Wafers-
I think it's time for me to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. What am I living for, anyway? I tell the Dems and the wokes, "Stop beating off!" Their reaction? Increased beating off. I tell the general public, "This is a phony war. Biden couldn't care less about the Ukrainians. What he is doing is resurrecting the Cold War, i.e. attacking Russia." The response? They run around waving the Ukrainian flag, removing Chekhov from university curricula, and insisting that restaurants serve Beef Zelensky instead of Beef Stroganoff. I tell them, "We're not No. 1. We're actually way down the list, in almost every category you can name. The place is disintegrating before your very eyes." What do they do? Run around waving the American flag, chanting "We're No. 1!" They actually think we won the war in Vietnam. There simply is no reason for me to go on, amigos; I need to give some serious thought to packing it in.
-mb
In the off-chance that this sentiment ISN'T a joke...
ReplyDeleteI'd like to assure you that this blog has been a veritable oxygen tank in a room fogged up by Prog/Bubba farts.
Louis-
ReplyDeleteThank you. But I can't avoid the conclusion that journalist Malcolm Muggeridge once came to: "Chronicles of Wasted Time." Who, really, has been beating off all these yrs? How much methane gas have I actually dispersed?
mb
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't post Unknowns.
mb
Dr. Berman, alas I feel the same way often, yet somehow the magic of deli meats brings me back from the brink:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/18/dining/jewish-deli-exhibit.html
aw, dangit paywall! The end is near!
Hopefully some of you Wafers can read it.
Aw, hell, stick around Mr. B. Dial it all back to Mildly Amused and have a chuckle. Americans aren't people so much as they are silly monkeys throwing shit at each other and scratching their ass.
ReplyDeletecomrade-
ReplyDeleteI agree that a sense of humor is essential in these absurd times. Also that Americans are silly monkeys.
mb
We hear about the daily road rage killings, and countless other buffoonish things that Americans do. But when you actually watch it in real time, it is just that much more unbelievable. I always wonder what people like the woman in the video below, were doing before they decide to cross the line into pure insanity? What kind of upbringing leads to this behavior, I wonder? I hope she gets a long prison sentence for this.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=georgia+woman+runs+over+police+car+with+child
Checking out early has always been an occupational hazard for writers. Still, there's a lot to be said for staying till the end of the whole tragicomedy. It can admittedly get a bit dull watching buffoons of the Bubbha and Woke varieties go at it hammer and tongs over which direction to wrench the helm of the sinking global industrial Titanic. I'm reminded of a quote by the intellectually-challenged former CEO of Apple Computer, Gil Amelio: "Apple is like a ship taking on water, and my job is to get that ship pointed in the right direction."
ReplyDeleteI heard someone say the right are stuck in the denial stage of grief over ecological collapse and the left are stuck in the bargaining stage with their solar panels and windmills. Turn right with the Bubbhas, turn left with the Woke?The only direction on offing is down, of course, into the abyss of extinction:
https://medium.com/eudaimonia-co/the-age-of-extinction-is-here-some-of-us-just-dont-know-it-yet-7001f5e0c79a
Wittgenstein at war
ReplyDeleteThe philosopher’s First World War notebooks reveal a soul in torment, but was fighting on the front line really the making of one of the 20th century’s greatest thinkers?
By Thomas Nagel
https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2022/07/wittgenstein-at-war
W lived an incredibly difficult life, and what a genius...
Eddie-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ref. You might wanna check out my chapter on LW in WG.
All-
I am now wearing a T-shirt that says SMFF. When people ask me, I say: SILLY MONKEYS FLINGING FECES.
mb
ps: I'm also working on 2 other T-shirts:
ReplyDeleteTITA (TULSI IS THE ANSWER)
and
K,S (KAMALA, SCHMAMALA)
Doctor,
ReplyDeleteInstead of packing it in, you can sit back, relax, and get some good hearty laughs at USAins. For example, take a look at this mugshot. This is you average USAin. Check out also his grammar. This is your average USAin when it comes to intelligence. LOL! This guy is 31 which today still is young. So it’s safe to say the future of this country is in great hands! LOL!
https://weartv.com/news/local/florida-man-in-custody-after-posting-mass-shooting-threats-on-social-media
Speaking of stupidity, I don’t recall if this already has been shown here on your great blog. But Bill Maher should have you on his show one night as a guest talking about this dumbed down shithole. You two would bring down the house.
https://www.thewrap.com/bill-maher-thinks-america-might-be-empirically-verifiably-too-f-ing-dumb-to-continue-video/
Europe continues to slit its own throat for American empire. I guess electricity cuts are worth it to hurt Russia for America. Kind of amazing this article leaves out the role of sanctions on Russia for causing this. I thought Europeans were suppose to be smart?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/07/20/world/ukraine-russia-war/european-nations-are-asked-to-cut-their-use-of-natural-use-15-percent-until-next-spring
Br. B: Don't pack it in. We need you to tell us the truth. That is your tragic fate, to be a truth-teller. The world has so few nowadays.
ReplyDeleteThank you all. You'll excuse me for a moment; I hafta go fling some feces.
ReplyDeletemb
SICK SHIT DEPT:
ReplyDeleteGrand Jury Declines to Indict in 9-Year-Old Girl’s Shooting Death
Militiaman takes advantage of constitutional gun rights to fight crime, grand jury gives thumbs up..
https://www.thedailybeast.com/grand-jury-declines-to-indict-tony-earls-in-9-year-old-arlene-alvarezs-shooting-death
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't post Unknowns.
Broadway-
That's because they're Americans, i.e. stupid. Historically, only 5(!) critics have put their finger on why America is doomed: H.L. Mencken, Gore Vidal, George Carlin, Bill Maher, and myself. The root cause: the avg American has shit for brains. S/he sits around rdg the NYT, when they wd get just as much out of massaging their meat.
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteA shitstorm is coming dept.:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/19/one-in-five-us-adults-condone-political-violence-survey
The TITUS (Trumpolini Insurgency in The US) part II will be upon us very quickly.
Miles
ps: Don't off yourself MB, we luv you too much. Plus, it might be fun to stick around and see how it all shakes out in the US.
It was not Death, for I stood up,
And all the Dead, lie down.
~Emily Dickinson
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteGd news, declinically speaking. It might rise to 50% by the end of the year, insh'allah. Let me add, for those of you thinking of flinging your feces, that you want the feces to be hot. What cd be more disgusting than cold feces?
mb
File under no shit sherlock; the US empire was, is, and forever will be a bad joke.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/2022/07/19/us/uvalde-police-texas-commission-law-enforcement/index.html
Dr. Shit-
ReplyDeleteWhat cowards, eh? Not to mention stinking human beings. Oh right, this happened in America!
mb
Christian extremism knows no bounds:
ReplyDeletehttps://crooksandliars.com/2022/07/north-carolina-bill-will-sanctifie
Nor does ammosexual extremism:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/20/2111505/-Sig-Sauer-about-to-unleash-pure-terror-upon-American-streets
Just another day in the #1 country in the Universe!!! USA! USA! USA!
Oye vey...
DTE
"Republican Senator Says Supreme Court Should Have Never Legalized Interracial Marriage
ReplyDeleteMike Braun tried to walk back his comments, but his answer to a question about judicial “activism” was pretty explicit"
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/mike-braun-says-interracial-marriage-should-be-illegal-1325336/
And there's 147 other senators just like him..
Dio, Gary, et al.-
ReplyDeleteYou take 2 steps back and look at the country as a whole. You say: "This is fucking surreal. How could an entire nation be so stupid, and so violent?" But no, it's not a dystopian sci-fi movie; it's real, and happening in real time.
mb
Six, seven, eight years ago my sister gave me your trilogy of American decline (The Twilight of American Culture, Dark Ages America and Why America Failed) and I discovered on my own, Lewis Lapham's 'Money and Class In America.' A few years ago I discovered your blog.
ReplyDeleteBetween you two (three?) at one point I was ready to end it all! But, with advancing years (pushing 74) I,like you, have decided to sit back and enjoy it. There's is not a damn thing that can be done at this point. It is sink or swim for the Good 'Ole US of A and I am betting on sink.
My judgment is that it is, in a very real sense, a tragedy of Greek proportions made worse by the utter cluelessness of 99% it's inhabitants.
Thank you for your commentary.
Just your daily reminder that environmental collapse should be the primary focus, not social collapse. This reminds me of Foucault, he was so focused in writings & talk about ways of thinking, while totally ignoring the risk of his gay sex lifestyle (AIDS).
ReplyDeletehttps://www.iucn.org/press-release/202207/migratory-monarch-butterfly-now-endangered-iucn-red-list
monarch-
ReplyDeletePlease don't talk down to me or this blog. "Should" is not a popular word here. You focus on what you want to, and we'll do the same (altho we certainly have discussed environmental collapse in previous posts, had you been paying attn).
White-
Yr welcome. For further commentary on US national suicide, check out the 1st third of "Are We There Yet?" In any case, "sink" wd be the odds-on favorite to win, for sure.
mb
A major reason for lack of environmental disaster response IS social collapse. The lack of what Turchin calls (via Ibn Khaldun) "Asabiya" or social cohesion. We are at each other's throats.
ReplyDeleteAmerica has fallen for the classic divide and conquer. NO class cohesion, no chance in hell to overcome or alter or at least reign in Statist/Corporate/Finance capitalism strength. Period.
White-
ReplyDeleteI thank you for yr contribution; maybe monarch, despite his pomposity, might be able to understand it.
Just a note on how this blog works, for future ref: post only once every 24 hrs, and provide links or refs for your arguments. We thank you.
mb
Please don't off yourself! The world still needs its critics even though they rarely pays attention to them.
ReplyDeleteBiden is promising some executive action regarding climate change. More beating off really. While I view this directing of funding towards climate action positive, I can't help but think that a transformative solution out of reach because of the gridlock/corruption of Washington, DC.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/severe-heat-persists-for-millions-as-biden-promises-executive-action-on-climate-change/
Krak-
ReplyDeleteRemember this?:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/epdgm4/new-yorker-suspends-jeffrey-toobin-for-zoom-dick-incident
Perfect, I thought: a major news commentator literally beats off in public, as opposed to his metaphorical/professional beating off. This is iconic of most of America, e.g. the staff at the NYT. They beat off professionally; might as well grab their meat and do it in the flesh, so to speak. Both accomplish the same goals.
ps to White:
I appreciate your observation that these things are integrally related, not B&W. Most Americans, like monarch, can only think in either/or terms; connecting the dots is way beyond them. It's impressive how morons like monarch present themselves (preen) as superior, when the truth is that they have the intellectual insight of a bag of hammers. But no waking up for them, that's for sure. Anyway, I appreciate your efforts to shine a bit of light on his befuddled brain. Only 335 million more Americans to go, and we'll reverse the inevitable collapse!
mb
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, amigo; I don't post Unknowns. You need a real handle to participate in this discussion. E.g., Kamala J. Schmamala.
ha ha
Environmental collapse is the root cause, social collapse is secondary. For evidence, just look at any metric you want, you'll see a steady increase in pollution worldwide, in every single country, going back to the beginning of the industrial revolution, no matter which society or government structure. If you adopt growing industrial life, you will end with environmental collapse, there's no way around it. The issue is the existence of global industrial life, that's the root cause. You can fix all the social issues you want, but until industrial life disappears, nothing will change. Japan is very likely to go extinct for the same reason as America, they refuse to stop industrial life, and there are no signs of their turning around. You can blame whoever you want, but Japan isn't turning around.
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_issues_in_Japan
env-
ReplyDeleteThis is some great breakthru on yr part? I argued the same thing in my Japan bk, yrs ago. Except that like monarch, you make the mistake of seeing social issues--our way of life--as distinct from the economic/industrial ones. I fear I can't help you; yr an American. A terrible fate, intellectually speaking (and in every other sense as well).
mb
ps: env: I'd like to share a story w/u that I'm guessing the Wafer community might enjoy. As a critic of US foreign policy, I have long been an admirer of Noam Chomsky, for his dissent and his courage. I was therefore excited when, ca. 1982, the university I was teaching at invited him to speak. A lunch was arranged for Noam, myself, and a few other faculty members, and I was looking forward to raising some issues w/him. What I found was an economic wall of stone. Nothing else mattered to him. I suggested that economic factors were always interconnected w/social and cultural ones, and influenced by them; he wasn't having it. When I referred to another one of my heroes, Gregory Bateson (see the Reenchantment bk), whose entire corpus of work is based on sociocultural influence, Noam told me that he met Bateson a few yrs ago, and thought the guy was talking nonsense.
ReplyDeleteAt one pt in his writings, Noam ridicules Henry Kissinger (*not* one of my heroes!) for saying that an impt factor in the success of imperialism was the process of "Newtonizing" native cultures, so that they began to see the world thru Western eyes. There is no doubt that this is correct, but when I raised the issue w/Noam, he went ballistic. Again, to him, talking abt cultural factors was nonsense.
One hasta ask who, really, was talking nonsense. What a loss for Noam, and what a huge misunderstanding, on his part, of how history and society work.
Sometime after Noam's visit, I envisioned an image of his mind, and what came to my mind was 2 parallel lines. Noam's (economic-military) vision is infinite in one direction, and about 4" wide in the transverse direction. Like you and monarch, really. I suppose you and monarch can be excused; yr young and blind, and brainwashed into a Manichaean view of causality. (What Americans aren't?) But there's no way I can excuse Noam, hero or not, for being incredibly narrow and inflexible.
Hope you grow, amigo. It's rare, in America, but de-brainwashing is not impossible.
mb
TKR-
ReplyDeleteI guess yr not familiar w/how this blog works. It's not a bulletin board, and it's not a place for simply airing yr opinions. Opinions don't impress us; anyone can have an opinion. If you'd like to participate in this discussion, please present yr contribution as follows:
1. You have an argument to make abt the collapse of the American empire. You state that argument.
2. You then defend that argument with something known as evidence: links, reliable references, and so on. (Most Americans have no idea as to what evidence is. They never even heard of it.)
Thank you.
mb
The descent into depravity:
ReplyDeletehttps://news.yahoo.com/column-surveyed-8-600-americans-120039035.html
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteVery impt essay; pls read:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/american-democracy-breakdown-authoritarianism-rise/670580/
It continues to amaze me, how things I was saying 22 yrs ago now become 'breakthrus' for the MSM. Oh well.
mb
Louis-
ReplyDeleteWhat blog do you think yr on? You talk abt an 'archaeology dig', then provide not a single reference. This is not a place for simply broadcasting yr opinion. Might be gd 4u not to post for a few wks, reflect on what the rules are and how to align yrself w/them.
mb
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteA must read IMHO: https://thesaker.is/michael-hudson-the-end-of-western-civilization-why-it-lacks-resilience-and-what-will-take-its-place/
The End of Western Civilization – Why It Lacks Resilience, and What Will Take Its Place -Michael Hudson’s Major Lecture at the Global University in China on July 11th, 2022 . Note: Hudson is a trained historian and an economist (a rare combo) and is de facto banned in Western press. Here are some highlights: 1.Classical antiquity’s oligarchic takeover. 2.Rome’s legacy and the West’s financial imperialism. 3. The failure of oligarchic democracies to protect the indebted population at large. 4. Is Western civilization a long detour from where antiquity seemed to be headed? 5. The rise of creditor control over modern governments. 6. The end of history? Or just of the West’s financialization and privatization? 7. The New Cold War is dividing the world into two contrasting economic systems
Himanshu
“Former President Trump’s top allies are preparing to radically reshape the federal government if he is re-elected, purging potentially thousands of civil servants.”
ReplyDeleteCool! That's not a bad idea at all! Sink the damn ship DJT!!!
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/22/trump-2025-radical-plan-second-term
Himan-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ref; an extremely impt essay. I do have some problems w/it, however. Hudson is an economist, and this article gives us a one-dimensional/reductionist view of history. Other factors cd be equally impt, as noted in my remarks above on Chomsky etc.--sociocultural and psychological ones, that is. There is no mention of the role of stupidity of the populace, wh/was a factor in Rome (see Twilight bk) and certainly in the US today. Along w/that is the enthusiastic cooperation of these dummies in their own oppression, and in the suicide of their nations. It's not all a problem of elites, as Chomsky wd argue. But I did appreciate his analysis of what the US is doing in the Ukraine and elsewhere, the resurrection of the Cold War, and the cover of 'democracy' for what is essentially graft.
mb
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeletePresented earlier, was thinking of the Arabic quote, "It's a goat, even if it flies," being intertwined in the US way of "life." "Civil Religion in America," Robert Bellah, and "Protestant, Catholic, Jew," Will Herberg, made me think of your statement how USians view America (paraphrasing) as a religion with blind zealotry, and bottomless fervor; including, the founding fathers who felt they were crossing the river Jordan to the promised land. The civil religion in America, is America itself.
Therefore, any discussion of historical facts, figures, data, etc., against the dominant narrative goes out the window. 'Elaborate and well instituted', the love of the US empire, and (pardon the phrase)-'dick riding' is extremely engrained with most native USians and starry-eyed immigrants -they gleefully-willingly want what America is offering. Anything critical or contrarian to their propaganda consumption and spewing is seen as an attack or, at least, an eye roll. Hence, the US is 'a goat, even if it flies.'
For me, am done with explaining or trying to show USians 'the light.' They're a lost cause, akin to a gangrenous limb.
http://www.robertbellah.com/articles_5.htm
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3640906.html
Himanshu, that website you posted the link to (Saker Analytics, LLC) is absolute cancer & supports "True Russian Orthodoxy" of some version. Please find better sources for your material. Hudson has no insight and should be ignored along with all professional economists. He's turned into just another worthless blogger who has a terrible take on everything.
ReplyDelete"Michael acts as an economic advisor to governments worldwide including China"
That's all I needed to read to know I'm not going to read anything he writes.
https://michael-hudson.com/about/
Hudson is etc.-
ReplyDeleteWho exactly is the fraud here? Let's look at what you posted.
1st para: pure opinion. No links, no evidence for this view. In fact, Hudson is one of the world's most respected economists. Slander is hardly the same thing as refutation.
Your quote on his being an adviser to China: Exactly how does this reflect badly on him? This is seriously all you needed to know? Then yr a fool
Finally, the link you posted makes him look gd, not bad.
I don't know who you are, but what we *can* conclude from your post is that you are one of the greatest, most clueless assholes of our times. Pls don't post here again, and dirty up the blog.
Glans-
For an elaboration of the civil religion theme, see essays in QOV. As for the It's a goat theme, check out the post from Hudson, above. A more blind, clueless asshole you aren't going to find; unless you just look around America.
mb
Gearing up for a typical deadly violent weekend. What better way to start it off than at the newest venue for a mass shooting: a public park.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/07/22/iowa-gunman-kills-three-maquoketa-caves-state-park/9631658515003/
Doctor, here where I live our local public park, Eisenhower Park here in East Meadow, Long Island, gives free public concerts on the weekends, In fact, next week Joan Jett herself shall be performing. Speaking of musicians, Pat Benatar no longer shall sing “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” when she performs. Subliminal messages, perhaps, to the many AR15 toting screwballs here in the Land of Exceptionalism who may listen to the song and act it out. What a country we are!
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pat-benatar-wont-sing-hit-best-shot-spate-mass-shootings-rcna39527
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Note to Recaman-
ReplyDeleteThis blog is for discussing the collapse of the American empire, not a place for attacking me or the blog, wh/wd turn it into a meta-blog, in wh/I have 0 interest. (If you wanna do that, you might think abt starting your own blog, altho I doubt you have very much to say.) But I am impressed by your own simplistic thinking. Of course most Americans are idiots; this is hardly rocket science: the stats have been mounting for decades. Huge swaths of them think the earth revolves around the sun, or can't name a single country in Europe (or even find the US on a world map!). And the #s of them that have escaped the Manichaean logic of bubbas vs. wokes is pitifully small. You see 'enlightened' publications like the New Yorker (wh/backed the war on Iraq in 2003; what cd be dumber, or more shameful?), or the NYRB, or the NYT, going all out for the Ukraine, for example. How many political pundits understand that it's a proxy war, with Russia as the real target? Mearsheimer, Pilger, Ritter...in the whole country, possibly less than 10. My pt is that the stats are on my side, not yours (if you even have a coherent side). It's all bandwagoning in America, and I believe I'm rt to pt that out. I certainly don't feel I'm caught in any double bind, in other words, and I certainly don't feel I'm American in your sense of the term. But you are certainly an American, amigo: smug, self-satisfied, simplistic, and self-righteous; and oh, so stupid. I imagine you spend a lot of time preening in front of the mirror. You think you put me down, boychik? Think again.
mb
The trollfoons are back! Have at them MB.
ReplyDeleteRan across this: https://unherd.com/2022/07/ideology-has-poisoned-the-west/
I'm finding the rigid lefty conformism has abated a little the past year as reality of living in this amerikkkan sh!thole become obvious. People have regressed to basic instincts for better or (mostly) worse. Ideology may not be the best term to describe where we're at, post-technocracy (smarty pants didn't get covid or much else right the past 3 years)? Neo-French Revolution? Haven't read that much about that, so I dunno.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteRecent posts wd seem to constitute some of the best discussions we’ve had on this blog, esp. around the issue of alternate narratives. A good part of this was triggered by Himanshu’s posting of Michael Hudson’s recent China lecture (see above). In an attempt to pull some strings together, I’d like to think aloud here, and offer some commentary and overview. Just my 2 cents; I hope it’s helpful.
A # of times in my writings, I’ve referred to a short, brilliant bk by the historian Joyce Appleby (Harvard emerita), Capitalism and a New Social Order. Her argument is that in the late 18C, esp. w/Thos Jefferson, the Classical definition of ‘virtue’ did a 180-degree flip. The Greeks advanced the notion that virtue meant putting the welfare of the community above personal accumulation—the behavior of the ideal politician, one might say. She claims that in the late 18C, ‘virtue’ was redefined as looking out for yourself and your family: from community to individualism. As I researched this issue, years ago, I discovered that she was right, such an inversion did occur, but she was 100 yrs off: it occurred in the late 17C, not the late 18C. The historian who demonstrated this was Richard Bushman, in an appropriately titled bk, From Puritan to Yankee.
Now we have Michael Hudson pointing out that the tension, or dialectic, between these 2 notions of virtue actually goes back millennia, and that the victory of the 2nd (selfish) definition was that of Rome, wh/altered the socioeconomic trajectory of the Mediterranean area. I have said, a # of times, that America was essentially a genocidal war machine run by a plutocracy; Hudson’s analysis seems to bear this out. He writes:
“…running the population, industry and even governments into debt to an oligarchic elite is precisely what has occurred in the West, wh/is now trying to impose the modern variant of this debt-based economic regime—US-centered neoliberal finance capitalism—on the entire world. That is what today’s New Cold War is all about.” [Which is why the Ukrainian war is bullshit: Zelensky is merely a pawn in Biden’s hegemonic chess game.] He goes on: Rome’s “avaricious pro-creditor legal system…shaped subsequent Western civilization. Today, a financialized system of oligarchic control whose roots lead back to Rome is being supported and indeed imposed by US New Cold War diplomacy, military force and economic sanctions on countries seeking to resist it.”
The euphemism for this neoliberal arrangement is “globalization,” but it is nothing more than economic colonialism dressed up in fancy language. This con game, this New Cold War, is driving the world’s productive economies to decouple from the American economic orbit. The US doesn’t like this, so Biden & Co. resort to accusing China and those countries seeking to resist this trap “autocratic.” This is the popular American narrative; you’d be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of Americans who disagree w/it. But this “autocracy” boils down to trying to maintain economic independence, self-reliance; wh/is the counter-narrative that China et al. see as obvious, and necessary.
And so the New Cold War involves the US trying to wreck or isolate the alternative systems of China, Russia, et al., while perpetuating the old colonial regime in economic form. Using NATO, America intends to “spread democracy” from the Ukraine to the China Sea. “Concentrating wealth in the hands of the One Percent,” says Hudson, “has always been the trajectory of Western civilization.” We thus have two economic models, and 2 world systems, at loggerheads—a war that might go on for decades, while millions die and many more millions suffer. (Discussion continued below)
I am not, of course, condoning the violation of human rts practiced by China, Russia, Iran, India, and those nations that constitute the alternative bloc, and I wish Hudson had at least made some reference to this. But his central pt is that the West practices one form of ‘virtue’ (he doesn’t use this term), which makes the rich richer and grinds everyone else into the dirt, while the alternative bloc is seriously interested in the other form of virtue, i.e., some form of socialism, so that the weak are protected from the strong. This is the colossal world battle shaping up today. What the outcome will be is anyone’s guess.
ReplyDeleteMulling over all of this, a couple of things occurred to me.
First: 99+% of the American public consists of people who are completely clueless. They have literally no understanding of the larger drama unfolding around them, and that includes the high-IQ crowd, such as the columnists at the NYT, who cheer for the Ukraine w/no understanding of what that war is really abt. Folks like Michael Hudson simply get marginalized. The bubbas adore Trump, think about civil war, accumulate weapons, and insist that Biden stole the 2020 election. This is largely where their ‘heads’ are at. The wokes, on the other hand, think that editing Mark Twain and pulling down Confederate statues and correcting everyone’s language constitutes serious political activity.
Second: the American public has 0 knowledge of these larger issues, nor any awareness of Joyce Appleby, Michael Hudson, Roman history, or the possibility of a narrative that is different from the one they live in (or under). It’s likely that a large % of them wd not be able to read Appleby’s bk, or Richard Bushman’s, and understand what the heck they are talking abt. (These authors don’t talk in sound bites.) And we can be sure that if they cd be made to understand the possibility of an alternative narrative, that such a thing even exists, they wd reject it out of hand. Virtually the entire country believes that China, Russia, Iran, and so on are simply perverse, evil—end of discussion. Very few Americans have been trained in the ability to view a drama from the opponent’s pt of view. America is their religion, and that’s that. Check out the attack on Hudson above, in wh/the poster writes:
"Michael acts as an economic advisor to governments worldwide including China." That's all I needed to read to know I'm not going to read anything he writes.
You think this clown is atypical? Think again.
Third: it might come as a shock, even to those of us who still have half a brain left, to realize that the West, with its destructive form of virtue, is the cruel and negative option here, and that the alternative bloc—with the caveat regarding human rts—is the choice we might wanna root for. That the first option is destroying life, and the 2nd trying to protect it, in one form or another. Yes, I know that in Iran they stone adulterous women to death, and I regard that as a horror show; but in the overall scheme of things, Iran, together w/other members of the alternate bloc, may be protecting more lives than neoliberal globalization, wh/is destroying them by the millions.
An odd conclusion to come to, maybe. (I said I was thinking aloud.)
-mb
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it (length). Pls compress, re-send. Thanks.
Cel-
I love a gd trollfoon. Every time they show up, it's a delight. After all, I keep saying Americans have shit for brains; then the trollfoons show up and validate my argument. Go, trollfoons!
mb
Here is an article that was just released on my Google news feed that shows that America has an absurd number of people dying early deaths. The article explains how so many people in America die in their 40s and 50s whereas in other industrialzed countries this sort of thing does not happen. The article even has a line where it actually says America has a tendency to kill people at really young ages.
ReplyDeleteHere is link to the article: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/07/us-life-span-mortality-rates/670591/
Tim-
ReplyDeleteHowever, one hasta ask what these people were living for, in any case. (I'm genuinely curious.)
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI know that in these absurd times, it is difficult to stay sane. So I'd like to share w/u a mental health formula I've been practicing for abt a yr now. Abt a yr ago, I started to yell, upon awakening, "Degraded and debased!" 1st thing when I woke up. As time went by, I noticed I was becoming happier. Then 2 mos. ago, I changed it. Now, upon awakening, I yell KAMALA, SCHMAMALA! My mental health took a quantum leap forward. I've gotten even happier. So these are some things you might wanna try. Gd luck!
mb
ps: With regard to that long post above, there actually is a 3rd alternative to the two Michael Hudson discussed. It involves secession and decentralization, and is described in some detail in the 2nd story of "The Heart of the Matter." Only problem is that it's very much a long shot. But fun to think abt nonetheless.
ReplyDeletemb
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of alternate narratives: Draupadi Murmu (nominated by PM Modi and his party) was recently elected as President of India, the first tribal woman to be elected to this position. The Western media wont cover this in much detail (because it flies into the face of the 300 plus years of Western/British/Anglo narrative about India and also the last 20 years of false narrative that PM Modi =Hitler/fascist etc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEy3AkMWXcg, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPxOxAqMrM8). Almost 75 years after India's independence this has happened. Did such a thing happen in the West,for example 75 years after US independence?
https://zeenews.india.com/india/who-is-draupadi-murmu-the-first-tribal-to-become-president-of-india-2488156.html
For the true narrative of India (which is a civilizational state) here is a short clip: What is the true story of India ? Rajiv Malhotra on the Indian grand narrative & Bharat's history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oboZSv0aBdc
Himanshu
As Biden Our Time ™ stumbles toward what is likely to be an apocalyptic fall, Tulsism continues to be the only viable hope to “save” America (perhaps the meaning of “save” really is “Buy more now”). Here is Tulsi on FOX News with her revelation that “the system is rigged”:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.foxnews.com/media/gabbard-system-rigged-public-conjecture-paul-pelosi-stock-buy
And Tulsism leads the way again in decrying the profiteering in progress flowing from the new cold war (with Russia, China, Iran, Solomon Islands, fill in the blank):
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/07/22/tulsi_gabbard_pelosi_members_of_congress_are_investing_in_companies_that_will_benefit_from_a_new_cold_war.html
Clearly, the solution is to get the workout videos of Tulsism in the hands of more Mericans. Perhaps giveaways at the takeout windows of McDonalds and Taco Time as Tulsi goes on a cross-country workout tour?
Jack-
ReplyDeleteAs for that 2nd link: she's probably rt! When will she be declaring her candidacy at Evergreen?
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteMight be hard to find a president as colorless, or ineffectual, as Schmiden. Millard Fillmore, maybe. Let's face it: he's an impotent doofus, and after Nov. 3 will be a total lame duck. One wonders if he understands that the war in the Ukraine is not abt the Ukraine, and that he is deluding almost the entire American population. Or maybe he himself, in resurrecting the Cold War, is one of the deluded. Hard to say, but he is certainly causing huge hardship for millions. Pretty much a pathetic guy, we wd hafta say, w/only Schmamala as comic relief.
The picture Michael Hudson paints, even if narrowly economic, wd seem to overshadow all of this. It's like 2 huge tectonic plates jostling for supremacy--TS Eliot's "vast, impersonal forces." Not much Schmiden can do in that context, except try to make things better (lotsa luck); instead, he has chosen to make things worse, even if not deliberately. This will continue at its present pace; the decay of the country is present everywhere you look. (It's like watching a very large bridge collapsing in slo-mo.) Or, w/the return of Trumpi in 2.5 yrs, we wd see an accelerated version of our disintegration. Depends on whether ya like slow or fast collapse, I suppose. Trumpi wd roll up his sleeves and get the job done, of polishing America off once and for all. Civil war is, of course, a possible scenario in this process, in which virtually the entire population is clueless.
So I guess I pegged it correctly in the Twilight bk, 22 yrs ago: emigration, or the NMI option. Both of these, at least, allow for a certain type of freedom. "Non-stupid individual options," we might call them.
mb
And away we go! Another normal weekend of anger, violence, and homicides here in the “Love thy neighbor”, self-proclaimed headquarters of Christendom, a.k.a. the United States of America.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article263735743.html
https://www.wave3.com/2022/07/22/lmpd-2-men-taken-hospital-after-road-rage-shooting-i-264-near-cane-run-road/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/23/us/renton-washingtonshooting/index.html
https://sandhillssentinel.com/5-shot-1-dead-in-pinebluff-shooting/
Of course, where the violence isn’t occurring, the capitalist grifting and thievery in real estate is going full force. Don Trump definitely has his acolytes and is proud of them.
https://www.wral.com/customers-ask-bankrupt-builder-where-their-money-went/20385952/
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Joe-
ReplyDeleteI think the only (blasphemous) question left to ask ourselves is whether Christ was beating off. I mean in terms of heavy lifting (PR, in other words), Paul did all the work, no? How productive is it, to get nailed up on a cross, fer chrissakes?
mb
I've had this comrade simba moniker for 20-some years now and I gotta laugh at the irony of "Z" kicking the west down to size. Nice to be on the winning team... being vilified all these years by the foam rubber #1 waving crowd. I wonder if this pummeling will actually bring a more orderly grind into the shit for america than another half decade of BAU.
ReplyDeleteI ran across this the other day... I think it ties in well with your above mini-essay.
Oligarchy or Patriarchy? Rule by the Few or Rule for the Many?
https://thesaker.is/oligarchy-or-patriarchy-rule-by-the-few-or-rule-for-the-many/
The sickness of the googillionaires never saying whoa, dude... we gotta stop this piling up shit - because others exist - has become unsupportable by even Satan's rubric.
To these MAGAist (maggots?) there's an ineffable source of their
ReplyDeletediscounted. The best they can do is blame someone and find a
savior. If anything has been packed in, it is their ability to
examine in detail where they live and what it has given them. All
they find fits into mindless slogans. Click the short video at the
bottom of the screen.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trump-looked-surprised-supporters-loudly-091108526.html
comrade-
ReplyDeleteJust so you know, I cdn't understand a word of yr 1st paragraph. I didn't get a single reference. Of course, I'm old and decrepit, so what the heck.
mb
https://www.aol.com/news/pack-dogs-attack-kill-71-185744281.html
ReplyDeletehttps://ca.news.yahoo.com/assault-rifle-being-sold-civilians-105625717.html
You've heard of the propaganda of the deed? Better than your plan
for the too common jumping off a bridge, I suggest going to Fresno,
Texas and waiting to be torn apart by a pack of vicious dogs, then
suddenly pulling out your rapid fire ghost gun and then blasting dogs
to show what it is really like in America, where oldsters need
automatic weapons to safely go to the grocery store.
Professor Berman — If the royalties from your book sales can no longer keep you in the abundant fajitas and margaritas style to which you've become accustomed, maybe you can consider creating a Substack (https://substack.com/home?utm_source=user-menu). You can even keep this DAA blogspot around for general declinist discussion and only use Substack for paid subscribers to access longer essay type content.
ReplyDeleteMany writers are making serious bank on Substack (https://backlinko.com/substack-users). In a sense, books are perhaps becoming a kind of legacy medium while the subscription essay form is in ascendence. Point is, I don't think you should give up on that dream of a Tuscan villa just yet.
Pol-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. Problem is, I'm just a bk kinda guy; and in any case, I hate to charge for these online discussions--I feel they shd be free. Even w/bks: if people wanna get my bks at their local library rather than Amazon, I'm OK w/that. The impt thing is not $ (wh/is a trickle in any case), but simply getting these ideas out there, perhaps even discussed in NMI groups. I just see myself as pulling a few fish outta the sea, a sea in wh/99% of the population is living in a fog (to switch metaphors). My job is to be a cultural healer for the tiny minority who might be interested; that's abt all I can do. And who knows? In the America of today, that may actually be a lot.
mb
"That the first option is destroying life, and the 2nd trying to protect it, in one form or another." --mb
ReplyDeleteBoth options are destroying life. China has done / is doing the same with its genocides (e.g. Great Leap Forward, 1958-1962 and the Uighurs today). The West is no better. The enslavement and murder of millions by "Western civilization" (which Gandhi famously said would be a good idea) was made possible by the theft of oriental ideas / inventions (e.g. the Chinese origins of British industrialization, 1700-1846).
Europeans did not pioneer their own development. The many inventions which supposedly enabled Europe to dominate the world were actually diffused to Europe from Asia (usually from China). Asia/China remained as developed as Europe until the 19th century.
Perhaps you are right to consider a change (or retirement of Dark Ages, which has more than proved its point. It would be natural to end it. The evidence Dark Ages America has accumulated is overwhelming; it has run its course. Everything born dies.
==========
What will it take to stop China’s Uighur genocide?
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/the-stream/2022/6/2/what-will-it-take-to-stop-chinas-uighur-genocide
The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/eastern-origins-of-western-civilisation/17B31D8530714E3B5B3A01B28C00CB4C#
futuro-
ReplyDeleteI was planning to die in 2045, but perhaps yr rt: Why wait? Maybe I'll off myself tomorrow. Except that I'd like to learn Mandarin first. :-)
mb
I would only suggest your worthy aspiration to take up Mandarin be pursued until fluency at a level indistinguishable from the native...
ReplyDelete....in all eight dialects. ❤️
Cindy-
ReplyDelete1. Yr very pretty. We welcome Waferettes on this blog. Intellectually speaking, they are always impressive.
2. Thank God, there aren't 9 dialects.
Se-Se (See? I'm already on my way.)
mb
Dr. B:
ReplyDeleteBeen depressed and hadn't posted for a while, but futuro's post above about China reminded me of one of your comments in your book "A Question of Values," Chapter 24, "The Asian Road to Victory." On Page 197 you wonder "...what will it be like to live in a world dominated by an ethos in which the truth doesn't, for all practical purposes, exist, and in which everyone is expected to fall in step with some enforced 'harmony?"
You go on to describe a conversation with a Mexican colleague who said- "There may come a time,' he said with a sigh, 'when we shall actually miss the gringos.' It's a sobering thought."
I've gone 3/4 NMI in trying to cope; too long to describe here. Been appreciating your postings over the past year.
birn-
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you've been depressed. May I suggest body work? Check out van der Kolk's bk, "The Body Keeps the Score," then get regular exercise, and find classes in Pilates and Yoga. A weekly massage also wdn't hurt. You might also go to various websites and read comments from trollfoons, which are often hilarious in a demented sorta way.
mb
Wafers,
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a problem:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/greenland-hit-unusually-extensive-melting-110053363.html
What happens when the Greenland ice cap slides off into the North Atlantic...? Maybe that will get the attention of Republicans.
Of course, here in the US, we're all about the important news of the day:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/kate-moss-explains-defending-johnny-depp-trial-160309429.html
Indeed, there is not enough urine!!
DTE
ps: birn: also check out the stories in "The Heart of the Matter," wh/will make you laugh like an irresponsible fetus. Start w/"How Are You Doing?"
ReplyDeleteWafers-
ReplyDeleteI'm taking a poll here: What % of the American public is aware that neoliberal globalization is a cruel and violent system, destroying their lives along w/millions of other lives abroad? For that matter, what % of the American public understands what neoliberal economics consists of? What % can identify Milton Friedman? And so on.
A deeper question: Why is this % less than 0.5?
mb
@futuroexpat
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese are not committing genocide in Xinjiang. That is pure western propaganda that originated with right-wing Christian lunatic Adrian Zentz. If there was a genocide, you'd see a massive concentration of border guards and a refugee crisis. Where are the bodies? Why are foreigners allowed to travel to Xinjiang? Seems odd that you have no physical evidence other than out of context Chinese prison photos, no bodies, and no refugee or security build-up. Spread your fascist American lies elsewhere.
captain-
ReplyDeleteHarsh language for a fellow Wafer, no? Meanwhile, where is *your* evidence? You provide no links or refs. Opinion is not proof. You know this, rt?
mb
@futuro and Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteRe; Chinese/Eastern origins of Western civilization: Please check these out:
"Is the history of western ideas and inventions a fake one? Have they taken 'inspiration' from India without acknowledging the source? Listen to this extremely interesting conversation by Rajiv Malhotra, the author of 'Being Different', 'Battle for Sanskrit' and on a phenomenon called the 'U-Turn'. What is U-Turn Theory? Who are the U-Turners?
Have Western intellectuals been dishonest to the world? What are different discoveries and inventions that you can think of that the West stole from India and called them their own? What are the ways in which India and Indians can rise back and help in the authentic rewriting of their global history where cultures and civilization like India would get their due credit?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR6QGe-a8gM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwEXg2Twb6o
Vedic Vidya | Jeffrey Armstrong explains how India civilised & shaped the modern world - and how the West stole Indian inventions which it subsequently claimed credit for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoerErmL-3c
Western civilisation is built on stolen Indian ideas & Wealth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STl8z1lBv1g
Thanks,
Himanshu
-- "It's a goat, even if it flies", had a run-in with reddit conservative subreddit where they banned me for criticizing Israel's war crimes. Mentioning that even Jewish people are increasingly alienated and revolted by Israeli crimes against humanity (e.g. Finkelstein's Knowing Too Much) yielded no results, the conservative Christian right's zealous support for this criminal little state defies reason and compassion. And with typical idiocy, they call criticizing Israel anti-Semitic, even if it came from a Jewish person.
ReplyDelete-- China might militarily interfere in US Pelosi's Taiwan visit. How insane is the US, trying to provoke wars with 2 nuclear powers at the same time (Russia and China)? Is it the fog of confusion and despair caused by obvious signs of decline? Or just the usual hubris and feeling of invincibility? The US keeps stepping on the security concerns of Russia and China then blaming them for the results. Very alarming.
-- Stumbled on this interesting clip. He's a Christian athlete but he praises Islam for standing its ground and never kowtowing to social pressure, unlike Christianity which he calls a dead religion for being excessively tolerant and accepting of even things that go against its own principles. Same thing I've noticed about Christianity for a while now: it keeps bending and capitulating.
Kids for sale: https://www.governing.com/now/california-siphons-financial-benefits-from-some-foster-youth
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough to get removed from your parents. Then, the state takes your money. Welcome to America, kids!
On the Xinjiang matter I do agree that it is being used as a propaganda tool by western media. As for what is really happening there isn't any evidence
ReplyDeletehttps://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/19/china-uighurs-genocide-us-pompeo-blinken/
There might be something going on there. We all know about the Hong Kong protests, Xinjiang might be the same. But I doubt it is what it's reported to be. Here I do agree with Dr. Berman, it's a paradoxical world we are living in, nations that are democratic are pushing us towards death while countries with serions human rights issues are the ones wanting life. We need the Tulsi wisdom.
The Runit Dome--A giant monument to (one of many) America's fuck ups.
ReplyDeleteMany hydrogen bomb testings, obliterating islands, slipshod job of radioactive clean-up, nuclear waste leaking into ocean, and won't fully pay out radioactive health claims from the Marshallese--delaying, dismissing, hand rinsing, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=autMHvj3exA
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2021-10-22/marshall-islands-nuclear-waste-congressional-hearing-compact
Yet, the US empire paid a contractor to remove "anti-US" graffiti on the dome.
https://es.noticias.yahoo.com/rep-tulsi-gabbard-rebuts-u-120011909.html
How many USians are aware of the Marshall Islands and what the US empire did there? How many USians are aware of a "celebrity's" tushy?
Cherith-
ReplyDeleteZionists are among the blindest, in my experience. But don't say (pol correct) "Jewish people"; say "Jews". That's who we are.
mb
It can only happen here in the Land of Exceptionalism. A bishop, who himself is an ex-con with expensive tastes, gets robbed during a service here in the tacit unofficial main locus of Christendom, which itself is part of the big hustle here.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/07/25/nyc-bishop-robbed-1-million-jewelry-during-sermon/5621658758042/
Speaking of Christendom hustles, the next one is coming soon to Yankee Stadium. This guy and his wife give Don Trump and Tony Robbins a run for their money. The big questions: Will the concession stands be open? And will beer be sold? LOL!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsqNi5a9DOE
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
@ futuroexpat & MB - American insanity will always be entertaining so the blog must remain. However it might be interesting to discuss how to get out of this mess without regard to how far fetched or dreamlike. MB's job is to analyze and critique the system while my NMI has always been solution focused, even when none exist. For instance, I think we need to scrap this constitution, move the capital to the geographical center of America (Lebanon, Kansas), the president to the south and a court in the northeast. Anything less is a mirage worse than my own. Where there is life there is hope, I suppose (it takes guts to live inside my head).
ReplyDeleteAs for suicide, I keep a rolodex full of ideas for me to flip through on really bad days.
Gunnar-
ReplyDeleteChopped liver, and Tulsi, may be the only serious answers available to us.
Joe-
This 'bishop' is a true Man of God, American style. I think a consultation w/Schmamala might be in order.
mb
Dr. Berman, this may help with book sales and get that Tuscany villa.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the content/quality that sells, it's the "sizzle." Such 'brilliance' from US-er Elmer Wheeler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW6HmQ1QVMw
Glans-
ReplyDeleteI doubt there is a more opposite person to me in the history of the world than this shmuck. Thanks for the link.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteThis recent discussion launched by Michael Hudson’s China lecture takes me back to when I was writing ch. 4 of WAF. I had approached the issue of the Civil War w/an open mind, and was surprised to learn—via historians like Gene Genovese—that the evidence for not branding the antebellum South with a single nasty label—slavery—was quite extensive. Yes, it was a slave economy, with all the horrors that went with that, but it was more than that as well. It was an elegant, leisurely society, in sharp contrast to the hustling, competitive North, and only a very few historians had bothered to document this. Subtract the issue of slavery (just for a moment), and you get what was, socially and spiritually speaking, a superior society, at least to my mind. The analogy wd be to consider Germany minus the Holocaust. The horror is there, but German history is certainly abt much more than the Holocaust. In fact, it was one of the most brilliant and refined cultures in the history of the world.
So that was a bit of a shock, at least for me, a Northerner who had been taught to see the South in monolithic terms. The other shock was to discover that initially, at least, the Civil War was not about slavery; it was abt a war between two cultures, and didn’t evolve into a war abt slavery until the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Much to my surprise, I discovered that the “Let Freedom Ring” school—notably Jas Macpherson and Eric Foner—agreed w/me! They don’t say it up front, but if you delve into their works beyond the surface, you’ll discover—wh/I did—that they explicitly state that the basic conflict was the clash of 2 cultures. And so I was forced to wind up looking at the South, and the War, thru very different eyes. When Trumpi said that the display of the Confederate flag was a statement of pride in the Southern heritage—he was right! Not that black people see it that way, of course, and it is likely that some of that display is, in fact, racist.
Of course I was vilified, as a colleague of Genovese’s predicted he wd be, because the American people are simply not very bright, and know how to frame practically any issue only in B&W terms. As I read over the opprobrium heaped on me, I saw quite clearly that these people had no notion of nuance, paradox, and complexity; to put a fine pt on it, that they were basically dumb jerks. (Discussion continued below)
And now, if you’ll read over the recent posts in the wake of Hudson’s article, you see a strange echo of all this. We have so-called democratic regimes, carrying the banner of globalization and neoliberal capitalism, oppressing millions of people, actually killing them outright. Americans say, quite correctly, “Hey, you can call Biden an asshole and nothing will happen to you, whereas you can hardly criticize Putin or Xi or Iranian leaders w/o winding up in a dungeon for 10 years.” True. And hardly a bad thing. But how many Americans can define neoliberal capitalism, or globalization, let alone talk about the misery this ‘democratic’ regime causes on a worldwide basis? 50? As Hudson says, the goal is to make the top 1% richer, and immiserate the rest. Open yr eyes, folks, that’s what’s going on, and it will be a major nail in our coffin.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we have the alternative bloc, as I’ve called it, the nations pursuing some form of socialism that will give the masses real relief. Unfortunately, like the antebellum South, they also have a dark side in terms of human rights, and it’s quite dark. It all makes one’s head spin.
What are we left with? 99+% of the American population can’t grasp this for 2 seconds, but the truth is that historical process, geopolitics, and economics are incredibly complex. The Manichaeanism so dear to the American heart won’t work; it can’t possibly understand that only thru the lens of nuance, paradox, and maddening contradiction can we X-ray the world, so to speak, and finally perceive what’s what—whether we like what we see or not. Karl Rove, a very stupid man, once said that Reality wasn’t given; that we were an empire, and that therefore we could mold and define Reality as we saw fit. Did that formula work in Vietnam, or Iraq, or (long list here)? No; but Rove and the rest of the country will say it like a mantra: It’s a goat, even if it flies. Here's a sobering thought: the crows might win; ya never know.
mb
“The history of Russian culture is one of desperate resistance, despite crushing defeats, against a criminal state power.”
ReplyDeleteDon’t Blame Dostoyevsky
I understand why people hate all things Russian right now. But our literature did not put Putin in power or cause this war.
By Mikhail Shishkin
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/russian-literature-books-ukraine-war-dostoyevsky-nabokov/670928/
Dostoevsky is a hero of mine
Same w Tolstoy or Gogols.. Ridiculous xenophobia is in the air..
Peter-
ReplyDeleteBy 'people' you mean Americans. They hate all things Russian because they are a nation of (not very bright) sheep. If given a target, any target, and told it's evil, they'll hate it. BTW: Gogol, fer chrissakes.
mb
Have you met many of them? Do they have the same opinion of the US
ReplyDeleteand its future as you do?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEh0Q94Gjss
Rollo-
ReplyDeleteToo many, amigo, too many. They bring American values down here and californicate the country. Better they should stay up north. I doubt they share my opinion of the US, but then they don't talk about substantial topics. They're rather dull.
mb
Here writers Paul Kingsnorth and Mary Harrington discuss the prog agenda/fantasy of "fully-automated luxury gnosticism". A very interesting and illuminating discussion, well worth the listen:
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/x4kms2jkKbA
Special bonus link! Mary Harrington writes about meeting weird plutocrat Peter Thiel and learning what the guy is really thinking:
https://unherd.com/2022/07/peter-thiel-on-the-dangers-of-progress/
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI've come up w/a campaign slogan for 2024:
"No Tulsi, No Mulsi!"
The problem is, I have no idea what this means. Can someone help me out here?
mb
In addition, we might have "No Kamala, No Schmamala!"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFPiPfq_mo4
Shaw-
ReplyDeletePls re-send with some commentary. We try to be more of a discussion forum than a bulletin board. Thank you.
mb
MB,
ReplyDelete"No Tulsi, No Mulsi" is a brilliant slogan. You must have been channeling your Latin subsconscious, as "mulsi" is a Roman Latin noun for honeyed wine. Or, given the nature of our discussion, "honeyed whine".
https://www.latin-dictionary.net/definition/27354/mulsum-mulsi
Here in Cascadia, a veritable hotbed of Tulsism, we eagerly await the day in the near future when she announces her 2024 presidential campaign under the pine cones of the Evergreen College campus.
Interesting chat with guests Larry Johnson, Ray McGovern, and Theodore Postol regarding nuclear weapons control treaties between the US and Russia. US empire's hubris, US "best/brightest," "exceptionalism," and doubling down on stupid even in the face of facts ~2.07h mark.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtf1yod_p4w
The false duality in the media has been focusing HEAVILY on this "Christo-fascist" scare thing. These people do exist, but Vice (a gigantic Disney and Wall St company) is just fueling the flames for clicks.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the media now just exists to enrage people, it makes huge $$$ off of anger. I feel like all documentaries are just propaganda now, they just exist as part of the "fact based entertainment" industry, it's not meant to change anything. Vice & Netflix make billions on documentaries and getting people angry. Facebook exists for rage too, that may be their #1 way of making money.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvmxwz/tik-tok-chrsitian-nationalism
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions for body work, one of which mirrors my daughter the yoga instructor's advice- try yoga. I should do something beneficial rather than ruminate over stuff I can't control- like idiotic USA foreign policy.
Incidentally, my daughter used to be a practicing psychologist, but got burned out. In the USA, most psychologists work for hospital corporations and have little control over how many patients they see. What happened was they were assigning her 7-8 patients a day when 5 would have been plenty. She was working 60+ hours per week in a frazzle, and now works part time while attending college part time for a career change.
I hope too that you can continue this blog in some form- it's a valuable source of news and discussion that's not available elsewhere.
birn-
ReplyDeleteYes, the blog will go on, just for the sake of it, I suppose. I like talking abt these things, in any case, and I love it when a trollfoon shows up. Dummies are so entertaining. As for body work: yr head will not get you out of depression. See if you can find a Feldenkreis teacher, an Alexander Technique teacher, a trauma therapist (TRE), etc. You'll be glad you did.
mb
Dr Berman,
ReplyDeleteWe are witnessing the downfall. I thank you for your body of work and your books, of which my favourite is The Reenchantment of the World.
I hope you will stick around with us as we experience downfall, interregnum, and the beginning of the next civilisation.
Truly, Jinho Choi
Are Ivy League universities just hedge funds that run a school as a side hustle?
ReplyDeleteAs you’ve written repeatedly, America is a nation of hustlers. Of course Harvard is no different.
https://theintercept.com/2022/07/25/harvard-university-endowment-tax-cut/
Jinho-
ReplyDeleteI was just expressing frustration, not fishing for compliments. But thank you anyway: I appreciate your appreciation. Maybe the next civ will be a whole lot better than this one.
mb
Gunnar-
ReplyDeleteNeed some commentary. Remember: not a bulletin board.
mb
Germany & Texas have recognized that some people are inherently smarter, and somewhere at age 5-10, they pull out the smart kids and separate them from the bulk of the idiots. Why isn't this acknowledged in the wider society, that some people have inherent potential and others don't? I seem to hear all this talk of equality, which doesn't match what the school systems already recognize. I'm wondering why the smart kids aren't isolated even more, like removed from their idiot families who drag them down.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts on equality & separating the smarter people from society? This seems to already happen in a kind of unspoken way with the brilliant people leading all the large institutions, they just seem to be wasting too much money now on the idiot masses. Any theories on why this is happening, beyond simple greed?
School System in Germany
Gifted Talented Program in Texas
Gym-
ReplyDeleteThis might help:
https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Amy-Chua/dp/0143126350/ref=sr_1_3?crid=K5PSJ9QGXE22&keywords=amy+chua&qid=1658945509&s=books&sprefix=amy+chua%2Cstripbooks%2C280&sr=1-3
mb
Hola MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteAnother day in LA dept.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Z9AgIV-yE
Miles
Jeff-
ReplyDeleteI enjoy this kind of frenzied American dementia, esp. when it involves burritos. But por fa, add yr own commentary to these wonderful links. For example, you might pt out to birney that if he watches enuf of these videos, his depression might lift.
mb
ps: I think you've done America a service w/this video, actually. We need an icon of the nation going down the drain, and I think this woman is it. She's stupid, demented, and ugly, plus full of rage and bitterness. I think her face shd replace George on the $1 bill, really, trashing a burrito shop. To my mind, this does summarize the end days of America.
ReplyDeleteOf course, there are other options.
1. Kamala's face, with the letters SCHMAMALA underneath it.
2. Sarah Palin and Ed Meese on an ice floe, with the legend SEX IS COOL underneath them.
3. Tulsi, with the legend I WORK OUT EVERY DAY underneath her.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteJames Lovelock just died. He and I were friends briefly, in the 80s; I enjoyed hanging out w/him. He was a kind of leprechaun, with a whimsical sense of humor. I guess the Gaia hypothesis is largely accepted, by now. My then-agent described him as the Darwin of the 20th century; not sure that's correct. But certainly a great man, RIP.
mb
MB- oh to be a fly on the wall listening to you two speaking together; what far-ranging intellects :)
ReplyDeleteI read he died on his 103rd birthday, that he was stilling walking the shore (miles a day) til a bad fall he took earlier this year. He died surrounded by loved ones at home...
I hope the same for any of you.. As far as if the Gaia hypothesis is accepted generally, I think it is among the more open minded, but still wrongfully criticized by the Dawkins and the more hard nosed neo-darwinians of the field.
Happy 103rd Birthday James Lovelock - Science Museum Group
https://www.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/blog/happy-103rd-birthday-james-lovelock
James Lovelock, creator of the Gaia hypothesis, dies on 103rd birthday | James Lovelock | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/27/james-lovelock-creator-of-gaia-hypothesis-dies-on-103rd-birthday
Some Guy-
ReplyDeleteWell, let me give you an example of Jim's and my intellectual discussions. He wanted me to visit him in Cornwall for a few days, where he was then living, so he wrote down his fone # and asked me to call. I noticed that it had an extra digit from the normal English fone #, so I asked him if he got it rt. 'Look at this!' he exclaimed to the folks around us, 'he doesn't believe I know my own fone #!' I subsequently called him ('rang him') on that #, and whaddya know, it worked!
ps2: Jeff: What was the burrito woman's name? Frankly, I think she shd get the Presidential Medal of Honor, for displaying an icon of America in its final phase. What she did to that burrito stand, Biden and NATO are doing to the Ukraine. Onward!
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteMore on depression. Alexander Lowen writes that the depressed person is someone who has lost his faith. This is why Americans are going nuts. They believed in the American Dream, and now realize that it's a con. Same as loss of God, really. This is why the burrito woman trashed the burrito joint in L.A. According to the American Dream, she shd be able to get a burrito immediately. But she was denied a burrito, so she went bonkers.
Of course, the A.D. was always a pile of crap, and as America collapses, so does the Dream. I was thinking I may be causing depression, by telling everyone that they can no longer believe in the country or the Dream. But if the country is causing misery around the world, and w/in its own borders; and if the Dream, wh/is self- and other-destructive, is finished; then there is a faith to be had, namely the faith in the collapse of both. I certainly have faith in our forthcoming collapse, and that leaves me upbeat. Plus, one might have faith in secession, and a whole new geopolitical organization; a future civ that is not fucked in the head. So, I guess I'm really giving Americans faith, altho perhaps not exactly the faith they wanted. A shitpile is coming down; surely, something to have faith in, and celebrate.
mb
MB-
ReplyDeleteThe burrito woman is India Duerson:
https://www.tvguidetime.com/people/who-is-india-duerson-from-los-angeles-taco-vendor-assault-caught-on-camera-346927.html
I think placing India w/in the larger context of the corrosive and collapsing American Dream is quite accurate. One of the defining aspects of the AD is that it generates mass production of unrealistic expectations. The gap that exists between expectations (I can be anything I want to be!) and reality, found w/in the the AD, is huge and can become psychologically destructive. In other words, India's insistence that she receive an *instant burrito* is a way to alleviate the anxiety about the failure that her life has become. If her *instant burrito* demand is met, she gains a modicum of control over her life. When in reality is wasn't, she lashed out, exploded in an orgy of cruelty and barbarity.
Instant Burrito is gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon your gonna be dead
What in the world are you thinking of
Tipping Horchata barrels over and acting tough?
What in the world are you trying to do?
It's up to u, India, yeah u!
I'm curious about your thoughts on chaos & moral judgements of civilization. I'm heavily critical of things like cell phones, Facebook, idiots listening to pop music, etc. However, I was reading Schweitzer's "The Philosophy of Civilization" were he mentioned Indian philosophy rejecting the concepts of good and evil, and it's made me think.
ReplyDeleteHow can you say cell phones are bad at all? What if cell phones are what ultimately creates an NMI group, so they leave society, and end up creating a future utopian civilization centuries from now? We would have to credit cell phones in part for inspiring this. Or, if not for the dominance of Google & Facebook, maybe someone would never have found this blog.
It's the same concept with something like war: without WW II, a whole lot of good never wouldn't happened in the decades following. So I'm starting to think reality is more a dice roll, that events happen, but there are too many variables to say anything is really good or bad, and you can't really make any moral judgement about anything. How can we make decisions at all, if we can't make any judgements about what we're doing?
The Philosophy of Civilization
Here’s some more road anger, bully authoritarianism, and debauchery in the Land of the Free.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.winknews.com/2022/07/27/accused-road-rage-shooter-in-collier-county-agrees-to-have-his-guns-taken-for-a-year/
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/caught-on-video-off-duty-nypd-officer-pulls-gun-during-apparent-road-rage-incident/
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nypd-seeks-man-who-grabbed-at-least-6-womens-butts
And as an added bonus, the Wild West has come to the east coast. Ya gotta love it! Declinists rejoice!
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/man-shot-in-stomach-in-wild-gun-battle-on-queens-street
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Karl-
ReplyDeleteGreat fotos. The Poles apparently understand that we are a collection of bozos. Pls re-send the link, but this time add some commentary of yr own. We try to be a discussion forum, not a bulletin board. Thanks.
Schweitzer-
Well, *I* can make judgments, what the heck. Cell fones are quite destructive, e.g. killing kids in the Congo on a daily basis. (Discussed on this blog extensively, in the past.) And believe me, I cd have skipped WW2, along w/6 million other Jews. Etc. Gd judgments depend on perspective, on seeing the larger picture. Use yr noggin, chico.
Jeff-
For me, she's a hero. I think a major award shd be presented to her, but not b4 a burrito is administered to her as a suppository (salsa is a gd lubricant, tho a bit hot). This along w/her cell fone. (Schweitzer: OK, I guess this cd be seen as a valid use of cell fones.) Her rear end, w/a burrito hanging out of it, shd replace George on the $1 bill. Underneath: AMERICA LOVES INDIA
mb
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-american-polity-is-cracked-and-might-collapse-canada-must-prepare
ReplyDeleteDr. Berman, it looks like the Canadian government is taking American systemic and political collapse seriously.
BH-
ReplyDeleteImpt to tell us what *you* think abt the article. For myself, I was heartened by the fact that he thinks it cd probably be over by 2030--the exact date I've been predicting for yrs.
Wafers-
India Duerson is a hooker, and is being held on 60K bail for the burrito attack incident. This, when she shd be given the Presidential Medal of Honor. Meanwhile, does anyone know what's going on w/Shaneka Torres? Is she still in jail? She too needs a special medal, along with Freddie Wadsworth, Laquisha Jones, and Chrystal Walraven.
mb
Heidi-
ReplyDeleteThanks for yr long appreciation; I appreciated it. Shd tell you I was kidding, pretty much. But I cdn't post your message because we have a rule on this blog: nothing longer than half a page. As for my email address: mauricio@morrisberman.com.
Take care of yrself-
mb
Hot dog!:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.siliconvalley.com/2022/07/27/san-bernardino-county-supervisors-urged-to-secede-from-california/
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteA very enriching discussion about the origins of Western Sociology (social sciences) and its role in colonization: "European Social Scientists and India | Come Carpentier with Rajiv Malhotra": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF-NaziFUlQ The dialogue begins with discussions about Henri de Saint-Simon (founder of "industrial philosophy") and proceeds to discuss August Comte's stages of social evolution followed by Hegel, Marx, Max Weber, Durkheim, the Theosophists (madame Blavatsky), etc. The discussion points out that Western secularism (and sociology) is still rooted in messianic/savior Christianity in terms of how it views cultures of Asia (India in particular) and Africa. This "secularism" and sociology is what permeates humanities and sociology departments in Indian academia as well. I would also add that its largely the writings of these "Brown Sahibs" or Coconuts(brown on the outside, white inside) that largely informs Westerners through NYT, BBC, NPR,Harpers, etc(including alternative media and blogs such as this) about India (https://sanjay-dixit.medium.com/phoney-secularism-in-india-time-for-the-pontiff-and-the-sultan-to-rest-in-peace-ed53eaa1d75). Indeed Nehru, the 1st PM of India was a Coconut(this is discussed in the clip). Come Carpentier has been in India for 20 plus years. He is an author, scholar and currently the Convener of the Editorial Board of the World Affairs Journal, a quarterly publication dedicated to international issues.He explains the ideologies of some of the prominent sociologists of Europe such as Karl Marx, who believed that India was inferior to Western civilization and that colonization was actually a boon to India.
Himanshu
Morris,
ReplyDeleteSome, not many do not consider the pursuit of pleasure to be the most important thing in life.
Yesterday I drove by a hole where a mall is being replaced by a giant apartment building. Two enormous red cranes rose up over the road at opposite sides of the hole. From the cranes suspended on a weighted line were two huge American flags. They were thirty feet or so in size.
The cranes were beautiful, freshly painted and the Stars and Stripes bright and clean. The effect was chilling. Superman red against a Superman blue sky.
Dominating raw power in a display hundreds of feet high that humbled everyone passing by.
As I experienced the chill I thought that maybe we live only to maintain our shit when the depravity of the ignorant and powerful assault our being.
It could be. Character is our only possession.
You know things are bad when the news is pushing gambling. Everything is going down the toilet, but hey, you could be rich!
ReplyDeleteMega Millions jackpot grows to $1.28 billion — its second largest prize ever
Frontier Airlines' fare sale includes $19 fares to Las Vegas
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteRE: Cindy's comment above about learning Mandarin. I have only listened to classical music since the mid-1970s and recently stumbled upon Schlager (hit) music on YouTube while viewing Bach cantata videos. One Schlager singer I clicked on sings in a German dialect that sounds exactly like my grandparents' dead language that I haven't heard for nearly a half-century. Hearing that sung dialect inspired me to try to resurrect my limited German-speaking skills learned in high school, and I have even managed to get some of my cousins interested in our heritage. An acquaintance who speaks German fluently and has studied the language says there are about 250 German dialects. I'll have to stick to improving my rusty Standard German, and recommend that sharpening one’s 2nd language skills can be a great NMI activity. To follow is a clip of Melissa the Schlager artist singing in dialect on Austrian National TV. Her dialect is perhaps not as "crisp" as Standard German, but it's charming, I think-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROf6HBezXvs#t=27s
Schlager music may not seem very profound, I suppose, but after 45 years of concentrating on stuff like Bach's chastising Lutheran arias, an occasional switch to something a bit more upbeat seems to have added a bit of cheer as we slouch toward Nürnberg...
BH-
ReplyDeleteNeed some links to verify, also to generate discussion. Thank you. Also, I can't remember if you posted more than once in 24 hrs, but that also is a no-no (sorry if I'm wrong).
k-dog-
In future pls address me as Mr. Berman or GSWH. Thank you. BTW, Americans are not in pursuit of pleasure. They are in pursuit of $ and status.
mb
“I was hungry, and you gave me (after breaking my effing ass off for 8 hours with only a small bathroom break to satisfy all these USAins waiting on this endless line) to eat”. LOL!
ReplyDeleteDoctor & Wafers,
Check out the latest capitalist, free market hustle here in the global headquarters of Christendom. Yes. Nothing can be more USAin and Christlike than giving out chicken sandwiches for a hard day’s work. And in the heart of Bible Beltland. Very fitting and apropos! LOL!
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/n-c-chick-fil-store-180602941.html
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Joe-
ReplyDeleteThat the country is filled w/degraded buffoons is verified on an hour-by-hour basis.
mb
Well I'll be hornswoggled! An alternate narrative. Imagine that! (Duh)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-view-of-russia-war-in-ukraine-by-mark-leonard-2022-07
The prayers of the WAFers have been answered. Not only can they reduce
ReplyDeletetheir commuting time but they can also witness these gadgets in aerial
combat or finding free spare parts for those in collision in flight
above large cities. Is this not the ultimate in the fantasy of total
freedom and the ability to impress the lower orders who yearly spend
hundreds of wasted hours in traffic! Have you money ready for the
down payment and place your order soon.
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/flying-car-could-hit-market-213000402.html
Matt-
ReplyDeleteI attended the 1964 New York World's Fair, where this flying car was promised for a few yrs from then. The whole fair was techno-buffoonery gee whiz crap. And so now we finally have it, about 60 yrs later. Just what we need. Not a better society, or an improvement in human relations, or self-understanding, or an end to war, but a flying car for flying douche bags. Hooray, us!
mb
One scenario for U.S. decline that Wafers on this blog might not have given enough attention to is the outright military defeat of the U.S. by China. There appears to be a chance we could see the start of World War III in August, not in Ukraine but in the South China Sea. As a U.S. naval flotilla led by the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan sails toward Taiwan, Schmiden and China President Xi had a rather frosty two-hour phone conversation on Thursday, which I have read had been requested by the U.S. side. China in various media has already threatened military action if Nancy Pelosi attempts to travel to Taiwan. A few hours ago, a Florida chickenhawk on FOX News called for bipartisan support of a declaration of war on China if there is any “harm” to Pelosi on her trip:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/if-china-s-threats-to-pelosi-lead-to-actual-harm-it-s-a-declaration-of-war-republican-says
Today in his daily podcast, London commentator Alexander Mercouris devoted half of his hour-long commentary to the Biden-Xi telephone conversation. He thinks the Chinese are not bluffing on the issue of Taiwan and what they interpret is U.S. defacto support for Taiwan independence by allowing Pelosi’s trip, and that the DC Blobsters might be seriously underestimating Chinese military capabilities in a confrontation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q155xio3Zzs
Jack-
ReplyDeleteVery gd pt. Pelosi is just stupid enuf to go to Taiwan, despite the warnings.
mb
On Western blindness and self-destructiveness:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/29/putin-ruble-west-sanctions-russia-europe
I bet Pelosi will be get out if the plane in Taipei with this song blasting
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/5uPoDNEn3I0
Americans believing in their devine position in this world is really comical. The interplay of religion, capitalism and stupidity has given us an example of what kind of self destruction humans are capable of.
Orca-
ReplyDeleteGeorge Carlin believed in my micro/macro theory. A stupid populace can only produce stupid leaders, and now we are seeing this in Pelosi. Who knows what she will do, but the whole adventure is dangerous. Brinksmanship is a fool's game, and she is definitely a fool.
mb
Sluggo-
ReplyDeleteInteresting, but we're not really a bulletin board. If you want to post, check out what other people are doing. Thanks.
mb
The Jewish space laser lady says she would be honored to be trumps running mate if he runs again. This would be awesome. Imagine all the material SNL will have with these two in the White House. American decline is fun and sad to watch at the same time.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-would-honored-trumps-running-mate-1729396
Expose the empire and you're suddenly a rapist. Or a Russian spy. Or a poop monster. But never someone acting in the public interest. And absolutely not a human being. Sigh.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2022/07/ithaka/
Just to add ... The pelosi nonsense is a prime candidate for the long expected Suez moment. Moon has analysis of the Chinese warnings. Potential for trouble.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/07/how-china-warns-of-pelosis-taiwan-trip.html
Dermot-
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if there has ever been a dumber admin in the history of the US. Does Schmiden seriously want to take on 2 geopolitical giants simultaneously? But: it will certainly help w/the decline.
mb
Zelensky did a vogue shoot
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newsweek.com/zelensky-vogue-photoshoot-war-ukraine-divides-public-russia-conflict-annie-leibovitz-1728470
The west have lost meaning. This is the era of the rising tide of insignificancy as the green french philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis proclaimed 40 years ago. There's no will to understand the reasons of the war, there's no will to face the double standards in dealing with this War and other wars, there's no will to understand the american addiction to War. And on top of that democratised stupidity and a loss of all moral standards and meaning. A political figure treated like a supermodel in a totally useless campaign.
Orca-
ReplyDeleteWell, the whole thing is theater, really. As for Americans, they have no will, as you say, but they also have no brains. Factors in the death of an empire, of course. Meanwhile, Pelosi is a turkette.
mb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx-MVvSRtIQ
ReplyDeleteRichard Grannon's been doing some interesting interviews with Sam Vaknin (a very data driven analyst of psychological trends) lately. Grannon's statement here that we "Use People and Love Things" is pretty incisive IMO.
I have to wonder, though, if the problems in America are just amplified problems of the West in general. The older I get, the more I feel like the West has only recently gotten into the business of asking the questions that Eastern philosophy tackled thousands of years ago.
Americans say "I'm unhappy!". Shantideva would probably say "Duh!".
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Bodhisattva-Bodhicaryavatara-Shambhala-Classics/dp/1590303881
Hola Wafers and GSWH,
ReplyDeleteMore evidence of this country going down the drain.
A professor shoots and kills an 18 woman: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/31/us/university-of-west-georgia-ex-professor-charged-murder/index.html
A man attempts to rape a woman in broad daylight as she's walking a little dog: https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-attempted-rape-brooklyn-dog-walker-20220731-vxcceznherdx7mpmupgrm6vvo4-story.html
Mass shooting in Orlando 7 dead: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-shooting-downtown-orlando-fight-opd-20220731-3ruqv7juznbc5faw3nxxrjr674-story.html
Seems like a new pitch of crazy is ringing in the air with the Trump trial theater and his life on public display. It saddens me that the Wafer Urine Team will never be quite large to fix the problems in America.
Krak-
ReplyDeleteCheck out the professor's face. This IS America! Brr.
mb
Well, Doctor & Wafers. SNL has their “Weekend Update”. Here’s a Wafer “Weekend Recap”.
ReplyDelete1) Our typical mass shootings took place. Krakhed already mentioned Orlando in Florida with its Stand Your Ground law. It’s good they fired away! LOL!
2)Another took place in Detroit. No Stand Your Ground there? No problem. Fire away!
https://www.wxyz.com/news/7-people-shot-one-killed-by-neighbor-on-detroits-westside
3) And since someone didn’t have a gun while driving with rage, a machete came in handy.
p.s. Check out the mugshot.
https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/man-with-hatchet-in-road-rage-incident/
4) The subways here in New York always are a great place to witness violence. Our local station 1010 WINS covers it well.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/subway-violence-gunman-fires-into-train-man-shoved-onto-times-square-tracks
Just another normal “peaceful” weekend here in “the greatest country in the world”. Ha! Ha! Ha!
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Schmelosi isn't going to Taiwan. Will someone tell me what all that saber-rattling was abt? In addition:
1. We have had some experience with Tulsism. But can anyone tell me what Pelosism is?
2. In what way is Schmelosi not a total douche baguette?
3. Is there any reason not to beat Schmelosi to w/in an inch of her life, and then throw her on a dung hill?
Jesus, what an administration! Clowns everywhere ya look.
mb
Orca-
ReplyDeleteSorry, cdn't run it (time rule). Also, pls avoid sending large blocks of text--kinda difficult to read. Better if you break them up. Thanks.
mb
ps: Schmelosi in Taiwan! There's a smart move. What's next, Wafers?
ReplyDeleteAnniversary of the July 26-29 1950 Nogeun-ri ("No Gun-Ri") Massacre of Korean civilians-refugees by USian war mongers.
ReplyDeleteThe No Gun Ri survivors' committee called the US Army report a "whitewash" of command responsibility. "This is not enough for the massacre of over 60 hours, of 400 innocent people who were hunted like animals," said committee head Chung Eun-yong. After the USians stopped their multiple day massacre and left, North Korean soldiers tended the wounded and dead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Gun_Ri_massacre#:~:text=The%20No%20Gun%20Ri%20survivors,committee%20head%20Chung%20Eun%2Dyong.
The US empire offered a $4 million plan for a memorial at No Gun Ri, and a scholarship fund. The survivors rejected the plan, because the memorial would be dedicated to all the war's South Korean civilian dead, rather than just the No Gun Ri victims.
Moreover, the US stated it was: "an unfortunate tragedy inherent to war and not a deliberate killing”. The army rejected survivors’ demands for an apology and compensation. United States President Bill Clinton issued a 'statement of regret,' adding, “things happened which were wrong”.
https://ahmed-ali70.medium.com/the-story-51d445c41898
Dr. Shit-
ReplyDeleteHow horrible. We seem to swim in barbarism.
mb
A barbaric, violent, and stupid country:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/aug/01/us-prison-officials-alabama-female-journalists-change-clothes-execution
Dear Dr.Berman,
ReplyDeleteI thought you being a historian (and other Wafers who take interest in history) might appreciate this short clip which explains the difference between Itihasa and History (the Western definition):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvlFUD44CAM
Note: Itihasa is made with two parts "iti" & "has" meaning as it is , how it has come to be understood as linear History or often superimposition of mythology is a topic needs purva paksha.In this episode Rajiv Malhotra provides a clear analysis of itahasa vs history.History as a formal western discipline claims to present the past objectively without any bias. In Dharmic civilizations, however, accounts of the past are not made through either myth or history exclusively. Rather, these categories are replaced by itihasa, which combines 'purakalpa' (past narrative) with words of advice regarding all aspects of life.
In this episode of Wisdom Sutra, Rajiv Malhotra provides a clear analysis of how Western History differs from Dharmic Itihasa - How History lacks a strong foundation like the Vedas and in turn is prone to distortions from Historians imparting Feminism, Post Modernism and other political views. How Pre-Christian and Pre Islamic History was distorted and erased and Why we should stop our Gurus and experts from using the methodologies of History in studying our Itihasa.
Himanshu
Some years ago, I recall Chomsky talking about "bringing the third world home." See the story below (and a few of the comments if you can manage to withstand them).
ReplyDeletehttps://news.yahoo.com/towns-housing-crisis-exposes-house-115727043.html
I was able to locate an mp3 of the lecture from 1995:
https://ia802903.us.archive.org/35/items/Chomsky051995BringingThe3rdWorldHomeBoston/Chomsky%20-%2005-19-95%20-%20Bringing%20the%203rd%20World%20Home%20-%20Boston.mp3
Even 20 minutes in, it's so apparent that the elites have triumphed here in 2022.
DTE
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteNot clear yet abt Schmelosi, but it looks like a kind of game, to test how reactive China really is. A sick administration, 2b sure.
mb
More signs of decline, the dropping birth rate & growing anti-natalist movement.
ReplyDeleteThe Case for Not Being Born
Why the birth rate in the U.S. is falling
I have been rereading Coming to Our Senses and The Reenchantment of the World. Thanks, Dr. Berman!
ReplyDeleteI am also reading the July 2022 issue of The Baffler magazine (No. 64, “Reality Minus”). This issue deals with the latest varieties of technological utopianism. Jeffrey Sconce wrote “Three-Dimensional Mess – You’ll get nothing and like it”. The focus of his ire is Mark Zuckerberg and Meta.
Does this sound familiar to anyone here? “Still, it is somewhat dispiriting to see the human species continue to run away from itself, draining more and more enchantment from the real world just to prop up commodified fantasies of disembodied contentment in places that do not actually exist.”
“That no technology, be it pay-per-being existence of Meta or a giant communist mainframe is going to deliver the ego from the bodily constraint that gave it birth and give it meaning.”
Rose-
ReplyDeleteWell, denial of the body is a major source of our problems as human beings, and technology is a great way to do that. It's not an accident that Zuckershmuck comes off looking and acting like a robot. Much of my writing is abt how we try to hide from reality, and how this ultimately doesn't work. A couple of recs 4u: "Wandering God," the 3rd in the series after the 2 u.r. rdg; and "Eminent Post-Victorians."
anti-
Cd you provide some commentary on these links? We try to be more of a discussion forum than a bulletin board. Thanks.
mb
Well, maybe this will raise Biden's poll numbers:
ReplyDeletehttps://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:u2uqIY2p8CUJ:https://www.newsday.com/news/world/ayman-al-zawahri-al-qaida-leader-airstrike-k80yy9df+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Killing people by in far away places by drones must be our one remaining competence in USA! USA!
I can't wait to find out how many innocents we had to take out to get this one guy. And haven't we killed him many times over the years?
And Biden thinks this is justice? Of course he does.
Professor Berman,
ReplyDeleteA few posts back you referred to visiting the 1964 World's Fair in NY. You are right about the technology worshipping masses that has dominated US/Western culture since then, but I believe it's pretty much widespread throughout the globe now, or will be soon.
I hate being a downer, but the following episode from a recent 60 MINUTES telecast is one of the scariest I've seen about our future : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb1GCjmw8_8
Sang-
ReplyDeleteFor a discussion of technology as the hidden religion of America, check out WAF ch. 3.
mb
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteThe evangelical fundamentalists here in the US are now saying the quiet part out loud:
https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-713128
"We don't want people who are atheists. We don't want people who are Jewish. We don't want people who are, you know, nonbelievers, agnostic, whatever. This is an explicitly Christian movement because this is an explicitly Christian country. We're not saying we're going to deport all these people or whatever. You're free to stay here. You're not going to be forced to convert or anything like this because that's not biblical whatsoever. But you're going to enjoy the fruits of living in a Christian society under Christian laws and under a Christian culture and you can thank us later."
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't post Unknowns.
Skram-
Sorry, cdn't post it. We have a half-pg limit here, and you were a bit over the line. Suggest you edit down and re-send. Thank you.
mango-
Well, no ambiguity there! These people need to be force-fed chopped liver on a daily basis.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteSo China is a paper tiger? All of that threatening talk was bluster? America actually called their bluff? Shd we all salute Schmelosi? And is Tulsism relevant to these developments?
mb
I don't know if China is a paper tiger. It seems to me that the chinese are playing the very long game. My idea of chinese strategy comes mainly from the work of french sinologist François Jullien. According to him the chinese (the classical chinese at least) used detour, indirectness and time for their military and political strategy. Their reasoning was based on the Yin Yang cosmology. Everything changes in time and the role of the strategist is to align himself with the changing nature and wait for the transformation to happen on its own and thus taking him to his goal with minimal effort. Such approach takes a very long time. Anthropologist E.T Hall confirmed that the chinese experience of time is that of the long duration (as opposed for example to the japanese culture of the now). Modern chinese might be the same. Mao himself relied on classical chinese strategy in his guerilla war. America is going down anyways, so they may be waiting and preparing to flip the table et the lowest cost.
ReplyDeleteFew good books on the subject
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9781890951115/detour-and-access
https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/a-treatise-on-efficacy-between-western-and-chinese-thinking/
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780942299953/the-propensity-of-things
Orca-
ReplyDeleteYeah, sure, but they still lose face from this whole Taiwan affair, no?
mb
Will this be enough to get you to return to the showbizz capital of
ReplyDeletethe Universe? You get sex! You get immortality! You get patriotism!
You get fabulous absurdity! Just tell them when you arrive that your
business trip took a little longer than expected.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/89-year-old-stripper-americas-got-talent_n_62e8db1de4b006483aa0e23c
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteHere is a take by Prof. Mike Hudson and Andrei Ravesky (Saker blog owner) on the Pelosi Taiwan affair: https://thesaker.is/the-saker-interviews-michael-hudson-6/
Ravesky in a short column titled "Nancy braves the Chinese dragon and wins?" says:
First, in objective terms, this visit is a pure provocation with no practical effects whatsoever. Pelosi is as much a old teleprompter reading hag as President Brandon. Whatever real dealings the USA and Taiwan had to discuss, they would have done that either remotely or by arranging a meeting between people capable of thinking. Second, just like Russia many times in the past, the Chinese drew a red line and then let the US cross it. Being the narcissistic civilization that it is, the West only saw this as a sign of “weakness”, “indecisiveness” or even “naivete”. What these folks fail to even think about is this: how do you feel most Chinese will react both to the visit and to the lack of Chinese reaction (so far!)? They will get mad and express their frustrations. Now look at it from the Chinese government’s point of view, rather then spending billions on anti-US propaganda they, instead, let the US humiliate China and thereby solidifying the Chinese population for the day when the real confrontation will take place.Third.... Now, a BASIC principle of warfare is that you do NOT let your enemy chose the time and place of the battle. Yes, yes, yes, in the western culture any “affront” (real or perceived) demands an immediate reaction. But the Chinese have been at this for many millennia, not just 200 years, and they know better and you can be sure that THEY, not the USA, will chose the time, place and mode of retaliation."
I think its worth reading Raveskys entire column and the Hudson interview.
Himanshu
As the US empire predictably endlessly war mongers, sells "democracy"/"freedom" propaganda, this is how they treated their own populace: post another US massacre, the victims' families and others deal with massive bureaucracy, stalling tactics, and lawyers...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tpr.org/news/2022-07-30/uvalde-survivors-face-bureaucracy-and-confusion-as-they-struggle-to-stay-afloat-financially
There are many layers to the current confrontation between the PRC and the US. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has raised concerns that China might try the same solution to their claim on Taiwan by force. But China is not Russia. Putin spent years deliberately hardening Russia's economy against sanctions. There is a lot of pain, but Russia can limp along probably for years.
ReplyDeleteChina has far larger economic exposure to Western economic leverage and a looming economic crisis of its own. As usual with these totalitarian regimes, the really telling signs are in the silence of the leadership. They aren't talking about their goals for this year's growth. But a number of major debacles have revealed the cracks they are trying to hide. Major real estate developer Evergrande defaulted late last year, another major real estate developer, Shimao Group is in trouble. And they have literally had to suppress protests on the mainland over bank defaults. Not in Hong Kong, protests on the mainland.
They could not act militarily without ruining their relations with most of the world. The military threats were hot air, and frankly foolish. But that they cannot act economically against Taiwan, their hands are tied by their own internal problems, that is really telling. Expect some serious turmoil in China over the next few years. But we may all be busy with our own local turmoil...
Feliz Cumpleanos Dr. Berman! Wishing you many years of good health and happiness. May this blog/tertulia go on for a long time to come.
ReplyDeleteHimanshu, please stop posting 'the saker', that place is Russian Orthodox propaganda. Hudson is a con man, just by the simple association with the owner of that site.
ReplyDeletePelosi has a heavy personal interest in computer chips, so that's why she's in Taiwan. Simple as that. This whole thing with Taiwan is simply about computer chips, billions and possibly trillions worth of computer chips. She's been in the news lately for illegal trades, but since she's at the top nothing is illegal for her. My guess is she's in seriously with chip makers in Taiwan.
Stock raving mad: The Pelosis’ have an ‘inside’ track — and it must end
China blocks some Taiwan imports in response to Pelosi visit — but not computer chips
chips-
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about the saker, but I can tell you that Hudson is no con man. He's a v. respected economist, sharp as a tack, and I don't think 'simple association' proves v. much. However, in this case, I'm not convinced by his argument. I do think Chinese bluster followed by no action is a loss of face. Finally, I don't think there is one simple answer for Schmelosi.
Michael-
Very kind, thanks. Nothing can stop the Greatest Blog On Earth (GBOE).
mb
The growing stupidity of Americans may be largely attributed to everyone absorbing vast amounts of chemicals through the polluted air, water, and food. Nobody knows what kind of impacts all of the pollutants are having on global IQ.
ReplyDeletePollution: 'Forever chemicals' in rainwater exceed safe levels
You can argue if IQ levels are meaningful or not, but they are dropping worldwide. Pollution & use of technology have been suggested as causes.
Flynn effect and its reversal are both environmentally caused
Well, here's Bret Stephens of the New York Times on Nancy Pelosi going to Taiwan:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/02/opinion/pelosi-taiwan-china.html
I ask you: Doesn't this show the true American spirit, at least as it pertains to foreign policy?
According to him, China is a bully. Um...is this case of the pot calling the kettle black? A total lack of self awareness, maybe?
Oddly enough, Thomas Friedman, of all people, had a column the other wherein he came out against the idea of Pelosi going to Taiwan.
ccg-
ReplyDeleteWhat if America were secretly governed by 3 powerful women?:
-Schmelosi
-Schmamala
-Schmulsi
Anyway, anyone w/half a brain knows the NYT is full of shit, basically pablum for the professional middle and upper classes: All is well, America is in the right, it will recover, etc.
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting clip of Pelosi referencing Ben Franklin-
https://twitter.com/badger_dave_/status/1554846870630965249
Article-
https://dailyangle.com/articles/pelosi-babbles-about-ben-franklin-s-presidency-during-taiwan-visit
Ach du lieber!
Is there anything more self destructive than starting a war with BOTH Russia and China when facing imperial decline? On Crosstalk (19:22 min. in), John Varoli asks, "What does the west have to offer the rest of the world?"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JpS0JUYc0
The answer is war. I'd add IMF and World Bank economic destruction to that. What does China and Russia offer? Partnership.
Now that much of the top-ranking US leadership is far beyond retirement age and clearly addled, will the US change course or hunker down on its losing strategy? I'd say they'll hunker down and, in doing so, lose even more credibility trying to cover up the mess they've made. For example, they've changed the definition of "recession."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixKnxvWiAbc
Mr. Oops-
ReplyDeleteThis is rt on target, really. They are not w/o severe drawbacks, but Russia and China are the future; America is the past. What cd be more obvious? And taking on both China and Russia simultaneously: what cd be more foolish? In terms of spiritual content, America is empty; its future does not look bright. This is its karma. And look at its citizenry: a collection of buffoons, who actually (unwittingly) support its self-destruction.
mb
A good clip by Jordan B Petersson. Now I don't like the guy but in this clip he's got ome good points. First, there is beauty in Europe And it is getting in danger because of european economic choices. Second, the nature of the war in Ukraine is that of a war between Russia and the West. Third, the west is foolish and its leaders are incompetent. I disagree with his ecological comment, I've heard him before downplaying and denying the effect of climate change, and even making fun of it which gets on my nerve. The guy is absolutely smart, but smart in the american way (even if he's canadian), he's a stupid smart. And he have chosen commerce over intellectual honesty it seems to me (supporting his daughter's only meat diet, etc)
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/B-K_j2KcBX8
Orca-
ReplyDeleteHis 3rd pt is certainly correct, but in general I think he needs to be slapped, plus have his shoes peed on. As for the male issue, he wd seem to be an echo of Robt Bly, from yrs ago.
mb
Dear Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting take on Schmelosi's trip to Taiwan:
https://thecradle.co/Article/Columns/13830
The author clearly states: "The crucial fact is that Xi was personally humiliated by Washington and so was the Communist Party of China (CPC), a major loss of face – something that in Chinese culture is unforgivable. And all that compounded with a US tactical victory." For response from China he says: "So the response will be inevitable, and it will be classic Sun Tzu: calculated, precise, tough, long-term and strategic – not tactical. That takes time because Beijing is not ready yet in an array of mostly technological domains. Putin had to wait years for Russia to act decisively. China’s time will come." Examples of some initial responses:"The first sanctions are on too, against two Taiwanese funds. Export of sable to Taiwan is forbidden; sable is an essential commodity for the electronics industry – so that will ratchet up the pain dial in high-tech sectors of the global economy.Chinese CATL, the world’s largest fuel cell and lithium-ion battery maker, is indefinitely postponing the building of a massive $5 billion, 10,000-employee factory that would manufacture batteries for electric vehicles across North America, supplying Tesla and Ford among others. So the Sun Tzu maneuvering ahead will essentially concentrate on a progressive economic blockade of Taiwan, the imposition of a partial no-fly zone, severe restrictions of maritime traffic, cyber warfare, and the Big Prize: inflicting pain on the US economy."
Himanshu