is not, however, natural or normal, and therefore it must eventually yield to reality. That’s what we are seeing today. Americanism is a luxury item for an America that was 80% white and free of economic and political inequality among the white population. That’s not today so the civic religion is losing its salience."     https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017/10/24/civic-religion/

Quote: "One of the great unanswered question of our age is why Western rulers are obsessed with importing tens of millions of unassimilable foreigners into their lands. In the US, the conventional wisdom among immigration patriots is that one side of the political class wants cheap votes, while the other side wants cheap labor. In Europe, the theories range from female hysteria to poorly conceived economics. The one common thread is that across the West, the ruling elites appear to be trying to crash their cultures. The trouble with these reductionist theories is they don’t make much sense at the individual level, so they can’t very well scale up. For example, the cheap labor argument does not hold up very well when you examine it. Helot labor is great for the business owner, just as long as he is the only guy doing it. When every landscaper is using Aztec workers, there’s little benefit to the landscaping companies. That’s not to say there is no benefit, but does it warrant the suicidal drive to import Mexico into the US?"  And, "The collapse of organized religion, particularly among the Cloud People, is leaving them with no structured outlet for this normal human impulse. The reason a Lyndsay Graham cares more about Dreamers, than his fellow South Carolinians is he feels like he is helping those who need help. It’s why John McCain spent the last three decades chanting about “causes greater than yourself.” Without a structure into which his narcissistic altruism could flow, he searched around for causes and purposes, most of which were destructive."    https://www.theburningplatform.com/2017/10/21/narcissistic-altruism/  

The not so ethical people that the Democrats hang out and collude with are detailed in this piece.  It does not bode well for any remaining credibility they may have.    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/10/with_dncs_trump_dossier_payoffs_what_foul_people_the_dems_have_crawled_into_bed_with.html    And,   https://spectator.org/dirty-hillary-hoist-by-her-own-petard/