Interestingly -I wrote about this twenty years ago. I warned that the far right had developed something analogous to a centralized machine that had the capability to distribute common messaging using political linguistics well-described by George Lakoff.
From the progressive side, while we had many great organizations and people, we remai…
Interestingly -I wrote about this twenty years ago. I warned that the far right had developed something analogous to a centralized machine that had the capability to distribute common messaging using political linguistics well-described by George Lakoff.
From the progressive side, while we had many great organizations and people, we remained heavily siloed. If you were working on gun violence prevention -you were heads down focused on that. Women's reproductive freedom -again heads down on that and so on. As most of my career was devoted to technology while at Oracle, I compared the progressive organizations doing great work to a massively parallel computer architecture -thousands of CPU's dedicated to specific things (a thousand points of light?). What was lacking then (and still is) is a "communications bus or backplane". When one progressive organization is under siege (such as Women's rights, or climate action) -all organizations should be engaging with the full weight of their membership. This transcends the thought of intersectionality -into a mesh-type response. I thought this would be a good mechanism to react to horrific policy and legislation (then unfolding during "W.'s" time, and could evolve toward producing a strategic and comprehensive framework to move American society forward -truly the 99% working toward a "more perfect Union" if such a thing is defined as a true model for democracy, equity, and justice.
While the democratic platform is good (in spite of drifting toward the right over a generation or two) -the ego's and people tend to place their own political and power aspirations over a truly cooperative and collaborative framework. And the progressive organizations tend to be similar -if it's not invented here, it can't be any good. Note that there are some who will put ego aside and engage, but sadly they are the exception and not the rule.
So building the type of overarching and strategic group you articulate Swbv -and I wholeheartedly believe is necessary will require new and egoless thinking. An understanding that we start with a lowest common denominator foundation and build up toward a perpetually powerful collaborative model to save and then strengthen democracy in the United States and throughout the world.
I also find it interesting that the hard right's ground game has enabled so many truly venal creatures to bubble to the surface. It's beyond me to explain how it is possible that a Clarence Thomas survives on the Supreme Court unchallenged. or how, of all things, a Marjorie Taylor Greene can be a thought leader and actually help bring down a Speaker of the House. or how a Ron Johnson can be a lie spewing machine for years on end and still be re-elected. This tells me that the rot runs deep. And it won't just vanish in November 2024. It will take years to turn our ship around. I just hope we do before it founders.
Any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. Because a well-educated society doesn't elevate the incompetent, the corrupt, and/or sociopathic to lead.
I am following all you say here, George. I do get stuck on the word "educated" as a requirement for maintaining a democracy. To me, that word connotes those who have attained the heights of a formal education, something of a turnoff for many who do not belong to that club.
I personally belong to and am proud of being a member of the "woke" club, meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination...a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and denial of LGBT rights." Just my two cents!
A good point Lynell. When I think of "educated" it is not as a graduate or post-graduate level individual. I think of a fundamental education that facilitates being able to process information and distinguish between propaganda, disinformation, and lies versus information with a basis in fact.
For example, someone who might question if someone with multiple bankruptcies and massive debt is a shrewd businessperson who should lead the United States.
If we just elect people on the basis of who has the cooler yard sign -that is no longer a meaningful democracy. And it is incumbent upon us, if we truly care to continue to evolve a vibrant, meaningful democracy -to make funding for education an absolute priority, to honor and pay teachers well, to not allow the classroom to be politicized by eradicating actual history, and to provide affordable higher education for all who would like to pursue it.
To educate yourself on these issues is to awaken knowledge and understanding. But, you need critical thinking skills to do that. Teach more critical thinking in schools, let's get these kids thinking deeply and discussing everything.
True -I think it is a responsibility we all share together. Call it "Wokeness" -because that sure upsets Ron DeFascist (and who among us doesn't enjoy that!), but education is a necessary element to evolve toward a better future together.
George, a good example of non-post-graduate education is the Yukon High School (Yukon Oklahoma) Reality Check for 9th grade students. Each student is randomly given a yearly salary and then goes to booths for banking, groceries, housing, childcare, transportation, entertainment, charity, insurance, etc. to see the impact of not having enough money to pay bills and choices to be made. Perhaps something like that about choosing which parts of the constitution/amendments to keep or discard?
That sounds like an excellent program. There's probably too much memorization and not enough pragmatic application of knowledge in terms of real world responsibility.
George I think, sadly, that educators (K-12) now “teach to the test”—given changes made to teaching “requirements” and standardized testing…it becomes rote memorization, not real learning.
Good point Kathy. Another tactic is to erode the funding for public institutions, then to say “Look! They’re failing!!!” And then accelerate the erosion and flow to private institutions. It truly is disgusting.
Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Tom Cotton are all "educated." Their "ideas" are horrible for the average people in America. Look at Hawley's wife, Erin, arguing against mephipristone.
True. An educated, informed, and engaged society provides a better defense against educated people (or anyone) looking to abuse, exploit, and concentrate power. Education in and of itself doesn’t constrain how it is applied.
Morning, Lynell. I think that "educated" in the broadest sense can be viewed as "knowing how to learn" combined with being exposed to various assessment tools to evaluate information, and the ability to utilize critical thinking skills. And certainly "woke" as you describe it!!
I agree with your explanation as I imagine everyone here on this page does, too. In my mind's eye, I imagine an ensemble of folks (to be blunt, members of the lower middle class and below) who would see the word "educated" as a prerequisite to voting and conclude it does not include them.
So, maybe yes, educate them without telling them they need to be educated?
Lynell, my grandmother was born in 1898 & never went beyond high school, but was “educated” in that she was curious, open-minded and well-read. She poked and prodded and questioned as curious folks do & she fostered that in her daughters, grandkids & the great-grands who were lucky enough to know her.
It is not hard to understand this way beyond behavior when you look at the unquestioned thought process is behind it if you can call them thought. They are beliefs and sconced in both capitalism which is divisive and profit over people oriented, and religion which wants you to believe just one way or else. They both get permission for such behaviors because people think their beliefs trump everything else, put them beyond the Civic pale so to speak.
Just imagine the internal mind games at NBC that led to the hiring of election denying McDaniel. Although wisdom finally made its way to the surface, the Board at Comcast should fire the NBC exec(s) who hired her. And personally, I hope McDaniel is able to have a moment of self reflection. I fear, OTOH, that she'll wind up at Fox where lying is an accepted variant for Journalism.
I wonder if Australia is just tougher? Tougher on the lies? And, though probably unrelated, Australians did ban assault weapons quite a while ago after a mass shooting. Something we in the US have been unable to bring ourselves to do despite multiple killings per year.
Educationally speaking we have to deal with the psychological forces so deeply embedded in the embracing of largely unquestioned religion for the last 2,000 years,
So true. I was fortunate to grow up (or at least begin the process) in Los Angeles with a catholic mom and a jewish dad. They mostly left me to figure things out on my own, and when you leave it up to someone growing up in LA, you pretty much end up with a taoist. Admittedly, a really bad taoist, but taoist, nevertheless.
This "over-caffeinated" wannabe Taoist" keeps a copy of the Tao Te Ching" in his bedside stand. (Stephen Mitchell translation) I wish that I had left one in each hotel room back in the day when I traveled for business. I love the irony.
Could it be that admitting to being "really bad Taoists" we have made some progress in discovering the way? I have a tendency to pull out the book when I feel enormous angst. Calms me. I guess a real student might approach it differently.
Thanks for the reminder that I need to pull out my dog eared copy and dive back in.
Oh, George, this brought back a memory from 1967! My soon to be husband (20) and I (17, would turn 18 3 days prior to our wedding) were looking for a place to be married. There was a cute little church near the beach in Montecito, CA that we thought would be nice, so scheduled an appointment. In the very short meeting the pastor asked if we were congregants & we replied no. He asked our religious affiliation & Greg answered that the closest he could come to “religion” was Taoist-Confucianist….you cudda heard a pin drop for the several beats the pastor paused before telling us he didn’t think he could help us. I don’t even think we even knew that it was an Episcopal church. Ended up getting married at a Unitarian Universalist church and a ceremony w/ quotations from Khalil Gibran. I don’t have a religious bone in my body, just a bunch of curious ones with more questions than answers!
I was married by Father Ted -forever in my heart for his sincerity and sense of humor. Patti and I had to go through reconciliation sessions with him. When we talked about the ceremony he was struggling to remember the name of the celebratory candle. I tried to help. “You mean the Menorah, Father?”. We became friends in spite of my antipathy toward religion.
George, the lady (and companion du jour) who goes door to door proselytizing (tho haven’t seen her since Covid emerged) & handing out the Watchtower pamphlet, always had pleasant chats & she is well aware of my non-believer beliefs….I always bid her adieu saying “may the Force be with you”.
Yes! At the core of most religions are some good intentions. But then, they have been twisted to embrace bigotry and hate for others. Used for power and control over the peasants. That's not what any of the originators had hoped for. How many hundreds of millions have died in the name of a god they thought had their backs?
Educationally speaking we have to deal with the psychological aspects embedded in religious belief, I don't mean spiritual ones, for especially the last 2,000 years of largely hierarchically organized religious organizations. We can now see their enormous imperfections in commanding people for all the wrong reasons. People get captured by this in ways that they themselves could not explain but that give them permission. comfort. and imperatives. to run everything in ways that make them feel comfortable in their own apparent need for everybody else to think like them, to believe like them. Which obviously does not suit small-d democracy.
The impulse to run the thoughts and lives of others you do not understand or even feel fearful of because of their differentness or supposed non-belief, has been so instrumental In people's thoughtlessness that we somehow have to deal with it up front beyond just stating the obvious in our founding statements of the 18th century. Capitalism which seems to have largely begun with the founding of the church in the 4th century, has thrived on selling sameness and salvation, as fashion for instance, along with dividing people against each other for profit. It is a religion unto itself and many people have not begun to question it nearly enough. Though the ones defending it heavily cast the word socialism out as so it were the worst poison in the world. We probably have to let go of both those monikers.
Who is funding Kennedy, John? Dig a little deeper. “Corporations” is a broad brush to try to tar someone with. Which corporations are “funding” Biden? Which “corporations” are funding Trump? Life is not at simple as you would like it to be. Biden stand for support of democracy, and elections, and support of the 99%. Kennedy stands for vaccine denial, and he just picked the x-wife of Google for a running mate. What does she stand for, do you know anything about her except the size of her divorce settlement? Trump stands for election denial and the right to break any law with no consequences. Who do you want running our great country? Vote for the person who will make sure your grandchildren get to vote when they grow up.
Kennedy stands for free choice on vaccines, abortion rights, and speech.Kennedy stands for transparency and truth from him and his government. He stands for respectfully discussing our problems together, and takes Niether the DNC’s side nor the RNC’s side.HCR says she believes in democracy, and that a third party candidate is a good thing for democracy,accept in this election.That is just wrong, debate is always good for democracy, especially in this election. It’s never good to try to silence the third party candidates because the end result (Trump becoming president) justifies that.Bobby’s positive message will be picked up by more and more of us and that will make Bobby president and Trump a goner.
I beg to differ with your analysis that Kennedy will win. Third party candidates cannot be victorious in a “winner takes all” electoral system that we have in the U.S. For real third party engagement the U.S. would have to adopt a parliamentarian form of government that allows third parties to actually participate in governing. It promotes coalition building and compromise in order to form a government.
An excellent analysis and an easy read regarding the value of a parliamentarian system is : Parlimentary America by Maxwell Stearns a law professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Everyone who is disgusted, put off or disillusioned by our two party system and wants to see viable third party engagement owes it to themselves to read this book.
If he gets on all the ballots and continues to attract more voters this summer , why can’t he win? Even if he gets only 35 electoral votes , the others won’t get 270. So it’s one state- one vote and 26 votes takes it. He says there are several scenarios for him to win. I think he will gain so much more support that he will win the popular vote over Trump and Biden. I’m fed up with both of them and hoping I’m in the majority !We will see, never thought I could be so excited about a presidential candidate.
Hi Notes! Could you please watch Nicole Shanahan’s acceptance speech ? It’s too early to form a real opinion of her yet, I understand this, but she looks genuine and like what I want to run our country-great first impression. She is from a broken family, her mom was an immigrant who supported them because her dad was an addict of some sort.She accomplished the American Dream , and now wants to help others.
No, Bobby can't do it at all. He's not his dad--he's nothing like his dad. I pray his vanity campaign will draw more right wing wackadoodle vaccine deniers than people who yearn for the charisma of his dad.
I truly believe he has learned from his dad and uncles, and wants to continue their respectful positive democratic leadership and unite our country again.Even Rory Kennedy acknowledged on CNN that his danger lies not toward ruining our country, but in ruining Biden’s attempt at re-election.
Yes , some that are in favor of the DNC and support President Biden. Others like Amaryllis Fox Kennedy are for Bobby.The more I hear from Bobby, the more enthusiastic I feel about our country’s, and our environment’s future.He is for real, in the mold of his father, so exciting.
I add my thanks by quoting you to emphasize what I see playing out as a norm. That is, "While the democratic platform is good (in spite of drifting toward the right over a generation or two) -the ego's and people tend to place their own political and power aspirations over a truly cooperative and collaborative framework. And the progressive organizations tend to be similar -if it's not invented here, it can't be any good. Note that there are some who will put ego aside and engage, but sadly they are the exception and not the rule."
Agree. One thing at the lowest levels liberals should focus on: the CONservative use of state level government to strip local control when actual conservative or liberal locally elected officials get barred from doing what their voters elected them to do.
I'm distinctly remembering much of the organizing I was part of in the '60s which was collaborative across those various groups, concentrating all our energies on one issue no matter what group you are in and it was pretty successful. This intersectionality stuff is a little too wonky and manipulative also off putting.
Unsure as I am what you mean regarding intersectionality, is there any similarity to the support unions should give to each other? Workers of the world unite?
Les, fat finger sorry. Working on a much longer reply, although I never rule out a poem. Basically they are the same genre, but with really essential differences. Back in the collaborative times of the '60s especially people came across all barriers to come together on one issue at a time which worked very well. Workers rights. Peace. Basic human needs. For instance college students in Ohio stepping in to picket for workers who had been legally prevented from striking their own companies. Dr. King"s march on D. C. Many many peace marches etc. Various organized groups were called together over one issue at a time and it was very effective. Then all kinds of egos got involved out of the me me me generation. I was at one point a member of the IWW which had the international capitalist community really worried because dock workers across the world were supporting each other. All this and I'm not even out of my favorite horizontal position yet.
I can dig it, each group cooperating on the issues that matter most at the moment, no egos getting in the way. Exactly how unions might be hoped to operate.
Yes, AFL-CIO has worked successfully that way - see Wikipedia (app) under that search. Are you thinking about unionizing? Know the song Solidarity Forever? Maybe Google could sing it for you 😉
Interestingly -I wrote about this twenty years ago. I warned that the far right had developed something analogous to a centralized machine that had the capability to distribute common messaging using political linguistics well-described by George Lakoff.
From the progressive side, while we had many great organizations and people, we remained heavily siloed. If you were working on gun violence prevention -you were heads down focused on that. Women's reproductive freedom -again heads down on that and so on. As most of my career was devoted to technology while at Oracle, I compared the progressive organizations doing great work to a massively parallel computer architecture -thousands of CPU's dedicated to specific things (a thousand points of light?). What was lacking then (and still is) is a "communications bus or backplane". When one progressive organization is under siege (such as Women's rights, or climate action) -all organizations should be engaging with the full weight of their membership. This transcends the thought of intersectionality -into a mesh-type response. I thought this would be a good mechanism to react to horrific policy and legislation (then unfolding during "W.'s" time, and could evolve toward producing a strategic and comprehensive framework to move American society forward -truly the 99% working toward a "more perfect Union" if such a thing is defined as a true model for democracy, equity, and justice.
While the democratic platform is good (in spite of drifting toward the right over a generation or two) -the ego's and people tend to place their own political and power aspirations over a truly cooperative and collaborative framework. And the progressive organizations tend to be similar -if it's not invented here, it can't be any good. Note that there are some who will put ego aside and engage, but sadly they are the exception and not the rule.
So building the type of overarching and strategic group you articulate Swbv -and I wholeheartedly believe is necessary will require new and egoless thinking. An understanding that we start with a lowest common denominator foundation and build up toward a perpetually powerful collaborative model to save and then strengthen democracy in the United States and throughout the world.
I also find it interesting that the hard right's ground game has enabled so many truly venal creatures to bubble to the surface. It's beyond me to explain how it is possible that a Clarence Thomas survives on the Supreme Court unchallenged. or how, of all things, a Marjorie Taylor Greene can be a thought leader and actually help bring down a Speaker of the House. or how a Ron Johnson can be a lie spewing machine for years on end and still be re-elected. This tells me that the rot runs deep. And it won't just vanish in November 2024. It will take years to turn our ship around. I just hope we do before it founders.
Yes, it's why my mantra has been ...
Any meaningful form of democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. Because a well-educated society doesn't elevate the incompetent, the corrupt, and/or sociopathic to lead.
WOW, stop reading my mind [or notes] George!
JL -can you move your video cam a little to the left?
Thanks. :)
🤣
I am following all you say here, George. I do get stuck on the word "educated" as a requirement for maintaining a democracy. To me, that word connotes those who have attained the heights of a formal education, something of a turnoff for many who do not belong to that club.
I personally belong to and am proud of being a member of the "woke" club, meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination...a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and denial of LGBT rights." Just my two cents!
A good point Lynell. When I think of "educated" it is not as a graduate or post-graduate level individual. I think of a fundamental education that facilitates being able to process information and distinguish between propaganda, disinformation, and lies versus information with a basis in fact.
For example, someone who might question if someone with multiple bankruptcies and massive debt is a shrewd businessperson who should lead the United States.
If we just elect people on the basis of who has the cooler yard sign -that is no longer a meaningful democracy. And it is incumbent upon us, if we truly care to continue to evolve a vibrant, meaningful democracy -to make funding for education an absolute priority, to honor and pay teachers well, to not allow the classroom to be politicized by eradicating actual history, and to provide affordable higher education for all who would like to pursue it.
Excellent, George! And what I'm saying is perhaps people first need to be woke (alert) as a precursor to the idea of being educated.
To educate yourself on these issues is to awaken knowledge and understanding. But, you need critical thinking skills to do that. Teach more critical thinking in schools, let's get these kids thinking deeply and discussing everything.
True -I think it is a responsibility we all share together. Call it "Wokeness" -because that sure upsets Ron DeFascist (and who among us doesn't enjoy that!), but education is a necessary element to evolve toward a better future together.
George, a good example of non-post-graduate education is the Yukon High School (Yukon Oklahoma) Reality Check for 9th grade students. Each student is randomly given a yearly salary and then goes to booths for banking, groceries, housing, childcare, transportation, entertainment, charity, insurance, etc. to see the impact of not having enough money to pay bills and choices to be made. Perhaps something like that about choosing which parts of the constitution/amendments to keep or discard?
That sounds like an excellent program. There's probably too much memorization and not enough pragmatic application of knowledge in terms of real world responsibility.
George I think, sadly, that educators (K-12) now “teach to the test”—given changes made to teaching “requirements” and standardized testing…it becomes rote memorization, not real learning.
Yes, I know many wonderful teachers who are overworked, underpaid, and constrained from truly being educators.
This needs to change. Some of the budget for defense needs to shift to education and to climate before there is nothing left to defend.
Uhhh, part of the problem is that money is going to charter and private schools.
Good point Kathy. Another tactic is to erode the funding for public institutions, then to say “Look! They’re failing!!!” And then accelerate the erosion and flow to private institutions. It truly is disgusting.
That study segment sounds fascinating.
Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Tom Cotton are all "educated." Their "ideas" are horrible for the average people in America. Look at Hawley's wife, Erin, arguing against mephipristone.
True. An educated, informed, and engaged society provides a better defense against educated people (or anyone) looking to abuse, exploit, and concentrate power. Education in and of itself doesn’t constrain how it is applied.
Said in that way, George, you have my permission to keep "educated" in your mantra...LOL!
Lynell -there is always pressure to streamline and simplify! But I think I have it factored down to the prime elements. 🤓
Because of you, George, I be educated now!
I is proud! 🤪
Morning, Lynell. I think that "educated" in the broadest sense can be viewed as "knowing how to learn" combined with being exposed to various assessment tools to evaluate information, and the ability to utilize critical thinking skills. And certainly "woke" as you describe it!!
Morning, Ally!
I agree with your explanation as I imagine everyone here on this page does, too. In my mind's eye, I imagine an ensemble of folks (to be blunt, members of the lower middle class and below) who would see the word "educated" as a prerequisite to voting and conclude it does not include them.
So, maybe yes, educate them without telling them they need to be educated?
Yes, I get what you are saying and agree. Educated does not mean credentialed. A lot of us 'thinkers' are self educated.
I feel strongly a very good free grade k-12 education is important to start kids on the right path.
Absolutely, yes, Marj. We need to teach our children well.
Lynell, my grandmother was born in 1898 & never went beyond high school, but was “educated” in that she was curious, open-minded and well-read. She poked and prodded and questioned as curious folks do & she fostered that in her daughters, grandkids & the great-grands who were lucky enough to know her.
Yay for your grandmother, Barbara! The same can be said for my not-educated-beyond-high-school husband...the smartest guy I know.
It is not hard to understand this way beyond behavior when you look at the unquestioned thought process is behind it if you can call them thought. They are beliefs and sconced in both capitalism which is divisive and profit over people oriented, and religion which wants you to believe just one way or else. They both get permission for such behaviors because people think their beliefs trump everything else, put them beyond the Civic pale so to speak.
Rupert changed the equation, by design. Bill Moyers knew..l
Just imagine the internal mind games at NBC that led to the hiring of election denying McDaniel. Although wisdom finally made its way to the surface, the Board at Comcast should fire the NBC exec(s) who hired her. And personally, I hope McDaniel is able to have a moment of self reflection. I fear, OTOH, that she'll wind up at Fox where lying is an accepted variant for Journalism.
Yep, but Fox is already a known quantity. When will the old bastard be exiled to his homeland.
I wonder if Australia is just tougher? Tougher on the lies? And, though probably unrelated, Australians did ban assault weapons quite a while ago after a mass shooting. Something we in the US have been unable to bring ourselves to do despite multiple killings per year.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-can-australias-reaction-to-a-mass-shooting-teach-us-about-guns-and-gun-control/
They have had their round with idiots, as had Canada. But somehow, sanity prevailed. May it be so with us.
Educationally speaking we have to deal with the psychological forces so deeply embedded in the embracing of largely unquestioned religion for the last 2,000 years,
So true. I was fortunate to grow up (or at least begin the process) in Los Angeles with a catholic mom and a jewish dad. They mostly left me to figure things out on my own, and when you leave it up to someone growing up in LA, you pretty much end up with a taoist. Admittedly, a really bad taoist, but taoist, nevertheless.
A Taoist from LA! That’s funny, George!
But important to remember, a really bad one who is likely over-caffeinated at any given point in time. :)
This "over-caffeinated" wannabe Taoist" keeps a copy of the Tao Te Ching" in his bedside stand. (Stephen Mitchell translation) I wish that I had left one in each hotel room back in the day when I traveled for business. I love the irony.
Could it be that admitting to being "really bad Taoists" we have made some progress in discovering the way? I have a tendency to pull out the book when I feel enormous angst. Calms me. I guess a real student might approach it differently.
Thanks for the reminder that I need to pull out my dog eared copy and dive back in.
Oh, George, this brought back a memory from 1967! My soon to be husband (20) and I (17, would turn 18 3 days prior to our wedding) were looking for a place to be married. There was a cute little church near the beach in Montecito, CA that we thought would be nice, so scheduled an appointment. In the very short meeting the pastor asked if we were congregants & we replied no. He asked our religious affiliation & Greg answered that the closest he could come to “religion” was Taoist-Confucianist….you cudda heard a pin drop for the several beats the pastor paused before telling us he didn’t think he could help us. I don’t even think we even knew that it was an Episcopal church. Ended up getting married at a Unitarian Universalist church and a ceremony w/ quotations from Khalil Gibran. I don’t have a religious bone in my body, just a bunch of curious ones with more questions than answers!
I was married by Father Ted -forever in my heart for his sincerity and sense of humor. Patti and I had to go through reconciliation sessions with him. When we talked about the ceremony he was struggling to remember the name of the celebratory candle. I tried to help. “You mean the Menorah, Father?”. We became friends in spite of my antipathy toward religion.
George, the lady (and companion du jour) who goes door to door proselytizing (tho haven’t seen her since Covid emerged) & handing out the Watchtower pamphlet, always had pleasant chats & she is well aware of my non-believer beliefs….I always bid her adieu saying “may the Force be with you”.
I had no idea you were a Jedi!
Yes! At the core of most religions are some good intentions. But then, they have been twisted to embrace bigotry and hate for others. Used for power and control over the peasants. That's not what any of the originators had hoped for. How many hundreds of millions have died in the name of a god they thought had their backs?
Rove embraced the Baptist in 2004, the venom spread.
Educationally speaking we have to deal with the psychological aspects embedded in religious belief, I don't mean spiritual ones, for especially the last 2,000 years of largely hierarchically organized religious organizations. We can now see their enormous imperfections in commanding people for all the wrong reasons. People get captured by this in ways that they themselves could not explain but that give them permission. comfort. and imperatives. to run everything in ways that make them feel comfortable in their own apparent need for everybody else to think like them, to believe like them. Which obviously does not suit small-d democracy.
The impulse to run the thoughts and lives of others you do not understand or even feel fearful of because of their differentness or supposed non-belief, has been so instrumental In people's thoughtlessness that we somehow have to deal with it up front beyond just stating the obvious in our founding statements of the 18th century. Capitalism which seems to have largely begun with the founding of the church in the 4th century, has thrived on selling sameness and salvation, as fashion for instance, along with dividing people against each other for profit. It is a religion unto itself and many people have not begun to question it nearly enough. Though the ones defending it heavily cast the word socialism out as so it were the worst poison in the world. We probably have to let go of both those monikers.
Yes, it really deconstructs to power and exploitation. The fantasy of "free markets".
Bobby can do it, why do you cling to Biden, ? He is controlled by the corporations.
Who is funding Kennedy, John? Dig a little deeper. “Corporations” is a broad brush to try to tar someone with. Which corporations are “funding” Biden? Which “corporations” are funding Trump? Life is not at simple as you would like it to be. Biden stand for support of democracy, and elections, and support of the 99%. Kennedy stands for vaccine denial, and he just picked the x-wife of Google for a running mate. What does she stand for, do you know anything about her except the size of her divorce settlement? Trump stands for election denial and the right to break any law with no consequences. Who do you want running our great country? Vote for the person who will make sure your grandchildren get to vote when they grow up.
Kennedy stands for free choice on vaccines, abortion rights, and speech.Kennedy stands for transparency and truth from him and his government. He stands for respectfully discussing our problems together, and takes Niether the DNC’s side nor the RNC’s side.HCR says she believes in democracy, and that a third party candidate is a good thing for democracy,accept in this election.That is just wrong, debate is always good for democracy, especially in this election. It’s never good to try to silence the third party candidates because the end result (Trump becoming president) justifies that.Bobby’s positive message will be picked up by more and more of us and that will make Bobby president and Trump a goner.
I beg to differ with your analysis that Kennedy will win. Third party candidates cannot be victorious in a “winner takes all” electoral system that we have in the U.S. For real third party engagement the U.S. would have to adopt a parliamentarian form of government that allows third parties to actually participate in governing. It promotes coalition building and compromise in order to form a government.
An excellent analysis and an easy read regarding the value of a parliamentarian system is : Parlimentary America by Maxwell Stearns a law professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
Everyone who is disgusted, put off or disillusioned by our two party system and wants to see viable third party engagement owes it to themselves to read this book.
If he gets on all the ballots and continues to attract more voters this summer , why can’t he win? Even if he gets only 35 electoral votes , the others won’t get 270. So it’s one state- one vote and 26 votes takes it. He says there are several scenarios for him to win. I think he will gain so much more support that he will win the popular vote over Trump and Biden. I’m fed up with both of them and hoping I’m in the majority !We will see, never thought I could be so excited about a presidential candidate.
Hi Notes! Could you please watch Nicole Shanahan’s acceptance speech ? It’s too early to form a real opinion of her yet, I understand this, but she looks genuine and like what I want to run our country-great first impression. She is from a broken family, her mom was an immigrant who supported them because her dad was an addict of some sort.She accomplished the American Dream , and now wants to help others.
No, Bobby can't do it at all. He's not his dad--he's nothing like his dad. I pray his vanity campaign will draw more right wing wackadoodle vaccine deniers than people who yearn for the charisma of his dad.
I truly believe he has learned from his dad and uncles, and wants to continue their respectful positive democratic leadership and unite our country again.Even Rory Kennedy acknowledged on CNN that his danger lies not toward ruining our country, but in ruining Biden’s attempt at re-election.
Sorry, John, I think you've drunk the kool aid.
The mans family is denouncing him.
Yes , some that are in favor of the DNC and support President Biden. Others like Amaryllis Fox Kennedy are for Bobby.The more I hear from Bobby, the more enthusiastic I feel about our country’s, and our environment’s future.He is for real, in the mold of his father, so exciting.
No sale
I add my thanks by quoting you to emphasize what I see playing out as a norm. That is, "While the democratic platform is good (in spite of drifting toward the right over a generation or two) -the ego's and people tend to place their own political and power aspirations over a truly cooperative and collaborative framework. And the progressive organizations tend to be similar -if it's not invented here, it can't be any good. Note that there are some who will put ego aside and engage, but sadly they are the exception and not the rule."
Agree. One thing at the lowest levels liberals should focus on: the CONservative use of state level government to strip local control when actual conservative or liberal locally elected officials get barred from doing what their voters elected them to do.
I'm distinctly remembering much of the organizing I was part of in the '60s which was collaborative across those various groups, concentrating all our energies on one issue no matter what group you are in and it was pretty successful. This intersectionality stuff is a little too wonky and manipulative also off putting.
Unsure as I am what you mean regarding intersectionality, is there any similarity to the support unions should give to each other? Workers of the world unite?
Les, fat finger sorry. Working on a much longer reply, although I never rule out a poem. Basically they are the same genre, but with really essential differences. Back in the collaborative times of the '60s especially people came across all barriers to come together on one issue at a time which worked very well. Workers rights. Peace. Basic human needs. For instance college students in Ohio stepping in to picket for workers who had been legally prevented from striking their own companies. Dr. King"s march on D. C. Many many peace marches etc. Various organized groups were called together over one issue at a time and it was very effective. Then all kinds of egos got involved out of the me me me generation. I was at one point a member of the IWW which had the international capitalist community really worried because dock workers across the world were supporting each other. All this and I'm not even out of my favorite horizontal position yet.
I can dig it, each group cooperating on the issues that matter most at the moment, no egos getting in the way. Exactly how unions might be hoped to operate.
Yes, AFL-CIO has worked successfully that way - see Wikipedia (app) under that search. Are you thinking about unionizing? Know the song Solidarity Forever? Maybe Google could sing it for you 😉
I'm retired. Solidarity Forever is to the tune of I been workin' on the railroad, innit?
RB 3: 28.24 POSSIBLE POEM