Do you believe the deck is stacked?

If only that were the case, but alas, I feel it isn't. Lack of control by the elites brought us Trump.

R1, the elites are making out like bandits precisely because they installed tRump.

Nice try, R2, but that is totally wrong. The elites would never have "installed" Trump. The deplorables were voting against those who they perceived as the elites.

Nice try yourself, r3. there is such a thing as social engineering, and it figured heavily in the last election.

I believe that it is within the abilities of several countries that can play their influence and effect tangible global change.

I do not believe that it is within the ability of even a well-united group of individuals to do the same. Bureaucracy is much a more powerful and durable tool than a decentralized group of equals because of simple human nature. This of course excludes the small, terroristic acts but I believe they are in a different category than a slow, unseen conspiracy of the sort you are talking about.

Of course. Inequality is built into the economic and political system. All of our lives are not worth the same.

Take for instance, the Super Bowl that is about to be played in a few hours. The majority of fans think it's just a game and the best team will win. They are not aware of the back door ceremonial process that goes into selecting the winning team. The average fan is not putting the pieces of the puzzle together, ex.: Tom Brady was picked 199 in the NFL draft (1+9+9=19); it's been 19 years since Brady was first drafted. Also, each major team wins 3 times every decade, which is a masonic nod to the magical "33." The Patriots have won 2 times already this decade. They have to win this year or next to obtain their 3rd win before the decade ends. Coupled with the numerology surrounding Brady's years in the game and his ranking, The Patriots need to win tonight complete the cycle.

Damn r7, what will happen if the gods are not appeased?

They'll stick a pole up your ass, r8.

No one, not even R7, can understand our true plans for the Super Bowl.

Yup, Patriots win again just like I called it upthread and I called it last year. They even found a way to work "33" symbolism into the score (Patriots: 13; Rams: 3; 1x33=33) By the way, for those of you bickering about Dems & Republicans, the winners of the 2020 election have already been decided.

All the world's a stage. If you can't see what's going on, you're just not paying attention. Bye, gurl...

^winner of the 2020 election has already...

Wake up, bitches.

----

It's very stacked on the lower rungs of the ladder. There are countless small towns completely controlled by the local Chambers of Commerce which are, in turn controlled by the local country clubs, Rotary Clubs, or whatever group has the power in that particular town . They decide who the local elected officials will be and spend the money to get them elected, they approve economic development plans, zoning, building permits, and who gets hired for city and county jobs. Perhaps more importantly, they also exert considerable influence on the schools, the police, and who gets appointed to the local courts. Their influence doesn't stop at the city limits either. They also have tremendous influence on who represents the area in the State Legislature, and even in the US House of Representatives. The local newspapers, radio and television play along because they're completely dependent on the advertising revenue the people in charge generate.

I don't think any of this is surprising, but I think it would shock most people if they knew just how cheaply all this can be accomplished.

The deck is stacked, the glass shattered.

Goddamn, this thread is funny when you’re drunk/high.

I don’t know what to make of ANY of this!

The deck is most definitely stacked, but not by who you think.

Baby, are you high? Do you need rehab or Jesus? Are you still pissed off about those tacky satin heels of yours that, to put it lightly, got "soiled" ?

Good question, OP. I've always wondered what is so ludricous and tin foil hat-y about powerful billionaires manipulating and gaming the system for their advantage?

The usurers dream is one single world government based on feudalism and socialism, controlled by the private central banks and policed by the UN and NATO. Guess what? It's already here!

Fuck off Erna you fetid Nazi cunt. And take bigoted scum Woodward with you!

Well r20, I just financed another luxury car going with the the Patriots (paid off my morgage last year) and that's just me alone. Think of what an organized, well financed group could pull of, especially if they are pulling the strings. Now think in global terms. Starting to make sense?

Erna, darling, are you still in Spain or have you relocated to Brazil?

We could never live in a Portuguese-speaking country after our last horrible divorce.

Carlin is right. It’s an informal plutocracy that keeps the system as rigged as it can. The Republican Party is its most explicit tool.

Most of your congressmen are just lawyers hired to stop the government from taxing or regulating corporate predators in any way.

Thank you, r26.

OP you are woke WOKE. Can we be friends?

I once sat next to two conspiracy theorists on a flight. 18 hours of EYES WIDE SHUT, Jimmy Savile, how Philip Seymour Hoffman's heroin was tainted by Scientologists and how the Queen Mother is a cunt.

R18 just wait until they get a load of EXODIA, THE FORBIDDEN ONE! Then they’ll know who’s deck is controlling the Game. With a deck. Which is of considerable size.

It’s me, I’m the one with the big deck.

[Quote]OP you are woke WOKE. Can we be friends?

I 💖 r28.

I think the deck is stacked in many respects. However, we have choices and ways we can weave around the things that try to make us powerless. Also the deck chairs can be shuffled. An example is my hometown. For 75 years, the owners of the local newspaper exerted tremendous power in picking city council members, congressional representatives and so forth. A super conservative and wealthy family, they controlled the city from the ground up. However, with the drastic decline in newspaper readership, they have lost a great deal of their power and influence, and consequently, new and different opposing political figures have appeared on the scene and have done well.

At the moment, the Koch brothers exert influence over the national political scene way beyond what their considerable fortune would dictate. This is because of their single-mindedness. They have enlisted support from other super-wealthy conservatives (something called the Koch Network) and have formed groups like ALEC, which writes conservative legislation for state governments and ships it all over the country. Charles and David Koch have been involved in, and have provided funding to, a number of other think tanks and public policy organizations: They provided the initial funding for the Cato Institute, they are key donors to the Federalist Society and they also support, or are members of, the Mercatus Center, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Institute for Justice, the Institute for Energy Research, the Heritage Foundation, the Manhattan Institute, the Reason Foundation,[ the George C. Marshall Institute,] the American Enterprise Institute, and the Fraser Institute,and the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust.

However, Charles Koch is 84, and David Koch is 79. David Koch is ill and won't be active in political stuff much longer. Though their institutions and friends will continue to inflict damage on our democracy and our society for decades to come, none of them have the single-minded focus of these brothers, and I suspect, with loss of the major influence of funding, will begin to bicker with one another.

Our country is definitely a plutocracy at this point (and may have always been). However, in times of severe economic crisis, (the great Depression is an example), a sort of populism arises which reins in the power of the plutocrats a bit. They are experts at manipulating public opinion, but when people are starving, they tend to notice which people are well-fed and pay more attention......

Everybody knows the fight was fixed,

The poor stay poor

The rich get rich

That's how it goes.

Everbody knows.

^^^"EverYbody," sigh.

Apparently, Datalounge never got the memo, based on the way posters automatically attack anyone who dares question the narrative. We are our own worst enemy, and that's just the way they want it.

Go team!! Baby needs a new pair of shoes. Woo hoo!!

It is fixed in the sense that those in power establish modes of keeping that power. Or, better said, keeping close to the power. Power (economic, political, social or other), I think, is mercurial and ever shifting. Thus, sometimes new players are introduced into the mix and older ones are ousted. Those that have had power for some time become more expert at keeping close to the ever shifting nucleus of power -- trying to rein it in and make it less peripatetic. A futile attempt but their efforts do serve to slow down the naturally chaotic movements of power. Also, it seems, those who exhibit more rebellious institutional stances prior to coming into closer orbit of its flame, often become more diluted in their original views in an effort to keep in their newly anointed power orbit. I do not buy into the myth that power is static. It is constantly shifting and some are more adept at maneuvering their position closer to its nexus, and staying there longer. Some are less so.