October 17, 2019

Hind Swaraj

Wafers-

For some time now, I have been thinking about doing a book as a follow-up to my "Dual Process" essay (the last one in AWTY), exploring non-socialist alternatives to capitalism, which I see as coming to an end by 2100. My specific interest is in the models proposed by John Ruskin, William Morris, and Mahatma Gandhi--a rather daunting task, in view of the literature available on these three individuals, not to mention the accumulated works on post-industrial society. In addition, I may have been partly scooped by a recent work by John Blewitt:

https://www.amazon.com/William-Morris-John-Ruskin-Should/dp/1905816340/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=john+blewitt&qid=1571338997&s=books&sr=1-1

So who knows? Perhaps I'll do a biography of Tulsi Gabbard instead (source material in her case is a lot more manageable, for some reason). In the meantime, I wanted to share some thoughts on the subject (i.e. Ruskin et al., not Tulsi) as discussed as far back as 1996 by Patrick Brantlinger (Prof. Emeritus at Indiana University). The title of his article is "A Postindustrial Prelude to Postcolonialism." (I hope you all can access it; my own route was via JSTOR, which is available via academic institutions.) His focus, oddly enough, is on Ruskin, Morris, and Gandhi. After working his way through their critiques of industrial society as a horror show, and the alternative models they proposed, he asks whether these models were ever realistic alternatives to more and bigger industrialization, "with its attendant scourges of economic exploitation and environmental degradation." Gandhism, for example, still survives in India, but it was clearly Nehru who carried the day (after Gandhi's death in 1948), with centralization and big technology. Ruskin, Morris, and Gandhi are typically dismissed as utopian thinkers (cf. Morris' novel, News from Nowhere), although this accusation always reminds me of C. Wright Mills' famous characterization of our current economic system as "crackpot realism." In any case, Brantlinger has this to say about the subject:

"No doubt the Utopian imagination has limitations; perhaps it is always romantic, nostalgic, backward-looking. But, as Andre Gorz contends, 'those who propose a fundamentally different society can no longer be condemned in the name of realism. On the contrary, realism now consists of acknowledging that "industrialism" has reached a stage where it can go no further, blocked by obstacles of its own making.' Another perspective on Gandhian anti-industrialism...might ask whether a renewal of pre- or postindustrial village culture may not be a viable economic alternative, and not just for India--an alternative that modernizing nation-states around the globe have buried in the ruins of their relentless pursuit of 'the mirage of modernization.' The idea of such an alternative path--the nonindustrial, nonviolent, decentralized, democratic, communitarian, and economically and ecologically sustainable path that Morris imagined and that Gandhi wanted to follow--may turn out to be the only rational blueprint for survival." {Refs: Andre Gorz, Paths to Paradise, 1985; Boris Kagarlitsky, The Mirage of Modernization, 1995}

We still need Gandhi, Brantlinger goes on to say; we still need Morris and Ruskin. All of them understood "that the most important product of industrialism isn't progress, but the destruction of civilization--that is, the destruction of the very possibility of a social formation in which both justice and beauty prevail."

As one student of sustainability recently put it, "The choice is a sustainable society or no society at all."

-mb

190 Comments:

Anonymous trying to stay sane said...

An economic ideology like capitalism that refuses to acknowledge the existence of natural limits to growth is like an obese man who continues to eat until he violates the natural limits of his skin and explodes.

I would be optimistic, or at least hopeful, if I had seen any signs that the industrialized nations of the world understood their limits or were willing to restraint themselves. That has not and will not happen. Addictions don't die of their own accord. At some point in the near future (if not already) natural limits will have been reached and crossed and the system will explode and take most of the world with it.

Only those on the margins will have a chance. And they better be ready to defend themselves because the hordes will be angry and hungry.

5:02 PM  
Anonymous JUS said...

Hi Dr. Berman and Wafers,

I love this idea Dr. Berman of you writing a book on these three. To be honest their ideas have been crossing my mind for the last few of years as well as Dr. Richard D Wolff's aspects of worker ownership of production (Marxism, I know), and James Kunstler's handmade world. I'm an artist and ceramicist who thinks about this stuff. I've often thought that getting a community of various artists together out in the country to form our own community with communal work spaces and separate living spaces but in the same neighborhood. Out of the rat race and suffocating space of urban living. But something genuinely sustainable.
This is even more appealing to me as I get older. As Utopian as Ruskin and Morris are I believe their vision could be achieved in pockets on a small scale to start. Kind of like you have talked about starting a new economy at the roots while Capitalism rots at the top, where the new roots grow and take over. Oh well, maybe I'm just a dreamer but I like this dream, it's better than the nightmare we are experiencing now. Love this blog!

take care,
Julie

5:35 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

Being around and trying to work with leftists who reject capitalism outright- the only sensible answer these days- I am constantly struck by the lack of imagination. Critiques of the existing order are well-honed and often quite solid. But what comes next? No idea, it seems, beyond vague generalities about 'democracy' (usually in very hierarchical and power-driven organizations that use modern management practices as models). There are some silly attempts along the lines of Callenbach's 'Ecotopia,' and other adolescent-level dreams of a better world.

And then there are the ones who look to Russia 1917 or Germany 1919! The ones who believe that unions and strikes will save the day, in a country with less than 6% union membership. It's almost endearing in its quaintness if it wasn't for the horrific implications of their unwillingness to engage with contemporary reality.

It's been a while since I have read Aldous Huxley's 'Island.' His anti-Brave New World utopian novel. The classic visitor to an island (duh) model for such novels. Supposedly based on Bali or another part of Indonesia being approached by oil companies. Heavy Buddhist inspired social structure. Somewhat insipid structure as many utopian novels find themselves trapped in...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(Huxley_novel)

An interesting attempt to grapple with the realities of a post-capitalist society-
https://catalyst-journal.com/vol2/no3/socialism-for-realists

I am convinced that the horrors of a scarcity-driven competitive hell will come first, unfortunately, at least for those of us inside the beast.

7:28 PM  
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Nordic for the win again

7:51 PM  
Anonymous Dylan Jonas said...

https://fee.org/articles/if-joker-met-jordan-peterson/

If Joker Met Jordan Peterson
What separates a monster from a hero?

“Everyday heroism is indeed miraculous. And yet the human spirit is capable of even more.”

I enjoyed this piece.

8:18 PM  
Blogger alex carter said...

Get out! Get out if you can.

https://features.propublica.org/medical-debt/when-medical-debt-collectors-decide-who-gets-arrested-coffeyville-kansas/

8:52 PM  
Anonymous cubeangel said...

Dr. B, I've always wondered if there were "non-socialist alternatives to capitalism." I'm going to have to read more about their models. I've tried to conceive of models myself but always come up empty handed. Are there any other books you recommend while I eat something like this? https://onsandwiches.com/2010/02/16/turkey-club-stages-deli/

I just thought of something. The progs would automatically label Ghandi as racist and the truth was he was towards Africans. But, does that discount some of the good things he has done and some of the good ideas he has? No, I don't think so? If a turkey sandwich tastes rotten with pickles why not order one next time without pickles instead of never ordering one again? This is what the morons would do which is just so stupid.

9:34 PM  
Anonymous Ennio said...

Hi Mr. Berman,

I stumbled upon your blog whilst researching what I've been noticing sitting my stay here.

I'm from Italy visiting friends & relatives for 2 1/2 mos, and have noticed a certain aura about this country. The people generally seem dead inside & there's a kind of soulless, empty vibe to the place.

Have You noticed something similar or is it just me? Thanks for reading

11:28 PM  
Blogger Art McTeagle said...

It's become a trite saying, but true - "you can't have infinite growth on a finite planet", which is actually what capitalism is all about, a dead end system based on the myth of 'endless' economic growth.
E.F.Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful" is still a good read, well ahead of it's time (along with the book "Limits to Growth").

12:40 AM  
Blogger Ordinary Indian said...

Hi MB:

Good to see you taking interest in Gandhi and his idea of Swaraj. That is one of the models we should consider seriously in a post-industrial scenario, in my opinion. Interestingly, around 2012-13, there was a new political movement in India, mostly in and around Delhi. The chief medium of that movement was the Aam Aadmi Party (common man's party). Some of their ideas, I felt, contained elements of a radically different vision of the economy and society. However, in this strange times of ours, that movement is lost for now though the party is in power in the region of Delhi.

Coming back to Gandhi, his ideas, in this age of crisis of our industrial civilization it is important to look at him from as many different angles as possible. So you taking a serious look at his ideas is something that makes me excited.

9:24 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Ennio Frate-

Grazie per aver scritto. While you are here, you might check out my book on Italy:

https://www.amazon.com/Genio-Italian-Genius-Morris-Berman/dp/1626548838/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=morris+berman&qid=1571406533&s=books&sr=1-2

I wanted American readers to be able to think about a real culture, as opposed to a dead, soulless, empty one. Incidentally, the Brits say whilst; we say while. ;-)

un grande abbraccio.

cube-

Plug 'degrowth' into Google.

julie-

Check out the chapter on the New Monastic Option in the Twilight bk. Meanwhile, this is the greatest blog in the history of the universe.

This is from Walter McDougall's bk, "The Tragedy of US Foreign Policy":

[ca. 1900] "The symptoms of decadence were already known to the grandsons of John Quincy Adams. Henry Adams believed ineluctable entropy must drain the United States of its vitality. The signs would include 'falling birth rates, decline of rural population, growth in alcoholism and drug addiction, and increase in nervous exhaustion, suicides, and insanity.' Brooks Adams imagined the United States degenerating into soulless, spineless materialism governed by and for financiers."

mb

10:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pretty on point @tryingtostaysane...

Unfortunately, society is so atomized in Europe, that any large-scale attempt of building sustainable dual-process-inspired communities, would quickly self-implode. Feminists would turn against the "evil" males accusing them of shoving patriarchy down their throats, vegetarians would berate meat-eaters, and god forbid if someone tries to speak about regulating births in the community.

In France there are already several of these types of communities around, but I'd rather hang myself than live in one of them. L'enfer c'est les autres!

Kanye

10:31 AM  
Anonymous Italiana said...

Greetings MB & Wafers,

Here's a link to Brantlinger's article (PDF): http://www.radhikagajjala.org/tangledyarn/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/1344018.pdf

I was struck by this paragraph -

"In "How We Live and How We Might Live," Morris declares that the destruction of weaker societies by imperialism is:
"what commercial war comes to when it has to do with foreign nations.... That is how we live now with foreign nations, prepared to ruin them without war if possible, with it if necessary, let alone meantime the disgraceful exploiting of savage tribes and barbarous
peoples on whom we force at once our shoddy wares and our hypocrisy at the cannon's mouth."

On another note - happy to live in the 2nd most transparent country!

10:57 AM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

Cameras, cameras, everywhere! What’s a guy to do when he wants to dispose of a body in a dumpster? MAGA! (when one used to be able to let a body rot in an open field unawares)

https://www.chieftain.com/news/20191017/womans-body-found-in-pueblo-south-side-car-wash-dumpster

11:48 AM  
Anonymous Tom Servo said...

@Dan Daniel,

The left never recovered from the collapse of the Soviet Union. The problem for most leftists is that the Soviet model is the only model of socialism that has ever worked on a large scale. That is why when you ask modern leftists about their plan to replace capitalism they respond with vague comments about “democracy” or they point to Scandinavian countries, which are really just capitalist nations with robust welfare states. At least the few Marxist-Leninists still hanging around admit that Soviet-style planning is the only version of socialism that has ever worked, and as we know it didn’t work for very long.

I honestly have no idea what will replace modern industrial capitalism but I think that whatever it is it probably won’t be socialism. My guess is that it will probably be a mixture of economic types but at a lower technological level. In addition to Dr. Berman mentioning John Ruskin, William Morris, and Mahatma Gandhi, Wafer Art McTeagle mentioned E.F. Schumacher above and I think others have mentioned degrowth and Serge Latouche in particular. I think these are all interesting paths to look at for a sane alternative future.

12:01 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Of Course they did....because this is what Americans DO....


https://nypost.com/2019/10/18/yankees-fan-mock-zack-greinke-for-social-anxiety-disorder/

5:49 PM  
Blogger Juliet Cash said...

Dear MB and Wafers,

Hello to all,,, I’ve been reading the blog periodically but have largely kept from opining. Prefer to enjoy the read.
On the proposed aforementioned book by MB - that would be something I’d like to read. There’s 2 much critique of this system and quite a scarce presentation of viable replacements. It seems much easier to critique than to find solutions.

On Tulsi Gabbard, today she referred to Hillary Clinton as a warmonger and a corrupted politician exemplary of the Rot that lies within the Democratic Party as a response to Hillary calling her the candidate the Russians will love to have outside of Trump. Isn’t she a little Waferish in saying this about Missy Botox and the Democratic Party?

MB, what’s your take on the democrat Ukrainian/ whistleblower extortion case impeachment process? Another witch hunt or a pattern?

Here’s another piece of mind blowing news. Americans are more willing to give to charity or volunteer than any other nation on the planet for 10 years in a row. How’s it that unbelievable amounts of greed can co- exist with the highest amounts of charity in the USA?

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-us-is-the-most-generous-country-but-americans-say-debt-is-keeping-them-from-giving-more-to-charity-2019-10-18

Aren’t Americans full of contradictions?

Juliet

7:19 PM  
Anonymous Harper said...

Hillary Clinton floats conspiracy that Tulsi Gabbard is being 'groomed' by Russians

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton-tulsi-gabbard-groomed-russia

Oh boy here we go, wheeeeeee!

7:21 PM  
Blogger ecoecho said...

With all due respect Dr. Morris Berman, you are underestimating the "darkness" of our situation. The East Siberian ARctic Shelf methane bomb is already going off. http://arctic-news.blogspot.com is Professor Carmen Solana (writing as Sam Carana). Enjoy.

10:12 PM  
Blogger Mister Roboto said...

I've been meaning to pose this question for a while, as I'm pretty much a reader who pops in and out, but now that Tulsi Gabbard is trending in a pretty big way on social media, it seems like a good time to ask what your beef with Tulsi Gabbard is?

8:02 AM  
Blogger Amazed! said...

I hate to burst your bubble but, - it’ll all be over 2030 at the latest.
Enjoy these final and fine days.

8:59 AM  
Anonymous Longleaf said...

October 18, 2019
What Is Žižek For?

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/10/what-is-zizek-for

I just watched him in interview refer to Greta as a result of toxic masculinity - oh gawd.

11:32 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Unknown-

Sorry, I don't post Unknowns. You need a real handle, like Horace Klingon IV, to participate. Thanks.

Roboto-

I adore Tulsi, and can only hope she is elected president. My (tentative) beef is that she will enter the W.H. not flanked by Lorenzo Riggins and Chrystal Walraven. If so, I shall never forgive her. However...

Juliet-

If Tulsi needs someone to pee on Botox-Face's shoes, I'm her man.

jj-

Americans have big hearts.

mb

11:35 AM  
Anonymous Not a Russian Troll said...

Hello Dr. Berman, I’ve been reading this excellent blog for years and finally decided to comment.

I’m curious about your mockery of Gabbard, seemingly based on her funny-sounding name. At least she’s willing to criticize war-mongering neocons like Clinton and point out Democratic Party corruption in a way the other candidates aren’t, which apparently makes her a Russian agent. The coordinated effort by the media and Party to smear her suggests that she’s speaking some uncomfortable truths. Maybe you should give her a more serious look?

(I know, this post looks suspiciously like the work of a Russian troll. What can I say? пока́. ;)

1:39 PM  
Anonymous The Great George Carlin said...

Hi GSWH,

Sorry for just lurking and not contributing. Hope to be back and contribute more to the GBOE.

She seems to be in love with India but apart from a few points that I disagree with, a lot of what she says is true. A Stanford educated Californian who left Amrika, she has some interesting points to share.
6 Lessons I have learned in my 20 years in India

2:18 PM  
Anonymous Kuya Tom said...

Morris;
Long time lurker, first time poster. Bravo! for all you do, Morris from the many Wafers & NMI's in Hawaii as we have a unique perspective on the great termite mound (thx Joe Bageant) that is mainland US. Your blog is a lifeline to sanity in our society-gone-batshit. Regarding Tulsi, she has beaten you to the punch. She (effectively) has already peed on the shoes of both Botox Queen and her hideous sidekick, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (barf) when Tulsi resigned in protest as DNC co-chair re: their nifty tricks leading up to the 2016 election. That, fellow Wafers & Waferettes, is three o'clock in the morning courage.

I am not interested in propping up, or 'saving' a collapsing empire ala Chris Hedges, rather my concern is how to keep the clueless asshats in DC from blowing up the fucking planet. And thus ending humanity. My calculus, as ever, is to support whatever candidate is least likely to spark a nuclear ka-boom with ____ (fill in the blank). That IMO would be Tulsi. As she is not cheerleading for the next fucking war, a true anti war candidate, she is under siege by media, idiot progs, MIC, the spook complex etc, and now Botox Queen herself. Tulsi called her out big time (Hillary the War Queen). Again, three o'clock in the morning courage.

So, I ask you with kindness & respect Morris, and with appreciation for all you do, to kindly lay off of Tulsi. She is a close personal and family friend and is not only the real deal, she is one of us. We love her dearly and she is a true Waferette. Thanks again for your blog; truly the cat's meow. Your Wafer/NMI correspondent in the islands.

Kuya Tom

3:58 PM  
Anonymous Ron said...

The anarchist rebel neighborhood that became a flashpoint in Greece’s debate over refugee policy. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/08/exarchia-anarchists-refugees-athens-greece

6:14 PM  
Blogger Sarasvati said...

The more I read about Greta and the extinction rebellion, the more I wonder if it isn’t meant to be a major distraction from all the other, more egregious things, humanity (especially the U.S.) is engaged in that are destroying the planet.

In the meantime, I ran across something called The Grand Solar Minimum: https://watchers.news/2019/07/01/valentina-zharkova-on-the-upcoming-grand-solar-minimum/

I can’t pretend to understand it on more than a superficial level, but it does make me wonder if climate change isn’t more of a natural phenomenon rather than caused by humans.

Susan W. – are you familiar with the Georgia Guidestones: https://thoughtcatalog.com/jeremy-london/2018/08/27-bizarre-facts-about-the-georgia-guidestones/

8:48 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

Two of your favorite people MB, perhaps a definitive picture of botoxFace?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BADYGB2SZ4zjBW7E8

My guess is Orwell himself cldnt of written a better ad than this one recruiting plasma donors on the back page of local "indie" paper. Who looks this vibrant and alive after getting blood sucked?

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0J-DB0MFWPffYAedqyhcCZ1Ug

11:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The douchebagery will never end:

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/10/8596773/first-all-woman-spacewalk-christina-koch-jessica-meir-mars

Kanye

4:31 AM  
Blogger alex carter said...

Some very good ideas in here:

https://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2018/06/06/there-is-trouble-in-river-city/

Although the author is a fanatic Christian who wants everyone not such, and white to boot, to die, but then Hitler was an anti-smoker and vegetarian so ...

4:57 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Kuya-

She has described herself as a "hawk" on terrorism. In other words, she doesn't see thru the charade of our "war on terrorism," and its relationship to endless war. No Waferette, but a typical American, in that respect. Pls also note that Wafers are declinists; Tulsi, like Trumpi, wants to save America, save a cruel and violent dying empire. And then the strangeness and hubris of coming forth as a presidential candidate when she is a relative unknown with rather minor political backing. Altho we are at a pt now where anyone can declare themselves a candidate, what the heck; you might throw yr hat into the ring as well. Nice that she is a personal friend of yours, but Trump also has personal friends (I'm told); so, not much of an argument, I fear.

Russian Troll-

Ultimately, she's boring; basically, a prog. She wants to fix a dying empire. For fuck's sake why? And what are the chances that (a) she wd ever be picked as a candidate, and (b) that the empire can be fixed, with or without her? The whole election/debate circus is one big yawn--theater, as I've said b4. Bernie, Schmernie, and Tulsi, Schmulsi. The day she'll get my serious attn is when she declares, "Enough of this horseshit!", and immigrates to another country.

mb

1:11 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Gee, do ya think?:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/20/western-greed-one-cause-of-global-hunger

1:27 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

Doctor Berman,
In “Coming to Our Senses” ( Chapter 4) you mention that Gandhi and Hitler both were, in the Hegelian term, “world-historical individuals”. One was good, the other was evil. To Hegel that didn't matter. They were considered as such because they had the personal power to influence thousands of individuals.
Could Trump be considered a modern day “world-historical individual? In this country's current epoch—its demise, its “Dark Ages”, as you refer to it in one of you books—could Trump be labeled a world-historical individual? You have stated ( so accurately in my opinion) he represents what this celebrity culture/consumerist hustling society is in many respects. That was why he was elected. What do you think?
A few people ( obvious anti-Trumpians) also have compared him to Hitler. They compare the incarcerations of immigrants at the border being detained to that of concentration camps. That obviously is far-fetched and totally untenable. However, in another instance, there may be a sprinkle of credence with another comparison.
Hitler had his one, Triumph of the Will, film made. Trump, however, seems to have frequent ones with his televised rallies in front of his adoring fans. I happen to call them, “The Triumph of the Con”. Whereas Leni Riefenstahl produced Hitler's 1934 propaganda film—replete with music, scenes of wild nationalistic supporters and swastikas, and, finally, Hitler orating to them—Trump's rallies start off with the usual country music song, “Proud to Be an American”, enthusiastic supporters wearing MAGA hats, and, finally, Trump with his bombast.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

2:37 PM  
Anonymous Primo said...

"Adrian Raine... was floored by the psychological accuracy of Joker" -

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/joker-joaquin-phoenix-psychology

I get the feeling the popularity of this film comes from what the American viewer identifies with in its lead character: his descent into madness

2:40 PM  
Blogger Jack Lattemann said...

Greetings Wafers everywhere,

Here is a brief report from Cascadia. Seattle continues to dither on the issue of where/how to establish a parking area for the homeless who sleep in their cars and RVs, and the latest alternative is projected to cost a thousand bucks per space per month:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/parking-for-the-homeless-in-seattle-finally-but-at-a-thousand-bucks-a-month/

Meanwhile, closer to home, a hundred people showed up at a city of Lacey, WA meeting, mostly to oppose a proposal to establish an overnight parking area for homeless in their RVs. Not surprisingly, the proposal was tabled:

https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article236347818.html

Dr Roboto and other Wafers, I recommend that whenever you hear the name “Gabbard”, start dancing the Wah-Tulsi. Maybe she’ll show up at Evergreen this fall for a gig.

2:47 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

I have a couple very simple suggestions for patching up our present economic system. They're a bit funny because they are so simple and yet they are utterly impossible. It's easier to think about some dramatic reconstruction of everything, because that will never happen, not in any intentional way. Of course it happens all the time, in the crazy way that reality has. These simple suggestions would actually be reasonably straightforward to implement, and would have profound effect.

https://interdependentscience.blogspot.com/2019/09/chris-hedges-recently-wrote-about-some.html

https://interdependentscience.blogspot.com/2014/04/banking-reform.html

4:02 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jim-

Only 1 post every 24 hrs, thanks.

Joe-

You've come a bit late to the party. I began talking abt Trumpaloni as a world-historical individual as soon as he was elected; that his historical role was to dismantle the US. I suggest you go back to blog archives around 9 Nov 2016, and scroll thru the discussions that follow, for more info on the subject.

I also wonder if we can also add a category called world-historical irrelevance. E.g., Tulsi Gabbard. But then also Bernie Schmernie, Biden Schmiden, et al. And surely Dan Quayle. But then where wd we put Herman Cain and his 9-9-9 plan? I miss the poor shmuck. What a doofus.

mb

4:42 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

@JimK- your links point to the idea that the existing system needs to have adjustments to its basic operations while maintaining its overall structure. As your first link ends-

"It would be a catastrophic error to blame all our ills on big businesses and therefore to work to destroy those businesses. The fabric of our society consists of the goods and services flowing through these businesses. A small adjustment to the steering mechanism would have a profound effect on the path of evolution of this fabric. This is a simple and practical step that could fix the worst excesses of our current system."

https://interdependentscience.blogspot.com/2019/09/chris-hedges-recently-wrote-about-some.html

"The fabric of our society consists of the goods and services flowing through these businesses."

First, that's a sad society where goods and services from large corporations are the bedrock. What about community, family, friends, music? Nope. Second, the 'problems' most people see- homelessness, rising evictions, bankruptcies through medical bills, temporary jobs, stagnant wages, failing infrastructure, ad nauseum- are in a deep analysis not problems. They are the system working as it is meant to work, only it is at its end stage. It has devoured most 'natural resources' external to it, and now is devouring its own lower classes in order to survive. It WILL NOT abandon this path of its own volition.

5:16 PM  
Anonymous Nikolas said...

Went 2 an album signing for 1 of my fave bands yesterday @ a mall in my region. There was the familiar spectacle of countless amerikkkans attempting to shop the emptiness away. I myself am not a mall-goer, btw.

I find it pretty sad that the only thing most amerikkkans have to look forward to is buying useless junk & staring at a screen watching some grown men play a sport. No wonder so many are now killing themselves & overdosing by the bucketful.

5:37 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

WAFERS....is anyone here familiar with George Gurdjieff? I just learned about him and his work, and about human beings are completely asleep and don’t even know it, and how our material and industrial upbringing completely destroyed our Psyche’s.

I’m wondering if anyone can weigh in with some more information and insights on this man and his teachings.

Thanks

6:32 PM  
Blogger PedroC. said...

Hi, Dr. B! Medschool and fatherhood keeps me in lukring status, but Sarasvati's post moved me to share this:
When 'man made global warming' became 'man made climate change' (because all the forecasts failed spectacularly), it became an unfalsifiable pseudoscience, akin to homeopathy, astrology or economics. We shouldn't pollute because we only have one planet and is evident that the toxic shit we produce has direct consecuences to health (actual pollutants, not CO2), not because some idiots produced some ultra simplified models and are trying to sell carbon credits.
We're entering a Solar Minimum. If it is indeed a Grand Solar Minimum (we'll have to see how Solar Cycle 25 pans out), then we'll have a mini Ice Age on our doors. Interesting times ahead :/

9:26 PM  
Anonymous Need a passport?? said...

I love this thread and completely agree that this empire is dying and perhaps thats exactly what needs to happen. I personally am figuring out a way to get out of this empire so I can have a chance to die of heart disease rather than the police considering I am an African American male.
https://www.jbhe.com/2019/08/police-use-of-force-is-the-sixth-leading-cause-of-death-for-young-black-men)
However I do have hope for the rest of humanity and my question to you is that maybe with the collapse of the US empire would international organizations such as the UN be able to actually function and take on the crisis of capitalism that is destroying the ecosystem?

9:35 PM  
Anonymous Tom Servo said...

More signs of decline in America. “The suicide rate among young Americans aged 10 to 24 years old soared by 56% between 2007 and 2017, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/suicide-rate-among-young-americans-soars-by-more-than-50-over-10-years-2019-10-17

7:35 AM  
Anonymous Justin Doamond said...

Sallie Mae flies more than 100 employees to Hawaii to celebrate $5 billion in sales while student debt crisis tops $1.6 trillion https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1063826

Quite the system we have here

8:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Professional douchebaguette dpt:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/royal-family/2019/10/20/duchess-sussex-struggling-thrive-feel-happy-royal-family/

Kanye

9:29 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Need-

UN is just a cover for the US, really, so forget that option. Solutions will be local and decentralized, and (I hope) part of secessionist movements.

Wafers-

More on Tulsi. Quite a military career she's had, and is still a Major in the US Army. Did a tour of Iraq, enlisted in National Guard (2003), etc. Some liberal. Does she actually think she's defending the homeland? Not an inkling of an idea that the purpose of the Army is to project US power? She never heard of Smedley Butler? No clue that the "war on terror" is b.s.? Yes, let's all run out and vote for this "alternative" candidate!

mb

10:20 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

New post-it 4u guys:

BRING BACK HERMAN CAIN!

11:20 AM  
Blogger Xair said...

Mb,

Not big on Bill Maher, but some of what he says here is spot on. Particularly the numbers on loneliness.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WGp-omDD3V0

12:13 PM  
Blogger Sarasvati said...

jjarden: George Gurdjieff was a very interesting character, a guru of sorts. The overall impression I remember getting when I read stories about him years ago is that he was wild, outrageous and very tough.

Gurdjieff developed a system called the Enneagram. For anyone interested in expanding their self knowledge, identifying oneself via the Enneagram can be extremely helpful in becoming aware of the unconscious conversation we constantly engage in with ourselves. Unfortunately it’s more than just a little difficult to identify yourself, and to me the system is very complicated. Being that Gurdjieff‘s overall system was supposed to be orally transmitted, this isn’t surprising.

Unlike self-help, the idea is not to prettify your prison cell, but to make a break for freedom. This means recognizing that what we think we are is nothing more than an artificial construct, a point of awareness that has been conditioned to believe in the reality of a false self-narrative. This is why it’s said that humanity is asleep. Good luck breaking out of the prison!

1:57 PM  
Anonymous trying to stay sane said...

MB - With you on Herman Cain - Loved his act. One of the finest comedians America has ever produced. Great imitation of a Presidential candidate. Most Americans missed the humor, thinking he was for real.

On the illusion that the Empire can be "saved" or "fixed" in our life time. PALEESE!!! It takes centuries for an entrenched economic/political system to be transformed into something else. And that's when most of the populace support change. Americans not only don't give a shit, they like unfettered capitalism. They think that by working hard and long hours and getting their heads straight they, too,can be rich,like the financial titans they idolize. https://thefinancialbrand.com/81842/americans-relationship-money-wealth-rich-financial/

Want to save or fix something that matters? - One of only 2 makers of a lynchpin child cancer drug discontinued production, citing a "business decision", i.e. they weren't making enough money to justify continued production. Children will die horrible deaths so wealthy managers and stockholders can make yet more money. THIS, my friends, is what makes America great. The land of the free - the freedom to amass wealth by exploiting the poor.

2:53 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

trying-

Clearly, what we need is the 9-9-9 Plan.

mb

3:20 PM  
Anonymous Susan W. said...

@Sarasvati -- I had never heard of the Georgia Tablets and thank you for providing a link. In the dark ages, the bubonic plague wiped out 40 to 60% of the European population so it's possible a fast-moving, highly contagious virus could repeat this disaster. Personally what I think we out to be very worried about and aren't at all is the fertility of the soil and all the chemicals, hormones, and poisons that have been dumped into water, fresh & saltwater. There's a huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that needs to get more attention than Greta. High nitrogen fertilizers kill microorganisms that have thrived & provided the foundation for healthy soil for millions of years. But all we hear is CO2 - CO2 -CO2!

@ Pedro C. -- After 9/11 when all flights into & out of the US were grounded, the temperature rose 2C. From the article --

"About a year after the attacks, Carleton, David Travis, a geographer at the University of Wisconsin, and another colleague argued in a paper that thin clouds created by contrails reduce the range of temperatures. By contributing to cloud cover during the day, they reflect solar energy that would otherwise have reached the earth’s surface. At night, they trap warmth that would otherwise have escaped. The effect during the three days that flights were grounded was strongest in populated regions where air traffic was normally densest. The increase in range came to about two degrees Celsius."

https://globalnews.ca/news/2934513/empty-skies-after-911-set-the-stage-for-an-unlikely-climate-change-experiment/

4:55 PM  
Blogger Krakhed said...

Here are some true Americans, understanding what's important and making sacrifices.

https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/top-stories/brothers-saved-meth-equipment-in-fire-left-their-grandmother-to-die-according-to-da/

Immigrant blood: the currency of the future.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-to-change-rules-to-allow-it-to-collect-asylum-seekers-dna-says-report

10:12 PM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

So the US of A is going tits-up? Cry me a river.

We just had a federal election today and the results are in. I live in the home of Tommy Douglas, Medicare and agrarian socialism, but Conservatives have been elected in every riding in my province. I'm surrounded by troglodytes.

12:05 AM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Thank You Sarasvati for the Gurdjieff overview.


News legends make dire warning about Trump...

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/10/22/dan-rather-sam-donaldson-trump-dangerous-for-country-ctn-sot-vpx.cnn

6:45 AM  
Anonymous Dan said...

Just attended my 50th high school reunion-class of 1969, nearly an entire class of long hair hippy freaks. Man, it didn't take long for that class to cut their hair, put on a suit, and live the happy consumer suburban life-style. Nearly all were married, put 2-3 kids through college and moved to places I never heard of ("Damn, if I'm gonna have my kid sit next to a negro!")
I somehow found myself sitting at a table with people I didn't actually know in HS. I asked this guy next to me what he did for a living. He tells me he works for a human rights organization and is now engaged in helping refugees in Bangladesh. I'm kvelling nonpareil-a kindred spirit! So I ask him how he feels about Israeli human rights abuses. He answers, "Israel has a right to defend itself." Fortunately for those around me, I hadn't eaten yet.
On another note, I recently won a comedy competition. The prize was $50 and a chance to perform at a real show. Not only did I receive $49 dollars but when I asked if I would receive any compensation for the real show, the proprietor said, "No, and if you want to cancel it's okay." Ain't showbiz great! They dangle stardom in front of you just to get you to work for peanuts. I'm in another competition November 3. In order to perform you need to bring 10 guests, $15 a guest. If you don't bring 10, you have to pay the difference. In other words, if I bring no-one I have to pay $150. This is more or less the deal everywhere on the east coast. The scams never end.

7:36 AM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

@Susan W.- the article you reference does not say that temperatures >rose< when there were no contrails from planes. It say that the daily >variation< or range increased 2 degrees:
"...thin clouds created by contrails reduce the range of temperatures. By contributing to cloud cover during the day, they reflect solar energy that would otherwise have reached the earth’s surface. At night, they trap warmth that would otherwise have escaped.
"The effect during the three days that flights were grounded was strongest in populated regions where air traffic was normally densest. The increase in range came to about two degrees Celsius."

Later the point is made: "On balance, though contrails can both warm and cool, there is more of a warming effect." Although this is simply asserted without supporting reasons, if it is valid, the 'we must keep producing aerosols to maintain cooler temperatures' crowd should not be using this article, it appears.

The studies referenced are looking at localized short term climate, also. About as significant as Inhofe holding a snowball on the Senate floor to prove that global warming is hoax.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/02/26/jim-inhofes-snowball-has-disproven-climate-change-once-and-for-all/

8:05 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

JimK-

We have a max half page rule on this blog. Pls compress what you wrote and re-send. Thanks.

mb

10:42 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wafers-

We need to start an all-Tulsi bulletin board. Jesus, what confusion:

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/21/politics/tulsi-gabbard-2020-hawaii-hillary-clinton/index.html?iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial

She'll probably be expunged b4 the Nov. debates, tanking the most absurd candidacy in the history of the US. Meanwhile, if she has any confusion abt what the US Army is abt (she's a Major), let her check out Jill Lepore's article, "The Force," New Yorker 28 Jan 2013, or Essay #14 in AWTY. CRE!

mb

10:55 AM  
Anonymous James Allen said...

The essay linked below touches on major themes that run throughout this blog.

“With ecological as well as economic calamity looming today, understanding and addressing the ontological assumptions of capitalist modernity is imperative. Indeed, ‘metaphysical reconstruction’ must lie at the basis of any revolutionary struggle in our day – in fact, it’s necessary for the survival of the species. If it’s long past time to deny that ‘there is no alternative’ to capitalism, the time has come to renounce the parochial secular dogma of ‘the disenchantment of the world’.

https://aeon.co/essays/capitalism-is-modernitys-most-beguiling-dangerous-enchantment

11:07 AM  
Anonymous Susan W. said...

@Dan -- I was just sharing some information I thought might be of interest. I'm not a scientist and don't pretend to be. An article I read about 10 years ago by an Australian environmentalist (sorry don't have the link) made the point that the wild card in global warming was cloud formation and no one could predict that. And now apparently methane is being released even faster than predicted and it's more damaging than CO2.

@ Dr. Berman and Kuya Tom -- I donated to Tulsi's campaign a few months ago to keep her on the debate stage. I don't consider her military experience to be detriment but more as an opportunity to view the military through personal experience. Just as the most valuable critiques of the medical field, education and government are by the people who have worked in these fields and know the abuses and weaknesses hidden in the systems. I didn't know what "drug trials" were really about until I worked on a unit that did them. It was a real eye-opener. Tulsi doesn't have a prayer of course but I like her response to Hillary's vile smears.


11:10 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Susan-

Has Tulsi actually criticized the military? Has she, as a result of her personal experience, talked about imperialism, projecting power, corruption, and having something like 800 bases around the globe? Not a word, as far as I know. Plus, how is it that she doesn't realize that her candidacy can never be more than a joke? What she is actually a candidate for is Reality Therapy. As for Botox, what can one say, really?

Jas-

Thank you. Many have renounced, and many have critiqued, but this has had no impact on the institution itself. What *will* make a diff is if that institution keeps shooting itself in the foot, until it falls over, and can finally not recover.

mb

11:57 AM  
Anonymous Levin said...

Which film or novel set in the future has portrayed a (reasonably plausible?) world that you would most love for some civilization or humanity to achieve?

Inspire each other !

12:36 PM  
Blogger Ordinary Indian said...

@George,

What Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati says is pretty much on dot in large parts of India. In fact, some (not all) of these things still make me happy about my decision to move back to India. These are things that hold a society together (unlike the US). These are the kind of wisdom I talked about in one of my earlier comments. But that's not the point. I would like to warn you that what looks all incredible to someone from CA may not seem so to someone born and brought up in this culture. You really feel happy when strangers adopt you. And I personally know what it feels like. But can you imagine nobody essentially asking you what you think and feel about important issues in your life? Whom you want to marry, what you want to become in life, whether you really want to (or are in a mood/condition) attend a particular function in some distant relative's place. I can think of more such issues with some effort, but you get the point. Everything runs along strictly patriarchal lines. (Thankfully, I grew up in an atmosphere where liberal values co-existed with traditional Indian ones. Made my life easy and enjoyable).

In my opinion, India (or any traditional society) and the US (Anglo in general?) cultures present two very extremes. If you take the negatives of the two, you are in hell. If you take the positives, you are in heaven. But a balance between the two is what one can try to achieve on the earth, I guess.

1:20 PM  
Blogger Jack Lattemann said...

MB and Wafers everywhere,

I have a theme song and dance proposed for the Tulsi bulletin board, with a nod to the Vibrations:

There's a dance called the Watulsi it's out of sight,
First you slide to the left then to the right.
The Watulsi is out of sight,
You slide to the left, then to the right.
Take two steps down and keep it tight.
And do the Watulsi, it sure is a sight.
Come, on try, sugar pie,
Keep with the beat and Watulsi, Watulsi with me.
Shimmy and shoulder and slop with your feet,
And “Gabbard Gabbard” like turkey in heat,
You do the Bow and Arrow, come out on Fox News,
And eight hundred bases, when you take your choice.
Come, on try, sugar pie,
There's a dance called the Watulsi it's out of sight,
First you slide to the left then to the right.
Two steps backward, drop outta sight.
There's a dance called the Watulsi it's all sound bite.
Don't drop now, I'm really not thru,
There's so many more clips that you can do,
Well C-N-N, the Post, the daily Tweet,
The Double Watulsi, honey, in time with the beat,
Come, on try, sugar pie,
It's easy to do, and Watulsi, Watulsi with me.

1:37 PM  
Anonymous Art Baker said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0-ChqIib_w
Go to 00:50 and you have to wonder what kind of alternative to Late Capitalism
could be available from a society having a leader such as the current one. Shaw
said that socialism cannot be built from bent lumber or rotten materials. Most
likely will be some form of technototalitarianism trying to avoid total world system
collapse from an impoverished environment.

2:00 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

Highly recommend The Laundromat on Netflix. Shld b a clarion call to Waferdom for all (sleeping) Americans. CH will love the ending and of course it’s superficial but in the span of ninety minutes the highly gifted all star cast reveal a nice slice of venal corruption exposed by the Panama Papers. It’s light and simple enough for bubble gum chewing americans to understand ~ 42% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, MAGA!

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/01/the-laundromat-review-gary-oldman-spins-lies-to-meryl-streep-in-sparkling-comedy

2:59 PM  
Blogger Politically Incorrect Russian Spy said...

An excellent reading by Paul Kingsnorth of his essay ‘The Language of the Master’, which explores the linguistic roots of the planet-destroying, disenchanted hustling culture we find ourselves in today:

https://tunein.com/podcasts/Storytelling-Podcasts/Emergence-Magazine-p1118652/?topicId=131870270

If you’d prefer to read it yourself rather than have Paul read it to you, try here:

http://paulkingsnorth.net/2019/05/26/the-language-of-the-master/

3:03 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jack-

Very moving. Someone told me that 'gabbard' means turkey in Hindi. Root of our word gobble.

Levin-

Wm Morris, "News from Nowhere."

mb

3:03 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Gunnar-

CH = Chopped Herring?

mb

4:14 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Waferinos-

1st, let it be said that Botox-Face is the Supreme Douche Baguette of the Western Hemisphere:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/22/hillary-clinton-tulsi-gabbard-embarrassing-paranoid

My desire to bang her head against Obama's for 20 mins on national TV has never been keener. And Tulsi was rt to call her a corrupt piece of dogshit. However, consider excerpt from this article:

'while Gabbard has made a big deal of her anti-war stance, she has embraced the vicious Indian nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, and been far more hawkish and softer on torture than she would like progressive voters to believe. Her willingness to criticize the “rot” in her own party may make Gabbard a refreshing presence on the debate stage, but no serious leftist can support someone who spent the Obama years echoing Republican talking points about “radical Islam”.'

So she too, apparently, is a douche baguette, and a deeply dishonest one. That being said, if she were the VP nominee with Laquisha Jones as the presidential nominee, I wd hafta endorse her.

https://abc7chicago.com/woman-sentenced-for-brutal-brick-beating-of-92-year-old-man/5161442/

(Check out pics of Laquisha; clearly, presidential material.)

mb

ps: Why am I supposed to be concerned with this?:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2019/oct/22/jennifer-aniston-diet-fasting

4:47 PM  
Anonymous cyrillia juniper said...

@Levin: Just finished Sybille Bedford's (huge) biography of Aldous Huxley. Huxley, in his later years, often spoke and wrote about all the issues we discuss on this blog. His particular concern was overpopulation, which doesn't receive much mention, even now. Over his lifetime, he wrote 3 utopian novels as categorized by Bedford: Brave New World (the bad utopia) 1932; Ape and Essence (the gruesome utopia) 1948; and Island (the good utopia) 1962. Island was Huxley's next to last book (he died on the same day as Jack Kennedy) and he included in his utopian society all the features he considered essential for the progress of mankind. Island may be a bit didactic, but is well worth considering, as is almost anything Huxley wrote.

5:47 PM  
Anonymous Need a passport?? said...

I love that all it took was Trump for the liberals to show their true colors as the war party. "They show you the wolf to lead you to the fox"-Malcolm X

8:47 PM  
Anonymous Joan Lee said...

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/20/steven-pinker-sam-harris-and-the-epidemic-of-annoying-white-male-intellectuals/

Something for your thoughts MB. Perhaps a bit too hyperbolic for me but....

12:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jesus what a circus with Brexit eh?

You were right MB, this charade might go on forever. Despite BoJo's best intentions in wreaking havoc à la Trumpi in the UK, progs are unleashing their elitist rage on him and putting all the spokes they can in his wheels to prevent Brexit from taking place. This only infuriates the 17.4 million people in the UK who voted for Brexit to happen, mind you, IN 2016!! Almost 4 years later, things haven't moved.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/10/21/a-parliamentary-dictatorship/

On the upside, this only contributes to the UK and Europe's death by a thousand cuts. I am not giving up on BoJo just yet however, I think he still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

Kanye

2:10 AM  
Blogger Yossi said...

MB.
You cite The Guardian a lot. It used to a be a half-way serious newspaper, particularly when it was The Manchester Guardian. It has deteriorated over the years and very little of its content can be trusted. It finds room for candy floss like the piece you cite, but hasn't found room to report on the court proceedings earlier this week in London when Julian Assange's extradition was moved a little further along. It tends nowadays to be a mouthpiece for Tony Blair and MI5, so take what it says with caution even puff pieces about celebs.

4:40 AM  
Anonymous Crystal said...

"Will emerging technologies make the state system obsolete? It’s hard to see why not."

Omniviolence is coming

http://m.nautil.us/blog/omniviolence-is-coming-and-the-world-isnt-ready

6:32 AM  
Anonymous Cel-Ray Tonic said...

Here are some numbers for WAFers who want to cut military spending:

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/10/23/military-spendings-out-of-control-while-slashing-it-could-easily-fund-medicare-for-all/

Look at where all those pussy hats have got us:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/oct/22/kirstjen-nielsen-summit-family-separation-policy

if only they could have snagged Killary, and Condoleezza and Albright to speak too they could have had quite the "feminist" round table!

8:29 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Kanye-

It's not likely much will happen during the next 4 yrs either. It's all theater, really. Brexit, Schmexit. England beats off to Brexit, while the US beats off to impeachment. We drown in kaka.

Yossi-

The piece I cited was hardly candy floss. That expose of Tulsi was hard-hitting, much to the pt, and very much needed.

Joan-

I have repeatedly suggested that Pinker be vigorously beaten and then thrown on a dungheap. He's a total douche bag, and as many have demonstrated, his 'scholarship' is a joke.

mb

8:47 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

COME BACK HERMAN CAIN! ONLY THE 9-9-9 PLAN CAN SAVE US NOW! AND IGNORE ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY YOU HAVE DOGSHIT IN YOUR HEAD!

9:49 AM  
Anonymous Tom Servo said...

Apparently there are 35 million more SUVs on the road today than in 2010 and the increase is not limited to the United States. SUVs were also the second-largest contributor to the increase in global CO2 emissions since 2010 after the power sector.

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/10/suvs-are-back-and-theyre-spewing-a-boggling-amount-of-carbon.html

This is why I have no faith in any of the “green” ideas progs are coming up with. Modern consumers want more and bigger everything and sadly this attitude is not limited to the United States. For example, the IEA article cited on the Naked Capitalism blog mentioned how SUVs are status symbols in China and how they are also becoming more popular in other parts of the developing world. I don’t think anything serious will be done about the environment until some catastrophe forces humanity to live a less destructive lifestyle.

10:39 AM  
Blogger Krakhed said...

What if the world treated the U.S. like a rogue state?

https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/sanctions/

Highlights some of the ways other nations are establishing alternatives to the US dollar.

The US is such a joke. I think we should lobby to get Ronald Mcdonald to replace Jackson on the $20 bill.

Lover's quarrel-- https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/n-y-man-accused-running-over-wife-killing-her-machete-n1070376

How many fucking nutjobs does this country have? This guy was a pastor.

11:56 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Krak-

I think it already does, on the q.t. As for Jackson, I usta suggest Kim's buttocks, but now perhaps Meghan's hat.

mb

12:50 PM  
Anonymous Susan W. said...

Here's a good piece about the Democrats' smear machine by CJ Hopkins:

"As I noted in my previous essay, 2020 is for all the marbles, and it’s not just about who wins the election. No, it’s mostly about crushing the “populist” backlash against the hegemony of global capitalism and its happy, smiley-faced, conformist ideology. To do that, the neoliberal establishment has to delegitimize, and lethally stigmatize, not just Trump, but also people like Gabbard, Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn … and any other popular political figure (left, right, it makes no difference) deviating from that ideology."

http://www.unz.com/chopkins/the-putin-nazis-are-coming-again/

On the topic of your original post, I can't imagine a successful community unless the heart of it is agriculture. Here's a piece on the disappearance of French family farms. I guess the whole world will become soul-less tract homes at some point -- even in France.

"The small family farm--and the knowledge of how to grow food and raise animals--is dying away with the passing of our elderly farmers. The average age of farmers in many nations is well above 60. Many of the paysans (male and female) profiled in these documentaries are in their 80s. The land is sold for residential development (i.e. exurb sprawl, overwhelming infrastructure such as roads, water systems, etc. designed for much small populations) or abandoned."

https://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct19/what-weve-lost10-19.html

2:34 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Of course he did, because this is what Modern Americans DO...

TV reporter fired for climbing on, almost damaging classic cars during live broadcast

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2019/10/23/tv-reporter-fired-climbing-classic-cars-during-live-broadcast/4072922002/

4:12 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Susan-

Inasmuch as Tulsi is a total fraud, they might as well delegitimize her; altho she never had a chance to begin with. And whether they attack Bernie or not, the poor shmuck will go down in flames, once again. Hopefully they will pick Biden, and Trumpi will crush him like a cockroach. My money is on Herman Cain, tho I think he might be a bit more modest and consider a 6-6-6 plan. It's all a joke, really; end-of-empire blues/comedy. Buffoons on parade; altho the biggest buffoons are the American people, who think any of this matters.

mb

4:40 PM  
Anonymous trying to stay sane said...

AWWWWW Shucky Ducky. God, I love that man. In one nonsensical phrase, he has managed to epitomize the soul of American Empire - empty and without meaning. No wonder he's so popular. I could watch this all day. What a talent. What an.......idiot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2o6Igihp6g

4:41 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

For those interested this episode of The Thomas Jefferson Hour is the most frightening I’ve heard in 15 yrs of listening. Is Clay Jenkinson, a man who has studied and portrayed Jefferson for over 30 yrs, becoming a Wafer? I seriously had a panic attack the day after 2016 election b/c my gut knew the whole enchilada was over. Clay seems to there now. Collapse came sooner than I thought it would.

http://jeffersonhour.bandcamp.com/album/2019

Apologies I assumed CH was understood as acronym for Mr Hedge, it’s pickled herring btw.

4:42 PM  
Blogger PedroC. said...

@Dan
Man made global warming IS a hoax. All the models failed to predict what was going to happen at the global scale (are you old enough to remember the scare articles thay said that we'd be without snow by 2015?).

Since they knew their models were utter shit, they changed the tune to "climate change", making the whole thing unfalsifiable (they claim that if it gets warm or cold or dry or wet all is evidence that their idiotic theory is right) and thus, not scientific.

The current state of scientific discourse in things like climate or medicine is perfect proof that we are living in dark times.

5:41 PM  
Anonymous Belgado said...

Spanish man skips work for 6 years to study Spinoza! https://www.timesofisrael.com/spanish-engineer-who-skipped-work-for-6-years-was-studying-spinoza/

6:20 PM  
Anonymous Wudufugel said...

Joan, my problem with articles like this is that instead of being an objective rebuttal they usually spend a lot of time trying to trigger moral outrage in the reader. To be fair this one is better than a lot of what I've seen lately, but Torres spends time mentioning that Michael Shermer has been accused of sexual assault, and that Pinker was in photos with Jeffrey Epstein. Doesn't make either of them sound good, for sure, but what do these things have to do with the factual accuracy or inaccuracy of their beliefs? The answer is nothing. I'm not defending Pinker, I haven't read his book yet, its probably full of crap. But these tactics are just something to throw out there to make the reader have an emotional reaction.

Another good example is the reaction to Jordan Peterson. I personally do not like Peterson and think he's a mediocre political philosopher, but the reaction to him from the left has been absurd. I've seen a few good takedowns of his scholarship (in relation to political science or history, not his work in clinical psychology), but 95% of whats out there is just screeds against how racist and sexist he is.

I'm a card-carrying lefty but what I find ridiculous these days is how the new left will tolerate someone saying the moon is made of cheese as long as they are "woke" enough.

10:36 PM  
Anonymous Diarmaid said...

Should Alberta ditch Canada? https://albertaviews.ca/misplaced-anger/

secession in the air

8:53 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Gunnar-

So...PH?

mb

9:01 AM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

@PedroC- I find myself unable to refute your argument.

@Wudufugel- Twitter is a horrific example of what you talk about, the constant signaling of being opposed to the correct people confers correctness on the tweeter-personage. An ongoing experiment in useless expression masquerading as political action.

Even questioning the efficacy of twitter and other techno toys in organizing opposition leads to blank stares, or screaming and yelling. Twitter is simply a new tool for accomplishing old ends, but few recognize this. The belief that the correct use of tech will lead to a new world of peace is everywhere, sadly. Dare mention that maybe the tools should be selected after determining what the goal is falls on deaf ears. Everyone falls in love with a tool- say, a hammer- and runs around looking for things to nail together, but forgets to have a plan or even have wood to use the nails on to build anything. Sure, tools are part of a 'dialectic' of possibilities, but tools shouldn't be driving the car.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/25/twitter-facebook-uprisings-arab-libya

10:17 AM  
Anonymous al-Qa'bong said...

Hello Wafers:

Alberta, Diarmaid, is like Canada's version of Churchill's canine Hun: it's either at your feet or at your throat. When its economy is booming, Albertans crow about how tough, hardworking and successful they are, and when times slip a bit they are crying "foul" and begging for handouts.

As for Pedro's version of the etymology of "climate change", his hazy "they" didn't invent the term because their science was wrong; instead, a Republican corporate PR flack named Frank Luntz created it to deflect attention away from Big Oil's role in wrecking our climate:

Memo exposes Bush's new green strategy
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2003/mar/04/usnews.climatechange

"Job Creators": Luntz Strikes Again
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2011/09/28/job-creators-luntz-strikes-again

Luntz has apparently recently recanted:

Luntz: ‘I was wrong’ on climate change
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/21/frank-luntz-wrong-climate-change-1470653

10:53 AM  
Anonymous Brian said...

Recently read an interesting article about Israeli research that suggests that "our brains are wired to shield us from thinking about our own deaths." https://www.israel21c.org/how-our-brains-keep-us-from-imagining-our-own-deaths/

While I always take research of this sort with a grain of salt, it does support the idea that the vast majority of us need to be (or are wired to be) head-in-the-sand pollyannas in order to carry on in our everyday lives. Ironically, those everyday activities are killing the planet, and us. Individually and collectively, our instincts are telling us that we're headed at full speed toward the cliff, but our "survival" mechanisms refuse to acknowledge the alarm bells.

These days, I am reduced to thinking very selfishly -- I'm older, I've lived a relatively full and happy life, etc. But there are days when I see children happily playing, and I inevitably think, my God, what is going to happen to them? Their future quite probably will make the Mad Max movies look like a walk in the park.

1:22 PM  
Blogger Krakhed said...

Goodbye Tim Ryan
We hardly knew thee!

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/tim-ryan-drops-out-presidential-race-n1065796

Ode to Tim Ryan:

Tim Ryan 2020 is done.
Starting in a whimper,
and ending in a whimper.
You represent a centrist Democrat man
with no original thoughts or ideas.
Go swiftly into the night,
and try not to get your shoes peed on.

3:22 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Krak-

Who the fuck is Tim Ryan? When we finally get rid of Tulsi, the papers might report that she was flushed out; which wd make sense.

Brian-

I think Freud said that in the unconscious, we see ourselves as immortal.

Dan D-

Check out ch. 3 of WAF on why Americans have heads rammed up ass with regard to tech.

mb

3:47 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

Cody Meader, 20, arrested for fucking a stuffed animal in a Florida Target store. Police indicate that Cody 'ejaculated' on the doll, returned it to the shelf, then grabbed another and began going to down on it:

https://rare.us/rare-humor/man-sexually-assaults-stuffed-animals/

I tell ya, the Moron is the Lord of this world.

Miles

5:02 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Of Course he did...this is what Americans DO...

Taco Bell customer gets doused with gasoline and lit on fire

https://abcn.ws/32N8MGQ


Of Course she did....

Colorado mom charged with murder and profiting off fabricated illnesses in Make-A-Wish daughter's death...

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/us/colorado-mother-charged-murder-daughter-make-a-wish/index.html

5:39 PM  
Blogger Sarasvati said...

Brian, I love what Leo Hartong says about death in his book Awakening to the Dream, The Gift of Lucid Living:

“The fear of dying is not the same as the fear of death. The former is a very practical and commonsense characteristic of the body, while the latter is a curious mix of fantasy and make-believe belonging to the mind. Animals know the fear of dying, but are, as far as we know, unfamiliar with the conceptual fear death.

“...The fear of death…is more abstract as the mind projects a future in which it no longer exists. You could say that it mourns its own demise in advance. It terrifies itself with pictures of life being terminated, followed by an abyss of eternal nothingness, and then recoils from this void as if nonexistence could be some kind of an experience….”

Memento Mori

9:39 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff, jj-

Solid American stories! Americans are wonderful people, as I've said many times. Consider this as well:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-beats-peeping-tom-death-catching-girlfriends-window/story?id=66398847

As for Cody Meader, let's put him in the Wafer Hall of Fame. Almost as gd as Freddie Wadsworth.

mb

9:48 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Latest bulletin from Turkeyville:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/25/us/politics/tulsi-gabbard-congress.html?searchResultPosition=1

This may get her out of politics once and for all. So there *is* a god. What a shmuckette!

mb

9:57 AM  
Anonymous Mike Kelly said...

Hi Miles,

I really enjoyed the story you posted about Cory Meader shtupping Olaf. That's about as close as any moron can get to a revolutionary gesture. Shtup Disney could get to be a movement, as 20 year olds around the world volunteer to defile Disney characters.

I did a brief Internet search on Freddie Wadsworth this morning to see what he's up to, or perhaps I should say what he's into. He's pretty much dropped off the radar from what I can tell. He might be in a Georgia prison for shtupping a goat back in 2016. I did run across this article on American excellence:

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/19-year-old-man-accused-of-decapitating-cat-smearing-its-blood-inside-an-arbys-bathroom

12:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A good recap of the Zeitgeist in the UK right now:

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/10/the-pestilence-of-brexit-and-the-failure-of-the-political-class/

"This is what happens when only the ends are deemed important; this is what happens when you rip up convention and trash norms; this is what happens when you’re careless with the constitution and the traditions of British politics; this is what happens when politics becomes a matter of identity-based ideology. For when you do all this, you may discover there is indeed a new reality and you may soon find you do not like it very much."

Kanye

1:29 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Kanye-

He cd have also said, Brexit, Schmexit. The UK will be beating off for at least 5 more yrs.

Mike-

This is the real America, as far as I'm concerned. By fucking goats and stuffed toys and mutilating cats, they are sticking it to The Man. This is actually the inevitable revolution Hedges keeps talking abt. These guys are on the front line of the barricades. Wall St., watch out! (I'd join them, but I don't have a goat or any stuffed toys. Maybe I'll get a brick and beat up a 91-yr-old Mexican.)

mb

2:01 PM  
Anonymous James Allen said...

From the police blotter;
Actress Felicity Huffman, who entered a federal correctional facility in Dublin, California on 15 October to serve a 14-day sentence for her involvement in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal, was released today (Friday, 25 October) after serving 11 days. Entertainment outlets are already abuzz over the prospect of an interview with the convicted felon. No word yet on a book deal or future script possibilities.

There were 52 defendants in the complex of cases, including college coaches; 29 have pleaded guilty. Nineteen were parents, all but one of whom have received prison sentences.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/10/25/felicity-huffman-released-federal-prison/

There are currently 11 holdouts who have refused plea bargains, among them Lori Loughlin and her husband Giannulli Mossimo. On Tuesday (22 October), federal prosecutors in Boston introduced a further charge against these individuals for “federal program bribery.” Stay tuned.
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/22/772443604/new-charges-against-lori-loughlin-and-10-other-parents-in-admissions-case

3:06 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jas-

I'm hoping they put Lori away for a very long time.

mb

6:04 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

I was in San Francisco earlier this week, and the place is now overrun w/armies of homeless. I hafta say, it's an absolutely surreal and spooky experience watching the ragged and the filthy looking up at the sun and screaming at the heavens or quietly muttering to themselves w/no place to go but further down. Pretty much everywhere I walked or drove, the insane city SF streets are teeming w/squalid tent cities that reek of human waste and ruin. Rather than help these people, there's an ugly backlash taking place against the homeless. I didn't personally see any of the examples documented in this article, but I witnessed plenty of indifference, and virtually no police presence in these areas where there are literally thousands living in the streets:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/us/california-homeless-backlash.html

Miles

6:45 PM  
Anonymous Fleet said...

Global Millionaires—Just 0.9% of Population—Now Own Nearly Half of World's $361 Trillion in Wealth, Study Shows https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/22/global-millionaires-just-09-population-now-own-nearly-half-worlds-361-trillion

6:48 PM  
Anonymous Birney Zouave said...

Dr. B-

You'll definitely want to put this on your "must see" list the next time you visit the New York City area-

https://www.nj.com/news/2019/10/american-dream-mall-opens-today-here-are-the-first-photos-from-inside.html

Will it succeed or fail? Time will tell.

10:26 PM  
Anonymous Dan said...

More than likely a slap on the wrist for all the admission scandal defendants or to paraphrase the song from West Side Story:
"Life is alright in America, if you're a rich and famous white in America."
As usual, the hustle never ends. Last night when the pitching coach came out to talk to the pitcher, the TV had a half screen advertisement. OF course, when there is an actual pitching change, there is a full commercial. God forbid we might watch the relief pitcher take the ball and warm up.
Recently started watching Laurel and Hardy movies. There was such a commitment to craft and they were great friends throughout their lives unlike the acrimony between Martin and Lewis and Abbott and Costello. Lewis was a complete hypocrite. He did all that fundraising for muscular dystrophy yet cut out all his sons and grandchildren from his will. In fact, he has a love child who is homeless in Philadelphia.

8:50 AM  
Anonymous Tom Servo said...

Almost half of American adults say that substance abuse problems have affected someone in their family.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/465643-almost-half-of-americans-have-dealt-with-substance-abuse-in-family-gallup

Roughly 1 in 7 working-age men in the U.S. aren't employed, higher than before the 2008 housing crash.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-economys-hidden-problem-working-class-men-without-jobs/

9:47 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Tom-

It was 1 in 5 after the crash. Progress?

Birn-

I spent 5 horrible yrs in NJ. Not likely to return.

Jeff-

Very sad story, SF. I expect after he's reelected, Trumpi will round them up and ship them off to Antarctica.

mb

12:39 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

Just for fun, a quick take-down of Her Highness Hilary, Gabbard, Bill himself, and even a dash of Gingrich-

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/hillary-clinton-spoils-the-party/

Having lived in San Francisco from 1985 to 2015, I watched the homeless situation ebb and flow. When I first arrived, my neighborhood had two old guys who appeared to be a couple living on the streets. Most everyone had almost tripped over them at some point coming out the front door in the morning. Good natured, would take brooms from a neighbor and tell them to sit while they swept up the leaves, etc.

And then later Feinstein wanted to clean up the Civic Center so pushed the homeless to the Mission. At the same time the governor slashed the mental health budget. Within months we found ourselves reverse gentrified as we went elsewhere as it became obvious people were not getting the help they needed.

Ebb and flow- a report of a sweep in one part of town meant other parts had to be ready for an influx. Islands of desperation would form and then disperse. Lessing's 'Memoirs of a Survivor' is the best representation I have read but I am sure there are others.

As I've said before, late capitalism is eating itself. First it has to push people outside and then they become fair game. A revisit to Douglas seems in order for me-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_and_Danger

Nothing, not one goddamned thing, makes this acceptable-
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-18/homeless-population-attacks-fire

9:22 PM  
Anonymous Nikolas said...

Amerikkka seems to breed the most serial killers, from Ed Gein to Jeffrey Dahmer to Ted Bundy. Why do you think this might be?

1:52 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bankers are all pissing their pants of fear I am sure!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/27/donald-trump-elizabeth-warren-bernie-sanders-joe-biden

Kanye

3:02 AM  
Anonymous Megan said...

Someone was asking about Camille Paglia in an earlier thread. This is a really good interview with Jordan Peterson. (Fortunately, Peterson doesn't talk very much, and acts more like the interviewer.) This one is kind of like "My Dinner With Andre" meets really smart, erudite transgender feminist with an Adderall habit. At any rate, pretty much everything she says is spot on, particularly her take on the sad state of our universities, and the toxic relations between the sexes. Camille is one of those rare people, who if you spent an evening with her, you wouldn't want to get a word in edgewise, since it would mean less time that you could hear her talk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-hIVnmUdXM

5:34 AM  
Anonymous S Maughan said...

The U.S. deficit hit $984 billion in 2019, soaring during Trump era https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/25/us-deficit-hit-billion-marking-nearly-percent-increase-during-trump-era/

8:49 AM  
Anonymous trying to stay sane said...

On fear of death - The classic is Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death which won the Pulitzer 1973. Don't form any opinions until you've read it. With frequent references to Freud and Rank, Becker postulates that repression of the innate fear of death drives the creation of "immortality projects" by which we try to extent ourselves beyond death.

"the idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is the mainspring of human activity - activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man."

10:39 AM  
Anonymous Joan Lee said...

Cheap Imitation Department

Mark Zuckerberg's obsession with Augustus Caesar may explain haircut - Business Insider - https://amp.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-haircut-explained-augustus-caesar-2019-10

11:36 AM  
Anonymous B. Louis said...

"Midnight at the Oasis."

This should be the subtitle to the WAFer blog. :)

Every once in a while, I find myself tempted to dig into a political debate with an American. It takes a second or two before I realize that I'd be better served by spending my time smoking pencil shavings or counting the dust particles on a tube of Preparation H.

American politics is a gigantic fart in an elevator. The WAFer blog is the stairwell. Mildly lonely, but at least the air is clean.

2:13 PM  
Anonymous cyrilliajuniper said...

Trump as agent of decline:

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/26/trump-will-win-again-easily-liberals-simply-dont-understand-what-he-represents/

"Empires, heavy and difficult to maneuver, don’t engage in circular or sideways motions. Trump is the accelerant to the end point that empire needs now, just as Reagan and Bush served their functions earlier, and in that sense he is a true man of the people. You don’t beat a man of the people electorally. You just don’t."

3:22 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

cyrillia-

Good!

Louis-

We are indeed the Great (albeit unknown) Oasis. Keep in mind that Americans have shit for brains. Meanwhile, what abt "Ahab the Ay-rab, sheik of the burning sands"? And why was his camel named Clyde?

Joan-

Speaking of true Americans...what an awful human being. Americans adore him.

Maughan-

Good!

Kanye-

Bernie, Schmernie. Warren, Schmarren. It's all crap.

Nikolas-

America is a hate factory, no?

Dan D-

Author pegs Botox Face pretty well, but then everyone knows this shit. What people don't know, and need to know, is what a nasty joke Tulsi is. So we can be grateful for that. Since she's keen on torturing Muslims, I suggest Wafers all fly to Olympia, WA, where Jack L. will lead us in dancing the Wa-Tulsi; and then on to Hawaii, where we will waterboard Tulsi 185 times. This might give her a new perspective on torture, keep her off of Fox News, etc. Of course, she will parlay this into a lucrative book deal: "Memoirs of a Douche Baguette."

mb

3:49 PM  
Anonymous Art Baker said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=C2Jw5ib-s_I

Fungus turns fly into zombie?? Is this life in 'mur'ka on a reduced scale?

6:00 PM  
Anonymous James Allen said...

Under the heading, “Couldn’t we all use a laugh”...,

The good professor’s mention of Ahab the Arab reminded me that the author of that classic tune was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame on 20 October. Born 24 January 1939 in Clarkdale, Georgia, Ray Stevens (Harald Ray Ragsdale) has been prolific producer of comedy records. Two of my favorites are here:

Would Jesus Wear a Rolex? (1987)
https://youtu.be/nZZvYgRrE1M

And, with the holiday approaching:
Santa Claus Is Watching You (He’s everywhere, he’s everywhere) (1962)
https://youtu.be/tndDcbIzEfA

Stevens comments on his induction.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2019-10-23/ray-stevens-country-musics-comedy-hero-on-being-inducted-into-the-country-music-hall-of-fame

7:04 PM  
Blogger Michael Martin said...

@Nikolas:
Jim Kunstler has answered your question for you:
https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/hold-the-teddy-bears-and-candles/

"[W]hy does this country produce so many of them? Answer: this is exactly what you get in a culture where anything goes and nothing matters. Extract all the meaning and purpose from being here on earth, and erase as many boundaries as you can from custom and behaviour, and watch what happens, especially among young men trained on video slaughter games.

"For many, there is no armature left to hang a life on, no communities, no fathers, no mentors, no initiations into personal responsibility, no daily organizing principles, no instruction in useful trades, no productive activities, no opportunities for love and affection, and no way out. This abyss of missing social relations is made worse by the everyday physical settings for everyday lives based on nothing: the wilderness of parking lots that America has turned itself into."

7:37 PM  
Anonymous Italiana said...

Greetings MB & Wafers,

Great links here as always.

And coming to a country near you, "pre-crime"! The US (along with the UK) will now start to look across all the social media and internet platforms, with the help "of clinical psychologists, threat assessment professionals, intervention teams and community groups", looking for vaguely defined "mental illness", so as to stop mass shooters or others of that ilk before anything happens. Here is a program with the potential to criminalize (or at least medicalize) anyone who thinks differently from the mainstream, all while encouraging the local community to turn in their neighbors. What could possibly go wrong??

http://www.unz.com/wwebb/with-little-fanfare-william-barr-formally-announces-orwellian-pre-crime-program/

I'm so glad I'm not there anymore - BUT - my internet will still be monitored! How nice.

5:09 AM  
Anonymous Flyingspaghettimonstr said...

Here's a great summation of Amerikkkan life .

https://www.rooshv.com/7-reasons-why-american-culture-is-the-most-degenerate-in-the-world?source=delusiondamage.com

The following part puts it perfectly:
"Their lives are dedicated not to making a positive difference, not to leaving this world with something that helps the next generation, but leaving behind a McMansion full of crap. Americans don’t work to live—they work to stuff their home with Chinese-made products that no one will want after they die."

Indeed, most Amerikkkans are on a treadmill & don't even know it.

8:37 AM  
Blogger Janet D said...

Hello all,

I don't have much time for posting these days, but I am a regular reader.

To Nikolas, MB, anyone else who might find this pertinent:

You might want to check out this short-ish (~15 min) video riff by one of my favs, author/speaker/activist Derrick Jensen on the topic "Sociopaths as Heroes". He states, "it's long been clear to me that art that becomes popular is a manifestation of collective cultural desire" and then goes on to brilliantly illuminate (& contrast & compare) the underlying pathology(ies) of modern American culture.

I found it very worthwhile, as reflections like this really help me not to get caught by the toxic undertow (undertow? hell, it's a tsunami) of this society.

Highly recommend.

9:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kylie Jenner has applied to trademark the phrase "rise and shine":

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/28/kylie-jenner-anxiety-rise-and-shine-billionaire

It keeps getting better and better!

Kanye

10:57 AM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

Update on man caught on cam throwing body into dumpster. Turns out it was his mother and she was dismembered b4 getting shoved into a suitcase and dumped. Police are asking the “community” to help find her missing head and hands! How the hell can one think USA! is the greatest and our problems are only temporary while also being on the lookout for a neighbor’s chopped off head?

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/crime/pueblo-police-search-for-dismembered-body-parts-of-woman-whose-corpse-was-found-in-suitcase

TY Megan for the Camille Paglia video I watched it last night and couldn’t agree more.

12:40 PM  
Blogger Ordinary Indian said...

Thanks Martin for sharing JHK's piece.

MB and Wafers, I have been having this strange premonition, no, enlightenment you might say. The world is not going to get out of this dark phase without a major crisis. And by crisis, I do not mean a Syria-type proxy war. A crisis of the proportions of the two world wars, slaughter of millions of people, gassing of minorities all around the world -- in the Americas, Europe, Asia, or an ecological disaster of global scale is what is required for the remaining human population to understand their follies, hopefully. The pace at which hate and lie-peddling fascists are marching ahead all over, our outdated liberal democratic institutions are are not equipped to stop them. Waiting for a global disaster may be the only option left.

Your thoughts?

12:54 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

@Janet D- thank you for the Derrick Jensen reference. Always good to realize that you are not alone in despising shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad, etc. Well, not despising the show per se but despising a culture that wallows in the sociopathic and violent aspects of human nature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fN_TTApN5w&list=WL&index=21&t=0s

An interesting look at restructuring property. 'Common Wealth' as a literal model. It really does amaze me, this obsession with owning everything you could ever need. Laundromats are long gone, a place where many would have to rub shoulders with others. Replaced by private laundry rooms. Car, tools, lawnmowers... the list is endless of items that spend most of their time doing nothing in garages and closets and basements.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/10/rethinking-ownership

Good to remember that abominations like Uber actually came out of a decent idea- if a car is going from A to B, and someone without a car wants to go from A to B, how about sharing (hence the term 'ride sharing,' long gone as the venture capitalists got their vampire tentacles into it). Here's something in rural Maine, probably impossible in denser and less homogeneous populations because of crime and exploitation but still cute to consider-
https://www.neighborsdrivingneighbors.org/About.html

And what happens when the technocrats sink their teeth into it-
https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot/files/publictransit/documents/R2W%20Roadmap%20--%20NEK.pdf

6:12 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jas-

Cdn't run it (24 hr rule).

mb

7:21 PM  
Anonymous Mario said...

Essential point: "The future of capitalism is out of the hands of those who spend their time thinking about it."

“Better metrics and theories will not be enough to create a sustainable economic and social model. Or, they could — but only if they convince policymakers and the public to act differently.”


When capitalisms collide

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03047-9

7:26 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Is there no limit to the # of douche baguettes in politics? Check out Katie Hill. Jesus, the country is a large collection of morons.

mb

9:21 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

ps: plus a tattoo of a Nazi iron cross near her pussy. Is this brain damage or what?

9:32 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Movie rec: "Phil". I found it extremely funny.

9:47 PM  
Anonymous trying to stay sane said...

Ordinary Indian - fear not. Your desire for a crisis will soon be fulfilled. Or, should I say, multiple crisis. Converging at the same time, all over the planet. Right wing nut-jobs are asserting their neo-Nazi ideology throughout the West; Uncle Sam is on life-support and when he finally croaks, will take the world economy down with him; California will soon burn through whatever is left of its flora; "Climate change" will make the seas uninhabitable for most species, wipe out millions of land species, flood Miami and London and Bangladesh, turn arable land into deserts, causing a food shortage, and generally screw up the planet.https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/

So, worry not, friend. The Crisis, she is a comin', and she is really pissed off.

6:52 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

trying-

Yr an upbeat kinda guy. I like that!

mb

7:36 AM  
Blogger alex carter said...

By searching "morris berman dual process" I was able to find the transcript of the speech you gave on same.

This is how poor bastards too cheap to buy your books gradually learn the way of the WAF.

10:06 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

alex-

There's always the public library...

mb

10:14 AM  
Blogger Michael Burgess said...

Hi Dr. Berman and Wafers:

Here is an interview with Fidel Narvaez, a former Ecuadorian consul and diplomat stationed in London, UK, who helped Julian Assange gain asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. He gives some interesting info about the asylum and why Ecuador turned Assange over the British. An awful lot of politicians are beneath contempt but as the late George Carlin said, our politicians don't come from Mars (implication, they are at least partly US).

https://www.globalresearch.ca/fired-helping-julian-assange-have-no-regrets/5693261

11:05 AM  
Blogger Krakhed said...

Wafers, thanks for your contributions. It certainly seems like it's going to get worse before it gets better.

I stumbled across this documentary on modern day slavery that was produced by True Vision of London and features filmmakers Brian Edwards and Kate Blewett. Many more slaves exist today than you'd think. They produce a lot of the raw materials that end up in our goods around the globe.

Here's the link for anyone who wants to check it out:

https://vimeo.com/39383629 "Slavery: A Global Investigation"

11:33 AM  
Anonymous Tom Servo said...

More on youth suicides in America. Suicide rates among 12- to 19-year-olds increased 87 percent between 2007 and 2017.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adolescent-suicide-up-87-percent-over-last-decade-lgbt-and-american-indianalaskan-native-teens-at-highest-risk-300946542.html

12:05 PM  
Blogger Janet D said...


A lovely, and fitting poem from Mary Oliver (from her last book, Devotions). I am keeping her formatting, hope it's < 1/2 page rule.


Of The Empire

We will be known as a culture that feared death

and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity 

for the few and cared little for the penury of the 

many. We will be known as a culture that taught

and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke 

little if at all about the quality of life for 

people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All

the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a 

commodity. And they will say that this structure

was held together politically, which it was, and 

they will say also that our politics was no more 

than an apparatus to accommodate the feelings of 

the heart, and the heart, in those days,

was small, and hard, and full of meanness.   

1:01 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Janet-

It's not really a poem, but it's rt on target.

Krak-

Link doesn't work.

mb

1:16 PM  
Anonymous Afrim said...

I'm a Albanian emigre who came to America in the 90s, and currently teach @ University of MD. In recent years I've realised via observations that this decision was a grave error.

For the past month I perused your blog & jotted down many a book title. I'm halfway done with "Why America Failed" right now. Knowing what I know today, I could NEVER encourage young Albanians to move here. America is indeed finished & the quality of life seems very overrated, if the suicide/opioid epidemic is anything to go by; most folks here are angry and stressed most of the time.

Anyway, I've told a couple of my students they should consider leaving, as the US really has nothing to offer. Maybe they can live a life that's worthwhile instead of being on the consumerist treadmill. Thanks for reading.

1:22 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Afrim-

Hope you will return to Albania. Meanwhile, Americans are not only angry and stressed; they are also very stupid. Makes it hard to have conversations.

Good luck!

mb

1:57 PM  
Anonymous Bramlett Abercrombie said...

The link to Krakhed's video ends with 39383629. Don't copy and paste the rest of the text.

2:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

MB, Wafers,

I don't know what it is, but it really feels like we're reaching the End Times in Europe. The animosity of people is just beyond belief and everyone seems to be on the verge of breaking point. At the same time, everyone is in complete denial and keeps acting as if everything was normal. It's an absurd sight.

On the upside however, BoJo secured a general election in parliament for Dec 12th. This is major news, not just Brexit Schmexit. If BoJo makes it, it will be the end of Progs. They won't recover from it. They'll spend the next 5 years trying to impeach BoJo and blame his election on the Russkis, while BoJo keeps reaping all the rewards in the polls and digs Progs'grave. Progs deserve it though, they had it coming. I personally can't wait to watch them cry and scream as BoJo gets elected.

Kanye

6:44 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

MB-

re: Katie Hill

Does that iron cross come w/a Hitler stash on her box?

MB, Wafers-

*Christian Lydia Martinez, 25, attacks mother w/a crucifix:

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Woman-arrested-after-using-crucifix-as-weapon-14568607.php#photo-18515680

O&D,

Miles

8:30 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff-

Kinda nice. Gives a new twist to the term 'Christ-killer', I suppose. Meanwhile, a question for all of you:

If I moved to the isle of Lesvos (Greece), and settled there, wd people be rt to call me a Lesvian?

mb

9:03 PM  
Anonymous Birney Zouave said...

Dr. B-

Marianne aired her first 60-second TV commercial in South Carolina; the subject is reparations-

https://youtu.be/vtc4Ca8hog0

6:05 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Birn-

Well, she's rt that we can't heal unless we clean up the past; but that shd also include the North apologizing to the South for destroying its culture and society and continuing to ridicule and degrade it to this day (see WAF ch. 4). As far as her candidacy goes, she has abt as much chance as Tulsi.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, stabbings in DC and Silver Springs, plus

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/30/long-beach-california-mass-shooting/

Not sure why the media bother to report this stuff anymore. A massacre now occurs in the US at a higher rate than one per day. Why do I think this is related?:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/10/29/survey-average-time-young-people-spend-watching-videos-mostly-youtube-has-doubled-since/

mb

6:32 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

I don' care what anybody says: ya gotta hand it to her:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/29/greta-thunberg-declines-award-climate-crisis

6:37 AM  
Blogger alex carter said...

Oh, the noble Kurds!

https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/most-folks-who-have-never-been-to-iraq-think-of-the-kurds-as-some-noble-non-islamic-ally-well-theyre-a-bit-better-than-the-typical-islamic-but-not-a-hell-of-a-lot/

It's an awful site full of ads but quite an interesting article that does not adhere to The Standard Narrative(tm)

If you have ever spent any time in Long Beach, the only surprise is there hasn't been a mass shooting yearly there. It's a real hole.

7:01 AM  
Anonymous Hans Castorp said...

Maybe all the video watching has something to do with this:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/us/reading-scores-national-exam.html

12:27 PM  
Blogger Michael Burgess said...

Hi Dr. Berman and Wafers:

Life expectancy is continuing to decline for all Americans but especially for white males. Drug overdose deaths are continuing to increase, especially for two age groups: 25 years to 34, and from 35 to 44 years of age. Rates of obesity are increasing for both American men and women. Level of health for Americans on average is declining.

And the Collapse continues!

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/slide-life-expectancy-american-men-continues-amid-spike-deaths-despair

1:35 PM  
Anonymous Kurry said...

" 10th Circuit rules police owe no compensation to innocent homeowner after destroying his home with rocket launchers. "
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/10/30/police-blew-up-an-innocent-mans-house-search-an-armed-shoplifter-too-bad-court-rules/

2:21 PM  
Anonymous Ford said...

This very day 1973 Oct 30 the House began impeachment measures. A bit of eerie repetition of history

2:28 PM  
Anonymous Mike R. said...

More young US-ians ready to stand up and resist; please take note Mr. Hedges.

"Ok boomer" is the latest US-ian saying to help resist those greedy, selfish boomers, and fight that good fight. T shirts, hats, etc...are available for sale.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/29/style/ok-boomer.html

Extra credit for the "news" paper using the term, "climate change," instead of 'global warming." The NY times was great for puppy training or lining bird cages.

4:00 PM  
Blogger jjarden said...

Student PUMMELED by his Teacher!!!

Charge dropped against teacher seen on video punching student who called him racial slur...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/charge-dropped-against-teacher-seen-video-punching-student-who-called-n1074036

4:25 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

jj-

I am personally in favor of pummeling: of teachers by students, of students by teachers, and of all Americans by other Americans.

Kurry-

I am personally in favor of the police and the gov't destroying Americans' homes and not having to pay anything for this.

Michael-

I am personally in favor of a major collapse.

Hans-

I am personally in favor of all student reading scores declining significantly in all contexts, including labels on soft drinks.

If anyone is not clear as to where I stand on any of these issues, pls contact me immediately.

mb

7:14 PM  
Blogger Dan Daniel said...

@ Mike R-- it's about time! I've been saying this for a decade now. Why would any young person want anything to do with Boomers? We let schools collapse, infrastructure collapse, gave the US three of the worst presidents in history- Baby Bush, Clinton, and Trump, refused to do anything about global warming when there was still time....

On and on. Probably the most despicable, destructive, degenerate generation of the last 300 years. A fitting end to the 'American Century.'

When Grandpa Ronny came along and said that we could have our cake and eat it too, we shouted with joy, ran up debt beyond measure, bought bigger and bigger cars and houses, put our faith in the ponzi schemes of Wall Street, and are now in the process of cashing out as many chips as we can before the shit hole we created caves in around us. The looting is now blatant and brazen as those that have grab all they can because, well, because they can.

7:46 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Dan D-

Bush Sr. was no great shakes either. Doonesbury usta caricature him as a feather (from a turkey, I wd guess). And let's not forget the wit and wisdom of Dan Quayle.

mb

8:45 PM  
Anonymous Newton Athens said...

‘...as we approach the centenary of Rawls’s birth, not all is well with his vision or, for that matter, with liberal democracy itself.’ ⁦
https://www.thenation.com/article/john-rawls-liberal-philosophy-review/

8:47 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wafers-

Check out the cover illustration of the New Yorker for Oct. 7, by Barry Blitt. It shows Trumpi and Giuliani as 2 mafiosi, pushing Uncle Sam (his feet in cement) off a bridge into the ocean (or sea). The title is "Whack Job."

This is, of course, perfectly accurate; it *is* what is happening. My problem with it is that implicitly, the New Yorker regards this as a bad thing, whereas any ol' declinist walking down the street will tell you that these 2 jokers are just doing their historical jobs. America certainly needs to be punished; who better to carry out the task than these 2 clowns? Go, Barry!

mb

9:22 PM  
Anonymous Glans Butterworth, III said...

Wafers Mike R and Dan Daniels:

https://nypost.com/2019/10/30/gen-z-is-making-bank-off-their-baby-boomer-anger-with-ok-boomer/

More incredible, proactive, American youths making bank off of "merch" with that "OK boomer" saying.

That saying will definitely make a difference in those American boomers; they're likely quivering in their benz's and oversized homes as they look at their stock statements and bank accounts. All those boomers will self reflect and realize they were complete douche bags and read Dr Berman's books.....

9:54 PM  
Anonymous B. Louis said...

I figured I'd leave this here.

One of Carlin's greatest bits wasn't actually in a stand-up routine. It was in a phone interview:

"Become a Spectator"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLt2ZJ-MTaY

10:25 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Louis-

A great interview, but Wafers aren't quite so detached. I don't write bks, or give lectures, or run this blog merely as a 'spectator'. I want to clue people in on what's going on, and then have them go out and clue other people in. We can't change the US, not at all; but we can fish a few people out of the drink. I think doing that is one component of a life honorably lived. And I want all of the boomers...

Glans-

to stand up and say: "Jesus, I'm a complete douche bag, spiritually dead; but now, I'm gonna turn my life around and buy Berman's bks, so he can finally get that yellow Porsche he's had his eye on, along w/that villa in Tuscany...

mb

11:44 PM  
Anonymous Clover 5 said...

Good read: “If we’ve learned anything from all the millennial-oriented books on how to unfuck your life, the meditation apps, the organizational apps, and the profusion of $3,000 exercise bikes, it’s that a thing can’t fix what ails both millennials and society as a whole. “

"Our current iteration of capitalism can’t fix the problems that our current iteration of capitalism has wrought"

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/annehelenpetersen/millennial-burnout-startup-gin-lane-pattern-equal-parts

6:55 AM  
Anonymous trying to stay sane said...

To return to the discussion on living as a NMI - first, with all due respect MB, I would like to suggest that the title be changed to include NMIs living in community with other like-minded realists. Say - NMIIC. That is, after all, what has been created by this blog.

On projects for the NMIIC - I attend one discussion group of 15 and lead another. The topic is Current Issues. Free flowing discussions of what's going on on the local, state, national and world levels. I also submit the occasional oped to the local newspaper in an attempt to educate my fellow townsfolk on the issues raised in your books and challenge them to consider that the status quo and what they have been told to believe may not be helpful after all.

Finally, I try to keep informed by reading alternative news websites and as many history books as I can get from the local library.

These activities help keep me grounded in reality, which helps "keep me sane."

8:21 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

alex-

Be sure to let 24 hrs elapse b4 u post. Thanks.

trying-

Nice, but yr data sample is rather small. Altho I'd certainly like to believe that this blog created a vast # of such communities, for sure.

Clover-

That's exactly rt, tho Americans will keep trying to fix our problems with nonsolutions. Yrs ago I hda a meditation teacher who said to me, "What people wanna do, is change w/o changing."

mb

9:16 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wait a minute: I thought Americans were gonna rise up against their corporate masters. They're not?

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-10-31/

9:55 AM  
Anonymous Drew Pattinson said...

LATE ERA CAPITALISM
$60 Lego Friends set

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/central-perk-21319

12:32 PM  
Anonymous Jesse Meyers said...

John Gray on conservative populism
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2019/10/closing-conservative-mind-politics-and-art-war

1:36 PM  
Anonymous Art Baker said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q1Xbv7kHas

This shows you what life is like for a recent college graduate trying to
pay off student loan by being a slave at McDonald's.

1:39 PM  
Blogger Gunnar said...

Yay! The Nationals won their first World Series in 95 yrs! "Liberals celebrating with Conservatives, for one night we're all one big happy family!" And here is your mascot, after all who can't get behind this fat fuck's reaction.

https://nypost.com/2019/10/31/topless-nationals-fan-goes-wild-in-world-series-celebration/

2:07 PM  
Anonymous cyrillia juniper said...

Kingston, NY goes NMI, or as "trying" said, NMIIC.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/oct/31/us-city-preparing-itself-for-the-collapse-of-capitalism

And they started with an equal exchange of art for medical treatment. How cool is that! However, now that they've been outed in the Guardian, they should prepare for a rush of imitators trying to get in on the action to save themselves instead of taking similar action in their own communities. As MB noted, people wanna change without changing.

Love and gratitude to all Wafers for the continuing fantastic links.

2:10 PM  
Anonymous Millennial Realist said...

One more nail in the coffin!
"A ‘growing club’ of ‘very powerful countries’ is steering away from using the dollar"
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/31/de-dollarization-russia-china-eu-are-motivated-to-shift-from-using-usd.html

Botox Face 2020? "Hillary Clinton still considering 2020 run for president (reports)"
https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2019/10/hillary-clinton-still-considering-2020-run-for-president-reports.html
^^I'm really hoping she runs again. Her arrogance colliding with another epic loss to Trump would be more than enjoyable to watch. She can run on a platform of Neo-McCarthyism, pledging to save the nation from the Orange Dumpster and Russian Internet trolls. But is it likely she'll run again? You have Ukrainegate chipping away at Biden's campaign and uneasiness from Democratic donors about Warren's campaign. Sanders will be screwed over again, hopefully for good. If the stars and planets align, we'll have another epic showdown like in 2016.

3:16 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

A few famous and accurate Morris Berman quotes:
1) “No government has legitimacy without the support of large sections of the population. And so it's impossible to sit around saying, as I've heard many Mexicans or Europeans do: 'Well, the problem with the United States is the government. The problem is not the people. The people are intelligent and well-intentioned and so on.' I'm telling you they're not. They're not intelligent and they're not well-intentioned.” -You Tube video “Morris Berman—Universidad de Monterey ( Feb 2013)”.
2) “Most Americans don't think of their country as an empire. But that's because most Americans are asleep in the snow. They're clueless. And their understanding of U.S. foreign poilicy is in the level of 7 year olds.” -You Tube video “Morris Berman: Reflections on the Decline of the American Empire”
3) “Most Americans don't read. I mean, this has been well-established now.” -Ibid.

4) “Common words are now misspelled on CNN and in supermarkets. They never get 'Caesar salad' right, if you notice that. It's only 5 more years they won't be able to get 'salad' right. “-You Tube video “Morris Berman on The Twilight American Culture”.

And in another ( I forget which) video, Doctor Berman, you intoned so very accurately, “They are so dumb.” Doctor Berman, you are so very accurate about Americans. Your advice also is reaching more and more people who now are expatriating to Mexico. In fact, Don Trump's proposed border wall actually could prevent us from leaving. As a comparison I think of Chris (Yul Brynner) first confronting Calvera (Eli Wallach) in The Magnificent Seven:
Chris: “There are lots of new walls.”
Calvera: “They won't keep me out.”
Chris: “They were built to keep you in.”
Perhaps there will be no escape from this capitalistic rat race for many of us here in the United States.

3:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Look at those faces: joy and sexual fulfillment all around!

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/31/battle-of-the-sexes-why-this-years-oscars-will-be-a-gender-war

5:07 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Joe-

I am indeed a great seer, but hafta ask you to watch length, in future: half pg max, thanks.

Mil-

It really is hard to get dumber than Hillary. I certainly hope she runs again.

cyr-

Thanks for the ref. This is exactly what I meant by 'dual process'. But think of all the hustlers that will try to game it, make money off of the model.

mb

5:08 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Gunnar-

It's useful to be reminded, occasionally, of how sad, stupid, an disgusting Americans are. What trash; what empty lives they lead.

mb

5:13 PM  
Anonymous Liv said...

Hello, Wafers. Today, I met an older couple from DC (actually they were from the shitty Bethesda and told them about the US lifestyle and capitalism and how miserable life in the US is. The only value is hustling and profits. The hyper-individualism, and lack of communities. First, they looked at me with an open mouth like I talked about the different planet and not the US and then they respond was: “ Oh, we are sorry for your bad experience.” They did not get the point which is the whole American lifestyle and life is screwed up because of capitalism and their nonsense values. Most of Americans are corporate slaves with no healthcare or education benefits. No vacation time, eating shitty food and buying things they don’t need. No wonder the US has the highest rate of depression in the world. But Americans are so brainwashed, they don’t understand or want to understand. Therefore, I don’t see much of the future in the US.


6:53 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Liv-

I'm still hoping you'll give Bethesda the Aerial Urine Treatment.

When did Americans ever get the pt of anything, other than hustling?

Plus, in America, unlike most other countries, wisdom doesn't come with age. Most older Americans are fools, and their experience of life has been one-dimensional.

mb

7:02 PM  
Anonymous JaJa-Galore said...

Thank you Wafers for the thoughts so all my existential despair seems less alienating for a little while.

I must say I really do appreciate whenever people rip on S. Pinker. His wife probably deserves Wafer treatment as well she seems like a real gem of enlightenment as a "public intellectual". Yet all these false idols with their false consciousness wrapped in an authoritative rational style - hiding behind "prestigious" institutions and degrees - like fake journalists giving themselves awards all the time. All fake all the time. How someone can listen to any MSM or anyone on NPR - even just a resonating British accent makes me want to puke lately.

7:26 PM  

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