Does changing the pilot change the flight plan.

Just an observation from an outsider.

In this 2012 U.S. election the American people may or may not change the pilot but either way the flight plan remains the same.

A couple of other things while I'm at it.

Democracy is an illusion which is created to uphold your slavery - Hidden Hand

If you wish to enslave a man allow him to believe that he is already free - Hidden Hand

Hidden Hand on ATS

These are all things that have been discussed at great length on ATS repeatedly.
What point are you trying to make? I'm not being snide, I'm just trying to understand what the crux of your thread is.

reply to post by learnatic


All that really changes are the colours of allegiance. Maybe change a few side road names, talk about different scenery, but the destination is the same.

Democracy only works well if every person under it is created and treated equal. And we do not live in an equal society, not where the poor are forgotten, the wealthy are toasted and anyone in between is held in servitude to appease both others.

reply to post by Klassified


Just helping people see that getting all passionate about a political a major party is not in their own interest and to perhaps open up thought in a hitherto closed mind. To help others see that they are being harvested for money to be given to the rich and is voting for either of main parties is not going to stop that.

Some things may change, at least superficially. And a very few things may even change substantively, based on the individuals leanings of the administration elected or upheld. These are, after all, still individual people with their own tendencies, attitudes, and beliefs, no matter how locked into the overall agenda that may exist they are.

But regardless, in my opinion there always seem to be certain agendas that continue unabated regardless of party, platform, or administration.Just a few off the top of my head would include...

• The data mining and surveillance of citizens. (Every time one program or initiative fails or gets dismantled by congress, another inevitably seems to rear its head, usually in association with the NSA, DARPA, the CIA, or in some respects all of the above.)
  
• The establishment of the "new normal." (Progressively aggressive changes to the status quo in terms of what people are acclimated to and willing to accept with regard to civil liberties and day to day life.)
  
• The centralization of power via a trans-agency super-department (DHS being the latest example.)
  
• The continuing revolving door of securing access to foreign resources in exchange for military protection and favorable trading status (only much later to discard them, if not invade or attack them outright, historically tending to cause massive destabilization of the region in question.)
  
• The drive toward ubiquitous national identification systems.
  
• The protection and even rescuing as we have seen more recently, of large financial institutions, in a seemingly perpetual effort to stave off hyper-inflation and economic ruin.
  

These things seem fairly consistent, regardless of the ostensible differences and "change" the two major parties advertise and campaign on. The Democrats do create more social support programs, and the Republicans do tend to focus on defense. They have different reproductive rights positions. Etc. But the above seem to continue unabated regardless of who is President, or who controls Congress.