This is the Blog for MORRIS BERMAN, the author of "Dark Ages America". It includes current publications and random thoughts about U.S. Foreign Policy, including letters and reactions to publications from others. A cultural historian and social critic, MORRIS BERMAN is the author of "Wandering God" and "The Twilight of American Culture". Since 2003 he has been a visiting professor in sociology at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Feel free to write and participate.
posted by Morris Berman at 6:50 PM
Morris Berman is well known as an innovative cultural historian and social critic. He has taught at a number of universities in Europe and North America, and has held visiting endowed chairs at Incarnate Word College (San Antonio), the University of New Mexico, and Weber State University. During 1982-88 he was the Lansdowne Professor in the History of Science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Berman won the Governor’s Writers Award for Washington State in 1990, the Rollo May Center Grant for Humanistic Studies in 1992, and the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (from the Media Ecology Association) in 2013. He is the author of a trilogy on the evolution of human consciousness–-The Reenchantment of the World (1981), Coming to Our Senses (1989), and Wandering God: A Study in Nomadic Spirituality (2000)–and in 2000 his Twilight of American Culture was named a “Notable Book” by the New York Times Book Review. Dr. Berman relocated to Mexico in 2006, and during 2008-9 was a Visiting Professor at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City.
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28 Comments:
Great interview Professor. After about seven minutes, I was unable to stop listening. The meagre troubles of my world just faded away. I feel fortunate to be one of the few individuals who found your works. Thank you so very much.
Mike-
Many thanks; emphasis on 'few'. It's obvious that the world wd be a much better place if they wd only listen to me, but for some odd reason, they refuse to do it! Take care, amigo.
mb
Surveying today’s news here in Cascadia, we’re sheikhing our houthi to the beat. First, Will Schryver’s short post “No Dhowt” points out how the US is using million-dollar missiles and elite Navy Seals to interdict a few Yemeni fishing dhows (they call these boats “ships”). Next, the newest Miss America in Florida, a fighter pilot by day, says that she “can’t wait to bomb the shit out of America’s enemies.” That’s one of the ways the U.S. relates to the world to defend its hegemony and so-called rules based order. To bomb or not to bomb is a question debated endlessly by DC think tanks, but in the end it comes down to the Thatcherite acronym TINA – There Is No Alternative – as the Moon of Alabama reflects on a recent exposition by the New York Times White House correspondent that the U.S. might not have any choice but to escalate if American military casualties in Iraq and Syria increase because, you know, those damned Iranians are behind it all. Nope, this US aircraft carrier isn’t turning around in its bathtub anytime soon.
https://imetatronink.substack.com/p/no-dhowt
https://www.duffleblog.com/p/new-miss-america-eager-to-bomb-the-shit-out-of-the-enemies-of-america
https://www.moonofalabama,org/2024/01/us-claims-no-alternative-to-larger-middle-east-war
Wafers-
So Trumpi beat Nikki Haley. I need to restate my assertion that she is a rancid bag of douche fluid. What a turkey! And so full of warm dog poop.
mb
Pristine-
Cdn't really run it. We're more of a discussion forum than a bulletin board. Sorry.
mb
Wafers-
This is a gd essay, tho I looked in vain to see the word 'buffoonette' in it, let alone 'rancid bag of douche fluid'. What were these GOP debates, anyway? Pure illusions; pure beating off. Utterly meaningless. Trumpi was rt not to participate in them. Haley, DeSantis, Ramaswamy--these people are little more than bad jokes. Where do such people come from? From a population that is also a bad joke, to paraphrase George Carlin. The path to civil war, maybe even massive destruction, is getting clearer. The country writhes in its death throes. The world is moving toward a post-American hegemony; what cd be more obvious? Karma has no interest in American 'exceptionalism'.
https://www.spaywall.com/news/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/opinion/nikki-haley-trump-new-hampshire.html
mb
Anon-
Sorry, I don't post Anons.
mb
Some gd news:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/24/americans-believe-israel-committing-genocide-poll
Dear Dr. Berman: Belated greetings from the City of Angels, where all kinds of sins continue to multiply, including dog-stealing from the homeless. Many thanks for a terrific interview. It has been decades since I heard or read of the Alexander Technique—and I loved how Bill Williams's advice to "mix with a few bores" gelled with Jung's covert decision to discharge that schoolteacher (or businessman) without any psychological crimes lest the patient's self-knowledge prove irretrievably damaging. It's tricky—and surely this is largely if not only applies to the most evolved among us—to continue living life while at the same time probing deeper into our unconscious selves.
With every warm wish.
Ajay-
Gd hearing from you, amigo! I was beginning to worry. Did they kidnap u, torture you, and did u reveal where the treasure was? Oh yeah! It's rt here! It's this blog!
LOOK NO FURTHER FOLKS, WE'VE GOT A WINNER!
(Sorry, sometimes I just get carried away w/myself.)
:-)
mb
America is so stupid, it can't even build a toilet:
https://www.spaywall.com/news/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/us/san-francisco-toilet.html
What type of society would produce this type of person?
-A war mongering, genocidal, imperialistic shithole cheered on by 335+ million buffoons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR9jxWt7rms
Dr. Shit-
Next time, give us a bit more commentary (discussion forum). Thank you.
mb
a great presentation of some of the dynamics contributing to the disastrous american home and foreign politics and the decline of its power over other nations. In the very start the woman in the video claims that the US has only plan A and no plan B, which I think to be totally wrong, the US doesn't even have a plan A
https://youtu.be/Jm4o9-_grQs?si=WetD-r007sMeSc8k
french-
I guess Plan A is to continue doing what we've always been doing, namely to try and control the entire world for our benefit. This is not working out so well, of course, but being a senile, warmongering, genocidal doofus, Schmiden can't think of anything else to do. But the pursuit of the nonviable will contribute to our decline.
mb
ps: But Trumpi does have a Plan B, wh/means no more $ to the Ukraine or Israel:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/jan/25/trump-biden-israel-ukraine-funding-immigration-deal-latest?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-65b25f428f087b74d8b5fb03#block-65b25f428f087b74d8b5fb03
Hello Dr. Morris Berman. Again from Spain. Looks like the US is on the best trajectory to collapse within itself. I had no idea it would get to that point. What do you think about Project2025 (project2025.org) created by ultra-right-wing conservatives?
It reminds me of the series Handsmaid's Tale. Something very similar. Everyone is talking about how America will be a fascist country.
But now when I think about it, America always was all about the rules, political correctness, the police state, belittling immigrants, making fun of accents, Puritanism, etc. That is nothing new. Why Americans are acting like fascism is something new?
Liv-
Well, there are levels or degrees of authoritarianism, after all. We won't have Hitler w/Trumpi, but perhaps 80% of the 3rd Reich. No death camps, thank god. But perhaps rounding up all wokes and putting them in a large compound in Idaho. Wh/wdn't be the worst thing, after all. (We hafta put them somewhere!)
mb
Bravo Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA! Who says colleges only are liberal? Here is some great news for the far right young adults of the U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! Our poster boy for gun toting conservatism is speaking at one of our universities. I’m sure this “highly intelligent” MAGA hero shall have the audience mesmerized and spellbound by his oratory skills and profound vocabulary.
Dr. And Wafers, I tell ya: After the Don is reelected in November, this conservative protege definitely should be given a Cabinet position. Our country’s rosy future definitely would be ensured!
http://www.supertalk929.com/2024/01/24/kyle-rittenhouse-scheduled-for-etsu-appearance-february-8/
U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U. S. A.!
Joe-
In a yr from now, we will be entering not only a kleptocracy, or a buffoonocracy, but also a douchebagocracy!
mb
Elements of Douchebagocracy:
https://www.spaywall.com/news/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/nyregion/barnard-college-free-speech-restrictions-israel-hamas-war.html
American scumbags are everywhere, esp. in universities--bastions of free dialogue (my ass).
I learned something new today about our legal system. A company facing lawsuits over issues like asbestos related illnesses and deaths can legally divide itself up into two companies and only one of the two get sued by the victims, in which case the company sued can then file bankruptcy. This is pathetic and the only thing even more pathetic is that this is allowed openly by the law and the courts.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/charles-koch-believes-there-are-two-kinds-of-people-only-one-of-which-he-has-to-care-about/ar-BB1hd6cy?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6a86056d24eb4bfea40a1adf9852ff97&ei
I read that the Kochs stole billions from the Osage and had people in the government make sure it was covered up:
https://www.gregpalast.com/what-charles-koch-paid-to-elude-70-years-in-prison/
Sorry I havent posted much Dr. Berman. Hope you are doing well.
BH-
Doing very well, thanks. My new bk will soon be up on Amazon. As for yr post: what America has is rigged democracy--Scheindemokratie, in German. As for the International Court of Justice: Also Schein. More words for dying Palestinians--cowardly words.
mb
A chick in Baltimore was nabbed after goin' on a stabbing & hit-and-run spree. Just another sad individual for whom the Amerikkkan "Dream" has failed. Bidnis as usual, huh folks?
https://www.msn.com/he-il/news/other/baltimore-woman-charged-in-stabbings-and-hit-and-runs-in-the-maryland-suburbs-of-washington/ar-BB1hk5RX
Fly-
Check out her face, the completely blank look. This is the face of America.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13012167/tanya-stallings-brown-attempted-murder-rampage-maryland.html
Who knows what set her off? A hangnail? Bad haircut? No bacon on her cheeseburger?
mb
Where is Tulsi in all this? Talk about the Sound of Silence! Her silence is deafening.
Where have you gone, Tulsi Schmulsi?
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Woo, woo, woo
Coo, coo, ca-choo
Fuckin' A! Do you believe this?!!:
https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news-01-27-24/index.html
The UN Relief Agency took part in the Oct. 7 attacks!
This from Bill Maher, just a few hrs ago (evening of Jan. 26):
"We're just a shittier people than we used to be."
WHAT HAVE I BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG?!!
A late-nite comic hasta be the one to say what the MSM is afraid to say?!! All Bill needed to add, imo, was the crucial word: buffoons! What he did add, however, was significant: "Sorry, we ran the experiment, and we failed." Gee, do ya think?
mb
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