Kudos to all the corporate CEOs who realize they need a strong middle class in order to have a strong consumer base for capitalism and a strong economy. One just needs to look at all the commercials these days to see the diversity corporate marketing is targeting showing happy black families in their new car, men doing the laundry, and LGBTQ people selling whatever. Voting rights and access to the ballot box is so fundamental. The key is still S1 and the For the People Act because the Republicans are going ahead with the state laws on voter suppression. It is high time to end gerrymandering, to make voting convenient and accessible for everyone and the transparency on donors. Time to get Senator Manchin on board. We the People, All of Us This Time!
What I find very disturbing in these comments - is that there seems to be a desire to go back to BAU, expressed by folk here, who I would have thought knew far better. We CAN'T go back - we are already well over-staying our welcome on this planet, and we just don't get it - what is called the "shifting windows" (Shifting baseline) situation - we look out the window - and, hey, it looks like yesterday - so what's your issue? Unfortunately, we are not programmed genetically for considering the long term. Some of us are - but lack the "levers of power" to do anything about it.
Cathy described a culture shift, which is not at all "Business As Usual." I hope this is not sealioning from last week, in which case the folks who know better can just skip this and move on to more productive comments.
Dang—wish I would have known that word and concept five years ago! I was a little more ignorant that I thought about the modern ways of certain propagandist tactics. This is one of the reasons it is difficult to have real communication with a faction that I have referred to as human ticks or mosquitoes. In the end, they have no desire for honest discourse. Best solution is to not waste time with them. Thank you for expanding my vocabulary this morning, Cathy!
Ellie, I have used the term, sealioning for several years now. We have several folks here in this Community that actively engage in this. Thank you for bringing it up.
I don't understand why you see what I said as going backwards. Of course we need to go forward not backward! Have you seen the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the number of corporations who have made a commitment to them in signing the UN Global Commitment: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/participation/join/commitment 9,500 Corporations have signed up for this and the participating corporations are finding sustainable goals are also very beneficial financially to their bottom line. The smart corporations are evolving and embracing sustainability. One of the SDGs is social sustainability which is in line with their commitment to voting rights. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/sdgs/17-global-goals#sdg16
I wonder how many “woke” corporations are NOT dependent on consumer purchasing power. “Coke, for example, understands their consumer base. They will fight to hold onto it even if it means switch hitting.
The Republican Party is going down in flames. A party that is 86% white and that is so engaged in self-delusion that they are risking a mental health episode by sticking to the story that their white boy Felon45 is still President, that party is in self-destruct mode. If your leader believes the same pipe dream, that the whites-first society is still in control of the US and the executive branch, you’re in trouble, because that belief has been eroding since the 50s.
Except they are still extremely powerful and know it. 2022 will be one of the most significant political years in our country's history and I am not sanguine about the outcome.
I’m thinking about broadband getting out to more rural parts of our country. Do you think that will bring more truth or more propaganda with it? Serious question.
My personal opinion is that broadband is largely agnostic in its effects on political attitudes. The effect would be more equity in every aspect of our society affected by technology, which is pretty much all of it at this point. What people do with that increased access is probably about what those who already have it are doing. Most important, children would more universally have access to the technology they need to pursue their educational aspirations.
I’m hopeful it would lead to access to more truth in place of spoon fed propaganda but I’m not educated on such things so worried that I could be mistaken. If we only could encourage more curiosity everywhere.
I just don't see how this would work, though. We can't even agree on what is true and many on the conservative side of things are actively engaged in denying that absolute truths are, in fact, true. Short of God coming down and declaring what is and is not true, facts themselves will remain matters of opinion. Scary.
I wonder about Licenses with boards of peers, like lawyers or doctors. It's an ethical thing. If you have that much power you have an obligation to use it for the common good? Course that's eroded in this century (thinking about 45's personal docs).
I would say that it is (delving into my fantasy world definitions) like magic. It is a force that can be used for good or evil, depending upon the person using it.
Yes, but only white collar women. Women, especially women of color, are grossly overrepresented in professions requiring in-person care, which is one of the reasons women of color are so grossly overrepresented in Covid illness and death.
If the federal government is going to spend tax dollars making broadband available where it is still missing - which is a mix of rural and urban areas, though mainly rural - could that be the legal basis for requiring a measure of truth and alternate opinions from those who broadcast on it?
I think the problem the government would face it that, unlike broadcast frequencies, they don't have any true control over the internet. They could require fairness, as they did once upon a time, because they had the unquestioned power to withdraw licensing of broadcast frequencies. But the internet is much more of the Wild West, and putting that genie back in the bottle would be fraught, at best. I think you may be implying that building out the infrastructure would give them some power, but in the current environment, wouldn't that just create a sort of economic apartheid, wherein some of us could afford uncontrolled internet and others would depend on the government-controlled and censored version? Quicksand everywhere you look, I'm afraid.
I'm not going to hold my breath. Until congress can regulate it, nothing changes. The push for broadband does not equal the push for sanity. Though...there is some hope.
I agree. But I also see the potential positives of people having more access to services such as video doctor visits, child abuse prevention and suicide hotlines and things like that. And, if the government were to provide a higher level of service and information online that could also be very helpful to people who need help the most. I am not holding my breath for that and I believe the internet learning curve will continue to be steep but there is a lot of potential there.
Yes, not sure what that would look like but very much agree that airwaves (or cyber-whatever nowadays) are extraordinarily powerful and we should do much more to ensure it's not a tool used to fill vulnerable minds with blatant lies.
I agree. There will always be some form of Conservative party. Republicans have a tremendous amount of power even as an overall minority group. ZThey have been better at telling people what they want to hear and selling snake oil. I am very interested to see how 2022 goes. So far the rhetoric by republicans about Biden are pretty weak and they don't seem to resonate quite as much overall. I hope they continue to be as ridiculous as possible headed towards 22. I think it might just hurt them.
I am actually more optimistic about this than I used to be. They are being so absurd and Biden has been very effective in pointing this out without being combative about it.
Maybe Dems should withhold census data until after the midterm elections, to thwart further extreme gerrymandering. On do only Repugs get to play ruthless power politics?
I read somewhere that the 1920 census was so messed up by the influenza epidemic, the end of the war, Red scare, etc. that it was never used for Congressional apportionment. Does anyone know if that's true?
Roland, they do have one or two little psychological problems to deal with. Personality is supposed to evolve with maturity and one's conscious is supposed to expand. ......guess something went wrong in their case which has severely developed their "human" development. Such an absence of psychological development seems to have engendered a "cave man" psychosis which needs in-depth study at close quarters in laboratory conditions. Time for them to be put in the isolation ward so that they can nolonger either harm themselves or others.....while the specimens are taken apart psychologically.
I offer this insight after recently reading "How to think like an Anthropologist" by Matthew Engelke. I have come to the conclusion that approaching trying to understand our "conservative" fellow citizens. (I refrain politely from characterizing them with a more pejorative synonym but perhaps more accurate "far-right nut jobs.") It is helpful to think of them as would a cultural anthropologist studying a different society and trying to understand its characteristics, dynamics, social relationships, and mythologies. Don't try to change it. Rather accept it for what it is and learn what you can from it.
Here are extracted thoughts from Engelke's work offering ten thoughts on how to think like an anthropologist. See if this works for observing those "on the other side."
Are you ready to start thinking like an anthropologist? Follow these 10 tips to understand how different groups of humans organize their lives and articulate their values!
1. Do your research! Anthropologists conduct ethnographic research using the technique of participant observation. This could mean traveling halfway around the world to live in a tent, learn a new language, and eat unfamiliar foods. Or it could mean working alongside employees in a factory or office in your hometown. No matter where your field site is, make sure you ask those around you and take notes on how they see the world!
2. Adopt the sensibility of cultural relativism. This doesn’t mean you can’t have your own values, that you have to agree with everything you see in the field, or that you can’t trust hard data. Using cultural relativism as an approach means remembering that other groups may have very different world ideas than you do. Don’t assume that your perspective is universal.
3. Keep some critical distance – even if you belong to the group of people you’re studying! Anthropologists need some critical distance to perform analysis. Losing this distance can also present ethical dilemmas.
4. Interest yourself in the everyday. How do people greet each other? How do they keep their spaces clean? What material objects do they interact with? These questions may seem mundane, but studying them can help you understand a group’s values.
5. Work inductively – build from the specific to the general. Instead of setting out to prove a general idea about the group you’re studying, let your observations guide you to any broad conclusions. Present in your work a balance of general claims and specific observations.
6. Avoid falling into the “denial of coevalness” – the idea that certain groups of people are stuck in the past. Everyone in the world right now is living in the twenty-first century, and what it means to live in the twenty-first century looks different for different groups of people.
7. Remember that social and cultural changes are not teleological. Every group’s way of life changes over time, but it’s important to consider these changes on their own terms, rather than as stepping stones toward some inevitable end goal.
8. Don’t feel you have to hide your political commitments or shy away from offering moral conclusions. To varying degrees, anthropologists’ work is often tied up with their own moral or political ideologies. Acknowledge this rather than denying it.
9. Be wary of your own authority as an ethnographer. Don’t just figure out how the people you’re studying think – think like the people you’re studying. Look beyond your own framing of their perspective.
10. Foreground what is usually in the background, and vice versa. As Engelke puts it, “Upend common sense and question what gets taken for granted…. Reconsider not only what we think we know… but also the terms by which we know it.” Open yourself to the “strangeness and surprise” you will undoubtedly encounter as you begin to think like an anthropologist.
I add my own admonishment to Engelke's list. Study to understand, evaluate to form your own judgments on relevancy, form your own opinions on the soundness of their culture and mythologies, but guard against conflict or criticism. Like some other primitive societies, they can quickly turn hostile and unwelcoming.
I had a very instructive experience at the age of 18 with a summer job in a freezer wharehouse while studying at UCL. The product was ice cream! However the ambiance and the conversation in the store and the rest room (40 minutes on/20 mins off) were instructive. Until then i was unaware that F*ck could be used for punctuation and at the same time was complimentary to every known noun and verb! I had a great time and joined in the fun. You got to know all about their lives, what was important to them and how they thought. I was happy to have been through the experience but glad when it was over...and i could go off travelling...with my "thumb" ...around Europe!
Thank you for this book info and reminding me what I spent a bunch of years studying to do! My only addition is that the discipline of anthropology shifted from the term "primitive" to "preliterate" societies.
Thank you for that suggested edit and I agree with the more appropriate preliterate characterization. I am only, when referring to the hard-right, nutjob population tempted to use the characterization “subliterate.” But would probably agree that too much conforms to my own cultural bias.
I think this is actually a profound observation. How did we get to a post-truth world for so many people? Things like human-caused climate change and the fairness of the recent presidential election are facts that have moved well beyond any reasonable debate and yet 40% of Americans don't believe humans are causing climate change (https://www.theclimatechat.org/americans-on-climate-change) and 55% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was illicit (https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/majority-republicans-still-believe-2020-election-was-stolen-donald-trump). This is a mind-boggling level of self-deception and acceptance of lies; how is it possible to live with the contradiction and remain sane?
Considering more Americans believe in a literal devil and angels than accept the modern theory of evolution you might be asking a bit much of the general population.
Very interesting article highlighting how framing of questions affects our responses. Definitely applicable in trying to understand how to communicate effectively with those whose thinking seems on the surface to be diametrically opposed to our own.
The writer implies that the Republicans are now funded primarily by a small number of free-spending oligarchs. Businesses, like the rest of us, are expected to bow to them. That would fit with the R's reaction of anger and bullying. Will the corporations knuckle under? If not, will they use their considerable clout on behalf of democracy??
No, they will use their considerable clout in the pursuit of profit. But if their employees, prospective employees, and customers are demanding action on behalf of democracy, then their profit motive aligns with a bolstering of democracy. Molly Wood from the Make Me Smart podcast calls big business the fourth branch of government. Not far from the truth, methinks.
So, we the people, all of us this time, will need to vote with our credit cards, and make sure "The FourthBranch of Government" knows why. Corporations didn't suddenly get a conscience on March 26th - they responded to our threaten to boycott them.
Absolutely. SCOTUS opened this door and corporations walked right in. Not that there wasn't corruption before Citizens United, but now it's perfectly legal.
So right Roland. There isn't enough popcorn. we should start of 'office pool' as to the date they officially 'fall down, go boom'. I'll take a marker on Labor Day 2021.
Has anyone else read this article in The Atlantic? “Trump’s Power Won’t Peak for Another Twenty Years” Basically, McConnell’s plan of packing the federal courts to keep Republican control looks like it very well could work. Scary doesn’t begin to describe it.
"The spring is going to see a remarkable game of political chess."
Indeed.
According to the NY Times, in his speech to Republican donors at Mar A Lago the former president described Mitch McConnell as "a dumb bastard." I can think of a number of pejorative terms to describe Mr. McConnell, (I've spent hours building a list) but dumb he is not. He's one of the smartest political mechanics in the history of the Senate. He's well-connected to the donor class of the Republican Party; the moneyed establishment people who would like to see the former president disappear.
Are we seeing the sides being drawn? Will the party divide; first quietly and then openly? Will we, (breathless) have a third party in time to split the vote in the 2022 mid-term election?
That last is probably a bit too much, but the mind imagines that for which the heart yearns.
After reading these comments earlier, I'm compelled to come back and comment- Thank you Ellie & Kimcean for your attempts to draw attention to language in a more appropriate manner, as my thought was - such arcane terms, I'm so sick of hearing old white men (not exclusively) using these expressions, be it bitch or bastard, can we just be done with it. And, for sure I don't understand or tolerate women calling other women bitches! Bitches are female dogs.
And what does Foxy Ladies have to do with anything?
Mitch McConnell is smart like a fox, yes.
Can't wait until both he and Trump are gone. In the mean time I'm learning from daily letters and commentary how to articulate a better understanding and vision for democracy in our country and I believe Biden is just getting started. Thank you to all contributors!
Foxy is there because in my rush to place a good "pun" or to play on double meanings of words i mixed up bitch and vixen...mea culpa! Just felt like a laugh...and think now, with hindsight,that is a perfectly approprate way of responding in the context!
A study was done during the 1970s identifying all words of female gender used as derogatory descriptors of men, women, or difficult tasks {Fixing the faucet turned out to be a bitch.} Who can list a word of male context to describe fixing the faucet? Every time you hear someone use a female derogatory term {bitch. cunt, slut, snatch, crone, vixen, hag, bimbo, butch...the list is actually very long} to denigrate someone or something, try to find an equal number of male focused terms that are used in the same context....that list is VERY SHORT). Enough already. STOP using female denigration terms to describe whatever angers you.
Mr. Attewell, I perfectly understand why you would think your clever wordplay is "perfectly appropriate". You are clearly an alpha (white) male living in the dominant (read patriarchal) culture with some degree of erudition and intelligence. Inherent in that paradigm is the default assumption that words used to describe women, particularly sexually, are for your amusement, and shared in such a space for shared amusement. I am not amused. Frankly, I am stunned at your lack of insight.
The only thing dumb about McConnell was his deal with the devil. The Republicans are going to have to explain to their voters why the most popular R is 45 and why DJT isn’t an appropriate leader to be following. tRumpsky brought them their judges. Now it is and will continue to be difficult to shake loose of that old devil’s influence.
I knew somebody would pick out that thread. The iDJT appears deathly afraid of being dumb. Probably why he hates Obama, who publicly made fun of him for being low brow.
It's a life or death battle that will not await 2024, I feel, as Trump will try to eliminate any Republican opposition in primaries for 2022. If they don't split in time it's the St Barthelemy massacre and McConnell and Trump know it. If Congress passes Biden's proposed voting legislation and it is implemented in time......then we really don't care.
Hope springs eternal, but could use a little push. Will The Lincoln Project heft the cleaver? Which group do we help fund? Who do we call? tRump Busters!
McTurtle and consort Chao need to be investigated for corruption and graft. I have some disparaging thoughts about them. May the arc take a leap toward justice!
The former guy continues to make his Russian, treasonous bed...
I think McConnell is too thick-skinned and cynical to let the taunts of a schoolyard bully bother him, other than to inspire him to work harder to scheme a way to get rid of him.
Wimp maybe. More likely, he calculates what is best for continuation or enhancement of his power. And if that means tolerating Trump's bully tactics without response, that's what he's gonna do. I want McConnell outa there as much as anyone. But he is just so savvy, hard to do. He pushed Amy McGrath, a good opponent, aside with ease.
The public “marketplace of ideas” has been touted as a hallmark of the American democratic experiment. However, it should be evident that this marketplace requires ideas worthy of the competition. The present Republican party seems to be unprepared to engage in this competition not only by it's failure to offer such worthy ideas but rather to commit only to blocking every idea from even consideration. A consistent refusal to consider changes of any kind on any topic and only decry their loss of primacy in the social order reflects a level of intransigent abstinence that is worse than simply unhelpful.
It is increasingly evident that rather than evolve their policy positions to adapt to a younger and more diverse electorate, Republicans are choosing to retain power by trying to control the electoral process in a way that favors those already empowered. This is stunningly short sighted not only for it's increasingly evident unpopularity, but also as it will ultimately freeze them out of power when the electorate’s continuing tilt against them reduces their control.
Recent pushback by various groups of citizens and businesses shows the growing degree of opposition to the intransigence and positions of the Republican party. Will they learn from the increasing opposition or will further electoral defeats be the only way to provide the needed discipline? Time will tell, but Trumpism seems to remain firmly entrenched within the party.
I predict that one day in the not distant future the term Trumpism will become to be a very pejorative noun for foolish and ugly corruption of political thought and morality. That will be the legacy of #45.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Podcasts lately. I just finished the 2 part “Hell and High Water” with John Heilemann with his guest Nicole Wallace. She excoriates the Republicans says their foundation is rotten to the core. She also makes the point that the Georgia voting suppression bill’s worst feature is not the banning of providing water but the more nefarious ability for local elected officials to overturn the results of an election. If this law had been in place in November, T would now be president.
And far too little has been reported about this part of the law. Chuck Todd spent much of yesterday’s Meet the Press on Georgia’s voter suppression law and never mention this provision. It’s maddening.
It seems that it's being largely overlooked, and when it is mentioned, the idea is never fully expanded or explained. Next to the travesty of this scheme, the rest of the plans to suppress the vote seem trivial. The Repugnants have managed to divert our attention from this huge power grab by tossing in a relatively insignificant, but mean-spirited, provision forbidding the dispensing of water or snacks. For heaven's sake, most people know to bring water or snacks if it's hot and the lies are long! The (Republican) appointed election official can overturn an entire district's election results.
The sneaky part is that, repugnant as the Georgia voter suppression laws are, some of them are going to have a more profound suppressive effect on, for instance, older voters, who tend to favor Rs. And it is becoming clear that what the Georgia legislature has done is kick a hornets' nest--BIPOC voters will be out IN FORCE on election day, especially since both Rev. Warnock and Stacey Abrams will be on the ballot (no reason to think she will not be running for governor in 2022). It will be rich to watch their suppression techniques backfire on them.
Kudos to all the corporate CEOs who realize they need a strong middle class in order to have a strong consumer base for capitalism and a strong economy. One just needs to look at all the commercials these days to see the diversity corporate marketing is targeting showing happy black families in their new car, men doing the laundry, and LGBTQ people selling whatever. Voting rights and access to the ballot box is so fundamental. The key is still S1 and the For the People Act because the Republicans are going ahead with the state laws on voter suppression. It is high time to end gerrymandering, to make voting convenient and accessible for everyone and the transparency on donors. Time to get Senator Manchin on board. We the People, All of Us This Time!
"Strong middle class"
Can a functioning democracy survive without a vibrant middle class?
Does a democracy function, over time, without a strong middle class?
Based on the past forty years, I'd say democracy without a strong middle class becomes an oligarchy.
What I find very disturbing in these comments - is that there seems to be a desire to go back to BAU, expressed by folk here, who I would have thought knew far better. We CAN'T go back - we are already well over-staying our welcome on this planet, and we just don't get it - what is called the "shifting windows" (Shifting baseline) situation - we look out the window - and, hey, it looks like yesterday - so what's your issue? Unfortunately, we are not programmed genetically for considering the long term. Some of us are - but lack the "levers of power" to do anything about it.
Cathy described a culture shift, which is not at all "Business As Usual." I hope this is not sealioning from last week, in which case the folks who know better can just skip this and move on to more productive comments.
Thank you for helping me learn the term "sealioning" - I read up on it!
Ellie, did you do that on 'porpoise'?
I love good puns almost as much as bad ones!
I didn't know there is a difference.
Dang—wish I would have known that word and concept five years ago! I was a little more ignorant that I thought about the modern ways of certain propagandist tactics. This is one of the reasons it is difficult to have real communication with a faction that I have referred to as human ticks or mosquitoes. In the end, they have no desire for honest discourse. Best solution is to not waste time with them. Thank you for expanding my vocabulary this morning, Cathy!
Me too! Always interested in increasing my vocabulary. Also, it sounds so much less offensive than Troll...
Across the board, it is more productive to address a person's behavior than to accuse with a shorthand label.
Ellie, I have used the term, sealioning for several years now. We have several folks here in this Community that actively engage in this. Thank you for bringing it up.
Uh, it is "Hugh Spencer". Yes, he's a sealioning troll.
I don't understand why you see what I said as going backwards. Of course we need to go forward not backward! Have you seen the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the number of corporations who have made a commitment to them in signing the UN Global Commitment: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/participation/join/commitment 9,500 Corporations have signed up for this and the participating corporations are finding sustainable goals are also very beneficial financially to their bottom line. The smart corporations are evolving and embracing sustainability. One of the SDGs is social sustainability which is in line with their commitment to voting rights. https://www.unglobalcompact.org/sdgs/17-global-goals#sdg16
One wishes they had been this active in the last 12 years, when they undercut everything Obama was trying to do and supported Drumpf.
I wonder how many “woke” corporations are NOT dependent on consumer purchasing power. “Coke, for example, understands their consumer base. They will fight to hold onto it even if it means switch hitting.
The Republican Party is going down in flames. A party that is 86% white and that is so engaged in self-delusion that they are risking a mental health episode by sticking to the story that their white boy Felon45 is still President, that party is in self-destruct mode. If your leader believes the same pipe dream, that the whites-first society is still in control of the US and the executive branch, you’re in trouble, because that belief has been eroding since the 50s.
Goodbye Republican Party. 🥳🎉🍿🍿🎊🥳🍿
Except they are still extremely powerful and know it. 2022 will be one of the most significant political years in our country's history and I am not sanguine about the outcome.
I’m thinking about broadband getting out to more rural parts of our country. Do you think that will bring more truth or more propaganda with it? Serious question.
My personal opinion is that broadband is largely agnostic in its effects on political attitudes. The effect would be more equity in every aspect of our society affected by technology, which is pretty much all of it at this point. What people do with that increased access is probably about what those who already have it are doing. Most important, children would more universally have access to the technology they need to pursue their educational aspirations.
I’m hopeful it would lead to access to more truth in place of spoon fed propaganda but I’m not educated on such things so worried that I could be mistaken. If we only could encourage more curiosity everywhere.
Fox not news is on continuously in so many homes.
Yes, propaganda 24/7. Until we stop this daily drip of poison, our nation can’t fully heal.
I just don't see how this would work, though. We can't even agree on what is true and many on the conservative side of things are actively engaged in denying that absolute truths are, in fact, true. Short of God coming down and declaring what is and is not true, facts themselves will remain matters of opinion. Scary.
I wonder about Licenses with boards of peers, like lawyers or doctors. It's an ethical thing. If you have that much power you have an obligation to use it for the common good? Course that's eroded in this century (thinking about 45's personal docs).
I would say that it is (delving into my fantasy world definitions) like magic. It is a force that can be used for good or evil, depending upon the person using it.
Reid. I agree, it is agnostic.
and women to have the opportunity to work online
Yes, but only white collar women. Women, especially women of color, are grossly overrepresented in professions requiring in-person care, which is one of the reasons women of color are so grossly overrepresented in Covid illness and death.
you are so right on. Not only a color, but a class issue...
If the federal government is going to spend tax dollars making broadband available where it is still missing - which is a mix of rural and urban areas, though mainly rural - could that be the legal basis for requiring a measure of truth and alternate opinions from those who broadcast on it?
I think we need an internet age version of the fairness doctrine, or something like it.
I think the problem the government would face it that, unlike broadcast frequencies, they don't have any true control over the internet. They could require fairness, as they did once upon a time, because they had the unquestioned power to withdraw licensing of broadcast frequencies. But the internet is much more of the Wild West, and putting that genie back in the bottle would be fraught, at best. I think you may be implying that building out the infrastructure would give them some power, but in the current environment, wouldn't that just create a sort of economic apartheid, wherein some of us could afford uncontrolled internet and others would depend on the government-controlled and censored version? Quicksand everywhere you look, I'm afraid.
Thank you! This is the kind of information I'm really unclear on.
Think I might have preferred to stay unclear on.
I'm not going to hold my breath. Until congress can regulate it, nothing changes. The push for broadband does not equal the push for sanity. Though...there is some hope.
I agree. But I also see the potential positives of people having more access to services such as video doctor visits, child abuse prevention and suicide hotlines and things like that. And, if the government were to provide a higher level of service and information online that could also be very helpful to people who need help the most. I am not holding my breath for that and I believe the internet learning curve will continue to be steep but there is a lot of potential there.
Agreed but the push for sanity is generations away at the pace we're going.
Yes, not sure what that would look like but very much agree that airwaves (or cyber-whatever nowadays) are extraordinarily powerful and we should do much more to ensure it's not a tool used to fill vulnerable minds with blatant lies.
There will be the hump of 5g conspiracy theories to overcome before broadband gets out to Trump country.
I agree. There will always be some form of Conservative party. Republicans have a tremendous amount of power even as an overall minority group. ZThey have been better at telling people what they want to hear and selling snake oil. I am very interested to see how 2022 goes. So far the rhetoric by republicans about Biden are pretty weak and they don't seem to resonate quite as much overall. I hope they continue to be as ridiculous as possible headed towards 22. I think it might just hurt them.
I am actually more optimistic about this than I used to be. They are being so absurd and Biden has been very effective in pointing this out without being combative about it.
IMHO everything related to our future hinges on how much of the For the People Act can get passed by the Fascists in Congress
But gerrymandering will figure in the 2022 races, that is, if state legislatures get the census figures in time.
Maybe Dems should withhold census data until after the midterm elections, to thwart further extreme gerrymandering. On do only Repugs get to play ruthless power politics?
I read somewhere that the 1920 census was so messed up by the influenza epidemic, the end of the war, Red scare, etc. that it was never used for Congressional apportionment. Does anyone know if that's true?
Roland, they do have one or two little psychological problems to deal with. Personality is supposed to evolve with maturity and one's conscious is supposed to expand. ......guess something went wrong in their case which has severely developed their "human" development. Such an absence of psychological development seems to have engendered a "cave man" psychosis which needs in-depth study at close quarters in laboratory conditions. Time for them to be put in the isolation ward so that they can nolonger either harm themselves or others.....while the specimens are taken apart psychologically.
I offer this insight after recently reading "How to think like an Anthropologist" by Matthew Engelke. I have come to the conclusion that approaching trying to understand our "conservative" fellow citizens. (I refrain politely from characterizing them with a more pejorative synonym but perhaps more accurate "far-right nut jobs.") It is helpful to think of them as would a cultural anthropologist studying a different society and trying to understand its characteristics, dynamics, social relationships, and mythologies. Don't try to change it. Rather accept it for what it is and learn what you can from it.
Here are extracted thoughts from Engelke's work offering ten thoughts on how to think like an anthropologist. See if this works for observing those "on the other side."
Are you ready to start thinking like an anthropologist? Follow these 10 tips to understand how different groups of humans organize their lives and articulate their values!
1. Do your research! Anthropologists conduct ethnographic research using the technique of participant observation. This could mean traveling halfway around the world to live in a tent, learn a new language, and eat unfamiliar foods. Or it could mean working alongside employees in a factory or office in your hometown. No matter where your field site is, make sure you ask those around you and take notes on how they see the world!
2. Adopt the sensibility of cultural relativism. This doesn’t mean you can’t have your own values, that you have to agree with everything you see in the field, or that you can’t trust hard data. Using cultural relativism as an approach means remembering that other groups may have very different world ideas than you do. Don’t assume that your perspective is universal.
3. Keep some critical distance – even if you belong to the group of people you’re studying! Anthropologists need some critical distance to perform analysis. Losing this distance can also present ethical dilemmas.
4. Interest yourself in the everyday. How do people greet each other? How do they keep their spaces clean? What material objects do they interact with? These questions may seem mundane, but studying them can help you understand a group’s values.
5. Work inductively – build from the specific to the general. Instead of setting out to prove a general idea about the group you’re studying, let your observations guide you to any broad conclusions. Present in your work a balance of general claims and specific observations.
6. Avoid falling into the “denial of coevalness” – the idea that certain groups of people are stuck in the past. Everyone in the world right now is living in the twenty-first century, and what it means to live in the twenty-first century looks different for different groups of people.
7. Remember that social and cultural changes are not teleological. Every group’s way of life changes over time, but it’s important to consider these changes on their own terms, rather than as stepping stones toward some inevitable end goal.
8. Don’t feel you have to hide your political commitments or shy away from offering moral conclusions. To varying degrees, anthropologists’ work is often tied up with their own moral or political ideologies. Acknowledge this rather than denying it.
9. Be wary of your own authority as an ethnographer. Don’t just figure out how the people you’re studying think – think like the people you’re studying. Look beyond your own framing of their perspective.
10. Foreground what is usually in the background, and vice versa. As Engelke puts it, “Upend common sense and question what gets taken for granted…. Reconsider not only what we think we know… but also the terms by which we know it.” Open yourself to the “strangeness and surprise” you will undoubtedly encounter as you begin to think like an anthropologist.
I add my own admonishment to Engelke's list. Study to understand, evaluate to form your own judgments on relevancy, form your own opinions on the soundness of their culture and mythologies, but guard against conflict or criticism. Like some other primitive societies, they can quickly turn hostile and unwelcoming.
I had a very instructive experience at the age of 18 with a summer job in a freezer wharehouse while studying at UCL. The product was ice cream! However the ambiance and the conversation in the store and the rest room (40 minutes on/20 mins off) were instructive. Until then i was unaware that F*ck could be used for punctuation and at the same time was complimentary to every known noun and verb! I had a great time and joined in the fun. You got to know all about their lives, what was important to them and how they thought. I was happy to have been through the experience but glad when it was over...and i could go off travelling...with my "thumb" ...around Europe!
Thank you for this book info and reminding me what I spent a bunch of years studying to do! My only addition is that the discipline of anthropology shifted from the term "primitive" to "preliterate" societies.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-to-think-like-an-anthropologist-matthew-engelke/1127137988
Thank you for that suggested edit and I agree with the more appropriate preliterate characterization. I am only, when referring to the hard-right, nutjob population tempted to use the characterization “subliterate.” But would probably agree that too much conforms to my own cultural bias.
I think this is actually a profound observation. How did we get to a post-truth world for so many people? Things like human-caused climate change and the fairness of the recent presidential election are facts that have moved well beyond any reasonable debate and yet 40% of Americans don't believe humans are causing climate change (https://www.theclimatechat.org/americans-on-climate-change) and 55% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was illicit (https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/majority-republicans-still-believe-2020-election-was-stolen-donald-trump). This is a mind-boggling level of self-deception and acceptance of lies; how is it possible to live with the contradiction and remain sane?
Considering more Americans believe in a literal devil and angels than accept the modern theory of evolution you might be asking a bit much of the general population.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/how-many-creationists-are-there-in-america/
Very interesting article highlighting how framing of questions affects our responses. Definitely applicable in trying to understand how to communicate effectively with those whose thinking seems on the surface to be diametrically opposed to our own.
For some reason I am drawn back to the prescient TV show Arrested Development" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development
Post-Trump Era
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/corporate-america-bond-with-republican-party-frays_n_607314cbc5b6616dcd79d4b0
The writer implies that the Republicans are now funded primarily by a small number of free-spending oligarchs. Businesses, like the rest of us, are expected to bow to them. That would fit with the R's reaction of anger and bullying. Will the corporations knuckle under? If not, will they use their considerable clout on behalf of democracy??
No, they will use their considerable clout in the pursuit of profit. But if their employees, prospective employees, and customers are demanding action on behalf of democracy, then their profit motive aligns with a bolstering of democracy. Molly Wood from the Make Me Smart podcast calls big business the fourth branch of government. Not far from the truth, methinks.
So, we the people, all of us this time, will need to vote with our credit cards, and make sure "The FourthBranch of Government" knows why. Corporations didn't suddenly get a conscience on March 26th - they responded to our threaten to boycott them.
Agreed!
Reid this country really is a CORuPptocracy. As the corporations protect the corrupt plutocrats.
Absolutely. SCOTUS opened this door and corporations walked right in. Not that there wasn't corruption before Citizens United, but now it's perfectly legal.
Morning, Roland!!
So right Roland. There isn't enough popcorn. we should start of 'office pool' as to the date they officially 'fall down, go boom'. I'll take a marker on Labor Day 2021.
4th of July, 2021
What's the observable measure when the Republic Party "goes boom?"
Fall off in revenue.
Ah, will the Party explode, cleanly (politely) split, or splinter?
Welcome back, Roland! Missed you here!
Yay!
Has anyone else read this article in The Atlantic? “Trump’s Power Won’t Peak for Another Twenty Years” Basically, McConnell’s plan of packing the federal courts to keep Republican control looks like it very well could work. Scary doesn’t begin to describe it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/trump-circuit-court-judges/618533/
"The spring is going to see a remarkable game of political chess."
Indeed.
According to the NY Times, in his speech to Republican donors at Mar A Lago the former president described Mitch McConnell as "a dumb bastard." I can think of a number of pejorative terms to describe Mr. McConnell, (I've spent hours building a list) but dumb he is not. He's one of the smartest political mechanics in the history of the Senate. He's well-connected to the donor class of the Republican Party; the moneyed establishment people who would like to see the former president disappear.
Are we seeing the sides being drawn? Will the party divide; first quietly and then openly? Will we, (breathless) have a third party in time to split the vote in the 2022 mid-term election?
That last is probably a bit too much, but the mind imagines that for which the heart yearns.
Correction; The former president refered to McConnell as a "dumb son of a bitch." Apologies to the bastards of the world.
and apologies to all the bitches of the world.
What would the world be without "foxy ladies"?
After reading these comments earlier, I'm compelled to come back and comment- Thank you Ellie & Kimcean for your attempts to draw attention to language in a more appropriate manner, as my thought was - such arcane terms, I'm so sick of hearing old white men (not exclusively) using these expressions, be it bitch or bastard, can we just be done with it. And, for sure I don't understand or tolerate women calling other women bitches! Bitches are female dogs.
And what does Foxy Ladies have to do with anything?
Mitch McConnell is smart like a fox, yes.
Can't wait until both he and Trump are gone. In the mean time I'm learning from daily letters and commentary how to articulate a better understanding and vision for democracy in our country and I believe Biden is just getting started. Thank you to all contributors!
Foxy is there because in my rush to place a good "pun" or to play on double meanings of words i mixed up bitch and vixen...mea culpa! Just felt like a laugh...and think now, with hindsight,that is a perfectly approprate way of responding in the context!
A study was done during the 1970s identifying all words of female gender used as derogatory descriptors of men, women, or difficult tasks {Fixing the faucet turned out to be a bitch.} Who can list a word of male context to describe fixing the faucet? Every time you hear someone use a female derogatory term {bitch. cunt, slut, snatch, crone, vixen, hag, bimbo, butch...the list is actually very long} to denigrate someone or something, try to find an equal number of male focused terms that are used in the same context....that list is VERY SHORT). Enough already. STOP using female denigration terms to describe whatever angers you.
Love a good pun....still inappropriate
Mr. Attewell, I perfectly understand why you would think your clever wordplay is "perfectly appropriate". You are clearly an alpha (white) male living in the dominant (read patriarchal) culture with some degree of erudition and intelligence. Inherent in that paradigm is the default assumption that words used to describe women, particularly sexually, are for your amusement, and shared in such a space for shared amusement. I am not amused. Frankly, I am stunned at your lack of insight.
Hope you agree and had a laugh too!
But in "colloquial" terms we must admit that, for once, Trump is not lying...and we agree with him.
Now I know you don't agree with woman-bashing!
or female puppy bashing
words, people, words matter
here is a call for paying attention to our words, with gratitude
The only thing dumb about McConnell was his deal with the devil. The Republicans are going to have to explain to their voters why the most popular R is 45 and why DJT isn’t an appropriate leader to be following. tRumpsky brought them their judges. Now it is and will continue to be difficult to shake loose of that old devil’s influence.
I knew somebody would pick out that thread. The iDJT appears deathly afraid of being dumb. Probably why he hates Obama, who publicly made fun of him for being low brow.
It's a life or death battle that will not await 2024, I feel, as Trump will try to eliminate any Republican opposition in primaries for 2022. If they don't split in time it's the St Barthelemy massacre and McConnell and Trump know it. If Congress passes Biden's proposed voting legislation and it is implemented in time......then we really don't care.
Hope springs eternal, but could use a little push. Will The Lincoln Project heft the cleaver? Which group do we help fund? Who do we call? tRump Busters!
He may be smart but he is a wimp if he continues to let T disparage him AND his wife.
McTurtle and consort Chao need to be investigated for corruption and graft. I have some disparaging thoughts about them. May the arc take a leap toward justice!
The former guy continues to make his Russian, treasonous bed...
I think McConnell is too thick-skinned and cynical to let the taunts of a schoolyard bully bother him, other than to inspire him to work harder to scheme a way to get rid of him.
Annette D. the iDJT is trying to hit McConnell on the chin. But McConnell won’t have to take it. You see Mitch’s super power is not having one.
Wimp maybe. More likely, he calculates what is best for continuation or enhancement of his power. And if that means tolerating Trump's bully tactics without response, that's what he's gonna do. I want McConnell outa there as much as anyone. But he is just so savvy, hard to do. He pushed Amy McGrath, a good opponent, aside with ease.
The public “marketplace of ideas” has been touted as a hallmark of the American democratic experiment. However, it should be evident that this marketplace requires ideas worthy of the competition. The present Republican party seems to be unprepared to engage in this competition not only by it's failure to offer such worthy ideas but rather to commit only to blocking every idea from even consideration. A consistent refusal to consider changes of any kind on any topic and only decry their loss of primacy in the social order reflects a level of intransigent abstinence that is worse than simply unhelpful.
It is increasingly evident that rather than evolve their policy positions to adapt to a younger and more diverse electorate, Republicans are choosing to retain power by trying to control the electoral process in a way that favors those already empowered. This is stunningly short sighted not only for it's increasingly evident unpopularity, but also as it will ultimately freeze them out of power when the electorate’s continuing tilt against them reduces their control.
Recent pushback by various groups of citizens and businesses shows the growing degree of opposition to the intransigence and positions of the Republican party. Will they learn from the increasing opposition or will further electoral defeats be the only way to provide the needed discipline? Time will tell, but Trumpism seems to remain firmly entrenched within the party.
I predict that one day in the not distant future the term Trumpism will become to be a very pejorative noun for foolish and ugly corruption of political thought and morality. That will be the legacy of #45.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Podcasts lately. I just finished the 2 part “Hell and High Water” with John Heilemann with his guest Nicole Wallace. She excoriates the Republicans says their foundation is rotten to the core. She also makes the point that the Georgia voting suppression bill’s worst feature is not the banning of providing water but the more nefarious ability for local elected officials to overturn the results of an election. If this law had been in place in November, T would now be president.
And far too little has been reported about this part of the law. Chuck Todd spent much of yesterday’s Meet the Press on Georgia’s voter suppression law and never mention this provision. It’s maddening.
It seems that it's being largely overlooked, and when it is mentioned, the idea is never fully expanded or explained. Next to the travesty of this scheme, the rest of the plans to suppress the vote seem trivial. The Repugnants have managed to divert our attention from this huge power grab by tossing in a relatively insignificant, but mean-spirited, provision forbidding the dispensing of water or snacks. For heaven's sake, most people know to bring water or snacks if it's hot and the lies are long! The (Republican) appointed election official can overturn an entire district's election results.
Ugh! Meant to say "lines." The Reps always lie.
Kinda think many of us are already there with your definition of “Trumpism”.
The sneaky part is that, repugnant as the Georgia voter suppression laws are, some of them are going to have a more profound suppressive effect on, for instance, older voters, who tend to favor Rs. And it is becoming clear that what the Georgia legislature has done is kick a hornets' nest--BIPOC voters will be out IN FORCE on election day, especially since both Rev. Warnock and Stacey Abrams will be on the ballot (no reason to think she will not be running for governor in 2022). It will be rich to watch their suppression techniques backfire on them.
This "older" voter will be ferrying others to the polls, and I'll be giving them water and snacks when I pick them up.
The only constant is change....most Republicans don’t accept this.