Americans Are a Class Act
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-24/lafd-investigating-firefirefighter-accused-of-despicable-act-vaccine-mandate-protest
posted by Morris Berman at 7:19 PM
November 25, 2021
About Me
- Name: Morris Berman
- Location: Mexico
Morris Berman is well known as an innovative cultural historian and social critic. He has taught at a number of universities in Europe and North America, and has held visiting endowed chairs at Incarnate Word College (San Antonio), the University of New Mexico, and Weber State University. During 1982-88 he was the Lansdowne Professor in the History of Science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Berman won the Governor’s Writers Award for Washington State in 1990, the Rollo May Center Grant for Humanistic Studies in 1992, and the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (from the Media Ecology Association) in 2013. He is the author of a trilogy on the evolution of human consciousness–-The Reenchantment of the World (1981), Coming to Our Senses (1989), and Wandering God: A Study in Nomadic Spirituality (2000)–and in 2000 his Twilight of American Culture was named a “Notable Book” by the New York Times Book Review. Dr. Berman relocated to Mexico in 2006, and during 2008-9 was a Visiting Professor at the Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico City.
Published Works & Bibliography
META Tag Help
197 Comments:
More class:
Newark Officer Hit a Pedestrian With His Car and Took Body Home, Prosecutors Say - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
She Ran a Bronx Homeless Shelter. Here’s What She Spent Millions On. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
...MAXIMUM class
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/angry-customer-throws-soup-in-texas-restaurant-manager-s-face/vi-AAQyoGN
Satchmo-
Someone already posted this, but a reminder of how degraded Americans are can't hurt. Americans have a certain graciousness that takes yr breath away.
mb
Being Happy is the Meaning of Life — for Adult Babies
Albert Brooks’ conservative sales pitch for capitalism’s takeover of philosophy
Move over Aristotle. Stand aside Socrates. Albert Brooks has discovered the perfect formula for living the good life. America's greatest philosopher tells us how to achieve happines -- American style.
This blog is completely wrong about America. For proof, see how
a murder seeks to continue to serve his country by becoming a nurse.
No patient should ever cause him to think that his safety is being
threatened and that he should stand his ground in the hospital.
Can you imagine a hospital allowing nurses to carry a firearm during
their rounds visiting patients?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/kyle-rittenhouse-wants-attend-arizona-001756633.html
"University Students Learn Black Friday Has Nothing to Do with Race, Now Believe It’s No Longer Problematic...
"Referencing a November 18 opinion article in the Chicago Tribune called “Talk of the County: Black Friday should be renamed so it is not ‘discriminating and profiling against black people,’” Campus Reform reporter Ophelie Jacobson asked students at the schools Gainesville campus if they supported changing the name of Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving on which millions of Americans storm retail shops to get holiday deals for gifts and other items.
“I think equality’s important,” one student said in response, while another said “I mean, I think it’s definitely a valid opinion. I kind of agree it should be changed just because Black Friday sounds offensive.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/11/25/watch-university-students-learn-black-friday-has-nothing-to-do-with-race-so-no-longer-problematic/
@Sybok All self help books written by americans (or most of the books written by americans for that matter) are better off being used as toilet paper to be honest, just look at how they managed to turn stoic philosophy into a tool to rationalize living in a shithole. Most of the american books (and all of the self help books) are rationalizations of crappy living and whoever writes them is just another buffoon. (not saying that there are no great books).
on other news, here is the classiest of them all:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/mom-fatally-shot-memorial-son-killed-days-earlier/story?id=81393543
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/11-12-21-joe-lauria-explains-julian-assanges-situation/
https://twitter.com/TYLTK/status/1462782755708751879
Wafers-
This is the day that Americans descend upon Wal-Mart like rabid dogs, so they can save $29 on a DVD player. Hopefully we can get some video footage of them trampling each other to death, as has happened in previous years. This is such an exciting country!
mb
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FFIiZbhXEA0gB63?format=jpg&name=small
“Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.” — Margaret Atwood
The cruelty and selfishness in America are breathtaking. It’s surreal to hear about billionaires going to space while so many Americans are barely surviving. Having an exit plan is definitely prudent even if one ends up not using it.
How poor people survive in the USA | DW Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk&t=6s
Living on the brink: One family’s struggle to survive the pandemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y92ubHU_AS8
Not to belabor the story but Rittenhouse didn’t travel a great distance to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, IL (20 miles). But ur right he went looking for trouble and trouble found him.
https://www.distance-cities.com/distance-kenosha-wi-to-antioch-il
“The mind of this country, taught to aim at low objects, eats upon itself.“ - R.W. Emerson
cy-
Enuf w/vaccines, already.
mb
Hello Wafers:
Say, Dan Daniel, as a hockey fan I'm curious if the sports section of the Tribune says anything about a name change to the Chicago African-American Hawks?
Krystal is appalled at the verdict in the Rittenhouse case, but accepts that the jury followed the rule of law in arriving at its verdict.
RITTENHOUSE Verdict EXPLAINED: How Self Defense Cases Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUBBY4AHpjI
That self-defence law in the USA is a doozy. It makes me think of a scenario where Clint Eastwood walks into a saloon, six-guns drawn, and threatens to shoot the guy who insulted his mule. Someone throws a bowl of peanuts at him, so ol' Clint dashes to hide behind a table, then fills everyone in the general area with lead. The hangman doesn't even get to test the ballast on the gallows because Blondie was just defending himself.
Bonhoeffer on stupidity
https://southsidemessenger.com/bonhoeffer-on-stupidity-entire-quote/
"There are human beings who are of remarkably agile intellect yet stupid, and others who are intellectually quite dull yet anything but stupid. We discover this to our surprise in particular situations. The impression one gains is not so much that stupidity is a congenital defect, but that, under certain circumstances, people are made stupid or that they allow this to happen to them."
Many years ago, I made the comment to an old professor of mine: "Americans have had it too good for too long." He felt it a prescient observation. Indeed, USians actively and gleefully participate in their own descent aided greatly by the disinformation machine that is Fo/au/x "News." My wise brother pointed out yesterday that the playbook used by the CIA against Mossadegh is the same one the Russians are currently using on us - on steroids owing to Facebook, etc. Not that we need any help in swirling the bowl, but lots of disinformation increases the suction downward.
DTE
I think he also deserves an early veteran's pension for his efforts
in the civil war to save the America of Norman Rockwell.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/congresswoman-introduces-bill-rittenhouse-congressional-135018486.html
Art-
Remember: Bad Is Good.
mb
US empire class.
https://nypost.com/2021/11/16/sophia-urista-isnt-first-rocker-to-pee-on-stage/
Urinista you're definitely USian.
Worthwhile is Chomsky's pinpointing how things work with big money
from 00:52:00 to 00:56:00 in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGFdvw8cOR4 but he then drifts off
into his usual happy dreams of the masses rising to take it all away
from the tyrannical slave masters of international capitalism.
While waiting for Our Lord Jesus Christ to return and make this all
happen, you can view 2.5 hours of Dr Carlin's views on the topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqN66XRj3dk
Glans-
Yet another high-class American act.
mb
Wafers-
I'm conducting a poll:
1. How many of you believe that the Jan. 6 Committee will come to nothing, and that Bannon and others will get off scot free?
2. How many of you believe Kamala Harris is a turkette?
Eager to hear yr replies.
mb
Jeffrey St. Clair has several hundred thoughtful words on Kyle Rittenhouse connecting his actions to America and its forever wars.
It ends with, "Is it any surprise that children reenact the proclivities of the culture that reared them? And there’s no question that Kyle Rittenhouse is America’s progeny. One of many sons, raised on the forever wars, eager to help, one shot at a time."
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/11/26/roaming-charges-34/
Mohamed-
Can you give us some reasons why?
mb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH_DWidb5II
"Free speech" bubbas are calling for the burning of books and the murder of professors...while criticizing Democrats for hating the 1st Amendment and turning the nation into an Orwellian nightmare. Make no mistake: these assholes know exactly what they're doing. They know they don't believe in civil liberties or human rights of any kind. They praise the 1st Amendment to gaslight people and dogwhistle other bubbas.
Doctor,
We didn’t see the annual deadly Black Friday stampede. But we did see a shooting in a mall. So not all is lost here. The violence rolls on here in our U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!
https://www.wral.com/three-shot-including-10-year-old-in-black-friday-shooting-at-the-streets-at-southpoint-one-in-custody/20003175/
p.s. To Wafer Anjin-san: 18 year olds indeed have Rottenhouse as a peer idol. Check out this here young man practicing firing shots on the road.
https://www.mcall.com/news/police/mc-nws-whitehall-road-rage-shooting-20211126-7rwzmuhafzfpdak56oyazzvdfq-story.html
@ al-Qa'bong
In the 60s, there was talk of changing the name of the Black Hawks because of the rise of 'Black Power' and other such dangerous ideas. But then they decided that, in light of the pacifism in King's Riverside Church speech, that they needed to keep the Black community focused on being hawks and willing to go get blown to pieces in Viet Nam.
So Black Hawks it will remain as long as the USA thrives by sending its children off to kill and be killed around the world. So the name is secure. Don't worry!
(sorry, Dr. B, I can't find a reference to this event, but I read it on the internet somewhere, or maybe think I did, or maybe it never happened but if so, it should have happened so that's as good as a fact these days, yes?)
To remind you what an Anti-American wimp King had become-
https://www.crmvet.org/info/mlk_viet.pdf
Dan D-
A wimp, he wasn't. Nor anti-American; he still had some hope, criticism notwithstanding.
mb
The Black Friday deaths are a 90s thing that won't happen again. Today it's all depression, consumerism, & fentanyl behind a screen. PR took care of the issue.
Sybok - The US & global capitalism can absorb anything. All "religions", ways of life, and philosophy, have been transformed to fit into the modern shopping mall. The trend is so strong that you can't talk about "Hinduism", asceticism, Greek philosophy, or anything else with the average person (assuming they know about it), since it's all been absorbed into the wider hustling culture, so they'll think they're enlightened, when in reality they're just part of the machine. Modern sportswear/health (see: Whole Foods & lululemon) is a corporate version of what was something else entirely, even just 50 years ago.
These lectures of Dr. Kapil Kapoor are interesting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgG7EbLC120
If you are a fan of decline, this should speed things up:
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/582767-america-must-prepare-for-war-with-china-over-taiwan
Back home, Christmas shopping made easier on the family budget:
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/583243-mob-of-looters-target-best-buy-in-minnesota
Unknown-
Sorry, I don't post Unknowns.
Mike-
Looters, mobsters, and thugs. Exciting developments.
colonization-
Actually, I think it might. In addition to mall shootings etc.
mb
I'm originally from Colombia, & once lived in Amerikkka. One thing I've noticed is that folks in my country are much more relaxed towards strangers than most Amerikkkans. Granted, I think the US in general is a sad, pitiful nation that's in its twilight stage, but this has always perplexed me.
Smash and the ol' grab. Usa, usa! Class...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkgKJKL37tE
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/11/26/nordstrom-california-flash-mob-thefts-what-to-know/8763716002/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofE5AksMOE
Juliana-
Check out my trilogy on the American empire, starting with "The Twilight of American Culture."
Dr. Shit-
See my reply to Mike, above. Who wdn't appreciate a good, juicy flash mob?
Wafers-
Is it possible that Waferian vocabulary is seeping into hi-level political discussion? Ilhan Omar recently referred to Lauren Boebert as a 'buffoon'--! Now we're getting somewhere. Do me a favor, keep scanning the news for buffoon, turkey, douche bag, and the like, and report back.
mb
The Rittenhouse Trial Is Bringing Out The Worst Qualities Of American Politics
For both sides, the outcomes of the trial are about validating their politics, not the truth.
https://www.inquiremore.com/p/the-rittenhouse-trial-is-bringing
Since at sundown Sun, Nov 28 Hanukkah begins, it is an ideal time
for me to respond to your poll.
(1)Just punishment will fall on Trump with one day of house arrest,
for Bannon, two days, and for all the others, three days.
(2)Say what you want about Harris, she is still a woman in high
position within the Federal Government and not some exploited
woman selling lipstick on TV.
Zig-
1st, Hanukkah lasts 8 days, so 3 days won't cover it. 2nd, we shd also factor in a partridge in a pear tree.
As for Kamala, what are the chances, if ejected from office by the Nov. 2024 election, that she will then get hired by Revlon?
Ames-
In yr opinion, what % of Americans can be characterized as bloviating buffoons?
mb
Avoid going to Lubbock for the warm weather, for it seems that death
from self-defense is quite common, as this video attests.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/confrontation-between-2-texas-men-225936865.html
Dr B:
In answer to your poll: "How many of you believe that the Jan. 6 Committee will come to nothing, and that Bannon and others will get off scot free?"
The committee will come to nothing. The contest is hopelessly lopsided. On one side is an efficient and organized criminal enterprise, the Trump crime family. On the other side is the most dysfunctional institution on the planet, the US Congress.
No contest.
I've been reading Patrick Deneen's "Why Liberalism Failed", and it's a very penetrating and erudite analysis of the historical roots of liberalism, as well as a critique of its various negative consequences. He has a lot of good Waferish insights (esp. his ideas about "consumption"), and I think many here will enjoy his writing. That said, among the many positive reviews, I notice the book has been endorsed by both Barak Obama and David Brooks. Good grief. Is there perhaps something unappealing about Deneen that I'm not aware of, which would make him attractive to these two? At any rate, I see that he also has a book called "Democratic Faith", which is over 500 pages, but only 3 dollars on kindle. He is definitely interesting enough that I will check out this and his other titles as well.
Another pretty good book that I'm reading is "The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism From Edmund Burke to Donald Trump." It is a nice intellectual history, even if I find there are many things to disagree with. Like "Why Liberalism Failed", it has a lot of fresh and interesting insights and contemporary relevance.
Pete-
The fact that you can attempt a coup in the US and face no consequences for it is surely another nail in the national coffin. Poor progs, they're so dumb.
mb
And now that the Holiday shopping season is in full bloom, let’s go “shopping” with some Karens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNLzaczj9fk
p.s. Doctor, If I were in the store with that second Karen who just rambled on and on and on and on, I think I finally would have shouted out: “SHUT THE F*CK UP" !!!!!! LOL!
War movie about defeat of US Army is now China’s biggest film ever
https://nypost.com/2021/11/25/war-movie-about-defeat-of-us-army-now-chinas-biggest-film/
American Conservatives: Culture matters!
Also american conservatives: The U.S. has become weak, selfish, effeminate, lazy and gay but we could totally beat a country of 1.4 billion Asians that believe in merit and nationalism!
Wafers-
1. Is Kamala Harris an out-there, change-things kinda gal, or a douche baguette?
2. I just wrote the US Mint, suggested they remove IN GOD WE TRUST from legal tender and replace it with DEATH, wh/is a whole lot more accurate.
3. Once the GOP trounces the Dems in 2022, any hip plans Schmiden has up his sleeve will be DOA. By 2024, it will be clear that while the bubbas were stockpiling an arsenal, the progs were beating off.
mb
The future of America in this video? YouTube has a site that deals
exclusively with DEAD malls.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dead+malls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QomCd9NJ6ak with the UNjolly future.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article256086977.html#storylink=cpy
Another class act.
Rock-
I suppose this is iconic. You hafta be pretty blind not to see that the death instinct now hovers over the United States. Malls are only 1 manifestation of this among many. You have Supreme Court justices who are unqualified; an educational system that's a joke; a population intent on killing each other off; and a MSM that claims it can all be turned around. What future, indeed, lies ahead of us?
mb
Mike-
What a horror show. But see my reply to Rock: "a population intent on killing each other off."
mb
https://theconversation.com/pythagoras-revenge-humans-didnt-invent-mathematics-its-what-the-world-is-made-of-172034
Pythagoras’ revenge: humans didn’t invent mathematics, it’s what the world is made of
>For the old mathematics major in you, MB!
Sorry to the post modernists on here!
Frank-
But it's not "more than 2000 yrs later." Where has the author been hiding? Mathematicians have agreed w/Pythagoras for centuries. So while postmodernism is full of shit, so is the author. A bigger douchebag would be hard to find. He needs to be severely beaten and then thrown on a dung heap.
You might also enjoy G.H. Hardy, "A Mathematician's Apology."
mb
"The Books of College Libraries Are Turning Into Wallpaper"
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/college-students-arent-checking-out-books/590305/
I was in my local community college library yesterday, and there were just two of us in the entire place. I was curious and pulled a few books from the philosophy section. I noticed that checkouts were regular throughout the 80s & 90s, but then it started to drop off right around the time the internet was taking off around 2004/5. A number of books that were popular 30 years ago are no longer touched. My guess is that people have replaced time reading books with time using their iphones. Why bother reading a book when you can just watch a youtube video summary?
Greetings to a new week here in this toxic wasteland. Let’s check out a few road rages that happened the past few days that involved shootings. Maybe in addition to USAins saying “Have a nice day”, “Happy traveling” also should be said.
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/hpd-at-least-1-dead-following-possible-road-rage-incident-in-north-houston
https://www.mcall.com/news/police/mc-nws-whitehall-road-rage-shooting-20211126-7rwzmuhafzfpdak56oyazzvdfq-story.html
https://www.ketv.com/article/lincoln-police-1-man-hurt-1-person-in-custody-after-shooting/38370028
https://www.wral.com/police-man-shot-during-road-rage-incident-on-i-95-in-benson/20006770/
I wanna add 2 what Juliana said. Many yrs ago my mother threw seafood gatherings w/ some of her buddies. Now the tv & cell fone are her buddies, and she has nothing going on besides work. It's all rather sad..a portrait of the country in general
https://survivingtomorrow.org/america-will-be-twelve-countries-very-soon-58d900389257
This was linked to medium.com So maybe Wafer ideas and vocabulary is spreading.
Dr. B-
Today is the 157th anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado, where US Volunteers killed approximately 230 Natives; mostly women, children, and the elderly. Here's a 2-minute TV news clip featuring two high school teachers in Colorado who decided to create a YouTube history lesson about the incident-
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/history-sand-creek-massacre-colorado-teachers-youtube-video/73-84c14453-ab48-4249-900e-1a68d4ccfea7
And here's their online lesson, which is about 35 minutes-
https://youtu.be/gRMfSCUZynU
Hello Mr. Berman,
So an Indian immigrant becomes CEO and that’s proof for many that America is the greatest and that they need to immigrate to the land of the free and get rich quickly..lol.. cant argue with these people... tried convincing a few what a shithole USA is but I get told that I am too negative and a commie ,lol...
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/29/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-is-expected-to-step-down-sources-say.html
For the nerdy WAFERS out there, there's a new internet protocol called Gemini. If you hate the way the WWW been hijacked by Zuckerschmuck, Bozo, & their ilk & long for the wild web of yester-years, then you need to check this out. Imagine: no social media, no porn, no cookies, no trollfoons, no annoying pop-ups -- just a vast web of human knowledge. I know you can.
Dear Dr. Berman,
Happy Hannukah! You might find this interesting:
"Jews were persecuted throughout Europe & the Middle East, but never in India." Israel's Mark Regev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKxINZOREus
Best Wishes,
Himanshu
Flab-
I wrote abt a balkanized future in the Reenchantment bk, and that was 1981(!). Secession is in the cards. Suggested umbrella name: Turkeyville.
nobody, Joe, Satchmo-
Always remember the declinist slogan: Bad Is Good.
mb
Make sure you do not have unpaid parking tickets in Alabama. This
obit contains an utterly ghoulish episode in American justice
concerning the immediate "need" to execute a dying man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doyle_Hamm
RE: "postmodernism is full of shit, so is the author. A bigger douchebag would be hard to find"
As to the second sentence, I nominate Alan Dershowitz
yeah-
Touche.
mb
I know it is off topic. But I have question. Just out of Curiosity. You, Mr. Berman often compare decline of US with Ancient Rome. What exactly makes Rome's case so unique to America? The causes that are often cited that led to decline and fall of the Roman Empire, such as child emperors, spiritual emptiness, bread and circuses, etc, well, it can be asked: "Isn't it the same cause for decline and fall can be found for almost all empires throughout history?"
Why not compare US say to Ancient Assyria for example, or to Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar? Another good comparison can be made to Mayan city states, which were once powerful states in the their own right, and by the time Spaniards arrived in the 16th century were already covered by jungle with no one living there. Or even Easter island. So back to my original question: What exactly makes Rome so unique and stand out?
https://www.bbc.com/news/59439797
USian basketball player changes his name to "Freedom" after becoming a USian.
Of course, the MSM run with the bs narrative of America and "freedom" propaganda--maybe they should inform him of FATCA and the US empire imposing its' tax regime on tax residents of other countries? Also, ask Mr. "Freedom" about the My Lai massacre or the Ludlow massacre since he appears so proud of being a new USian.
I read a very good article at the Counterpunch website on Nov.29,2021. It is titled "India's Farmers Win on Many Fronts,Media Fails on All"by P.Sainath.It was good to see a struggle won by the farmers in India.In a time when it seems the dickheads always win it was a pleasure to read this article.I wonder what a blog poster like 'Ordinary Indian'think about this article. Thanks
Andalus-
You cd be rt, but to me, Rome had the greatest congruence w/the US in terms of significant factors, wh/I cite in the Twilight bk. To take just one example, while there was a Pax Romana, and there is a Pax Americana, there was no Pax Babylonia or Assyriana that I know of. Similarly, the Mayans had no ambitions of taking over the whole (known) world.
mb
There could be a true left revolt and rejection against the rigged
economic game or the relapse into fascism seeking internal enemies
as the cause of all this. With the likes of Trump around, the latter
seems more likely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1FdIvLg6i4
Art-
Given the nature of the American population, I think we can expect a socialist revolution pretty soon. Americans are courageous, intelligent, and can't be kept down.
mb
Why the Woke are the new Victorians https://edwest.substack.com/p/why-the-woke-are-the-new-victorians
On the approaching new moral age
A coffee table book that everyone should read for its brilliant insights and heart-searing revelations-
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/30/renegades-born-in-the-usa-by-barack-obama-and-bruce-springsteen-review
Those renegades spirits of our time, Obama and Springsteen! Celebrating America and its struggle to achieve the dream.
I suggest that if you order the book on Amazon (you are ordering it, yes??), you add this to the order-
https://www.amazon.com/RAZAZON-Vomit-Bags-Disposable-Pack/dp/B07TXRRKW1/ref=sr_1_4_sspa
Hello Wafers,
Similar to Facebook's recent downgrade to "Meta", say hello to the "Budverse", which is apparently Budweiser beer's attempt at entering the virtual world of NFT's and imaginary stuff that's based on stuff that isn't even that great in the real world, even.
https://blockonomi.com/budweiser-releases-nft-collectibles/
I'm all for the idea that reality is based in conciousness, but do we really need to strap ourselves in, and put on the virtual beer googles?
Cala-
There is an amusing side to all this, however. After the victorious rt-wing elections of 2022 and 2024, the woke and the progs will keep on doing what they've been doing. They are not terribly intelligent; they will continue on w/the same ol' self-destructive behavior. There will be no wake-up moment for these sad folks. They were born buffoons, and they will die buffoons.
mb
MB - what philosophy/way of life do you think is mostly likely among the people who rebuild after the collapse in America? The 60s-90s seemed like an experimental stage to me, and that something will soon form into a more solidified way of life that will take off. It will have to be something that really speaks to the current situation & is also wholly anti-modern by using the system against itself.
While the amount of trash online grows exponentially, the previous decades have seen a ton of amazing research come out on the spiritual life, whether it be from China, India, or the near east.
https://www.ucpress.edu/endowment.php?p=jpale&s=pd&o=desc&r=25
Of course none of this will impact the bulk of the people who are headed towards collapse, but there must be a kind of underground group who is reading all of this material & who are changing for the better. With access through online databases & interlibrary loans, anyone in America is able to get this incredible amount of information.
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BItwdV2uevE
Tulsi Gabbard continues moving further and further to the right. She now claims America isn't racist because Arbery's killers were found guilty. That's right: a nation of 330 million people isn't racist because 12 jurors found 3 white defendants guilty of killing 1 black person. The other 229,999,984 million Americans are irrelevant.
She still claims she's liberal, which is really annoying. She needs to cut the crap, join the Republican Party, wear a MAGA hat and shoot up a BLM protest. If she does, Trump will make her his running mate, and she can help him destroy America when Trump wins in 2024.
Hello Mr. Berman,
Such a great country for immigrants Murica is... what a scary story this is !!
https://theintercept.com/2021/11/30/fbi-informant-watchlist-reputation-damage/
Doctor & Wafers,
There’s not much new to report. It’s just another ho hum day here in our Dysfunctional States of America. Check out these latest couple of mass shootings.
https://apnews.com/article/shootings-michigan-detroit-school-shootings-de276c6f90ff36f5c32bce7698ce9128
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/11/28/mass-shooting-leaves-7-injured-in-east-baltimore/
Nadine-
Reminds me of that old line of antisemites: "Some of my best friends are Jewish." But truly, there is no hope for America unless we can all embrace our Inner Tulsi.
data-
Tulsism, perhaps. See reply to Nadine. On a more serious note, check out my discussion of E.M. Forster in the Twilight bk.
mb
● 3 students killed, 6 people injured in Michigan high school
● Historian Alfred McCoy Predicts the U.S. Empire is Collapsing as China's Power Grows
● Latest Blacklist Compiled by the Language Police
Dr. Berman, I think the author of Pythagoras' Revenge is talking about formalism vs. realism. Mathematical formalists see math as something akin to a game: once you postulate a certain number of axioms, the entire system unfolds from logical necessity just like a chess game would. Realists, like Pythagoras, believe that mathematics exists independently of the human mind in a platonic realm of pure number. Mathematicians are still divided on this question, so it could be said that some of them have disagreed with Pythagoras on this point.
I've been reading Patrick Deneen's "Why Liberalism Failed", and it's a very penetrating and erudite analysis of the historical roots of liberalism, as well as a critique of its various negative consequences.
Meagan, an excellent book. There is a lot to ponder and think about in spite of its rather short page count. His case that Liberalism's sucess is its own failure is iron clad and I haven't seen any of his detractors provide a convincing counter narrative. As for Obama's endorsement, if I recall he liked the book, but didn't find the thesis convincing, though he didn't elucidate why.
The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves
https://www.amazon.com/Day-World-Stops-Shopping-Consumerism/dp/0062856022
A rec for you guys!
Bowen-
Check out the 2nd story in my bk "The Heart of the Matter."
Sybok-
So for Alan Turing it was a game, but I suspect he was exceptional. I'm guessing Gauss, Cauchy, Weierstrass, Fermat, Ramanujan, Hardy, Euler et al. were Platonists. As for McCoy's intellectual breakthru: I've been saying that for years.
mb
Sybok, I just clicked on and read the story you referenced about the blacklisted words. Wafers and Dr. Berman I am at a loss how one can take these people seriously on any level. Their arrogant tone is insufferable. In their world it will be impossible to read any book, watch any movie, gaze upon any painting or photograph. . .well, you all get the idea. They seem just one short step anyway from book burning. Between bubba and the progs there seems no place for a sane person to hang one's head. Sadly, it is as Dr. Berman says: "Bad is good." I take some comfort in the fact that this can't go on forever, and I am 66.
Stay safe all.
A rare example of justice for the people that could encourage more
to practice fake shoplifting just to get some extra money. Note
the statement about hundreds of millions made from Walmart sending
letters demanding money for what was NOT stolen.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/walmart-said-she-shoplifted-jury-120506195.html
Cosmo-
So many companies need to be beaten severely and then thrown on a dung heap. Have you contemplated this?
Arthur-
1. See my reply to Cosmo.
2. Sane places: this blog, and (with some reservations) Bill Maher.
3. As far as the progs go, to beatings I would add the Wafer Urine Treatment (WUT).
mb
4. Check out my new bk, "Tulsism for Dummies".
Hello Wafers:
I was thinking about posting that CBC article on forbidden words, but Sybok beat me to it. My radio dial had been welded to CBC from the 70s until fairly recently, but I find it almost impossible to listen to the Mother Corporation any more as it seems all programming is devoted to wokeness.
I just remembered hanging around the shop on the farm with my dad in the summer of '77, while Randy Newman's "Rednecks" was playing on the shop radio - on CBC of course. Dad said something like, "That CBC; they get away with anything." I cannot imagine them playing that song today under any circumstances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H9BbD6suUk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5vyDPN19ww
The two above are a PBS two-part examination of the great divide in
the US. It is the same with NPR (National Public Radio) in that they
both mean well but forget THE divide is caused by the one source that
is the truth of America: MONEY, the few who have it and the rest that
don't. Given their sponsorship, what else can they do but not disturb their sources of funding. It does rarely happen that someone dares accidentally to touch on this truth about MONEY, but this is not enough to rely on them for the truth about the inescapable nature
of MONEY being the great flywheel of the society.
Here's a review of a bk called "The Transcendentalists and Their World" by a guy named Robert Gross. It's about the town of Concord, MA & the impact that guys like Thoreau & Emerson had on the local population
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-transcendentalists-and-their-world-book-review-concords-second-revolution-emerson-thoreau-11636130312
And the children will suffer.....Another mass school shooting today is all over the US news. This seems unique of US society and culture in decline, and seems to be getting worse since I escaped to the relative safety of Australia, but as I now teach high school children, I experience the continuous school shootings in the US in an especially sad way. -Herman
Herman-
Link? Reference?
mb
This looks interesting:
https://www.amazon.com/M-Little-America-Ken-Kalfus/dp/1571311440/
Maybe as a follow-up to Flabster’s // MB’s thread re: our balkanized future.
Dr. B-
An example of totally missing the point-
Here's a CNN news report condemning the good Rep from Colorado's hateful remarks, but in the course of the 6-1/2 minute video NO ONE commented that the people listening to her talk were clapping in approval-
https://youtu.be/u_Q-CBhKVUc
If the reporters were honest, they would have said "Well, her constituents obviously approve of what she's saying, so she'll likely be reelected!" But that would be criticizing the vaunted American people...
"How could this happen" "Things need to change" "At a loss for words" "This is not who we are"--well, YES it is...usa, usa!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/01/michigan-high-school-shooting-victims-identified
https://www.wxyz.com/news/oxford-high-school-on-lockdown-due-to-active-shooting-situation-reports-of-multiple-victims
Glans-
Who we are: violent buffoons.
What America is: a genocidal war machine run by a plutocracy and cheered on by clueless morons.
Birn-
We are a collection of violent buffoons.
mb
Light candles, hug, bite bottom lip, light shows, sad faces, SWAT -militarized police, have a blue ribbon panel (fo show), listen to the "diversity" theatre police chief give scripted talks, and rinse, lather, repeat.
https://wgntv.com/news/authorities-say-fourth-person-has-died-from-michigan-school-shooting/
NEVER will the US "news" ever state the problem is the US empire. The problem is structural.
Nope, just light candles, wait for another one, then act surprised again, and again, and again.
Greetings MB and Wafers,
Webcam model and amateur porn actress accidentally shoots herself in the vagina:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10243765/Georgia-webcam-model-makes-risqu-videos-cash-accidentally-shot-vagina-cops-say.html
Shit's getting nuttier by the day in this nation.
Miles
Jeff-
The whole country has shit for brains.
Dr. Shit-
See my replies to Birn and Jeff.
mb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdVuEpD9_IY
This was and is the face of the US empire.
Black Friday deaths don't all happen in one day:
"Gun used in Michigan school shooting purchased by suspect's father on Black Friday"
https://news.yahoo.com/gun-used-michigan-school-shooting-164154131.html
The war on Omicron begins today.
https://komonews.com/news/coronavirus/omicron-case-found-in-california-the-first-confirmed-variant-in-the-us
CEOs cash out stocks at a record rate. You think they know something is about to take a dive?
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/01/ceos-and-insiders-sell-a-record-69-billion-of-their-stock.html
Thom Hartman makes clear- if Biden and Dems don't do well, a police state is the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YibDwEDzU0k
(Dr. B, an interesting take on the North/South conflict starting here-
https://youtu.be/YibDwEDzU0k?t=883)
Hello Mr. Berman,
Another brave officer …
“ Arizona officer fired after fatally shooting man in wheelchair”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59439798
Nam-
I'm hoping that when he killed the poor guy, he laughed and cried out, "Take that, sucka!"
Dan-
That last link didn't work, in terms of subject matter. Anyway, if Schmiden wins, Trumpi will yell fraud, and the Boogaloo will be upon us.
Nadine-
We're not big on pure opinion.
colon-
Omicron will soon sweep the US. But what abt Omicron Pi?
mb
Yes, nothing like having more unwanted children growing up in poverty
to create employment for low-wage workers, employment for guards at
prisons and jails, employment for social and medical workers handling
drug addicts, and to give white people the illusion that white babies
will be saved to keep whites a majority of the population when the
nonwhite birth rate is higher.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/abortion-challenge-mississippi-law-could-080005042.html
The latest from John Michael Greer
An Empire of Dreams
"Gregory Bateson, in a fascinating series of articles collected in his book Steps to an Ecology of Mind, discussed the way that schizophrenia is created by this kind of suppression of the obvious in a family setting. Insist to a child from infancy onward that something is true that the child can see is obviously not true, punish the child savagely every time it tries to bring up the contradiction, and there’s a fair chance the child will grow up to be schizophrenic. Conspiracy theories in society are the collective equivalent of schizophrenia in the individual, and they have the same cause: the systematic gaslighting of individuals who know that they are being lied to."
Doctor,
Here’s an interesting statistic regarding school shootings.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/11/30/oxford-high-school-michigan-shooting/8813393002/
Perhaps these school shootings should be included as a sub category of the daily mass shootings that occur in this violent shithole of a country. The ones that don’t qualify ( less than 4 USAins rubbed out) as mass shootings—the family disputes, robberies, drug squabbles, and road rage incidents—perhaps can be put into another category.
The main title category can be named Murder & Killings: American Exceptionalism in the Quest for Violent Death. It can be included as an example in a statistical analysis curriculum taught around the world’s universities.
Sybok-
Greer read my Reenchantment bk yrs ago. I have a lengthy discussion of Bateson's work, the double-bind, schizophrenia, etc.
mb
Krak-
Sorry, I don't host other blogs.
mb
Holy doodle! One has to marvel at the Christmas spirit that sees
the population trying to purchase SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND firearms.
Against whom are they to be used? Haitians trying to get into the
country or fellow Americans disliking Trump?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pistol-police-said-oxford-high-212714559.html
Not an American, so I avoid saying much about the nation, but I am somewhat interested in Constitutional Law and what is happening right now with respect to abortion rights in the Supreme Court of USA wrt the Mississippi law banning abortion outright after 15 weeks is - crazy? stupid? I don't know, can't quite locate the right adjective. Here is a small write up on the hearings -
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/12/02/pers-d02.html
Question - how can a people suffer a Constitutional Court of Law to decide questions of law based on their private beliefs and convictions? Wasn't the whole point of being a Judge is to keep personal biases aside and adhere to Constitutional morality rather than deciding a case based on the party you vote for?
I feel this is the apex of American ideals: a complete merger between fundamental Christianity and hard core hustling. People were literally dying to believe it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59327131
Hello Mr. Berman,
The mother of michigan school shooter wrote a blog post to Trump in 2016 and she signed it off by saying this. Lol, Karens are amazing.
It was signed, “A hard working Middle Class Law Abiding Citizen who is sick of getting fucked in the ass and would rather be grabbed by the pussy.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/ethan-crumbley-identified-as-oxford-high-school-michigan-mass-shooter
Cutting edge research being done in SillyCON Valley:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-24/if-dogs-live-longer-with-anti-aging-science-humans-could-too
Wafers might also like this .. a Belgian politician’s take on US imperialism’s threat…
https://youtu.be/HsqiEh0qQDc
Whew! The non-stop, off-the-charts, violent buffoonery coming out of America these days swells a declinist's heart!
On a more NMI note: could you, Dr. B, perhaps recommend what you would consider the 3-5 essential books (or authors) each in the categories of history, philosophy, and literature? No fair suggesting your own! WAFERs already own eight or more copies of each of your works anyway. These we frequently try to lend to fellow Americans, which are always sadly returned to us as incomprehensible to their dog shit minds.
Pol-
Violent buffoonery is indeed inspiring. I can't think of all the bks you want me to recommend, sad to say. But you might check the footnotes in my bks, see what's there. I will give you 1 in each category, however, off the top of my head:
History: Paul Mantoux, The Industrial Revolution in the 18thC.
Philosophy: Owen Barfield, Saving the Appearances
Lit: Graham Greene, The Quiet American
Namaste-
With regard to yr links:
1. Check out the kid's face. Brr. =America
2. America is going to the dogs.
3. Duh!
Flab-
Buffoons on parade.
Systems-
Not hard to understand, really: a huge % of the American population is fucked in the head.
Art-
Perhaps bubbas preparing for the Boogaloo. Progs are too busy 'correcting' Mark Twain.
Wafers-
Onward, into the Abyss!
mb
John Gray on H G Wells for The NewStatesman: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2021/12/hg-wells-claire-tomalin-review
Greetings MB and Wafers,
I've stumbled upon the most wonderful website:
https://www.crazyamerica.com
This site seems designed specifically for Wafers, and Waferism in general.
Here are a few recent stories documented on crazyamerica.com:
1. https://www.crazyamerica.com/alexander-pearce-charged-over-lewd-laptop-session-at-west-monroe-louisiana-walmart/
2. https://www.crazyamerica.com/tennessee-charles-doty-jr-holds-knoxville-little-caesars-workers-gunpoint-pizza-wait-time/
What's not to luv? Go buffoons!!!
Miles
Jeff-
Check out Alexander Pearce's face. It's amazing to me how many Americans look like this. This is buffoonery outta control.
Mark-
Cdn't run it. You failed to provide a link.
mb
This is certainly a way of avoiding witnessing the decline of the
US: enough alcohol, being dead, and having no eyes will shield the
gal from observing the worst.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/cause-death-revealed-mummified-colorado-174942125.html
Dr. Berman,
I have an idea for insurance companies to hustle and make more money in premiums. In addition to collision and comprehension as part of a driver’s premium, how about insurance companies also start offering road rage insurance? That way liabilities due to gunshots and stabbings while on the roads here in our beloved U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.! can be covered.
And just think. It would be a win win situation. Insurance companies further can aggrandize themselves. More guns can be sold. More angry violent USAins can blow each other away. And to top it off, Geico could do a new car commercial portraying a scenario.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/crime/fl-ne-man-hospitalized-after-road-rage-shooting-20211202-qbocl7vmsfc63c2sj6nbo7wxfq-story.html
https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2021/12/01/felony-assault-charge-filed-in-oc-road-rage-incident/
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/1-dead-in-possible-road-rage-shooting-us-75-in-dallas/287-3265e750-6865-4
https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/gun-fired-in-road-rage-incident-leads-to-charges-for-sioux-falls-man/
Rollo, Joe-
I continue to be amazed at the failure of the American people to recognize the depths of their own degradation. We are swimming in guns, death, rage, gurus, progs, bubbas, Boeberts, Greenes, and citizens excited at the imminent return of JFK, Jr., from the dead. In a way, I hafta confess that this blog has become a bit boring, because redundancy is the best it can do. We are all sitting around, observing the horror, and reporting on it. Sure, it gets worse, but redundancy can't be very exciting. Meanwhile, we are all waiting for the clobbering the Dems will receive 11 mos. from now, and the likely victory of Trump or a Trumpite in 2024. Or the fucking Boogaloo, fer chrissakes. I'm wondering if we shd just close up shop until Nov. 2022; altho, to quote Gore Vidal, stupidity excites me. As does douchebaggery--not to mention utter buffoonery.
Maybe we shd shift gears, just talk abt post-apocalyptic scenarios; like secession, wh/I personally believe is in the cards. Story #2 of "The Heart of the Matter" cd be a starting pt.
Hugs to you all-
mb
I’m w/ u MB, I find myself turning away from the carnage - I’ve coined a name it’s Journalism by Fill in the Blank. All one needs is a template. Besides there are so many other things to contemplate b4 getting skinned alive (my guess somewhere around late 2023).
There is this slow moving but unstoppable thing going on just within the US- climate refugees.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/11/27/how-climate-migrants-are-roiling-american-politics-523295
The amusing thing about focusing on the crazy behavior of the disenfranchised in the collapse of the US is that it's just a symptom. Like the universe has taken a stick and poked this ant hill and we watch the ants run around in circles. While someone else is pouring gas in the main tunnel and is going to drop a match soon.
And slowly, surely, the world is becoming truly uninhabitable for Homo sapiens. Mexico? France? Australia? Doesn't matter, all the same collapsing ecosystem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6FcNgOHYoo
MB,
As for post-apocalyptic scenarios, how about discussing what might lie in store for humanity after capitalism destroys itself? I imagine many Wafers would be interested.
Nadine-
We have, in the past, discussed that in a desultory fashion. E.g., my essay on "Dual Process" in AWTY. In any case, it's going to be a slow death...probably the rest of this century.
Gunnar-
Devoting the next 11 mos. to a discussion of deli meats might be a gd way to go.
Chuck-
Cdn't run it (no links or refs).
mb
Doctor Berman,
I've probably read that book 3 times by now. It was the first book of yours that I read -- way back in the 2000s. Reenchantment probably saved me from doing a complete 180 & becoming a scientific materialist in reaction to my kooky religious upbringing. Thanks.
Sy-
Glad to hear it. How is it that I haven't received the Presidential Medal of Honor? I can't understand it. I mean if Rush Limbaugh...
mb
The US empire's had the right priorities, and gave the populace exactly what it craved for:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/menu-what-you-can-order-at-guy-fieris-new-chicken-guy-restaurant-in-central-florida
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fried-chicken-sandwich-wars-heating-up-heres-where-swenson-cfe-mba
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/chicken-tender-shortage-may-soon-213036750.html
"Americans used to go to movie theaters to watch new characters in new stories. Now they go to movie theaters to re-submerge themselves in familiar story lines." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/12/america-innovation-film-science-business/620858/
American Culture is dead.
The German edition of The Deficit Myth publishes today
https://www.pufendorf-gesellschaft.org/post/der-defizit-mythos-von-stephanie-kelton-ver%C3%B6ffentlicht
IDK, leading the Germans to reconsider economic thinking is about as likely to succeed as trying to get a penguin to move to the Serengeti...
Kelton's book is very well written on MMT though, but somewhat a pipe dream in this country, if we're talking real change. Reminds me of Magnuson or Nomi Prins!
https://www.amazon.com/Deficit-Myth-Monetary-Peoples-Economy/dp/1541736184
Hi Dr. B:
I would personally love to see the blog shift focus from documenting decline, at least for a while (I don't really think much worth noting will be missed), in order to focus on how our humanity can be preserved and enhanced in the future, whether by means of the NMI or other options. I should add that as a Canadian, I would like to see this question explored in a global as opposed to a merely American context. I don't think this would go against the spirit of the blog, given the ongoing reality of American Empire (which continues to cast its massive shadow over Canadian political and cultural life).
Three related questions:
(1) to what extent should we think of America as merely the most extreme iteration of life within the Anglosphere?
(2) Is what is happening in America merely a local iteration of trends that are actually global?
(3) do we see any evidence that alternatives to the Anglosphere either persist (you often provide evidence that they do in Mexico, for example), or are on the rise (though I have not had a chance to read it yet, you suggested this was potentially happening in Japan in your Japan book)?
-Northern Johnny
"During the deacades Dr Fauci took over NIAID, he has sanctioned drug companies to experiment on at least fourteen thousand children, many of them Black and Hispanic orphans living in foster homes..."
Kennedy: The Real Anthony Fauci
cy-
A link wd be helpful.
Johnny-
Gd idea!
Kaiser-
What is MMT?
mb
Uhaul now requires (no longer just optional) a smart phone to rent a truck, without exceptions. I went in to the store to reserve a truck, and they said you absolutely must check in using the web browser on your phone, and that you cannot rent a truck without using the online process. They refuse now to take cash & check the truck in and out for you. This is a disturbing development, as most people are fine staring at their screens 24/7, so the rest of us are now being forced to go along with this. For now some of this is still avoidable, but it's getting more difficult each year.
This is yet another reason to leave the US, as it's becoming more & more difficult to live without a smart phone on you.
https://www.uhaul.com/Share/
Wafers-
I'm taking a poll. Wh/do u like best, a flash mob or a smash mob?
mb
In regard to the topic of secession, here is a brief roundup of some recent commentaries:
Andrew Tanner, “Fourth America Is Almost Over”:
https://gen.medium.com/fourth-america-is-almost-over-americans-want-a-divorce-9367a5d50df7
Brightline Watch June 2021 U.S. survey “Secession”:
https//:oregonlive.com/politics/2021/07/support-for-secession-dramatically-rises-in-us-including-on-west-coast-among-democrats-poll-finds.html#:~:text=Bright%20Line%20Watch%2C%20which%
Akshat Khandelwal, “The Coming Collapse of the American Republic”:
https://124-akshat.medium.com/how-a-military-coup-in-the-united-states-could-be-in-the-making-4aellca7oe5
TX GOP chair Allen West says TX could secede and become its own republic:
https://cnn.com/2021/04/09/politics/allen-west-texas-kfile/index.html
Jared Brock “America Will Be Twelve Countries Very Soon”:
https://survivingtomorrow.org/america-will-be-twelve-countries-very -soon-58d900389257
Finally, for an interesting discussion relevant to post-secession on the future possibilities of small states trying to survive in the face of global capital, see Wolfgang Streeck’s “Reflections on Political Scale”:
https://wolfgangstreeck.com/2019/03/04/reflections-on-political-scale/
Jack-
Khandelwal link didn't work. But I'm a big fan of Streeck.
mb
Here's the correct link to Akshat Khandelwal's essay, "How A Military Coup in the United States Could Be in the Making":
https://124-akshat.medium.com/how-a-military-coup-in-the-united-states-could-be-in-the-making-4aea11ca70e5
Pax Americana = Pox Americana
Maury, your sarcasm and irony is refreshing. As the late Harold Bloom said about irony:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm/book_number/814/page_number/4/how-to-read-and-why
Doctor,
Fret not. This here below can’t be called an example of redundancy. There always are new inventive, creative ways for USAins to provide us with a good laugh. Check out the newest occurrence in New York City. Some maniac steals a school bus, goes on a driving rampage, and takes out a bunch of cars. Like the show of years ago this was a modern-day Demolition Derby. Where else in this world can you get some goofball to act like this? LOL.
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/man-allegedly-steals-school-bus-leads-police-on-wild-chase-in-brooklyn/3431520/
https://abc7ny.com/bus-crash-stolen-school-cars-hit-east-new-york/11294341/
And besides, how can a country where a large section of its population thinks the planet is 6000 years old, and that Komodo dragons and Antarctic penguins were put into an ark somewhere in the Middle East to escape a flood not be entertaining?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJE5EuAVq8
Greetings MB and Wafers,
Well, it's good to be back on the Greatest Blog in the Universe (GBU)! I wish I could meet MB and a few Wafers for drinks and a deli feast, as I have been dealing w/some crazy shit regarding my next-door neighbor over the past year and a half (a hint of this issue was in my amazon review for MB's "Heart of the Matter"). Truth be told, things have gotten increasingly bizarre and outta control from this woman; a woman that I've known for the past 20+ yrs. I would now regard her as someone w/undiagnosed borderline personality disorder. In any case, I won't cite chapter and verse regarding this issue (but I'm certain I would have all you guys rolling around on the floor in fits of laughter), but suffice it to say, it has prevented me from frequent participation on the blog. Brass Tacks: I'm living next to a bonafide KAREN.
Miles
Jeff-
1st of all, living in the US can easily drive people over the edge, wh/may be the case w/yr Karen. I suggest making videos of her, in case it comes to a lawsuit. For now, hold off peeing on her shoes.
Joe-
u.c.? Living in the US obviously drove the poor shmuck bonkers. The whole country is going insane, really.
Cosmo-
Cdn't run it (no links).
Kelvin-
Well, viewed from a distance, the country is truly absurd.
Jack-
I enjoyed his reference to urine, early on. It gave me a warm feelng. Interesting to see various writers predicting THE END. And do I get a ftnote? Ha! But what bothers me the most in all these various predictions is the absence of 2 crucial factors:
1. Reference to Americans as trashy, stupid people.
2. Discussion of the role pastrami will play in the post-American world.
mb
Zig-
This blog is interested in words. You probably need a different blog, one more suited to your particular orientation. Gd luck.
mb
I have a man who works for me that I have taken to the hospital 50 miles away for surgery and back and taken him for a couple of checkup visits as well. He has a mom, a sister, several cousins and none could be bothered to do any of this for him. The sister claimed she had to work and the mom claimed her car couldnt make the trip. maybe so maybe not. Right now it is me and another coworker who is helping him out with food. His family wont do anything much for him here either. makes me sick.
Whoever it is who invents the lunatic news about the USA is carrying
on the tradition of Carlin. NO need to call 911.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/dispatcher-killed-accidental-shooting-kentucky-181658102.html
Zig-
You are equating words with boring, and images with interesting. This makes no sense at all; there are exciting words, and boring images. You are a very confused young man, and need to find a blog that is congruent with your special way of looking at things. We salute you, and wish you every success.
BH-
I had the same experience 60 yrs ago, when someone in my high schl who was on crutches asked me to carry his bks to his classes; wh/meant I wd be late for mine. I didn't really know him very well, but after all his 'friends' refused him, he turned to me. (I did it.) It took me years to understand that Americans were fundamentally selfish, unkind people. The day my car crossed the border into Mexico in 2006 was one of the happiest of my life. I have posted stories on this blog of how Mexican kids have helped me when I accidentally dropped bks or groceries or whatever. They do this for a complete stranger because they were raised right. The ideology down here is cooperation, not pathological narcissism.
mb
In the face of possible action, the Democrats show yet again that they are determined to not impede the march of history. Give them credit- they recognize the futility of trying to delay the collapse of the US-
"Leading voting rights activists came away frustrated and alarmed from what they hoped would be a breakthrough meeting last month at the White House to discuss a strategy to pass federal voting rights legislation.
"There were high hopes for the 15 November teleconference between the White House and the leaders of the hundreds of groups that comprise the Declaration for American Democracy (Dfad), many of which have been campaigning hard for federal voting rights legislation. Kamala Harris had agreed to stop by the meeting...
"Instead, multiple people who attended the meeting said they didn’t hear any kind of plan from the White House....."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/03/voting-rights-advocates-frustrated-meeting-white-house
Hello Wafers,
As we've learned, the arts are a pretty good indicator of the overall health of a culture.
Back in the day, I played saxophone in the high school band. We were nothing to write home about, but certainly better than this:
https://youtu.be/3xLog21skqA
https://youtu.be/iRHKwXxDyMg
These clips are both hilarious and terrifying to me. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of high school bands these days are equally horrible, or worse.
This raises the question, what on earth will it sound like in 2030??
BH Re: helping fellow coworker. First, note that two unrelated coworkers are helping man. I wish it happened more often, but at least you two are doing it.
However, two points that are not considered. First, the mother's car might not handle the trip. In the US too many people do not have the money to handle car repair costs. And she probably can not afford a newer car. Other family members might be overworked and have other problems many caused by the country's condition. Second, this man might have a history of taking advantage of family members or be a outright asshole. You never know. He my seem fine at work, but totally different with family.
Dan-
The Dems are interested in beating off. The bubbas are interested in intercourse. Come Nov. 2022, the latter will give the former a total fucking. And probably in 2024 as well.
mb
MB:
What is MMT? Well ya better read her book and find out ;-)
https://www.amazon.com/Deficit-Myth-Monetary-Peoples-Economy/dp/1541736184
In serious here is Richard Wolff's explanation of Modern Monetary Theory as well as Ms Kelton's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGZ7nJCzlW4&t=29s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjUlSVJmNrY&t=2344s
Kaiser-
So it was too much of an effort to explain that to us the first time around? Careful: yr cruising toward expungement.
mb
Wafers-
Scroll down, check out these faces. These are yr neighbors, fer chrissakes!
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/oxford-school-shooting-michigan-12-04-21/index.html
mb
Seems like senseless killing might put some behind bars.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-homeowner-convicted-killing-2-teens-caught-smoking-pot-garage-rcna7611
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/12/2/2067268/-Ohio-pastor-who-bragged-about-hunting-people-is-charged-in-shooting-death-of-Casey-Goodson-Jr
Just more maniacs getting taken out of society.
Thanks to Jack Lattemann for the piece by Khandelwal. He thinks a military coupe is a likely possibility. I tend to agree.
Our military seems to hold a religious power over the American people. To criticize it in any way seems to invite scorn and rebuffs.
Can u imagine a better declinist ticket than Harris/Butt The opposition might be the first unanimously elected prez since Washington.
https://www.npr.org/2021/12/03/1061055858/potential-2024-rivals-harris-and-buttigieg-ally-to-sell-biden-agenda
Gunnar-
I keep wondering if Kamala is a turkette. This cd be a deciding factor.
Krak-
It's possible that by 2030, these sorts of people will be given medals. There might be a special medal called "Gun them down in the street like a dog."
mb
Nooooooo...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/04/cream-cheese-bagel-new-york-supply-chain
Zig-
Nothing like shooting yrself in the foot, amigo. I hope between now and the time you leave the planet, you come to terms w/what a jackass you are. Consider yrself expunged. Meaning no disrespect, but you are one large pile of shit. Pew!
mb
Pastrami-
I may hafta kill myself.
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
MB-
Many thanks for yr advice about my Karen. I'm certain that my Karen stole my laptop right outta my car about 2-3 wks ago, and incidentally, last night, my Karen vigorously flipped me off when I told her to turn down her music while she and two other drunk Karens were in a backyard hot tub at 12:15 AM. I tell ya, it's raining Karens here! Perhaps I should somehow cultivate more Karens.
Miles
Dr B:
I read this essay by Tom Nichols
https://newsletters.theatlantic.com/peacefield/61a69df40b037b002073ccd5/fight-like-adults/
and it got me hypothesizing: The American empire is collapsing from arrested development. Other empires collapsed from other causes. The American empire is collapsing because prosperity, technology, consumerism, and other factors combined to render a critical mass of the populace perpetually infantile.
I think you might have already expressed this idea in one of your books, but my aging, sieve-like brain has a hard time remembering.
In any case, the evidence for infantilism is pretty impressive.
Santa as co-defendant? Are you sure you do not want to come to USA
for Christmas?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/santa-bring-ammo-gop-congressman-212141833.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3yTU2DiiJ0
Apparently, there's no limit to how delusional Americans can become.
Zig-
Time to give it up. I'm deleting your posts unread. You have made it clear that you are a pathetic piece of dreck, a turkey, a buffoon, and a horse's ass. Don't take this personally, but I vomit on you. Find a blog that will celebrate your cutting-edge insights, your penetrating intellect. Yuck.
Nadine-
It could be that when a civilization collapses, mental illness becomes more widespread. I'm seriously wondering what % of the American public is batshit crazy. Consider the clip posted by Art, above. How is this not mental illness?
Pete-
This guy's not too bright. How is exhortation that Americans grow up, going to change anything at all? Why would millions of doofuses listen to him, and seriously alter their lives? "Zig" is the norm: you try to talk some sense into him, and he just doubles down. Most Americans are Zigs. See also posts by Nadine and Art: this is the real America, I'm guessing. Anyway, at one pt I was going to write a bk called "Empire of Children," but really, as far as the US goes, I'm all written out. Handwriting on the wall and all that.
Jeff-
The problem is that there is no way of stopping the Karens. They are like an elemental force of nature. Even if a team of Wafers were to fly to LA and pee on their shoes, followed by an extended slapping session, they would, like starfish, regenerate. Just for fun, tho, you might suggest to them that they are the reason the US is going down the drain (take an umbrella w/u to ward off flying saliva).
But then, as you know, Bad Is Good. Let us celebrate Boebert, Greene, Zig, and your neighbors as the cutting edge of our collapse. Go, BoeGreeZig!
mb
On Bezos RE: "elites are trash"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiqYKF0WzjQ
ps: Jeff: This link might help w/yr Karen problem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_lQpj3EMKo
If you sent in $100, do you think you could get a spot to present a
rather different view of the country's future?
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trumps-digital-media-venture-says-205100429.html
MB:
Aww well I apologize! I thought it was a reasonably well known concept nowadays, people are always arguing about it, no disrespect was meant ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Kaiser-
Not to worry, all is forgiven.
Chuck-
Go, Trumpi!
mb
Americans are always finding new ways to be stupid and dangerous.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/california-neil-cummins-school-covid-outbreak-defiant-parents_n_61ac06bbe4b0f398af21fac5
Who needs guns when you can weaponize your children?
Anjin-
In terms of decline, the prospect of weaponizing children is an exciting one. But I still favor guns. The idea of toddlers toting semi-automatic weapons: *now* we're getting somewhere! (where 'somewhere' = cultural suicide)
mb
I found this very Waferish article describing the current situation:
https://harpers.org/archive/2021/09/the-third-force-stupidity-and-transcendence/
The attempt to transcend reality is literally the American way. Putting up with it has grown tiresome and I want to move to Uruguay.
Breaking up: Why else would Desantis want a few hundred soldiers who answer directly to him?
https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/sunshine-soldiers
I know this breaks the 24 hour rule but I thought you'd like to know that at least one member of Congress has taken your advice to Heart. Unfortunately no toddlers but perhaps his five teenage and older children will do.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-us-congressman-posts-family-christmas-picture-with-guns-days-after/
Doctor,
Has Don the Con Trump’s grifting tentacles gone global? Are parts of Europe now a mini U.S.A.? “Make ‘Austria’ great again” and our stale words here in our U.S.A.! of “Freedom” now are being shouted in Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium concerning the wearing of masks and restrictions. It’s as if the far right Fox News watchers have taken a trip over there. As with the sitcom “Friends”, is our propagandist media that powerful that Europeans, like USAins, now can’t think on their own? I know we Wafers/Declinists here enjoy seeing and providing examples of this pathetic country devolving into a wasteland. But could Europe be following in our footsteps? Are they copying us? Just some food for thought.
https://globalnews.ca/news/8425734/covid-19-protests-europe/
https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-europe-belgium-brussels-a198e91209c3900b2c064bdc6fd19c82
Pete and BM - Americans have been killing themselves at increasing rates for over 20 years. The rate decreased slightly in 2020 but not for young adults and people of color.
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20211103/suicide-rates-2020-cdc
Some suicides take others with them (school and mall shootings, whole families).
Some societies produce more mentally ill persons than others. Like America.
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/may/mental-health-conditions-substance-use-comparing-us-other-countries
More U.S. adults have received mental health diagnoses than adults in other high-income countries. (see the chart) Rates are higher among those with concerns about safety of their neighborhoods and ability to get food and shelter. (Millions and increasing) When Americans have mental problems they are the least likely to afford it. (Let them eat kuchen)
USians were pure class in the Buffoon Lives Matter (BLM); who in their right mind would go to 3rd world "shitholes" when you can "live" in the bestest, most amazing, incredible place on God's green Earth and "revolt" & "resist" against your corporate masters.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/arsonist-who-set-fire-to-chase-bank-in-la-mesa-sentenced-to-probation/2805468/
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-10-21/man-pleads-guilty-to-arson-for-chase-bank-fire-during-la-mesa-protest
Maybe the "activist" was inspired by Jose Bove (French man who burned down a French McDonald's in 1999)?
If you ever have moments where you think, 'Really, every culture has problems. The US, sure, but it will work its way through them; we're a good people. Just give up more time,' here's another nail in that delusion. Homeowners get an appraisal. It seems low. So they 'erase' all signs in the home that they are black, have a white friend act like the owner. Appraisal goes up 50%.
This country needs to die, fast.
https://wealthnewshubb.com/a-black-couple-erased-themselves-from-their-home-and-got-a-higher-appraisal-their/
No doubt the panic was caused by the fear that another lunatic
shooter was in the crowd attending a vigil for the dead from the
efforts of the previous lunatic shooter. This shows how aware the
locals are about instant, senseless death in America the BeeeUtiful.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/panicked-mourners-seen-running-during-012021203.html
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLuDhwZUJ1c
A popular American "comedian" named J. P. Sears is performing shows where he openly calls for hating blacks, murdering trans people and nuking Seattle and Portland, among other things. Maybe this will be the only type of "comedy" available after the boogaloo.
If everyone did this, the country would be vacated by its residents
moving out to an other country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo-QIY7ys-k
Hi Professor, this link is to the most recent video produced by the Future of Life Institute. It's really frightening.
https://youtu.be/9rDo1QxI260
There are a couple other videos with the same theme from the last few years.
A link I found on nakedcapitalism.com (Humans are Doomed to go Extinct from Scientific American) is also of interest: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/humans-are-doomed-to-go-extinct/
Just spreadin' holiday joy!
Hope all is going well,
Chuck
Fascinating and disturbing book.
https://www.amazon.com/When-We-Cease-Understand-World/dp/1681375664
A fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining.
“When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut is the strangest and most original book I’ve read for years. It hovers in a state between fiction and non-fiction, or wave and particle, and makes an account of modern mathematics and science into something as eerie as a great ghost story.” Philip Pullman
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM9580YW3UY
Biden has scaled back drone strikes quite a bit, and seems to want to end them entirely. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, now dominated by Trump lunatics, is ready to overturn Roe vs. Wade. This means less American imperialism and more damage to America. Great news if you ask me.
Here's another recent call for break-up of U-S-A! U-S-A!:
https://www.aier.org/article/dear-america-its-time-to-break-up/
The author, Max Borders, calls for "decentralization" under the banner of "economic freedom," no surprise as his organization, the American Institute for Economic Research, promotes a libertarian perspective. They are silent about decentralization extending to the economic realm. Would their ideal simply be one, two, or many Turkey- or Buffoono-stans?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YS9LWXuktoA
Hmm, Oliver Stone has a new documentary out on JFT revisited. I always thought his theory was half-baked.
America as a "Phantom Empire"
Does America really need 225,000 troops in 175 countries?
https://richardhanania.substack.com/p/america-as-a-phantom-empire
Just to be cautious, make sure the kiddies are never exposed to
WAFerism. Sex and race are already troublesome enough.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/one-more-deadly-school-shooting-210957994.html
In my last post I mentioned that I was reading Patrick Deneen's "Why Liberalism Failed". Now that I am finished, I just wanted to follow up and say that he really is outstanding. And while it's less than 200 pages, this is just an all-around erudite and and insightful book. I would definitely put it on the "must read" list for Wafers.
Here is a lecture where he deals with some of the central themes of the book:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vflOc2W_Gvw
There are plenty of other good videos of him giving talks or interviews, but I figure that you can just look them up on your own if you like this one I've posted. Though here is one more (an interview) that I thought was pretty good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8pmXtjMiAI
Incidentally, Deneen's ideas about "where to go after liberalism" are pretty consonant with Dr. Berman's idea of "dual process". So I thought that was interesting as well.
Wafers-
Thank you for yr patience. Internet connection has been down for 3 days now in various parts of city, and I was affected. May still be, I'm not sure. I asked Telmex to bring me a new modem. Hope that does it. Meanwhile, I think someone suggested a film called "Unhinged." I just watched it, wonder if this is America in 10 yrs.
yeah-
Sorry, I don't host other blogs.
mb
Greetings MB and Wafers,
Joke nation dept.:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/january-6-insurrection-trump-coup-2024-election/620843/?utm_source=msn
Democracy is on its farcical last gasp.
Miles
Jeff-
I hit a paywall. Is there any other way to access it?
mb
MB and Wafers,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmI5o3dS2e8
Lauren Boebert thinks arming her preteens with machine guns is the perfect way to celebrate the holidays. I wonder how many Republicans will do the same.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPhoYgJUWAw
A Trump-voting Karen argues that all victims of the Holocaust chose to be starved, raped, beaten, tortured and murdered, and that Hitler went to heaven. When a prog tries to talk sense into her, she doubles down and makes bad-faith accusations. She's a true American, and a perfect example of why America can't be saved.
65% of Germans feel raising taxes "substantially" on millionaires would be fair. Some 63% of the French feel the same way.
In the US, just 47% agree.
https://inequality.org/
MB-
Try accessing it here, under the Related Link(s) section:
https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101886843/writer-barton-gellman-warns-trumps-next-coup-has-already-begun
Please excuse 2nd post violation.
Miles
"...only 7 percent of the January 6 insurgents were jobless, and more than half of the group had a white-collar job or owned their own business. There were doctors, architects, a Google field-operations specialist, the CEO of a marketing firm, a State Department official. “The last time America saw middle-class whites involved in violence was the expansion of the second KKK in the 1920s"
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/january-6-insurrection-trump-coup-2024-election/620843/
Someone ran data on those 1/6 insurgents and yeahhhhhh
economic anxiety isn't their problem.
I think this poem packs an unprepossessing, but somehow satisfying, Waferian “punch” to it. See what you all think. Enjoy.
https://poems.com/poem/music-is-not-a-tree/
Not sure about Jeff's link, however, you can sometimes gain access by using the Wayback Machine.
https://www.google.com/search?q=wayback+machine&oq=wayback+machine&aqs=edge..69i57j69i61l2.6059j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Let's say you want to read this article from the NYT.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/nyregion/trump-subpoena-testimony-letitia-james.html
For me it comes up behind a paywall, but copy the address and paste it into the wayback machine, then click on today's date and select one of the captures. Hint, usually a later time is better. Sometimes you get the paywall as a capture, but often not. As is the case in the article I liked, here it is in the wayback machine as something readable.
https://web.archive.org/web/20211209171856/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/nyregion/trump-subpoena-testimony-letitia-james.html
Roland-
Great poem, thanks.
Nadine-
I'm a bit disappointed w/Boebert. Why isn't she encouraging her kids to hunt down Muslims and kill them in the street, like dogs?
mb
A missed opportunity! The containers could have been shipped filled
with pensioners, those with CV-19, the unemployed, the homeless, as
many undocumented aliens who could be collected, and all others
rated as a burden on society. A sure way to make America great
again is to return the population to what it was WHEN it was great.
Fair is fair! America made all those foreigners prosperous in the
old day, so what's wrong with sending back those that are not
prosperous? [View this as a Trumpish proposal.]
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-biggest-export-air-thanks-162351809.html
https://thesaker.is/andrei-martyanov-reacts-to-senator-wicker-idea-to-bomb-russia-with-nukes/
I am very angry and disappointed at the same time. For all the help that Russia gave to United States historically, this is how one says thank you? what is even worse, many Americans are ignorant of this history! Russia helps and wants to be friend, and response is: "lets bomb russkies to the stone age" Awful, truly awful.
"According to the Texas Almanac, the Lone Star State extends 801 straight-line miles from north to south and 773 miles from east to west." Distance between Kiev and Moscow is just 470 miles. As a Ukrainian, this just.....no words for this! Ukraine will also be destroyed with 1000 chernobyls!
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