It's called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.

[Bootless]

I liked reading it, although, I can imagine Carlin's delivery.

Imagine no more. Here is the delivery:



After reading the whole Wikipedia page on George Carlin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carlin), I noticed that some scammers post fake Carlin quotes:

Many quotations have been falsely attributed to Carlin, including various joke lists, rants, and other pieces. The website Snopes, which debunks urban legends and myths, has addressed these hoaxes.[sup][137][/sup] Many of them contain material that runs counter to Carlin's viewpoints; some are especially hostile toward racial groups, gay people, women, the homeless, and other targets. Carlin was aware of this and debunked the quotes, writing on his website, "Here's a rule of thumb, folks: nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it comes from one of my albums, books, HBO specials, or appeared on my website. [...] It bothers me that some people might believe that I would be capable of writing some of this stuff."
In 2011, "Weird Al" Yankovic referenced the hoaxes in his song "Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me" with the lyric, "And by the way, your quotes from George Carlin aren't really George Carlin."

So I decided to put Weird Al's parody song here:


I thought it was somewhat timely.

[putnam6]

Huge Carlin fan from way back, my sisters were 11 and 12 years old at the time, got the 7 words you can't say album from our unknowing sweet Grandmother. Who was very close to insisting we listen to it on Granny's record player console right there by the Christmas tree in the living room with our Mom and Dad, Aunts, uncles, and cousins all listening. 

Watched his appearance on the first SNL live, we would laugh our asses off listening to all his records.

Another salient point on Carlin by the time of this HBO Special, he had grown tired of doing them and was a little bitter he couldn't get out of the contract, don't want to say he mailed it in, cause it's still Carlin, but it's a little deeper a little darker and a little older George.

HBO did a documentary on his life it's so very well done, he was an extremely cool dude

my generation's Mark Twain

[Nerb]

my generation's Mark Twain

I Love some of his Quotes.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well. (my favorite, it about being a good planner).

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would rather have talked.

[IdeomotorPrisoner]

Polly Shore? hey buuuud, what did I do to you? Make you watch BioDome and Jury Duty back to back 

did Pauly Shore have a sister or a sex change?  

In some circles, it's suggested that the real-world wealthy, celebrities, sports stars, and entertainers live in purgatory when they die. Especially the unworthy

While common folk get thier afterlife assignment adjudicated immediately. 

So I got that going for me... 

Some suggest that's partially the reason for religion, average Joe humans have been toiling away for thousands of years, they needed the belief in a glorious afterlife to deal with all the humanly mundane drudgery and bullshit. Otherwise, the GP occasionally would go bugchit and rebel and burn government buildings and attack Federal officers

Right or wrong, real or imagined, generally, don't those who believe our life force, our energy, our aura, our souls cheat code our human death and go on, have a better set of coping skills for our worldly existence?

Omitting those that shoot up the offices of a satire magazine for a cartoon or lop the heads off the infidels they come across.

Lol.. Though I hide it well, Polly vs Pauly is the dyslexia bleeding through. Usually autocorrect (which I will try to spell as "ottocorrect" or some really off version) saves me, but nope, not when the misspelling is a name spelled correctly.  

The point is that if you're a celebrity's kid, you don't have to be exceptional to make it. You just need to be minimally motivated to put effort into it. And try not to OD. 

And that is like the American dream of oligarchy and occasionally meritocracy.  

Like is Trump the best at anything but Political trolling?  Is Trump anything without inherited wealth? Is he going to Penn and dragging the waters all the way to Mar-a-Lago?  I believe he is one of those legacy cases that requires a donation to The Wharton School of Business. He is not of the meritocracy school, or even the self-made Steve Jobs from a garage school. 

Yet he made the dream, exactly like Celebrity children do.

[putnam6]

Lol.. Though I hide it well, Polly vs Pauly is the dyslexia bleeding through. Usually autocorrect (which I will try to spell as "ottocorrect" or some really off version) saves me, but nope, not when the misspelling is a name spelled correctly.  

The point is that if you're a celebrity's kid, you don't have to be exceptional to make it. You just need to be minimally motivated to put effort into it. And try not to OD. 

And that is like the American dream of oligarchy and occasionally meritocracy.  

Like is Trump the best at anything but Political trolling?  Is Trump anything without inherited wealth? Is he going to Penn and dragging the waters all the way to Mar-a-Lago?  I believe he is one of those legacy cases that requires a donation to The Wharton School of Business. He is not of the meritocracy school, or even the self-made Steve Jobs from a garage school. 

Yet he made the dream, exactly like Celebrity children do.

Apologies, I was trying to be funny, the Dsylexia that had suck as a kid, you managed it well...

I agree with much of your post 

All countries have significant segments of the connected, the wealthy, and even the celebrity, to lesser degrees.

Most of our candidates for President were connected and/or wealthy, especially in the 2 party system. 

Barrack had to have connections to get Hillary to bide her time till 2016. Even as early as 2004, Barrack was on the fast track for the DNC's nominee.

All governments are a bit money-grubbing and full of sleaze, just in different ways...

Im not sure how we get around, people are used to a self-perpetuating autocracy, there would be significant resistance to Dennis' ideal form of governance (an anarcho-syndicalist commune).

Humans are inherently flawed. The first government to effectively utilize AI will win the next half century

It's concerning the fact that China has a head start...
 

A self-perpetuating autocracy
King Arthur: Old woman!
Dennis: Man.
King Arthur: Man, sorry. What knight lives in that castle over there?
Dennis: I'm 37.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I'm 37. I'm not old.
King Arthur: Well I can't just call you "man".
Dennis: Well you could say "Dennis".
King Arthur: I didn't know you were called Dennis.
Dennis: Well you didn't bother to find out, did you?
King Arthur: I did say sorry about the "old woman", but from behind you looked...
Dennis: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior.
King Arthur: Well, I am king.
Dennis: Oh, king eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers. By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there's ever gonna be any progress...
Peasant Woman: Dennis! There's some lovely filth down here... Oh! How do you do?[Dennis joins the Peasant Woman in the nearby filth patch]
King Arthur: How do you do, good lady? I am Arthur, king of the Britons. Whose castle is that?
Peasant Woman: King of the who?
King Arthur: The Britons.
Peasant Woman: Who're the "Britons"?
King Arthur: Well, we all are. We're all Britons, and I am your king.
Peasant Woman: Didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.
Dennis: You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship! A self-perpetuating autocracy, in which the working classes...
Peasant Woman: Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again.
Dennis: Well, that's what it's all about! If only people would--
King Arthur: Please, please, good people, I am in haste. Who lives in that castle?
Peasant Woman: No one lives there.
King Arthur: Then who is your lord?
Peasant Woman: We don't have a lord.
King Arthur: What?
Dennis: I told you, we're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as sort of executive officer for the week...
King Arthur: Yes...
Dennis: ...but all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting...
King Arthur: Yes I see...
Dennis: ...by a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs...
King Arthur: Be quiet!
Dennis: ...but by a two thirds majority in the case of more...
King Arthur: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!
Peasant Woman: "Order", eh? Who does he think he is?
King Arthur: I am your king.
Peasant Woman: Well, I didn't vote for you.
King Arthur: You don't vote for kings.
Peasant Woman: Well, how'd you become king, then?[An angelic choir begins...]
King Arthur: The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. [singing stops] That is why I am your king.
Dennis: Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.
Arthur: Be quiet!
Dennis: You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
Arthur: Shut up!
Dennis: I mean, if I went around saying I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!
Arthur: [grabs Dennis] Shut up! Will you shut up?!
Dennis: Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!
Arthur: [shakes Dennis] Shut up!
Dennis: Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!
Arthur: Bloody Peasant!
Dennis: Ooh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?

[LightAngel]

Thanks for sharing you Light-spreading Little Angel.  [Image: https://denyignorance.com//images/addsmi...cheers.gif]

You are welcome. 

I like the name LittleAngel, however, I am a tall creature so I am not sure it would suit me. 

[LightAngel]

 each dream has its strong points and weaknesses. 

Not everyone wants to become millionaires, we are different, and we have unique needs.

The middle way is often the healthiest way to live (that is my personal opinion). To be too rich or too poor often creates problems and unhappiness.

The problem is when criminals can use their money to hide their crimes because everybody should be equal to the law.

Just look at the Epstein madness, suddenly they say there is no list. We all know there is a list, but they are afraid to show it. I do not want to be a part of a rich club full of psychopaths who do not care about all the abused victims.

They need to pay for their crimes just like everybody else in this world!

We need to change the entire system.

[putnam6]

Not everyone wants to become millionaires, we are different, and we have unique needs.

The middle way is often the healthiest way to live (that is my personal opinion). To be too rich or too poor often creates problems and unhappiness.

The problem is when criminals can use their money to hide their crimes because everybody should be equal to the law.

Just look at the Epstein madness, suddenly they say there is no list. We all know there is a list, but they are afraid to show it. I do not want to be a part of a rich club full of psychopaths who do not care about all the abused victims.

They need to pay for their crimes just like everybody else in this world!

We need to change the entire system.

 

We need to change the entire system.

We aren't going to be able to change the system in one fell swoop; it's unrealistic.

Furthermore, we aren't going to abandon capitalism. Sure, it favors the elite, but we still have plenty of unknown persons with suspect pedigrees succeeding at a phenomenal rate due to good old capitalism.

One tweak might be UBI, while plenty are against this, myself included; however, done right, it could help the efficiency of the American workforce. If UBI is large enough, some malcontents won't even join the workforce, huge swathes would be fine with just a little nudge, a little financial help. Not sure the percentages of those just concerned with a decent living wage, but wouldn't be surprised if it were 15% or more.

Every bit of those UBI funds would be directly invested in the local economies...

UBI funds would allow lower-income families to exist with a stay-at-home parent/
UBI funds would allow more to invest or pursue thier dream career.

Sure, there would be issues, but it could be the shot in the arm and improve the quality of life quotient 



Just because the high-profile wealthy elites escape it doesn't mean there isn't plenty of graft and corruption in the lower and middle classes, too.

I'm not sure we can change the system, or even if we want to, we can tweak it, but change it?

Behind-the-scenes forces are obvious. Till we change these 4 points below, we will get basically what we are getting now. Because the general public wants these 4 points voted on, and our elected officials pretend these very salient points are never brought up.




End the 2 party monopoly
Ban corporate lobbyists
2-4-6 year term limits 
No purchasing or selling of stocks and commodities by elected officials

[Bootless]

Like is Trump the best at anything but Political trolling?  Is Trump anything without inherited wealth? Is he going to Penn and dragging the waters all the way to Mar-a-Lago?  I believe he is one of those legacy cases that requires a donation to The Wharton School of Business. He is not of the meritocracy school, or even the self-made Steve Jobs from a garage school. 

Yet he made the dream, exactly like Celebrity children do.

As chance has it, Carlin has been compared to Mark Twain, having been posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2008.

Twain wrote a story called The Million Pound Bank Note. I can imagine a scenario in which a self promoted air of celebrity enables a character of less than honorable ambitions to be rewarded handsomely with free use of goods and services based merely upon the perception that he is a successful businessman.

Example: compare the story protagonist who endorses his friend's mine operation as a good investment with Trump endorsing a Bible. Trump didn't write it, didn't own the copyright on any of it, didn't put any money into the printing of it, yet he got $1.3 Million royalties off of it in 2024.

[putnam6]

As chance has it, Carlin has been compared to Mark Twain, having been posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2008.

Twain wrote a story called The Million Pound Bank Note. I can imagine a scenario in which a self promoted air of celebrity enables a character of less than honorable ambitions to be rewarded handsomely with free use of goods and services based merely upon the perception that he is a successful businessman.

Example: compare the story protagonist who endorses his friend's mine operation as a good investment with Trump endorsing a Bible. Trump didn't write it, didn't own the copyright on any of it, didn't put any money into the printing of it, yet he got $1.3 Million royalties off of it in 2024.

Everybody has a different perspective and life experiences...

Yeah, Im not a fan of Trump, but you know why he succeeds, he can get other men of wealth and power to follow him.

Read the book on the USFL...



Trump comes along, buys the Generals, and proceeds to get virtually every other owner to follow his lead, abandoning what was working and going against the NFL. Most of the other millionaires were soon swayed by his every move 

The USFL ramps up expansion, signing higher and higher-profile stars, then they sued the NFL; only one owner abstained, John Bassit, the rest threw the millions invested behind OMB's NFLlawsuit, they they won a 1-dollar treble damage decision

The other owners were powerful, wealthy businessmen of varying degrees, but nobody had the appeal, the magnetism, the salesmanship ability. Trump was in the stratosphere in comparison. The decision to follow him ruined some of the lesser owners

So right or wrong, I can easily see normal people falling for Trump, WBW millionaires did.