A controversial proposal from U.S Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to let bird flu naturally spread through poultry farms is raising alarms among scientists – who say the move could be inhumane and dangerous.

  • stoy@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    92
    ·
    12 hours ago

    What historians will point to in my opinion are two key point in modern American history that unleashed the decent into madness.

    1. Raegan, his financial policies laid the groundwork for the modern ultra wealthy tech bros.
    2. 9/11, 9/11 turned patriotism into a national psychotic duty.

    After 9/11 you could slap a US flag on basically anything, shout patriotism and make a shit load of money while being thanked for it.

    Then it just rolled on.

    • dhork@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      75
      ·
      12 hours ago

      Don’t forget the importance of the Citizens United ruling, which gave the green light to funnel unlimited amounts of corporate money into campaigns, reaching a crescendo in this past election when the world’s richest man bought himself a President.

      • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        23
        ·
        10 hours ago

        CU and the lack of federal public funding for elections (by which I mean the state funds the campaigns of those who want federal offices) basically resulted in the US political class ending up fully in the pocket of the corporations.

        That’s what absolutely destroyed our ability to elect anyone other than what the corporate doners want, and thus you end up with nothing but corporate-friendly politicians, and thus a whole bunch of people who have no problem with facism and well, here we are.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      10 hours ago

      Reagan was in place thanks to the Southern Strategy begun a decade or so earlier to ensure a voting percentage for the GOP and religious right no matter what. There are unfortunately many other “turning points” throughout US history where we could have gone a different route but chose this one, usually because “it’s always been this way” mentality.

    • atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      10 hours ago

      9/11 helped but by that point Christian nationalists had already spent the 20 years since Regan tying patriotism to faith.