The 15% Solution—Chapter One
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Jonathan Westminster: “The 15% Solution,” Serialization, 2nd Installment: Chapter One
Published on BuzzFlash on Fri, 02/19/2010
Under the pseudonym Jonathan Westminster, it is purportedly published in the year 2048 on the 25th Anniversary of the Restoration of Constitutional Democracy in the Re-United States. It was actually published in 1996 by the Thomas Jefferson Press, located in Port Jefferson, NY. The copyright is held by the Press. Herein you will find Chapter 1.
For this book, I have chosen to do that with an essay written by our friend Dino Louis in 1995. As you can see, Louis was never short on opinion and interpretation of facts. The bare facts he occasionally cites throughout the essay were taken primarily from a feature article that appeared in the then leading weekly printed newsmagazine Time early in that year (Hull, et al). I hope, dear reader, that you will find this essay helpful in understanding from whence fascism arose in our national ancestor.
Is the Stage Being Set for Fascism?
by Dino Louis, 1995
Politics Now
A spectre is haunting the United States of America. But it is not the spectre of communism. It is the spectre of fascism.
[1]
The True Economic Perspective
In the face of all this, what is happening to wealth in America? Well, family income has gone up steadily since the Nixon years, but per capita income has declined. Why has the former risen while the latter has fallen? As pointed out above, two-parent employment, for the most part. Just one of the major family stressors that has arisen over the last 20 years. And while per capita income has declined, the concentration of wealth has increased.
increase in wealth going to that top 0.5%.
Or as Thurow put it (1995):
Some Social Issues
Even while crime has been decreasing slightly in recent years, the fear of crime has risen markedly. Part of this is real. Murder is still a relatively rare event in this country, with a rate that has remained more or less unchanged since the 70s. But the proportion of murders committed by strangers has risen dramatically, while the homicide-solution rate dropped from 91% in 1965 to 66% in 1993.
per-capita-income/ rising-two-parent-employment, and rising one-parent working/no-affordable day-care available for their pre-school children?
Democracy in Decline
In the face of all this, it seems that our democratic structures are beginning to crumble. According to John Gray, a fellow of Jesus College, Oxford University (England) (1995):
[2] has intensified a mood of political cynicism. American public opinion expects little from its democratic institutions, and if the experience of the last decade or so is any guide, even its modest expectations are likely to be disappointed. . .
against companies. In fact, the major increase in civil cases is in contract actions between companies (Kelder)—and so forth. And the Democrats right now have nothing much better.
A spectre is haunting the United States of America. But it is not the spectre of communism. It is the spectre of fascism. Is anyone out there watching or listening? And if they are, are they seeing or hearing anything?
References:
The New York Times Book Re-view, January 22, 1995, p. 1.
Time, January 30, 1995, p. 53.
Tobacco on Trial, November/December, 1994, p. 3.
The New Yorker, November 21, 1994, p. 56.
Time, February 7, 1994.
Newsday, May 18, 1995, p. A 19.
New York Times, September 3, 1995, News of the Week in Review.
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BarnesandNoble.com. There is a “Sub-Home Page” for this serialization at the lower right-hand corner of the Home Page of TPJmagazine (www.TPJmagazine.us). It contains such items as the Disclaimer, the cast of characters, the author’s bio., cover copy, and several (favorable) reviews. Also, it will have a full archive of all the chapters as they are published over time. The serialization is appearing as well on www.TPJmagazine.us, Dandelion Salad, The Greanville POST, and TheHarderStuff newsletter.
Jonathan Westminster and biography are based on a pseudonym.