I'm sorry Archer, but your comments are totally without merit or honesty. Yes, I do blame myself too! as I could be on the front line helping those who are being killed and their homes destroyed by US, Saudi and Isael backed ISIS forces. I am doing what I can by writing letters to Senators and continually posting antiwar comments. Our silence, and that of the media and government is what keeps the wars going. We are all to busy, unless it's directly on our doorstep, which by the way may happen soon! I commend you on your hands-on charitable work and hope you keep it going. As you know many charities are fraudulent so I hope you are doing you due diligence. 

Archer, there you go again on your high horse. Obviously you have no idea who I am and are quite unable to find out. Yes, you are to blame for the genocide in Yemen and Palestine — I have written letters and demonstrated — I have continually shouted from the hill tops the horrors of US foreign policy and that of Saudi and Israel. Washing your hands of these atrocities does not excuse you from responsibility. Your indifference is part of the problem.  And, saying you give to various charities is just another washing of the hands. You last comment is inexcusable — throwing insults to cover your own inaction is very much the low road. Please try and be more positive without slurs — we all have problems and don't necessarily wish them thrown back in our face at the slightest provocation. So, with that said, what are you doing to further any progress for world peace??? Howard Zinn's quote says it all....

"If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear. "
Joanna Macy (born 1929)

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.":
Howard Zinn, historian and author

Archer, as much as I enjoy you comments and replies I do wish you would not assume my thoughts. I have always been for the people and vehemently against the oligarchs.  Your response to my comment really is just a commentary by Archer with little to do with the content of my comment. "Blaming the common person for the wars around the world" Yes, I do blame the common person for wars around the world and with good reason. They (OK I'll give you a break, lets say 90%) sit on their couch watching rubbish, eating and drinking stuff they shouldn't eat or drink. Not lifting a finger to help stop the implosion which is about to happen and when it does happen they will want action. Not saying anything about US corruption or the US invovelment in the Yemen, etc, etc, etc. I talk about the killings going on today in GAZA and the Yemen and you flippingly gloss over with self indulged commentary. That is not the person I thought you are. Address the facts and the problem NOW — address the issues at hand...

The quote is spot on! Let’s step back, we neither have a democracy or a republic — our current government has become fascist/totalitarian and any amount of voting won't change that. Voting today is a total farce and as such we have the right to not vote. The thuggery that is rampant in Washington and in the corporate board rooms is beyond precedent. Never before has America stooped so low in World opinion — once held as a beacon of freedom and justice, it is now on the slippery slope into an abyss from which it may never recover. "Let Israel stand strong" must be a joke, Israel, along with the USA, GB, and Saudi have turned the world into hell hole. We litter the media and talk shows with the supposed massacre in Pittsburgh while being silent over 1400 children killed in Palestine by Israel forces (since the year 2000). The Genocide (in the thousands) of the Yemenis by American back Saudi are forces and the horrendous Saudi and GB sanctions which stop medical supplies and food getting in the Yemen. These kind of atrocities (war crimes) are going on daily, yet the media is silent, so is our government and its people. Israeli snipers shooting teenagers killing them and shooting them in the legs so they cant be threat or work to provide food. Our foreign policy is just a killing machine that keeps the MIC funded. I don't know if any of you truly understand the real issues going on in the middle east — for example the Yemen has one of the biggest oil reserves, and so on and so on.... Libya has one of biggest fresh water reserves in the world. If we are to recover (which I doubt we will) then the US has to go back to ground zero. They have just found in Derizar, Syria, thousand of American munitions abandoned by ISIS. We are in a sick, sick time warp... Where have all the good people gone — is there no one with integrity and moral fiber to take the helm or have they all fled the sinking ship. Our words on sites like this little to help – I would rather you put all your excellent remarks to help change things. And as for social welfare the US military and the government are the biggest recipients – we live in a highly social welfare state where the poor get little the elite get it all – and you have the nerve to blame the poor and needed. Give me a break – you have NO IDEA what you are talking about – sucking on the welfare tit is the Government, MIC, the bankers, Wall Street, and the insurance and health care industry. Medicare and social security is way down the list of recipients, which by the way the people paid into. We are in a mess, please, America needs the good people to return….

Archer, you must learn to be polite and not always using derogatory verbiage - it doesn't become you. Just stick to the argument without abusive rhetoric.

E, Just so you don't think I have left the fray - a note to say I will be back on Friday with my reply.

Karl Marx lived during a period of great disparity between the rich and the poor and his manifesto reflects the time he lived in. Similar to other revolts in Europe. Such as the Magna Carte, Cromwell, and the French Revolution, and even the revolution of 1776, etc., etc. As Alia Hoyt said:

“Marx’s main idea was simple: Free the lower class from poverty and give the poor a fighting chance. How he believed it should be accomplished, however, was another story.”

His heart was in the right place… This disparity, that caused the above revolutions, is happening in America yet again. Land should belong to everyone, a mans labor should be his own reward and not the reward of those who manipulate their trades for their own greed. Oil belongs to the people as does the earth it came from. Health care should be available to all people. It's time for America to change as nothing will, doing the same thing... Capitalism, though it has a space in the economics of the people, will, in it's present form, send society into a deep black hole.

Archer, thanks for the correction. OK, let me explain as succinctly as possible why I said what I said. But before I do that here is another opinion: I think Scheherazade S. Rehman some’s it up quite well:

“Communism, you recall, is an economic and political ideological system in which everyone is considered equal. Its ultimate goal is to create a classless and stateless society. A simple explanation of how communism works is as follows: There are no individual property rights and all citizens collectively own the land. The resources derived from the land are centralized. The government then makes sure that the profits from the resources are equally distributed amongst all its citizens, as everyone is considered equal. Thus, there is an equal distribution of wealth by the state no matter how hard or little you work because the "means of production" are publicly owned. The primary goal of communism is to prevent the dark negative side effects of capitalism – income inequality, etc. Ironically, the largest communist country now has a government with more billionaires than any other. For example, it is not very surprising that the Chinese parliament has 83 billionaires (comparatively the U.S. Congress has not a single billionaire). it sounds to me like all Chinese are equal but some are more equal than others”

Isn’t that similar to Capitalism without the statist economy? Of course, there is corruption in China as well as America. Though corruption in China is thriving due to the move towards capitalism. More to come....

Sorry, I forgot to add, there is no State anymore - we are ruled by the deep state and if you don't know what that is or represents then do your home work. The political system is now just a sham. Corruption is rampant in government and the boardrooms of America. Obama, though he threw a few bones to the people, was a Manchurian Candidate, and was able to pass republican policies because he was a democrat.

If Emerson was alive today that statement would be very different. Perhaps he would replace "state" for "Plutocrats".

I have never read so much crap - you think the capitalist give a dam about your welfare - most, like monarchies, lie and cheat to get their way to the top. The history of most major companies are fraught with stealing each others ideas, Facebook, Dell, and Microsoft, are just the tipoff the iceberg.
Capitalism, is about shipping their jobs abroad for profit, so don't give me that BS about them giving jobs to Americans - the only reason that happens is economic, and nothing to do with morals or integrity. Three people have more wealth than 50 percent of the people - oh yes, the monopolies commission doesn't exist. Now Monsanto has taken over Blackwater - but of course they that names to hide the intent. Community economics will be the only savior for the world - communism without centralization - like it use to be before we all became greedy and self important. I feel sorry for most on this blog as their intentions may be honorable but their thinking is still stuck in the capitalist boardrooms where the bottom-line is paramount and where profit is king. We have a finite planet and growth is killing it!

Stupid comment, considering the mans intelligence... It was obviously snide get-back....

Archer really, you do go on... I'm not going to reply, though I will say you are totally mistaken in your thinking - the present system will only explode and I sincerely hope you will be safe.
I do not believe in labels - obviously you do and hence your attempt to besmirch anyone with a contrary view point. Three of the first five President's where known Liberals, so you could say America was founded on liberal principles - perhaps you should look it up! sorry, I did promise not to reply so I will stop.

Some really excellent comments above - obviously some have done their homework. but, the quote should really read: under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of capitalism, until one day America will be a fascist nation, without knowing how it happened."

Sorry, but this is a statement that should not have been quoted. Perhaps it may have had substance in the 50s and 60s but most definitely not today. Students today are more concerned with survival... take that need away and yes, the left will slip back...

He didn't know the difference!

WOW! The biggest welfare recipients by far are the wealthy (corporate elite), government employees, politicians, and of course, the MIC (the biggest) who are also the biggest polluters and users of oil. The US has turned itself into a self gratification monster and it's time for change (big time). Otherwise, you will all sink into the mire you created.. Greed will turn America into a socialist government as unchecked capitalism NEVER works. As in Rome, without the people government will fall.

I agreed to the extent the USA is the biggest welfare state though not for the poor but for the MKIC and the wealthy....

Their term never really came not even under Soviet Union but it will...

Stupid quote with no idea what the hell he is talking about.

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." WS- As You Like It

Archer, then you don't know me..... I am not a bucket person - far from it!

Life without knowledge is not a life. Life can ONLY be a life if it has Liberty and to have Liberty you need knowledge; as PV said, it's the hardest test.