OK, Waferinos: Here's the info regarding my upcoming Canadian Tour, for those of you who live in Ontario, BC, or the Pacific NW:
: Lecture, U of Waterloo, EV3 lecture hall
: Lecture, U of Waterloo, Basille School, Boardroom #1-23
: 1st Canadian Wafer Summit Meeting, location TBA. Please write me at mauricio@morrisberman.com if you are interested in attending.
: Reading from TMWQ at Banyen Books, 3608 W. 4th Ave., Vancouver
: 2nd Canadian Wafer Summit Meeting (dinner). Please write me at mauricio@morrisberman.com if you are interested, and let me know your preference of date. I'll then decide, based on majority vote, and send you all the date and venue.
Fun guaranteed, amigos-
-mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteal-
Like you and yr brother, I too was paranoid of a nuclear holocaust. So much so that I joined the anti-nuclear movement in the 1980s. One of my professors invited two activists (both women) to speak about the danger of nuclear weapons. I remember one of the women dropped a single BB in an empty metal bucket and said, "This is the Hiroshima atomic bomb." The other woman raised another single BB up, and dropped it in. "This is the Nagasaki bomb," she said. Both women then picked up two sacks full of BB's and slowly poured them in the bucket. This process took a few seconds and made quite a bit of racket. When finished, both women said simultaneously: "This is the amount of nuclear weapons that are on planet earth today." Jesus, it got our attention.
MB-
The only person who will, once and for all, never betray the liberal dream and save America is chronic monkey spanker, Telly Shadell Corey. Indeed, Corey is ready for his rendezvous with history.
Corey 4 Prez, 2016!
Miles
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteI regard TSC as a great man, and feel that with Mary Hastings on the ticket, he cd well be unbeatable (sorry for the pun). Meanwhile, that incident at Ozen High Schl was a missed oppty, imo. Imagine if Mary, plus all the students, had been equipped with AK-47's. Now *that* wd have been quite a scene.
mb
Stupid Higher Education Tricks:
ReplyDelete"After a police officer pepper-sprayed UC Davis students in a widely reported 2011 incident, the California university contracted with SEO consultants for $175,000 (or maybe more) to scrub unfavorable online items about the incident and boost online reputations of both the university and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi."
http://boingboing.net/2016/04/13/uc-davis-spent-175000-to-scr.html
And remember kiddies attending "Jackboot U," that money comes out of YOUR tuition because douchebag Linda P.B. Katehi couldn't possibly be expected to pay to scrub her own reputation.
Some real Americans doing what real Americans do. Profiles in Stupidity.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/questionable-parenting/?ftag=ACQ449302a&vndid=1850169347&ttag=cbsn-fb-1272&nan_pid=1850169347
I’m saddened to say that the point made about Zen being amenable to fascism, and maybe other less desirable social orders as well, really rings true to me. I spent a fair amount of time around Zen Buddhists of various sorts including the ubiquitous white American upper class educated types and the more traditional Korean temples when I lived in Korea and three things really struck me about my experiences. One is that there really is something profound about this tradition especially as it is practiced in Korea, and maybe in Japan but alas I do not speak Japanese, the second is that Zen seems pretty much content free as far as morality goes, and the third is that a large percentage of the western practitioners I met were, well, more than a bit crazy. The last points goes for other Eastern mystical practices as well. Lots of white Sufis I’ve met, and I’ve met many, seem pretty crazy. No offense intended to these traditions or to white guys, like myself; the last point is just an observation. Maybe something in these traditions doesn’t translate well for westerners. Korean Zen practitioners seemed fine, albeit wholly unconcerned with anything that I could recognize as traditional morality.
ReplyDeleteAnother good (but rather long) one by Giroux here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/15/authoritarian-politics-in-the-age-of-civic-illiteracy/
"Thinking is now regarded as an act of stupidity, and ignorance a virtue. All traces of critical thought appear only at the margins of the culture as ignorance becomes the primary organizing principle of American society."
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMB, Wafers-
An nice summary of how we got into this mess:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot
Rusty-
These are gd Americans. I especially liked dental neophyte, Francisco Torres.
BTW, I watched "Miles Ahead" on Sunday. The reviewer for the New Yorker thought it a mess and panned it, but I really liked it. There's a beautiful impressionistic quality to this film. It progresses kinda like one long modal jazz piece: a slow-moving emotional colorful rhythm that drifts thru time and space. Don Cheadle is outstanding as Miles; as is the entire supporting cast. The "Someday My Prince Will Come" album forms the epicenter of the film in many ways. I was delighted over this, because it's my favorite Davis album. Anyway, I recommend it, and hope u get a chance to see it.
Miles
rsu-
ReplyDeleteCheck out Appendix III of "Neurotic Beauty" for an extended discussion I had with Graham Parkes on this pt; you might find it helpful.
mb
Rust Snag - yeah, MOST of the 18 parents in that photo essay are undoubtedly morons. But at least two of them appear to just be unfortunate poor people being swept into the criminal justice system.
ReplyDeleteI especially felt for the woman who left her two children in the car while she went on a job interview. Her tears and pleading expression in the mugshot say it all about how she's was screwed if she stayed unemployed (they were probably going to cut her food stamps or something), and now she's even more screwed for desperately trying to get that shitty mailroom job at the insurance company.
Shame on CBS for including her and the woman living in the box with her kids along with the rest of those abusive, neglectful mopes. But since most Americans equate poor people with criminals I'll bet few of the reads of that story would even notice.
Wafers, all,
ReplyDeleteI can't watch the debates but saw some of the comments of Hillary on her inability to even consider the humanity of Palestinians. Not surprising of course, but even if on balance she represents less of an utter disaster than either Trump or Cruz, what honest person cannot say at the same time, that she is every bit as utterly despicable as either one of those other two. But of course like Trump and Cruz, she is every bit a projection of America, so it ultimately isn't about Trump, Cruz or Hillary, but about the callousness, superficiality, and mindless corruption and sports and entertainment distractions which is America these days, perhaps what it has always been anyway. Sorry just a little end of the week rant.
Good Morning Guys////
ReplyDeleteThe Slow Professor Movement http://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/the-slow-professor/
The Museum of Every Day Life https://nemmc.org/2016/04/03/the-museum-of-everyday-life/
A couple professor friends and I began debate about the decline of intellectualism in US, I suggested there's no decline, recommended this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-intellectualism_in_American_Life
Would like to share some reading from my book club, much more complete than Bertrand Russel's History of Phil ... http://www.amazon.com/A-New-History-Western-Philosophy/dp/0199656495
In other News--- I heard some buzz about this https://t.co/r7vcst92UR … Roger Cohen says liberal democracy is dead.
But here is a contrasting world graphic 1816-2011, decline of anarchies & anocracies, spread of democracies...would love some World-Systems Analysis of it all.
https://t.co/0IeFr9D9Tk
America: Land of the Free, Home of the Nervous Department
ReplyDelete"On April 6, UC Berkeley senior Khairuldeen Makhzoomi was supposed to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland, get to campus and go to class. Instead, Makhzoomi was removed from Southwest Airlines flight 4260 [after a passenger expressed concern], detained by security officers, questioned by the FBI and refused service from Southwest after speaking Arabic before his flight took off."
"Makhzoomi, a 26-year-old Iraqi refugee, left Iraq in 2002 after his father, an Iraqi diplomat, was killed under Saddam Hussein’s regime. His family fled to Jordan, where they lived until the United States granted his family asylum. Today, Makhzoomi helps his mother care for his younger brother, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome."
"...On his way back to Berkeley, Makhzoomi, a loyal Southwest premier rewards member, boarded his flight to Oakland and called his uncle in Baghdad to tell him about Ki-moon’s event. At the end of the phone call, conducted in Arabic, Makhzoomi said goodbye to his uncle with the phrase “inshallah,” which translates to “if God is willing."
http://www.dailycal.org/2016/04/14/uc-berkeley-student-questioned-refused-service-speaking-arabic-flight/
The return of La Pela Cara....
ReplyDeleteAfter the black mascot of the WS, next the mascot with a vagina. Our Hoochie Mama for the next 8 years. http://www.nybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/hillary-goldman.jpg
Torie, the progressive cheerleader, explains how this time an appropriate genetalia will make america great again.
http://m.democracynow.org/stories/16131
"U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has made income inequality a top campaign theme, had taxable income of $205,271 in 2014, putting him almost in the top 5 percent of American earners, according to the release of Friday of his federal tax return" reuters reports
ReplyDeleteRelease of Clinton’s Wall Street Speeches Could End Her Candidacy for President
ReplyDeleteby Seth Abramson
sample:
7. Paraphrase of Several Attendees’ Accounts From Politico
“Clinton offered a message that the collected plutocrats found reassuring, declaring that the banker-bashing so popular within both political parties was unproductive and indeed foolish. Striking a soothing note on the global financial crisis, she told the audience, ‘We all got into this mess together, and we’re all going to have to work together to get out of it.’”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/seth-abramson/release-of-clintons-wall-street-speeches_b_9698632.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/why-luck-matters-more-than-you-might-think/476394/
ReplyDelete^the psychological effects of perceiving luck^
"Why Luck Matters More Than You Might Think
When people see themselves as self-made, they tend to be less generous and public-spirited."
I have to agree with Bill Hicks on some of the parents in those picture posted by Rust Snag. Some of these folks appear to have been caught in an unwinnable situation created by this I've got mine, screw you system.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of James Howard Kunstler writing about the TV series Breaking Bad. Most Americans view this high school teacher turned meth cooker as a bad guy without ever questioning the healthcare system, or larger economic system, that would create the need for him to cook meth. You know they'll never question why so many people would want to escape through meth in this self-proclaimed Land of Plenty.
You can be certain that while CBS news is quite willing to show these "bad parents" they will never, ever ask these deeper questions that Kunstler asked through any of their outlets. Nor would they invite someone like Dr. Morris Berman in for an interview to address these deeper issues. They know their boneheaded audience.
Seeking-
ReplyDeleteThey may also be boneheaded as well, however. Literally everyone here is brainwashed into believing that there is no such thing as a 'system', and that everything comes down to individual choices independent of context. To break out of that type of cultural hypnosis wd require something like an act of god, and only a very few manage to do it.
mb
Dear Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of your comments on the 18 people paraded before us by CBS news. Most are indeed victims of a harsh culture that cares little for people in misery. Shame on CBS for making these 18 people into a side show. There are millions just like them. Our local news contains stories about people like these just about every day. When you realize that stories like these are repeated every single day across America, how could you not conclude that we are in collapse? This is what CBS news should be reporting, but we'll never see it.
Miles - great essay by George Monbiot. The more I read him the more I like. At the end of the essay I was left with the impression that his answer to "What's next?" would be somewhat Waferian. Kudos to you Dr. B for being a couple of decades ahead in your thinking.
Miles, I'm glad you liked Miles Ahead, and I plan to see it soon also. I never had a bad movie recommendation from this blog.
ReplyDeleteThis is a portrait of 'murika. WAFers will intuitively get the subtle clue/s obscured in the folds. Take your time to decipher the minute details.
http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/56bcb8491a00002d00ab2770.jpeg
Terrific quote I completely concur with on the interpretation of Walter White in Breaking Bad. Our system is exactly what creates Walter White, and why the fiction of Breaking Bad is so powerful. It's really damn close to the America we actually live in. For no particular reason, the other day I just decided to walk around a large casino. What a sad reflection of America, thousands of mostly retired overweight utterly vapid expressionless people pissing away their retirement on slot machines, not even bothering to look at one another or recognize their common humanity, greedily pushing coins through slot machines trying to win some meaningless $1000 jackpot or whatever, every one of these people could serve as perfect extras for the walking dead TV show. And I didn't see a single smile cross a face as I walked around the entire casino, not a person even glanced to even notice me. I wonder if this is what Jefferson meant by the 'pursuit of happiness,' which reduces to the pursuit of vapidness. I challenge you, go to virtually any casino, and let me know if you see anything different than this in most cases.
ReplyDeleteDear Wafers and MB,
ReplyDeleteJust wanted you all know that I'm still here and that I read the blog everyday. Sorry I don't have much to add to the excellent comments; maybe one of these days. You all keep my spirits up though.
Jen-
ReplyDeleteCome on in; the water's fine!
John-
What a horrible, perfect metaphor. The US exactly.
mb
Re-insertion of Head Dept.:
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought the guy had had a breakthrough! No such luck:
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/revolution_is_in_the_air_20160416
ReplyDeletean 11-minute video giving the essential features of Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West" :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsaieZt5vjk&feature=share
John David Ebert's final (14th!) video on Spengler's famous work :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQp0_808v8Q
Maybe Chris Hedges should review Spengler's work.
Marc-
ReplyDeleteHedges may well be the most confused person in the US.
mb
Wafers, help me out here:
ReplyDeletehttp://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/17/us/southwest-muslim-passenger-removed/index.html
Why didn't they just gun him down like a dog, ask questions later? I don't get it.
mb
MB:
ReplyDeleteMy previous note on the passenger who was removed from a Southwest Airlines LA-Oakland flight noted that the man (Khairuldeen Makhzoomi) was "a loyal Southwest premier rewards member." We would be justified in assuming that he wasn't shot because corporate headquarters didn't want to lose his future business. Or do the paperwork involved with discharge of a firearm.
Since we haven't had a shooting report lately--though we know there are plenty of them we might mention--here's one for your amusement. It involves elements guaranteed to please: barbecue; a family gathering, firearms, and Texas.
A 15-year-old playing with a watergun is shot by 40-year-old man. All on good fun, you understand.
http://www.click2houston.com/news/teenager-shot-in-shoulder-by-40-year-old-man-while-playing-with-water-guns-in-spring
Bless this barbecue and God bless America.
Miles - great essay by George Monbiot. The more I read him the more I like.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Monbiot has some things to say, however, my admiration is tempered by the fact that he still believes this whole ship can be turned around and he also has faith that technology will save us. Check out the debate in The Guardian between him and Paul Kingsnorth. Kingsnorth has it right; there is no saving this sucker and its time we accept that.
Christian-
ReplyDeleteYou wonder why even very intelligent people can't get this obvious fact into their (thick) skulls. Given the evidence, a 6-yr-old shd be able to figure it out.
mb
Meanwhile, we are well on our way to extinction....
ReplyDeleteCultural critic John David Ebert discusses his new book
The AGE OF CATASTROPHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE8H1xsz54I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzB5W9ClVQQ
He also critiques the Unabomber Manifesto: obviously, he doesn't condone what he did but the notion of out of control technology....one has to wonder at what point is enough enough?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioo9jps1K_k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrhajlfgWDM
Peace....
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything to say about the collapse of the US empire, other than to wonder why so may here have expressed sadness that the "American Dream"® has been exposed as a fraud.
Here's what saddens me: I got all keyed up seeing that Our Morris is planning a Canadian Tour; then I saw that the locales are a two-day drive away in either direction, at the nearest.
al-
ReplyDeleteAm truly sorry abt that. Why not get the U of Sask. to invite me? I'm sure they'll jump at the chance.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeletePredictions have Hillary polishing off Bernie in NY (tomorrow) and Cal (June 7) quite handily. They also have her defeating Trump in gen'l election (Nov. 8) by 10 % pts. Then this grotesque face for 8 years:
https://www.google.com/search?q=hillary+faces&hl=en&biw=950&bih=538&tbm=isch&imgil=-HurFeJ6MFmATM%253A%253Bht8ibiF68Ct04M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.youtube.com%25252Fwatch%25253Fv%2525253DVD9BnwepnJ8&source=iu&pf=m&fir=-HurFeJ6MFmATM%253A%252Cht8ibiF68Ct04M%252C_&usg=__XouDIbDoh09wYKSqDd7EJTDKWek%3D&ved=0ahUKEwigpIWmyJnMAhUBlYMKHQ-OBgcQyjcILg&ei=0osVV6DzEIGqjgSPnJo4#imgrc=-HurFeJ6MFmATM%3A
Try not to toss yr cookies.
mb
Unless Trump and his campaign advisers are too stupid (arguably true in the case of the former), once the presidential campaign goes mainstream I expect to see him adjusting his speech accordingly, so Hillary's victory is far from being a foregone conclusion. Trump will change.
ReplyDeleteDr. B-- I did look at those Hillary photos and thought of making a collage to use as a screen saver. It didn't take more than a second to discard that unpleasant thought.
ReplyDeletePolitical betting markets have Bernie at 7% to win the Dem nomination and 11% to win the NY primary. They give the Dems a 75% chance of winning the presidential election.
Sure betters could be wrong. So anyone who believes can make real money betting on Bernie. Put $100 on him to get the nomination win more than $1,000.
With betters heavily favoring Dems to win the presidential election, people are betting that Hillary would beat Trump.
Here's a thought--many people become more eccentric and less encompassing of others' views as they age. At the end of her 8 years, Hillary will be 77.
MB said
ReplyDelete"Marc- Hedges may well be the most confused person in the US."
unfortunately so is Nomi? http://www.nomiprins.com/thoughts/2016/4/18/doing-gods-work-why-bernie-matters-for-new-york-america-and.html
The sad thing was watching the debate on Thursday. Sanders beat her hands down. She seems annoyed to even have to go through the process, like we should all just concede it to her and get this annoying election over with.
ReplyDeleteBut like you said, 8 more years of crisis management. The Democrats thoroughly deserve to be the party in power when this thing goes down.
And that face...
http://dark-mountain.net/blog/key-posts/dark-mountain-issue-9/
ReplyDeletePaul Kingsnorth's new edition of Dark Mountain is out. "Brand new anthology of uncivilised writing and art" Have you kept up w/ the series MB?
No-
ReplyDeleteI don't think she's confused; I think that's what she believes. Hedges believes X and not-X. Now *that's* confusion!
ab-
He'll change, but he'll lose. (Sigh)
mb
MB,
ReplyDeletebad news buddy, Hillary knows about the Lake Country.
https://youtu.be/D-c9jzw57uo?t=3m
Dan-
ReplyDeleteWhat a jackass she is. 1st, it's called the Lake District. God willing, she'll never return.
2nd, she has the anti-Midas touch: everything she touches turns to shit.
Very depressing.
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteCrystal Marshall for Secretary of State:
http://myfox8.com/2016/04/19/woman-who-drove-car-into-walmart-says-god-told-her-to-do-it/
The crystal ship is being filled
A thousand girls, a thousand thrills
A million ways to spend your time
When we get back, I'll drop a line
Miles
ReplyDeleteMarc, Thanks for the Oswald Spengler's "The Decline of the West" link. Thanks to many others on this blog including MB for posts and writeups that finally kicked the hope candle out of my life. I feel ritualistically cleansed, n relieved of the profane.
50 shades of Great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0juEWMksOw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ufxM-FaC8I
StripClub amrika. Uncle Tom and Aunt Jemima defending the plantation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIW-FB1_HdA
MB, if that a-rab boy had a slightly darker skin they would have shot him like a dog like Amadou Diallo. They do that every day in Pakistan for being brown and not speaking english. So much so that the national bird of that nation is now a Drone.
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteActually, from a certain angle, this gal cd be a Wafer. Maybe next time, she'll try nuking the store. In my cabinet, I'd make her Secretary of Destroyer of Evil Institutions. Talk about rapture.
mb
Well, you called it MB.
ReplyDeletehttp://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/opinion/a-new-dark-age-looms.html?referer=
Dr. B and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteWell, Dr. B, so far all your predictions about the U.S. presidential race have been perfect. If you were a baseball player, you'd be a superstar slugger. She will win CA as you say, and then it's all over but the crying. There will be no fat lady singing except maybe herself as she sings her victory song. The only interesting thing in NY was that nearly every county in upstate NY went for Sanders. I like to think that maybe we can't be bought easily up here on the frozen tundra of the North Country.
http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Primary-map-A-look-at-New-York-s-Congressional-7258167.php
Sorry for the baseball references but I'm a fan and besides it's much more interesting than U.S. politics.
Rusty-
ReplyDeleteWell, I always enjoy watching Americans hurt themselves, and they rarely disappoint. Little more in their heads beyond dog poop, really. Bernie is toast; Trump will be the GOP nominee; Hillary will clobber him; and we'll have business as usual (read: slow death) for next 8 yrs, or until a strong Hitlerian Trumpite takes the helm (read: fast death). Toynbee said the axiomatic pattern was that all civilizations finally committed suicide, and we're watching it!
Keep eyes peeled for the ultimate self-betrayal: Bernie hugs Hillary, tells his followers to vote for her. Also don't miss her grotesque Botoxed face on cnn.com this morning. Jesus, 8 years of this coming up.
mb
Miles Deli provided this great link
ReplyDelete>http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot
in which
>Chris Hedges remarks that “fascist movements build their base not from the politically active but the politically inactive, the ‘losers’ who feel, often correctly, they have no voice or role to play in the political establishment”. When political debate no longer speaks to us, people become responsive instead to slogans, symbols and sensation. To the admirers of Trump, for example, facts and arguments appear irrelevant.
Now, in my role as a church musician, I've just discovered an overlooked prophet,
namely George R. Woodward (1848-1934). In the third stanza of his hymn "This joyful Eastertide", he put it even more succinctly thus:
"Trump from east to west shall wake the dead in number."
Armed with Hedge's explication at our next rehearsal, I'll try this hymn out with my choir. They will probably be delighted to sing it, at least with tongues firmly in cheeks.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeletemakes no fucking sense dept.:
http://www.npr.org/2016/04/19/474835424/sanders-has-been-losing-in-states-where-income-inequality-is-worse?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160420
verklempt dept.:
http://www.avclub.com/article/because-theres-no-better-time-it-idiocracy-tour-wo-235574
al fresco sex:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/7090337/American-real-estate-broker-49-arrested-for-public-indecency-in-Thailand-after-performing-sex-act-on-bar-worker-20-in-front-of-a-large-group-of-revellers.html
Miles
"Utopia for Realists"? Title of interesting new book arguing for univ. basic income, open borders & 15-hour workweek
ReplyDeletehttps://thecorrespondent.com/utopia-for-realists/
Alogon-
ReplyDeleteHedges is rt, except that the heavy voting for Hillary on the part of poor minority groups wd suggest that voting for slogans and symbols is hardly limited to Trump's proto-fascist followers. See my reply to Miles, below.
Jeff-
I think I may have talked abt this b4. If minority groups approached Clinton vs. Sanders analytically, Sanders wd be the obvious person to deliver a better life for them. Bill Clinton's prison bill, and his destruction of welfare, hurt black people enormously, and the gap between rich and poor widened significantly during his admin. In addition, the passage of NAFTA hurt Mexicans badly, so you wd imagine that Hispanics in the US wd be opposed to Hillary. But no: blacks and Hispanics largely went for Hillary rather than Bernie, and that has been the crucial factor in her victory over him (his wins have mostly been in small, white states). So we have the specter of these groups shooting themselves in the foot.
This is where the symbols and slogans come into play. I don't know abt Hispanics, but black people, for some reason, since 1992, decided that the Clintons were emotionally or symbolically 'black', and even if Bill hurt them, this is somehow irrelevant. Against all evidence, they regard him as "one of us." In addition, in the US, as John Steinbeck pointed out long ago, the poor are not interested in socialism--wh/wd give them a much better life--but rather in the American Dream. Tho statistically, the A.D. is a cruel joke, the poor believe that they individually will beat the odds and come out on top; so the stats don't speak to them. It's like going to a casino in Vegas and pretending that the system isn't rigged in favor of the house. Anyway, Hillary offers business as usual, while Bernie is trying to offer a more socialist economy--a modification of the A.D. The poor are not interested in these alternative paths.
I shd also add that many yrs ago, I worked as a tutor in an inner city charter schl in DC. It was 100% black. I didn't meet a single male student who didn't seriously believe that school was a waste of time, because he was going to strike it rich as a hip-hop artist or basketball player. (Meanwhile, the stats are that any random black male between ages 18-24 is 200x more likely to be in jail than in college.) For some reason, the female students were much smarter; they had some idea of what they were up against, and didn't buy into such nonsense. (Whether this translated into voting patterns in NY, I have no idea, but it wd be interesting to know if black females voted differently from black males.)
In any case, the combo of the lure of the Clintons as being symbolically 'black', and the lure of the A.D., was far too powerful for Bernie to overcome in NY, and this will be true in Calif. as well, I'm guessing. The stats of ethnic voting patterns make it clear that altho Bernie is trying to appeal to rational interests, he is not managing to appeal to mythological interests; and as someone once said, in the contest between myth and fact, the former will always win.
mb
Harriet Tubman on the $20 is, if you'll excuse the pun, truly noteworthy. The nation founded on genocide and built by slaves has made space at the center of its currency for a black radical who devoted herself to dismantling the sickest extension of the capitalism of her day: the coordinated violent extraction of value from a wrongly-objectified, deemed-morally-irrelevant, presumed-external nature, known as slavery. Will this symbolic gesture lead to substantive reforms? Will we have American truth and reconciliation panels on slavery and native genocide? Will the US do more than depict black heroes on our cash? Will we take seriously the moral imperative to redistribute huge amounts of the national wealth that cash represents back to the communities our founders enslaved, raped, killed in order to generate it? Kendrick, the modern urban poet, says, "How much a dollar cost?"
ReplyDeletePeter-
ReplyDeleteIn answer to yr questions: No.
mb
Miles (and WAFers): regarding the "makes no fucking sense dept." check out the Druids post from a few weeks ago:
ReplyDeletehttp://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-end-of-ordinary-politics.html
"The policies we’re talking about—lavish handouts for corporations and the rich, punitive austerity schemes for the poor, endless wars ... were supposed to bring prosperity to the United States and its allies and stability to the world. They haven’t done that, they won’t do that, and with whatever respect is due to the supporters of Hillary Clinton, four more years of those same policies won’t change that fact. The difficulty here is simply that no one in the political establishment, and precious few in the salary class in general, are willing to recognize that failure, much less learn its obvious lessons or notice the ghastly burdens that those policies have imposed on the majorities who have been forced to carry the costs."
And remember, Bernie is running within the Democratic establishment no matter what he says he's going to do about income inequality. He really isn't all that different ... is single payer health insurance really going to help a 50 year old unemployed factory worker get a new job?
See also: http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/20/where-presidents-and-people-make-history/
It probably wouldn't have made any difference for his prospects against Hillary, but it can't have helped that Bernie has called himself a Socialist for most--all? I don't know--of his political career. Slapping the word "Democratic" in front of that designation hasn't done much to help, at least among those who might otherwise appear to be his natural constituency.
ReplyDeleteRichard Wolff, professor emeritus of economics at U-MASS Amherst who now teaches at the New School in NYC, points out that even among those who we might suppose would know better--college students, say--the words socialist, communist, and anarchist are considered to be practically synonyms. You know, Union of Soviet SOCIALIST Republics, that sort of thing. Americans are not sure how to define the word (socialist), but they know it's something contemptible.
That many Americans now benefit from a program instituted under FDR, namely SOCIAL Security, seems to have escaped these folks' notice. The idea that Bernie might ultimately need to reach into their pockets to pay for health care for all or for "free" college for their kids likely doesn't help his appeal. After all, they've correctly assessed the situation and know deep down that the people who could really afford to help make such things possible--the richest among us--are unlikely to support anything that requires them to have less so that others can have more. They have plenty of evidence for that: no more pension, more hours for less pay, no benefits, and on and on.
Bernie was probably doomed from the start.
Deadthoreau - the last paragraph of that NYT article is so typical of how so many such articles end:
ReplyDelete"Our grandchildren could grow up knowing less about the planet than we do today. This is not a legacy we want to leave them. Yet we are on the verge of ensuring this happens."
When are these writers going to get it through their thick skulls that the vast majority of Americans could not possibly care less what kind of planet they leave for their grandchildren, except maybe in the abstract? Ian Welsh calls it the death bet:
"In it’s pure form, the death bet is just that, a bet that when the bill comes due, you’ll be dead."
http://www.ianwelsh.net/the-death-bet/
@MB I don't like Hilary at all either but i just don't think it's so black and white , no puns intended :
ReplyDeleteThe Clintons are not to blame for mass incarceration. https://t.co/MNNNHxx0ws
'The left is eating its own on crime: Bill Clinton attacked despite saving countless black lives.' https://t.co/Qso3SGVAja
'1994 crime bill: a response to sky-hi crime; intended to help black Americans; had much Afri-Am support.' https://t.co/eZRYQQK50E
Julia-
ReplyDeleteProbably 2 ways to look at this. For many black folks, the 3-strikes law meant things like lengthy prison sentences for smoking a joint. All told, I suspect it hurt the black community much more than it helped it. There's also the larger question of whether jail actually reduces crime, or rather has become a major industry in its own rt--with blacks as the major target.
mb
...and along the lines of my previous post, catch the new trend:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-20/meet-trump-20-be-afraid-anti-trump-forces-be-very-afraid
ps: We also incarcerate more people than any country in the world: 25% of all prisoners in the world are in American jails. And yet, our crime rate is among the highest, with the homicide rate thru the roof. So the incarceration system ain't working too well...unless it is. I.e., unless the whole thing has become a for-profit business: more bldgs., more employees, more needs from service industries, and so on. The 3-strikes law played rt into that, needless to say.
ReplyDeleteps2: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/opinion/why-mass-incarceration-doesnt-pay.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=0
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHedges is counting on them for the revolution. What MB called "The raw material".
Lord, I'm so exited -just hold me back!!
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/21/limp-bizkit-fans-turn-up-to-fake-gig-at-ohio-petrol-station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTMVOzPPtiw
54 Double "D" will gather up the comrades.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGwF7D6MT_0
Revolution just around the corner and a not a moment too soon.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/20/global-warming-and-the-planetary-boundary/
ReplyDeleteAnother voice in the wilderness.
'There is no American Dream': Why one US professor believes the national ethos is an illusion and the country has the same level of social mobility as medieval England
Gregory Clark, of UC Davis, claims American dream is simply an illusion
Instead, social mobility in U.S. is no higher than in rest of world, he says
Disadvantaged citizens 'will not be granted opportunities for hard work'
They will remain stuck in social status for life - and so will their children
Mr Clark's findings were obtained using figures from the past 100 years
But his students disagree, saying parents' wealth is not 'deciding factor'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2854440/There-no-American-Dream-one-professor-believes-national-ethos-illusion-country-no-higher-rate-social-mobility-medieval-England.html
check out the comments below to really get a sense of the effectiveness of our brainwashing...
MB-
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for yr explanation about why minorities and the poor continue to vote for the Clintons despite their symbolic "I feel yr pain" bullshit. Jesus, we're so patently dumb. I also agree that the pull of the American Dream is too powerful to dislodge heads from rumps. And it's sad to realize that 320 million don't really want to see their heads removed either; they must like the giant sucking sound! As a Wafer, u would think I would know this stuff by now. In any case, thanks for the reminder.
Miles
ps: You're either a Wafer or a putz
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/
ReplyDeleteWhat is the WAFerian perview on the Tubman $20? I have been turning blue in the face attempting to convince Progressive friends that this is not a great stride for women's rights, black history, moral progress excetera excetera excetera... but that it does inculcate a great woman into our americanized iconography of Mammon, demon of commercial greed.
ReplyDelete@Julia Stewart--Clinton was also responsible for welfare "reform," which was really a code word for kicking "lazy" black people off of welfare. His repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which led directly to the housing bubble and the financial crash, disproportionally hurt poor blacks, who were conned onto buying houses they could not afford. And lastly, his "free" trade agreements killed millions of factory jobs, many of which were held by black descendants of those who had fled the Jim Crow south to cities like Detroit and Chicago early in the 20th century.
ReplyDeleteClinton's record on "helping" blacks is deplorable. With "friends" like him and his hideous, Wall Street loving wife, they certainly don't need any more enemies.
There's increasing evidence that americans are far from being the only stupid people on this planet. It's piling up:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rt.com/viral/340600-purple-prince-dead-tributes/
I would also support a purple Dark Ages America today, not to mourn the passing of the genius but to understand why he had to live.
When you see how fast Sanders endorses Hillary without demanding she first support whatever (oh, yes, Wall Street reform) then you'll see that he was always just the Democratic Party's sheepdog, making sure progressives stay within the party's confines. It's the same game elites around the world play around election time to give the illusion (hope?) that change is coming. Poor progressives-being played again. I think actually that Obama was 2008's sheepdog but Hillary was such a wretched campaigner that Obama, to his everlasting surprise, got nominated. That is why I still feel the country will go full-retard and elect Trump. By the way, amazing to see so many young people in attendance when Hillary gave her victory speech in NYC. Didn't those kids have a gig job to run too? 42% of the US workforce is reduced to gigs and not a word about this from any candidate. They can't. The implication is too painful to acknowledge-the American dream, to whatever extent it might have been possible to attain (basically, a middle-class lifestyle) is forever moribund.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeletePimps checking out the new madam of the W.H.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRZd861Pog0
She likes to lick hot sauce so she qualifies
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36094303
Doorknobs voting for collective suicide- The ultimate revenge of the underclass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rg3PgKLA-Q
Signs of greatness.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/22/us-suicide-rate-30-year-high-growing-epidemic-across-america
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/americans_are_killing_themselves_at_the_highest_rate_in_30_years_20160422
ReplyDeleteStupid Liberal Websites Department: hey, did you hear the one about the undocumented immigrant who became a Goldman Sachs executive? Isn't that just an awesome example of what such people can do if we only give them a chance? I feel so much better knowing the hustling douchebaguette who destroyed my job wasn't an American citizen at the time!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.truthdig.com/report/item/once-undocumented_wall_street_executive_now_helping_others_20160420
How much you wanna bet she's also a Hillary supporter?
From LA Times:
ReplyDeleteU.S. suicides have soared since 1999, CDC report says
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-suicides-soared-since-1999-20160421-story.html
@ Esca Dreg
ReplyDeleteThe future is now.
more evidence that the American way of life is not healthy:
ReplyDelete"Deaths from suicide have increased 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, according to an analysis of Americans aged 5 and up conducted by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/suicide-rates-rising-us_us_5714f800e4b0060ccda3b5d8
Age 5 and up. Oh my god . How do five year olds commit sucked?
DeleteEsca, Chad,
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to share the suicide stats but you beat me to it!
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/2014-there-were-42773-deaths-suicide-united-states
That Prince stuff is really depressing. Who gives a fuck?!
By the way, if you Wafers are looking for a good show, Silicon Valley makes a great job at mocking techno douchebags:
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/how-silicon-valley-quietly-subverts-capitalism
Kanye
One thing that always irked me about this free society we supposedly live in, and I am sharing it now because someone mentioned Richard Wolff, is that growing up when the USSR was still around I looked in vain for information describing how its economic system worked and just how it was planned, ect. I could not find anything, even at the local college library. When I grew up and went to university I remembered my childhood curiosity about the USSR after taking a Russian History class and tried to find information there. There was a little but not very much. There were biographies of some of the supposed communist leaders and histories and so forth but nothing that discussed how a communist economy worked in any detail.
ReplyDeleteThis was very sad. Not that I want a Soviet system or anything but that I could not find out anything about it and went to great lengths to find it.
BH-
ReplyDeleteNot an accident, I suspect. One thing that has been true for a long time now, at least since 1945, is that America is not living in reality. An objective discussion of socialist economics wd be living in reality; Americans couldn't care less. What gets them all agog is Prince, or who's on the $20 bill. Which is to say that they are morons and douche bags, clowns; joke people. Buffoons, ignoramuses, turkeys. You might want to add to the list of nouns here.
Otherwise, I've mostly given up posting info such as the following, since it's basically daily fare:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-georgia-shootings-20160422-story.html
Bernie is already talking about what he needs in the Dem platform to support Hillary. Talk abt rapid cave-ins, eh?
When I wrote, in 2000, that it was over--people laughed!
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMB-
Yes, Hillary's already thinking about a good running mate:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/24/us/politics/hillary-clinton-running-mate.html
I would suggest:
Natasha West
Tracey McCloud
Rachel Butterbaugh
Miles
ps: Altho I must say this: the fact that the suicide rate has skyrocketed since 1999 suggests to me some degree of genuine perception on the part of at least some Americans. Most choose slow death (see the movie "Anesthesia," for example), but some understand clearly that the country isn't going anywhere, and neither are they; so they pack it in. And of course, a tiny handful emigrate.
ReplyDeletemb
"Keep eyes peeled for the ultimate self-betrayal: Bernie hugs Hillary, tells his followers to vote for her."
ReplyDeleteHe's supposed to tell them not to vote for her?
I've talked to many Americans who, at least intellectually, understand what is wrong. However, most of these people nevertheless live their lives in a narcissistic fashion; even those that do not are surrounded by shit, metaphorically speaking Those in the latter category - the non-narcissist people - are the ones that seem most prone to suicide because of the awareness you mentioned. I know several kind-hearted Americans that struggle with suicidal impulses precisely because they are constantly bombarded with hatred from other people.
ReplyDeleteOne adaptive strategy that increase the likelihood of survival is simply to deny problems. It calms the mind and makes it easier to focus on the day-to-day tasks that are necessary to sustain one's existence. I posit that this is the reason that Americans that are actually aware of what's happening - whether or not that awareness is voluntary - are far more likely to kill themselves.
The power of the adaptive strategy of denial is particularly important in America, where no communities exist that could support people who decided to face the reality of their situations. The fact that genuine political and cultural change for the better is impossible only amplifies all that I've said above.
ReplyDeleteThe Progressive's sucker trap -wishful thinking- meditation, writing-to-your-congressman (with which he gonna wipe his butt), organic broccoli and mindfulness. Yeah, mind full of dung.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvlOoNi-UFU
while the planet is heading for the dumps,...and no one can get the "progressives" off their yoga mats and positive-thinking spell.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/20/global-warming-and-the-planetary-boundary/
Bill, I thought exactly the same about the article on the mexican undocumented rags-to-riches A.D where Julissa Arce joined GoldmanSachs as a glorified hustler. Pandering, profiting-of-violence and hustling is the lifeblood of this country. The black boys made heroes from Alabama went to kill n die in Vietnam while their color were forbidden to drink from the same water fountain as whites. Glorified killer, the brown slumdog from Guatemala, Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, joined the army to kill n die in Iraq -our hero, the first casualty of Iraq war. It seems the only way to achieve A.D is for suckers to make suckers of others, for which we need endless supply of suckers.
http://www.latinorebels.com/2014/03/19/did-you-know-that-one-of-the-first-us-servicemen-killed-in-iraq-war-was-undocumented/
mb -- agree with yr post re the suicide stats. a day is rare when i see any point in going on, after reading the papers
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/us/an-amateur-vs-isis-a-car-salesman-investigates-and-ends-up-in-prison.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/business/economy/velvet-rope-economy.html
Joyus, I'll take Stalin:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/22/hillary-clintons-support-base-as-bogus-as-us-democracy/
egitimalla
At least he was probably legitimately selected.
Dell-
ReplyDeleteHe cd at least keep quiet, and thus retain his integrity. Dick Gregory once remarked, "If we're always choosing the lesser of two evils, how come things are always getting worse?"
mb
@MB -- Yep. I had considered making a donation to the Sanders campaign, but held off fearing he would end up endorsing Queen Hillary. If he does so, he will have validated my decision.
ReplyDeleteIf he really wanted to good for America, he would take his supporters and walk out of the convention and immediately establish an American Labor Party. He'd have no chance to win in 2016, of course, but his core activists could work to build up the party and eventually destroy the corrupt Democratic Party from the left. Ideally, they would deny Hillary the presidency this year and demonstrate once and for all that kissing Wall Street's ass and sucking up to warmongers is no longer a strategy that can win for the Democrats.
Pie in the sky, I know, but it's the only way Sanders can build a legacy that will be remembered outside of Vermont long after he's gone.
Chad in Chicago,
ReplyDeleteHey, how about some local news? For instance, I see that 1000 people have been shot so far this year in Chicago. Now you might think that President Oshitforbrains, who with his wife is from Chicago, might say something about this? Of course not. Can't offend the white ruling elites who put him in office now can you.
As for Bernie, like I posted earlier, I think he knew from the start that he was to be this year's sheepdog; that is, keep progressives within the Democratic Party's confines. When he doesn't insist Hillary adopt any of his policies as the price for his endorsement, it will be clear Bernie supporters were played.
Finally, doctor, do not fret over Mr. Sutter. He's all peacock and unless you are born a Japanese within Japan you will always be an outsider (naka vs. Soto) no matter how long you have lived there or how well you speak the language. The Japanese will only reveal what they wish to reveal. For instance, not once in my 10 years there could I get anyone to speak about the Burakumin or the role of the Japanese emperor during WW II. What I'm trying to say is that your insights are just as valid as Mr. Sutter's sans arrogance.
The progressive mindset is just another form of denial. Its purpose is, like most other examples of denial, to enhance one's ability to perform the day-to-day tasks necessary to sustain one's existence, and to attain peace of mind. I know people that used to be progressive, but now, with their hopes shattered, are suicidal. Scratch a progressive and you get a profoundly depressed person, because progressives' very identities hinge on the world rapidly becoming a better place. And this identity has a purpose: to be a substitute for loving human relationships. Most of the really terrible events in human history, like the Russian Revolution and the Nazi Revolution, are rooted in the dynamic of attempting to substitute ideology for loving human relationships.
ReplyDeleteTrue optimism, as I see it, is courageously facing facts while finding meaning in one's life nonetheless. Of course, this is a thousand times easier to do when you have friends and a community, the two things most Americans most conspicuously lack. When you have close relationships with others, going through a very difficult time with them is meaningful, because you will be responsible for looking out for each other. Without relationships, what meaning, exactly, can one find in trying circumstances? A fearful focus on one's own personal survival hardly counts as a meaningful life...and this is why the suicide rate in America is skyrocketing.
ReplyDeleteI took this off of a facebook post by Henry Giroux :
"Gifted professor’s ‘life of the mind’ was also life of near destitution" :
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/gifted-teachers-life-of-the-mind-was-also-life-of-near-destitution/
Some excerpts :
The syllabus for one of his classes reads: “In this course, we will follow Socrates’ injunction to be perplexed about the most important matters.”
When visitors walked into the dilapidated boardinghouse where Dave Heller lived, the smell alone could transport them back to their college days.
“It smelled like grad student,” jokes Charlie Fischer, a friend. “Like years of boiled noodles and rice.”
“He took to living like a monk,” Fischer says. “He couldn’t afford to go out to eat. But I’ve also never seen him happier.”
The early stages of the "new monastic option" perhaps?
(yet) more on how the left and right are two sides of the same coin:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/outside-the-socialjustice-movements-small-tent/479049/
Dreg: Regarding that " mind full of dung" youtube video. That is exactly why I get really, really wary about people like Paul Kingsnorth. Even though he's saying the right stuff, anytime I see a white guy wearing antlers, reciting poetry and howling at the moon I run for the hills! ... or I would if I actually met one in real life. I mostly meet bar-flies these days.
Bill, Dan-
ReplyDeleteI suspect that by choosing to run from within the Democratic party, Bernie signaled, to the ruling establishment, that he was not going to be any sort of serious threat. And I think it's likely he won't demand anything from Hillary, come his defeat in the Cal primary. He'll just endorse her, saying "We've gotta defeat Trump." Show's over, it was all smoke and mirrors anyway.
Re: Mr. Sutter: I had the feeling that jealousy of the U of Tokyo as an "elitist" institution, while he's apparently at a 3rd-rate one, had a lot to do with that review. After all, I got invited to lecture there, while his chances of such an invitation are probably small. But he showed up in his review like a typical American. Instead of trying to open a real dialogue abt my book, pro and con, he called it "disgusting," said he almost threw it across the rm, etc. And he's an academic? I wd personally be ashamed to be writing a review like that.
mb
Dan,
ReplyDeleteYour analysis is spot on. The violence in Chicago is acceptable because it happens primary is low income minority neighborhoods. If you watch the local news, the minute a violent crime happens in a well-off neighborhood (say Wrigleyville or Wicker Park) it becomes a big deal.
Obama has made a few passing comments about the violence in Chicago but he doesn’t really give a shit. But try explaining that to my progressive friends and they will give you an endless amount of excuses for his lack of action.
I mean, if the economy is recovering, if the last 8 years have been a resounding success, then why is the suicide rate sky rocketing?
I agree with MB’s comments on the matter. I think a lot of Americans have figured out this society is a giant sham and are opting to off themselves. They need understanding and a support system, and they’re never going to find it in this country. Indeed, try having a conversation with one of your friends at random on the subject matter we discuss on this blog and you will likely get a glassed-over stare or outright hostility. It’s like you’re speaking a language they couldn’t possibly comprehend.
I deal with depression about this. I suspect many other people here do as well. But we carry on. After all it’s not the end of the world, just the end of the world as we know it.
Kanye Cyrus said "That Prince stuff is really depressing. Who gives a fuck?!"
ReplyDeleteIf you don't give a fuck about Prince or "understand why he had to live" as some other d bag here said then you're already dead.
i was going to say essentially the same thing. really glad you did. prince was a musician for crying out loud and a very decent human being from what're read. those facts alone should make it clear why many feel a sense of loss at prince's leaving the stage forever. those making disparaging remarks instead, probably see no value in rock and roll. personally, i think it's one of the usa's greatest cultural contributions to the world... real rock music that is.
DeleteEsca-
ReplyDeleteSorry, wasn't able to run it. Posts shd be half-page max. Suggest you compress by at least a third and re-send. Thank you.
Chad-
You might 'enjoy' the TV series "Mr. Robot," I'm thinking.
mb
Wafers might enjoy reading Interupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble by Dan Lyons. The topic is similar to the novel The Circle except this book is not a novel, rather Lyons actually works for a start=up company. It's funny and disgusting at the same time. Almost incredible accounts of the brain washing that happens in so many of these start ups that make millions for their founders and so little for their workers. And nobody seems to notice.
ReplyDeleteMarianne
Not to suggest that the 90's were all they were cracked up to be, but I think a lot of people on the left were traumatized by the 2000 election debacle and imagine that Gore would have been able to make the relatively good times continue indefinitely. Those that supported Nader self-importantly imagine themselves to be somehow responsible and must now fix this since by supporting the mainstream Democratic party. Of course, I scarcely need to remind this audience that even if gore's foreign policy were less disastrous, the 2008 crash would almost certainly have occurred in some form due to Clinton deregulation, Greenspan's infinite easy money bubbles, etc. Etc.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed something in American recently. The older generation has become a great deal dumber and more hostile over the last few years, and seems to have lost whatever knowledge and perspective it once possessed. I used to think the problem with American society was generational, but now I see that this isn't the case. Americans that may have been kinder and smarter at one time have jettisoned those qualities in favor of hatred and ignorance. It's a frightening devolution unfolding before my eyes.
ReplyDeleteWhen a society becomes incapable of dispassionate analysis, self-reflection, and compassion, it quickly dies. I can't think of any civilization that wasn't destroyed precisely in this manner...and America is committing suicide in this manner as we speak. Americans have lost the ability to think, and believe that their feelings of fear and rage and malice, packaged into simplistic, mind-numbing slogans and unfounded assumptions, actually constitute real thought.
Also, I should say something about why Chris Hedges seems not to understand America's dilemma. I think he usually does understand that America is headed down the tubes, but is sometimes driven to embrace revolution out of guilt for his role as a cheerleader for the American military when we worked for the New York Times as a war correspondent. It's not stupidity; he believes the revolutions he embraces are almost certainly destined to fail, but that it would be wrong for him not to take part in them. You have to feel for him; if I had that kind of guilt, I wouldn't be able to function at all.
As a typical 'merikan huckster, Sutter baits the gullible japanese by peddling "you will get a “big-picture” view of the forms of companies and social enterprises around the world" in the same carny's parlance of grand-opening and buy-one-get-one-free. Suckers to become successful hustler like him will need to learn the proper language, "I teach only in English. If you can use English, you can go all over the world [and hustle] " . He might as well graduate his students with degrees as Certified American Hustler or Civilized Savage.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rikkyo.ac.jp/invitation/admissions/english/undergraduate/law/
The Japanese were snookered once before by the WASP and they paid a hefty price culminating in the atom bomb. Read "The Imperial Cruise" by James Bradley.
“In a far-reaching book that also addresses Roosevelt’s misconceptions about Hawaii, China and the Philippines, Mr. Bradley places critical emphasis on the dangerous American-Japanese relationship that, he says, Roosevelt helped create " . “Knowing a lot about race theory but less about international diplomacy and almost nothing about Asia,” he writes, “Roosevelt in 1905 careened U.S.-Japanese relations on the dark side road leading to 1941.” ... the book particularly emphasizes the way American assumptions of white superiority made the patriotism of other populations hard to understand. Even worse, according to Mr. Bradley, was Roosevelt’s frequent presumption that he did understand other cultures [Sutter?] . This book argues that Roosevelt’s designation of the Japanese as born leaders and veritable Americans, worthy of imposing their own Monroe Doctrine on weaker nations like Korea, was a cataclysmic mistake. “And since Roosevelt kept his analysis secret from everyone except his Japanese allies and yes-men like Taft, there was no one to grab the reins before Roosevelt drove America’s future in Asia into a ditch.”
“The Imperial Cruise” is all too persuasive in its visions of history repeating itself. For hustlers like A.J Sutter that's exactly where the money is.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI often times hear the number of 18,5% as for the unemployment, but there are a number of sources whose info challenge this figure.
According to shadowstats.com, many times cited in the alt media, that figure is more like 23,5%.
The Zero Hedge website also frequently reports the number of americans "not in the labor force", which currently stand at about 94 million people:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-04/record-94-million-americans-not-labor-force-participation-rate-lowest-1977
In these times I would bet "out of the labor force" probably means "unemployed" for the majority of those people. If one excludes youth and retired from the overall population, we easily reach an unemployment rate sitting well above 30%, maybe even 40%:
http://qz.com/516023/if-nearly-40-of-americans-arent-working-what-are-they-doing/
Zero Hedge also yesterday reported that "In 1 Out Of Every 5 American Families, Nobody Has A Job":
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-04-25/1-out-every-5-american-families-nobody-has-job
So the real stats for unemployment are likely into at least the high 30s.
Douchebags and trollfoons-
The discography of Prince:
http://titorrent.com/Prince--Discography-%281977-2010%29-[Flac]-torrent-6231144.html
Slavoj Zizek has created quite a stir by calling it as he sees it with respect to the refugee crisis. Kudos to him for doing so, even though he knew it would alienate many on the left that look up to him.
ReplyDeleteSomeone from Norway wrote this piece for CounterPunch on the matter and it is a nice example of everything that is wrong with the dimwit left.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/04/26/an-ode-to-the-death-of-europe-and-a-concerned-love-letter-to-zizek/
The author closes with the following breathtaking comment. "And I´m sorry Žižek, but after five hundred years of European enslavement of the rest of the world for our own purposes, our credibility in leading the revolution is simply non-existent. Not only capitalism must fall, but whiteness and the concept of Europe as such.
So, – a toast to the true universality of freedom and equality, and to the end of Europe as we know her."
The guilt and self loathing is enough to make one vomit. It amazes me that the enlightenment, and its values, that gave birth to the left in the first place is held in such contempt by them. Clive James had it right. "The perpetual dimwit-left consensus will disgust any liberal eventually, but the trick is to reclaim the democratic centre, not to take refuge in the illusion that the traditional right-wing prejudices were a system of thought all along."
Mr. Robot looks interesting. I'll definitely check it out.
ReplyDeleteJim_Jardashian -
Thank you for your comments on true optimism. I couldn't agree more.
Hello all Wafers, Golbal warming has brought Summer early to Vancouver BC hope your all surviving well. Looking forward to your visit Morris Berman here in May!
ReplyDeleteHere is one more example of How the United States govt. in collaboration with Wall Street over the years have created a most Dire (people there are dying) situation for the people of Puerto Rico. So much for Capitalism and hello gotta love the complexities of racist imperialism.... even more sad that today it takes a British National on American Cable Comedy network to reveal the batshit crazy politics of the situation! No better example of Why America Failed today! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt-mpuR_QHQ
We have similar situation now with our very great north Territories of Canada now that the resource base economy has tanked which they are utterly dependent on for operating revenues! Lucky for Canadians in the northern Territories they will freeze to death before they starve which is the only way Puerto Ricans can get out of this situation. Of course they could have revolution and declare independence and tell USA Banks to go to hell on the 70 billion debt. But you would have to have balls to do that..... Because the US Govt would probably send in the Marines! 2016 Puerto Rico is the new JP Sartre "No Exit"
David
Vancouver Canada
Chad,
ReplyDeleteThanks, I'm glad I could be of some help.
Christian,
I have a problem with your comment about the supposed superiority of Europe to the Muslim world. Europe has been torturing the Middle East for over a hundred years; THAT is what you consider to be a superior civilization? Yes, Muslim culture is brutal toward women, but European culture is brutal towards foreigners in ways unparalleled by any other culture except American culture. If you look at what Europe did to Africa (tens of millions killed), and Asia (several million killed), and the Americas and Australia (fifty million killed, near-total genocide perpetrated on three whole continents), and continues to do to the Middle East, you cannot honestly conclude that European culture is gentler and more civilized than Muslim culture. Perpetual killing of unarmed people and theft of resources seems to me to be the bedrock of modern European culture. I don't see this war-frenzy in, say, Thailand or Kazakhstan or Brazil. However, it is true that Europeans don't do that to each other anymore - only to foreign people with dark skin. What glorious progress!
Of course, the Left's disdain for white people is also repugnant and blind and lopsided and vicious, but your right-wing ideas seem even worse to me. Just because bombs aren't raining down upon your head doesn't make Europe a gentle civilization. Travel to Afghanistan where European and American bombs are raining down if you want to see just how un-gentle Western culture can be.
Dell,
ReplyDeleteThe difference between my comment on Prince and your reply to mine, is that I didn't personally attack Prince, which MB correct me if I am wrong, I think is one of the rules of this blog. I said "who gives a fuck" in reference to the absurd amount of coverage dedicated to celebrities in our culture in contrast to other more important issues. This doesn't mean I don't appreciate his music.
Back to the subject of America The Greatest:
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/america-is-so-fucked-it-cant-even-name-a-school
Kanye
ReplyDeleteA country that values Prince more than Howard Zinn.
NPR and PBS (and all media) are drooling purple over Prince while they trashed Zinn's death on the anvil of fair-n-balanced, O'Reilly style. For other news channels Zinn never existed, and Chomsky will remain an urban legend.
http://www.thenation.com/article/zinn-ophobia-npr/
Amerika does "give a fuk"! Douchebags give fkin tearjerking tribute to their heroes.
We will have 13 days of national mourning when Kim Kardashian dies.
Five hundred souls perished in the Mediterranean a day before the Purple tide. How about a few presenters expressing their sorrow for their deaths, too? The colour would be black instead of purple, of course. The Eiffel Tower lights would have to be switched off. But that will not happen because that will be unfair-n-unbalanced.
http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/weve_lost_all_sense_of_perspective_when_we_mourn_the_passing_of_prince_but_
You can tell a lot about people from their heroes - old saying.
Professor Berman: I'm new to your blog. I can't claim a WAFER identity, at least not yet. I just recently read "The Reenchantment of the World." How it came to my attention is a long story. The short version is that is was very meaningful to me. I am a minister. I am plannning to talk about this book in my sermon this coming Sunday (have actually been quoting it since March.) I am wondering if you would be willing to share how you assess the impact of this book over time and how you feel about it 35 years after initial publication.
ReplyDeleteRev. Josh Pawelek
Manchester, CT
My Dear Reverend-
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blog. We look forward to further contributions from you. Am glad you found ROW valuable, and hope your flock does as well. But I fear I can't talk about impact etc., because that wd be a very long discussion, and I just don't have the time. 1000 apologies.
Esca-
I pee on Prince. Also on Steve Jobs.
Kanye-
It's OK to pee on Prince. My rule about insulting people extends to Wafers. Participants on this blog cannot insult Wafers or the blog, altho they can certainly disagree with them. But public figures, like Prince or Hillary, are fair game, and generally worthy of our insults. Hillary's a douche bag, after all, and her face is filled with Botox. Also, I encourage everyone here to insult trollfoons, since they have no respect for me, you, or the blog. Calling them pathetic trash, for example, is factually accurate. Pieces of dreck wd also be apt. You get the idea.
mb
Thanks. I think the flock is appreciating what I'm doing with it. I'm arguing for the reunification of mind and body, and the reunification of earth and divinity. Somewhat late to the game, I suppose; somewhat idealistic, not very practical ... yet. I also used an ROW quote on the nature of fascism to argue that Trump, despite his claim to be a Christian, is actually channeling a warped, pseudo-Paganism. If anyone is interested, that post is at http://revjoshpawelek.org/the-untoward-political-adventures-of-king-stag/. As one who identifies as a Pagan, this was a bit dicey for me, but nobody else that I'm aware of is talking about this aspect of his campaign.
ReplyDeleteI understand not having the time to assess impact of ROW. Is a one word answer possible? Do you still generally stand by it? Yes or no? (I know, I know--it can't possibly be that black and white 35 years later).
I am looking forward to reading 'Coming to Our Senses' and 'Wandering God' this summer.
Rev. Josh Pawelek
Manchester, CT
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteHello, I've been frequenting this blog for years, but have only commented a few times. I listened to your interview with Derrick Jensen recently, which I thought was great. I'm just commenting to add further validation to your claim that, in America, there is barely any substantive, serious discourse about the true issues in our country.
I am 22 years old, and am getting ready to leave the United States and teach English abroad (this is largely influenced by your writings). My parents and sister literally think I am insane to think that the US will degrade further. Most friends of mine do not even want to entertain the possibility that times will get harder in America. These are all intelligent people, but because the myth of "American exceptionalism" is so deeply ingrained into the American psyche, pointing out big picture, structural flaws is often seen as baseless and negative.
You truly are an intellectual heavyweight, I very much consider the bulk of your writings to be pure gold.
BTW, if you're not familiar with Peter Schiff, you should look him up. He's an economist who predicted the 2008 financial crisis years beforehand. He is now claiming that the US is on an unalterable course towards an even bigger financial crisis, which would result in martial law, riots, looting, food and gas shortages, price controls, black markets etc.
MB - I draw a distinction between Prince and Hillary, even though I was not a big fan of the former's music. Hillary has spent her whole adult life in a mad lust for power and has trampled and destroyed countless lives along the way. She deserves all the pee over her head one could possible empty from one's bladder.
ReplyDeletePrince was by all accounts a brilliant musician even if his music wasn't to my taste. That's what separates him from talentless attention whores like Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber, whose fame is entirely dependent on being sock puppets of the entertainment industry.
When it comes to Prince and David Bowie (a musician much of whose music I did enjoy), I reserve my pee for the heads of the douchebags in the media who hype the fact of their deaths to insane levels to serve as yet another distraction for the drooling masses.
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteAs a few of you have expressed here, I'm not terribly torn up about the death of Prince. I didn't follow him at all, nor did I listen to his music. What bugs me about the recent paeans to his greatness is that the last time I had heard of the guy, about 15 years ago, he was being mocked in the media for changing his name every six months, with the strong suggestion that he was Michael Jackson-league loopy. Once he croaked, however, he became the most influential artiste of the last 20 years.
I agree with most of what you said, Jim Jardashian, except for this blanket comment: "Yes, Muslim culture is brutal toward women..." (Bill Maher would love that one). There's little question that the Saudis are horrible towards women, or that women are treated poorly under the Iranian régime or the Afghan warlords, but I'm not sure that such treatment is symptomatic of "Muslim" culture.
I met a guy from Afghanistan who told me he used to sit beside miniskirt-clad women in Kabul University in the 1970s, which is evidence that today's repression of women cannot be blamed on "Muslim culture," but on something else, which may be related to Islam, but not necessarily so.
Josh-
ReplyDeleteYes, but with a lot of modifications. Meanwhile, pls note an informal rule on this blog: post only once every 24 hrs. With that caveat, we look forward to more discussion with you. I too am a man of the cloth (specifically, Turkish textiles).
Ror-
CONGRATULATIONS! Highest kudos to anyone who gets out. A better life awaits you, and while you can love yr family, keep in mind that they are basically morons. Pat them affectionately on the head, then hit the rd. When abroad, marry a local, and apply for citizenship, which shd seal the deal. Meanwhile, Schiff sounds great; pls send us some links.
Bill-
Thanks for the correction. I shall reserve my urine for Prince-worshippers, rather than Prince himself. Have you noticed that most Americans are douche bags, BTW?
al-
Why can't I meet a sexy Arab lass in a miniskirt? Allah Akbar, Insh'allah, etc.
Meanwhile, Bernie is going down in flames. His followers might as well take to the streets shouting "Feel the Berm!", inasmuch as he has as much chance of getting the nomination as I do. And I like it, that these folks will be punished for believing the US could ever move in a positive direction. Hillary's 'concessions' to him will probably be cosmetic, at best, after which he will endorse her, to his everlasting shame. But will his followers learn anything from this? Of course not. They'll just start looking around for their next liberal hero for 2020. Meanwhile, with Hillary's victory, the US will enter its Weimar phase in earnest, and somewhere, from under some rock, as the country continues to disintegrate, a new SuperTrump will crawl out, more Hitlerish than the present Trump. Mene, mene, tekel upharsin!
mb
ps: al-
ReplyDeleteI've been working on a limerick, need yr help:
There once was a lass from Kabul,
Who told me her life was quite full.
Although she was skinny
She dressed in a mini--
On our honeymoon, we ate falaful!
(Just a 1st draft)
mb
Can you imagine doing this to a child?:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/27/fit-of-rage-father-charged-with-suffocating-2-year-old-for-interrupting-computer-game/?tid=pm_pop_b
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteI recently read the following blog post (titled 'An important but hidden story that needs to be heard') by Kent Nerburn, who writes about First Nations people:
http://kentnerburn.com/an-important-but-hidden-story-that-needs-to-be-heard/
He brings to our attention a tragedy taking place in a small Native town in northern Canada where over 100 people out of a population of 2000 have attempted suicide in the last few months. The oldest was 71, the youngest, 11.
Kent goes on to say:
"As you know, I’ve spent the better part of the last three decades writing about the unseen reality — both the gifts and the tragedy — of the Native experience all across this continent. So this story hits very close to home, and I want to do what I can to open your hearts and minds to the reality that lies behind this barely-noticed string of tragic occurrences.
After many years of looking at the apparent disjunction between the putative wisdom of the Native peoples (which is very real) and the social and cultural dysfunction of the contemporary Native reality (which is also very real), I came to the hard realization that we are looking at full-blown cultural PTSD, born of the boarding and residential school experiences."
One of his books titled "The wolf at twilight" tells the story of these experiences. I have read this book and encourage all Wafers to read it. Like Kent I have come to the understanding that if (its a big if and I am not optimistic) America has any chance of a lasting healing, it will have to begin with the understanding of the current reality of First Nations people and the relationship of this reality to American history.
Best wishes,
Himanshu
I'm not surprised that an American killed his kid for interrupting a computer game. I'm waiting for the day when an American elementary schoolgirl shoots up her cafeteria for serving her chicken nuggets without honey mustard sauce, or an equally absurd event.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Bernie going down in flames, I think the polls may actually have been rigged against him in certain states, just to ensure Hillary's victory. Of course, it doesn't matter, because Bernie would have done basically the same things as Hillary and Trump if he were elected president. His recent voting record (over the last 10 years) - that is, voting with the other Democrats 99% of the time - doesn't matter to his supporters. And even if it's proven that the polls were rigged against him, progressives will never shed their unwarranted optimism concerning America's future.
As I said before, progressives' identities depend on this optimism, as do the identities of virtually all Americans. When someone's identity depends on believing something, then no amount of factual evidence can ever convince them of the truth, even if it's literally staring them in the face. Nobody can bear not having an identity; it's just too painful.
For anyone wanting more depth on Bernies image in black America
ReplyDeletehttps://m.soundcloud.com/thebrilliantidiots/hot-sauce-the-condiment-of-super-predators-ft-lil-duvall
MB: I'll see you one demented Texas gamer and raise you one moronic, self-absorbed Georgia peach.
ReplyDeleteSnapchat is a 4-year-old photo sharing and social networking site based on software developed by three Stanford University students. It's principally used for selfies, its principal demographic is young people ages 13-23, and it is available in 19 different languages.
In September 2015, an 18-year-old Georgia gal driving her Mercedes Benz--the goal of every right-thinking American, as you point out--crashed into an oncoming vehicle; the driver whose car she struck is now wheelchair-bound and in need of constant assistance.
This young lady had gotten her car to a speed approaching 107 MPH so she could take a selfie that would be tagged with her speed at the time it was taken. This "speed filter" feature of Snapchat rewards users with points I understand; what these points can be redeemed for I can't say. At a minimum a self-esteem enhancer, surely.
To top it all off, the young lady took a selfie after the accident with blood streaming down her face. She tagged it "Lucky to be alive."
Here's a link, for those wishing more details.
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/snapchat-speed-filter-led-georgia-car-crash-lawsuit-alleges-n563616
It seems like the trend is spreading outside of Japan:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/why-arent-millennials-fucking
The other trend concerning Millenials moving back to their parents' I think is a blessing in disguise. Considering one's parents of course are not *complete* douchebags, maybe it can even speed Dual Process up?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-re-0501-millennials-at-home-20160426-story.html
Kanye
People in America unknowingly live inside a small dark box. Prince, David Bowie and other pop celebrities are not musicians, they're just douchebags. Beethoven, Mozart or Tchaikovsky are musicians. One of the things that american culture never achieved was the refinement that makes that kind of rarefied air available to breathe. The latter names are incompatible with a hustling culture, which deprives the individual of the time and tedious needed to build the contemplative, thoughtful character, where the heights of philosophy, the arts or the sciences are to be found. This is outside the box for most americans. Inside the box there is only douchebaggery and money to be made.
ReplyDeleteA good one over at the Druid: http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/
ReplyDelete"This is the magic mountain of our era—a mountain of privilege whose inmates either have no idea that they’re privileged, or have convinced themselves that they deserve whatever they have and that those who don’t have the same things don’t deserve them. Far below the magic mountain, in the rest of the world, things are happening and pressures are building toward an explosion, but most of those up there in the heights haven’t noticed. It does not occur to them that there’s anything unusual about their lives, much less that some sudden turn of events could fling them down from the mountain and into a chaotic future for which most of them have made no preparations at all."
Interesting article that touches a bit upon the spirit of this blog: http://www.thenation.com/article/nietzsches-marginal-children-friedrich-hayek/
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn praise of faith and dignity.
In praise of decency and humility.
In praise of good men like these....
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16215
Tim DeChristopher had better things in life than do time in federal prison to save the futures of purple douchebags prostrated and wailing in front of Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson's shrines.
Hedges knew that America was doomed a long time ago, much before the 2003 Rockford college commencement showdown. That incident was only the death knell that announced to him that amerikans are not just ignorant but also arrogant and vile, including much of the newer generation sprouting out of the same cesspool.
In the days of lurking trollfoons and pathetic scums like Kevin O'Leary it takes tremendous moral fortitude to face unwarranted abuse with courage like Reverend Chris Hedges. To standup for one's convictions there are very few who can maintain a stoic composure under such ugly storms of insults.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAhHPIuTQ5k
Esca-
ReplyDeleteI remember that incident, but I can't see that Hedges learned much from it. He's basically a sad and confused guy, head going in one direction, heart going in the other.
mb
ps: check out the faces on this couple:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/27/there-was-no-love-in-this-kids-life-parents-fed-hot-dog-smoothies-to-starving-6-year-old-boy/?tid=pm_pop_b
Marc L. Bernstein writes:
ReplyDelete> "Gifted professor’s ‘life of the mind’ was also life of near destitution" :
> http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/gifted-teachers-life-of-the-mind-was-also-life-of-near-destitution/
I'm rather torn between a lament at the injustice, if that's what it is, and a celebration of the victims, if that's what they are, together with an observation (as I suggested on Facebook) that it has been ever thus at least since Chaucer's Clerk of Oxenford.
To be sure, the fate of the forever untenured academic gypsy represents a new nadir of heartlessness. That of your typical neighborhood tenured professor, schoolteacher, librarian, clergyman, or artist should be enough. But the reigning materialists have always delighted in consigning all those who espouse a life of the mind or spirit to shabby gentility. "You say that what you live for is superior to what we live for? Very well, we're going to make you prove it." Perhaps there is
considerable justice and instructive benefit in that challenge. Otherwise, who would ever believe them? I do find those who live lavishly on their Ph.Ds or M.Divs singularly disgusting people. Prime examples would be the televangelist, or the chancellor of a state university system whose salary dwarfs that of the governor.
Maybe we could include rock superstars in that anathema as well. The megalomanic formerly known as Prince? Haven't had much time for him, although one encomium from an unexpected source came complete with a link illustrating that the guy could indeed play.
ps2: This is gd:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/04/28/confessions-of-a-luddite-professor/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-posteverything%3Ahomepage%2Fcard
Lets not rush to judgement on Prince. There is a video floating around of him tossing Kim Kardashian off the stage a few years back. Even without context, that can't be all bad...
ReplyDeleteGreetings Wafers,
ReplyDeleteI'm just stopping in to say hello after almost a year of lurking. I wish I could have had time to keep writing in, but at least I've been able to keep up with this country's developments from time to time, thanks to this blog. Dr. Berman, you recently remarked on the supreme importance of living an authentic life, and today I was thinking about how difficult that is in the U.S., even when one makes a concerted effort. With the supersonic speed of cultural change, and all of it going in the wrong direction, one has to spend a lot of energy not getting sucked into the noise. I've been trying out a new living/work situation at this place called Camphill Village, and in many ways it's an oasis in a cultural/social desert, but sometimes I kick myself for not emigrating. The biggest problem is it is an intentional community made up almost entirely of Americans, and as you can all well imagine, that's a very big problem indeed. Some of these folks are as petty, insane, callous and stupid as your typical American. At least in the wider society you can temporarily disconnect yourself from the douchebags, but it's pretty hard to do that in a small rural community. Yet overall the benefits from moving here have been enormous—it has a good history of co-creating an authentic life. The works of Rudolf Steiner are held in very high regard, and exploring them has been a very meaningful experience. The guy seems to have been legit. Does anybody here have an opinion on him? I've read The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity as well as a number of excerpts from other books, such as the fundamental social law; the biodynamics book Culture and Horticulture by Wolf Storl; and am a few chapters into Knowledge of Higher Worlds and It's Attainment.
Vida-
ReplyDeleteBut did he pee on her shoes? That's the crucial question, it seems to me.
Meanwhile, Wafers are invited to submit essays on any of the following topics:
1. Bernie is toast.
2. Progs are morons.
3. Next Jan, the world will have the 1st political leader in all of recorded history to have Botox in her face.
mb
I find it quite interesting how progressives love Hillary's open veneration of Wall Street, as though this were compatible with a socialist political and economic system. Surely, one would think, it would be clear to them that the ethic of making as much money as possible at everyone else's expense is the polar opposite of socialism. But no...they see nothing contradictory in this, or in planning to drop cluster bombs across virtually all of the Middle East while claiming to be champion of human rights. The lesson to be learned here, I think, is that you can't inform someone who absolutely does not want to be informed. At that point, you can either choose to fight the good fight against truly hopeless odds, as Hedges is currently doing, or recognize that literally nothing you do will make a difference, and plan the rest of your life accordingly (Berman's path).
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Botox issue is concerned, appearance means literally everything to Americans. They cant understand the difference between public speeches and public policy. If Hillary's face is smooth and spotless, and she speaks in a clear and gentle manner, her motivations must also have these qualities. For them, there is literally nothing beyond what one can physically see, and no time except the present moment. As Christopher Lasch noted in The Minimal Self, in America, space and time have shrunk to a single point - the self in the present moment - with disastrous consequences. We're seeing those consequences play out in America in the worst possible way.
"3. Next Jan, the world will have the 1st political leader in all of recorded history to have Botox in her face"
ReplyDeleteYou must be going by the American rule that we can't acknowledge that a Muslim country like Pakistan had a female leader, and are therefore forgetting that Benazir Bhutto (Harvard educated!) had botox treatments. I kid of course, obscure factoid. Unlike Hillary, she had the decency to acknowledge it publicly.
Awkward segue - I feel like Pakistan is the ghost of America future. Their elite, faced with its inability to defeat India militarily and its stagnant economy, resorted to nuclear blackmail, support of terrorism, and justified its continued rule by pandering to religious lunatics. The result was a state whose only relevance on the world stage was to cause trouble, and a state whose central authority was unchallengeable but far too dysfunctional to govern most of the country. Sound familiar?
@ab - Sorry, but in my book cultural snobbery is just another form of douchebaggery. Both David Bowie and Prince went out of their way to record experimental, noncommerical music in defiance of the expectations of their fans, which is exactly the opposite of what the hustling culture advocates. Looking down your nose at everything you don't like or agree with is not an attractive quality in anyone, not even a WAFer.
ReplyDelete@MB - the WP story you posted is one of the most horrifying I've read in awhile. Bite marks on the two-year old's neck? What, did he try to eat her after he strangled her? And that mugshot photo. That is one of the most disgusting human beings I've ever seen.
@James Allen - digging a bit deeper into that awful story you posted I noted that it doesn't say anything about whether that horrible woman was prosecuted for her crime. Hmmm--teenager driving daddy's Mercedes, permanently injures one man, almost kills three of her coworkers, one of whom was pregnant--sounds like another affluenza defense to me!
"Next Jan, the world will have the 1st political leader in all of recorded history to have Botox in her face."
ReplyDeleteActually, I think Silvio Berlusconi won this one.
hillarys mouth reminds me of
ReplyDeletehttp://fc09.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/022/9/c/Mouth_of_Sauron_by_DeviantGreen.jpg
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02831/Clinton1web_2831249b.jpg
Kanye-
ReplyDeleteGood news americans are fucking less. From a 2010 census:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253421/1-3-US-children-live-father-according-census-number-parent-households-decreases-1-2-million.html
MB-
Trump is it. We're now at Trump 2.0 and there gonna be important version updates in the future and on the way to the White House. Unlike Hillary, who will destroy the world, Trump will destroy the US only. When people as egotistic as him reach power convinced that they'll turn things great again, but reality relentless moves events in the opposite direction, they become very evil because the ego cannot be satisfied and at the same time cannot admit to failure. Many think he's a sort of pre-fascist candidate, a sign of things to come, but I think is it. Mussolini's and Hitler's speeches can be found on Youtube before each of them got to power in their respective countries and they were much more moderate than Trump is being today. Trump has a lust for grandeur and Hillary a lust for power. Although both perfect hustlers, I would admit that Hillary wins the price for manifesting more nothingness. The spectacle of a (yet) nation that apparently can't come up with nothing better, not even for the presidency. They could both wear black ties on the debates for the country that once was. Rest in peace US.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteMB, Wafers-
A good friend of mine died suddenly at age 53 of a heart attack Wednesday morning, It was completely unexpected. He left behind four great kids, an amazing wife, and thousands of former students over the yrs. An all-around great guy, and I'll miss him a helluva lot. I'll be away from the blog for a while, I fear. Take care everybody.
Miles
ReplyDelete"Symbols for symbol minded people." -George Carlin
Your choice of First Bimbo for 'The Best Little W.H in Amerika'.
http://www.truthdig.com/cartoon/item/wag_the_bill_20160410
http://nuvouxmag.com/2016/03/british-gq-republished-melania-trump-shoot-in-march-that-group-used-for-meme/
"He can trust her to take her birth control every day,...". She takes her responsibility seriously, just like Amerika.
http://www.gq.com/story/melania-trump-gq-interview
Akmal-
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post, but in future pls send messages to most recent post. No one reads the old stuff. Thank you.
Jeff-
Sorry to hear that. Do what you hafta do.
Bill-
If you look into that guy's face, you'll see the future of America.
Desert Fox-
Re: Bhutto: I stand corrected (and also for Berlusconi, apparently).
Jim-
Well, if enough people emigrate, it *will* make a difference. (Here's hoping) Plus, I do think that providing an analysis/archive of American dysfunction--why we failed--is a worthwhile thing to do. (Most Americans don't care, but some do.) Also note that Berman's path, unlike Hedges', includes a strong dose of humor, and man, that's no small thing.
ate-
Re: authentic life: check out my latest novel, "The Man Without Qualities." As for Steiner: kind of a weird dude, but one with some great ideas. I enjoyed all of those bks you mentioned, when in my 30s, and did some of his meditations. Just don't stay with him forever, is my rec.
Meanwhile, I was thinking of 2 quotes from Gore Vidal recently, and applying it to the progs. He said: "Americans never learn; it's part of our charm", and "Stupidity excites me." You watch the progs flinging their heads against a brick wall, sitting there dizzy for a while, then getting up and doing it again. So 1st, they rave abt Obama, and get their heads bashed in. Next, it's Bernie; same result. And what will they do in 2020? More of the same! Instead of realizing that there is something inherent in the system that is dysfunctional and self-destructive, they will find a Schmernie, and rave about *him* ("Feel the Schmern!"). Etc. There simply is no wake-up moment for progs, and personally, I love it. Really, it's almost as gd as Botox.
mb
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Botox, much ado is being made of Strumpf's "presidential" comments these days. Donzo's been socking it to his opponents, present and future, and mocking their pretensions on what it takes to appear presidential.
What's remarkable is that he's correct in his analysis, such as it is. He identified the essential superficiality of politicians, yet is being criticised by those who ought to agree with him. Last night, fake TV news guy and minor comedic talent Trevor Noah, in his new rôle as shill for Hillary Clinton, asked if this is all that Trump thinks it takes to be presidential - doing things like looking somber in the face of grave situations, etc.
Well, yes, that's about all that is needed to hold high office any more, Trevor. Noah's critique of Trump pretty well described everything that B. Obama has done in the last eight years (which is little more than striking the right pose in public, and not much else), and mocked it as he applied it to El Donzo.
We Canadians aren't in any better situation, as our new prime minister, Margaret Trudeau's kid in case anyone forgot, is about the same. Government-by-selfie is the hallmark of our current régime.
As for another branch of popular culture and striking the right poses, David Bowie (not his real name) always struck me as being a con artist, engaged in selling "rebellion product."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/draft/2016/04/28/laremy-tunsil-video-marijuana-twitter-nfl-draft/83678590/
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfectly depressing picture of American life. There's so much insanity here, let's try to make a list.
1. Paying illiterate 22 year old billions of dollars to... block in football.
2. The expectation that the recipients of such largess are going to go home and watch the BCC's "Civilization" series after practice. When somebody's entire life and education has revolved around football, of what other sort of pleasures do you expect them to partake?
3. The kneejerk reaction of the new digital savage to "social media" images. Keep in mind that this is setting terrifying precedent. Your life may be determined by contextless or doctored images.
4. The pretense that this man was a student, or did any studying.
5. The pretense that sports stars are supposed to kill each other like modern gladiators but behave like repressed accountants in their normal life.
6. The idea that this is supposed to be everybody's business everywhere.
7. Finally, the idea that he shouldn't take rent and utility money from a system he's giving himself over to 100 percent.
The athlete is the perfect microcosm of the trapped American. Total abuse and disenfranchisement for the hope of tiny, empty glory. And the capture of what is organic and natural, sport, into an insane system of professionalization.
I tell people all the time- when the government destroys itself, look to your local NFL team for leadership. These are the only universal values above any kind of challenge.
Yes, Muslim culture is brutal toward women, but European culture is brutal towards foreigners in ways unparalleled by any other culture except American culture.
ReplyDeleteI don’t have any illusions about European benevolence in the historical record, but I don’t find the crimes of Europeans or Americans to really be all that unique in the context of history, much less unparalleled. And anyone who thinks the history of the Muslim world is devoid of brutality has an awful lot to learn. But then again, a tendency to fetishize victims of Western imperialism is another disease my brethren on the Left tend to suffer from.
In any event, it’s all really misguided. The Germans are not going to atone for the Holocaust by mindlessly letting in migrants who exhibit a mentality straight out of the 13th century and have no interest in integrating. Nor are the Belgium’s going to lay King Leopold’s Ghost to rest by engaging in the same. Western culture, for all its flaws has a lot to be proud of. That honor killings are wrong and recognized as such, that women are equal and should be treated as such, that killing unbelievers is not only illegal but discredited as an idea, that church and state are separate and we shouldn’t be held to the plagiarized ramblings of an illiterate merchant warlord pedophile, that the free expression of ideas should be protected. It is high time to recognize the fight that is going on, and that Western ideals are worth defending. All ideals that, at one time, the left worked hard to defend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVa4ERqz97o
Morris,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, your work does make a difference. When I started reading your work, I was already aware that America was irreversibly headed down the tubes, but what your work did was explain exactly why this is so. It also helped me make the decision to eventually emigrate (I currently don't have the funds for it, but I'll keep trying to amass them). And yes, a strong dose is humor is necessary to provide relief in these troubling times; even friendship and community aren't enough by themselves. I was speaking in terms of America's overall trajectory - and we all agree here that nothing could ever make a difference there.
As far as humor is concerned, I'm currently working on a humorous book consisting of fictitious, but entirely believable, Facebook trends that poke fun at everything in American culture - especially the most asinine celebrities and political leaders. For example, check this one out:
*Michelle Bachmann: "This country stands up for justice morality, wherever America goes the world must do exactly as we say, what we say goes without saying, Russia is the world's humanitarian enemy, we must lead the fight of nations, the light of the world, we embrace our American culture of values, the values that must be passed down to our forefathers, with great liberty and great justice!"
It'll be done within a year; I just need to find a publisher.
Following up on Diogenes' post I highly recommend "Run Ricky Run", a documentary about a star running back who left the NFL in his prime, partially because of a failed drug test, but more generally because the sport and the insane culture around it had left him an empty shell of a person. As with the events described by Diogenes, a perfect metaphor for the destructiveNess of our culture.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Russia and China announced they're working together to counter us influence in the Pacific while ash Carter and John McCain shake sticks and yell at clouds. Remember when an aging George Kennan declared that NATO's eastward expansion was basically going to undo all the geopolitical gains of the cold war? It's happening before our eyes.
Yet another "Face of America" to join baby biter Anthony Michael Sanders:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/texas-man-smashed-martini-glass-into-womans-face-after-she-told-him-to-stop-grinding-on-her/
Note the "yeah I smashed a martini glass in the b**ch's face, what about it?" smirk on his mug. Like the baby biter, this douchebag is from Texas.
Or if that guy isn't to your taste, how about these three female cretins:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/5-year-old-dead-and-brother-badly-injured-in-abuse-case-so-horrific-that-cops-needed-counseling/
Key quote from the story: Police said the boys’ mother, 26-year-old Theresa Hawkins-Stephens, and two other women wrapped the children in blankets and beat them over a 22-hour period inside the motel room after one of the boys stole some food. “(It was) nothing short of torture,” said one detective.
Everything sucks. On that we can all agree. What I find interesting is the recent rapid increase of writers agreeing with me that things are society's fault and not just "the blah blah individual is depressed and should take Prozac." This daily onslaught of writers standing up for their personhood, and against escapism and meds, has really surprised me lately. Is anyone else noticing a rapidly rising conversion-to-waferdom rate this year? Example:
ReplyDeleteIT'S SOCIETY, NOT BIOLOGY, THAT IS MAKING MEN MORE SUICIDAL
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11430096/Its-society-not-biology-that-is-making-men-more-suicidal.html
Of course, certain thinkers' rapid increase in society-blaming in no way makes our sorry-ass lives any less empty.
Another Horror Show:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rt.com/usa/341416-texas-toddler-chained-abuse/
Bill-
(i) Attractiveness is a concern of lesser beings, not Wafers in their majesty. Kim Kardashian is attractive.
(ii) America has produced some cultural snobbery, mainly in literature: Twain, Emerson, Steinbeck, Hemingway, etc. They are known in other countries all around the world.
(iii) Bowie is comutter train music. I throw my feces at him.
DioGenes-
"look to your local NFL team for leadership"
Can't wait for the american enlightenment.
ReplyDelete"I am from Hakimwala village. I spent my whole life here. Sharif is my name; I am the "son of the whole village". I help [my village folks]..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwLgLDOVJdQ
A Question of Values : Unlike the western culture where you hear "may I help you" everywhere -which is actually when the interloper is positioning to hustle, in Sharif's world "help" is given for free. Otherwise it is not help. (rsuusa, this answers your Q)
I was training a newly arrived engineer from Pakistan at work when he asked me a curious question that only a non-amerikan would ponder. He asked me why colleagues whenever they mentioned a friend they always qualified it with a "ing", what he called "ing-friend". A question like that had never occurred to me, so on further enquiry he explained that it seemed to him that Amerikans simply can't say that "he/she is my friend" but had to substantiate it with the specific purpose for such relationship, like "she is my hiking friend," "he is my biking friend," ... skiing, golfing, drinking friend, etc. [I add f'king-friend to that list]. "Sharif" hailed from a remote panjabi village. Albeit eloquent in communication his english was kitchen-english with a heavy accent for which fellow engineers sharply admonished him to "speak english". Sharif was extremely bright and although he appeared an introvert his power of observation was uncanny both in engineering design as well as of life's nuances. Whenever he returned from vacation he brought sweets for the whole staff. He smiled a lot and sometimes stood too close to amerikans in the building elevator for which he got disturbed looks from the other. Once he scared a colleague to a heart-attack when he hugged him in a moment of unrestrained excitement. The poor gringo may have been hugged for the first time in his life so his reaction was understandable.
What puzzled Sharif the most is why coworkers tell him and each other "have a nice day" and ask "how was your weekend" when they really cared less. I warned him that if he was ever told "bye-bye" followed by a "now" that meant hustling has been accomplished, now get the f'k out.
America Was Founded on Secrets and Lies
ReplyDeleteEspionage, kidnapping, and the dark art of spycraft is as American as George Washington.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/15/george-washington-spies-lies-executive-power/
pl-
ReplyDeleteOnly one post every 24 hrs, je vous en prie.
mb
mille excuses, maurice -- mes postes (mot français ?) étaient si cours que j'ai oublié que j'en avais écrit deux. je voudrais contribuer d'avantage à votre blog (que je trouve plutôt genial), mais je vis encore ce cauchemar créé par un pervers narcissique et plus de 25 avocats depuis plusieurs années... même si cela va en diminuant. d'ailleurs, je pensais introduire le sujet de la sociopathie à votre blog en forme de question: est-ce possible qu'un pays entier puisse souffrir d'une maladie mentale? à bientôt par écrit, patrick
DeleteMorris Berman wrote:
ReplyDelete> check out the faces on this couple:
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/27/there-was-no-love-in-this-kids-life-parents-fed-hot-dog-smoothies-to-starving-6-year-old-boy/?tid=pm_pop_b
Not that I have any sympathy at all with those parents. But while you're at it, check out the comments from the hoi polloi. They want the teachers punished, too, for not noticing sooner. They want scarlet letters burned into foreheads. They want summary justice in kangaroo courts. They want the death penalty... Whereas the parents called the boy a demon, commenters call the parents monsters in human form. You have to wonder how much difference there really is between the convicts and the cheerleaders for the prosecution.
If you've seen the movie Frailty, what do you think was the attitude of the moviemakers towards the father's belief that some people are not real people but demons, and that his angelically appointed mission was to exterminate them single-handedly? I've wondered about this many times. My initial opinion was that the film was meant as a reductio ad absurdam of certain heresies as such, in that traditional Christian faith obviously does not allow such a distinction or commission such assasins. But if that was the intent, it has escaped most of the reviewers in IMDB, who accept the premise. Could the film's creators have so overestimated the sophistication of their audience, or have I overestimated the integrity of their own position?
I was o.k. with capital punishment until the advent of cyberspace put the sanctimonious, seething bloodlust of my fellow citizens on display for the world to see, with their full co-operation. Such are the sentiments underlying the death penalty where it exists. These semiliterate screeds did more to change my mind than all the erudition of gentle philosophers and theologians.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteThe fact is that Americans are abs. wonderful people:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/04/30/brutal-shocking-and-cruel-woman-gets-100-years-for-cutting-fetus-from-another-womans-womb/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_pn-fetus-1107am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
mb
Christian,
ReplyDeleteYour stereotyping of Muslim migrants is morally repugnant. I have known many of them, and to be sure, some of them exhibited a 13th century attitude, but most were actually honorable and loving people, with only a trace of the primitive attitude you abhor. No ethnic or religious group can be accurately stereotyped in the way that you're attempting to do.
In addition, it's absurd to suggest that near-total genocide of three whole continents has a historical parallel. The closest thing (that we know of) to that was Genghis Khan's genocide, and that was confined to Europe and Asia, and didn't come anywhere close to a near-total genocide on either of those continents. In any event, Genghis Khan was perfectly happy to let conquered people live as long as the men joined his army (and many city-states decided to do exactly this). In contrast, the European settlers usually set out to kill all natives they encountered, without giving them the opportunity to simply exist as a conquered people.
Your "superior", "civilized" Europe (including your own country) is currently engaged in some ethnic cleansing in the Middle East. Before condemning migrants - most of whom became homeless because of what your country (and other European countries) did, and continue to do - as savages, why not attend to Europe's affairs first, and stop inflicting brutality on the Middle East? If an individual or a country is currently engaged in a protracted genocide, it has no right to condemn others as savages, even if those people are deeply flawed.
@MB - that horrific fetus cutting story isn't even the first time something like that has happened. About 20 years ago, the same thing happened in Chicago:
ReplyDeletehttp://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/02/15/new-trial-for-man-convicted-of-killing-family-cutting-baby-from-womb/
Meanwhile, a bunch of warmhearted souls (read: coldhearted douchebags) working for the state of New Mexico were caught falsifying food stamp applications in order to make sure needy families would not receive assistance:
http://krqe.com/2016/04/29/state-workers-admit-to-falsifying-food-assistance-data/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link
As a large segment of the population inside the [Washington] Beltway basks in the afterglow of the most recent White House Correspondents dinner, I see the hopelessness of the situation even more clearly. Correspondents--journalists* of a sort, I suppose--rub elbows with movie stars and embrace politicians as they would their own BFFs. Phone cameras get a real workout, and attendees adopt red carpet poses, turning left and right in response to shouted requests from an army of photographers there to record the spectacle for posterity.
ReplyDeleteI tend to mix things in my mind to an increasingly greater degree these days, so when this dinner rolls around each year, I think back to a similar occasion: the March 2004 Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner, a different event, where the keynote speaker was President George W. Bush. Before a packed house, he narrated a slide show being projected behind him. You probably remember it. The slides showed him inside the Oval Office, seemingly engaged in a search for something important. Sample quotes: "Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere." Or "Nope, no weapons over there." And "Maybe under here.:"
Everyone--well, a disgustingly large number, apparently--got a laugh out of that, I can tell ya. None of whom likely had a child whose life was affected by the events being suggested in the president's remarks.
So whenever the White House Correspondents Dinner rolls around, I see these people as George Carlin saw them: members of a big club, and "You ain't in it."
*The Sage of Baltimore would no doubt have another term to describe these folks.
ReplyDelete“WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?” -Sign on a mega box church.
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/may/01/megachurches-christianity-lisa-anne-auerbach-photography-america
Who wouldn't like to spend eternity with these fine folks?
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/depressing-survey-results-show-how-extremely-stupid-america-has-become
Esca,
ReplyDeleteIt is always interesting to notice in small ways how a non-American thinks. I was joking with my Vietnamese girlfriend. I told her that I was going to hear a Beethoven concert but I didn't understand why I had to pay money since Beethoven had died. Without a thought she said that the money was probably going to Beethoven's family, reflecting the importance of family in Vietnamese culture. Of course, a native born American would give some mechanical answer.
Doctor,
Yes, at least in Phila., teachers can be punished for not noticing something strange. And by strange I'm referring to a student who,for example, appears to be sleepy or wears the same clothes 2 or 3 days in a row. Failure to report such egregious behavior can result in some form of discipline.
Kanye,
Get ready for the great betrayal. Bernie is being pressured to run as head of the Green Party, where all or most of his supporters would go if he chose to run. A million to one he declines since as I said a few times already, Bernie was picked as this year's sheepdog, giving progressives the hope that the Democratic Party is still open to serious social change. In fact, a few articles in Counterpunch suggest that mainstream Democrats deliberately fund progressive politics (so long as they stay within the Democratic orbit) again, to give the illusion that the party is all inclusive. Hey, the guy was always a fraud. He supports the drone campaign and has backed Israel in all its aggressions. Wow- he said Palestinians should be treated with dignity! What a breakthrough!
Morris,
ReplyDeletethanks for the advice. Steiner certainly had some incredible words of wisdom, and what he claimed to see as a clairvoyant fascinates me. I'm still trying to figure out to what extent I should take his writing literally, and what was actually metaphor.
Speaking of weird, David Bowie. Not that his music is all that relevant to this blog (although his post-mortem idolization certainly is—he would have agreed, and he repeatedly ridiculed people's obsession with him while he was still alive), but I think he was an absolutely amazing artist. I recommend the albums Low and Aladdin Sane to any doubters, two of the most creative rock albums that I'm aware of. Bill Hicks, I agree that he thought of his music as much more than just a product. I doubt he was thinking much about record sales when he wrote the albums Scary Monsters and Outside.
Judging from the Facebook posts I've seen this past few weeks, the transgender/bathroom issue is a huge deal right now. I recommend doing away with bathrooms entirely so these fools can excrete on each other's shoes, solid waste and all.
https://medium.com/@robinalperstein/on-becoming-anti-bernie-ee87943ae699#.mj33dg3bp
ReplyDeleteAnti-Bernie. Don't care about the program Hilary moments but great points on how Bern is no different
Dan -
ReplyDeleteI think the role of the Democratic Party in the last century has been to secure the domestic front with liberal reform to assure that an aggressive foreign policy can continue unabated, a contradiction which led to the nervous breakdown of the left during LBJ's tenure. Even Jimmy Carter, who may have been sincere in his search for a more meaningful and peaceful America, was in practice a front for Zbigniew Brzezinski to roll back detente and launch an aggressive new Cold War offensive strategy, supporting the Mujahidin. Of course, the substantive nature of the liberal reform offered shrank dramatically with the rise of Clinton and the New Democrats.
So, while Bernie's rather aggressive foreign policy may seem like a contradiction with his more liberal domestic agenda, it is merely a return to Cold War liberalism. While the business interests are certainly lined up behind Hillary, I have no doubt that the military would happily go along with Bernie or a similar candidate if they somehow managed to outmaneuver the establishment candidate.
pl-
ReplyDeleteOui, sans doute. Mais many sociologists have already written about this, so it ain't no big surprise, really.
mb
Alogon,
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Americans generally think that brutality is the all-purpose solution in life. They believe that when something goes wrong, it must be the result of some malevolence conspiracy, and large numbers of people need to be killed. It never occurs to them that many problems are nobody's fault, like natural disasters, epidemics, unforeseen problems with well-intentioned plans, etc. It also never occurs to them that thoughtfulness, kindness and self-restraint might actually be very effective approaches to problem-solving.
I'm beginning to understand that Americans, generally speaking, don't even know what kindness is. They view it as a mask one wears to get people to purchase products, but don't understand the significance of what that mask pretends to be. The only emotions most Americans seem to understand are hatred, greed, fear, envy, scorn, and arrogance. For them, good and evil are masks and labels people use to get what they want. Nothing they say is heartfelt, and nothing they do is meant to establish or maintain genuine interpersonal relationships. Literally everything is done to acquire money, fame, status and power. As Esca pointed out, Americans having biking friends, hiking friends, running friends, swimming friends, and work friends, but not plain old genuine friends.
Jim-
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a gd summary of the Dale Carnegie program. Only in America!
mb
My new heroes:
ReplyDelete"A pair of self proclaimed Lompoc psychics pleaded guilty Friday to scamming two women out of $244,800.
Gina Lucyfenia Lee, 29, and Anthony Lee Davis, 29, convinced the two women that their money was possessed by evil spirits. The victims then gave the money to Lee and Davis for a cleansing, with the understanding it would be returned."
http://calcoastnews.com/2016/05/psychics-claim-cash-possessed-con-victims/?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link
Only in America could two people dumb enough to believe that their nearly quarter-million in cash was possessed by evil spirits would somehow come into possession of that much dough in the first place.
Bill-
ReplyDeleteAlmost as gd as Lorenzo Riggins. We must have the highest % of mental defects in the known world.
mb
This is also gd:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/01/toddlers-have-shot-at-least-23-people-this-year/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_pn-11yearold-1001am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
A young douche bag in action:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/05/01/he-started-crying-like-a-little-baby-11-year-old-brags-about-shooting-suspected-home-invader/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_pn-11yearold-1001am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
mb
Steve Lendman on May day ---
ReplyDeletehttp://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2016/05/sunday-is-may-day.html
"America more resembles Guatemala than the land of the free and home of the brave - a thirdworldized banana republic, a democracy in name only, a police state on a fast track toward full-blown tyranny."
Marc-
ReplyDeleteAll we need is a torture regime, and we're home! Meanwhile, I'm enjoying all these articles in the media (including alt. media) on how Bernie might salvage his campaign. It's amazing, that 99.9% of the American public think that anything can get changed via electoral politics. Why don't they all just form the Utter Doofus Party (UDP), and be done with it?
mb
MB -
ReplyDeleteWas just reading about May Day protests in Seattle. Some of the comments on message boards are awful. I don't know about these protests, but I'm guessing I'd generally agree w/ the people out there. I'm always amazed how quick people are to call protesters losers and idiots, but totally ignore the effect industrial life has on sanity and nature.
"The only day of the year where I think a little overuse of force by the PD would be ok."
"They only serve to be a pestilence on society. Mosquitoes get swatted."
"Pathetic that businesses have to worry about these losers"
"Better than letting smelly leftists/anarchists destroying them"
"I used to work with many small business owners in Seattle. fuck those mayday guys."
Most americans will live and die:
ReplyDelete- without ever having felt true friendship, love or compassion,
- Without ever having contemplated a work of art,
- without ever having listened to good music,
- Without ever having read a good book,
- without ever having been capable of indvidual thinking
- without ever having noticed anything beyond themselves
And ultimately without ever having had any money. And so on.
plbodden-
https://www.rt.com/viral/340249-france-lsd-penis-window/
ReplyDeleteChristian, Your fear of the savage non-white is natural, a aversion of the unfamiliar, but it pales in comparison to what the Tainos faced when they encountered Columbus's dogs, the blacks when they were lynched or the Congolese whose hands were chopped off by their white overlords for not fulfilling the rubber quota. In sheer body count alone, starting the crusades through colonization n slavery to the 2 WWs, the atrocities committed by the whites has no parallels in history. The only difference this time is that the Middle Easterns are a martial race befitting to compete with the europeans in science, philosophy, art, literature and yes, warfare and blood-letting. They are very unlike the native americans, the aborigines of australia, black africans or caribe indians who took it lying down -and that scares you and many whites in Europe and occupied colored lands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FBUEfdPDOQ
http://withoutsanctuary.org/main.html
Your excuse, "Germans are not going to atone for the Holocaust by mindlessly letting in migrants who exhibit [] no interest in integrating. Nor are the Belgium’s going to lay King Leopold’s Ghost to rest by engaging in the same". What you imply is that the debt can't be repaid. The "Mustache of Understanding" Friedman said worse, "well suck on this". That's why Don Henley in his song Hotel California poetically reminded of Nemesis, "you can check-out any time you like, but you can never leave!". The whites would like to conveniently checkout of the 3rd world they ransacked n trashed but it's Nemesis who holds the keys to the gate. They can "stab with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast". Their biggest bombs and their tallest walls won't stop the consequences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwFaSpca_3Q
Pop "philosophers" Slavoj Zizek could never match the congruity of Krishnamurthy much less pass the stress test like Socrates. Slavoj's yanking on his nose is representative of his OCD "savage anxiety", the white man's SA. Now he wants to preempt Nemesis with his smart rhetorics.
http://billmoyers.com/episode/american-indians-confront-racism/
Chief Seattle,1854 speech, "The end of living and the beginning of survival".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jtfzDaBZ3o
Dr. MB and all Wafers Worldwide:
ReplyDeleteThanks to the Washington Post for keeping score, according to this article posted on May 1, toddlers( aged 1 to 3 yrs ) have shot 23 people in America this year! Great to see the young ones exercising their constitutional rights to bear arms.
It's all here :
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/01/toddlers-have-shot-at-least-23-people-this-year/?tid=pm_business_pop_b
Morris,
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the day that Trump, or whoever succeeds him as America's biggest pile of shit, declares war on friendship and community as a form of Communism. "Never again will we let people become friends, for we shall stamp out Communism wherever we find it!" Maybe they should make smiling and shaking hands illegal as well, except when employed in business meetings or advertisements, or as a reaction to someone else's misfortune. The worst crimes will, of course, be hugging and kissing; engaging in either one of these heinous crimes will be punished with a slow, painful death.
Americans can only stand united in support of policies that cause division and social strife. Otherwise, they literally cannot agree on anything, as the incident about naming that school in Austin, Texas clearly demonstrates. Trivial occurrences and meaningless gibberish are more than enough to turn Americans against one another. I predict that one day, there will be a civil war between Americans that love Kim Kardashian more than Kanye West, and those that love Kanye West more than Kim Kardashian. If the upcoming civil war isn't ignited by this difference of opinion, it will be fought over something even more trivial.
And this is the culture that believes itself to be infinitely superior to all others. LOLOLOLOLOL!!!
trout-
ReplyDeleteFor a long time now, I have advocated distributing AK-47's to toddlers. This wd solve a lot of problems, when you think abt it.
mb
Esca Dreg,
ReplyDeleteYou are probably giving way to much credit to whites and your note frames too much in terms of racism (against whites). The Aztecs relished large orgies of murder of their own and the surrounding tribes for no real reason. The Japanese in China and in Korea where noted for their blood lust and violence. Mao did a knock down job of killing millions (50-80 million) of people and numbers wise putting the Nazis' and Soviets to shame. the Rwandan genocide, Pol Pot, the predations of the Papuans, etc, etc, etc.. Whites do not have a monopoly on violence--its a human thing.
Check out DemocracyNow today for a birds eye view into the life of Dan Berrigan who died recently. Against all odds I still believe in this kind of life and point of view. Cynicism and narcissism it seems to me breeds more of the same.
ReplyDeleteMarianne
M-
ReplyDeleteOf course it made sense to oppose the war in Vietnam. It had a real impact on ending our involvement there.
mb
The advice to immigrate is well taken. But how? It seems like every country in the world doesn't want new citizens that are not doctors, engineers, or tech workers.
ReplyDeleteIf you have credentials in education or the humanities, good luck. These credentials are worthless outside of the tiny ghettos of American experience.
I'm hoping I am admitted to a grad program in Canada, but then this is also very financially difficult. If you haven't spent years grooming the fake perfect transcript and begging for money from all powerful foundations, you are cut off the loop and won't be getting scholarship money. This is what happened to me, after I took *gasp* a few gap years in college after doing very poorly and hating my first few years.
I am envious of Boomers who could still get out with relative ease. Like somebody else said here, all you have here is your image, and without a paper perfect image most of the immigration vessels are closed.
I suppose that you just need to be willing to accept American debt to leave and check on its status in five years or so, because the gates are very closed for the U 30 crowd. I even remember meeting older college profs who spent decades or more trying to game the grant system for a ticket to Europe.
I mentioned last week I would be preaching on Reenchantment of the World. The text to the sermon is at http://revjoshpawelek.org/once-upon-a-time-we-were-together/.
ReplyDeleteI assume this is not new content for many in this community, but I am seeking any constructive criticism anyone has to offer, as I want to continue preaching from the books of Morris!
Another day another shooting in the greatest country in the world! This time in a church no less!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/churchgoer-killed-fight-seat-sunday-service-article-1.2618098
French-
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Americans are so stupid.
Dio-
No, it ain't easy, but it can be done. We discussed ways and means on this blog yrs ago, so I don't want to rehash that list; but perhaps some other Wafers might help you out.
Reverend-
I enjoyed yr sermon. I'm sure yr congregation will as well. A few notes:
1. WAF was actually published in 2011.
2. I am, in fact, an optimist, tho not for the US, and not in the short term. But I think things will be very different 30-40 yrs from now, and (I'm hoping) better; esp. for Europe, Asia, Latin America. I expect the US to implode, and urge everyone I can to hit the rd b4 it's too late.
3. A short while ago the Pope came out in favor of native cultures, saying we must recapture their wisdom. I'm generally not big on popes, but this guy Francis reminds me of Angelo Roncalli (John 23). We need to examine our 'superiority' more closely: we can send a man to walk on the moon but can't walk down the sts. of Detroit or Chicago late at night w/o looking over our shoulder. Some superiority.
Knock 'em dead, chico-
mb
Esca, there is nothing in your post of any real relevance to anything I posted. .
ReplyDeleteYou guys shd probably declare a truce, move on to other topics. Meanwhile, latest polling results show that if election were held today, Hillary (aka Plastic Fantastic) wd beat Trump by a mere 6.7%. Is the gap closing? Dare a man hope? Dare he dream?
ReplyDeletemb
Larry Wilmore is my hero of the day. Here are a couple of the jokes he laid on the douchebag-in-chief at the Wankers (ahem) White House correspondent's dinner:
ReplyDelete“I saw you hanging out with NBA players like Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors. That was cool. You know, it kind of makes sense too, because both of you like raining down bombs on people from long distances.”
“I just got a note from the president saying that if you want another drink you should order it now because the bar will be closing down. Of course, he said the same thing about Guantanamo so you have at least another eight years.”
Of course, in retaliation for raising a little sliver of truth in his jokes, the douchebag correspondents all have their collective undies in a knot because Wilmore had the audacity to call Obama a modified version of the n-word as he closed his remarks.
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=25497693&postID=2386355101266242794
Another poll just came out yesterday:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rt.com/usa/341625-trump-leads-clinton-poll/
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/04/america-tyranny-donald-trump.html
ReplyDeleteAndrew Sullivan on "America is a breeding ground for tyranny" Kind of nice to see long-form (7500 word) essays still read, too.
You guys shd probably declare a truce, move on to other topics.
ReplyDeleteFair enough.
Is the gap closing? Dare a man hope? Dare he dream?
Oh I think it's more than a dream at this point. What is really interesting is the number of Sanders voters that are now defecting to Trump. Is it out of hatred for Hillary or is something else going on?
http://www.infowars.com/new-aol-poll-shows-nearly-half-of-sanders-supporters-might-switch-to-trump/
M,
ReplyDeleteI agree Berrigan's involvement in the Vietnam anti war movement made a huge difference. And after the war he remained engaged in the community for years by caring for AIDS patients. This I feel has contributed to the Vatican's softening and more welcoming attitude toward gays in the church.Those with a passion to contribute to the common good may not bring about systemic changes but they are vital in keeping us human and engaged in life.
Maury, as you said earlier it is important that you chronicle the collapse of the US empire. This is your passion and at the same time you've said repeatedly it's not going to stop the collapse...but you continue doing it anyway. Marianne
thdig’s Chris Hedges calls the late Daniel Berrigan a “fine poet” and “prolific writer of radical theology,” and he argues that despite the Jesuit priest’s high-profile activism, “perhaps his most important contribution was as a writer.”
M-
ReplyDeleteWell, the danger of getting too excited abt anything Hedges or Amy Goodman tell you is the indiscriminate nature of their political activity/outlook. It's easy to fall into that trap, that we must fight all the evils in the world, and that the obstacles involved are somehow the same; or if not, that we shd ignore this fact, because ultimately it's the gesture that counts. This is not very intelligent, really.
I mentioned my admiration for Berrigan because he had a clear, specific target, and was successful with it. In a case like the VN war, it made sense. I also demonstrated, got tear gassed, refused to pay phone tax (under threat of jail) specifically designated for the war, etc., because, again, this protest made sense, had a clear objective.
But Hedges and Amy and most of the progs are not very astute in terms of political discrimination or historical analysis. There's Evil, and we must fight it, end of story. Unless yr into symbolic gestures, there are cases where you are wasting your time and energy, and defeating the American empire falls into that category. Lumping everything into Evil and then organizing yr life around battling it feels gd, of course, but it's an easy path, really, and kinda dumb, imo. This hardly describes Dan Berrigan.
You also misunderstand what I'm doing in my work. I'm not trying to *halt* the collapse of America; on the contrary, I look forward to it, which I don't think is too far off anymore, if the rise of Trump is any indication. All I'm trying to do is provide an archive of why we failed; perhaps the Chinese might learn something from this (WAF is now in Mandarin). Actually, Hedges and Amy are doing pretty much the same thing--providing an archive or database--but they fool themselves into believing that they are laying the groundwork for revolution, or some such nonsense. They are confused, in short; self-deluded. Given the realities of the situation, wh/they ignore, my own goals are a lot more modest, and a lot more specific. I'm not "doing it anyway," as you claim; this misses the mark completely. Please don't put me in their camp, in terms of motive. Nor do I think, as you implied earlier, that I am a narcissist or a cynic. If you believe that, you certainly haven't understood my work, or what I've been doing all these yrs.
Berrigan,as I said, was not confused. He was out to end our involvement in VN, and along with a # of other protesters, he helped to move things in that direction (there were, of course, many other factors involved). That he chose to care for AIDS patients later on is fine, esp. for a priest, but he hardly thought that constituted opposing Evil, or the System. He was hardly in Hedges' category, as far as I can see--much to his credit.
mb
Morris,
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said to Marianne, except for a few specific points. The path Hedges has laid out for himself is hardly easy; in fact, it's likely to get him killed as America continues to unravel. You could argue that the path he has chosen is stupid and ill-advised, but putting one's own life in danger is never easy. Second, Hedges understands that his protests are largely symbolic; he has written so many times about the moral imperative of revolt, even if the revolt fails completely. He believes it is necessary to fight evil, even against truly hopeless odds, if one is to remain a good person. One can agree with him or disagree with him, but it's very clear that he views his rebellion as largely symbolic, without much hope of actually accomplishing anything other than the preservation of one's integrity.
However, his belief that revolt has a slim chance of triggering a positive transformation in America *is* deluded. That's when his thought process becomes completely derailed and utterly divorced from reality. The other flaw in Hedges' thinking is that African-Americans are somehow morally different from, and morally superior to, white Americans. He sees black ghetto culture as a noble rebellion against the established order, when in reality, African-American culture is all about hustling, about the exaltation of the established order. Every rap song can be summarized as follows: "I am richer than everyone, more powerful than everyone, and more fearsome than everyone...I kill whoever stands in my way...and therefore, I am better than everyone". If that isn't an exaltation of the American Dream, what is? Hedges doesn't realize that Americans are Americans, and that African-Americans are really no different than white Americans except in terms of style.
Jim-
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can make out, Hedges goes back and forth on the issue of whether his rebellion is symbolic. Sometimes he admits that, but at other times, as you yourself note, he believes he might be able to trigger a positive transformation--or even that a revolution is going to occur. As I've said b4, he's not a happy camper, because his heart goes in one direction and his head in another. And to think that everything is worthy of a fight (symbolic or not) is--well, not very smart.
He had a breakthrough a few wks ago, picking up on stuff I've been saying for years, abt the decline of empire as an inevitable part of the historical cycle. Holy Moses! I thought; the guy woke up! Then the next week, he was back in the saddle, calling for revolution. As I said, a deeply confused guy.
Finally, of course he's done a lot of heroic stuff, stuff that is admirable. And yr rt, risking one's life is not easy. But there's another level on which it is, namely the psychological level. Having no purpose (in Buddhistic fashion) can be far more difficult than having a noble one, because at least (in the case of the latter) one can fend off meaninglessness and disorientation. Battling all of the world's evils finally means everything is clear; one doesn't hafta think too much. It's also very religious and American and Manichaean, and many progs, like Hedges, do conform to that pattern. In this sense, it is indeed easy.
mb