440
Well, Wafers, our descent into fascism continues at its relentless pace. Every day one reads something online about the headway the GOP is making in this direction. A year from now, Biden will get creamed in the mid-term elections; two years later, Trumpi, with Tulsi Gabbard as his running mate, will hand him his ass on a platter. This blog will remain the only locale where truth is seen as something that has to be corroborated by evidence. Most Americans don't know what evidence is, however, so maybe that won't be any great loss. In the meantime, the Buffoon Index (BI) climbs higher and higher on a daily basis, while OB-GYN wards across the nation are cranking out future morons by the thousands. Myself, I can't help it: from a certain angle, this is a load of fun. Hee hee.
posted by Morris Berman at 2:04 PM
195 Comments:
Anon-
Sorry, I don't post Anons or Unknowns. In order to participate you need a real handle. For example, Sidney J. Limpmember, DDS.
mb
Herman-
Sorry, cdn't run it. You provided no links or references, and here on this blog, we're big on evidence. Try again?
mb
Elementary school 2021: my sister, a career employee in the largest school district in Colorado Springs tells me teachers are handing out tape so the kids can keep their mask in place. I tell ya if I were a parent I'd be damn pissed off- anyone who knows anything understand Super Glue is the only adhesive that works. Probably too expensive...
Gunnar-
Tell yr sister that the best way is to suture the mask to the kid's face (while saying the Pledge of Allegiance).
mb
It appears that it is time to move this franchise onto the stock
market. A franchise appealing to the stupid will have continuing
increasing stock value; this website should get a broker's license
to cash into the boom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O9FFrLpinQ
Wafers-
Besides amassing guns, here's what the rt is busy doing:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2021/nov/12/gerrymander-redistricting-map-republicans-democrats-visual
What are the wokes and the progs doing, in the meantime? Yes, folks, you guessed it:
BEATING OFF
What more is there to say?
mb
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Elsd1pKvcY&t=5s
Because of headlines like these, I wonder if America's future looks something like this:
It's 2030 in the American Empire of Jesus Christ. Human rights are earned by giving millions to the military and other "Christian causes", and social services are illegal. There are no economic or environmental regulations. Nearly everyone lives hand-to-mouth, ravaged by disease, starvation and pollution. However, the government gives everyone free cell phones upon request.
The Republican Party is now the Party of Jesus Christ. Not being a member of this party is a capital crime. Instead of holding elections, Republican candidates compete with each other, torturing and murdering as many "heathens" and "traitors" as possible while being filmed by "Christians". The winners are sworn into office and lavished with prizes while "Christians" upload the videos to Youtube.
Unknown-
Sorry, I don't post Unknowns. You need a real handle to participate. Thank you.
Nadine-
Sounds gd. Meanwhile, there's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5HZZFkvW4w
mb
Are you familiar with Reddit, Mr. Berman?
There's a subreddit called '/r/iwantout' that caters to people who want to emigrate to a different country. The majority of posters is comprised of young 20-30 something Americans planning to abscond this vile land. They are the intelligent minority that see the writing on the wall.
In the next five to ten years, most of the critical thinkers will have dwindled down to next to nothing and the Idiocracy will certainly intensify.
I'm following suit and am planning my escape as well. One's sanity, even soul, depends on it.
As discussed this week on our Australian ABC public television show “Planet America,” the US murder rate last year “rose 30%”. This weekly show about American current affairs is popular with Australians as well as American permanent residents here, because its reporting is fact-based, but as the name implies, the American decline, is now starting to look like another planet to us. This week’s show cited the gruesome 30% rise in the murder rate as published by the Pew Research Centre; “What we know about the increase in U.S. murders in 2020” (27/10/2021) It is the largest single-year increase in more than a century, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The findings align with a separate tabulation of the nation’s murder rate published in September by the FBI. These are on-line at: ”https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/10/27/what-we-know-about-the-increase-in-u-s-murders-in-2020”
”https://www.npr.org/2021/09/27/1040904770/fbi-data-murder-increase-2020”
With regard to escapes, stories like this, these days, has confirmed it was a good decision I made years ago after reading your “Twilight” book to move from the America like you and others have. Is this latest news a sign that the American decline has shifted into high gear MB? Is there any chance of you having another working holiday as a visiting academic to give some Australian Uni-lectures about your publications? --Herman
Herman-
I'd love to return, but sadly, no one down Oz way has tendered an invitation. But congratulations on yr move; if only the Twilight bk had that impact on every American!
mb
Keeping an eye on Evergreen College in Olympia, WA:
Evergreen has released its new course offerings in economics for the 2021-2022 school year as its enrollment has shrunk to 2,000. Among the selections:
Changemaker Lab: Business Fundamentals, Team Entrepreneurship and Systems Theory”, where students “learn the skills you need to start and run your own business or become a trusted adviser in organizational settings.”
“Carrying Home: Latinx Worlds, Culture and Public Health”, incorporating “Greener Foundations”, Evergreen’s 2-quarter “student-success course.”
“Business Creation: Social Media and Product Design”, where students “develop a new business from the ground up by applying design thinking and other innovational frameworks.”
All that’s missing is a guest lecture series on Tulsism by Tulsi Gabbard with a title like “Defending Parental Rights and a Culture of Respect While Building A Resilient American Economy.”
The circle of life.
https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71b3210b-7ad1-40a2-af61-24e02ea35ae3_845x768.jpeg
Neglected to provide the Evergreen link:
www.evergreen.edu/studies/economics
Jack-
In addition to my 5-vol. study, "Cornerstones of the Tulsaic Philosophy," soon to appear (comes w/a workout tape), I am now engaged in a 2-vol. work for the masses:
Vol. 1: Tulsism for Dummies
Vol. 2: Dummies for Tulsism
I can already hear the cash register going Ka-chink!
As for Evergreen: what abt "Beating Off: How to be a mainstream woke practitioner."
mb
Perhaps the USA will become less able to export violence to the rest of us?
https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/monopolies-slowly-destroying-the
Dr. B-
Here's a 2-minute video featuring the Trump-backed candidate for the seat of the retiring US Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania-
https://www.facebook.com/TheFOXNation/videos/2573358342899480/
(For some reason, I had to unmute the sound in the video player; after I did, I almost wished I hadn't...)
Some believe that the Trump endorsement may not guarantee his victory, however-
https://news.yahoo.com/biggest-free-fall-ever-custody-130000305.html
Birn-
Link did not correspond to Toomey etc.
yeah-
US will not be able to act like a violent, imperial power after it collapses. Secession will also put a brake on the whole show.
An idea for a Wafer T-shirt:
Front: KARMA IS STALKING AMERICA
Back: ECPYROSIS
mb
Not sure if this has already been posted but here's more evidence of the decline.
Banning books and book burning suggested.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/10/i-think-we-should-throw-those-books-fire-movement-builds-right-target-books/
I'm glad you and Wafers are documenting this collapse so well. A dose of honesty in the sea of bullshit out there.
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZjyjM1y3xs
It's hard to believe, but Stacey Abrams, a Democrat from Georgia, wiped out 212 million in medical debt for 108,000 people. Like Biden and other progs, she wants another New Deal, and doesn't realize very few Americans share her desire. I can't help but feel sorry for progs, because they're wasting their lives trying to save a doomed and worthless nation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3l6M_4dLEc
Biden's approval rating is at an all-time low. Clearly, many Democrats have had enough of his prog agenda and have switched sides. According to the latest polls, most swing states will vote Republican in 2022. It looks like Trump will win in 2024 and the boogaloo will begin.
You have to admire how fucked up America is. Biden's agenda isn't all that liberal, but most Americans think he's a Communist and want him dead. They're like rabid dogs foaming at the mouth and killing many sheep while their brains turn to shit.
If there is no poverty, who is going to buy Rolex watches?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co4FES0ehyI
Another potential Wafer T-Shirt:
Front: Americans are clueless douche-bags
Back: We're number #1
Well, our Karens obviously often aren’t happy with their food, much like this “nurse” Karen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwe3mFcbzkw
But they enjoy “cleaning out” stores and like doing like chest bumps with folks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfNEDk_JhlE
Our Karens. WE LOVE THEM!
p.s. To Wafer Nadine what also may be occurring in 2030: Don the Con Trump, after easily winning reelection in 2028, now is campaigning for his third presidential term. That’s because the Republican majority-controlled Senate & House, after easily having grabbed it in the 2022 midterm elections, passed the new “President for Life” law in 2025 after Don won back the presidency the previous year. And to further stick it to the atheistic liberals, “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood has replaced “The Star Spangled Banner” as the national anthem. The anthem is played daily every top of the hour on Fox News; and it automatically plays uninterrupted on everyone’s smart phone the moment each one is turned on.
Nadine-
I'm guessing the Boogaloo will begin only if Trumpi *loses* in 2024. He'll claim the election was rigged, the bubbas will go nuts, and we'll be off and running.
Krak-
Yes, discussed in previous thread, along w/quote from Heinrich Heine.
Dr. Shit-
Front: AMERICANS ARE A JOKE
Back: HA HA
mb
I believe it is eMpyrosis from 6:35 p.m. comment.
http://www.wordnik.com/words/empyrosis
That said, the days of authentic Jewish delis may come to an end
with remarks like this lunatic. "In God We Trust " is on the money,
so who can contest his edict?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/former-trump-national-security-adviser-054202675.html
Chuck-
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4181651
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekpyrosis
mb
ps: As far as Michael Flynn goes, he needs to have a chicken sandwich vigorously rammed up his ass (sans lubricant).
And the winner at Cop26 is… the fossil fuel industry
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2021/nov/13/and-the-winner-at-cop26-is-the-fossil-fuel-industry-cartoon
Pak-
Oh I'm so shocked! How cd this be?
mb
What is the gov't doing in response to all this? Check out the last para of this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/14/trump-president-2024-election-coup-republicans
Yes, you got it: massaging their organs!
Japan's former princess Mako leaves for New York after giving up title
Honestly feel sorry for her. Having read Neurotic Beauty and seen that Japanese life can be viciously materialistic and excruciatingly hollow, what is she hoping to find in an even more nightmarish pit of hell like this? Soul-cleansing enlightenment driven by her wide-eyed love fantasy? Hope she wakes up from both delusions.
====================
Questions to Dr. Berman and the Wafers: I was having a discussion with someone and he said something that really interested me: that black American culture is the only true American culture, i.e. the only culture to spring entirely from within America without heavy influence from their home countries or ethnic origins. Native American culture predates the US of course. Italian/Irish/Jewish/Chinese/Arab etc. cultures in America are also an extension of other countries or earlier peoples, nothing entirely born in the US. Does anyone know any good books about this?
Now or Never-
Sorry, we have a half-pg-max limit on this blog. You might edit yr post down to half a pg, or else send it in in 2 installments, 24 hrs apart.
mb
Nadine - Your comment about the Party of Jesus Christ reminded me of Flannery O'Connor's first novel, Wise Blood. The protagonist, Hazel Motes, starts a church called "The Holy Church of Christ without Christ", as absurd and pointless as a political party adapting the name to a right-wing, violent, tyrannical movement. Motes eventually blinded himself. May the Party of Jesus Christ do the same.
Cherith-
I don't have specific academic books to recommend on this topic of Black culture, etc. It is a constant undercurrent in Malcolm X's biography with Alex Haley. And James Baldwin circled this issue constantly. Hopefully others here have better specific recommendations.
The lack of an origin permeates the letter the escaped slave George Harris in Uncle Tom's Cabin writes to friend from France when he rejects any return to the US. End of page 299 forward-
http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/uncletom/utfihbsa43t.html
I will point you to a Youtube video, "Let's talk about what it's like to be a black person in the US...." The guy is very thoughtful and worth listening to all the way through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD8mWq0Hdcw
down-
Also made into a movie:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wise_Blood_(film)
mb
The film version of “Wise Blood” is excellent - the great John Huston.
Hmm...
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/14/us/howard-university-protests-dorm-conditions/index.html
https://www.joplinglobe.com/opinion/columns/larry-elder-black-lives-matter-co-founder-cashes-in-on-systemic-racism/article_4be64fe2-9e10-11eb-a33e-2ba5a1aca3bb.html
Marilyn Manson really was/is the perfect product of American society. Childish. Repulsive. Addicted to fame. Abusive (if recent reports are true).
It's probably why he was able to put a mirror up and critique this shithole with most brutally honest pop-art in the late 90s. Not many pop stars saw the political transition we were in, but he certainly did.
Lyrics:
The horrible people, the horrible people
It's all anatomic as the size of your steeple
Capitalism has made it this way
Old-fashioned fascism will take it away
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beautiful_People_(song)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip7NlUJ3Gvo
Bari Weiss, Bret Weinstein, David Mamet, Heather Heying, Larry Summers (!) and many others have founded the University of Austin, which the commentator rightly labels a "grift of historic proportions". It isn't accredited and doesn't even offer degrees, but it does offer "forbidden courses" that raise "provocative questions", which is just a comically grandiose way of saying it's peddling far-right ideas other colleges find distasteful. Glenn Beck and other far-right lunatics are promoting this "college", which is finally offering classes after amassing donations for quite some time.
I expect the University of Austin to become a colossal franchise after the boogaloo, assuming college education remains legal. If this happens, I also expect Bret Weinstein to become president of this festering shit pile, amass tens of millions of dollars and eventually become the Secretary of Education of the American Empire of Jesus Christ. He will have finally completed his transformation from benevolent professor to Joseph Goebbels.
Nadine-
Nuts. Mamet is such a great playwright.
Louis-
Not clear who 'he' is.
mb
What was the name, Doctor, of that old fictional TV western show? “Have Gun Will Travel”? Well, it certainly is non fiction today. The only difference is that the gun travels inside of a car. Check out the mug shot of this modern day Paladin taken in Arizona. He actually looks slightly like Richard Boone:
https://www.azfamily.com/news/shooting-in-chandler-leaves-person-in-hospital/article_af65eee0-44d9-11ec-a58e-474eb82f49bf.html
Here’s another wild west shooting, up a little north in Colorado:
https://gazette.com/news/crime/woman-killed-in-road-rage-incident-near-colorado-springs-mall-was-giving-and-adventurous/article_cb673732-431e-11ec-9623-376ee4924e38.html
But the guns also travel east:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/state-police-nab-man-road-152850873.html
And south:
https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2021/11/26-year-old-charged-in-vestavia-hills-road-rage-shooting.html
p.s. Maybe some other Wafers can add some new lyrics to this theme song that are apropos to our many daily deadly road rage incidents. I’ll start if off:
“With guns they travel in their cars each day,
American anger involved in road rage”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgvxu8QY01s
For those weak of mind, believing in the dream, and having total
confidence in America's future, you could offer an on-line course
showing them how wrong they are so they would not waste their money
on some nonsensical promise of financial bliss. Just ask for $4.99
for a ten-minute course. The spirit of P. T. Barnum lives on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Gpr7PEnbs
Hello Wafers,
Not only is the emperor not wearing any clothes, the emperor also needs a bath, shave, and is in dire need of a haircut:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/16MQVQT2aaif/
https://www.bitchute.com/video/IQgeqKNRZctB/
And my favorite:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/D0cDGu00yWoG/
Hope you all are stocking up on food & water, especially in the good ol' USA!
Joe-
My favorite episode of that show was when Paladin thinks he's dying, and he says the following:
"I die now."--Cervantes, Don Quixote, Epilogue.
You guys all know how I love footnotes and references. Here our hero, as he winks out, respects this rule, and cites his source. My kinda guy.
mb
A skeptical take on post-Paine secularism in the US - secularism has fared much better in the UK https://newrepublic.com/article/164247/failure-american-secularism
Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” would not have surprised Plato.
https://daily.jstor.org/how-plato-anticipated-bob-dylan/
Just put on his "New Morning" album. What a genius.
America’s poster child:
https://apple.news/AFgxq6LPbQpmjbfUpKDM0Cw
Clearing the way for Empire of Jesus Christ:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/bruce-schroeder-kyle-rittenhouse-judge-phone-b1955443.html
https://www.bookforum.com/print/2104/how-morris-berman-became-a-prophet-without-honor-13917
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/america-the-material/
http://georgescialabba.net/mtgs/2007/07/dark-ages-america-the-final-ph.html
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/the-benedict-option-secularist/
Kakatuni proved Dr. Berman's points. USians cannot have, nor are capable of having a meaningful dialogue; rather, it's 'knee-jerk' reactions and slogans to promote myths and hide their cognitive dissonance.
Glans-
And then she goes and writes a bk called "The Assault on the Truth"--!
mb
Looking forward to this:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/15/unstuck-in-time-the-kurt-vonnegut-documentary-40-years-in-the-making
John Gray: "If Thatcherites wanted to entrench and extend the free market they would have been better off backing Remain."
https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2021/11/behind-boris-johnsons-masks
This is inherently true!
I like reading about what's happening over here on this side of the pond and comparing it with the States using this blog!
I often enjoy reading Andrew Bacevich. Here's his final paragraph from a recent article:
With the passage of time, Carter’s challenge to define true freedom has become more urgent. Time is short and global disaster looming. Yet arriving at a clearer understanding of what true freedom should entail will require more than simmering. To repurpose a phrase from an earlier era, “burn, baby, burn” may be the order of the day. At least metaphorically, identifying an antidote to our own malaise might begin not with reducing the heat, but turning it up.
https://tomdispatch.com/the-last-progressive/
Kev-
You need to split yr post in two. Send 1st half now, and 2nd half 24 hrs later. Thank you.
Dylan-
1st, be aware that this is the only blog worth reading. All the rest have an axe to grind, and are basically full of hot prunes. This blog, which is the hottest thing since tinned pilchards, has only one goal: Reality. Reality whether it makes us happy or miserable, whether it favors the progs or the bubbas. But the bottom line--Reality, end of story.
2nd, What *is* happening in the UK? From the Atlantic side of the pond, it looks like a gigantic mess. Bojo seems to have no idea as to what he is doing or why; he seems to have his head wedged firmly up his arse. He comes across as a daft wanker. Is this assessment correct?
As far as America is concerned, half the country is arming itself in preparation for the Boogaloo, and the other half is wanking, doing shit like editing Mark Twain so his novels don't offend modern 'diverse' sensibilities. If there's a single word that summarizes the current situation over here, it would be 'surreal'.
Pastrami-
Gd news. It was Vonnegut who said, many yrs ago, "There's a shit storm coming." Boy was he right.
mb
Dr. Berman - Sorry, I don’t know how to ‘retrieve’ my (too long) post. Please advise.
MB,
https://www.villagevoice.com/2008/03/11/david-mamet-why-i-am-no-longer-a-brain-dead-liberal/
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-mamet-on-trump-the-harvey-weinstein-scandal-and-his-new-novel-chicago-kq7gmcnf9
https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2020/01/23/david-mamet-trump-is-a-great-president-liberal-reaction-has-been-psychotic/?fbclid=IwAR2LBQ-tpYRlJFs_TbYGlzY28zsXUgcirH_7ZAa62Q2yElW0go_W9BIgNmM
David Mamet became a conservative during Bush Jr.'s presidency, and a full-fledged bubba during Trump's presidency. His worship of the Founding Fathers and their "biblical" values suggests he likes Christian fascism despite being Jewish.
I'm starting to think literally all Americans, sans Wafers and Native Americans, will become bubbas by 2030. Even though they'll think and believe as one, I reckon they'll be rabid with bloodlust, and will gun "heathens" and "traitors" down like dogs until their nation is no more. I can only hope Wafers and Native Americans somehow survive and found the Sitting Bull Federation you mentioned.
Kev-
Wish I knew. In future, be very cautious abt length of yr posts. But you cd also write the post out in a Word doc, save it, then copy it onto the blog, just in case you might need it.
mb
Ho Hum (Yawn City)-
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/15/us/colorado-teenagers-shooting/index.html
Then there's this (annals of Advanced Beating Off):
https://jaunenglish.com/2021/11/16/opinion-the-absurd-side-of-the-social-justice-industry/
Ah yes. What better place for a drive-by shooting than a park near a high school. I know, Doctor, that you already linked the story from CNN. I like how in that article the police chief Vanessa Wilson said, "I think enough is enough. And I think we need to come together as a community, " Wilson said. "This is a public health crisis." A public health crisis? Yeah, Vanessa. Maybe folks in this violent dystopia are sick in the head. I happened to get a good laugh at the respective clipping I read from a different news source (AP) quoting her: ““There is a violence crisis across the nation right now, and so I think we all need to pay attention.” Wow! You don’t say, Vanessa! You’re pretty late to the party, Vanessa. By about a few decades.
https://apnews.com/article/denver-aurora-shootings-6b4d44650a4186a501e65bc9b8601d22
High school homecoming parties also are good venues for a nice mass shooting:
https://www.houmatoday.com/story/news/2021/11/15/houma-party-shooting-leaves-four-injured/8625656002/
But your average mundane ambulatory shooting often happens in a run-of-the-mill, banausic industrial building here in our great U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!:
https://whdh.com/news/authorities-alleged-suspect-dead-victim-hospitalized-following-salem-shooting/
What a pathetic ugly violent country this is. But according to, not only our many conservative “patriots” out there, but actually most USAins, we’re the greatest country in the world. Maybe USAins think this way from infancy is because, as our good Doctor once said in an interview, “the brainwashing that goes on in this country is so powerful.” SMH.
Joe-
Clearly, we are going to come together as a community. That is certainly going to happen.
mb
John Gray reviews How to Be Animal: A New History of What It Means to Be Human by Melanie Challenger in The New York Review:
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2021/12/02/the-minds-body-problem/
Very interesting, for the John Gray fans here!
"Very alert, present and at peace”— Plum Village shares Thich Nhat Hanh 95th birthday update
https://www.lionsroar.com/very-alert-present-and-at-peace-plum-village-shares-thich-nhat-hanh-95th-birthday-update/
Ten Teachings by Thich Nhat Hanh for His 95th Birthday
https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/thich-nhat-hanh-95th-birthday/
When America Met Thich Nhat Hanh
https://tricycle.org/magazine/thich-nhat-hanh-america/
Updates for you MB on Thich's health on his 95th bd. He doesn't seem to have much time, but he's @ peace. Peace to Thich Nhat Hanh!
Leia-
Definitely one of my heroes, thank you. "Savor" is a gd bk to read while the country goes down the drain.
mb
A personal and critical work that celebrates the pleasure of books and reading.
Rachel Eisendrath
Gallery of Clouds
https://www.amazon.com/Gallery-Clouds-Rachel-Eisendrath/dp/1681375435/
Highly recommended for our blog's author.
Kafkaesque would b my one word choice MB, asking myself “am I a cockroach?” when I wake up happens *way* to frequently.
So Russia blows up a satellite and CNN airs crap about the “weaponization” of space as the next frontier. Gee I wonder who will lead that charge (Space Force), does Russia have one of them? Here’s what we should do - “watch this fuckers we’re gonna send up our most powerful hydrogen bomb and blow a fucking creator on the moon no one can ever forget.” The second mission should be to take all those 100 x 50 yard flags the nfl uses as a “salute to service” and cover said crater. That way for all time every time you look at moon the message is clear - don’t fuck with USA!
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/nov/15/us-investigating-debris-event-space-reports-russia-anti-satellite-weapon-test
https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_c48e07ef94c9b9be8c602a1cbf6f6695
No one ever asks the big question like “why would the universe want humans?” Maybe that’s why we are being selected for extinction.
During 2015–2018, 13.2% of adults used antidepressants in the past 30 days...
Overall, the percentage of adults who took antidepressants in the past 30 days was lower among
those with less than a high school (11.4%) or a high school (11.5%) education compared with
those who attended college (14.3%)...
A significant increasing trend was observed for women from 2009–2010 through 2017–2018 in
antidepressant use during the past 30 days (from 13.8% to 18.6%), but not for men (from 7.1% to 8.7%)...
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db377-H.pdf
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/donald-trump-2024-us-election-democrats-obsessing-steele-dossier-conspiracy-theory-1297910
Attention future digital archeologists:
When you come across this blog, please note that none of us here believe that America 'suddenly' took a dark turn for the worse with the election of Trump. We're merely documentarians taking notes.
Make no mistake, we've known for a long time that America is a mountain of fecal matter under a tarp marked '1st World Democracy'.
I submit as evidence the unhinged rant of a heavy drinker/heavy smoker foaming at the mouth in 2012 when Obama got re-elected. This was/is/forever will be...America:
https://youtu.be/wLoqti0lzAw
Dr. B: In the category of last words, always liked these from Socrates: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius; pay it and don’t forget."
Here they are, complete, with footnotes:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7834/phoenix.71.1-2.0089
It is time to place firearms into the stocking stuffers for your
children. How else can they be kept safe in school?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/6-teens-hospitalized-drive-shooting-003949375.html
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo9L2EG0cj4
Notice how the Qanon people in this church are using the same chant that one would find in sports games. (FYI, "Let's go Brandon!" is a phrase bubbas use that means "Fuck Biden!"). They don't know the difference between sports, politics and religion cause they're degraded and dumb as shit. This clip is surreal, and shows how insane America has become.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=870_y5dLfBQ
These two commentators (who also produced the first clip in this post) seem Waferish. At one point, the man on the right suggests America might be "so irredeemable that nothing you do has any impact" while the woman on the left agrees with him. I dunno how many of their viewers feel the same way, but it's nice to see people wake up and realize America's finished.
Nadine-
Until commentators start using words like 'douchebags' and 'buffoons', we really aren't getting anywhere, imo.
Chuck-
In terms of decline, the impt thing is that everyone gun everyone else down, like dogs, in the street.
Pete-
Here's Lytton Strachey: "If this is dying, I don't think much of it."
mb
Yet another miracle putting money in someone else's pocket by selling
salvation. Do these victims sense that they do not want to be like
other Americans destined to fail along with the rest of the country?
Do they seek to escape by absorbing some magical thinking that will
turn them into the rare successful exception to the general decline
of all the rest?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmLTLkCBSN8
Art-
Well, there's always Oprah. (gag)
mb
I was getting gasoline tonight when I got off work and someone asked a couple in a car the pump over for a dollar or two to buy something to eat. The couple gave him a little money and he said thank you. They told him no problem and when he turned his back and walked away about twenty feet they flipped him the bird. I thought about all you wafers here at that moment and how mean that was. If you did not want to help the guy then dont give him any money. Just politely decline. There was no reason to give it to him and act like that.
BH-
It also shows cowardice on their part. But pls note: always, always, capitalize Wafer. Thank you.
Wafers-
What wd a Trump victory in 2024 mean, in declinist terms?
1. He did a ton of damage during 2017-20; if he takes office in 2025, we can expect that he'll roll up his sleeves and get on w/the business of polishing America off. For starters, he will appoint gangsters and thugs to positions of power, such as cabinet posts.
2. The official US gov't line will become that the election of 2020 was a fraud, that Trumpi actually did win, and that he is being rightfully restored to the 'throne'.
3. Beyond that, it will also mean that truth in the US is a matter of fiat, of declaration; that it has no relationship to evidence. This will have huge consequences in terms of what is possible domestically, because it means complete authoritarian rule. (For example, the attackers of 6 Jan 2020 will be officially recognized as "heroes of democracy.") On the foreign relations front, it will make it very difficult for other countries to relate to us in a serious way.
4. Contributing to the decline will be the response of the progs. They will have learned abs. 0 from the whole event, and will keep on doing what they've been doing all along. Instead of trying to accumulate real power, they will edit the work of Mark Twain (et al.), and pursue a 'diversity' agenda.
Interesting times, my friends.
mb
Doctor,
There is plenty of gun action up here in our two very own “Twin Cities”, Newark and Manhattan.
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/11/16/newark-multiple-shootings/
https://pix11.com/news/local-news/manhattan/3-shot-in-midtown-manhattan-nypd-says/
p.s. To Wafer Gunnar: I disagree with flags being installed on a blown up moon crater. It certainly can be done; Grucci Fireworks where I live does similar things all the time with special effects. But if anything, there would be a permanent Geico sign put there for all of us to see during a full moon.
p.p.s. To Wafer Art Baker: I for one always get a kick out of Tony Robbins. After listening to this nonsensical grifter for 40 minutes, I always think to myself, “Just what the heck is this guy talking about?”
Do people really think that things will hold together until 2024? The stupid is turning truly bat-sh** crazy. That is a medical condition, by the way, not an insult. I think that the 2022 election season is going to be the real beginning of the final collapse, the 'World Trade Center pancaking building' stage. There is no opposition, only roaming gangs of ideologues on all sides. And those of us living in the beast without the financial resources to shield ourselves see it every day. The empty shelves, the stores cutting their hours, the constant road rage incidents, the fear of any interaction with strangers.
Enough ranting, here's an article about a drug store chain closing many stores in San Francisco.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/15/walgreens-closures-san-francisco-crime-debate
I lived near one in the Lower Haight for decades. When I first started going there, one cashier, Nadine, bugged me- took her time, talked with everybody, asked why they were buying this or that, told people how her back was doing. Just ring people up and let me get out!! Then I caught on- Nadine had worked that store for 20 years, lived in the area. Knew people and their kids and their problems. She was part of the glue that holds a community together. I relaxed. I got to know her myself. And when that store closed after a huge fire in the building, almost everybody you talked to wondered if Nadine would be back when they reopened (no, CVS bought it and Nadine was not hired). Death by small cuts, is it? A national chain store, of course, but people make it part of a community.
Dr. B:
Your prediction about 2024 is right on the mark. A GOP victory is certain because the GOP knows how to reach the average American voter, who is stupendously ignorant because of American education, which reformers (mostly Democrats) have turned into training for shoppers. You gotta love the irony.
https://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/06/96/10696.pdf
https://mtprof.msun.edu/Win1998/hirsch.html
Wafer,
Amazing stats on drug overdoses in the United States during the pandemic. Not surprisingly the overdose rate spiked significantly more in the U.S. than in other western nations. However, how many commentators in the U.S. will attribute this not just to the pandemic, but to how morally and culturally decrepit the country has become? My guess is none.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/11/17/overdose-deaths-pandemic-fentanyl/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Xair-
I don't think drug users are immoral; more likely, they are depressed and desperate, and can't see any way out of their situation (wh/is probably a correct perception). Where they can be faulted is for enthusiastically buying into the hustling society. If you opt for competition rather than cooperation, where do you think yr gonna wind up?
mb
Re: moral philosophy & intoxication, it's a deeper question. It could be reasoned that nobody is responsible for their moral decisions because of lack of information & circumstances. Good and evil exist, but people can't help themselves, because ultimately there's a deeper truth they don't understand. Depends on your presuppositions; a dualist (good vs evil; body v soul; existence v nothingness) would look at this different than an atheist or materialist. My view is that someone can be enlightened, but until they are, they are blind to the deeper truth. Saying someone is "responsible" can be a confusing term, it's more about not seeing ultimate truth & so not going beyond.
Drug use does show the amount of enlightenment within a culture, and in ours, there's near zero. Most people in America can't help themselves & they're blind & should be avoided. Being sober & chaste is something across nearly all true philosophical & moral systems.
https://www.spiritcrossing.com/morality-in-buddhism/
moral-
Chaste? Definitely not my cuppa tea. Nor my understanding of buddhism.
mb
From the movie American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally - a conversation between Goebbels and Sally. Goebbels talking about Americans: "Their capitalism has produced a handful of wealthy men and a nation of slaves who think they are free... and keep fantasizing that one day that could be them. They are too unintelligent to realize that the few pennies they are paid to break their backs will never them anything. A nation of imaginative, dreaming fools."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Traitor:_The_Trial_of_Axis_Sally
Fictional but accurate.
down-
Goebbels never said that. I wonder who did. Of course it's quite accurate; I esp. like the fact that it refers to Americans as fools, but again, douchebags or buffoons wd be better.
mb
Dr. B-
Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly" is in the news in Boston-
https://slippedisc.com/2021/11/boston-bans-madam-butterfly-pending-racist-review/
Here's an interesting comment from the comments section of the above-linked article:
https://slippedisc.com/2021/11/boston-bans-madam-butterfly-pending-racist-review/#comments/759837
And here's the entire press release from Boston Lyric Opera-
https://blo.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BLO-2111170-Butterfly-Process-PR.pdf
Birn-
Fucking hilarious! A perfect example of what the progs think is important, and why they will get their asses handed to them. This is ABO (Advanced Beating Off), for sure. Note the following comment:
"Imagine if these energies were invested in making opera instead of yakking about it." You see? Artists and creative people are interested in intercourse, while yakking progs just wanna beat off.
Then this comment has gotta be tongue-in-cheek:
"Madame Butterfly has always been an extremely dangerous opera and it needs to be made safer. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if opera goers were responsible for most of the recent violent attacks on Asians."
No amt of slapping, no amt of (Wafer) urine, is sufficient to get the 'wokes' to understand what real politics is abt. Wokes = Jokes.
Anyway, thanks for the ref. To quote Gore Vidal, "Stupidity excites me."
mb
Birney,
It's frightening what wokes are doing to the arts. They're trying to remake every masterpiece in the image of wokeness. They don't want any of the great geniuses of the past to express themselves, and tolerate only the woke narrative. They say they're being inclusive, but they could not be more exclusionary if they tried.
Besides, Madame Butterfly is a criticism of American imperialism and white supremacy! The protagonist of this opera is an Asian woman, and the villain is a white American male. This butchery of Madame Butterfly obviously has nothing to do with the stated goals of the woke movement; it's about wielding power for its own sake.
Who cares abt opera, boooring.... USians care abt chicken sandwich market share dominance.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciakelso/2021/11/12/market-share-is-shifting-in-the-chicken-sandwich-category-after-popeyes-2019-20-dominance/?sh=68a26ce02f7
https://news.yahoo.com/burger-kings-beloved-italian-original-200321776.html
Finally, some 'good' US empire news--a boys life is saved from a chicken sandwich obstruction:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10213371/Good-Samaritan-saves-choking-boys-life-doing-Heimlich-maneuver-Wisconsin-restaurant.html
A short primer of what to expect if Trump returns to the White House
is found herein.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpCKkWMbmXU
Dr. Shit-
Heimlich wdn't have been nec if boy had used the sandwich as a suppository.
Cosmo-
This from the Comments section:
"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists."
~Hannah Arendt
mb
Doctor,
Ya gotta check this out! Rittenhouse for Congress one day perhaps! Ha!Ha!Ha! I for one have no words! LOL! What about you, Doctor? Ha!Ha!Ha!
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/matt-gaetz-says-s-open-hiring-kyle-rittenhouse-intern-rcna5972
https://www.newsweek.com/matt-gaetz-kyle-rittenhouse-intern-trial-1650606
Joe-
Part of my own declinist scenario is that after Rittenshit gets acquitted, he and numerous other thugs and vigilantes get selected to serve in the Trumpaloni administration. Not just a kleptocracy, but also a thugocracy!
mb
Wafers, I saw a Greenwald clip, it stimulated the Wafer in me, and so I must bring him in again:
So, he really has his grift up and running. Basically, he spends all his effort now in exposing "the Elites" in the liberal-democratic party/media establishment, in order to pander to his increasingly bubbim/bubbot (right spelling?) audience; he is feeding the bubbas a steady diet of red meat (abusing legitimate exposes) so that he can support their delusions and intra-pant volcanic eruptions about "The liberal-Democrats are the Elites and Trumps is the anti-elites!!!". Glenn needs a good slapping, what a buffoon and a joke he's degraded himself into.
"Greenwald is the greatest journalist of our times!"-- a friend of mine recently squawked at me.
Just spend 30 seconds looking through at the titles of Glenn's videos posted on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/GlennGreenwaldGG/featured
And a recent Tucker Moron appearance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dglQmOeBXG4
And making the dough:
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/glenn-greenwald-is-raking-it-in-at-substack
In America, even the smart folks are dumb dumb dumb. Shit, they really are dumbo!
Hello Wafers:
Yeah, get your knickers in a twist about the anti-Asian sentiments expressed in an opera but remain oblivious to the actual threats to Asians and Asia.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/10/08/anyone-whod-support-going-to-war-over-taiwan-is-a-crazy-idiot/
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/11/16/australian-war-propaganda-keeps-getting-crazier/
“The Bush and Obama administrations claimed that if we kept a nuclear weapons stockpile three or four times bigger than China, Beijing would be dissuaded from trying to match the US. How’s that working out?”
https://www.ft.com/content/d7c50283-18c8-4f2e-8731-970d9a547688?shareType=nongift
Kolesar-
Paywall, unfortunately. But Bush is a moron, and Obama is an ontological fool. America is simply unable to shift out of a Cold War paradigm. It's like telling an alcoholic to stop drinking, except that the addiction is psychological.
Brian-
He may jus' wanna be popular; who knows?
Meanwhile, I wd like to introduce you all to a phenomenon known as Buffoon Shock (BS). It only affects Wafers and Native Americans. Since the rest of the population are buffoons, they cannot be afflicted by BS. But BS occurs to the rest of us when we step back, and view the US in perspective, and realize that more than 99% of the population are buffoons. The truth of this puts us in a state of shock, at least for a while. When I suffer BS, I hafta lie down on my couch for half an hr to recover.
mb
The thugs are being recruited to defend the kleptocracy:
https://news.yahoo.com/man-shot-kyle-rittenhouse-accusing-193107617.html
Flab-
The more thugs, the faster the decline. Go, thugs!
mb
Hello Mr. Berman,
WWF style beating... why not just use guns instead of shoes lol ...
https://youtu.be/ySVS8Y00jJY
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10217005/Cops-investigate-brutal-attack-black-teenage-girls-filmed-beating-group-Asian-students.html
Dr. Berman, Xair,
Substance abuse is not a moral failing. It's the result of unresolved psychological trauma. I think that it's fair to say, imo, that anyone living in the US is subjected to traumatic abuse every damn day, hence the spike in abuse #s.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3051362/
"Exposure to traumatic experiences, especially those occurring in childhood, has been linked to substance use disorders (SUDs), including abuse and dependence. SUDs are also highly comorbid with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other mood-related psychopathology. Most studies examining the relationship between PTSD and SUDs have examined veteran populations or patients in substance treatment programs. The present study further examines this relationship between childhood trauma, substance use, and PTSD in a sample of urban primary care patients."
I don't know squat about buddhist ethics. I am aware there are strains within spiritual movements that say none of the physical stuff matters, so you get people doing the opposite of what all the big religions say today (i.e. do whatever you want, except creating babies). The more I read, the more I end up having to question my assumptions.
Moving right along, the new Graeber book is out, hope everyone is reading it.
https://www.democracynow.org/2021/11/18/david_wengrow_the_dawn_of_everything
moral-
OK, but not clear why you posted a link to buddhism, in that case. I'm also unclear as to yr assumptions.
Namaste-
Well, guns wd certainly have been more efficient, esp. if everyone involved was packing heat; wh/I keep trying to get the Pentagon to put into effect (=fools who won't listen to me). But the incident reveals an impt facet of the national decline: minority groups attacking each other, instead of their real oppressors. I suspect we'll see more of this as the decline gathers speed.
mb
I don' care what anybody says; these people are true Americans and I love them:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/18/us/covid-relief-fraud-scheme-cec/index.html
Go, thugs!
mb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMsX80Hwrvg
The Wyoming Republican Party has expelled Liz Cheney from the Republican Party for voting to censure Paul Gosar, another Republican who broadcast a cartoon of himself murdering Biden and AOC. This is sick beyond belief, and shows how vicious the Republican Party has become.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5gawj/trump-endorsing-candidates-who-could-help-steal-2024
Trump has endorsed many radical Republicans running for positions that involve counting votes. Clearly, the Republican Party wants total control over how votes are counted, and we all know what that means: every county they control will "vote Republican" from now until the end of time. The fascism America has imposed abroad is coming home to roost.
Hey Dr B, have you ever read Walden by Henry David Thoreau? I just finished it yesterday, & it's one of the books that gets me thinking about things. Great read
Jesus Christ, this is getting absurd.
A rapper named 'Young Dolph' was fatally shot in Memphis.
The site of his shooting became a memorial and within 24 hours, someone was shot at it.
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/local/man-shot-near-young-dolph-memorial-police-say/JTCDAZPPN5F3DK5RCTNH56DZSQ/
If you've ever been a proletarian, you'll know the stock phrase about
work, "fuck this shit!" It seems to have moved upward to a better
class of people. Is it possible that this blog could become a
motivation website to dissuade this bad attitude from spreading? Just
think of all the reasons you could give for these dissatisfied wage
slaves to keep plugging away at their mindless toil.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOphIpddRAk
What Thoreau can teach us about the Great Resignation
Henry David Thoreau was a thinker who challenged the very notion of traditional work
https://www.fastcompany.com/90695132/what-thoreau-can-teach-us-about-the-great-resignation
Finally some good news in today's crazy world:
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson's romance is officially on! New couple caught holding hands as mom-of-four rebounds from Kanye West with SNL lothario known for his naughty reputation
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10219285/Kim-Kardashian-Pete-Davidson-CONFIRM-relationship-hold-hands.html
Dan D-
Kim's ass strikes again! Meanwhile, if you wanna see the stupidest man in the world, check out Kanye. What a douchebag. All of this, of course, gets Americans focused on what's really impt, besides chicken sandwiches.
mb
Dr. Berman,
What do you think? Should the motto be : “Onward to Congress”? LOL!
I say “the” motto” and not “his” motto because it’s obvious this functionally illiterate high school dropout doofus doesn’t have the brains to think up one. But do you think he’ll make a good congressional intern for Matt Gaetz? Ha.Ha.Ha.
https://apnews.com/article/kyle-rittenhouse-business-wisconsin-homicide-kenosha-27f812ba532d65c044617483c915e4de
Hello Wafers:
Maybe your Suez Moment will be an inside job:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-verdict-rittenhouse-1.6253598
"Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of all charges after pleading self-defence in the deadly Kenosha, Wis., shootings that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice."
"Meet Peanut Butter and Jelly, the Thanksgiving turkeys that President Biden is ‘pardoning’"
Odd that they get a luxury suite at the Willard Hotel for a week.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/meet-peanut-butter-and-jelly-the-thanksgiving-turkeys-that-president-biden-is-pardoning-11637269920
I posted a link to buddhist ethics to give evidence that buddhists (at least some of them) hold chastity as a virtue. My assumptions are always changing, so it's hard to say. As a kid I assumed the Southern Baptist worldview to be true, then I assumed the atheist worldview to be true, then I assumed the technocratic worldview to be true, then I assumed the progressive worldview to be true, then I assumed the Roman Catholic worldview to be true. Now I'm somewhere that I've stopped assuming a worldview, and I'm learning wisdom from different groups.
Any advice for someone unmoored & looking for truth? I wonder if I've now read so many opposing viewpoints that it's impossible for me to join any group or really believe in any dogmas. Writings like these kind of scrambled my thinking:
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/valentinus.html
https://www.cathar.info/cathar_beliefs.htm#tenets
moral-
Buddhist priests can marry, so I think that settles that. Maybe you shd become a Cathar, altho I think they were wiped out during the Albigensian Crusade. Other than that, check out story #2 in my book "The Heart of the Matter"; might give you some ideas.
Turkey-
Nice that we celebrate the huge massacre of an indigenous population. Much to our credit, obviously.
mb
And if Rittenhouse had been black, can anyone guess what the verdict wd have been?
Yesterday, I enjoyed a Burger King Chicken Sandwich. I'm not sure where that product is in the league tables.
Moral
You could try any of the books by Richard Grossinger, especially his extraordinary Dark Pool of Light www.richardgrossinger.com
Or any of the books written by the very eclectic and humorous Jeffrey Kripal who is easily the best scholar of religion working in the US www.jeffreyjkripal.com
Or Zippy the Pinhead www.zippythepinhead.com
Or you could try Clem Kadiddlehopper
Dr. B-
Here's an essay from Nov. 17-
"From empire to regional communities,
Recalling the democratic vision of William Appleman Williams," by Mr. P. Mazza-
https://theraven.substack.com/p/from-empire-to-regional-communities
Birn-
Another one of my heroes.
Neil-
If you don't mind my asking, into which orifice was the sandwich inserted?
mb
Mr. Berman,
If Kyle Rottenshit was black, he would have been gunned down the moment he stepped out of house with AR15, lol…
Heres how US justice system works for whites and the rich ..
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/
https://www.revolt.tv/2021/11/19/22792321/judge-jail-inappropriate-man-four-teen-girls
“ A white man who pleaded guilty to raping and sexually abusing four teenage girls will not receive any jail time, a judge ruled. According to The Buffalo News, Judge Matthew J. Murphy III placed 20-year-old Christopher Belter on probation for eight years because he said a prison sentence for this case “would be inappropriate.”
Namaste-
Very gd essay in the Nation, showing that there are 2 systems of 'justice' in the US. The folks I feel bad for are the families of the two young men (Huber and Rosenbaum) who Rittenhouse murdered; how devastated they must feel. That being said, as a declinist I hafta point out that when a culture of vigilantism and gun violence is endorsed by the 'justice' system--even including the president--it serves to advance the rot in the nation, and to hasten its decline. Check this out:
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina) offers Kyle Rittenhouse “an internship,” says he isn’t guilty, and tells followers to also “be armed and dangerous."
What could be sicker? (Just wait and see.)
mb
A period piece from 1947 warning of the dangers of domestic fascism
in the good ol' USA. This Department of Defense (!!) film came out
while the study of the authoritarian personality began. One thinks
of Kenosha and what a good American must think about what is the
cause for all the troubles. "You have your foreigners, your colored,
your women, your homosexuals, your homeless, your Jews, and your
liberals. None of them can be taught American common sense, so
stronger measures are required." Civil War Part II coming to a
theater near you?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K6-cEAJZlE
Nonprofit reaches settlement with AT&T over 8 miles of cable leaching lead into Lake Tahoe
They could haved dumped it anywhere, but they chose one of the most popular lake resorts in the world. I guess they wanted to poison the maximum number of people. It's been there for over 30 years now, leaching toxic lead into the food chain.
Who Killed Malcolm X? Two Men Are Exonerated As Manhattan DA Reveals Details of FBI Coverup
The FBI knew for over 55 years who the real assassines were & had witnesses who could have testified to the facts, but instead chose to allow them to go free while 2 innocent men rotted in prison.
USians took their priorities very seriously...chicken sandwiches traffic issues...
https://www.edhat.com/news/santa-barbara-works-to-reduce-chick-fil-traffic-on-upper-state
https://www.independent.com/2021/11/18/chick-fil-a-needs-to-stop/
https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/santa-barbara-city-leaders-working-with-chik-fil-a-to-reduce-drive-thru-traffic
Dr. Shit-
The solution is obvious. Divide Chick-fil into 2 drive-in stores, 2 blocks apart. One will serve regular chicken sandwiches; the other will, if you stick your ass out the window (i.e., moon the employees), ram a sandwich into your rectum (which is actually a form of therapy, for Americans). Choice of lubricant or no-lubricant is up to the customer.
mb
Doctor,
Here is an ode to Kyle Rittenhouse to the tune of Have Gun Will Travel.
Ode to Rittenhouse
We don’t have non lethal is his catchword phrase
Patrolling the streets with his AR15
His big deadly weapon, heeds the far right louts
A proud vigilante is the kid called Rittenhouse
Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse, where do you he practice
Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse, you are fantastic
Militias will join him to blow folks away
He shot eight deadly bullets and he made their day
There are far right goofballs who love him so much
Matt Gaetz will intern him, he’ll be congressman Rittenhouse
Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse, where do you he practice
Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse, you are fantastic
What do you think, Doctor?
Clem-
Wasn't able to post it, as you provided no links or references for yr opinions. Anyone can broadcast an opinion; here at the Waferblog, we are unimpressed. What impresses us? Evidence!
mb
Wafers-
Thugs, thugs, and more thugs:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/20/us/angry-white-men-trials-blake-cec/index.html
Plus guns:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/13/politics/tsa-guns/index.html
Guns & Thugs; Thugs & Guns!
Meanwhile, the Jews are the cause of all our problems:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/20/politics/mezuzah-vice-president-home/index.html
mb
Why not send guns to guest of all the prisons and jails? Why not
to children of loyal Republicans?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-jr-endorses-sending-091023225.html
This is gd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrOCUVJnyZE
mb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsL3mFaWa5M
America's postal service is falling apart under the auspices of a Trump-appointed psychopath. He jacked up prices, slowed shipments and gave millions in revenue to the Republican Party. He might be charged with fraud, but I doubt the postal service will ever recover.
Everything bubbas touch turns to shit - even something as banal as the postal service. Of course, the same is true of wokes, who have ruined many lives with their witch-hunts and postmodern garbage. I know imperial decline is never pretty, but it's never been this crazy.
Original copy of US constitution sold to unknown buyer for $43m | US news | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/nov/19/original-copy-of-us-constitution-sells-for-record-43m
^^putting oxymoronic "capitalist democracy" in2 full effect
The Way Out of the Fly-Bottle: Wittgenstein’s “Tractatus” at 100 - LA Times:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-way-out-of-the-fly-bottle-wittgensteins-tractatus-at-100/#disqus_thread
Binger-
"Was ist dein Ziel in der Philosophie? Der Fliege den Ausweg aus dem Fliegenglas zeigen."
mb
It won’t happen, well, b/c he’s American but if this kid wanted to repay his ability to breathe, he would renounce all these fascist wolves. Makes me very sad especially for the deceased.
https://www.newsweek.com/kyle-rittenhouse-awarded-ar-15-defense-gun-rights-following-acquittal-1651656
Gunnar-
In the declinist spirit of Bad Is Good (motto of this blog), these awful events send an impt message to all Americans: this is a white, military state, and you can kill protesters w/impunity. Every event like this is another nail in the national coffin--and this is not hyperbole. Trumpism--w/or w/o Trump--is not only in our future; it *is* our future. This is no exaggeration, as will be borne out by the elections of 2022 and 2024, in addition to other police and vigilante murders that will occur along the way. Let's call a spade a spade: America has become a horror show.
mb
Our weekends can never be fit
Without our Karens showing their grit
They’ll even interrupt a comedy show. LOL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi0HhZFDPR0
They don’t like leaf blowers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiMwhfOd1kM
The leaf blowers must speak english
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd3GOxcYAuQ
And of course when angered they pull no “punches”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHv5skGQ6z4
Clearly a case of self-defense, for one of the gifts could have been
a firearm for her baby. The Rittenhouse precedence should make this
a snap decision for any patriotic jury.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pregnant-woman-shot-dead-while-165400111.html
I love a American parade-- The tramping of feet, I love ever beat I hear of a drum, an SUV plowing through a crowd, we're so US empire proud...
https://www.jsonline.com/story/communities/waukesha/news/2021/11/21/waukesha-christmas-parade-car-rams-through-downtown-shots-fired-people-injured/8714041002/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/multiple-injuries-after-suv-plows-into-wisconsin-holiday-parade/ar-AAQYmqG
Glans-
I'm wondering how many people will get crushed to death on Nov. 26 (Black Friday). Let me coin a new word: "shopicide".
mb
Any documentary on the way things are that begins at 00:08:20 with
"This shit has to go!" is well worth watching. It is two hours and
forty minutes long and well worth the time for any WAFer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4qKjijP99c
Emerson Didn’t Practice the Self-Reliance He Preached
How Transcendentalism, the American philosophy that championed the individual, caught on in tight-knit Concord, Massachusetts
By Mark Greif
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/620534/
Toby-
Sorry, cdn't run it. We're not big here on declarations of opinion. Our typical reaction is 'Eh!' Do you think you might contribute something substantial to the discussion, by being more specific? Refs are esp. appreciated.
mb
Remember Tamir Rice, the 12 year old boy who had a toy gun and was shot and killed by a police officer within seconds of the officer getting out of his car? Well, his mother has had enough with the Rittenhouse verdict and the US overthrown.
“I’m very annoyed about how a minor, a white little boy, is not in jail for the murder of other people, and that’s just not right,” Rice said. “That’s not right. And his mother should go to jail, too. Because why would you give him a gun if he’s a minor? That’s just not how you’re supposed to raise your children in this country. You’re not supposed to just give him a gun to go to a protest, right? So you knew he was going to a protest—what did you think he was going to do?... I’m really confused, but I also understand that it was designed this way and, at this point, we are at the mercy of God. … At the end of the day, this country needs to be overthrown,” Rice said. “This is pitiful, and where in this country have we seen someone pick their own jury? When I seen that, I was like, ‘Is we still on planet earth?’ We have never seen it in a judicial system, even with all the mass murderers and everything that has happened in this country for decades and decades.”
https://www.complex.com/life/tamir-rice-mother-samaria-us-needs-to-be-overthrown-kyle-rittenhouse-verdict
Dan D-
She needs to switch from a Hedgean 'solution' to a Waferian one.
mb
"The US should be overthrown"....LOL...yah right, as the Great Seer of the Western Hemisphere stated-- that would require the military/police to be complicit in the "overthrowing" and they (military/police) know where their bread is buttered...ain't gonna happen.
Onward and downward, but hopes/dreams/illusions/delusions of "rising up" "overthrowing" is a good hustle to sell books, get honoraria, and give talks to the professional classes/NYT crowd who enjoy beating off.
ps: Binger-
This article on Wittgenstein is very much off-base; it's an attempt to make the man into a literary figure, wh/he wasn't. Two obvious errors:
1. Suggesting that Witt was claiming that our understanding of the world cannot step outside of language. Piero Sraffa defeated Wittgenstein on this pt, post-Tractatus, by brushing his fingers under his (own) chin--an Italian gesture of contempt ("me ne frego"="I don't give a shit")--and saying to him: "What is the logical form of *that*?" Witt was left speechless. This encounter was what took *him* out of the fly-bottle.
2. Poetry and fiction were not the way for the fly to escape the fly-bottle; this was not what Witt meant by that phrase. This is related to pt. 1. Sraffa was a revelation. Until this encounter, Witt himself was stuck in the fly-bottle, i.e. trying to find a logical form of thought for everything. So what he meant by this famous quote was that philosophers were stuck trying to solve problems of their own making, trapped inside a conceptual “bottle” that they mistook for the outside world. Like American progs, they were beating off. Anyway, I'm immodest enuf to suggest that you check out the Wittgenstein chapter in "Wandering God."
mb
( To the tune of one of the stanzas of Truckin’ by the Grateful Dead for our Road Rage Monday)
Anger with fistfights then guns being shot on our highways
Pennsylvania, Orlando, wherever, the same roadways
Your typical hothead involved with the typical violence
Just sit back as the country goes down the drain
Let’s check out just a few of the many incidents that happen while driving on a daily basis in our U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/woman-shot-in-apparent-road-rage-incident-on-pa-turnpike/
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/volusia-library-assistant-fatally-shot-during-road-rage-incident-following-hit-and-run-police-say/JRLEZTF3PRAO5LHWBFRZWWNOVE/
https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/crime_and_courts/west-valley-man-charged-in-union-gap-road-rage-incident-where-dog-was-pistol-whipped/article_1f86f04c-b9ba-5da3-9f3c-c8afe1feef51.html
https://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/6162227-video-shows-driver-hitting-man-after-alleged-road-rage-incident-near-davis/
In “Pangs” (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Anya Jenkins, a thousand year old ex-vengeance demon with rabbit phobia, explains Thanksgiving.
Anya: "I love a ritual sacrifice."
Buffy: "Not really a one of those."
Anya: "To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It's a ritual sacrifice, with pie."
“Around the Thanksgiving table, the cultural relations of the nation merge with the blood relations of the family. Through the carcass of the sacrificial victim, the family becomes a microcosm of the nation and the nation becomes a macrocosm of the family…
“This sovereign ‘pardon’ of a token animal has become ritually necessary because the industrialized scale of Thanksgiving creates a pressing need for expiation and the shifting of blame from the victimizers to the victims. Against the holiday’s backdrop of rampant factory farming, the pardon of the “innocent” bird scapegoats every other “criminal” turkey for advanced civilization’s sins against nature.” – Have a scapegoat for Thanksgiving! “It’s a ritual sacrifice, with pie.”
“Ronald Reagan in 1987 was technically the first president to use the word "pardon" about a turkey, but it was really just a way to deflect questions about the Iran-Contra scandal and whether he would pardon key players involved — Oliver North and John Poindexter.” – NPR: The Strange Truth Behind Presidential Turkey Pardons
Dave Eggers' new book depicts a dystopian future and an all-powerful tech giant
The Every
A Novel
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688435/the-every-by-dave-eggers/
...I recall MB recommending "The Circle"
Dear Dr. Berman,
Re: Wittgenstein, understanding of the world outside of the language, etc: Two dialogues (second one is extensive) below on "Exploring Reality" and "Non Dual Consciousness". In the first one Swami Sarvapriyananda says: " Language slices reality".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHzFd6R12L0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhYKqblybXs
Himanshu
Ludwig Wittgenstein: a mind on fire
A century after its publication, the philosopher’s Tractatus remains as radical as ever.
By Ray Monk
https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2021/09/ludwig-wittgenstein-a-mind-on-fire
For Mr Berman and Mr Binger, this one is better!
- Lukas
“Raise your hand if you agree life is more important than property,” prosecutor Thomas Binger said to the jury in his closing arguments."
What a poll for a U.S. jury! Everyone in the United States knows that property, of course, etc....
Property = Pursuit of Happiness
Dr. B-
An update on the PA Senate race-
Republican Sean Parnell, endorsed by former president Donald Trump to replace Pat Toomey in the US Senate, said Monday that he will not continue with his campaign-
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/11/22/sean-parnell-children-custody/
Fortunately, others are lining up to take Parnell's place, according to the article-
"Mehmet Oz, who rose to fame as 'Dr. Oz' on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' has also been exploring a Republican campaign for Senate in Pennsylvania, according to people familiar with the plans."
In other news, here's a picture-heavy article from Wisconsin-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10229443/Armed-father-daughter-carrying-AR-15s-march-alongside-anti-Rittenhouse-protesters.html
What could possibly go wrong...
This early WAFer set me in the direction of correct thinking.
https://www.google.com/search?q=jules+henry+culture+against+man&rlz=1CAHKDC_enCA922&oq=jules+henry+culture+against+man&aqs=chrome..69i57j46i512j0i22i30.8194j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Birn-
I love guns.
Lukas-
Better than this article is the Monk biography.
Joe-
I love guns.
mb
Just finished reading "The United States of War" (David Vine), recently recommended on this site. Well worth reading. Premise: State of war for US is norm. US has waged war, engaged in combat, or otherwise employed its forces aggressively in foreign lands in all but 11 years of its existence. Near permanent war since the Revolution.
https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520385689/the-united-states-of-war
Most of those wars and invasions were initiated by US – aggressive, offensive wars.
Most were for purpose of protecting profit-making interest of US corporations.
Many opinions about why. Vine concentrates on military infrastructure, especially foreign bases, that make foreign wars possible.
As evidenced by the tale of poor little rich girl Elizabeth Holmes, whose Theranos blood testing fraud bilked investors of milllions, the rich and privileged are scum:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/holmes-parents-seeded-theranos-connected-her-with-powerful-investors/
Jas-
The elite are trash; never forget it.
down-
This is a theme I discuss in QOV. From the first, America has always needed an enemy in order to function. Also check this out:
https://www.amazon.com.mx/Werewolf-Complex-Americas-Fascination-Violence/dp/1859731511
And of course, Cavafy's poem, "Waiting for the Barbarians."
mb
Jeffrey Bezos! just for fun the bo burnham song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4nXwSL4UxQ
https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-bezos-gift-obama-foundation-20211122-y2njo4mxqjfxpa5r7lujb66kyu-story.html
When two douchebags collide
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JomEP29Uhg
A good video about woke feminist lynch mobs hunting Woody Allen. Like bubbas, these zealots only want to hurt people; truth and justice don't matter to them. Some have joined #killallmen, while others have ruined lives, careers, colleges, etc. If they seized power, they'd do what Neo-Nazis would do, but to men instead of Jews...and Chris Hedges thinks they can save America.
https://warontherocks.com/2021/11/the-ambivalent-supplier-u-s-arms-transfer-policy-under-biden/
Biden's sold weapons to any country willing to buy them, including fascist regimes like Thailand and Saudi Arabia. He doesn't care what those weapons will be used for, or why; when there's money to be made through weapons sales abroad, his commitment to human rights flies out the window. What a fool.
What are your thoughts on Extinction Rebellion? They seem to be nothing but a radicalized version of a TED Talk. They use a lot of technocratic numerology & appeals to antiquity (7 generations, 3.5% of a population, net zero by 2025, democracy in 600 BCE) & loads of extremely vague notions of justice and change. I see this as just another kind of progressive/technocratic political party.
https://www.gbnews.uk/news/extinction-rebellion-pledge-2-million-protesters-for-largest-act-of-civil-resistance-in-uk-history/163226
They talk of autonomy and decentralization, but somebody has to maintain the website and select a logo to use worldwide! Decentralization in concept, but centralized in practice.
https://rebellion.global/about-us/
Nadine-
Gd clip on Woody, thanks. I doubt he'll ever get clear of this false stigma. As for Schmiden: not a fool. He knows exactly what he's doing.
mb
This makes no sense! Making sense would be if Trump were murdered,
then the crazies made a pilgrimage to the site of his death to see
if he'll return to make JFK, Jr. the president. Nothing wrong with
a little reincarnation in the holy family.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/qanon-supporters-gather-jfk-assassination-065733052.html
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick
society." --Krishnamurti
So begins the second part of documentary "Zeitgeist." Both parts are
Ph.D. theses in WAFerism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMnXu-IXeM0
A sign of tomorrow's wave of WAFers? Piss on the dream of getting
THEEEE American Dream!
https://www.barnorama.com/author-kurt-eichenwald-explains-so-called-the-great-resignation/
How to Live Like a Monk: Medieval Wisdom for Modern Life
https://www.amazon.com/How-Live-Like-Monk-Medieval/dp/078921413X
Book recommendation for the NMI in your life!
Giuseppe-
Thanks for the ref. Sounds gd, except for the fact that monks didn't eat pastrami or chopped liver--a major down side of the monastic life.
mb
Dr. Berman & Wafers,
Let’s give a big hearty tribute to our annual Black Friday stampedes. Actually the caption on the video says it best: A tribute to American greet and materialism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW4d8_LLYp8
Joe-
Well, this is what America is all abt. It isn't abt much else. And who are these people? Degraded buffoons. Not exactly raw material for the Hedgean revolution.
The crux of the problem, as I see it, is that Americans have failed to embrace their inner Tulsi. Once they take Tulsi into their hearts, all our problems will be solved.
mb
The Amerikkan obsession with "growth" marches on
https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-fashion-brands-green-is-the-hardest-color-to-sell-11636104600
Giuseppe - that kind of book is nothing but a cringe worthy self help. Monasticism was an entire way of life based in a certain way of thinking, and you can't just look at the externals like robes & candles & take nuggets to use as self-help in the modern world. Also when you talk of "monasticism" what do you mean exactly? The wandering Syrian ascetics? The isolated life of St. Mary of Egypt or St. Antony? Sitting neck deep in icy waters & chanting the psalms? I'm assuming what she really means is the proto-capitalist hustlers like the Cistercians. You can't just "be monastic" since what they're doing has a theology, philosophy, and way of thinking focused on Jesus. Also the Syrian monastics (which was more like begging bowl Buddhism) of the early centuries was vastly different than the hustling compounds of the imperial wealthy Benedictines of the high middle ages.
In case you're unaware, capitalism was created by the monasteries. So by "being monastic" in this way, you're arguing for turning back the clock to right before capitalism really took off, so it's more like water wheel hustling vs burning oil hustling.
https://catholicexchange.com/how-catholicism-created-capitalism
Hi Dr. B. and WAFERS:
Dr. B, you will be please to learn that a recent Counterpunch article refers to your The Reenchantment of the World as a solution to our ecological dilemma:
Tom Malovic (2021), "Why We Should Reject Mark Zuckerberg's Dehumanizing Vision of a Metaverse," Counterpunch, November 24:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/11/24/why-we-should-reject-mark-zuckerbergs-dehumanizing-vision-of-a-metaverse/
Two closing paragraphs:
"I passionately believe that we must not be seduced by this chimerical and false vision of reality [the Metaverse] which further removes our awareness from the natural world and (worse) even seeks to replace it ... We should not trust Mark Zuckerberg or any other members of the corporate elite with self-serving agendas to guide us through an increasingly precarious future ... Rather, I believe that the true path forward is to reconnect with the beauty of our planetary home and the natural world or, in the words of cultural historian Morris Berman, to 're-enchant the world.' We need to somehow, through the seemingly unstoppable momentum of runaway technology, find a way to return to a way of living that retains the use of limited and intelligent technology where appropriate without allowing it to run roughshod over the core values of humanity we still cherish."
-Northern Johnny
Johnny-
Thanks for the heads-up. The Reenchantment bk remains my one and only best-seller. As for Zuckershmuck: the crucial question is why millions of Americans adore him, when he is little more than a piece of dreck.
proto-
Yeah, except that Giuseppe, and perhaps the author of that bk, have in mind the sort of neo-monasticism I advocate in the Twilight book. Have you read it? Check out the chapter entitled "The New Monastic Option" (if I remember correctly--haven't read it in 21 yrs).
mb
This tribe helped the Pilgrims survive for their first Thanksgiving. They still regret it 400 years later.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/11/04/thanksgiving-anniversary-wampanoag-indians-pilgrims/
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-sgLx4Z_K4
Two Fox News journalists quit because of Tucker Carlson and other far-right propagandists dominating the news agency and pushing less radical voices to the margins. I guarantee they'll be replaced by radical Trump supporters. Fox News will become even more radical and unhinged, accelerating America's decline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbus3DFfZbs&t=1368s
A prominent European human rights agency recently classified America as a "backsliding democracy" - that is, a nation descending into despotism. This is good, but America's been backsliding since the 90s, when both parties became entirely beholden to corporate money. I guess they felt the need to kiss America's ass until it became clear that China would soon overtake America as the world's leading power.
Chap-
Somebody already posted this. My response was: "What in hell were these people thinking??!!"
Meanwhile, the 3 Arbery killers were found guilty. I can hardly believe it. Why them, and not also Rottenhouse? Anyway, the verdict might be life w/o parole. Better wd be that they get baked in casserole dishes (along w/Rottenhouse).
mb
Dr. B-
Prof. David Blight editorializes about the teaching of history-
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/what-parents-dont-understand-about-teaching-history/620770/
From the article-
"The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians have signed on to a coalition of more than 25 such groups called Learn From History, which seeks to combat deliberate misinformation about the current state of history education."
All WAFers should view this site that chronicles American selfishness and stupidity:
http://www.sorryantivaxxer.com
You'll notice two things. First, the sheer number of American idiots who all look and act the same. They deny COVID relentlessly, then get sick, then ask for prayers, then ask for GoFundMe donations (strange thing for rugged individualists), then die, and then their families write glowing obituaries, completely ignoring the huge medical bills they face because of their selfish relative. Second, the absolute conviction most of them have that the vaccine is dangerous and part of a plot to destroy America. Posting antivax memes literally up to the day they die. What better way to track the ongoing American decline?
Demo-
Have you thought of how many Americans need to be slapped?
I shd add that I have no doubt that Covid is a communist plot. The evidence for this is everywhere.
mb
Dr B:
Note this author failed to credit you for saying the same thing decades ago:
https://eand.co/its-time-to-make-your-escape-plan-from-a-collapsing-america-b1ec18430b82
Another of his essays. Perfect storm = the transhistorical processes you have written about in your books:
https://eand.co/americas-heading-into-a-perfect-storm-of-fascism-176e614c60d1
Clearly a case of self-defense from the threat of starving to death
because of a pizza arriving too late.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/man-threatens-little-caesars-workers-004320723.html
Pete-
In 1989 I wrote that "Americans are the driest tinder imaginable for fascism" (this in CTOS). And of course we have talked abt it on this blog. But I doubt your author is plagiarizing my work. I'm not on the radar screen in American media, and I suspect he's never heard of me. And then, at this pt, there are more serious issues to consider than whether I get my 15 mins. of fame. Because he's rt: the GOP/bubbas/trumpites are getting increasingly virulent, crazy, and bloodthirsty, and your author has the evidence to substantiate this. It is also clear that the Dem response is flaccid. Not only are they doing very little to stop the slide toward fascism, we have a president who endorsed the Rittenhouse verdict, claiming that "See? The system works!" Personally, I don't see how this slide can be arrested, at this pt. One party is insane, and the other is impotent. Here's the likely scenario:
1. In Nov. 2022, the Dems will get their asses handed to them on a platter.
2. In Nov. 2024, ditto; either by Trump, or a Trumpite.
3. Jan. 2025 will mark a significant break with previous American history. End of democracy (or the semblance of democracy), and beginning of an autocratic, authoritarian regime. As I've said repeatedly, it won't be pretty. Not even Tulsi can save us now.
Yr author is rt, in any case, in urging people to hit the rd.
mb
Apologies I didn't see the article was already shared! In fact, I still don't see that. Are you sure?
Proto - I appreciate any article that lifts the veil on capitalism, but you might want to check out a book by a real scholar on the history of capitalism, Ellen Meiksins Wood. The book is "The Origin of Capitalism" and no where therein does she mention the Roman Catholic Church.
In addition, your article is written by Michael Novak, a renown ultra-right conservative Catholic, AEI member and ardent defender of capitalism as ordained by natural law Good-God-Almighty, Hisself.
Horror show indeed MB, “the horror, the horror”, I rarely watch news right out of bed then when I do the first story is the parade massacre. Jesus who wants to wake up to the unthinkable every morning? As for Rittenhouse Jimmy Dore has completely changed my mind. For sure had he been black he’d be dead and he shldn’t of been there. However after watching video he was clearly getting beat and defended himself. It’s a cluster fuck but what isn’t these days.
https://youtu.be/PvZp5-WQKUM
Dr. Berman,
How do you describe the action of this USAin? Is it yet another form of hustling? Is it the Yankee “can do mentality”? Is it creative capitalism and a new way to make a quick buck in the tax free underground economy? Is it just another form of that “Christian love” professed here? Or is it just another example of the cold, cruel, callousness here in our U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!?
Yeah, Baby. Hit them when they’re down.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article256075152.html
Joe-
This woman is clearly a candidate for being baked in a casserole dish. But yes, a creative American capitalist, for sure, and certainly a true hustler.
Gunnar-
But what was he doing, traveling a great distance, getting a weapon, and going to the protest, in the 1st place? This is George Zimmerman redux: looking for trouble.
Chap-
Yes, in a previous thread, but not to worry: repetition isn't the crime of the century.
Proto-
Capitalism has a # of forerunners, of course, but it doesn't really take modern form until the 15th century. It wasn't created by the monasteries. Double-entry bookkeeping, for example, was invented by an Italian merchant around 1250 A.D. He was not a monk.
mb
down - to deny the Roman Catholic Church had anything to do with capitalism is completely wrong. I don't know the author of that article, but he cites other works. The origins of capitalism coming from the Roman Catholic Church of the high/late middle ages is well accepted scholarship.
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/machina-ex-deo
The whole concept of "going monastic" is really played out, especially with clowns such as Rod Dreher and his "Benedict Option" which has been endlessly criticized.
If you want some better up-to-date books on the concept, read Peter Brown's 'Through the Eye of a Needle' or the upcoming 'Invitation to Syriac Christianity' by Charles Stang & others. You really don't want to attempt even a neo-monastic version of western monasticism, as it's based on a flawed way of thinking, just ask any Orthodox Christian who knows the history. It also seems very much like lululemon yoga by just latching on to the externals & not understanding the way of thinking. Monasticism is primarily an ascetic way of life based on a certain school of thought, with externals meaning very little.
proto-
Max Weber is also well accepted scholarship: "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." Sure, you can cite Lynn White, and everything has antecedents, but again, capitalism didn't really get going until the 15th or 16th centuries, in what became the Protestant north. The issue is the strength and continuity of those antecedents. Fans of Disney trace his work back to the caves of Lascaux. Do you buy that as well? Similarly, some have argued that the Greeks invented modern science. My old prof at Johns Hopkins, Harry Woolf, characterized this type of argument as "precursoritis"; you seem to be caught up in that logic. Check out vol. 1 of "The Cambridge History of Capitalism"; it discusses aspects of capitalism in ancient Babylonia(!), but no one seriously thinks capitalism originated in Babylonia. You see my point. Frankly, I think White, and you, are on shaky ground. And I doubt there is anything wrong with trying to emulate certain features of the monastic tradition today; you don't hafta be a monk to do it. (I'm quite sure you haven't read the Twilight bk.) Anyway, we cd debate this forever, but you certainly haven't convinced me.
mb
Wafers-
This is a quote from Alan Turing, 1936, whom the BBC designated "the most important person of the 20th century," in 2019:
"It strikes me that Americans can be the most insufferable and insensitive creatures you could wish." Turing was living in Princeton at the time--perhaps America's most elite city--and recognized, as we have stated here on numerous occasions, that the elite are trash.
mb
RE: Buddhist ethics, methinks Dr B has confused chastity (only boinking your spouse) with celibacy (never boinking at all)
yeah-
1. Confusion on yr end, not mine. u.r. a tragically confused young man. Recommend therapy.
2. Don't write to previous posts; no one reads the old stuff.
mb
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