October 20, 2021
Changing Americans: 1964 vs. 2021
Who are Americans, today? What makes them tick? What is characteristic of their behavior in 2021?
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Wafers-
ReplyDeleteHere's a bit more on the fundamental kindness of Americans. Note that the 500,000 Iraqi children who died because of our sanctions against Iraq did so from malnutrition.
mb
In the late 20th century, socialist countries had birth rates 25 to 55% lower than capitalist countries at any given level of development, owing presumably to more secure livelihoods, better women's rights, and universal healthcare and education: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01459740.1989.9965989
ReplyDeleteNoam-
ReplyDeleteSounds gd. One thing the planet doesn't need is more people.
Meanwhile, Steve Bannon is rt to refuse to comply with the subpoena, because there is very little the Jan. 6 Committee can do abt it. These things can take yrs to prosecute. The Committee has no teeth, and is such is beating off, like the rest of the country. All the Trump-related crooks will probably get off, scot free.
mb
Is rich people’s bad behaviour worse than that of the less well-off?
ReplyDeleteExamples of misdemeanours are everywhere
https://www.ft.com/content/8a1c299f-3b34-4b08-9391-bc21a64d4e9b
My coworkers thought this video was funny. Instead, I wondered why this person didn't put down their phone and go to the top of the hill and try to close the street off themselves. Buy hey, 6.5 million views on youtube isn't bad!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZCyQ3emQg
The perils of the quest for immortality
ReplyDeleteA
rmand D'Angour
Modern magnates such as Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel should heed the warnings of the Ancients in their quest for immortality.
https://www.ft.com/content/8a1c299f-3b34-4b08-9391-bc21a64d4e9b
I really liked D'Angour's "Socrates in Love" he's a fantastic scholar.
Random observation. Today's kids are being inundated earlier ages with gadgets & gizmos. When I was a kid, I didn't have a tablet, dumbphone, iPod, or any other electronic trinket. I played outside a lot with the neighbor's kids, had sleepovers with school buddies, skipped rope, etc. While I occasionally played video games with my older bro (we had a PlayStation), it was balanced out with outside play. I kinda pity the generation growing up now; they're being turned into little morons.
ReplyDeleteDear Dr. Berman: I think the essential message of Tolstoy's novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, which you recommended in your previous post, underscores the Bystander Effect quite well: That the shallow, materialist life—what Ilyich repeatedly refers to as a life of "ease, pleasantness and decency"—is an immoral one. Having rejected the idea of an afterlife (as proposed by most religions), which is one solution to the problem of mortality, Ilyich ultimately finds peace in the only other solution that Tolstoy proposes: death.
ReplyDeleteIt would appear to be a huge paradox and/or a gargantuan hypocrisy that the Bystander Effect is so pronounced in what is probably the most "religious" country on Earth. (But then again, it is also one of the shallowest and most materialistic.) I wonder if Americans tend to take to religion, consciously or unconsciously, at least partly as a reaction to what they "helplessly" recognize as a meaningless, materialistic life.
Oh, and for all Wafers who might not have read Ivan Ilyich yet, here's a free online resource:
https://web.stanford.edu/~jsabol/existentialism/materials/tolstoy_death_ilyich.pdf
Thanks for the recommendation, Dr. Berman!
With every warm wish. — Ajay
Ajay-
ReplyDeleteIlyich's life was not immoral; it was wasted. He pissed it away by living it according to social norms. It was not his own life. The 'peace' he found was during his last 3 days, when he realized all this.
Monroe-
Link to D'Angour?
mb
Dr. Berman and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteThis may take the prize today. These are two stories from the Daily Kos by the same writer about a day apart.
www.DailyKos.com/stories/2021/10/20/20599209-Netflix-staff-to-walk-out-in-proest-amid-Entitled-CEO-s-tome-deaf-comments-over-Chappell-special
and
www.DailyKos.com/stories/2021/10/19/2059056/-VA-school-board-member-and-book-banning-Karen-wants-to-shelve-Toni-Morrison-s-Bluest-Eye
In the one she is calling for Netflix to drop the Chappell show. In the other she is decrying that a rightwing crackpot want to do the same thing to a book in Virginia. I consider myself a liberal (for lack of a better term). So can someone please tell me why the 'left' seems hellbent on alienating its allies?
Stay safe all.
Art-
ReplyDelete1st link didn't work. Otherwise, I wd hafta say that the rt knows what it's doing, and the left does not.
mb
MB and Arthur, here's the correct link:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/20/2059209/-Netflix-staff-to-walk-out-in-protest-amid-entitled-CEO-s-tone-deaf-comments-over-Chappelle-special
reminds me of this I just read about (below). In case you can't read it, it turns out a best selling author in Spain that people thought was a woman was really a pen name for 3 dudes. And now all of a sudden they collected a prize it's a big deal, as if the book was only important cuz it was a woman author. Yawn, Margaret Atwood kicks ass, Ursula Le Guin kicks ass among many ... so where are all the women winning prizes by assuming men's names? Media doublespeak BS.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/10/20/carmen-mola-spain-women-publishing/
ReplyDeleteAfter the discussion of Ivan Ilyich and Dr B’s reminder of the Iraqi lives lost because of US sanctions, I’m reminded of an excellent novel I read a few years ago that reminded me quite often of Tolstoy. It tells the story of three childhood friends through the first Iraq War until the fall of Saddam Hussein. Though I found Al-Ramli’s writing heartbreakingly beautiful, I would be curious to know what fellow bibliophile Wafers think. I did read it in the original Arabic so possible that made it even more exceptional. Planning to reread in English to see if I have the same reaction/experience. This certainly goes in the category of “humanizing” the “enemy” and should probably be required reading for US govt and military officials. In keeping with the theme of this blog, we know that would never happen!
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/apr/22/the-presidents-gardens-by-muhsin-al-ramli-review
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TS25F5F/ref=dp-kindle-redirect
https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2021/10/afghanistan-shows-the-american-dream-of-remaking-the-world-is-over
ReplyDeleteJohn Gray on Afghanistan
MB,
ReplyDeleteApologies I thought I left the D'Angour links!
https://engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the-perils-of-immortality/
https://www.amazon.com/Socrates-Love-Philosopher-Armand-DAngour/dp/1408883910
Some US amendments that were never ratified
ReplyDeleteInteresting list. I can see how things like prohibiting marriage between races and "acknowledging that the Constitution recognizes God and Jesus Christ as the supreme authorities in human affairs" can be suggested by Americans, but how the hell did things like "an attempt to limit the personal wealth to $1 million" come up? You think the guy who suggested this got lynched?
=================
Dr. Berman said: "Note that the 500,000 Iraqi children who died because of our sanctions against Iraq did so from malnutrition."
And when the USS Cole, which was enforcing the sanctions, was bombed, the US went nuts and called it a terrorist act, and somehow extracted "compensations" from...Sudan. Imagine committing a long and torturous war crime then throwing a hissy fit when you get resistance. How brazen is US government?
================
Re: the woman raped on the train, to contrast cultures, look what happened when some guy started beating up a woman in public in Brazil.
Cherith-
ReplyDeleteThanks for info. I never knew why the Cole was attacked. That video from Brazil: cd never happen here.
Gabe-
Is it really over? Keep in mind that America does not learn from experience.
Jamie-
Shukran! Great to have an Arabic reader here. How did u come to learn it?
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI am a big tennis fan; I started playing at age 11. But can someone tell me why I shd give a shit abt this?:
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/emma-raducanu-dior-ambassador/index.html
mb
ReplyDeleteDr B, it seems like one person in the Republicans agrees with your more radical plans for America.
https://twitter.com/MikeLoychik/status/1450190378506858509?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Karl-
ReplyDeleteThis is gd, but only halfway there. The other half is to use those guns on everyone you run into. (By definition in America, anyone not yrself is a potential enemy.)
mb
Dear Dr. Berman and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteAnother evidently far more dangerous version of the Bystander Effect:
I Was Wrong About Donald Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/opinion/donald-trump.html
"Many liberal voters have taken a step back from politics, convinced that Mr. Trump is no longer a threat. According to research conducted for our super PAC, almost half of women in battleground states are now paying less attention to the political news.
But in reality, the last election settled very little. ... Going forward, we can expect bogus claims of voter fraud, and equally bogus challenges to legitimate vote counts, to become a permanent feature of Republican political strategy. Every election Republicans lose will be contested with lies, every Democratic win delegitimized. This is poison in a democracy."
Now here’s a political candidate Wafers should be able to get behind – Michele Fiore, running for governor of Nevada. In the start of her campaign ad referenced in the link below, Fiore comes roaring into view in a Ford F-150 with a Trump sticker on the tailgate, screeches to a halt, leaves the cab packing heat, and introduces her “Three Shot Plan.” What’s not to like?
ReplyDeletehttps://news.yahoo.com/ad-republican-partys-whole-deal-181400261.html
Jack-
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong w/her breasts?
Ajay-
In terms of collapse, poison is just what we need.
mb
I learned a new phrase today: Clout chasing. Apparently it means doing whatever it takes for fifteen minutes of fame. If anything is as American as trying to get rich quick, it's a craving for celebrity.
ReplyDeleteHow about getting hired by a fast food joint and then making a video of yourself trashing the place? No longer original enough: it's been done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QR_9ZlIXJ8
I just assumed that he was trying to join a string quartet but, strangely enough, he is a wannabe rapper.
down-
ReplyDeleteNote that for the most part, this is an evidence blog, not a pure opinion blog. Opinions are like assholes: everybody's got one. Why shd we be impressed? Here are some guidelines for yr future posts:
1. Present some specific argument regarding the collapse of the American empire
2. Then provide evidence (links, reliable refs) for yr pt of view.
Thank you for yr cooperation.
Alogon-
I can definitely see the guy playing viola in a string quartet; he looks like a Bach or Bartok man, really. Other than that, I hafta say that in a possibly extreme form, his value system is very American.
mb
The Gorilla Glue Girl Saga! Who needs to go to the movies anymore? Just watch America.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ_5UZrmfXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC_ba9PI3fE
ReplyDeleteTrump has recently launched a "free speech" platform that will ban you if you criticize it. I have to assume it's also going to ban people who criticize Trump in any way, because Trump has a very fragile ego and doesn't take kindly to criticism of any sort. As for Trump's supporters, they claim to value free speech...and then join platforms like this one. These people are completely full of shit, but then again, nearly all Americans are completely full of shit.
Noura-
ReplyDeleteThe # of morons contained w/in the US is reaching asymptotic proportions. We need to chart this using a Moron Index (MI).
mb
Just another ho hum day here in New York where I live. Do you want to relax outside and have a sandwich? You’re taking your life in your hands.
ReplyDeletehttps://pix11.com/news/local-news/brooklyn/several-shot-east-flatbush-deli-shooting/
Actually it’s just another ho hum day here in the Dysfunctional States of America. You’re taking your life in your hands no matter where you are. Take a good look at this “beauty”. LOL.
https://www.abc12.com/2021/10/21/police-looking-woman-wanted-four-murders-near-clare/
Joe-
ReplyDeleteYou mean to tell me that pastrami *isn't* bullet-proof?
mb
Dr. B and Jack:
ReplyDeleteMs. Fiore is America writ large; here's another article with a number of interesting photos-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10117129/Meet-GOP-firebrand-Michele-Fiore-launched-Nevada-governor-campaign-beer-shooting-video.html
Birn-
ReplyDeleteThat Xmas picture w/the entire family toting guns is priceless. And yr rt: true Americana. As Gore Vidal once said, "Stupidity excites me."
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteWe must recognize the fundamental kindness of Americans:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/21/us-border-agents-shocking-abuses-asylum-seekers
mb
This is about the democratization of recorded or historical knowledge and understanding that continues and develops over time. News items are taken as "canary in the coal mine" events or presenting a before know Black Swan event. some "sit in time" as undiscovered falsities or illusions.
ReplyDeleteI would draw from back in time to understand the American character, as seen in the cases of Hannah Duston (1697), a heroine at the time as an Indian scalping Pilgrim mom, or the Wyoming Massacre (1778) which helped spark the American Revolution. Former neighbors scalped others, seeding hatred toward the Indians, resulting in George Washington's tactical destruction of all Indian inhabitants & villages between the coastline cities and the Great Lakes. We can balance this dark view with the information that Rhode Island advocated treating Indians & tribes with respect to autonomy and personal conscience, therefore no proselytizing allowed to locals. Its history earned it the moniker of "The Constitution State" from advocating correctly separation of Church and State.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wyoming
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Duston
Complete disclosure: I am a philosophical counselor & direct descendant of Hannah & Indian tribes.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
ReplyDeleteCold comfort dept.:
Terry Majors, 30, called 911 seeking medical attention. Once inside the ambulance, Majors stripped down and began masturbating w/an ice pack:
https://www.ibtimes.sg/florida-man-arrested-after-getting-naked-inside-ambulance-pleasuring-himself-ice-pack-60810
Miles
The not-so-secret sauce to everlasting Merican life has been reaffirmed once again in mainstream media. Bezos’ rocket-riding and once Star Trek’s captain William Shatner, age 90, advises, “Keep hustling!” The adoring Market Watch article calls Shatner “an inspiration to us all.” U-S-A! U-S-A! And finally, “You’re only as old as your last deal.” Perfectly stated, truly a adage for Biden Our Time™.
ReplyDeletehttps://msn.com/en-us/money/companies/william-shatner-s-recipe-for-staying-young-keep-hustling/ar-AAPPRbi?pfr=1
Jack-
ReplyDeleteOnly an act of God cd chg the mindset of America.
Jeff-
Aren't ice packs rather cold? Brr.
mb
Americans: hearts of gold:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.kltv.com/2021/10/19/william-davis-trial-day-14-closing-arguments-begin-davis-trial/
Re: cell phone use, they're now required to buy food & access facilities. While they may have been a novelty & something optional 10 years ago, they've become mandatory for most people in urban areas. States are requiring everyone ages 14 & up to have QR codes or apps on their phones to access buildings & transit to prove they've had the shot. Amazon's "just walk out" technology is being adopted by global retail & entertainment now. Good luck with navigating anything public in cities in the future if you tossed your phone in the trash.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/19/tesco-takes-on-amazon-go-with-launch-of-just-walk-out-store
https://climatepledgearena.com/safety-and-sanitization/
Hello Mr.Berman,
ReplyDeleteMeet the Queen of cringe, Kamala “fake it” Harris. Kamala vs Trump would be one hell of a cringefest. Seriously, these people have no souls as do most of Americans.
https://youtu.be/nxKjIYYebqk
Nam-
ReplyDeleteI have tried to find a reason not to hose her shoes down w/yellow fluid, and haven't been able to. What a douche baguette.
down-
A team of Wafers needs to attack these stores w/full bladders.
mb
Ambulances, caravans - Beavis and Butthead led the way https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/0605a25a-b8e1-4c51-92bc-b2fa2d2baea3
ReplyDeleteRegarding Dr. Berman's link about US border patrol abuses, if anyone wants to read more about this, one of the best books I've read is The End of the Myth. The focus is on the American frontier, but it went through some of the horrors that Americans - including border patrol, which considered themselves on a frontier guarding civilization from savages - inflicted on Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Here are some excerpts from it in the New Yorker.
ReplyDeleteOne reason why people vote for Trump:
ReplyDeletehttps://reason.com/2021/10/21/mit-dorian-abbot-cancel-lecture-affirmative-action/
Good day sir. Your trilogy and Kunstler's books on the crappification of America were godsends fifteen years ago or so as I wandered in the wilderness knowing something was wrong and that I wasn't part of this culture but couldn't quite explain it. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI live in a midwest university town that perfectly exemplifies the BS tokenism to causes used to cover their greedy ambitions. After an orgy of spending that enriched corporate America in the past ten years that left the university heading towards a serious deficit, pre-covid no less, cuts have been taking place, naturally to programs like languages and culture. They were also going to cut the university press that publishes books on history and politics. Now they want to further their commitment to corporate America, militarism, corporate ag, everything that is wrong in America but where the money is. And like other corrupt joint projects they run it through the billion dollar endowment where there is no public accountability. Oh yes, and of course we all got our jollies off with the military fly overs at the football games. Lots to look forward to declinist wise.
https://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/town_talk/2021/oct/21/from-a-grocery-store-to-a-national-security-center-ku-leaders-reveal-more-details-about-west-campus-plans/
Harvey-
ReplyDeleteGlad my work was of some value 2u. My intuitive understanding that I was a stranger in a strange land began at age 8. That awareness has only deepened over time. Regarding what you describe abt KU: our unofficial motto on this blog is "Bad Is Good." The more corruption and stupidity, the more buffoonage and douchebaggery, the faster America will collapse. KU wd never ask me to speak, of course, but if they did, I'd just say: "Keep doin' what yr doin', guys; yr the greatest!"
mb
Wafers: Here's a recap:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.democracynow.org/2004/7/30/democracy_now_confronts_madeline_albright_on
Here we have a woman of Jewish ancestry (who tried to hide it), who lost family in the Holocaust, endorsing genocide.
Now let's look at the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/16448310/subway-food-ground-meat-toilet-sandwich/
How great is the difference? One can call Jumanne a douche bag and a moron, but doesn't that also apply to Madeleine? And in between these 2 extremes we have 332 million Americans whose value system is not all that different, when you really examine it.
Our butchery of Iraq is something that hardly disturbed the American people; until that project went down the toilet, they cheered the US military (same thing happened w/our brutalization of Vietnam). And Jumanne may be a dolt, but his rationale was that of a hustler: he wanted to get picked up, made famous. (Direct quote: "I create controversial videos to be able to potentially monetise my audience on YouTube and other social media platforms.") But almost all Americans are hustlers in one form or another, chasing wealth and celebrity status. It's rather annoying that we can now be ashamed of Madeleine (who subsequently apologized for her cruel remarks), or regard Jumanne as a consummate asshole, when in extreme forms, they are us. These are differences of degree, not of kind.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteAn impt expt 4u 2 try out: Stop any random person in the street. Male, female, old, young, Hindu, Muslim--doesn't matter. Ask them 2 questions:
1. What is the language of the words "Los Angeles"?
2. What do these words mean?
Since they are complete doofuses, they will just stare at you blankly. Then you say: "Listen, I don't mean to insult you in any way, but you are a goofball and you have shit in your head. Have a nice day."
mb
ps: Oh, I left out color, wh/also won't matter. Cd be white, black, brown, yellow, or purple.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, speaking of race, check out essay in the NYRB for Aug. 19, "A Warning Ignored." This article makes it abs. clear that America will never, ever, solve its race problem, because all efforts in that direction by white America, or the US in general, amount to 0 more than window dressing (something I've been arguing for yrs), even tho the solution has been staring us in the face since the Kerner Report of 1968. This essay goes down to the root of things, and shows how that root continues to be persistently ignored. (I remember that Julius Lester, at the time that LBJ set up the Kerner Commission, remarked that the Commission was a joke because if LBJ really wanted to know the cause of race riots, he shd just talk to some black homeless person sleeping on a park bench in Lafayette Square, across of the White House.)
mb
To your point above Dr. Berman, the REAL reason Trump was so despised by the left was because he was too close to being the avatar of the true American soul.
ReplyDeleteYes, Trump was a stupid, self-absorbed, and deeply mean-spirited person. A true man of the people and an example that our democracy is actually working as intended.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/10/claremont-ryan-williams-trump/620252/
It stuns me that anyone can look around at this smoldering crater of a country and think that we AREN'T moving full speed ahead to Civil War II.
Once the next economic contraction happens, I firmly believe the calls for secession are going to ramp up to full volume MUCH faster than this country of dunces realizes and, like the violent brutes we are, will descend into violence even faster.
This blog will end up being one of the most important contemporaneous accounts of the downward spiral. it's an honor to even contribute to it.
Louis-
ReplyDeleteDo Americans have a soul? I wasn't aware of it. Anyway, I was talking abt why Trumpites love Trump, not why progs hate him. Meanwhile, we await the Boogaloo...
As for this blog: thank you. Sometimes I hear of people going to other blogs, and I shake my head in disbelief. Why wd anyone do such a thing? It's all here, amigo; a one-stop shop. :-)
mb
This sounds abt rt:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cR4fXcsu9w
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the following bks, but they sound very Waferish. If any of you guys read them, pls give us a full report:
David Vine, "The United States of War"
Alex Lubin, "Never-Ending War on Terror"
Joseba Zulaika, "Hellfire from Paradise Ranch"
Byung-Chul Han, "Capitalism and the Death Drive"
mb
And our funny Karens never cease to entertain us.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLbP5gUqj58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP7y373m6tg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0GLjTKNc9I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg3x9_dwhrs
@ Dr. Berman, I watched the Maher clip. Yup, I agree that it sounds right.
ReplyDeleteBut of course there are 2 turkey issues in the video:
1) When saying his reasons about why the Democrats will lose in 2022, Maher boils it down to conventional wisdom of 'The majority party is always ousted after winning the presidency'. He makes no mention of the Democrats walking back their campaign promises, of throwing a slice of bread to the temporarily embarrassed millionaires, as a reason for why they’ll likely get creamed in 2022.
2) The audience laughs hysterically at the end about the possibility of a violent fascist revolution, when that is something that in a serious society, would probably be no laughing matter?
I’m now remembering, when thinking back to the week before November 6th 2020 when Trump was indicating that he wont go peacefully and was trying his best to set the stage for a military coup. I was sitting in my group psychotherapy class and the professor asked us how we were doing. So I made a statement about being scarred about a fascist takeover of the US and about the likelihood of Trump sending his paramilitary forces to occupy Boston sometime post election under the pretense of fighting the "Dems/Communists/Antifa”. In response to my serious frankness, one of my classmates “fell distraught” about it and had to talk to the professor after class for a counseling session, another classmate was holding his 6 month old baby and said in an non-serious positive tone something like “I’m just gonna focus on the positive”, and another classmate who while going to grad school was also working on creating an online psychotherapy platform, said in an irritated manner “I’m now so distracted”.
So I guess I should've said in reply to the professors question that "I'm doing good, how are you?".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUOqfj_vb7Q
ReplyDeleteBrian-
ReplyDeleteAnything that shakes up the buffoons is to be commended, imo. Note that hysterical laughter can mean yr peeing in yr pants w/fear.
mb
RCTD-
ReplyDeleteGreat, thank you. Bill has a serious blind spot when it comes to Islam, and also (like most public figures) when it comes to the crimes/genocide America has committed on a global scale. Yea, Greenwald!
mb
Hello Mr.Berman,
ReplyDeleteBill Maher is not totally wrong in his assessment of the Muslim world. While Greenwald is right to point out the US atrocities, Islam is also in need of reformation. Look at what happened to Hindus in Bangladesh( Pakistan/Afghanistan). While atrocities like these do happen to minorities everywhere but there is a trend in Islamic countries of a drastic reduction in minority population. While minorities dwindle in Islamic countries you don’t see Muslim population reducing in other parts of the world where they are a minority.
https://www.opindia.com/2021/10/iqbal-hossain-quran-mosque-caretakers-arrested-bangladesh-violence-against-hindus-planned/
“The attacks happened over the alleged incident of ‘sacrilege’ at a Puja Pandal. However, Police found that the man who triggered communal violence against Hindus by placing Quran at the Durga Puja venue was Iqbal Hossain, a Muslim.”
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/No-Hindus-will-be-left-in-Bangladesh-after-30-years-professor/article16675228.ece
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/1/1/the-decline-of-afghanistans-hindu-and-sikh-communities
Nam-
ReplyDeleteI think Maher is over the top in his antagonism toward Islam. He is apparently unable to point out anything positive abt the religion, or abt Muslims in general. In this, and in his blindness toward American imperialism, he is no more sophisticated than the typical dumb American. Check out the relevant sections of DAA, and also Michael Scheuer's bk, "Imperial Hubris."
mb
@Namaste: I always love your comments but allow me to disagree here. One is an action of one person, and the other is an action of military governments. I don't think it's fair to paint with a broad brush. Muslims are persecuted heavily where they are the minorities. Most extremists in India are Hindus. In Buddhist countries, Muslim minorities are persecuted even by Buddhist monks, including a massacre in Burma where 48 Muslims were butchered by Buddhist mobs. Hindu mobs have been committing unspeakable acts against India's Muslim minority, including mass murder, and infamously the destruction of he Babri mosque with involvement from the BJP party. And Indians elected the leader of the BJP (Modi), who laid a stone on the ruins as a symbol of his support for Hindu extremists who want a Hindu temple there. The persecution of Muslims there is bad enough that an Israeli publication likened the atmosphere to 1930's Germany. Have you seen these stories featured heavily in the media? If some mentally ill Muslim kills one guy on the street in Europe, it's front page news in Western media. But official persecution of Muslim minorities by both governments and the people doesn't feature nearly as prominently unless it's huge and (preferably) serves Western interests (e.g. persecution of Muslims in China).
ReplyDeleteI used to think that if the USA could get more women in politics like other countries things would be better here. I now think that the women here have to be worse just to get into the boys club. From Madeline Albright and Hillary Clinton to Marjorie Taylor Green and Michele Fiore, your gender is not the issue, just being ‘Merican.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Albright, I did not go to see her pins at the Pittsburgh Carnegie Museum in 2012. I was ill at the thought of the children who died, and we were supposed to be focused on jewelry. I regret not writing letters to the newspaper editor and the director of the Museum. The tour went around the country for years. And there was a book! (Read My Pins)
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g53449-d220087-r126121001-Carnegie_Museum_of_Art-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania.html
https://www.bellevuearts.org/exhibitions/past/read-my-pins
From the OFFS (Oh For Fuck’s Sake) department:
ReplyDeletehttps://amp-includes.tmz.com/videos/2021-10-24-102421-kyrie-irving-1277625/
One data point for sure but I hear Jim Morrison/relevant for 54 hrs and counting
https://youtu.be/haZpwAm_xEY
Gunnar-
ReplyDeleteI love douche bags, esp. when they are in motion. Go, douche bags!
Rose-
Never forget: the elite (of whatever gender) are trash. Condi Rice is a war criminal. Michele Bachmann is a dunce. Etc.
mb
It's coming. It's real.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/eric-swalwell-tucker-carlson-voicemail_n_6173aeb9e4b066de4f62b0a1
I'll say this until my dying breath. America had its LAST semblance of a legitimate election in 2020. Sure, the system has always been manipulated by the financial elites, but 2024 is the year we'll drop the pretense and go full autocracy, and it'll be accompanied by the celebratory howling of rednecks all excited about the opportunity to 'OWN THE LIBS'.
As much as this may only be a loss of the veil of democracy, it's going to have a VERY serious consequence for America's image on the world stage. My bet is on Europe and Asia quietly huddling together to figure out ways to drop the dollar as the reserve currency after this happens.
The most interesting parallel with Trump, IMO, is Slobodan Milosevic. And I quote:
"Milošević's political behavior has been analyzed as politically opportunist in nature..
Milošević's unusual and conflicting positions and mannerisms were almost schizophrenic in nature."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slobodan_Milo%C5%A1evi%C4%87#Constitutional_amendments
MB and Wafers -
ReplyDeleteThe stupid and degenerate Americans always say that their country is #1. Here is something it is #1 in. In this video Dr. Harriet Fraad talks about why the US leads the world in rape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZUvQ4mpvYo
Here is a video about secession. Bill Maher talks about national divorce.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL_SGxCEiwI
2 things for everybody here to consider:
ReplyDelete1.) It's a long video, but it's the most damning indictment of the myth of progress that I've heard. She starts out saying that she isn't going to name the person whose work she's targeting, but ends up naming him anyway: Steven Pinker.
https://youtu.be/Ve0iZ78gTjo
2.) David Graeber, who unfortunately passed away a year ago, left us with another blow to the New Optimists and their Pope, Steven Pinker. It turns out that there's tons of archaeological evidence against the teleology of Western progress narratives:
https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/10/david-graebers-final-challenge
Here's a way to see America on a low budget. Little baggage or
ReplyDeletefancy clothing is not required. No one pays attention to the color
of your skin or your accent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH_4biOCG-w
MB & Wafers:
ReplyDeleteYou gotta read this sarcastic essay on the recent lockdowns, concerning the upper classes and Woke establishment who cheered the covid nurses and "Black Lives Matter" movement during the last months of the Trump administration.
They now have turned and want all the unvaccinated (including those very front-line nurse "heroes" and people of color who are, interestingly enough, reluctant to be jabbed) to be thrown out of work and punished.
Including a nice cutting phrase, "pajama workers", those whose were able to do computer work at home during the lockdowns, sheltered from the real world.
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/lectures-from-limousine-liberals
Quercus
Unknown-
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't post Unknowns.
All others-
Thanks for yr posts. Yes, our future is indeed dark.
mb
One of the worst experiences of my life was dating someone who turned out to be a sociopath. I didn't know what was wrong with this person at first, but I immersed myself in the literature pretty obsessively for a year or so afterwards to figure out what was wrong with this person. At any rate, I feel like this "expertise" gave me a lot of insight into many public figures. To wit, though they are both British, both Simon Cowell and (To a somewhat lesser extent) Russell Brand are two figures that enjoy immense mega-popularity and renown in the U.S. One of the hallmarks of sociopathy is the lack of empathy, and it often manifests as the ability to be completely comfortable in situations that make normal people squirm. Check out these two videos and notice how comfortable they are being absolutely cruel and vile. It is a bit less direct with Brand, but the guy is such a douchebag. He just revels in making people feel awkwerd. I was shocked when just the other day someone recommended him to me as a "deep" thinker! My God. Just watch and consider that this behavior is now normalized, and even considered hilarious by tens of millions of American morons. Absolutely disgusting in my opinion:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8vwXzRL6rk&t=413s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8vwXzRL6rk&t=413s
Vladimir Nabokov’s hatchet job on a translation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Nausea https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/21/books/nausea-jean-paul-sartre.html
ReplyDeleteFascinating!
Just came across this quote from "The Thirty Years War" by Veronica Wedgewood. Seems to describe recent American interventions, especially Vietnam and Afghanistan, perfectly.
ReplyDelete“ Confused in its causes, devious in its discourse, futile in its result”
https://www.nyrb.com/products/the-thirty-years-war?variant=1094932653
Eleanore-
ReplyDeleteA great bk. I usta assign it to my classes. Boris Vian, one of my heroes, did a sendup of it in "L'ecume des jours" (there are 2 English translations), in which Sartre hands out plastic samples of stuffed vomit to his adoring fans.
mb
Hello Cherith,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the detailed response. I agree with most of what you said but disagree on a few points. Since this blog is about America’s collapse would not want to stretch this discussion but will just say a few things.
I don’t paint all Muslims or any particular community with the same brush and in fact I hate Trump/Modi as much as anyone. Wish these idiots are out of politics and media. But having said that I don’t believe they are another “Hitler”. It’s a rhetoric used by the left, though I agree that they have created a toxic atmosphere in which an asshole like Hitler could come to power. Like I said in my post, minorities are persecuted in most parts of the world. My only point was that in Islamic countries the long term trend is a drastic reduction in minority population that you don’t witness anywhere else(esp in case of Pakistan,Afghan, Bangladesh). Forced conversions/migration due to persecution are more pronounced in these countries.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/year-1000-pakistani-girls-forcibly-converted-islam-74930532
The “Babri Mosque/Ram Temple” topic is a complicated one. If interested please read this wiki regarding the decision of Supreme Court in this regard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Supreme_Court_verdict_on_Ayodhya_dispute
FerQ,
ReplyDeleteConcerning Bill Maher's comments the other night. I watched the segment and frankly came away confused. Let me state that I agree with Maher 95% of the time. His comments on woke/cancel culture are spot on with the damage that sort of mindset is doing to this country. But I didn't understand his comments the other night at all. He stated we should all be nicer. I can't argue with that, but what are we supposed to do if (I won't say when because nothing is written in stone) the far right takes over in 2022 or 2024? Do we just hope that if we're not mean they won't beat us into the ground? I got the sense that he's given up and is just hoping for the best. Maybe that's the best course, but nonetheless it was strange commentary coming from someone like Bill. Stay safe all.
Breaking (wind) "news"-ho hum...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.wnct.com/news/national/police-6-injured-including-officer-in-idaho-mall-shooting/
https://nypost.com/2021/10/25/shooting-at-boise-idaho-mall-multiple-injuries-reported/
I usually stay away from the 'culture war' stuff like taking down statues and such. And I don't care about Phillip Johnson- his work is at best emblematic of the march of late capitalism in creating a world devoted to drowning the human spirit under the flow of capital. For some reason this article floated back up from last December, and I was struck by one phrase:
ReplyDelete“His racism, his fascism, and his strenuous support of white supremacy have absolutely no place in design.”
This type of stuff bugs me to no end. "Gun violence has no place" "Racism has no place" "Hate has no place" "White Supremacy has no place" Dang, people, take away these things and America disappears in a puff of empty promises.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/dec/13/philip-johnson-architect-moma-harvard-fascism
CNN even acknowledges that modern architecture is anti-human: Looking at buildings can actually give people headaches. Here's why...
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/why-looking-at-buildings-can-give-people-headaches/index.html
Arthur-
ReplyDeleteAnd when he said that, the audience applauded. Help me Rhonda! And when I tell people that Americans are brain-dead, they laugh. Bill no more has a solution to the American catastrophe than anyone else, and this is because the 'solution' is dissolution, which will happen whether we are nice or nasty. Meanwhile, I enjoy being nice to Mexicans because they are nice to me. And they don't have to be taught this; it's just part of their culture. Our culture: violence and exploitation. But keep in mind, Bad Is Good.
mb
ps: Can anyone tell me why someone shdn't hold Zuckershmuck's head under water for 10 minutes?
ReplyDeleteDan and WAFers, Audubon is changing too:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/25/audubon-us-conservation-group-name-change
Who's going to be the new spokesperson, I hear Fidel Castro was into birds ... maybe not.
Cel-
ReplyDeleteSurely the answer is to condemn everybody and everything. This too will hasten our demise. It may be the case that massive cultural destruction will precede massive social, economic, and political destruction. Go turkeys!
mb
Wafer Dan and Dr. Berman re: Audubon name change:
ReplyDeleteWhat's next? No more Richard Wagner being played? No more Kol Nidre bc Max Bruch was anti-semetic too? Tchaikovsky? When does this US empire PC-"woke" joke bullshit stop?
Likely never, and that's good! Keep 'focusing' on all the wrong things. Bad = Good.
https://forward.com/culture/194853/how-an-anti-semitic-composer-created-kol-nidre-and/
https://www.jta.org/2017/07/26/culture/tchaikovskys-jewish-problem
Glans-
ReplyDeleteAnd Shakespeare, and T.S. Eliot, and Philip Larkin...Let's abolish everything!
mb
MB said "... let's abolish everything!"
ReplyDeleteThey're doing what they're doing because it's easy. Audubon and P. Johnson are old white guys so easy targets. Like I always said, slap a BLM sticker on your whitebread SUV and, whew, now that's done and I don't have to worry about it. I don't have to pay more taxes for universal healthcare, etc.
Just wait until they try for Krupps coffee machines, BMW/Benz/VW cars, Fanta soda, Hugo Boss, and other nazi corporate supporters ... it'll never happen. Too hard. Remember, the business of Amerikkka is business.
Pastrami-
ReplyDeleteUnlikely, but let's imagine that the woke people win in 2022, and 2024. My fantasy is that the gov't will then set up a Board of Abolition. If any American objects to anything at all--say, canned tuna--they wd bring that objection to the BOA, say that they find canned tuna an expression of oppression of [some subaltern group, take yr pick], and that canned tuna must be banned. The BOA will not inquire as to the source of the oppression; it will simply ban canned tuna, end of story. The next day, someone will go to the BOA with an objection to panty hose; immediately panty hose will be banned. This will continue until literally everything is abolished.
Now one thing that is obvious is that if Trumpi wins in 2024, truth as we understand it will be finished. The official gov't line will be that the 2020 election was stolen from him; evidence simply won't matter. Any country that rejects what I've been arguing for on this blog--state your argument, and then provide proof of it--is basically finished. Karl Rove said of the Bush Jr. admin, "We create our own reality." Trumpi is that in spades. He can look at aerial fotos of Obama's election celebration on the Mall, and that of his own election celebration of 2016, and say--in defiance of empirical evidence--that more people were at his election celebration than Obama's. (Note that the diffs between the 2 fotos were quite stark, and overwhelmingly in Obama's favor.) So if Trumpi gets elected in 2024, we will enter an era of facts being irrelevant, and in wh/Karl Rove's motto will reign supreme. This is gov't by fiat.
But suppose the woke people win in 2024. I recently read a statement by a feminist academic, that the structure of thesis and proof was a privileged white male 'construct'. And frankly, I've run across this sentiment many times during the last 20 yrs. But this too is a way of throwing facts and evidence out the window, and we wd wind up with the same postmodern crap that Karl Rove was peddling yrs ago. In that sense, it makes v. little diff who wins in 2024, because both sides are saying that the truth doesn't depend on facts, rather it's whatever we (i.e., the people in power) say it is.
Some time ago I said that when I was writing the Twilight bk, I understood that the US was going under, and wd follow the pattern of Rome and other previous empires; but that never did I imagine that America wd die because it had become a joke. (This was hardly on Arnold Toynbee's radar screen either, of course.) But to this I hafta add, that I never imagined the US wd go under because the line between reality and fantasy had been erased. I expect we are going to see a lot of that erasure, from both left and rt, as this decade devolves. This state of affairs has a name: nihilism.
mb
Otto Rank wondered if the basis of mental illness is stupidity.
ReplyDeleteThe topic is embedded in the view WAfers have of America. Give
this 6-min vid a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc
The roots of Trumpism were planted long before Neoliberalism:
ReplyDelete"We typically think of “wealth redistribution” as shorthand for taxing corporations and the wealthy to give money to the poor. Central Appalachia’s extractive institutions allowed exactly the reverse—for the region’s natural wealth to be redistributed to shareholders in faraway metropolises, and in a sense, to America’s emerging middle-class consumers who benefited from artificially cheap energy, at the expense of ordinary Appalachians.
Typically, tax policy would be used to offset the profiteering of absentee corporations. Not in central Appalachia...
ONLY IN THE 1970s did states pass laws that claimed any share of the earnings on coal extraction on behalf of their citizens." (emphasis mine)
Wow.
It sounds like Neoliberalism, the Rust Belt, Roe vs. Wade, illegal immigrants, "deplorables", etc. were simply the last straw
https://qz.com/1167671/the-100-year-capitalist-experiment-that-keeps-appalachia-poor-sick-and-stuck-on-coal/amp/
Art-
ReplyDeletePretty gd description of the USA today. And believe me, it's going to get *much* worse.
mb
Hello Mr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteHere’s clown of the week... so called smart math teacher from California... maybe math teacher on meth lol ... how does America produce so many clowns.
https://youtu.be/h88YSHm466U
Nam-
ReplyDeleteThis is great. How many times do I hafta say that Americans have shit for brains? What in the world did this teacher think was gonna happen, as a result?
mb
USians never fail to deliver!
ReplyDelete"Hiker Lost on Colorado’s Highest Peak Ignored Rescue Crew’s Phone Calls Because They Didn’t Recognize Number"
https://snowbrains.com/hiker-lost-colorados-highest-peak-ignored-rescuers-calls-didnt-know-number/?fbclid=IwAR3LxUuq0BQ4Ndp3zmmkab7uLX7WjaZkobkPGnjg-4rz39FaRhTR8rfWzro
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteThose are great insights. In addition to destroying truth as we know it, Trumpists have made their own Boards of Abolition. They've made abortion totally illegal in Texas; they've made it illegal for teachers to teach anything about social justice in many Republican states; and they're trying to make it illegal for teachers to teach students America's history of slavery and genocide. All of this is just as totalitarian as what woke extremists want to implement. So regardless of whether bubbas or wokes win in 2022 and 2024, totalitarianism *and* the destruction of truth as we know it will be the result.
https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2021/may/05/tn-republicans-pass-bill-barring-teaching-systemic-racism/546373/#/questions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUm5AQBwuJI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Br_L6WTw8&t=122s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0f0VGK9J1E
Gary Shteyngart (who wrote Wafer favorite Super Sad True Love Story) has a new book out:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/26/books/gary-shteyngart-our-country-friends.html
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gary-shteyngart/our-country-friends/
cor-
ReplyDeleteSpecific evidence for shit-for-brains probably occurs in the US on an hourly basis.
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI have occasionally said that Americans need to be punished for the way of life they have enthusiastically endorsed: militarism, consumerism, and imperialism. Hustling, in a word. The problem is that punishment works only if the punishee understands why he is being punished, and on that score, Americans haven't a clue. Nevertheless, punishment is in fact the order of the day. Let me give you one example. I ran across this online a wk or so ago; I think it was in an interview with Neil Gaiman, but I can't remember exactly. Anyway, the incredible stat that was discussed was that if an American, or an American family, suddenly had an emergency that required coming up w/$400 immediately, 47% of them wd not be able to do it. That's a lot of people, and it is the direct product of a hustling society--something Americans simply cannot understand. As the crisis of America deepens, I'm guessing that figure will increase. But it does show conclusively that clueless or not, Americans are indeed being punished.
Another punishment stat: a massacre occurs in the US more frequently than 1 per day, on average.
Wafers are encouraged to provide more examples.
mb
Punishment comes in many forms: estrangement, suicide, drug use, anxiety, dying alone, mental/physical/spiritual abuse, depression, poisoned air/water/soil/bodies, birth defects. It helps to believe there is reincarnation/hell/purgatory/resurrection so that nobody gets away with anything. For my part, I've disowned my family who rather than speaking wisdom or truth opted to poison our minds & bodies with nothing but garbage for decades.
ReplyDelete"As per a study by Harvard, the medical cost of mental health conditions is estimated to rise to $6 trillion by 2030."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/psychedelic-drugs-market-global-industry-083300239.html
ps: Art: the video is not abt Otto Rank, who died in NY in 1939.
ReplyDeleteThis is what USians found "funny."
ReplyDeleteDestroying a bassoon, for in a "country" where nothing matters and nothing mattered, why not?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_hOTxJ9nPg
Arthur V-
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understood about what Bill Maher said, it seemed like he was telling
both the right and the left to calm down and to stop attacking each other so viciously. It seemed like he was saying that if they continue doing that, it will lead to violence and make the situation worse. That is how I interpret it. Given the nature of American ppl and their culture, one could only expect that more violence is inevitable no matter what happens.
MB and Wafers-
There is a content creator named Coach Red Pill that made a video advising ppl to get out of all Western countries. He says that the entire West, the US, Canada, Europe, etc. are all going to be totalitarian and also says that a war with China is likely to happen soon.
This is the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKF8eI9QbIA
Following up on MB’s previous post …
ReplyDeleteTHE SECRET SHAME OF MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICANS
Nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency. I’m one of them.
By Neal Gabler
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/my-secret-shame/476415/
Is this the 40% item you mentioned?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZrj3jgw8uc
Living in what the late Christopher Lasch called--accurately, in my opinion--a "culture of narcissism" is punishment enough. No community. No connection to nature. Little connection to one's forebears. No connection to posterity. Manipulate or be manipulated. Unmet spiritual, emotional and physical needs. Little affirmation from within. A constant chase for external affirmation.
ReplyDeleteThe ultimate form of resistance/defiance might be to be a conscious unhappy camper, malcontent, etc. What does the U.S. have to offer besides material comforts and pleasures? They can arrest you for, oh, speech. But they can't arrest you for refusing to derive happiness from the culture. There'd be nothing else, such as fulfilling work, to fill the void. A market without buyers will implode.
Tim-
ReplyDeleteCheck out 2nd story in "The Heart of the Matter."
Rollo-
In the clip I saw, it was 47%. See link provided by Noura: this is it. I remembered the name wrong, thought it was Neil Gaiman.
Fer-
Maher was engaging in exhortation, and the problem w/that is that it has no teeth, no coercive power. It sounds nice, but it's really just beating off. As for the future of the West: I recall a quote from Mao Zedong, that "the wind from the East will overcome the wind from the West." He made that prediction in the 1970s, I believe.
Dr. Shit-
How sad, and awful. I guess I forgot to include bassoon-destruction in my Abolish Program. As for the audience: Americans are a pretty sick bunch.
mb
When I did philosophy - before I dropped out for depression - I had an excellent analytic philosophy professor called Allen Hazen. I found this clip about Quine which seems to summarise what Dr Berman means by the 'reenchantment of the world' if not the United States (lol) https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2021/02/putnam-on-quine-ontology-and-abstract-objects.html
ReplyDeleteNeil-
ReplyDeleteThe world, or at least a large part of it, has a chance. The US does not.
mb
Jerry Seinfeld on "diversity" in comedy. Gotta love this guy.
ReplyDelete==================
This brave woman slapped Kellogg's with a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Why? Because we are a profound people with lofty ideals, in the land of the brave, so we have to stand up to something like this. God bless her.
==================
From Daniel Bell's Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (page 28): "The real problem of modernity is the problem of belief. To use an unfashionable term, it is a spiritual crisis, since the new anchorages have provided illusory and the old ones have become submerged. It is a situation which brings us back to nihilism; lacking a past or future, there is only a void."
I see this a lot in the US and the West in general. Whatever anchorages existed - religion, culture, ethnicity etc. - are being rejected violently now by modern liberalism. Where to go from here? People are so desperate for something to believe in that they are turning to virtually anything - internet groups, Wicca, Harry Potter, Burning Man - as a de facto substitute for religion as the interesting book Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World argues (fun read, recommended).
Cherith-
ReplyDeleteJerry is a sane person. Most Americans are not.
mb
Good afternoon Dr. Berman and Wafers,
ReplyDelete.
Interesting story here:
www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/27/2060573/--When-do-we-get-to-use-the-guns-TPUSA-audience-member-asks-Charlie-Kirk-at-Idaho-event
And too damn many progs think we can talk to these people. To be fair a number of folks in the comment section of this article did say it was time to arm up for common sense self defense. Frankly, I wish more felt that way. Decline and fall are coming, no question. But if need be I'm going to defend myself as best I can.
Stay safe all.
Arthur-
ReplyDeleteKirk gave the rt (sane) answer, but I doubt it will satisfy the bubbim, or the bubbot (Karens). I guess it all comes down to what form you want the collapse to take. "No Collapse," however, is not an option.
In terms of yr own defense, I suggest buying a cannon and putting it in yr front yard.
mb
Hello Mr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteAnother contender for clown of the week, or “shit for brains” department.
“Kentucky high school is investigated after students appear to give teachers and the principal LAP DANCES during homecoming week festivities“
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10137855/Kentucky-high-school-investigated-students-seen-giving-teachers-LAP-DANCES.html
Nam-
ReplyDeleteI LOVE IT!! I'm telling you, the whole country is beating off!
mb
https://steadystate.org/facebook-and-its-religion-of-growth/
ReplyDeleteThere's not enough urine in the WUT(Wafer Urine Team) to give Zuckershmuck the shower he deserves.
https://www.businessinsider.com/whos-afraid-of-naomi-wolf-2021-6
ReplyDeleteFormer progressive and third wave feminist icon Naomi Wolf has become a full-fledged bubba. She has recently appeared on Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon's shows, and even uploaded a video of herself shooting random shit in the woods with a machine gun. I wonder if Chris Hedges will be the next American progressive luminary to become a bubba.
Nadine-
ReplyDeleteThis is fab. America is so fucked up, n'est-ce pas? I'll believe anything at this pt. Chris as a bubba? I think he'll first hafta get a cranial-rectal extended extraction procedure (CREEP). (With a crowbar and KY jelly, the head is dislodged from the rectum, where, in Hedges' case, it has been embedded for decades. I think it might hurt.) Meanwhile, I believe the female of bubba is Karen.
Krak-
He certainly needs a heavy dousing of urine, extensive slapping, and to be waterboarded 185 times. The problem is that he is fungible. His religion of growth: just stop any American on the street, ask them what they want. Answer: more $. He's a terrible human being, but are his fellow-citizens all that different?
mb
https://youtu.be/u4KsvFnCy0I
ReplyDeleteToday, I had a chat with the director of a project I'm working on. We should have been talking about work.
Instead, she told me that she hasn't slept more than 4 consecutive hours for the past 12 months. Usually, she's very lucky to get 1.5 to 2 hours and never has proper REM sleep. She says that the biggest problem is getting her body to 'relax' after a day of being so tense that her shoulders hunch forward in anxiety. She's concerned about the damage this might be doing to her body since the effects of poor sleep have been well documented.
3 to 4 days a week she just curls up in a ball and cries in her bed from loneliness and stress instead of sleeping. She works with computers, by the way, not in construction.
This is, technically speaking, my boss. For these 30 minutes, it felt like a desperate cry for help from someone on the edge of mentally collapsing. By any 'American' measure, she's wildly successful.
It reminded me that this horrific culture we've created is brutally efficient at creating dried out husks of former human beings. As much as I detest Americans, I have to admit that my heart breaks at the thought that her story is not at all unique.
Louis-
ReplyDeletePretty tragic, but as u say, pretty common. It's amazing how Americans fall for that 'deal'. Your boss probably has a nice apt., a nice car, chic clothing--and she's dying inside. That's the 'deal': we'll take your soul, and in exchange you can have lots of 'things'. The con is the notion that you can make yr life 'work' from the outside via $, celebrity status, a big house, a Porsche, box seats at whatever, a professorship at Yale, a trophy wife/husband--etc. But all that external frufru doesn't touch the inside: love, sex, friends, community, nature, craft, art, creativity, sleep, dreams, laughter, and silliness. We are the ultimate outside-in society, where everything is reversed. We chase what doesn't matter, and ignore what does. Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich figured out during his last 3 days on earth that he had pissed his life away. Most Americans don't even get 3 hours of true awareness, let alone 3 days.
American life is a lot of negative things, as Wafer postings over the last 15.5 yrs have shown. But one thing in particular stands out about that way of life: it's tragic.
mb
The Entertainment Industrial Complex gives consumers plenty of cheap mass-produced goods to make us laugh and keep us distracted. But who needs that middle man when we've got our collective intellectual life?
ReplyDeleteAn illustration: I come to this blog and, thanks to Neil, get introduced to a source: Leiter Reports. Maybe it has content on what fascinates me the most! That would be postmodernism. Using the search field, a Google result containing "The end of California?" later followed by "Just when you thought the humanities were safe from postmodernism". After clicking: "The end of California?
Bacon may soon be unavailable in the state". I thought to myself, "It's now illegal to teach about Francis Bacon?!" It was referring to an animal welfare law.
See what happened there? I subconsciously fell for the paranoia over the alleged cancers of "postmodernism", "post-truth", etc.
Oh, and earlier I discovered that there is a thing called "pomophobia". Google it.
Sorry, Hollywood, you can't script this stuff.
Recommend: https://julesevans.medium.com/how-postmodernism-became-the-bogeyman-of-the-culture-wars-69384bd970db
Capital and Imperialism: Theory, History, and the Present Paperback – March 2, 2021
ReplyDeleteby Utsa Patnaik, Prabhat Patnaik
https://www.amazon.com/Capital-Imperialism-Theory-History-Present/dp/1583678905/
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteYou ask at the beginning of the latest topic: “Who are Americans, today? What makes them tick? What is characteristic of their behavior in 2021?”
Look below. Look at these faces. These are who Americans are. Many are either bearded or bald-headed angry violent macho ignoramuses who go around driving pickup trucks and brandishing weapons: not just guns, but even flares. The violent deadly creativity never fails to astonish. Rage makes them tick. Anger, violence and rage are the characteristics of their behavior.
https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/arrest-made-in-road-rage-incident-involving-mother-2-year-old/
https://www.azfamily.com/news/shooting-suspect-road-rage-incident-in-glendale/article_ef1fc5e0-3761-11ec-ac19-7b2556023120.html
https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/ossining/police-fire/road-rage-arrest-made-in-northern-westchester-after-man-fires-shots-at-driver-police-say/818808/
https://www.khon2.com/local-news/flare-gun-ignites-car-in-honolulu-road-rage-incident-as-man-dog-flee-burning-car/
Americans are innovative hustlers!
ReplyDeleteHere's the latest from Virginia's fair capital city:
https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/unlicensed-unmarked-tow-truck-pirate-stealing-vehicles-across-richmond-caught-on-security-camera/
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the laugh, Arthur V.
Your satirical post was right up there with Mel Brooks' putting "Have a Nice Day" badges on KKK members in "Blazing Saddles."
I love how you went from "Things is dark, dangerous and grim out there I gotta git me a gun" to your cheery, upbeat "Stay safe, everyone!" That's about as spot-on a parody of Yankhead as I've come across lately.
al-
ReplyDeleteBut I too am curious as to when the bubbim and the bubbot will be allowed to use their guns, and gun down progs like dogs in the street. Surely the Boogaloo can't be far off. Meanwhile, the progs will be occupied w/diversity issues.
mb
The Philosopher Will See You Now
ReplyDeletePhilosophical counseling: when people talk to philosophers instead of therapists about their lives.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjbdvx/why-some-people-are-talking-to-philosophers-instead-of-therapists
Hello Mr. Berman,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-school-cop-eddie-gonzalez-charged-with-murder-for-shooting-18-year-old-mom-mona-rodriguez
Hollywood should follow this script, It’s pretty accurate of the true American experience.
“Single and poor teen mother with her baby, probably on drugs with another boyfriend, thinks arguing with another teen is the most important thing in life. Meanwhile a patriotic officer roaming around thinks he can calm the situation by force, the teen thinks its a good idea to just run and the officer decides its time to try his shooting skills and guns her down. Fast forward twenty years the kid is shown chanting “USA, USA”.
Arthur and Al. I finally read about said incident in Idaho. Funny how the bubs think the military will be on their side in a coup, yeah right. Cops however ...
ReplyDeleteCel-
ReplyDeleteApparently a lg # of cops and military personnel are connected to white supremacist groups. There have been several articles abt this over the last few mos.
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteArticle from today-
"Here is the startling truth about America's biggest national security problem"
https://www.rawstory.com/here-s-the-startling-truth-about-america-s-biggest-problem/
Quote from article-
"The United States is a nation of militantly ignorant people, arrogant in their beliefs, unable to change their minds and unwilling to try. We lack education."
The author quotes Mencken in the article.
A donkey emoji is on the verge of global reality thanks to two Biden staffers frustrated that Dems had no counterpart to the GOP-friendly elephant ��.
ReplyDeleteThe latest �� West Wing Playbook
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2021/10/26/bidens-emoji-czars-494853
They sure are getting a lot done!
I wonder what William Gibson thinks of all this "Metaverse" business...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/10/facebook-metaverse-name-change/620449/
Something tells me these Zucker-Geeks haven't read much Borges, Bradbury, Le Guin, Gibson, Wells, Pohl, Sheckley, Orwell, etc., etc.
M says 'I never imagined the US wd go under because the line between reality and fantasy had been erased.' and yet Vance Packard predicted it in '58
ReplyDeleteA 12-minute item to make you wonder if such a world of illusions will
ReplyDeletedescend upon the US once it is sensed that its proud dream is now
truly just a dream and will never become a reality for the majority.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VfJ0BJvt7Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLovDkMYVoc
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDk13o1cDk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqQ-RrlgFCw&t=622s
Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation, recently availed himself of paternity leave to help raise his infant child. In response, Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Tucker Carlson and other bubbas have condemned him for this because they think only women should be allowed to take time off to care for children. They also claim that large numbers of men taking paternity leave will allegedly destroy the economy, the nation and the world.
We've discussed at length how Americans are obsessed with profit to the exclusion of all else, and could care less about families or children. This is yet another example of this sick and twisted mentality. Americans don't seem to realize that their devaluation of families and children creates loveless, abusive households that produce violent, mentally ill people...or maybe they just don't care.
Wafer Nadine Bupkis--The US empire is a business enterprise masquerading as a country.
ReplyDeleteYour statement, I believe, makes most things in the US Empire fit into place and why things are they way they are in world's premier shithole.
Thinking of 'Operation Paperclip' (US empire bringing Nazi war criminals over to learn from them, their propaganda techniques, give them citizenship post-WWII etc.), I thought of the phrase: "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" (work sets you free) above the Auschwitz Gate.
Maybe that's what most USians subscribe to--work until you die, bc someday you might maybe perhaps "make it" and be "free" to buy lotsa dreck.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteCheck it out:
https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Racism-Religion-Betrayed-America/dp/0593423062/ref=pd_lutyp_wsixn_v2_1/137-1496827-6914557?pd_rd_w=g4fTw&pf_rd_p=97541d72-71cc-48b3-a0e7-7d094682d4b4&pf_rd_r=7REZXPEJQ41EQ6B9AAS4&pd_rd_r=7ca86346-d298-406f-9bec-ce229674f9b6&pd_rd_wg=IOOwp&pd_rd_i=0593423062&psc=1
remember-
No links? No references? No proof? Why shd we pay attn to you? This blog is not big on pure opinion or 'declarations'. I shd add that I discuss Packard at some length in one of my bks (WAF, maybe), and in rdg his work, I never found any suggestion that he had in mind what I recently wrote abt the erasure between fantasy and reality. 1958 is hardly 2021. Do yr homework?
Ode-
Have you thought abt how much slapping is necessary? I call it Corrective Douchebag Therapy (CDT).
Birn-
This is gd, as far as it goes. A few mos. ago Bill Maher did a shtick on the stupidity of Americans. All well and gd. But what I'm failing to see in these rare pieces that identify Americans themselves as the problem, is the appropriate vocabulary: douche bags, buffoons, turkeys, clowns, morons, putzes, jokes, etc. Por favor, amigos, let's call a spade a spade!
mb
Glans-
ReplyDeletePls see my reply to Ode.
mb
"Ripe (With Decay)"
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/HkrUlSKRQRo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder#Signs_and_symptoms
When I first read the description of Borderline Personality Disorder, the first thing that caught my eye was how much of it seemed to describe many personal and business relationships I've observed in America. What's the point of even calling it a 'disorder' when it's the rule, not the exception?
- Intense or uncontrollable emotional reactions and rapidly shifting between different emotional states
- Chronic feelings of emptiness
- Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger
If Freud was right that societies can become neurotic, then what's the official diagnosis for America? :)
Have a good weekend, WAFers!
I feel guilty posting this one, but this is my favorite Karen freakout video. Holy shit! I take her soul-piercing wails to be symbolic of a culture in its death throes.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDcRSv0a3KM
On another subject, it has occurred to me over the past few years that American literary critics and book reviewers are generally pretty horrendous. We have the notorious case of Kakutani's hit job of Dr. Berman. Yet other than Bloom and Michael Dirda, most of our critics are a pretty dismal lot. I love Dirda, and enjoy Bloom very much in small doses. For all his amiable pretension and bombast, Bloom is pretty brilliant, and you can usually learn something from him, even if some of his aesthetic judgments sometimes rub one the wrong way. (He loves Walt Whitman, for example, whom I viscerally loathe) But what Bloom calls the "school of resentment" seems to be operative pretty much everywhere these days. I just read this review of Hermann Hesse in the New Yorker, and was horrified to see that the German Master is actually just an "arrested development teenager", preoccupied with frivolous things like Beauty, wonder and first love, yet who needs to get busy with the truly important stuff like the stock market and mortgage payments. Maybe I'm stretching it, but I see this vulgar approach as something that only an American could have written:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/11/19/hermann-hesses-arrested-development?source=search_google_dsa_paid&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlOmLBhCHARIsAGiJg7mU0d-vWRsUT3TYCelsCVX8EHkjPTqEv989ghNVmviKFMc_-xr2bgkaAvSLEALw_wcB
Megan-
ReplyDeleteGreat video. Yes, truly the face of America. Poor woman. I have this theory that the US is actually a huge machine for turning out bitter, angry, stupid people. We could call it the Buffoonator.
Michiko Kakutani's hatchet job on DAA is symptomatic of ever-widening circles of stupidity, and she is hardly the only reviewer of this type. Let me explain. In my professional career, i.e. as an academic, it was an uphill struggle, in the following sense. I had assigned some bk or article, and my question to the class was, "Well, what did you think?" I did *not* ask, "What did you feel?" The typical response was, "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". I wd then say, "Great, but that's not an analysis of the text, is it? What I'm asking you to do is tell us the author's thesis, then discuss the evidence s/he musters to support it, then evaluate the text based on how well, or how poorly, the author did this." Undergrads had no idea of what a thesis was; grads, if you can believe it, had only a shaky notion of what evidence was.
The point I'm making is that Kakutani responds to books on the like or don't like it basis. In her mind, a bk is gd if she agrees w/it; it's bad if she doesn't. It never crosses her mind that she can dislike a bk and that it's nevertheless a skillful piece of work; that it does a gd job of defending its argument. Or that a bk she might like is poorly done, i.e. doesn't defend its argument very well. So because the argument of DAA offended her, she was forced to say things that were untrue, e.g. that my evidence was purely anecdotal. But she's the tip of the iceberg: most US reviewers 'evaluate' bks the same way my students did: if I don't like it, then it's a bad bk. If I like it, it's a gd one. This slide toward pure subjectivism is another facet of the breakdown of our culture.
Michiko subsequently wrote a bk called "The Assault on the Truth," omitting to note that she has been in the vanguard of this assault. Salman Rushdie said that she had no business reviewing bks; Norman Mailer asserted that the NYT cdn't fire her because she was an Asian woman, and they were afraid of being called racist or sexist. Great world we live in.
Louis-
Relevance of this clip? I don't get it.
mb
Autosomal DNA study confirms Sitting Bull descendant from hair sample. All persons and all people deserve to know and honor their ancestors and their roots. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/sitting-bull-descendant-confirmed
ReplyDeleteBirney,
ReplyDeleteRead the chapter on educ. in Lasch's "The Culture of Narcissism". Reformers in the early 20th Century felt, according to Lasch, that common people are "incapable of intellectual exertion". Mass education in the U.S. has been, basically, a sorting system, according to Lasch. Compulsory elementary and secondary education are for identifying and advancing future elites and confining everybody else to working class roles. A tool for stratification, basically. Certainly not anything meant to develop the minds and expand the horizons of many.
Does anybody really believe that free college for all will result in a dramatic reduction in mass ignorance, a more informed citizenry, etc? Or will the higher ed. curriculum be dumbed down even further? A BA in Convenience Store Mgt., anyone?
It's just one point of view, and Lasch could be wrong. But I think that discarding entire ed. system and starting over is the only solution.
Still not out of the woods :(
ReplyDeletehttps://assangedefense.org/hearing-coverage/julian-assange-extradition-appeal-day-2/
Tim-
ReplyDeleteWd be helpful to provide a link. Perhaps in future?
mb
Tim - The public school is also how they teach nationalism, get kids used to living in an institutional setting, and teach children about important brands such as Panda Express & Domino's. This year school districts have decided "to deemphasize Halloween and shift our focus toward community building through fall celebrations" whatever that means. I give it about 10 years before the entire concept of a holiday is considered to be white privilege.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/schools-across-us-cite-inclusivity-as-reason-for-backing-away-from-halloween-events/ar-AAPYNK8
Sorry I didn't clarify the meaning of my previous post.
ReplyDelete"Ripe With Decay" is an instrumental NIN song that *should* serve as part of the soundtrack to the eventual PBS Special entitled "America: A Nation of Slobbering Jackoffs".
---
Which brings me to a question I'll pose to all WAFers. I'll key off of one of the most profound cinematic performances in recent memory:
https://youtu.be/adhkn9lt76c
If you could sum up 'The Lie' of America, what would it be?
For me, it's: "America is a nation of free people."
This lie is thoroughly propagandized from the moment each American sets foot in our ghastly public school system. We go through the rote task of citing The Pledge of Allegiance precisely because those in power know that this shithole is actually a prison, from Scumswamp to Shining Scumswamp. The American's freedom only extends to what his corporate masters tell him he's entitled to, and because the average American is as repulsive as the people who manipulate him, he's more than happy to play his part in the danse macabre.
Louis-
ReplyDeleteThink abt how much slapping is currently needed. Meanwhile, pls watch length, and timing. Thanks.
mb
A view from Europe on the state of the US is not giving high and
ReplyDeletecheerful rating. WAFerism is now an export.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieTGIDWwAoM
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/08/872371063/microaggressions-are-a-big-deal-how-to-talk-them-out-and-when-to-walk-away
ReplyDeleteNPR has gone full woke. I dare you to read this piece of shit. According to the interviewee, complimenting an Asian person you mistakenly think is from another country on their impeccable English is a "racist microaggression", something hurtful and damaging that reveals the need for soul-searching. And it gets worse: at one point in the article, the interviewee suggests that woke people require people who disagree with them to read woke books and "do their homework" before they can "even come to the conversation". Later on, he babbles about the necessity of cultivating empathy and having difficult conversations about social justice issues. I guess he thinks "Read these books and agree with all my opinions and beliefs or don't talk to me!" is a great way to foster empathy and dialogue. It's comically stupid, but I've come to expect this kind of thing from Americans of all stripes.
MB is right. America is a joke, and its citizens are jokes.
Dr Berman,
ReplyDeleteYes, it's sad that your America Trilogy didn't garner more critical attention. And that what attention it did get, was so poorly thought-out. Of course, Kakutani's great weakness is her inability to distinguish real value from what she likes or doesn't like on a personal level. What is truly sad, though, is the fact that your work is so richly documented--there is literally a whole book's worth of scholarly footnotes in the American Trilogy. Depressing that Kakutani didn't wrestle with this at all.
At any rate, I'm quite confident that you will be a "Posthumous Man", and that your work will get the attention it deserves some time in the distant or not so distant future. America IS going to implode--it is clearly doing so now in real time--and this fact alone will guarantee you a whole second life in academic circles. We joke about the Chinese looking back at and reexamining your work with critical-archeological rigor, but I think something very like that is going to happen. The Internet alone makes this much more likely. I forget which video I saw it in, but the cultural critic John David Ebert was lamenting the demise of the really good and significant American cultural critics, and he said something like "Neil Postman is dead, and Morris Berman has taken off for Mexico". The fact that your name keeps popping up in places like this--in intelligent discussions, but on the outside of academe--is probably enough to keep your name and work around for a long time to come.
Needless to say, that's the shame about posthumous fame and recognition--it comes too late to really enjoy it! But you can at least fantasize a bit, and try to get some pleasure now, out of what will surely be your importance in the future.
Megan-
ReplyDeleteHere is Ebert's review of one of my bks:
https://cultural-discourse.com/morris-bermans-new-book/
Thanks for the ref, I had no idea. Of course, the Twilight bk was named a "Notable Bk" by the NYT in 2000, but that was b4 9/11. Kakutani did a hatchet job on DAA because it was published after 9/11, at wh/pt she decided that serious critiques of America were not to be tolerated. So she lied abt the bk, never really addressed its content, and ignored the massive amt of ftnotes, as you pt out. What a gal. Score one for the NYT and sophisticated cultural criticism.
Yes, maybe I'll be recognized posthumously. Whee! At least I'm having fun, in the meantime.
mb
What George Orwell’s garden reveals about his politics of resistance
ReplyDeleteIn tending to his roses, Orwell created a refuge from industrial capitalism, fascism and war.
By Lyndsey Stonebridge
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2021/10/what-george-orwells-garden-reveals-about-his-politics-of-resistance
This bk looks great!
@Namaste, @Cherith, and Dr. Berman: Re: Narendra Modi, Hindus/India: For the last 7 years I have observed largely negative comments on this blog but have chosen to stay silent thus far because the focus of this blog is US. One cannot blame the general public in the West for having a biased view of PM Modi because there are only two perspectives broadcasted about him in the West: that of Indian Lutyens Media (These are media people from India who are still mentally colonized by the British/West. Their views are channeled through NYT, Wash Post,BBC etc and even the alternative media in the West. The column linked below is a good description of the Lutyens Media. The second view is just as malicious but takes on a different tone which is shaped by Evangelical Christian missionaries) : https://sanjay-dixit.medium.com/phoney-secularism-in-india-time-for-the-pontiff-and-the-sultan-to-rest-in-peace-ed53eaa1d75 Here are videos that dismantle the fake news coverage of Modi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPxOxAqMrM8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2_ynCme1Qg
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhgltCeJ3vQ Also, here is a high level article about Indians leading the much needed correction/change in the narrative of India/Hindus https://www.ehitavada.com/index.php?edition=Insightpage&date=2021-10-24&page=1 (The current dominant narrative is a British Colonial construct and that of Marxist Historians who are Brown Sahibs (honorary Whites)...for further elaboration on this please refer to Rajiv Malhotra's books Being Different, Breaking India, and Academic Hinduphobia). Please treat this as an invitation to gain a more balanced perspective about Modi/Hindus/India. Here are couple more helpful videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUI6MdS4_ak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqshHaW8OU0 Best wishes, Himanshu
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteIt was over a year ago...Trumpi did his most embarrassing interview to date, w/an outfit called Axios. The subject was the pandemic, and Trumpi had brought some strange oversized charts, which proved nothing. At one pt he defended his inaction with respect to the virus by referring to 'journals' and 'books'. His interview replied: "What journals? What bks?" Trumpi didn't reply, and then at the end shrugged his shoulders and said, "It is what it is."
What is sobering is the thought that 74 million viewers saw this as a successful interview, and in the wake of it were still dedicated Trumpites. What wd it take, you might ask, for them to change their minds, and see him as a failure, or at least seriously mistaken?
Fanaticism is really a fascinating thing, discussed at length by Eric Hoffer in "The True Believer." One thinks of the millions of Red Guard in China, yrs ago, madly waving their Little Red Bks, and mechanically quoting from Chairman Mao. Or Nazis, at rallies in Nuremberg. Isaiah Berlin (d. 1997) was a great opponent of fanaticism; he called it 'monism', and said it was characterized by the belief that whatever the topic, there was only One True Answer; and that if you had a different answer, you were an enemy. He said the 20C was badly scarred by this disease, and he hoped that the 21C wd be different. He claimed things were changing, that people were more flexible, more open to dialogue and pluralistic thinking. What wd he say today, were he alive to see the bubbas and the wokes, each side screaming that only they had the One True Answer, and that the opposition was the avatar of Satan? How do you sit down w/Trumpi, or his followers, and say: "There are no journals, no bks; this pandemic is real"? Or with the wokes, and explain that people don't like being "re-educated," told how to live, how to talk, and what to believe? Poor Isaiah, spinning in his grave. Meanwhile, what can Wafers do, other than watch the insanity play out, as the US careens toward a violent climax? Shd we invite both sides over to tea? Hoffer argued that the crucial pt was not the particular political position one held, but the fervor behind that position. Pushed far enuf, and the situation tips over into buffoonism; wh/is where we are today.
Hey, it is what it is.
mb
Wafer Nadine, right after reading your post I read the NPR article you referenced. It was the most asinine piece of trash I've ever read. We have now gotten to the point where it is impossible to have a conversation on any topic. We can't read certain books, look at certain photos, watch certain movies. . .the list is endless. I know some folks on this blog have issues with Bill Maher, but on the damage woke is causing he is 100% correct.
ReplyDeleteStay safe all.
Arthur-
ReplyDeleteYr timing was perfect re: my discussion of Berlin. Recall a recent clip, of a bubba rally, with one member of the audience asking when they wd be able to use their guns. Bubbas and wokes are in rabid, white-heat opposition; no dialogue is in the offing. To Wafers and Native Americans, both sides look equally scary. So where is it all leading? How will this nation divided against itself play out? It's a real question: How far away *is* the Boogaloo?
mb
Dr. B-
ReplyDeleteHere's Dr. Richard Wolff's column for today-
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/richard-wolff/98969/how-the-troubled-u-s-empire-could-quickly-fall-apart
Quote from article-
"Empire decline proceeds but remains widely denied or ignored as if it did not matter."
Birn-
ReplyDeleteThanks, a gd essay. I remain disturbed, however, as I've said b4, by the lack of refs to turkeys, buffoons, morons, and douchebags. Dick has one more layer to penetrate, and the 332 million clowns is it.
mb
Hello Wafers:
ReplyDeleteI'd say you have it backwards, Ziggy. WAFerism isn't being exported to the rest of the world; what's happening is more like Wafers are the first inside the USA to catch on to what the rest of the world has know for at least the last 50 years.
I've said it here before, but the US has been something of a joke to the rest of the world since at least the time of Nixon. As for what the USA offers the planet, Winnipeg's Burton Cummings pretty well wrapped it up in 1969 when he sang, "I don't need your war machine. I don't need your ghetto scene."
More USian chicken sandwich obsessions:
ReplyDeletehttps://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/great-steak-introduces-the-classic-chicken-sandwich-1030912424
https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/churchs-chicken-introduces-texas-cut-bacon-chicken-sandwich
https://news.yahoo.com/tried-panda-express-orange-chicken-111900859.html
If a UFO landed in the US empire, what the fck would they think of a populace so devoid of real meaning, that their foci was on nonsense such as...chicken sandwiches.
Having done some re-reading I see that my characterization of Lasch's thinking (I was going by memory) was generally accurate, but a bit hyperbolic. The words "confine" and "stratification" were a bit of a distortion. Anyway, a small, prophetic-sounding dose:
ReplyDelete"In the name of egalitarianism they preserve the most insidious form of elitism, which in one guise or another holds the masses incapable of intellectual exertion. The whole problem of American education comes down to this: in American society almost everyone identifies intellectual excellence with elitism. This attitude not only guarantees the monoplication of advantages by the few, it lowers the quality of elite education itself and threatens to bring about a reign of universal ignorance." (145; Norton paperback edition)
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/38212112
Re: Nadine's NPR article, just looking at the picture of the author (and his credentials) tells you all you need to know.
ReplyDelete====================
@Arthur: "We have now gotten to the point where it is impossible to have a conversation on any topic.". Very true. I was reading the comments on reddit on a thread about a humorous tweet made by John Cleese, and one of the top liked comments was: "BUT HE'S A TRANSPHOBE!". Granted, reddit comment sections are usually cesspools but you can't even laugh at a joke - much less discuss serious topics - in this shockingly stupid climate anymore.
Dr. Shit-
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you my vision. Aliens land, look around, and they see every single American walking around, pants down, w/a chicken sandwich dangling out of their ass. W/where America is today, culturally speaking, we might as well do that.
mb
"Just stick to the usual patriotic nonsense. None of your trouble
ReplyDeletemaking is allowed. Don't forget who gives us tax dollars." U of F
knows how to play the game.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/university-florida-blocks-professors-testifying-170200073.html
Rollo-
ReplyDeleteUp to now you have thought about how degraded Americans are. This is gd. But I have a homework assignment 4u: I want you to switch to considering how debased they are, and report back to us. Thank you.
mb
Vile. And proud of it.
ReplyDeleteThat's the American character all over. And here's the mascot for 'The American Dream' acting like the overfed pig he is for 27 minutes.
I'm no fan of NPR, but I remember when this aired and feeling an overwhelming sense of embarrassment (and pity) for Gene. It makes total sense that a complete degenerate like this managed to get everything he wanted out of America, but still has a hole in his soul the size of the Grand Canyon.
https://youtu.be/qNxuL-uIaTo
Don't tell me we're going to fight the Dreyfus Affair all over again...Who cd be sicker than the French Right?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/global/2021/oct/30/rise-of-far-right-puts-dreyfus-affair-into-spotlight-in-french-election-race
Meanwhile, back home:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx7VnKMZew4
Dr. Berman,
ReplyDeleteI need to thank you for creating this blog. It's helped me and many other people understand the roots of America's ongoing decline and connect with other people who know the American way of life is toxic and destructive. It's also been tons of fun sharing videos of Karens and other Americans making fools out themselves.
Everyone, check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXRdjowIhS0
What do you do if you're American and see someone parked in your driveway, looking up directions? You kill him, of course.
Our potty mouth Karens come in all ages, young and old. Here’s a grandma Karen.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKo7is5bze4
Our Karens try to act tough by taking out their anger on windows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phHi1esoEaE
But the usual “bald-headed, ‘tough guy’ ” Darrens actually get their anger handed to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6L2RdUVRfM
p.s. Doctor,
Unfortunately the video of your most famous Karen, the one who dropped her panties and peed on a floor because she refused to wear a mask, never was released. It actually happened at a Verizon wireless store. Here is the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb1OuBbOPXg
But other real life disgusting Karens do indeed choose to relieve themselves out in the open for all to see when they’re angry about something. LOL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F4IyUjbXeY
Ya gotta love it! LOL!
Nadine-
ReplyDeleteYr welcome. I didn't actually think I'd enjoy it, 15.5 yrs ago, but in fact it's been a lot of fun. Watching Americans kill themselves over nothing: what cd be more entertaining? Yr in my driveway? This is America, so I kill you. You tell me to wear a mask? I kill you. You look at me cross eyed? I kill you. Etc. It's a case of macrocosm/microcosm, the citizens reflecting what the nation is doing at large. We want to destroy Vietnam? Let's make up a phony Gulf of Tonkin incident. We want to destroy Iraq? Let's pretend that it was Iraqis (not Saudis) who were flying those planes on 9/11. Too bad...now we're up against China. Oops!
mb
Dr. Berman mentions Americans and debasement. Here's one case I saw years ago and still can't get over. It's a prank on the Jamie Kennedy Experiment (a hilarious hidden camera show). The setup for this clip is this: Jamie plays a Saudi prince in the US who wants to recruit comedians for his club, so he's attending the performance of a comedian (the prank subject, the only one not in on it) to evaluate him. The comedian does his routine, the prince is not amused. And then you see the comedian going through hoops to please him and get the gig. The comedian went to any length to do that, including washing the fake prince's feet and even KISSING them. Talk about debasement. And for what? Possible material gain. Lost his dignity for that. Here's the clip.
ReplyDelete===============
@B. Louis: I remember that Gene Simmons clip. Gene is one of the grossest, slimiest people alive. You can see his sleaze oozing there. And in this clip where he's bullshitting as usual and Paul Stanley calls him out on it. The weird thing is that he never drinks or does drugs. Or maybe that should count against him: he's a scumbag with all faculties intact. Oh and he "leaked" his sex tape for a few more scraps of relevance. At least Kim Kardashian had the courtesy of being hot.
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteIn a yr and a wk, we will have the midterm elections. What are we likely to expect?
1st, the GOP knows what it wants: to block all of Biden's plans and agendas; to retake Congress; and to pave the way for Trumpola in 2024. This is perfectly coherent, and eminently do-able.
What do the Dems want? Fuck if I know, and fuck if they know. Maybe: remove all offensive statues; remove all offensive language; and make sure everyone is politically correct. Cosmetic changes, in short. Otherwise, they are at odds w/each other, and have no clear idea of what direction the country shd go in. As a result, my prediction is that they will be
CRUSHED LIKE ROACHES
It won't be a pretty sight, but I think it may be a very entertaining one. The only thing that can save them at this pt is distributing free chicken sandwiches to the electorate (whether orally or rectally I leave up to them).(You guys know what I favor.)
mb
Americans have been bystanders since July 4, 1776.
ReplyDeleteThe Trail of Tears. Wounded Knee. More than 4,000 lynchings. The impoverishment of Appalachia. The Rust Belt. Pollution. Mountaintop removal. Cancer Alley. The shrinking Amazon rainforest. Loss of biodiversity. A dangerously warming planet.
With the latter, not only have Americans been bystanders, they have increasingly become consciously proud, active participants. Those profiting from animal agriculture and tourism couldn't be happier.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1175147/lynching-by-race-state-and-race/
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/ronaldeller/fixing-appalachia-is-the-first-step-to-fixing-america
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaintop_removal_mining
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1231602
Just for fun, someone told me about a meeting of the Vassar Student Association where someone was complaining about a band poster up on campus that included a Hammer and Sickle symbol. Imagine taking something like this to a large campus-wide group. Whaaah, Mommy!!! What a sad synopsis...
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/themiscnews/status/1454883286413717511 ff...
Student concern: On Wednesday there was a student band poster on campus that had a hammer and a sickle, it's not about the poster, which was taken down, it was replaced... But the thing is, there are people in the Vassar community who are willing to say things like “genocide was a mistake” under the Soviet Union. And I think there needs to be a statement made by the VSA in regards to the hammer and sickle... because there are people who don’t know the meaning and that it’s a hate symbol... The fact that it is a hate symbol, the fact that it is a lie. I'm not saying we need to criticize the community. I just think there needs to be awareness... people are not going to look at the entire picture... The band posted it. They said they were "commies," but were unaware of the meaning of the symbol...
VSA: We don't monitor posters for non-recognized organizations. They're not recognized by the VSA. The VSA is not meant to address that... They are an off-campus band with off-campus performances. To address that would be a little difficult.
"That's it, man! Where's my gun?" It would be ironic if secret
ReplyDeleteRussia propaganda has influenced the crazies in the GOP fascist
wing.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/alarming-finding-30-percent-republicans-203355434.html
Art-
ReplyDeleteI keep begging the Pentagon to issue guns to everyone. Maybe now they'll listen.
mb
MB asked about the midterm elections. For those and just about any election coming in the next 3-4-5 years I am expecting a big backlash against the politicos who enacted tough covid lockdowns. I bet, Ardern in NZ, everyone in Australia, some in EU, and many in the US are going to get voted out.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your latest post, Dr. Berman, it seems like everyone in the news media is starting to understand the seriousness of position we find ourselves in. Here's Brian Stelter with what CNN is calling an 'ominous prediction':
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/-owgn2gkaf4
Of course, Stelter is correct. 2024 is the year that America will officially become politically dysfunctional (by international standards). That will leave us 6 years to fulfill your prediction of a complete meltdown by 2030.
Sometimes I do feel a tinge of sadness at all this. Then I remember how much dehumanization, theft, embarrassment and abandonment I've experienced living in this nightmarish country.
Digital archaeologists will stumble upon this blog one day, and it'll be the focus of intense discussion about the 'one island where reality was welcome in a sea of insanity'.
'degraded'='debased'-->click synonyms
ReplyDeletehttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debased#synonyms
No matter the synonym use, you still get to the same place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNghg1Y-WIc&t=70s
Louis-
ReplyDeleteCold comfort, inasmuch as I'll be pushing up daisies; but I suppose it's something. All modesty aside, this is the only blog worth a damn. As for predictions: handwriting is on the wall.
Knish-
Pure opinion, no; evidence, yes. Tu comprends?
mb
Wafers-
ReplyDeleteI may have deleted someone by accident. If so, pls write in again. Sorry.
mb
I wonder what Xmas will be like!:
ReplyDeletehttps://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/01/us/mass-shootings-halloween-weekend/index.html
Check it out:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/01/bookshops-thrive-as-france-moves-to-protect-sellers-from-amazon
Meanwhile: COP in Glasgow: getting serious, or just more beating off? Whaddyu think?
mb
Happy new week, Wafers. Since USAins always are in a hurry and on the move, let’s take a look at some more road rage incidents last week in which they were involved. Because of their competitive mindset, all in the name of “hustling”, as our good Doctor so accurately describes their raison d’etre, leisure is a verboten way of life for USAins here in this pathetic wasteland. Therefore, anger and rage are endemic here in the U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.! And what better way to witness it than to see them take out their anger and violence inside their metal chariot machines.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/10/28/woman-shot-killed-in-reported-road-rage-incident-in-southwest-houston-police-say/
https://www.lex18.com/news/crime/lexington-police-looking-for-driver-involved-in-friday-afternoon-road-rage-incident-on-versailles-road
https://abc13.com/houston-crime-road-rage-shooting-1-year-old-grazed-by-bullet-dad-shot-multiple-times/11186905/
https://www.pasadenanow.com/main/road-rage-incident-leads-to-shooting-victim-injured-by-shattered-windshield-glass
Good news for us declinists, if a bit unsettling:
ReplyDeleteAlmost a third of Republicans believe violence may be necessary to “save” the US, according to a new poll.
Researchers at the Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, found that 30% of Republicans agreed with the statement “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country”.
Among Americans who believe the 2020 election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, which it was not, 39% believe violence may be required.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/01/republicans-violence-save-us-poll?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Orwellian barely covers it…
And, as a follow-on to GSWH’s item on the abuse of language as highlighted in a Bill Maher clip (“New Word Order”), this from the judge presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse case:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rittenhouse-judge-spotlight-after-disallowing-word-victims-courtroom-n1282559
The people Rittenhouse killed in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer cannot be described as “victims” Judge Bruce Schroeder tells the prosecutors. Too prejudicial?
MB, thought you might enjoy some of the F-You quotes from 98 year old billionaire / sociopath Charlie Munger here https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-charlie-munger-responds-to-architect-criticism-dorm-project-2021-11
ReplyDeleteI don't blame Munger here - he's just doing what those of his ilk do. But what about those UCSB admins. They are spending 1.5B on a prison/dorm and letting Munger dictate that it be something like a SuperMax for freshmen, all for a piddling 200M.
Talk about a return on investment for a sadist!
Joe, James, and Schmoe-
ReplyDeleteAnd when I tell people that America consists of degraded buffoons--they laugh!
mb
Hi Maury
ReplyDeleteIt’a pleasure for me to realize That since your short « passage » at my place in Québec City (1980) you are stil alive and well!
I Have tought of you Many Times since, asking to myself Where you could be and what you should do.
A short glimpse on internet gave me a little idea on the subject…
If you read this message send me a short e mail at jppiche@megaquebec.net
Jean-Pierre
According to this, cancel culture is simply the "sensibilities" of today's young and is "not a political emergency":
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/opinion/generation-cancel-culture.amp.html
A "No Karen, you can't talk to the manager" sign was met with this:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/group-literal-karens-boycott-cafe-over-sign-using-their-name-insult-1641621%3famp=1
What I need to know is this: do Americans still believe in "progress"? Forget about support for the use of violence, and other supposed signs of the health of our civilization. Where's the polling data on belief in "progress"? Charles Eisenstein says that we're not so sure anymore in the West of our triumphalist trajectory of "progress":
https://youtu.be/Su9y8CDif_8
Jean-Pierre:
ReplyDeleteINCROYABLE! 40 ans plus tard! Je viens de t'ecrire, mon ami.
Jas-
W/o making a judgment on it, one way or the other, I can't imagine America extricating itself from the mess it's in w/o widespread, sustained violence. Not that that will solve anything; it may or may not. But I'm quite sure that brutal times lie ahead for us. I have been saying for at least a decade now that when a civilization (or empire) comes to an end, it's not pretty. 9 years to D-Day, I'm afraid.
mb
MB why would COP-out 26 be any different?
ReplyDelete"We’ve seen this act (COP) repeat over and over, ever since COP1 in Berlin in 1995, as each successive COP-ending-ceremony finds the Parties congratulating each other, slaps on the back, for one more successful climate conference of 20,000-30,000 able-bodied professionals wiped-out from overconsumption of Beluga caviar and Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, but subsequently carbon emissions increase the following year, and every following year thereafter. What’s to congratulate?
More to the point, the annualized CO2 emissions rate is +60% since COP1, not decreasing, not going down, not once. After 25 years of the same identical pattern, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the take-home-work from all 25 COPs mysteriously turns into the antithesis of the mission statement of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change."
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/11/20/expert-ipcc-reviewer-speaks-out/
more-
ReplyDeleteI thought what I was implying was obvious. All of these conferences, such as the fabled Paris agreement, pass resolutions w/no teeth--i.e. no enforcement mechanism. Thus they fall into the category of Beating Off. In the case of COP26, I would raise the category to Advanced Beating Off (ABO). These diplomats are so full of shit it makes one dizzy.
mb