April 18, 2022

The Sadness of War

It’s quite a sight, across America, Americans waving Ukrainian flags, boycotting vodka, petitioning universities to cancel courses in Russian lit, and so on, while the MSM feeds us a daily stream of pro-Ukrainian propaganda. This is not to discount the massacres perpetrated by the Russian army; all that is horribly real. Although the US also continues to massacre civilians (via drones) on a daily basis, in the name of “fighting for democracy.” Americans have no objections to those massacres, and are happy with the military euphemism for the slaughter of innocents: “collateral damage.” So Putin is Hitler, a madman, a butcher, etc.; no further analysis of the situation is required.

What the MSM, especially the social media, also does is block out (i.e., censor) empirical studies and alternative narratives. Keen political analysts like John Mearsheimer, Scott Ritter, Glenn Greenwald, and Michael Brenner are not welcome on its sites. And what do these scholars and journalists point out? Among other things, that Putin was trying, for 15 years, to sit down with the US and discuss its concerns regarding Russian border safety. After all, when JFK discovered that Khrushchev had planted nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962, 200 miles from Miami, he displayed no Putinesque restraint: he rightly hit the ceiling. So now, NATO and the US want to do the same in the Ukraine, near the Russian border, and America refuses to discuss it. Only our concerns count, apparently. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that America, and Biden, prefer war to peace, détente, and negotiation. A black-and-white, Manichaean narrative is much easier to grasp, and, in fact, much more satisfying. Why would that be the case?

The typical American carries a huge load of sadness within him/her. For reasons I have explained in various articles and books, s/he is pretty miserable. Their lives did not turn out as planned, and they are bitter, angry, and hurting way deep down. In such a case, what would be the sensible way to deal with this terrible constellation of emotions? You go to a therapist, you admit your pain, and you learn how to work through it. But this is not what the typical American does. Instead, he or she turns to opioids, alcohol, suicide, cell phones, television, food, drugs of all kinds—and especially, the self-righteous energy of war. This is not an original observation on my part; many writers have pointed it out. War mobilizes tremendous energy, such that all of that internal pain gets repressed, and deflected into rage against a cartoon ‘enemy’ who is barely understood.

So today, the mistake of the Cold War, which devastated both sides of the fight in so many ways, is now being resurrected and replayed. Americans are certainly not open to Mearsheimer’s argument (for example), that it is the US that bears responsibility for what is happening in the Ukraine. Americans barely know what facts are, and in any case are not interested in them. What gets their attention are emotions, which they stupidly confuse with ideas. And when the dust settles, their inner pain will still remain, because repressing it through war finally will not work. This is the immense sadness of war, and one thing is guaranteed: we will not pursue a different path. Hiding out, so to speak, whether on a microlevel or a macrolevel, can only work against us; it is the latest development in the ongoing, and inevitable, disintegration of the US.

-mb

102 Comments:

Anonymous Kris said...

The Future Is Degrowth
A Guide to a World Beyond Capitalism - Verso
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3989-the-future-is-degrowth

This looks like something the blog community will enjoy!

4:51 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

Another funny road rage incident. It only can happen here in the land of “exceptionalism”. A short synopsis: If you aren’t involved in the original dispute and merely are another observer, get out of your car and join the fracas. Also, if you don’t have a gun, use a machete. If you don’t have a machete, use a hammer to do violence.
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/man-assaulted-with-hammer-woman-hit-with-car-pike-place-market-road-rage-incident/TXCYOTHTDZGLZII2NLKH2KJFLM/

Here’s one hot off “the Strip”:
https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/04/18/one-dead-suspected-las-vegas-road-rage-shooting-flamingo-jones/

And that great conservative, family values, gun loving state of Texas is still going strong.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2022/04/18/woman-injured-in-suspected-road-rage-shooting-fort-worth-police-say/

5:14 PM  
Anonymous Sasha said...

“I never imagined in my life that this company would be so famous, [the CEO of world's biggest spyware company told Ronan Farrow.] I never imagined that we would be so successful. And I never imagined that it would be so controversial.”

How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/04/25/how-democracies-spy-on-their-citizens

6:23 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Kris-

Looks good. I've talked about degrowth in the past, and did a lecture on the subject at Simon Fraser U. in Vancouver a few years ago (part of my talk on Japan; see "Neurotic Beauty"). I think the clip is still online somewhere.

Joe-

Great stuff! Declinism in full flower.

mb

6:56 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

A sophisticated analysis of America's problems:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/18/tucker-carlson-masculinity-crisis-testicle-tanning

7:19 PM  
Anonymous Rollo Dice said...

Let us remember that if the life of an American is not working out,
the instinctual remedy is to carry a handgun. One has to wonder why
all you hear is the nonsensical word "community" when describing any
group of Americans, yet this same community encourages its members
to carry a firearm just in case this community is not what it pretends
to be. What a source of anxiety it must be when one only feels safe
when adequately armed.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/pro-gun-group-argues-georgias-213750540.html

8:58 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Rollo-

Yes, another deadly addiction, to avoid dealing with reality, and pain. Meanwhile, Americans are blowing each other outta the water at an amazing rate. Reasonably, we can feel bad; but from a declinist pt of view, this is just hastening the (inevitable) process.

mb

9:18 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wafers-

Do you think the Dems will pay any attention to Eliz Warren?:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-warns-democrats-big-losses-midterms_n_625da3aae4b0e97a3521184c

Of course not. What they will do is beat off. And come November, get their asses handed to them on a platter.

mb

10:57 PM  
Anonymous Rockwell N. Role said...

AS MB named it, "the self-righteous energy of war," especially the
war to save white America is a way out of frustration at no one
listening to what we know is the truth. Trump's stolen election
twaddle is a pure example. For those with a memory of triumphant
Nazis always marching at night in large numbers and carrying torches,
we see the same with America's brand of race supremacy. It is when
they start singing that we have to worry. Yelling is frightening
enough, but the singing!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPLvWO_SOgM

1:02 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Rock-

Yeah, singing is the worst.

mb

1:10 AM  
Blogger CB said...

I am not schooled in history so I am not sure of what to believe about the Ukrainian / Russian conflict. I do find the American response to it strange and over the top. There are many Ukrainian flags flying in my neighborhood. The one guy who rotates his "Biden sucks!" and "Desantis 2024" must love it. Not! My ex's friend actually flew over to the Ukraine to help. I hear he is buying train tickets for Ukrainians to help them flee. I guess that is a nice gesture. Perhaps it is the emptiness of Americans that is driving them to want to get involved in this issue? Hard to say.

10:30 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

CB-

Check out what I wrote in my blog post.

mb

10:42 AM  
Anonymous Glans Butterworth, III said...

Wafer CB--This jazz piece appears apropos to most USians -except their 'mind' is not just on 'vacation'-it's on a permanent vacation.

"If you must keep talkin’
Please try to make it rhyme
Because your mind is on vacation and your mouth is workin’ overtime"--Mose Allison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ESX9bYaGY4

1:27 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Shithouse said...

Such passion and fury in the US empire. However, where's the Ukrainian flags, love conquers all signs, and pussy hats?

https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/u5e38p/woman_tears_down_pedo_world_sign_at_rally_today/

1:35 PM  
Anonymous immaculate said...

Not sure where to leave corrections to points long ago, but I'll drop this here. You've said that Catholics think "Immaculate Conception" refers to the conception of Christ, but there's a large movement today who say no, in fact Immaculate Conception does refer to Mary & a lineage of priestesses conceiving children with their minds. This New Age confusion may be in the culture now, so people use terms interchangeably.

https://www.innertraditions.com/blog/the-mystery-behind-the-immaculate-conception

5:07 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

immac-

Well, if i.c. refers to Mary, then that *wd* be the conception of Christ, no? It seems to me the confusion lies w/u. Two other things you shd know: one, I don't post other blogs on this one, and two, this is not a blog about religion; it's abt the collapse of the American empire. In future, pls stick to this latter topic. Thank you.

mb

6:00 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

MB, Wafers-

Glans-

I absolutely adore Mose Allison.

MB, Wafers-

Wafer T-shirt Ideas:

* Americans are incapable of conducting honest, logical, and informed discourse about anything other than chicken
sandwiches

* I want my Tulsi workout tape

* Jesus/Lorenzo Riggins for President 2024

* Testicle tanning is life

Miles

6:25 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff-

What is going on these days w/Tulsi, anyway? She seems unusually quiet. America needs her now more than ever.

mb

6:50 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Clem-

This blog is not abt religion. Do you have any info for us on the collapse of the American empire?

mb

9:01 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Check these out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic15_VOQJCs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfzAxFbwArE

On an unrelated topic, how many of you guys think Elon Musk is a douche bag?

mb

9:35 PM  
Anonymous Matt Reese said...

Can this be the start to the second confederacy? How can the
withdrawal of three states and the eastern part of two others be
considered to be true patriotism? The usual Biden stole the
election and the country is falling into the hands of domestic
communism is reason enough for true patriots to rise up and cause
parts of the country to simply leave the union? I wonder if there
could be a WAFer chapter for Idaho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy6RQJQ6J5w

2:10 AM  
Blogger Xair said...

Wafers,

So Wimbledon is definitely banning all Russian players. England might as well be America Lite. How long before they ban Dostoevsky, Pushkin, and Chekhov; Perhaps people are too stupid to read them so they remain safe for now. Orwell must be rolling over in his grave.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/report-wimbledon-bar-russian-players-2022-04-20/?taid=625f774900745e00018b91b2&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

8:43 AM  
Blogger ccg said...

Here is an interesting take on the war in Ukraine that you can be certain will never get a hearing in the MSM in the west:

https://www.thepostil.com/the-military-situation-in-the-ukraine/

I learned about this article here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEIFwLKlq1Q

9:01 AM  
Anonymous Bri said...

Primitive communism

Marx’s idea that societies were naturally egalitarian and communal before farming is widely influential and quite wrong

https://aeon.co/essays/the-idea-of-primitive-communism-is-as-seductive-as-it-is-wrong


For those that enjoyed MB's "Wandering God" as much as I did.

4:00 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Bri-

Well, it can reasonably be argued that they were more egalitarian and communal than what came after, I think. But sure, they weren't utopias.

mb

4:37 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

Here's a little anecdote about our fractured nation and our divided people:

My nephew and his fiancé called off their wedding set to take place this summer over the politics of the pandemic. Here's the dealbreaker: he is for the Covid vaccine, and she is against it. It's all very odd, since *both* are in the health care profession. Go figure! Also, according to my nephew, she never let up about the uses of ivermectin in fighting Covid-19. Other than that, they seemed to be a perfect couple: very cute, great chemistry, and healthy and spirited male/female polarity. I tell ya, I give up.

Miles

5:05 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

This is how children behave:

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/janet-yellen-g20-finance-ministerial-protest/index.html

Russia has been trying to get the US to listen to its safety concerns for 15 yrs, w/o success. This latest action is a continuation of that stubborn and arrogant behavior, wh/is the root cause of this war. America wd far prefer war to negotiation.

mb

8:51 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff-

Intelligence is no protection against Cranial-Rectal Embedment. Plus, every day the EBI--Escalating Buffoon Index--goes higher and higher.

mb

8:54 PM  
Blogger Sorry Im Normal said...

While it is true Americans have little to no use for self reflection, the mental health industry has also been invaded by a culture of 'hustling'. I would recommend the book We've had 100 years of therapy and the world is worse by James Hillman.

The MH industry should be bringing families together, not boiling everything down to a diagnosis code. Most therapy is CBT (ie dog training). If you try to bring up wider societal issues you get labeled either paranoid or 'treatment resistant'.

10:13 PM  
Anonymous Chuck Steak said...

Check the very short video that goes with this. It is easily seen
that Morgan thinks Trump is just a vain, lying clown and deserves
little respect. Only in America can a former president be kept on
the news for being a stand-up comedy act with an orange face.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/trump-calls-piers-morgan-fool-214625854.html

10:26 PM  
Anonymous Megan said...

Speaking of "the sadness of war", has everyone here seen "Winter on Fire", on Netflix? It is about the 2014 Maidan protests that eventually led to the ouster of Victor Yanukovych. It is really quite poignant and inspiring. Hard to judge from this distance, but the Ukrainians seem to me like a fine and noble people. It is refreshing to see so many willing to sacrifice their lives for "freedom" and "democracy", and other noble ideals. Watching it made me wonder how Putin, even if he wins this war, intends to keep these people down. Yet, that said, it strikes me that if they ever did get their wish and become Westernized and Nato-ized, etc. wouldn't they lose precisely the qualities that make them the delightful people they appear to be, and at length become just like us?

In a similar vein, I'm just finishing Gary Lachman's book "The Return of Holy Russia". Lachman was the bassist for the band Blondie many decades ago, but don't let that put you off. He is a great writer, particularly on the subject of the occult. "The Return of Holy Russia" is a really well done history, with an emphasis on spirituality, from the time or Rurik and Kievan Rus to Putin. He uses several generalizations like "the Russian soul", so if that sort of thing rubs you the wrong way, you might not like the book. But I thought it was a lot of fun, insightful and informative. I've read almost all of Lachman's books, and am seldom disappointed.

1:01 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Megan-

As a courtesy to other Wafers, it wd be gd if you cd provide links to these items, not just titles. Thank you.

Chuck-

Trumpi was the only time America had a bulvan (Yiddish) as president. Perhaps, in Nov. 2024, we will be able to write: "Bulvan Victorious!"

mb

3:16 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

ps: Megan-

I can't really agree w/yr perception of Ukrainians as 'fine' and 'noble'. 100 yrs ago, they were butchering Jews w/enormous glee, in a series of pogroms that went on for a long time. Also, their collaboration w/the Nazis in the Holocaust is well-documented. Historically speaking, they aren't exactly 'beautiful'. As for what obtains today, it's hard to say, altho there has been some literature regarding the neo-Nazi Azov regiment as part of their armed forces. The following, for example, may or may not be true:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/1/who-are-the-azov-regiment

mb

4:24 AM  
Anonymous BH said...

My former hometown mayor immigrated as a child from the Ukraine with his family to get away from the pogroms right after World War One. He told stories learned from his parents that would give you chills.

12:26 PM  
Blogger Baron Von Strangeknight said...

MB - Last I posted you disagreed with my comment about Scott Ritter, and after thinking some time about it, I believe you're correct. There are plenty of people with expertise who also may hold an unsavory opinion or have behaved some way I don't like. Doesn't invalidate their expertise.

That said, I've watched quite a few interviews with Ritter (and others) in an attempt to wrap my head around Ukraine past and present. Here's one interview I find especially good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtuuCARq94c

To Wafer Megan I suggest also watching this documentary, Ukraine on Fire, which goes into the revolutions as well as the neo-nazi presence and some of Ukraine's Nazi history. Some might view this documentary as propaganda, btw (something that doesn't bother me so much).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf8wdCfB518

My opinion so far is that Ukraine is quite a complicated situation to understand given all of the players and biases the reporters/historian/etc. likely have. I'm leaning towards Putin's main motivation is putting the US and the rest of the world in its place to structure a different world order. Basically to serve the EU and US notice they aren't actually the dominant forces in the world.

12:28 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Shithouse said...

USian abuses liquor store employee. Gets pissed, likely has profound US empire emptiness, and ...drives his pickem-up truck into the store.


https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article260555882.html

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/state/article260566942.html

1:21 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

Megan, MB-

I think Ukraine's anti-Semitic tendencies are currently widespread. Far-right militias such as the Azov Regiment (founded by the self-confessed neo-Nazi and anti-Semite Andriy Biletsky) played a central role in the overthrow of Yanukovych in 2014. That same regiment was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard in 2014 and were deployed in the fight against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, and given access to state-of-the-art weaponry provided by the US and other NATO countries. The Americans are essentially arming anti-Semitic fascists in Ukraine to fight the Russians. Check out these articles:

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-clear-the-kikes-from-ukraine-who-will-confront-kiev-s-anti-semitism-problem-1.7910931

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cohen-ukraine-commentary/commentary-ukraines-neo-nazi-problem-idUSKBN1GV2TY

Miles

2:52 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Dr. Shit-

Americans are so intelligent, no?

Regarding the Ukrainians-

My father's family was caught up in a pogrom in 1919. It was pretty horrible; these people were hardly 'fine' or 'noble'. That particular pogrom is discussed at length in

https://www.amazon.com/Pogromchik-Assassination-Petlura-Saul-Friedman/dp/0805511628/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1THWE1ESHS47Y&keywords=saul+friedman&qid=1650567144&s=books&sprefix=saul+friedman%2Cstripbooks%2C195&sr=1-5

Also check out the pages on the Ukraine in

https://www.amazon.com/Europe-Against-Jews-1880-1945-G%C3%B6tz/dp/1250787645/ref=sr_1_3?crid=MQQ3DDYW2TA2&keywords=gotz+aly&qid=1650567281&s=books&sprefix=gotz+aly%2Cstripbooks%2C264&sr=1-3

mb

2:56 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

$800 million more. A toast to, as Seymour Melman so accurately put it, the permanent war economy. Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and others from the capitalistic military-industrial complex thank you, Mr. President for “defending freedom”.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-biden-announces-new-military-aid-e78a7db76215a84f86586bb56122cd04
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/21/us-sends-800-million-arms-package-to-ukraine.html

Let’s also get a good look at your typical bearded baldy “macho”, “tough guy” USAin. This angry, emotionally unbalanced idiot went on, not one, but 2 road rages minutes apart.
https://tucson.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/32-year-old-man-arrested-in-road-rage-shooting-in-tucson/article_8d09c350-c0e7-11ec-bf2e-8bd8ea681c74.html

4:06 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Joe-

Look at this guy's face: America!

mb

5:17 PM  
Anonymous Cherith Cutestory said...

Relevantly to Dr. Berman's blog post, and very sadly, a journalist named Gonzalo Lira went missing in Ukraine. Here is his youtube channel, Wafers will probably like him a lot for his knowledge and honesty. Lira is Chilean-American and has been reporting from Ukraine exposing Western lies and providing regular analyses and video footage that regularly debunked American/Ukrainian propaganda.

Scott Ritter's article today talks about this, titled An American journalist goes missing in Ukraine. The silence is deafening. (For Wafers, I made his article into an image because Western censorship has been canceling Scott at every turn).

So between Russians and Ukrainian neo-Nazis, the West has embraced the neo-Nazis. I accidentally clicked another garbage Western propaganda site today (BBC) for a news story about Russia's current siege of Ukrainian fighters which includes Azov, and here's how BBC described the Azov neo-Nazi battalion: "a controversial national guard unit with links to the far-right." What scum Western media is.

5:26 PM  
Blogger Jack Lattemann said...

Scott Ritter has posted comprehensive information at the RT website about the disappearance of blogger/raconteur Gonzalo Lira in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Lira, a Chilean-American married to a Ukrainian, for the past two months had been clandestinely posting information about the war in Kharkiv as well as news items critical of the Zelensky regime. I started following Lira's posts about a month ago, and they abruptly ceased on April 15. He seemed to be an individual drawn to dangerously "living on the edge," but very much committed to truth-telling. Nonetheless, he expressed fear of being apprehended and killed by the GBU, the Ukrainian secret police. So far, his disappearance has gone unmentioned in U.S. and European media.

www.rt.com/russia/554289-gonzalo-lira-disappearance-ukraine

If you are unable to access this link, you can find it at this post on the Moon of Alabama website:

www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/ukraine-open-thread-2022-52.html#comments

5:34 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Here's a capsule version of what America, at bottom, is really all about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER77vxxGVAY

Is there a more disgusting human being on this planet?

mb

5:36 PM  
Blogger anderszornpalette said...

When the war in Ukraine first broke out, I had a brief discussion with a co-worker wherein their first take on it was about Trump praising Putin. That’s the depth of political discussion here in SF. I asked him if he’d ever heard of John Mearsheimer - of course the answer was no.

I promptly sent him a link of Mearsheimer giving a lecture on the whole history that lead to this situation and then followed that up with Chomsky essentially saying the same thing. I think I fried his circuits.

Anders

7:13 PM  
Anonymous Cosmo Como said...

You will be delighted to know that in America, if you have sufficient
funds to buy one of these subterranean condos, you will be immortal.
Yes, if going to Mars proves to be impracticable, you and your loved
ones can have the security of living in a previously enjoyed missile
silo with all the convenience of home. It is not explained how you'll
get there in time after the siren go screams to inform you that you
have just 15 minutes to find total safety. Of course, if you want to
get the most out of your sizable investment, you can always live in it
like a mole year-round. I'll try to arrange a 10% discount for WAFers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1sRxCrduA

7:14 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Anders-

I'm not telling you anything you don't know, but the avg American is absolutely clueless regarding US foreign policy, American history, and related topics. S/he is completely gullible, will believe anything the gov't tells them. Remember the "two minutes hate" section of "1984," w/everyone concentrating on hating Goldstein? It's like that, altho now it lasts for much more than 2 mins. So for example, Americans have a cartoon version of Russia, and they themselves are cartoon versions of real human beings.

mb

7:33 PM  
Anonymous Megan said...

Dr. Berman, Miles,

Regarding my comments about Ukrainians appearing to be a "fine" and "noble" people (Which I tried to qualify a bit by saying "hard to judge from this distance"), I was thinking specifically of the idealistic and courageous young people who protested at Maidan, and who willingly walked into bullets and had their skulls cracked open for the sake of their beliefs. I find that admirable.

As for Ukrainians being anti-Semitic, the evidence points in the opposite direction. A recent Pew Poll (referred to in the links below) actually showed that Ukraine is the LEAST anti-Semitic country in Eastern Europe, and also ranks lower than much of Western Europe. In the final link, if you scroll down to the bottom, you will see professor Henry Abramson (an expert on the issue) talks about why this false stereotype that Ukraine is still anti-Semitic has such a powerful hold--especially for Jewish children of Holocaust survivors (Dr. Berman's case). Needless to say, this misconception is more than understandable, historically speaking. But the evidence seems to paint the opposite picture.

https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-692443
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/antisemitism-in-ukraine-607232
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_Ukraine

1:07 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Megan-

Thanks for the input. I'm not speaking merely out of personal experience; if you read the bks by Friedman and Aly (among many others), you'll get a v. different picture from the one cited in your links--w/exception of the Wiki piece, wh/certainly seems to support the case for historic, and virulent, Ukrainian antisemitism. Some chg might be indicated for recent years, altho Wiki posts the following caveat:

"This article or section appears to be slanted towards recent events. (March 2022)"

Also check out the links provided by Miles; these are hardly the product of fantasy or delusion. Hard to make a solid case for 'fine' and 'noble', as far as I can see.

mb

2:17 AM  
Anonymous Orca said...

Wafers and Dr. Berman, I usually keep to myself in the streets but the other day I came across a person who introduced himself as "non-binary, black, maoist religious activist and PhD student who sells homemade porn online as a side hustle. America is entertaining, I tell you!

On another note, Germany is making space for ukrainians by displacing afghan refugees. and then there are non confirmed news that some of these refugees have defaced Soviet and holocaust memorials (I hope it's fake news).

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/04/20/germany-refugee-policy-afghanistan-ukraine/

https://mobile.twitter.com/DenisRogatyuk/status/1516959862428680192

As for the dead empire, yesterday I watched a documentary about Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the 21st century" and it made me think for a possible future, a capitalist feudal state (in the medieval way).

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt5723056/

5:10 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Orca-

This wd fit rt in w/our discussion of Ukrainian antisemitism, in particular this comment:

"Ukrainian collaborators played a fundamental part in the execution of the Holocaust, providing the necessary manpower for maintaining the camps’ infrastructure." (this is well-known)

But as far as Ukrainian refugees defacing Holocaust memorials: it wdn't surprise me, but as you say, it cd be fake news. The guy who posted this info has not been able to source it.

mb

8:40 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

ps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Ukraine

8:46 AM  
Anonymous Glans Butterworth, III said...

Just another day in cesspool US empire: drunk US-er taunts boxer Mike Tyson on a plane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE2XEMmXEuc

8:47 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Here's the straight poop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74iAMskV68Y

Meanwhile, the US is full of shit, Americans are boycotting vodka, and universities are cancelling courses in Dostoevsky. Really, what can ya say?

Some Wafers have asked me what I wd do if I were rich. That's easy: I wd set up an Institute for the Study of Buffoonology.

mb

9:59 AM  
Blogger anderszornpalette said...

Dr Berman-

Funny you should mention 1984, as I happen to be re-reading it. It’s quite astounding given current events, and frankly, a bit depressing since Orwell is looking like Nostradamus at this point.

However, I need to read Brave New World next - I’m seeing a blend of the two authors predictions/warnings of the future take shape. Think of social media - it both distracts/entertains and also serves as a propaganda arm for whomever can execute influence over companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google/YouTube. Google’s latest update to Google Docs is now going to make suggestions on replacing words such as “mother" or "landlord" to make them more "inclusive" which just means more woke. MSN seems to like the idea but not it’s execution.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/google-docs-is-having-some-serious-issues-with-its-new-inclusive-language-warnings/ar-AAWpkWs

12:44 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Greetings MB and Wafers,

Megan-

Well, it seems that the question is how free Ukraine is of antisemitism today? I guess only a cynic could disagree with experts indicating that there is now such a low rate of antisemitism found within Ukraine today. This good news is, however, cold comfort, given the history of radical antisemitism found within Ukraine's past, and the fact that Ukrainian nationalism (which seems to drive antisemitism), is intensifying as a result the confrontation with Russia. Check out the January 1, 2021 march through Kyiv in honor of Stepan Bandera, head of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during WW II. Bandera was a Nazi collaborator who murdered 40,000 Jews. Kyiv holds an *annual* rally celebrating this butcher. Does the glorification of Bandera, and others like him, who fully supported Nazi ideology, not tarnish the memory of Holocaust victims in the Ukraine? And what about the desecration of the Babi Yar Holocaust site by neo-Nazis, year after year? These things should not be taken lightly. Yes, it may be that Ukrainian antisemitism is down from its peak, and possibly no longer fueled by total Christian hostility to Judaism writ large, but Ukrainian nationalism should be watched very, very closely. I think we would all be quite surprised, when pressed, at how many Ukrainians still believe that Nazi Germany was fighting on behalf of Ukraine against so-called Judeo-Bolshevism.

Miles

12:57 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff-

Not clear how Megan or her sources wd deal w/the mountains of lit on Ukrainian antisemitism. Can't just be dismissed w/a few contemporary stats. Let me also recommend Yevtushenko's poem, "Babi Yar."

mb

1:46 PM  
Blogger Baron Von Strangeknight said...

On the Ukraine:

Here is an interesting video and I wish I could see the complete talk. His main point is that just a few years before 2014 the US and Russia were cooperating on joint projects. But then something changed (neo cons asserting themselves? that's my theory). Or, it's possible that due to flourishing neo nazi groups in Ukraine the cooperation fell apart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5ISZvoFDpg

Sorry I wish there was more information about the video. I'm not sure who the speaker is--a former Obama admin employee.

2:11 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Baron-

The speaker in question is Michael McFaul, US Ambassador to Russia under Obama. Recently, and quite predictably, he compared Hitler's Nazi crimes to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Gee, I wonder what went wrong! Some Ambassador, eh?

Please excuse this 2nd post violation, MB.

Miles

3:38 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jeff-

When I think of the bullshit America wallows in, whether it's Ukraine or Chile or Afghanistan or etc., I get so tired I hafta lie down. There just isn't enuf slapping, enuf urine, to make even a 1% correction in our twisted perceptions. There never comes a pt of wake-up. 20 wasted yrs in Afghanistan, and no one cares. Humiliating defeat in Vietnam, and most Americans think we won that war. A string of experts showing that Putin's invasion after 15 yrs of being ignored on the subject of Russian border safety is understandable, and America prefers war to peace, and Americans are energized by yet another self-righteous, Manichaean trap. I'd like to set up an Institute for Buffoonological Analysis, but between now and the coming American collapse, there will be practically no one in the country who will say, "Gee, I wonder if we've been doing something wrong." The country will go down the drain w/o the slightest understanding of why that happened.

mb

3:50 PM  
Blogger Jack Lattemann said...

Blogger/raconteur Gonzalo Lira is still alive and has resurfaced in Kharkiv, Ukraine. He says he is currently under house arrest after being detained since April 15 by the Ukrainian GBU, but said while participating in a discussion on The Duran geopolitical blog that he couldn't talk about the specific circumstances of his detention. You can listen to his comments at this link, "Hello World, Gonzalo Lira":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PulorgALjY

4:02 PM  
Anonymous Rockwell N. Role said...

Missing is a theme song for Waferism. For this, I suggest early Dylan
and America as he saw it in the 1960s. It is hard to imagine another
song such as this being written for a bewildered and confused USA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBNWkCsmqAY

10:49 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Rock-

Yeah, gd, but I'd like to see a song that includes mention of pastrami and chopped liver. Of course a revised Woody Guthrie might also work:

"This land is not your land
This land is not my land...
This land wasn't made for you and me."

mb

11:35 PM  
Anonymous Megan said...

Dr Berman, Miles,

I'm the last person who would claim to be an expert on this. I hope you didn't see my post as confrontational. I was just throwing out what I thought were some striking data, in the spirit of a dialectical conversation, in order to get closer to the actual truth of the matter. Not making a claim to knowledge that I don't possess. If there are other polls or data that show that Ukraine is virulently anti-Semitic, I would, I'm certain, react by modifying my opinion. I don't feel I have a dog in the fight. The beliefs that I hold now at age 50_are radically different from how I saw the world at 25. Dr Berman's America trilogy, significantly, shook me from many a dogmatic slumber. So I'm very good at course correction. It is actually nice to be proven wrong sometimes regarding one's opinions, because then you have definitely learned something!

Still, the Pew Poll is at least a rather shocking result, no? But I posted it not to "score any points" or win a debate, which is childish, but simply to add to the discussion.

2:29 AM  
Anonymous Orca said...

Wafers, I've come across a new social phenomenon the US has to offer next to mass shooting and Karens, the incels and the red pill.
Here's a sample of who they are, notice the comment section calling the man a hero

https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCrwWhbjKCsRmpYWvsklj4dQ/videos

And here is their internet gathering space and "theory creation" space (the comunity is quarantained by Reddit so you have to press continue to procede)

https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/

There you can find titles such as "How To Use The Desperation of Ukrainian War Refugees to Your Sexual Advantage" or "HOW TO GET LAID LIKE A WARLORD: 37 Rules of Approaching Model-Tier Girls"

First I thought this is a marginal phenomenon but man was I wrong. Thousands of men follow this absurde lifestyle and many women are complaining about it. And although it might seem like an international thing, their "theorists" and most of them are americans. (Google for example Rollo Tomassi or Jack Donovan).

America's providing us with more fun things to watch as it crumbles down.

5:52 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Megan-

This blog has no problem hosting arguments, so you have little to worry abt; and I'm glad you provided the links that you did. In a sane world (gd luck!), arguments are decided by evidence. So the question is whether the weight of (fairly recent) evidence here belongs to Pew, or to the rather extensive studies that demonstrate a history of Ukrainian antisemitism and violence toward Jews. Anyway, we are hardly opposed to serious debate; I thank you for it.

mb

8:32 AM  
Blogger Baron Von Strangeknight said...

Wafer Miles - Thank you for enlightening me about about McFaul. It seems he has quite a vested interest in continuing the government's narrative on Ukraine. This Caitlin Johnstone piece is illuminating: https://consortiumnews.com/2022/02/24/caitlin-johnstone-12-thoughts-on-ukraine/

I have a lot of learning to do about Ukraine, obviously.

10:01 AM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

More mass shootings…...the latest one in this wasteland’s capital.
https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/fairfax-man-suspected-in-d-c-mass-shooting-found-dead/article_42281bc0-c2a9-11ec-b83a-cf11fb608f2d.html

Of course, as part of this violent wasteland/de facto police state, one can murder, execution style, with impunity and without worrying about having his name divulged if he's a cop.
https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2022/04/at-funeral-for-patrick-lyoya-rev-al-sharpton-demands-police-accountability.html

Or if a cop tries to kill someone while involved in a road rage.
https://news4sanantonio.com/news/local/an-altercation-between-an-off-duty-officer-led-to-shooting-at-west-side-local-san-antonio-texas-crime-gun-violence

But let this shitty nation keep its eyes focused on Ukraine as this fuckin’ violent pathetic shithole sinks deeper into irrelevance on the world stage. And if you are one of these many idiotic, conservative Bible-thumping Christians who reside in Florida, keep giving kudos to DeSantis. That’s because sexuality is all that matters, both to you and that pathetic religion of yours here in this Christian theocracy.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61192982

U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!

10:49 AM  
Blogger k_pgh said...

From the Anti-Defamation League’s Most Recent Survey of Ukraine (2019):

46% of Ukrainians Harbor Anti-Semitic Attitudes

• 72% of Ukrainians: “Jews have too much power in the business world”
• 44% of Ukrainians: “Jews still talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust”
• 42% of Ukrainians: “People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave”

Comparing with the ADL’s previous 2015 survey, Ukrainian antisemitism has gotten worse.


Dan,

Sorry to hear about your mother. Hope you are doing okay. My mom and I were concerned by your absence especially in the middle of Covid. Hope you are taking good care of yourself.

11:32 AM  
Anonymous Glenn said...



This land is my land
This land's not your land
Cuz I was born here
And you're a fore-ner

when I am driving
That ribbon of highway
stay out of my way
an' hear what I say

I'm goin' for liver
and hot pastrami
and you'll be run down
if you get in my way

(This song's a parody
not really 'bout me
cuz this land's not made
for one like me)

11:40 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

k-

Gosh, what a surprise!

mb

12:01 PM  
Blogger Miles Deli said...

Hola MB and Wafers,

k-

Many thanks for this data.

Baron-

Sure thing!

Megan-

No worries. I didn't see your post as confrontational at all. I also appreciated the data you provided. It's just that antisemitism in Ukraine is very real, as indicated by k's data from the ADL. In addition, I think it's best to be very cautious and critical of the official line of the US govt. ("there are no antisemites in Ukraine because the president is Jewish") provides when it comes to foreign policy directed at Russia. Never forget we are led by a parade of buffoons!

Love,

Miles

9:01 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Wafers-

I'd like to tell you abt a show I participated in yesterday, as part of a cultural festival held at UNAM in Mexico City. For 20 yrs now, my Spanish-language publisher has been Sexto Piso Editorial; they just brought out the Span trans of "Are We There Yet?". Recently, I acquired an additional publisher, online, named ipstori (Google the name for more info). A great bunch of folks, and they organized yesterday's event around one of my short stories (translated into Spanish by my dear friend Juan Antonio) from "The Heart of the Matter," the one entitled "The Politically Correct Comedy Hour." The room was packed; there were 5 of us on the dais. One was the Mexican actress Sandra Burgos, who read aloud the section of the story where Sarah McLeod interviews Tracey Fandangle, who called 911 because McDonald's left the bacon off of her cheeseburger. (Lots of audience laughter; I also told Sarah, after the event was over, that I was in love w/her. It is with some sadness that I hafta tell you that a June wedding is not in the offing.)

What struck me the most abt the session was the positivity, intelligence, receptivity, and actual warmth, of the audience--day and night from an American audience, in my experience. They were not belligerent, they had no agendas, they were just appreciative of the discussion we all had, and enjoyed themselves. Very open to my own discussion of the war in the Ukraine, for wh/I got a fair amt of applause. Miles (above) pointed out that we are led by buffoons, wh/is of course true; but I must also note that these buffoons are leading millions of other buffoons, possibly 334 million of them. It's all marionettes on strings, really, as I show in some of the essays in QOV. Not so for this Mexican audience, which was awake, aware, and alive. Americans, in contrast, remind me of Orwell's line abt "the gramophone mind," in wh/people can be counted on to automatically parrot a party line. (Flexibility is hardly an American strong suit.) Anyway, a gd time was had by all, and I was reminded of how happy I was to not be living in the US.

mb

10:49 PM  
Anonymous Rockwell N. Role said...

More mood music for WAFers from Dylan of the 60s. Now that he has the
Nobel Prize and $400 million for his songs, he has allowed all his
seminal early albums to be heard on YouTube. You can listen to this
lengthy piece and imagine that you are walking through a large US city
to see the sights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUvcWXTIjcU

1:58 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Here's a good (and well-deserved) slap in the face to Oprah:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/apr/24/dont-insist-on-being-positive-negative-emotions-much-to-teach-us

as well as Barb's bk from 12 yrs ago:

https://www.amazon.com/Bright-sided-Positive-Thinking-Undermining-America/dp/0312658850/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FSTNBLX9SS97&keywords=bright+sided+how+positive+thinking+is+undermining+america&qid=1650802474&s=books&sprefix=bright+sided%2Cstripbooks%2C535&sr=1-1

Ever since Norman Vincent Peale, Americans have had their heads tucked firmly in their rumps. Asked by a reporter what he thought of NVP vs. St. Paul, Adlai Stevenson replied: "I find Paul appealing, and Peale appalling."

mb

8:19 AM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

Dr. Berman & Wafers,
What USAins shall do to not lose their modern day ersatz teddy bears. Ha!Ha!Ha! The story has a happy ending. As the article says, “she was ‘reunited’ with her phone”. LOL!
https://www.wral.com/woman-rescued-after-falling-in-toilet-trying-to-get-phone/20248062/

10:50 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Joe-

They shd have left her in. As for fones, let me backtrack 2 days to the event I reported on. When I looked out on the crowd, I didn't see a single person using a fone. My experience of public events in the US is that half the audience, instead of being present at the event, is staring into their cell fones. Why? Because they are buffoons, whereas a Mexican audience understands the concept of respect, and of paying attention.

mb

1:34 PM  
Blogger Xair said...

Wafers,


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/23/us-warns-solomon-islands-against-china-military-base-as-australian-mps-trade-blame?CMP=share_btn_tw
So Putin is supposed to tolerate NATO on his border without any complaining about it representing a threat to him. However,the Solomon islands can't enter into a security pact with China without it representing some kind of threat to the United States and Australia. As always, threats to national security are only valid if the U.S. says so.

5:01 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Check this out:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/24/elizabeth-warren-democrats-midterms-warning

Now for a bit of reality: come November, the Democrats, who have been beating off for months and will continue to do so, are going to get creamed. It may prove to be the heaviest midterm defeat in American history. Declinists will smile, shake their heads.

mb

8:04 PM  
Blogger THE LIBRARIAN said...

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/apr/09/ron-desantis-disney-republican-culture-war

We're now supposed to be taking sides between The Disney Corp. and DeSantis?

It IS all about taking sides,isn't it?

10:03 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Librarian-

Yr link didn't lead anywhere.

mb

10:17 PM  
Anonymous Ira said...

Big electric trucks and SUVs are the new gas guzzlers

https://qz.com/2154558/big-electric-trucks-and-suvs-are-the-new-gas-guzzlers/

Quelle surprise!

9:18 AM  
Anonymous Blinker said...

Daniel Ellsberg on the Existential Threat of Global Conflict“As the world has correctly perceived, this has the seeds of a regional nuclear war and all-out war between the US and Russia.”

“Ellsberg fears that the taboo against using nuclear weapons in a regional war is on the verge of being breached. ‘An era of proliferation may be underway already.’”

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/daniel-ellsberg-ukraine/

10:20 AM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

In today’s daily edition of “This American Life”: The violence never stops in the Big Apple.

https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/man-38-killed-in-brooklyn-double-shooting-police
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/video-bronx-drive-by-shooting-kills-man-mercedes-sought
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/woman-struck-by-stray-bullet-in-e-harlem-street-shooting

The cops here also like to get a piece of the action.
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nypd-cop-suspended-for-shooting-at-his-girlfriends-husband

On a pathetic note: Anti-Semitism ( to a 6 year old) obviously is alive and well here. How low can one go?
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/man-snatches-yarmulke-off-boys-head-in-brooklyn

12:50 PM  
Anonymous Dr. Shithouse said...

USian 'cut in line' for a chicken sandwich, he got fatally stabbed.

That's a true American. Had his priorities straight; needed that chicken sammie badly, didn't care about respecting the line, and died for it.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/maryland-man-found-guilty-fatal-stabbing-popeyes-over-chicken-sandwich-line-cutter-prosecutors

1:26 PM  
Anonymous blank start said...

Has there been a book talking about the rise of gambling in America since the early 1990s? Powerball started in 1992, Indian gaming took off the early 1990s after the 1988 Indian Gaming Act, the first trading card game Magic: The Gathering started in 1993 with gambling in the form of booster packs. I've heard people say the entire economy is a casino, but this seems a more obvious trend.

The largest media franchise of all time, Pokemon, absolutely exploded last year, with auctions in the millions of dollars, again based on booster packs (gambling) and a mix of celebrity, Wall St, and Vegas. Loot boxes in video games are approaching a $20 billion industry.

Target had to stop selling Pokemon due to violence over purchasing cards.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/business/pokemon-sports-cards-trading-trnd/index.html

1:48 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Joe, Dr. Shit, and blank-

What do you all have in common? You are reporting on the activity of degraded buffoons! Honestly, I can't get enuf of it.

mb

2:05 PM  
Anonymous Mike R. said...

Dr. Mearsheimer's commentary below regarding the the de facto NATO state of Ukraine.
How many US-ers care about this analysis? Likely <1.7%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgiZXgYzI84

Apologies if Wafers or Dr. Berman have already presented this video.

3:43 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Mike-

I doubt 1.7% of the population cd define the word 'analysis'.

mb

4:28 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

I love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gt92CPU9Nk

5:09 PM  
Anonymous Orca said...

For those who have a facebook account and can speak french, here is a video I found

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4771431319646943&id=100003403657917

In the video a random french man, for 30 min straight, gives a marxian economics, political and historic analysis of the Ukraine war. His premise is that the US, conciously or not, tries to devide Europe to in ordre to keep its economic hegemony. The point is, if you stop any american on the streets and ask him/her about any thing other than Kanye and the Kardashians, how many would give you an intelligible answer, or even a grammatically correct statement. This remindes me of the videos where americans can't even answer the most basic questions, like this one:

https://youtu.be/6CdfsCz1oKo

PS. I believes You can see the video even without an fb account

6:39 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Orca-

I doubt 1.7% of the population cd define the word 'hegemony'. I wonder how many cd locate Europe on a world map.

mb

7:27 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

ps: I think we can all agree that Kim and Kanye are buffoons; but is Elon Musk also one?

7:46 PM  
Anonymous Matt Reese said...

Looks like a sudden growth of WAFers from the young Americans given
the task of making it great again. Put so much money at the top that
little is left to create a new middle class having lovely children and
a secure future and you can expect a decline for the majority.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnzktRrp3PM

2:02 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Matt-

That American youth lose faith in the system is an impt factor in our decline. The Central Idea of America was the American Dream. It's now seen as an empty promise, and this disillusion can only deepen over time. Imagine, if instead of hustling and competition, the nation had chosen a different path.

mb

5:19 AM  
Blogger Jack Lattemann said...

A recent article in the Seattle Times about plummeting college enrollments may provide another data point supporting our discussion about young Americans losing faith in the system. A new survey of Washington’s higher education institutions found that enrollment at technical and community colleges fell 24% during 2019-2021, and the decline at four-year institutions was 7%. However, the share of male students at all institutions dropped even more, 28% to 31%. Says one college prez, “We were a little stunned.” Locally, Evergreen College’s enrollment of undergrads fell under 2,000 for the first time, 1,849, a drop of 28% since 2019.

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/enrollment-plummets-at-washingtons-colleges-especially-among-men

And a PS, tip of the Cascadian hat to Orca for the observation about the Kardashians. I have to credit this Greatest-in-the-Universe blog for my original discovery of Kanye and the Kardashians. Now, my acumen has improved to where I can recognize immediately the social phenomena of heads-up-rumps.

10:05 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Jack-

All gd news, esp. abt Evergreen. I wonder how politically correct they are these days.

mb

10:30 AM  
Anonymous Orca said...

Elon Musk buys Twitter for 44B $ cash, or as one post on Twitter said "Breaking News: The greatest clown in the world buys the biggest circus in the world". I remember that Musk once said he was a socialist, for the richest man in the world and the owner of few companies that has no labour unions this is beyond absurd. Also his belief that technology could save us (from what?) is pure illusion. In short, Elon Musk is a joke, he is smart and rich but still a joke.
As for What Matt Reese said about the groing number of Wafers, I don't think so. It's more like a growing number of nihilist, or as a certain greek philosopher, Castoriadis, would say: a rising tide of insignificancy

finally, I'm starting a campain to change the anthem, here's the new one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctLVlkDWRs

Elon the socialist:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1008013111058526209?lang=en

10:54 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Orca-
Wayne, like Musk, a colossal buffoon. But a hero to other buffoons.

mb

12:22 PM  
Blogger Joe McIlnen said...

Check this out. When doing live traffic reports, in addition traffic snarls being caused by emergencies, crashes, collisions, disabled vehicles, rubbernecking, or just plain heavy rush hour traffic, road rages now are included in them. Leading the way of course is that great conservative, family values, southern hospitality state of Texas. Gotta love these videos and especially this pretty model describing them for everyone’s enjoyment.
https://www.khou.com/article/traffic/road-rage-crash-katy-freeway/285-69a6ada9-1303-4f83-97a5-a42cca30772e

Perhaps the the traffic choppers in Ohio and North Carolina should get in on the action.
https://www.whio.com/news/crime-and-law/deputies-investigate-shooting-i-675-nb-lanes-shut-down/MEQ3G4XKEVGILKDX7XPZ6XIESA/
https://www.wral.com/2-injured-in-3rd-road-rage-shooting-in-durham-in-2-weeks-no-suspects-in-custody/20252260/

Yep. The anger and violence on the roads are just a few of the many examples of the daily anger and violence that take place here in the great exceptional U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!, U.S.A.!

3:47 PM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

commodore-

We try to be more of a discussion forum than a bulletin board. In future, maybe you could provide some commentary to go along with your links. Thank you.

mb

5:43 PM  
Anonymous Tag said...

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/05/trevor-noah-mistake-white-house-correspondents-dinner.html

American press is not nearly as free as we’d prefer to believe, and American democracy is not nearly as robust as Noah implied. via Slate

11:09 AM  
Blogger Morris Berman said...

Tag-

In future, pls send messages to most recent blog post. No one reads the old stuff. Also provide more commentary; we really aren't a bulletin board. Thanks.

mb

1:40 PM  

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