It is the most irrational thing is it not? Republicans, who espouse Capitalism as the correct diety to worship in "Democracy", propose that the government is responsible for the price of gas and food.
How does that make any logicial sense?
Capitalism is designed to maximize profits and, in fact, if you look at any quarterly …
It is the most irrational thing is it not? Republicans, who espouse Capitalism as the correct diety to worship in "Democracy", propose that the government is responsible for the price of gas and food.
How does that make any logicial sense?
Capitalism is designed to maximize profits and, in fact, if you look at any quarterly report, as I have done recently since I own Exxon Mobil stock, corporate profits are at an all time high.
So, having looked at a quarterly report, and having seen all time high profits, a reasonable question is: What fraction of inflation is associated with corporate profits or "Capitalism"??
Well, folks have sort of taken up that question and guess what? Surprise, it is not JOE BIDEN that has raised prices, because, he is as powerless to raise prices as the squirrel living in the tree in my backyard.
CORPORATIONS are raising prices! How could that be a surprise to the Republican Party who LOVES Capitalism??
I mean, I have never seen so much irrational, illogical talk in my entire life.
First, Capitalism is good and Socialism is bad say the Republicans...all day every day on AM radio and Tucker Carlson and Fox News.
Then, those same Republicans say Joe Biden should bring down gas prices?? THAT is advocating for Socialism is it not?
Completely beyond irrational stuff.
And?? Americans are lapping up all this convoluted, irrational talk like kittens lap up warm milk.
Even one of my fairly bright friends mentioned Joe Biden and inflation in the same sentence last week. This was not easy on him or me because, I mentioned that I own Exxon Mobil stock and that their quarterly profits are at an all time high, and, that I don't mind a bit because I am a CAPITALIST that owns their stock. I thought he would like to hear that but he got angry. Amazingly crazy stuff. He BELIEVES Joe Biden has caused high gas prices because AM radio SAYS that is true while simultaneously glorifying Capitalism.
Unbelievable, except, not really. Nobody reads anything anymore. And, Americans feed their dogs more food in dollars than they contribute to charity.
We can choose to learn enough information, through critical reading and learning, to decide for ourselves what the facts are.
We do not have to rely on Tucker Carlson or the local preacher to tell us what to believe. We can read a corporate quarterly report ourselves. And, we can read the Bible ourselves.
We do not need some nutty white dude at the front of the church, or nutty Tucker Carlson, to tell us what to Believe and then blindly Believe it.
As we know Republicans are adept at picking the right trigger to get people whipped up on an issue. Americans love of their cars rivals their love of guns. And having been sold those bigger and bigger gas guzzling, SUV's and F150's they are personally insulted when gas is not dirt cheap. In my affluent neck of the woods there appears to be a contest to see who can drive the biggest SUV or truck. And I have a feeling their politics goes right along with their choice of vehicle.
Note, I went with the sticker on the window for gas mileage for the American car which is always high.
And, yes, Americans have been trained to believe that gas is not a finite resource, no need to conserve it, and that it will last forever and that Americans have a divine right to waste as much oil as they want to waste.
But, once oil runs out, it will be ugly because, diesel which runs all of our tractors will also be gone.
Imagine the average American behind a plow horse and that will tell you the death rate following the last bit of oil being extracted.
I moved from California to Texas. I never saw some of the humungous vehicles on the road in S Cal as I do in Texas. Didn’t even know they existed! Now these owners are all complaining about the cost of gas, not the gas guzzling car!
Yep. That huge SUV you posted is the norm where I live. I drive a 2007 Ford Focus and get aggressed on by the mega vehicle drivers on a daily basis.
If Fascists take over this Country there will be disruptions of the so called American way of life like no one can imagine. We got a good taste of it under trump where we were actually hiding in our homes desperately searching for face masks, toilet paper, bleach, Clorox wipes, and food essentials. The domino effect of the destruction of economic and societal norms will resemble a nuclear holocaust.
Americans and big cars. Another reason I have no love of Americans. (I am an American - with a Prius and a Fit BTW, and thinking about trading one in for a Tesla). Global Warming and Climate Science is a big thing anymore. It's in the news alot more than just a few years ago, and mitigating it in a serious manner is in the Democratic Party platform finally. Denial arguments are increasingly insane sounding. The out look is really bad - if I were in my twenties I'd be terrified, especially if I had a family. How is it that we continue to purchase (uh - lease or borrow to purchase) huge expensive vehicles? How stupid is that?
It was definitely eye opening to be in Scotland and Ireland recently and see all the "little" cars driving on the wrong side of the road. Very few trucks.
As I canvass my neighborhoods, I have noticed (profiled) the houses that are not on my list: the ones with huge black trucks in the driveway! Of course, the Trump flags and let's go Brandon flags in the yard also tip me off to stay away.
Or "support you police" - a dog whistle for "black lives do not matter". Yet another reason I am so unimpressed with American people for the most part. I live in western TN - my wife and I went to Maine for a short summer vacation last year. For every "support your police" sign I see where I live, in Maine we saw a "black lives matter" sign. The difference was palpable. I'm afraid the attitude in Maine is in the minority in the good ole USA, or at least not in a powerful position.
I participate with a vigil on Sundays for BLM. Most passersby honk and wave. However one young man hollered loudly, "That was over long ago, stop it!" Little does he know...
One of my great nieces has gone down the fundamentalist rabbit hole. She complained during the pandemic about grocery stores being open, but she couldn't go to church. If God is omnipresent, why can't people worship and pray anywhere. Then she posted begging for help for some problem the pastor had. That's when I decided that the family item I was going to will to her would not happen. Anyone can hang out their shingle and be a minister from the internet. What a golden opportunity for controlling patriarchal types to tell everyone what to do and control their thoughts while they pass the collection plate. One can throw Bible verses around and not know or understand what Jesus actually taught.
As a former physician, I learned that people who believe passionately in a demonstrably false belief - i.e., a delusion - cannot be dissuaded from that delusion by rational discussion. The belief itself is irrational, and no amount of evidence-based debate is going to sway them. Indeed, the mere fact that you are willing to discuss it with them validates, in their minds, the belief.
And it strikes me that the same dynamic applies equally well to Q-anon conspiracy theories and fervent religious belief. And God help the individual who subscribes to both.
I haven't read it, but have seen the movie. I also like The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I hope I am remembering the latter author correctly. It starts here, but goes to Africa and is spot on about what missionaries think and what Africans are actually doing. I spent three and half years in Sierra Leone and had ample opportunity to see this in action. The kids were Catholics when they were at our school, but followed the local beliefs at home. I don't know about the Islamic areas. I once asked them to write about a ghost that they had seen and not one said they hadn't seen one. I was told not to whistle by one our African staff members (junior staff of course) because I would attract evil spirits. The kids celebrated all holidays both Christian and Islamic by dressing up like "devils" and coming by singing and dancing for a dash...a money gift. Another book on the destruction caused by missionaries in 19th century Nigeria is Things Fall Apart. Then there is At Play in the Fields of the Lord. Once again I hope I am remembering correctly. I think there is a scene where one of the missionary wives goes crazy when overwhelmed by the eroticism of nature in the tropics. It's been a while since I read it, so I hope this is accurate. Right now I am reading a book about how Victorians made modern Britain and religion played a large role including those who experienced religious doubt.
Great books, all! I loved the part in Poisonwood Bible where the missionary wants to baptize the community in a river filled with crocodiles. What a marvelous example of cultural insensitivity. (And why we need to become aware.)
I chuckled a lot while reading that book. The Peace Corps volunteers often upset the apple cart in terms of attitudes towards Africans. For example, we insisted the Africans on the staff be invited to the curry club which was a monthly curry hosted by one of the staff households. They couldn't afford to do that of course, but we thought they should be invited anyway. We had a Sri Lankan family on our staff and believe me, we all drooled over that curry. Beef was available once a week and had walked to Sierra Leone from Nigeria, so stews were the way to go. Our household guy who was the cook went to get it every Saturday am. The priests got the best meat. And you didn't order cuts, you ordered it by the pound and they cut off a chunk. So we had lots of various stews and spaghet as our cook called it.
Schools in Sierra Leone were either government run or mission run. I happened to work at a boys school run by Irish priests. The girls school was at the other end of town run by Irish nuns. I went to Sunday School (Disciples of Christ), but I don't remember much about it. In Sierra Leone there was the Confraternity of Catholic Doctrine (the real CCD) and the Confraternity of Confirmed Drunkards, our weekly meeting of beer drinking at a local little store. First time they ran out of cold beer. The second time we went, they could hardly get the fridge door closed. I think the real CCD was for adults as was the second iteration.
I agree Mike but there seem to be less and less of the people I know that are willing to do the critical reading in order to fully understand the whole picture. It's very frustrating. They seem to be more comfortable just listening to a bunch of crap and accepting that that's the truth. Putting out the least amount of effort to understand.
And thus Mike's statement. The problem with America is Americans. As long as the The silent majority keeps it's collective head up it's collective ass we are doomed.
It is tragic that newspapers died. Everyone would sit and read the paper copy of their paper. A 30 second or 60 second screaming sound bite on their phone is not a good replacement.
History will trace the downfall of society by the advent of smart phones.
Lots of local newspapers still exist in digital format. Sometimes they still have good stories. But, you are right, many are gone and, also, Social Media has taken the place of reading the newspaper for many.
I still read the NY Times, a local newspaper, and the Wall Street Journal most early mornings.
Amazingly, the WSJ wrote a lengthy article this week on how Republicans should abandon Trump because he is a loser. Not because he attacked the government, but, because in polls, Joe Biden still beats him.
I will try to find it and post it. But, even Rupert's WSJ is against Trump now.
What frightens me is that Murdoch and friends are now talking up DeSantis. DeSantis scares the heck out of me.
I was raised on the Louisville Courier and the Louisville Times; both award winning entities. Now they are emptied out remnants; overtaken by Gannet. Without getting too "sciency" here I believe it is more conducive to rational thought to sit down with a printed paper and give your full attention to what you are reading. Most people have settled for the screaming soundbites of whatever is the most adrenalin pumping thing put out by extremists and performance journalists. I wish people would read the WSJ, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC USA, NYT, Washington Post, LFAA on their phones but you and I know they are not.
My local paper (family run for over 100 years) sold to Gatehouse. I think it has about 30 people working there now, and our award winning photographer (Chris Pietch) now writes a fair number of stories as well as his fabulous photos. We get 3 or 4 local stories, tops. Everything else is either USA Today or AP regurgitations. I miss reading the hardcopy paper, but $27 per month for something less dense than our local liberal Weekly is too much. I pay a monthly on line subscription, and read it diligently.
I think it is Gannett which has destroyed the Register Guard as I see the same stories here in the Statesman Journal...yes, we used to have two newspapers. I start my day by reading Heather and then turn to the local rag on line. We have a online subscription to the O as well. They always put a subscribers only tag on certain sports stories and local news that people will want to read.
"I believe it is more conducive to rational thought to sit down with a printed paper and give your full attention to what you are reading. "
I could not possibly agree more with this statement. Reading is how we came to Democracy.
John Adams, in his pursuit of a law degree, read the entire, complete works of Edward Coke. Then, he read the history of past governments. All of them.
Then, he wrote the MA constitution, brilliantly synthesizing all that he had read into a functional document outlining a representative democracy.
Then, that became the template for the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
I love the last 2 sentences. This and the "problem with America is Americans" you wrote earlier are good quotes. I will use both. Your muse is working overtime today Mike.
free time waiting on someone to show up to help me take this tree down that, sadly, died from the emerald ash borer even though I was treating it every year.
My neighbor is trying to save his ash tree at the moment. The emerald ash bore and the chestnut tree disease that changed the Northeast long ago has been devasting.
Gannett is the death of local newspaper. We have a couple alternatives here in Salem for some news stories and they are found on the internet. I do read the obits and a few news items every day. We take the NYT, but don't get it on Saturday because the local rag doesn't print a paper on that day. See Ally's post below about what happened to the Eugene Register Guard once Gannett got a hold of it. I see the same stories in both our rag and the Guard.
I sometimes suspect that these were the people who did not do especially well at school and now have the chance, thanks to the dreck on the internet and the air waves, to be "experts" in everything. Given what I see from locals, I would think that Salem is a major research hub in science, medicine, economics, history, etc. intend of being the heavily state bureaucracy town that comes with being the state capital. The fun begins when you ask for a cite to something that they have declared is the absolute truth. Our street is closed in front of the house for major sewer work, but it has saved us from the roar of large trucks, souped up cars, and motorcycles going by. Close by someone roars out every night to rip down the street that needs a major paving job. I suspect it is the same house of Oregunians who also pop off fireworks for many days and nights. Not only are some of these trucks huge but they have jacked up the body as well. All I see is lots of very poor gas mileage.
People are the problem vs propaganda is the problem. Well - propaganda is a giant problem these days especially with 24 hour news cycles and social media on the internet. Giant. It is people however that create that propaganda. And I am definitely not in the camp of forgiving American people for gobbling up right wing propaganda. No sirree. I take myself as an example. I do not look upon myself as an excellent ore overly bright human being - I try to be a decent person and usually succeed; that's about it. I'm no dummy either. Sometime in my twenties I converted from an apolitical conservative white guy who went to church every other Sunday to a progressive with a number of "aha" moments. All it took was a 2-year gift subscription to Scientific American to get my distracted brain going and to realize that magical thinking is just that, and start to embrace the scientific method more, and start thinking more rationally about things that are important. The rest was just a logical progression. That's all it took. Anyone can do that, even if they go about it differently than I did. To roll one's eyes and say "get a life" or "god's in control" or something akin to that, like so many do, is to be willingly ignorant, and to fall prey to one's fears and prejudices (or greed). It isn't hard to do, to get rational and skeptical, even if intellect is a bit lacking. Nope - the embrace of right wing ideology in this "exceptional" country of ours is decidedly unexceptional, and is a terrible reflection on a powerful part of this country's make-up. I am not impressed with the American people by and large, it saddens me to say. The awful scary political state we are in right now happened because the American people allowed it.
"All it took was a 2-year gift subscription to Scientific American to get my distracted brain going and to realize that magical thinking is just that, and start to embrace the scientific method more"
In my case it was a Fellowship from A&M to UT Austin for a completely paid for PhD. During that time I read the NY Times and hundreds of books in the massive UT library.
I went from being an A&M far right Republican to a newborn progressive.
Then, I had the pleasure to work in industry where I noticed, over my entire career, HUNDREDS of white engineers and exactly TWO black engineers.
About half the white engineers were hired by their parents, but, those same folks would whine and cry about "affirmative action" if they hired even ONE black guy.
I came to understand that REAL affirmative action in America is for white people.
When a black person is hired they ALWAYs have a very good GPA and resume. ALWAYS.
When a parent hires a white kid who is related to them they usually nearly flunked out by drinking beer all day every day in college.
Then, those same former and current drunks whine about affirmative action for blacks.
THAT fully converted me to what would accurately be called "eyes wide open".
Mike, yes IMO "BELIEVING" is a huge problem. "Believing" anything -- propaganda, opinions (especially our own!), even the existence of god. We must do our own vetting to reach certainty.
Propaganda is a tool that has been widely and routinely used by factions since the beginning of civilization. For example, every war that has been fought contained a powerful proponent of propaganda to sustain each side and further the cause. It is in full view in the Russia - Ukraine war.
Republicans have become the masters of propaganda which stands in stark contrast to the Democrats feckless and impotent use of propaganda to counter the Republicans and promote their ostensibly liberal/socialist/progressive world view.
I have recognized for decades that Democrats lack of success is not because of their progressive ideals but because they fail to promote those ideals in contrast to the Republicans not very hidden agenda to serve only the wealthy. Take any topic and Democrats are subjectively on the side of the majority but when it comes to execution they have faltered and failed. I think universal healthcare is a prime example. We should recognize that too many Democrats are engaged in triangulation trying to salve the demands of their constituents while at the same time keep their donors in play.
In short, Democrats don't have a cohesive propaganda playbook because they are forever trying to play both sides to the middle. That doesn't help their constituents and polling data has reflected that over the last 40+ years.
No. The problem with America is that 60% of it’s white citizens have as their top political priority the preservation of systemic white advantages. That’s why Republicans need only say one word, namely “woke,” to remind their voters why they vote R.
I've been saying corporate greed was the reason behind the high gas prices all along but most people I speak with choose to blame it on Biden. I don't even have the energy to debate them anymore. I do have a copy of a blog entry that someone posted here a while back explaining the reason and offer it out but no one is interested in learning the truth.
I liken Republican adherence to propaganda to trying to have a conversation with a Christian about the possibility that Mary Magdalene (perhaps the smartest woman who ever lived) fabricated the story of Jesus resurrection and found a stand in for him that, initially, the disciples did not even recognize.
But, try having that conversation with a Christian sometime. The above hypothesis is very consistent with every Bible passage, as consistent as the Resurrection itself.
btw: either way, fabricated or real, the Resurrection story serves the useful purpose of getting Jesus story of acceptance and valuing diversity out there to the world. This is what Mary Magdalene wanted to keep alive really.
However, the vast majority of Christians will raise their cross like they have been approached by a vampire if you raise this hypothesis to them.
anyway......choosing what we believe requires courage and a willingness to challenge our own selves. Not very easy. I know this because I was once one of the folks that would look away before looking right at the data.
But, now? I don't feel pain when, say, HCR writes the truth. I just read it and learn.
The way I’ve come to see it, Jesus the man didn’t die for “our” sins, he died because of them. It was all political. Then they make up the story that he died for us, to save us from our sins to cover their asses. Jesus was a human sacrifice, just like all the victims of mass shootings and the like. That’s an interesting idea about Mary Magdalene. I haven’t heard it but I do believe that her true story has corrupted and kept under wraps from the beginning.
Mike There are diverse accounts of the resurrection written in the Gospels decades, even generations, after the purported event. Joseph Campbell, in the Power of Myth, explained to Bill Moyers (a Baptist minister) that Jesus’s resurrection was an allegory familiar in ancient mythology. Some Biblical scholars have written that the resurrection story was necessary to the ‘Jesus movement’. As for Mary Magdalene, she seemed important to Jesus and was reduced to a ‘prostitute’ in the Catholic Church’s account hundreds of years later.
Mike I don’t recall how the Joseph Campbell/Bill Moyers exchange on Jesus’s resurrection was portrayed in The Power of Myth book. In the video, when Campbell spoke of the resurrection as a familiar ancient allegory, Moyers, as a Baptist minister, looked like he was sucking on a sour lemon.
I think Jesus was just a child who went all in for his story, to save his mother from getting stoned; and I don't think that is anything less, because the same sort of thing is done by children all the time. But I never tried to convince anybody else of this.
Love this analysis of Mary Magdalene and I agree. But gosh, she's a woman and so that alone will put a wall up to understanding her role. And of course, it's all Eve's fault too.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans have no idea how gas prices work, and are unwilling to learn. It's just too convenient to blame them on the current President, and then to credit that President when prices go back down.
Same is true of inflation. Despite all the reporting about supply chain issues that begin in Asia and reverberate throughout the entire world, coupled with record corporate profits and price gouging, most Americans, even Democrats, blame Biden. Many think the solution is to abandon Ukraine, end the sanctions on Russia, and let Putin wage his ego-driven world domination wars all over Europe.
We are a country that reveres ignorance, despises knowledge, and rejects expertise. A perfect recipe for an authoritarian takeover.
“We have seen the enemy and he is us.” Pogo, Walt Kelly.
Too many Americans think that their democracy is unbreakable. They could not be more wrong. Most Germans thought the same thing in 1930. As always, then and now, language revealed itself to be the deadliest of all technologies and the least understood by most people. Nuclear weapons can murder millions and destroy us all. Words can convince you to murder your children, invade a country and torture your neighbour or a stranger.
My parents were Holocaust victims. I never got to have the pleasure of having grandparents as they were gassed in 1942 at the camp called Chelmno. Others, killed in fields in Poland. That is the reality
I will have to try this tack with some of my RWNJ friends. Well, the next time I decide I need to give them free space in my head, which is at a premium these days.
I will do. I have some time coming up, which, I always fill with reading, so, I will look him up. I think he is a former Nazi movie to the states correct?
Mike, read Dark Money by Jane Mayer. You’ll learn all about the Kochs. This book remains my “ go to” for the clearest presentation of our current situation.
Matt,
It is the most irrational thing is it not? Republicans, who espouse Capitalism as the correct diety to worship in "Democracy", propose that the government is responsible for the price of gas and food.
How does that make any logicial sense?
Capitalism is designed to maximize profits and, in fact, if you look at any quarterly report, as I have done recently since I own Exxon Mobil stock, corporate profits are at an all time high.
So, having looked at a quarterly report, and having seen all time high profits, a reasonable question is: What fraction of inflation is associated with corporate profits or "Capitalism"??
Well, folks have sort of taken up that question and guess what? Surprise, it is not JOE BIDEN that has raised prices, because, he is as powerless to raise prices as the squirrel living in the tree in my backyard.
CORPORATIONS are raising prices! How could that be a surprise to the Republican Party who LOVES Capitalism??
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/10/1097820864/are-corporations-using-inflationary-times-to-raise-prices-and-up-their-profits
I mean, I have never seen so much irrational, illogical talk in my entire life.
First, Capitalism is good and Socialism is bad say the Republicans...all day every day on AM radio and Tucker Carlson and Fox News.
Then, those same Republicans say Joe Biden should bring down gas prices?? THAT is advocating for Socialism is it not?
Completely beyond irrational stuff.
And?? Americans are lapping up all this convoluted, irrational talk like kittens lap up warm milk.
Even one of my fairly bright friends mentioned Joe Biden and inflation in the same sentence last week. This was not easy on him or me because, I mentioned that I own Exxon Mobil stock and that their quarterly profits are at an all time high, and, that I don't mind a bit because I am a CAPITALIST that owns their stock. I thought he would like to hear that but he got angry. Amazingly crazy stuff. He BELIEVES Joe Biden has caused high gas prices because AM radio SAYS that is true while simultaneously glorifying Capitalism.
Unbelievable, except, not really. Nobody reads anything anymore. And, Americans feed their dogs more food in dollars than they contribute to charity.
Americans are the problem with America.
Propaganda is the problem with America.
Lynn,
Thanks. Yes. Agree. I would only add:
BELIEVING propaganda is the problem.
And what we choose to believe is? Our choice.
We can choose to learn enough information, through critical reading and learning, to decide for ourselves what the facts are.
We do not have to rely on Tucker Carlson or the local preacher to tell us what to believe. We can read a corporate quarterly report ourselves. And, we can read the Bible ourselves.
We do not need some nutty white dude at the front of the church, or nutty Tucker Carlson, to tell us what to Believe and then blindly Believe it.
As we know Republicans are adept at picking the right trigger to get people whipped up on an issue. Americans love of their cars rivals their love of guns. And having been sold those bigger and bigger gas guzzling, SUV's and F150's they are personally insulted when gas is not dirt cheap. In my affluent neck of the woods there appears to be a contest to see who can drive the biggest SUV or truck. And I have a feeling their politics goes right along with their choice of vehicle.
Yes, here is a comparison of the average American car compared to the average European car.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/T3szgyPasLQuGD9H8
Note, I went with the sticker on the window for gas mileage for the American car which is always high.
And, yes, Americans have been trained to believe that gas is not a finite resource, no need to conserve it, and that it will last forever and that Americans have a divine right to waste as much oil as they want to waste.
But, once oil runs out, it will be ugly because, diesel which runs all of our tractors will also be gone.
Imagine the average American behind a plow horse and that will tell you the death rate following the last bit of oil being extracted.
I moved from California to Texas. I never saw some of the humungous vehicles on the road in S Cal as I do in Texas. Didn’t even know they existed! Now these owners are all complaining about the cost of gas, not the gas guzzling car!
Every time I see parking lots of giant full of giant SUVs and trucks, I think "there is no hope."
Yep. That huge SUV you posted is the norm where I live. I drive a 2007 Ford Focus and get aggressed on by the mega vehicle drivers on a daily basis.
If Fascists take over this Country there will be disruptions of the so called American way of life like no one can imagine. We got a good taste of it under trump where we were actually hiding in our homes desperately searching for face masks, toilet paper, bleach, Clorox wipes, and food essentials. The domino effect of the destruction of economic and societal norms will resemble a nuclear holocaust.
Barbara, amazing. I have a gray 2013 Ford Focus. Once they sorted the automated manual transmission it was/is a great car!!
38 mpg and can load a ton of tools in the back with the seat down. They don't get wet in rain like pickup truck either.
They are a darn solid vehicle. I had a Ford Escort once and it was rugged as well.
No way.
I had a baby Blue Ford Escort from 1986 to 1996. Four speed manual.
Could not kill it. It finally rusted out. I loved that car.
I had a baby blue Ford Ranger
Hmmm. Are we related? /s
Americans and big cars. Another reason I have no love of Americans. (I am an American - with a Prius and a Fit BTW, and thinking about trading one in for a Tesla). Global Warming and Climate Science is a big thing anymore. It's in the news alot more than just a few years ago, and mitigating it in a serious manner is in the Democratic Party platform finally. Denial arguments are increasingly insane sounding. The out look is really bad - if I were in my twenties I'd be terrified, especially if I had a family. How is it that we continue to purchase (uh - lease or borrow to purchase) huge expensive vehicles? How stupid is that?
James, I call it willful ignorance.
It was definitely eye opening to be in Scotland and Ireland recently and see all the "little" cars driving on the wrong side of the road. Very few trucks.
As I canvass my neighborhoods, I have noticed (profiled) the houses that are not on my list: the ones with huge black trucks in the driveway! Of course, the Trump flags and let's go Brandon flags in the yard also tip me off to stay away.
Or "support you police" - a dog whistle for "black lives do not matter". Yet another reason I am so unimpressed with American people for the most part. I live in western TN - my wife and I went to Maine for a short summer vacation last year. For every "support your police" sign I see where I live, in Maine we saw a "black lives matter" sign. The difference was palpable. I'm afraid the attitude in Maine is in the minority in the good ole USA, or at least not in a powerful position.
I participate with a vigil on Sundays for BLM. Most passersby honk and wave. However one young man hollered loudly, "That was over long ago, stop it!" Little does he know...
One of my great nieces has gone down the fundamentalist rabbit hole. She complained during the pandemic about grocery stores being open, but she couldn't go to church. If God is omnipresent, why can't people worship and pray anywhere. Then she posted begging for help for some problem the pastor had. That's when I decided that the family item I was going to will to her would not happen. Anyone can hang out their shingle and be a minister from the internet. What a golden opportunity for controlling patriarchal types to tell everyone what to do and control their thoughts while they pass the collection plate. One can throw Bible verses around and not know or understand what Jesus actually taught.
As a former physician, I learned that people who believe passionately in a demonstrably false belief - i.e., a delusion - cannot be dissuaded from that delusion by rational discussion. The belief itself is irrational, and no amount of evidence-based debate is going to sway them. Indeed, the mere fact that you are willing to discuss it with them validates, in their minds, the belief.
And it strikes me that the same dynamic applies equally well to Q-anon conspiracy theories and fervent religious belief. And God help the individual who subscribes to both.
This is why I am so pessimistic about our future.
I am pessimistic also and glad that I am as old as i am. I try to take joy in small things.
Michele,
You have to read "Elmer Gantry" by Sinclair Lewis.
Best book of all time about religion. Best book BY FAR.
I haven't read it, but have seen the movie. I also like The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I hope I am remembering the latter author correctly. It starts here, but goes to Africa and is spot on about what missionaries think and what Africans are actually doing. I spent three and half years in Sierra Leone and had ample opportunity to see this in action. The kids were Catholics when they were at our school, but followed the local beliefs at home. I don't know about the Islamic areas. I once asked them to write about a ghost that they had seen and not one said they hadn't seen one. I was told not to whistle by one our African staff members (junior staff of course) because I would attract evil spirits. The kids celebrated all holidays both Christian and Islamic by dressing up like "devils" and coming by singing and dancing for a dash...a money gift. Another book on the destruction caused by missionaries in 19th century Nigeria is Things Fall Apart. Then there is At Play in the Fields of the Lord. Once again I hope I am remembering correctly. I think there is a scene where one of the missionary wives goes crazy when overwhelmed by the eroticism of nature in the tropics. It's been a while since I read it, so I hope this is accurate. Right now I am reading a book about how Victorians made modern Britain and religion played a large role including those who experienced religious doubt.
Great books, all! I loved the part in Poisonwood Bible where the missionary wants to baptize the community in a river filled with crocodiles. What a marvelous example of cultural insensitivity. (And why we need to become aware.)
I chuckled a lot while reading that book. The Peace Corps volunteers often upset the apple cart in terms of attitudes towards Africans. For example, we insisted the Africans on the staff be invited to the curry club which was a monthly curry hosted by one of the staff households. They couldn't afford to do that of course, but we thought they should be invited anyway. We had a Sri Lankan family on our staff and believe me, we all drooled over that curry. Beef was available once a week and had walked to Sierra Leone from Nigeria, so stews were the way to go. Our household guy who was the cook went to get it every Saturday am. The priests got the best meat. And you didn't order cuts, you ordered it by the pound and they cut off a chunk. So we had lots of various stews and spaghet as our cook called it.
Michelle, it is easy to instill belief in children. Hence the priority churches place on school and Sunday School.
Schools in Sierra Leone were either government run or mission run. I happened to work at a boys school run by Irish priests. The girls school was at the other end of town run by Irish nuns. I went to Sunday School (Disciples of Christ), but I don't remember much about it. In Sierra Leone there was the Confraternity of Catholic Doctrine (the real CCD) and the Confraternity of Confirmed Drunkards, our weekly meeting of beer drinking at a local little store. First time they ran out of cold beer. The second time we went, they could hardly get the fridge door closed. I think the real CCD was for adults as was the second iteration.
I agree Mike but there seem to be less and less of the people I know that are willing to do the critical reading in order to fully understand the whole picture. It's very frustrating. They seem to be more comfortable just listening to a bunch of crap and accepting that that's the truth. Putting out the least amount of effort to understand.
And thus Mike's statement. The problem with America is Americans. As long as the The silent majority keeps it's collective head up it's collective ass we are doomed.
Wonderful word picture there Lynn. I plan to use it again!!!
It is tragic that newspapers died. Everyone would sit and read the paper copy of their paper. A 30 second or 60 second screaming sound bite on their phone is not a good replacement.
History will trace the downfall of society by the advent of smart phones.
And everybody accepting to call them 'smart'! If you read smart backwards, 'trams' in Swedish means bullsh*t.
my new mantra: TRAMS!
Mine too.
Wow!
Barbara,
Lots of local newspapers still exist in digital format. Sometimes they still have good stories. But, you are right, many are gone and, also, Social Media has taken the place of reading the newspaper for many.
I still read the NY Times, a local newspaper, and the Wall Street Journal most early mornings.
Amazingly, the WSJ wrote a lengthy article this week on how Republicans should abandon Trump because he is a loser. Not because he attacked the government, but, because in polls, Joe Biden still beats him.
I will try to find it and post it. But, even Rupert's WSJ is against Trump now.
What frightens me is that Murdoch and friends are now talking up DeSantis. DeSantis scares the heck out of me.
I was raised on the Louisville Courier and the Louisville Times; both award winning entities. Now they are emptied out remnants; overtaken by Gannet. Without getting too "sciency" here I believe it is more conducive to rational thought to sit down with a printed paper and give your full attention to what you are reading. Most people have settled for the screaming soundbites of whatever is the most adrenalin pumping thing put out by extremists and performance journalists. I wish people would read the WSJ, The Guardian, Reuters, BBC USA, NYT, Washington Post, LFAA on their phones but you and I know they are not.
DeSantis is a dangerous man and scary as hell.
My local paper (family run for over 100 years) sold to Gatehouse. I think it has about 30 people working there now, and our award winning photographer (Chris Pietch) now writes a fair number of stories as well as his fabulous photos. We get 3 or 4 local stories, tops. Everything else is either USA Today or AP regurgitations. I miss reading the hardcopy paper, but $27 per month for something less dense than our local liberal Weekly is too much. I pay a monthly on line subscription, and read it diligently.
I think it is Gannett which has destroyed the Register Guard as I see the same stories here in the Statesman Journal...yes, we used to have two newspapers. I start my day by reading Heather and then turn to the local rag on line. We have a online subscription to the O as well. They always put a subscribers only tag on certain sports stories and local news that people will want to read.
Barbara,
"I believe it is more conducive to rational thought to sit down with a printed paper and give your full attention to what you are reading. "
I could not possibly agree more with this statement. Reading is how we came to Democracy.
John Adams, in his pursuit of a law degree, read the entire, complete works of Edward Coke. Then, he read the history of past governments. All of them.
Then, he wrote the MA constitution, brilliantly synthesizing all that he had read into a functional document outlining a representative democracy.
Then, that became the template for the 1787 Constitutional Convention.
Had John Adams been checking his phone instead?
We would still be under British rule.
I love the last 2 sentences. This and the "problem with America is Americans" you wrote earlier are good quotes. I will use both. Your muse is working overtime today Mike.
free time waiting on someone to show up to help me take this tree down that, sadly, died from the emerald ash borer even though I was treating it every year.
My neighbor is trying to save his ash tree at the moment. The emerald ash bore and the chestnut tree disease that changed the Northeast long ago has been devasting.
LOL. I love the image of John Adams checking his cell and maybe have a video chat with Abigail.
:-)
while she tells him not to "forget the ladies".
how cool would that be?
I was thinking about that...yes, very cool.
DeSantis is no picnic. That is for sure.
A nightmare is more like it
Gannett is the death of local newspaper. We have a couple alternatives here in Salem for some news stories and they are found on the internet. I do read the obits and a few news items every day. We take the NYT, but don't get it on Saturday because the local rag doesn't print a paper on that day. See Ally's post below about what happened to the Eugene Register Guard once Gannett got a hold of it. I see the same stories in both our rag and the Guard.
I sometimes suspect that these were the people who did not do especially well at school and now have the chance, thanks to the dreck on the internet and the air waves, to be "experts" in everything. Given what I see from locals, I would think that Salem is a major research hub in science, medicine, economics, history, etc. intend of being the heavily state bureaucracy town that comes with being the state capital. The fun begins when you ask for a cite to something that they have declared is the absolute truth. Our street is closed in front of the house for major sewer work, but it has saved us from the roar of large trucks, souped up cars, and motorcycles going by. Close by someone roars out every night to rip down the street that needs a major paving job. I suspect it is the same house of Oregunians who also pop off fireworks for many days and nights. Not only are some of these trucks huge but they have jacked up the body as well. All I see is lots of very poor gas mileage.
People are the problem vs propaganda is the problem. Well - propaganda is a giant problem these days especially with 24 hour news cycles and social media on the internet. Giant. It is people however that create that propaganda. And I am definitely not in the camp of forgiving American people for gobbling up right wing propaganda. No sirree. I take myself as an example. I do not look upon myself as an excellent ore overly bright human being - I try to be a decent person and usually succeed; that's about it. I'm no dummy either. Sometime in my twenties I converted from an apolitical conservative white guy who went to church every other Sunday to a progressive with a number of "aha" moments. All it took was a 2-year gift subscription to Scientific American to get my distracted brain going and to realize that magical thinking is just that, and start to embrace the scientific method more, and start thinking more rationally about things that are important. The rest was just a logical progression. That's all it took. Anyone can do that, even if they go about it differently than I did. To roll one's eyes and say "get a life" or "god's in control" or something akin to that, like so many do, is to be willingly ignorant, and to fall prey to one's fears and prejudices (or greed). It isn't hard to do, to get rational and skeptical, even if intellect is a bit lacking. Nope - the embrace of right wing ideology in this "exceptional" country of ours is decidedly unexceptional, and is a terrible reflection on a powerful part of this country's make-up. I am not impressed with the American people by and large, it saddens me to say. The awful scary political state we are in right now happened because the American people allowed it.
"All it took was a 2-year gift subscription to Scientific American to get my distracted brain going and to realize that magical thinking is just that, and start to embrace the scientific method more"
In my case it was a Fellowship from A&M to UT Austin for a completely paid for PhD. During that time I read the NY Times and hundreds of books in the massive UT library.
I went from being an A&M far right Republican to a newborn progressive.
Then, I had the pleasure to work in industry where I noticed, over my entire career, HUNDREDS of white engineers and exactly TWO black engineers.
About half the white engineers were hired by their parents, but, those same folks would whine and cry about "affirmative action" if they hired even ONE black guy.
I came to understand that REAL affirmative action in America is for white people.
When a black person is hired they ALWAYs have a very good GPA and resume. ALWAYS.
When a parent hires a white kid who is related to them they usually nearly flunked out by drinking beer all day every day in college.
Then, those same former and current drunks whine about affirmative action for blacks.
THAT fully converted me to what would accurately be called "eyes wide open".
Well said. Thank You.
WE don’t, but I’ve sure come across lots of people who do.
Yes.
In fact, all Republicans do run toward AM radio and Fox News much like cow flies swarm to day old dung.
Great analogy.
Thanks Ally. The wonders of growing up on an East Texas farm never cease.
:-)
Mike, yes IMO "BELIEVING" is a huge problem. "Believing" anything -- propaganda, opinions (especially our own!), even the existence of god. We must do our own vetting to reach certainty.
Point taken. And, yes.
:-)
Propaganda is a tool that has been widely and routinely used by factions since the beginning of civilization. For example, every war that has been fought contained a powerful proponent of propaganda to sustain each side and further the cause. It is in full view in the Russia - Ukraine war.
Republicans have become the masters of propaganda which stands in stark contrast to the Democrats feckless and impotent use of propaganda to counter the Republicans and promote their ostensibly liberal/socialist/progressive world view.
I have recognized for decades that Democrats lack of success is not because of their progressive ideals but because they fail to promote those ideals in contrast to the Republicans not very hidden agenda to serve only the wealthy. Take any topic and Democrats are subjectively on the side of the majority but when it comes to execution they have faltered and failed. I think universal healthcare is a prime example. We should recognize that too many Democrats are engaged in triangulation trying to salve the demands of their constituents while at the same time keep their donors in play.
In short, Democrats don't have a cohesive propaganda playbook because they are forever trying to play both sides to the middle. That doesn't help their constituents and polling data has reflected that over the last 40+ years.
No. The problem with America is that 60% of it’s white citizens have as their top political priority the preservation of systemic white advantages. That’s why Republicans need only say one word, namely “woke,” to remind their voters why they vote R.
I've been saying corporate greed was the reason behind the high gas prices all along but most people I speak with choose to blame it on Biden. I don't even have the energy to debate them anymore. I do have a copy of a blog entry that someone posted here a while back explaining the reason and offer it out but no one is interested in learning the truth.
Jeanne,
I liken Republican adherence to propaganda to trying to have a conversation with a Christian about the possibility that Mary Magdalene (perhaps the smartest woman who ever lived) fabricated the story of Jesus resurrection and found a stand in for him that, initially, the disciples did not even recognize.
But, try having that conversation with a Christian sometime. The above hypothesis is very consistent with every Bible passage, as consistent as the Resurrection itself.
btw: either way, fabricated or real, the Resurrection story serves the useful purpose of getting Jesus story of acceptance and valuing diversity out there to the world. This is what Mary Magdalene wanted to keep alive really.
However, the vast majority of Christians will raise their cross like they have been approached by a vampire if you raise this hypothesis to them.
anyway......choosing what we believe requires courage and a willingness to challenge our own selves. Not very easy. I know this because I was once one of the folks that would look away before looking right at the data.
But, now? I don't feel pain when, say, HCR writes the truth. I just read it and learn.
The way I’ve come to see it, Jesus the man didn’t die for “our” sins, he died because of them. It was all political. Then they make up the story that he died for us, to save us from our sins to cover their asses. Jesus was a human sacrifice, just like all the victims of mass shootings and the like. That’s an interesting idea about Mary Magdalene. I haven’t heard it but I do believe that her true story has corrupted and kept under wraps from the beginning.
I think her true story is that she is, historically, the absolutely most brilliant woman ever to be in the right place at the right time.
The sermon on the mount has influenced, although not many Republicans, millions of people to look a bit kinder on their neighbors.
Mary Magdalene gave that story life, which, is the real ressurrection story.
Mike There are diverse accounts of the resurrection written in the Gospels decades, even generations, after the purported event. Joseph Campbell, in the Power of Myth, explained to Bill Moyers (a Baptist minister) that Jesus’s resurrection was an allegory familiar in ancient mythology. Some Biblical scholars have written that the resurrection story was necessary to the ‘Jesus movement’. As for Mary Magdalene, she seemed important to Jesus and was reduced to a ‘prostitute’ in the Catholic Church’s account hundreds of years later.
Keith. Thanks. I will look up the Power of Myth.
And yes. Mary Magdalene, relative to her impact, has been minimized.
Mike I don’t recall how the Joseph Campbell/Bill Moyers exchange on Jesus’s resurrection was portrayed in The Power of Myth book. In the video, when Campbell spoke of the resurrection as a familiar ancient allegory, Moyers, as a Baptist minister, looked like he was sucking on a sour lemon.
I think Jesus was just a child who went all in for his story, to save his mother from getting stoned; and I don't think that is anything less, because the same sort of thing is done by children all the time. But I never tried to convince anybody else of this.
Jesus prediction of his resurrection and his claim to be son of God may very well have kept his mother alive.
Good point.
Love this analysis of Mary Magdalene and I agree. But gosh, she's a woman and so that alone will put a wall up to understanding her role. And of course, it's all Eve's fault too.
Yep. 😊
Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans have no idea how gas prices work, and are unwilling to learn. It's just too convenient to blame them on the current President, and then to credit that President when prices go back down.
Same is true of inflation. Despite all the reporting about supply chain issues that begin in Asia and reverberate throughout the entire world, coupled with record corporate profits and price gouging, most Americans, even Democrats, blame Biden. Many think the solution is to abandon Ukraine, end the sanctions on Russia, and let Putin wage his ego-driven world domination wars all over Europe.
We are a country that reveres ignorance, despises knowledge, and rejects expertise. A perfect recipe for an authoritarian takeover.
❤️
“We have seen the enemy and he is us.” Pogo, Walt Kelly.
Too many Americans think that their democracy is unbreakable. They could not be more wrong. Most Germans thought the same thing in 1930. As always, then and now, language revealed itself to be the deadliest of all technologies and the least understood by most people. Nuclear weapons can murder millions and destroy us all. Words can convince you to murder your children, invade a country and torture your neighbour or a stranger.
My parents were Holocaust victims. I never got to have the pleasure of having grandparents as they were gassed in 1942 at the camp called Chelmno. Others, killed in fields in Poland. That is the reality
I will have to try this tack with some of my RWNJ friends. Well, the next time I decide I need to give them free space in my head, which is at a premium these days.
I tweeted the NPR clip to Rep. McCarthy six times, slightly varying what I said in the tweet. Easy to do.
Thanks Mike S.
I will do. I have some time coming up, which, I always fill with reading, so, I will look him up. I think he is a former Nazi movie to the states correct?
Mike, read Dark Money by Jane Mayer. You’ll learn all about the Kochs. This book remains my “ go to” for the clearest presentation of our current situation.